A typical Monday for an OCD Housewife Princess

      Last week I quit my job. I am tired of working for people who care more about the bottom line than about what achieving the bottom line does to others. I am ready to "Make a Difference," as my pastor, Stephen Peeples of Roopville Road Baptist Church, said yesterday. There's a lot more to this decision than I'd care to share right now, but all that matters is that I am happy with it.
      Today is the start of something beautiful..... or NOT! I prioritized all the things I hope to accomplish around the house, and unfortunately, the tub drain won the prize. Jeremy and I have lived in this house since mid-November, and the tub drain doesn't have a hair catcher, and that's all I'm going to say about that, oh and EWWWWW!
      The fact that I have never been a fan of drain cleaners could have something to do with the horror stories my parents told me in hopes that I would be cautious in using them. Well, I'm cautious- I don't use them. I do not care to lose my eye brows, lovely complexion, or my entire bathroom. 
      So, thanks to a wonderful website called PINTEREST, and the 'pin' that I discovered which linked to a blog named Ask Anna, I discovered a 'green' way to clean household drains. This is what she says:


1. Put a pot of water on your oven and turn the oven on high to start boiling the water.
2. Meanwhile pour baking soda down the drain.  Baking soda has the ability to neutralize fatty acids so it will work and eating away the grime while you are waiting for the water to boil.
3. Once the water has reached a rolling boil remove it from the stove and pour it down the drain.
4. Let the water and baking soda work at decomposing and sterilizing the grime for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes has expired pour 1 cup of bleach down the drain to completely kill any remaining mildew or bacteria.  

Because we use our sinks multiple times on a daily basis I recommend repeating this process every few months.  Repeating this process on a regular basis will keep the "creepy black stuff" from accumulating and clogging your sink.  It will also keep the nasty mildew smell at bay.

Good luck and have fun conquering the "creep black stuff"!

It took my less than an hour, using household cleaners I already had, and now we can take a shower without standing in three inches of water (yes, I know, I let it get too far). You're welcome, honey. 




And this is all in a days work for an OCD Housewife Princess.

We've been contacted. Please Pray.

Several times during this adoption process Jeremy and I have been contacted by third parties, telling us of mothers thinking about putting their child up for adoption. Each time we offered to sit down and talk with the mothers, but it never happened. I, being the overly emotional self that I am, would ride that roller coaster of emotions- Very excited, hopeful, scared, then ultimately disappointed. This is all experienced usually within a day or two. Then the ultimate came. Our adoption agency contacted us about a possible baby. I rode that roller coaster around and around for a very intense 3 hours. I have never experienced anything like that and don't want to ever again.

So you can see my scarred little heart is a bit more cautious now. This week we were approached by an acquaintance whose girlfriend is pregnant and they are considering adoption due to financial reasons. This is the first time a birth parent has contacted us directly. I didn't even react with excitement. My heart is scared to hope.  I considered not sharing with my family and close friends, b/c I didn't want to have to react to their excitement and hope. Jeremy has spoken with this acquaintance several times over the past few days, and gave him my cell phone number to give to his girlfriend. I pray she calls. I don't hope, my heart can't take that, but I pray.

Being the planner that I am, I'm already researching interstate private adoptions and possible attorneys. I can handle the details of this, just not the emotions. I have to remind myself that God has a plan, and His timing is best.

*UPDATE*
As expected, nothing panned out. I'm glad that I was better prepared for it this time, and I'm still praying for both expectant parents.

Dragons and Steamducks.

Finally getting a job and insurance means that we can finally move forward with the adoption.  I feel like this adoption is a full time job by itself since I've spent the last two weeks on paperwork and I'm still not done. However, planning my sister's baby shower, and buying my soon to be born nephew presents has me getting baby fever again. I'm so excited to finally meet the child God has picked out for us, and to see him/her grow! 

Thanks to PINTEREST (my new addiction), I've got so many wonderfully unique ideas! 

Please visit my kid inspiration board!

Below are some of the images:

God works in mysterious ways!

So, I shared how Jeremy and I moved back to GA and how we ended up not having jobs like we thought. One of the many things I did in my job search was sign on with a local staffing agency. They didn't call with anything until after Christmas, and even then it was a two day temp job. I really was relying on myself to find a job when they called me. The lady explained that it was an office/clerical/ management  job with a company located in the small town my grandparents and mom lived in, which is right next to my small town. Since it's so small, and we've been living there since my grandparents were born, I was curious as to the name, but when she responded, I was floored. As I was on the phone with her, I was sitting at my grandparents house. My papa built a house on the same land his parents owned. Next to him, his sister and her husband built a house and started a business. They do many things, but the main thing I know they do is build handlebars for Harley Davidson. I told the lady that I could walk to a window and see the business and that it was owned by family. She called them back and I was given the job! I started the next day, not really sure of the job specifics, just thankful for a paying full time job with benefits so we could get our home study for the adoption done. However, during the first day I realized that this job had been spiritually designed with me in mind. It's a very laid back, family oriented office that could really use an OCD overachiever like me. I'm very excited to see how it develops. I love how God works things out. If I could have designed my dream job, it would be something like I'm imagining this will turn out to be. One of the best parts, I get to go to my grandparents house for lunch each day, since they're right next door. Things sure have changed. When we were living in Florida, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would probably not be around my grandparents for their last years of life. Now, I get to see them daily! 

