As a contributor over at BloggedIn- News & Networking, I just highlighted an excellent post entitled, The Bully and the Bear?

Please, go check it out and leave Christine of Serenity How? some comments to let her know what you thought of her post.

Twice a month I search through the posts of bloggers who are part of Family-Friendly Network looking for a special one to highlight. If you're not already a member, you might consider joining! It's a great group of bloggers!

If you are a member and have a post you'd like highlighted in the near future, send me an email with a link to that post and I'll check it out!

Labels: BloggedIn Highlight, blogger friends, bloggity goodness

No, this is not a picture of me.

Labels: blogger friends, bloggity goodness, Works-For-Me Wednesday

Updated 27 July to add: A winner has been randomly selected for my earring giveaway. The winner is...Jen at Here and There Congrats Jen and thank you all for your entries!

Shannon is coordinating one huge giveaway carnival this week and I'm joining in the fun!

Anyone interested in winning a free pair of these beautiful earrings, made by yours truly, please leave me a comment and you will be entered in the drawing for said earrings. That's right, all you have to do is leave a comment. It's as simple as that! You don't even have to be a blogger to win. Just be sure to leave me your email address if you're not a blogger so I can contact you!

The earrings will come professionally packaged in a pretty bag. You can give them as a gift or you can keep them for yourself. Your choice! If you do want to give them as a gift, let me know and I'll include a blank gift card for you!

So, leave your comment now to enter to win this pair of earrings! The winner will be announced the morning of Friday, 27 July.

And if you'd like to see what others are giving away, check out Shannon's guidelines. You can even join in the bloggy giveaway fun and offer a little something on your blog. Be sure to check out Shannon's Dog Days of Summer Bloggy.

And please, please don't for get the efforts of Melody over at Slurping Life. She is hosting an online love offering to Parker, a little boy with big medical needs.

By participating in this online love offering, you will also have an opportunity to win the following digital camera, printer and accessories package courtesy of Hewlett Packard...

HP Photosmart R837 Digital Camera, camera case



HP Photosmart A616 Compact Photo Printer, carrying case, and an HP Custom 110 Series 120-Sheet Photo Value Pack ((glossy Advanced Photo Paper).

There's a long list of more prizes listed for this event!

The dates of the love offering will be July 23 through July 27. Make a $2 donation (of course, larger donations will be accepted) during that time from the Paypal button that is posted on Slurping Life and you will be entered in the drawing for all prizes.

Thanks, everyone!

Labels: blogger friends, bloggity goodness, giveaways

First, Katie over at Roses are Red, Vilots are Blue honored me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger award. What a sweet surprise!

Here's what she wrote:

She's a fellow adoptive parent whose blog has been one I've lurked on for some time now. It's pretty to look at but she always has something cool to share...whether it's ingredients, or tips, or just feelings about the adoption process. Check it out!



Then, Michelle over at Big Blueberry Eyes bestowed upon me the honor of the Blogger Reflection award!

Here's what she wrote:

The first post I read of hers was about a conversation she overheard between her husband and son via her cellphone. Unbeknownst to her husband, he, or their son, accidentally called her cell phone. He didn't realize his phone was connected and she got to listen in on a small part of their day. Then I started reading her adoption story and was hooked and couldn't wait for the next installment. I've also been lucky enough to meet her twice now! She is just as friendly and down-to-earth as she comes across on her blog.

Can I just say, "Wow!" I am so flattered. Thanks so much to both of you. It's so nice to be appreciated!

In return, I'd like to mention a few bloggers who keep me coming back for more (blog reading, that is) and deserve to be awarded both awards:

Heather- This woman inspires me and encourages me to work harder at living a truly faith filled life. Heather is battling brain cancer. She's at the half way point in her radiation treatments. She writes with courage, grace, and determination and I love her, even though I've never met her. On her 25 June post she asked people to leave a comment letting her know where they're from. She's had 1224 comments thus far. If you haven't already, stop by and offer her your support and encouragement!

