An Open Letter to my Knight

Dear Brian,

You are a true rock star.

On Thursday night when I started feeling like I was getting sick, you already knew that the weekend ahead we had planned was quite possibly about to go up in flames. You didn't even flinch. You just tucked me in to bed and told me we'd reevaluate in the morning.

Thirty minutes later, when the chills started in mixed with a cocktail of achy muscles and a fever, you calmly told me to hydrate myself and you hunkered down for next 24 hours, which I can only call The Day I Felt Like Doo Doo with an Extra Helping of Dukey on the Side.

You held my hand, you went to the pharmacy to buy my Tylenol, a thermometer, and Gatorade three separate times. Like I said? ROCK STAR!

You called your sister with whom you were really looking forward to spending the weekend (Mom, aren't you proud of how that preposition was handled?), and broke the news and you didn't even complain about my silly flu once.

That's right, I have the flu. When I got a little nervous on Friday afternoon about the possibility of it being the swine flu, you did internet research and then drove me to the local urgent care clinic, just so we could both rest easy.  

And then you tucked me back in bed and drove to my new favorite Mexican restaurant and bought me chicken tortilla soup because I was havin' a hankering.

You have been the sweetest, most loving caretaker, and I don't really know how to thank you sufficiently.

It was one of those weekends when I so appreciated having a husband who loves me so well. Life with you is exponentially better than life without you. Your love for me is sacrificial, and I love you so much.

This Starshine-in-distress knew she had married an awesome man the day she said "I do", but this weekend she realized that he is a Rock Star-in-shining-armor.

When he said "in sickness and in health", he really meant it, and that makes him more noble than any knight in the land.

Joyous Day!

I had such a great day today.  My mom, sister and Sammy came over to my house today, and we just had so much fun! I love seeing how much my Mom is enjoying being a grandmother. These pictures really say it all!

Sam continues to charm us every day. Lately, he has become keenly aware of music. He loves hearing music, clapping to music and even making music!  Today, his favorite toys were two painted wooden spoons that he tapped together and made some noise!

He is now 13 months old, and has learned to stand on his own without holding onto anything. He's not walking yet, but I think it will be happening soon!

Guest Room

Brian and I spent the weekend (a couple weekends ago) priming and painting this bedroom in our house. It was shared by two little boys before we bought the house, and below the white chair rail, it was painted navy blue. Above it was white.

Shortly after moving in, we spotted this bed-in-a-bag combo in a Bed, Bath & Beyond catalogue. We loved it right away, went out and bought it, and then chose the new paint color to coordinate. It is called "Natural Canvas" by Ralph Lauren, and available at Home Depot.

The beautiful sleigh bed and bedside table were given to us compliments of my mom. She had a bed in a storage unit that she wanted to move back into her house, so she passed this one onto us. We LOVE it! Thank you, Mom!

My New Full Time Job

In case you've been wondering what I've been doing to keep myself busy since I've moved to Texas, here's a little list:

~I've been fingerprinted to get an FBI clearance

~I've had passport pictures taken

~I've been examined by a doctor and had my blood drawn and tested

~I've had more documents notarized in the past few weeks than ever before in my entire life

No, I'm not going to work for the CIA, silly--Brian and I are adopting from Ethiopia! And let me tell you, all this paperwork is keeping me busy! It's my new full-time job.

Since the start of 2009, God has been leading us to internationally adopt from Ethiopia. It's been an exciting process and one of the biggest steps of faith we've taken. If you'd like to follow our adoption journey, you can bookmark our adoption blog: Always and Forever Ours!

I'll continue to post here about my usual Starshine happenings, but the new blog will be our place to post about our adoption journey! 

We are on the front end of the process, and it typically takes an average of 18 months to complete an adoption from Ethiopia. We would so appreciate your prayers as we walk this path! 

"God sets the lonely in families." -Psalm 68:6

Anchor in a Storm

When I moved to Los Angeles in 2005, I knew virtually no one there. I found my roommate through a website and signed a contract to sublet a room from her sight unseen. "Lucy" didn't turn out to be a good roommate at all. She mostly didn't speak to me or acknowledge my presence at all. In fact, once I made other friends there, one of them called her The Dragon, and another friend called her The Beast. She was horrid as a flatmate, and I was there to deal with it alone. 

God has an amazing way of growing us through trials, and I look back on that time as a significant chapter in my becoming a full-fledged adult. In a five month window of time, I had to decide that I would not continue to live with such a beastly person, I had to find a new apartment, sign a contract on it, break my contract with Lucy, hire movers (Shout out to Starving Students:  You're the best!), and then find a new roommate. Did I ever feel like a grown up making all of those decisions on my own!

Before all of that fabulous growth, though, during those dark early days in LA, I remember calling my mom from my cell phone in the Bed, Bath and Beyond parking lot having a serious panic attack, crying so hard I could barely breathe. I felt so alone. I remember my mom trying to calm me, but I knew that the only thing that would make me feel better was having her there with me. The rational part of my being knew that it would be ridiculous to ask her fly out to be with me--she had just flown home a few days before one the heels of driving me out from Texas--but the emotional part of my being desperately wanted my mom! Through my tears, I pleaded with her, "Mom, I just need to hear you say that you'll fly out here to be with me if I ask you to."

"Of course I will, Tracy." 

Those five words, which spelled out my mother's loyalty, were the anchor that helped me weather that awful storm. Knowing that my mom would come for me if I needed her helped me to survive. 

Mom, I would do the same for you in a heartbeat. Thank you for being the best mother I could ask for. Your love and loyalty are gifts that I'll never take for granted. You are a blessing, a true gift from God.

Happy Mother's Day!  I love you.

This photo was taken in February 2009, on her last trip out to visit me in Los Angeles before I moved back to Texas. Now I get to see my mom at least once a week, and I'm so happy that I get to celebrate Mother's Day with her in person this year!

Innocent Flirtation at a Restaurant

Yesterday, I was at a restaurant--the kind where you stand in line to order your food, then pay, and then take it to a table to sit down and eat. As I was standing in line, a beautiful woman walked through the door with the handsomest guy on her arm. He had strawberry blonde hair and the bluest eyes. I couldn't help but stare.

Not one second later, he looked straight at me, his eyes lit up and he waved at me. He waved. AT ME!

"Is he really waving at me?," I thought. 

A few minutes later, he and the woman he was with got seated at the table. My order was taking forever, so I was still in line. I stole a glimpse over at the table and guess what? Yep! There was Mr. Handsome waving at me.

By this time, the woman couldn't ignore his flagrant flirting with me any longer. She walked directly over to me with him, threw him in my arms, and said, "Here! Take him!"

What can I say? I'm in love with my nephew!