Life in Georgia

Jeremy and I have been living in Georgia, close to my family for almost two months. We both still don't have full time jobs, but God has provided. I'm cleaning a few houses and Jeremy's been able to work from home part time for the company he left in Florida. Next week he'll be going down to work in the office. I even had a two day temp job at some rubber making plant. That was an experience! Everyone there kept making fun of my because I wore gloves and used about a thousand Clorox cloths to clean my work area. Even though I was working in the offices, it still had that black rubber dust everywhere! The shoes I wore are sitting sole side up in my bedroom until I have time to wash the black off the bottom. Everyone that I worked with during those two days were so nice. I had a great time and the main guy even asked for my contact information in case a job opened up in the future. They described me as 'an interesting experience'. You know I kept them laughing. 


Since I haven't found a job yet, I've also been blessed to be able to help out my grandparents. I've worked diligently to get my grandmothers houses clean and have taken them all to the doctor several times. Someone asked me if it bothered me that I was doing so much for them. I responded that I honestly thought I would have to miss their last years on earth because I was living in Florida, and now that I'm not, I'm so happy that I will spend as much time with them as possible to make up for the last 5 years. One of my grandmothers had several mini strokes and now has short term memory problems. For example, she asked me six different times what my sisters and I were doing for New Years. I am praying that God works it out so that I'm able to only work a part time job just so I can spend more time with them. 


I can't remember if I've blogged before about how quickly God directed us to our church home in Florida, but it was literally within the first week. I was so worried about finding a new church family, because our last one played such a special part in our lives. I honestly didn't even pray about it, because I didn't have faith that God would do the same thing again. However, I think He did. I'm so undeserving of His love. I get excited about Sunday mornings, and everyone I've met there so far has been very nice. There are two Sunday school classes we are excited to try, and the church even does Discipleship University on Wednesday nights! I know there probably won't be a class that could replace my Fit In Christ Jesus Girls from FBCPC, but I know God will lead us to the right place. 


There's not much new going on with the adoption. I really don't feel like we can do a home study until at least one of us has a full time job with insurance. I know that God's timing is best, but my heart has started to grow heavy. I'm surrounded by friends who are pregnant, or who have babies, toddlers, and young children. I thank God for blessing them, and I'm genuinely happy for them. I hear of so many who are in my situation who struggle with jealousy and bitterness, and I'm thankful that I don't. However, my desire to be a mother is more and more at the forefront of my mind. I can't wait to hold my own child in my arms and know that I don't have to give him/her back. I can't wait to implement things I've learned, been taught, or researched. I can't wait to listen for their small cry, knowing they are totally dependent on Jeremy and I, for love, comfort, warmth, food,  etc. I can't wait to tell my child that Jeremy and I semi-patiently waited on God to bring just the right one to us. 

Life Changes

Life has changed so much. Jeremy and I have moved 'home' to Georgia and now live around the corner from one of my sisters. Neither of us have a job, but we are trusting God. How did this all come about?


About a month ago, Jeremy and I received a call from our adoption agency about a baby who had been born two days prior. We needed to give them an answer 'within the hour'. Three emotionally draining hours later, we called and told them no. I think both of our hearts broke a little that day and I know that as one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. It's hard to even explain to those who have never been through something like that how devastating it was. 
As a result, Jeremy and I hit our knees before God and prayed diligently. We realized our life needed to change if adoption was what we really wanted to do. 


I've never had God pave a path so clearly as He did for Jeremy and I that next week. Within days, we had a place to live and possible jobs back home in Georgia and God confirmed His will for us through a sermon our pastor preached just three days after the big adoption decision. Now, even though neither of the jobs panned out for us, I look back and realize God knew we needed that bit of security in order to step out on faith and move. 


So here we are. We will hopefully hear next week from our new adoption agency office about starting a new home study, and then we can start the long process of waiting again. God is so amazing. 

Blessed Abundantly

What a busy few months we've had!

Jeremy and I are so loved! Our entire Sunday school class got together and helped us host a spaghetti lunch on September 18th. I, as usual, was so stressed. Would we run out of food, bread, sauce, etc? To help temper that, I asked my dad and sister to come down from Georgia to help out. Then, my uncle and aunt, and friends Bryan and Melanie also came. My sister described it perfectly when she commented on how many wonderful people we had who loved us enough to do all of that for us. We had the fellowship hall broken down and tables set up after Sunday school in no time flat. We enjoyed 'fellowshiping' (southern baptist word) with everyone while the sauce was bubbling on the stove and the bread was being baked.

Jeremy and I didn't really have any goal in mind as to how much we were hoping to raise. I think I was more focused on being worried about running out of food, or something not going right. So when my sister, who is a math guru, counted the money, I was BLOWN AWAY. We had raised $946! I didn't even know how to begin to say thank you- to God, to everyone who helped out, and to our wonderful church family. So many people stopped by after church just to donate towards our cause. I was overwhelmed at the love!

Then, right after that, Jeremy and I  started picking up yard sale donations. People far and wide donated items. I even had a lady who saw our yard sale listing on Craigslist come the night before and bring items for us to sell. We worked hard pricing all the items, and I had to live upstairs all week b/c of the yard sale 'mess' downstairs. But it was all worth it. Saturday, the people started arriving at 5am (yes- it was intense) and didn't stop until 1230pm. We sold almost all of the items and raised $850!! Once again, we had not thought about a particular goal, but we were so overwhelmed by God's provision!