Kelli- Here's another blogger who inspires me! She spends 12 hours a night on a dialysis machine and she needs a transplant. Despite all of this, she is faithful in her trust in God, she's got a positive, upbeat attitude, and she'll be the first one to offer up prayers for others in need! She can use all the prayers and support that we have to offer, so go over and leave her a comment or two!

Cookie's Mom- This is a mom who adopted her daughter through foster care and she's fostering again. I discovered her blog not long ago and I love reading what she has to say about the ups and downs of fostering. I feel as though I'm able to gain insight into some of what we might experience during our next adoption journey. What a blessing this blog is to me.

Sandra- Although I don't participate as often as I should, I love the fact that Sandra does a Slow Cooking Thursday recipe exchange! I've gotten some fabulous crock pot recipes from this exchange. My family thanks you Sandra. Keep up the good work!

Jen- Her blog just makes me feel relaxed and at home. The design is one of the most beautiful ones out there, her posts are fun and often encouraging, she writes frequently about her two adorable kids, she includes a lot of pictures (I love that), and she's a regular participant in my Favorite Ingredients Friday recipe exchange, so I can't help but love her! You will too!

Thanks, ladies, for your part in keeping me addicted to blogging!

Labels: awards, blogger friends, blogging, bloggity goodness

My world is a bit topsy turvy right now. I haven't had much time to blog, especially now that my work has blocked all access to blogs and I can't sneak in a post or a comment or two during our slow times. The audacity of it all, they actually expect me to WORK at work? ;)

Thank you all for the fun comments you've left me on my Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Party post. I will do my best to stop by your blogs and join in your party festivities too!

So, based on the feedback I received during last week's Favorite Ingredients Friday post, I'm going to have the St. Patrick's Day themed recipe exchange this coming Friday, 9 March, so that you all have time to go grocery shopping and try out an Irish recipe or two by the time St. Patrick's Day arrives.

Do you like the button I made? It's actually from a picture that we took at our rehearsal dinner in Ireland nearly 4 years ago. The restaurant served us Irish coffee with this neat nutmeg shamrock on the top.

Okay, specifics for the recipe exchange, the recipes can be Irish dishes, or even just green foods/beverages. I'm excited about this one. I have a beautiful Irish cookbook that Oronzo got for me while we were in Ireland. I'll have a tough time deciding which Irish dish to share with you! :)

Okay, thanks for hanging in there with me, despite the fact that I haven't been as active of a blogger as I like to be lately.

Labels: blogger friends, moving, topsy turvy world

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting a fantastic party! I'm always up for a party, so let the festivities begin! :)

So, for those of you who are here for the first time, let me tell you just a few things about myself.

1. I'm the proud adoptive mom of the most wonderful 2 year old boy, my little Snuggle Bug. You can read all about our first adoption journey in my 10 part series called "It wasn't supposed to work this way...". If you want to learn more about our private, domestic adoption, start with Part 1. The entire series can be found on my sidebar. We'll be adopting a second time, hopefully in the near future, so stay tuned for news on our next adoption journey.

2. I'm the proud wife of Oronzo. We've been married for almost 4 years. We had a fairytale wedding in Ireland. Oronzo even wore a kilt!

3. I'm the hostess of a weekly recipe exchange called Favorite Ingredients Friday. It's a great way to help with weekly menu planning! Next Friday I'll be doing a St. Patrick's Day themed recipe exchange. I hope you can join in the fun!

4. I love doing crafty things like decorating cookies, card stamping, scrapbooking, and I'm even dabbling a little bit in jewelry making.

Okay, enough about me. If you've stopped by, please share a tidbit of information about yourself in my comments section!

Now, I'm off to meet those of you that left links over at Janice and Susan's party central blog! If you haven't joined the party, please do so. You're invited!

Labels: blogger friends, bloggity goodness

Each Sunday I pop over to Michelle's blog to read her "Grains of Gratitude" post. I enjoy it so much, thanks Michelle, that I decided to give it a try myself. I know Michelle wasn't the originator of this meme, can anyone tell me who was so I can stop by their blog to thank them as well?

Okay, here's my list of the things I'm grateful for this past week:

1. I'm grateful that Snuggle Bug seems to be getting over the cold he's had for the past few days. The cold has made him cranky, or maybe it's the fact that he's two now, we can't be sure. :) His good spirits have been restored.

