Answered Prayers

Mitch and I lead a Young Couples Small Group/Bible Study through our church. Our group consists of 8 couples, 1 single mom, and 4 kids (with one more due in December). We meet on Monday evenings for dinner and then Bible study. One of our couples has been together for seven years and they have a 3 year old son. They joined our group just under a year ago, around the time Ella was born. They moved out here from Michigan and are HUGE U of M fans so we really connected with them. They were not, however, married.

This has weighed heavily on the hearts of our group members and about 2 months ago a number of us began to pray in earnest for this couple to marry.

Yesterday afternoon at about 3:30 PM Mitch got a phone call from this couple -- they were getting married at 7:30 PM at a chapel on the strip and they wanted anyone who wanted to be there to come! Let me tell you, our group is awesome! Not only were the majority of us there, but another couple managed to get decorations and a cake for a reception back at their house (dinner was ready because we always eat together on Mondays, we just postponed it a bit).

I still can't stop crying! I'm not sure if it is the awesome way that God answered our prayers or just plain happiness for this family or both! It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. It was two people whom God had brought together standing before Him, friends, and family (the groom's mother was in town) and honoring the sanctity of marriage. There was absolutely nothing fancy about it and it probably cost about $200. It is a wedding I will never, ever forget.

The people who run our city of Las Vegas have marketed the phrase "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas". Our church has turned that in to "What happens in Vegas, Changes the World!" Last night in a chapel on the Las Vegas strip, God changed the lives of this family and we are so very blessed to have been a part of it.

(P.S. I have about 100 photos, but because I don't want to make this couple uncomfortable I only posted some of us and the chapel. The wedding was held here if you want to see a cute place to get married!)

A rose by any other name....

For me, one of the best things about having a baby was getting to choose the name. The minute Ella was born, I started pondering names for the next one! I seriously think I'd have 10 kids if I could just to use all the names I love! (Plus I would just love a big family). With all that fun naming babies, you'd think I'd be able to come up with a name for a new business, but I can't.

I am starting a new career and my own business as a Non-Profit Consultant. Basically, that is a grant writer or a fundraiser for non-profits. I go out and find them money for projects; overhead; etc. I will be researching grant opportunities and then writing the proposals for the grants.

At the moment I am billing through another company (through the father of a friend), but will eventually set up my own company. And I need a name. I need to get a new email for all the emails I've recently been inundated with and I'd like it to correspond with my future plans. Basically I will be writing and writing; researching grants; finding money; helping out with "development"; etc.

Anyone creative out there? I am finding it difficult to come up with a nice name. So much easier to find names that I love for babies, I tell you! Post your suggestions in the comments or email me!

On a side note: I once told Mitch that if I could only get paid to do fundraising, I'd really love that job (I do all the fundraising for the band and love every minute of it). Turns out, you can have a full-time job doing just that. "Development" is what they call it. Who knew???

Walking is FUN!

Ella has a walking toy that she has been happily playing with for months while sitting on the floor. Today she figured out she could walk with it. Boy was that FUN! Of course, she ran in to lots of obstacles so Mommy had to help guide her around.

Sorry the pics are fuzzy, but she was on the move!

Band Banquet

Mitch's band banquet was last week. Here are a few shots before everyone arrived. The group shot is Bruce, Keola, their younger brother Jamal, their mom, and Ella.

Not exactly the band banquets I attended in high school. Those were potluck in the school cafeteria. This one was at the Los Prados Country Club!

Redecorating

We moved in to this apartment on July 15, 2006. On July 18, 2006 Ella was born and Sarah arrived from Philly. Thanks to the help of friends, we managed to get unpacked in record time! But we never really went back and re-organized everything. Since we decided to stay put for one more year in this apartment -- we are re-decorating and using our space more effeciently!

We moved books out Ella's reach to higher shelves on the bookcase and put shelves on the wall for the pictures.


We managed to get the entryway organized for bags, shoes, jackets, mail, keys, etc.


And we finally got all the family pictures up and arranged.


And all that so we can have more pictures taken over the summer when the family is all here for Ella's birthday.

IKEA, Take 2

I just got off the phone with the returns manager at IKEA in Covina, California. They were supposed to call by Wednesday at the absolute latest. According to her, on the BACK of the 4 x 6 white tag hanging where the bed frame was located, it states that you may need a midbeam for your bed. Do you see the bright yellow, neon tags in the pictures above? Apparently, we are to ignore those and take off the small white tags hanging (you can see those, too in the pics) flip those OVER and read all the fine print.

According to her, IKEA is a self-service store without pushy sales people so the customr is responsible for reading all the fine print. This, despite the fact that when you walk in to the IKEA there is a GIGANTIC wall painted with information on 2 ways you shop at IKEA 1) Self-Service and 2) See a Co-Worker. Our bed frame was the "See a Co-Worker" type of item. I told her I understood that IKEA was self-service, but when you ask a customer to see a co-worker, then the co-worker needs to provide all the information.

So she argued and argued with me -- hello?? I'm the CUSTOMER! Don't yell at me! But she went from refusing to waive the shipping to shipping out the midbeam to us without charging shipping. I have no idea how we got there.... because she never once told me I was right. She did, ironically, say that this midbeam thingy is a common issue. HELLO?? Then CHANGE something! Do something about the problem!

When Mitch called over the weekend they told him shipping was $18.51. Today she told me it was $6.00....

I'm not sure where we stand now. We love IKEA, but man that was really crappy customer service. I got what I think is the right thing to do (send us the part and don't charge us), but I had to yell and argue and she yelled and argued right back. Oh how I long for the days when the customer was always right....!

Road Trip!

It was Memorial Day weekend and we intentionally had absolutely no plans. Mitch took Friday off so we were able to get all of your errands done before the weekend officially started. Saturday morning dawned and we were eating breakfast and talking about getting some shelves when Mitch asked if I wanted to go to IKEA. There are two IKEAS in the Los Angeles area -- a 4 hour drive one way from Vegas. I was a bit hesitant to drive 8 hours in one day with a 10 month old so we looked on-line to see if we could find a hotel for $50. Turns out, you can find a hotel on Memorial Day weekend for $39.99 in Barstow, California. So in about an hour we got everyone dressed and packed and out the door we went!

First stop: Primm, Nevada for lunch and shopping at the Primm Valley Outlets

Daddy & Ella outside the Casino/Hotel.


Ella's first Jello experience at lunch. Mommy had a BOGO free coupon for the buffet! Yum!

Second stop: Barstow, California
We spent the night at the Motel 6


And had dinner at Bun Boy.


Sunday morning we left Barstow and headed to IKEA in Covina, California.

Third stop: IKEA, Covina, California





FIVE HOURS later (we did stop for Swedish meatballs in the cafe)...we got back on the road.

Last stop: Big Boy, Barstow, California
After 5 hours in a shopping cart, 2 hours in the car and 30 minutes in a high chair, Ella needed to stretch her legs. So we played on the grass outside of Big Boy for a while.







We got all of our loot from IKEA home safely and spent Sunday re-decorating. Mostly we bought shelves and moved all of our stuff UP and out of the grasp of little girls. We decided to renew our lease and stay in this apartment for another fun-filled year and we needed to make it a bit more kid-proof.

I am a planner by nature so I'm not really the spur of the moment kind of person. This weekend was tons of fun, though, just because it was spur of the moment! Can't wait until Mitch decides to do it again!