2. I'm grateful for my handi-man husband. Oronzo has been able to do some minor and a bit more major repairs around our home himself, with a couple of trips to Home Depot, rather than hiring a contractor to come in and do them.

3. I'm grateful for my neighbors who look after each other. We've had some minor vandalism here lately (spray paint on mailboxes & lamp posts, outdoor water faucets being turned on in one neighbor's backyard, and some broken outdoor lamp panes). We've all pitched in to repair things and vowed to try to watch over each other's homes.

4. I'm grateful for our dear friends who recently had a baby girl on Valentine's Day. We brought dinner over to them on Friday and I got to hold this precious baby and rock her to sleep while answering parenting questions that they posed to me. Who would've thought that I'd be a mom that others would turn to for advice. It felt kind of nice! :) I guess I have learned a few things raising Snuggle Bug these last 2 years.

5. I'm grateful for the good health of our newest nephew, who was born this past Wednesday. We haven't met him yet (he and his parents and older sister live out of state) but from the pictures we've seen he's healthy and handsome!

6. I'm grateful for the beautiful weather we've had lately. We've been able to take walks outside and play in the sandbox.

7. I'm grateful for the bloggers that stopped by, in response to my We're teetering on the edge of a cliff post, and offered such support, encouragement, and comforting prayers. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate the kindness that our blogging community has to offer. Thank you!

8. I'm thankful for Oronzo's mother. When we told her, in person, that we were moving, she was visibly upset and shocked but she didn't make us feel guilty about our decision. She told us she understood, that she would miss us, and that she and Oronzo's father would most surely come visit us in Nebraska. We feared that she'd express some anger as well, but she was very supportive.

Labels: blogger friends, Grains of Gratitude

I hope you all have a fabulous day today! Stop back later today to see pictures that I'll post as my Valentine's Day unfolds. :)

Labels: blogger friends, celebration, holiday

Before I show you lots of pretty cookie pictures (click on them to enlarge for more detail), I wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who participated in my Favorite Ingredients Friday- Valentine's Day chocolate edition recipe exchange last Friday! I'm thrilled with all of the mouth-watering chocolate recipes I got!

Since it seems as though many of you are chocoholics like I am, I'm going to leave a button up on my sidebar that's linked to the chocolate edition post. Feel free to stop back as often as you'd like to look through those recipes. And if anyone wants to add their favorite chocolate recipes to the list, feel free to do so at any time. It's never too late. :)

Now, for the fun cookie fest that I had this past Saturday. I invited 3 ladies over to decorate cookies with me. Friday night, I spent several hours making dough and baking over 70 heart shaped cookies, of all different sizes. I asked my lady friends to bring frosting, food coloring, sprinkles, and either a plate or cookie bags to take home their share of cookies.

We started the fun at 1 p.m., after I got Snuggle Bug down for a nap. I had a long table set up and had melted dark and white chocolate ready. I also had the packaging supplies ready as well.

It didn't take long for us to get in the groove of frosting and decorating our pile-o-cookies! We chatted, laughed, sampled, and just enjoyed ourselves along the way. Keeping Oronzo away was a tough chore. We allowed him to custom make a couple of his own cookies and then told him to get lost and leave us to our work! Little does he know, I have a bag of secretly designed cookies stashed away to give him on Valentine's Day!

When we were all done, we had a table full of beautifully decorated cookies. We stood for a bit and marveled at our handiwork before moving on to the packaging phase. We had hearts with sprinkles, pink frosting, red frosting, white frosting, dark/white chocolate, and lots of combinations in between.

For the packaging, I used the idea given to me by Carol over at She Lives. She gave a link on How to make your own customized candy hearts and I used that link to make tags to attached to the cookie gift bags that I found at Target in their dollar bins!

I made candy hearts with messages like, "Best Neighbor", "Thinking of You", "Happy Valentine's Day", and "Best of Friends". I printed these hearts out on cardstock and then strung 2 or more together to create the tags.

I put my helpers to work punching holes and threading ribbon to put the finishing touches on the tags. This was no easy task because I had 21 bags just for my neighbors alone!

The end result was even cuter than I expected! On Wednesday morning, I'm going to load the cookie bags and Jacob up in his wagon (I think I'll decorate the wagon with red & pink streamers and a sign that says, Valentine's Day cookie delivery) and have him help me deliver cookies to all our neighbors.

We also made up gift bags for our spouses, children, and close friends. For these, we used clear cookie bags that I found at Michael's. I think I paid $4.00 for a bag of 50. The clear ones are fun because you can see the pretty cookies inside.

So, our Valentine's Day cookie fest was a huge success! Fun was had by all and we're looking forward to delivering our treats to family and friends!

So, what fun treats do you have in mind for your loved ones? Anyone else decorating cookies?

Labels: baked goodies, blogger friends, bloggity goodness, celebration, friends, holiday

Isn't this just the cutest little image? I pulled it off of the Blogging Chicks website. I love cute baby chicks!

Labels: blogger friends, Blogging Chick, bloggity goodness

Have you ever stumbled across a blog that just speaks to you? And when you read it, especially in it's entirety, you feel as though you've connected with a dear old friend, despite the fact that this person is a complete stranger?

I've had this happen more than once, but just this week I stumbled again upon such a blog. It's called My Part of the Journey and it's written by an adoptive mother named Marlene.

I came across a comment that Marlene left over at Mia's Saving Grace. It was in response to one of Mia's many great thought-provoking posts, this one called "Insight". Mia is another one of my favorite bloggers!

Marlene's comment left me thinking to myself, "she's reading my mind and writing my thoughts!" I had to go over to her blog and check her out. I knew I would have to start at the beginning with her very first post and work my way through her entire blog.

What will compel me to continue to read Marlene's blog (I've added her to my sidebar) is her on-going conversations with her 6 year old daughter, adopted through the State. Marlene is processing a lot of the adoption related questions, feelings, emotions, and uncertainties that both she and her child are dealing with day-by-day. I'm sharing some of the same questions, feelings, emotions, and uncertainties when it comes to the adoption of our son.

Some of the questions I left in Mia's comment section were along these lines:

Is it okay to openly discuss Snuggle Bug’s adoption with strangers before he’s old enough to do so on his own? Will he see it as an invasion of his privacy later and resent me for it?

By not openly discussing his adoption with strangers, will it make him feel as though adoption is shameful and he should hide the fact that he came to be a part of our family through adoption? I never want him to feel that way!

How should we handle things when he starts school? Do we tell teachers that he was adopted or do we wait until a class project comes up that may prompt us to have that discussion? Or do I wait and let Snuggle Bug decide if/when he wants to share that information with others at school.

How will we handle things if/when Snuggle Bug asks to meet his first parents. They’ve told us they don’t want to meet him before he’s 18. Given the fact that he’ll know from day one that he was adopted, what if he wants to meet them at age 8 or 10 or 12? What happens if we contact them and they say they’re not ready? What if they say they are? Will I be willing and able to put my son’s needs first and not feel threatened by any growing relationship that might develop between them (I like to think so, but do I know this for sure)?

What’s the best way to raise my son to feel comfortable sharing with us his mixed emotions about adoption without him feeling as though he’s betraying us?

How do I help Snuggle Bug to grow into a confident young man, given the additional layer of adoption in his life?

The great thing about Marlene's blog is that now I have a glimpse into what kind of questions her 6 year old is asking, what her concerns are at this age, and possible responses to those questions and concerns. I realize that every child is different, but it's comforting to at least have an idea of what I might expect. And the great thing about Mia's blog is that I get an adult adoptee perspective and she challenges me to think outside of my comfort zone.

There is no instruction manual when it comes to adoption. I think most of us are trying to do the best we possibly can, given the circumstances, but sometimes it can be daunting. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have made some wonderful friends with all sides of the adoption triad (first/birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees) through blogging, to be able to share and learn from these beautiful women. I look forward to learning more through Marlene's blog.logs in my comments so that I can go check them out!
Oh, and in the near future, I will be blogging more about our efforts with Adoption #2.

Labels: adoption, blogger friends, family, Snuggle Bug

There are some fun things going on in our blog world. Check out four of these upcoming events!

Janice over at 5minutesformom is offering a free jewelry giveaway. There are several necklaces and bracelets involved. I'm hoping to win the pretty charm bracelet shown here.

Stop by and check it out! But hurry because the winner is going to be announced on Monday, 5 February!

Jules over at Everyday Mommy is hosting the First Annual Hidden Treasure Blog Awards and nominations are being accepted now through next Wednesday, 7 Feb.

Here's what she has to say:

“Nominations for the Hidden Treasure Blog Awards will open on Thursday, February 1, 2007. This is a wonderful way to share your favorite blogs with everyone. So, go digging around in those archives, following links in blogrolls, clicking on comments here and there. You might just find that hidden gem that wins Best in Show.”

The categories are: Children & Family, Faith, Marriage, Motherhood, Homemaking, Humor, Current Events and Life.

Nominations Nominations may be submitted by email to everydaymommy@gmail.com.

Voting will open on February 8, 2007. One vote per category. Voting will close on February 13, 2007. Winners will be announced on February 14, 2007 The nominated post with the most votes overall will be awarded Best In Show.

I've already gotten together a few noteworthy posts, from fellow bloggers, to nominate. Have you? It's not too late!

Also, Shalee over at Shalee's Diner is hosting a fun exchange, to be held on Tuesday, 6 Feb. It's called 50 Cheap Dates and she's looking for ideas on ways a couple can enjoy each other's company without spending a lot of money. Oh, and I think she mentioned that hanging out in a bookstore for an hour was not an option (rats, that's one thing Oronzo and I bloth love to do)!

So, get your thinking caps on and be prepared to submit your date ideas to Shalee on Tuesday!

And don't forget, 5minutesformom is also hosting The Ultimate Blog Party, 2-9 March! What a great way to get your blog noticed, make some new friends, and possibly win one the long list of prices that are being offered!

That's all the bloggity goodness that I can think of at the moment. Any other upcoming bloggity goodness you'd care to mention? Leave me a comment!

Labels: blogger friends, bloggity goodness, giveaways

I've never particularly enjoyed traveling for business. Being away from Oronzo and Snuggle Bug, for any amount of time, just isn't all that fun. Thankfully, my job only takes me away 2 or 3 times a year.

When I told Oronzo that I'd be traveling to NM again this month he said, "Hey, don't you have a blogger friend there?" I guess he pays attention more than I give him credit for! :)

Having the opportunity to meet up again with Michelle made the thought of this trip a little more positive, and meet we did, for dinner last night. Not only did I get to see Michelle, but also her husband, Joe, and beautiful daughter, Kayla! We met at the Community Center (on base).

Now, you may remember that I've met Michelle once before, last July, when I was in NM on business. Meeting again this time was so relaxed and comfortable, just like connecting in-person with longtime friends! Thanks for taking the time to meet up with me, Michelle! It was great to see you again and catch up!

Besides the visit with Michelle, I also want to mention tomorrow's Super Bowl Sunday themed Favorite Ingredients Friday recipe exchange (thanks for the idea, Jen).

The recipes can be appetizers, soups, salads, or whatever you might consider serving at a Super Bowl party!




So, if you're interested in participating in this themed recipe exchange, feel free to grab the image that Susie with Bluebird Blogs so kindly designed for me (thanks, Susie!) and use it in your post tomorrow. See you then!

Labels: blogger friends, business travel, Favorite Ingredients Friday, recipe exchange, working mommy

I'm traveling for work again. I'm flying out this morning for Alamogordo, NM to spend four days working at Holloman AFB. I guess that's if our pilots don't have their night flight testing canceled due to snow!

Michelle, once I get my work schedule figured out, I'm going to call you to see if you have time to meet with me while I'm in town! What do you think?

So, before I forget, Jen gave me a great suggestion! She suggested that I do Favorite Ingredients Friday recipe exchange that involves appetizers and other dishes that could be served during Super Bowl Sunday game. I love that idea! So, this Friday (26 January) and also next Friday (2 February), my Favorite Ingredients Friday recipe exchange will be geared for Super Bowl dishes. I hope you can join me for that. I'll post a reminder again soon.

Labels: blogger friends, business travel

Just yesterday, I learned about Kelli through A Chelsea Morning and BooMama's blogs. The short of it is that Kelli needs a kidney transplant and she and her family are wondering how they're going to make COBRA payments to have insurance coverage for this kidney transplant. They also need to be able to come up with $1200 a month in anti-rejection drugs once she gets a kidney.

Now, I don't know Kelli (I only heard about her a day ago) but I have full intentions of making a donation today through the PayPal account that BooMama has set up for Kelli.

Why would I be donating to a perfect stranger? Well, for one, it's being requested by two bloggers that I totally trust. I know this isn't a scam, this is legit.

More importantly, I'm donating because I want Kelli to get a kidney transplant and to have the financial means to make this successful. This hits home to me because someday, I may be going through the same thing myself.

You see, I had a kidney removed when I was 2 years old. It was badly infected and was making me very sick, so the doctors convinced my parents to let them remove it. They told them, 'Two kidneys is a luxury. If we remove it while she's young, the remaining kidney will grow larger and stronger to pick up the slack.'

Well, they were right, that's exactly what happened. But now that I'm in my 30's, my kidney is showing some signs of functionality deterioration. It's nothing too alarming yet but it's something I need to be monitoring on a regular basis.

So, if you have a bit to spare, please make a donation for Kelli's cause. And most importantly, please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Thank you!

Labels: blogger friends, BooMama, faith, leap of faith, prayer

BooMama is hosting a Christmas Tour of homes and, since Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, I thought I'd join in on the fun. You're about to see pictures of our various Christmas decorations.

BooMama mentioned providing refreshments. Well, I can't decide on any one refreshment to offer you. Would you settle for a link to my Holiday Cooking, Blogger Style recipe exchange where you'll find 200+ recipes that 80 bloggers contributed?

Okay, now for our Christmas decorations!

Let's start with our tree. It's a humble little tree, but we love it. We've made no effort to get a larger tree. This one suite us just fine.

Our tree during the daytime. We put it in the living room, in front of the bay window.



Our tree at night. My puny digital camera just didn't do a great job of capturing the lights on the tree. Sorry for the blurriness of the image.

I think the most enjoyable part of putting up our Christmas tree is hanging on our ornaments that we've collected over the years. Both Oronzo and I have ornaments dating from our childhood, up to 2005. I'm waiting to see what ornament Oronzo will get me this year.



This ornament is very special. It was given to Snuggle Bug by his birth grandmother, Clara, the day he was born, in preparation for his first Christmas. This is his very first ornament ever.



This ornament was given to us last year by one of our neighbors. We'd only been in our new home for 3 months by the time Christmas had arrived and we were so touched by the thoughtful welcome gifts from many of our neighbors. We love our neighborhood!



This ornament was made for me by my mom a few years back. She made each of us kids a set of about 6 ornaments. I love each of them!



This is my Fontanini nativity set. I've been collecting pieces of this set since I graduated from college. I love it because, not only is it beautiful, but it's hard to break.



This is Snuggle Bug's Little People nativity set. I put it out in the open for him so that it's easily accessible when he wants to play with it. You may have noticed that in both of my nativity sets, baby Jesus is not present. Our Catholic tradition is to wait until Christmas morning to add baby Jesus to the nativity scene.


This is my favorite children's Christmas book. It's a Little Golden book. I used to have a copy of this as a child but it was lost over the years. I made a point to buy another copy for Snuggle Bug. The illustrations in this book are beautiful!


And this helps remind me how many days until Christmas, which is good because I still have a few days to finish up Christmas shopping!

Well, there you have it, some of my Christmas favorites. I hope you've enjoyed my little tour! Now, I'm off to go see the many other holiday decorated homes of my fellow bloggers.

Thanks, BooMama, for hosting the 2006 Christmas Tour of Homes! :)

Labels: blogger friends, books/reading, BooMama, celebration, faith, family, holiday, home, memories, photos, traditions