What are you listening to?

I love music. I love that a lot of times it describes how I'm feeling or thinking and I love listening to great songwriters. I always say that I'm open to listening to all different kinds of music but I've discovered that the majority of the music I listen to is somehow folk related. Almost all the music I listen to has the word folk in the genre name....have you seen all the crazy genre names?Soul folk, alternative folk, new folk, urban folk, even the worship music I listen to has a folk sound to it sometimes....now that I've typed folk that many times it doesn't even look like a word! :) Anyway, I thought I'd share what I am listening to this week. I usually listen to few albums for a couple weeks and then I find another one and then just go back to my favorite songs from the albums that I've listened to too. I'd love to hear what you are currently listening to!

What are you listening to lately??

What are you reading??

So I love to read and I love music. I also love to hear what other people are reading and listening to. I'll share what I'm up to if you guys will share what you're up to along with any recommendations! Also, I have a horrible time choosing fiction books so I just don't read them. Seriously, every one I choose stinks. The last one I chose was called "Home" and I thought it was gonna be really good. Maybe some people thought it was...I dunno. I thought it was depressing and took entirely too long to tell the story. So, if you have any fiction that you like, please let me know. Oh, I should note that I don't like books that freak me out...like weirdo mystery/science fiction/murder/crime stuff. I know...that removes quite a bit doesn't it? Okay, enough rambling...here we go!


I am currently reading:

"Lonely Planet Ethiopian Amharic Phrasebook"

Okay, I should admit that I am a language nerd. I love it. I studied linguistics in school and teach ESL. I speak Spanish and I actually enjoy diagramming sentences. My husband thinks that is frightening. ;) Anyway, I figured it was time to start learning some Amharic since we will hopefully be going to Ethiopia this year. Last year I was semi-learning Arabic but I got slack and decided it was time to start on Amharic. Anyway, I really like this book because it shows you how to phonetically pronounce the words and gives tid-bits on each page about the language AND the culture. Also, it's little so I can carry it with me in my purse. Oh, and I really miss the show Lonely Planet. Did anybody else ever watch that? Ian was my favorite.


"There is No Me Without You" by Melissa Fay Greene


I cannot put this book down. I carry it around the house with me because I want to keep reading it! I am learning so much about Ethiopia and the AIDS crisis as I read this book.


"Freeing Your Child from Anxiety" by Tamar Chansky, Ph.D


Our daughter deals with social anxiety and separation anxiety and this book has been really helpful in giving us ideas to help her and understand where she's coming from.


"One Wide Sky: A Bedtime Lullaby" by Deborah Wiles

I'm a sucker for children's literature...maybe because I'm a teacher. This book has the most wonderful illustrations and it's just a cute story. Our daughter is currently obsessed with squirrels so this one gets read a lot.


"The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name"

We try to read a story from this Bible every night. Isabel LOVES the stories and she pays such careful attention to everything. The illustrations are gorgeous and the stories have humor, relevance to kids, and always point to Jesus. We love it!

"Radical" by David Platt

I actually haven't started this yet but I have it! Brian and I are gonna start reading it next Monday with a group of friends. We are really excited about it.

Well, it's my bedtime so I better save what I'm listening to till tomorrow. Comment and let me know what all you guys are reading!

Forever Reign

I seriously can't stop listening to this song.

a bit overwhelmed

Why is applying for grants for our adoption so daunting and overwhelming to me? I wish we just had the money to pay for all of it. After working full-time, making dinner, getting Isa ready for bed, and then sitting down to work on lesson plans and grant applications/paperwork...it feels like we're never gonna get them finished. I know we will but seriously, it's daunting.

Wait Make that 3 Great Giveaways!

Real quick I just wanted to share a couple cool giveaways because who doesn't love a giveaway??
(I just added another giveaway that I'm not sure how I missed!)

The first one is my friend April from college! She is so funny and has an awesome blog! She is doing a giveaway for 5 different packs! Several of them have items from China because she has spent a lot of time there.

http://cupofdelight.blogspot.com/2011/01/give-away-5-fabulous-give-aways.html

The other giveaway is from The Domesticated Diva, a sweet mom adopting from Ethiopia with our agency too! I love reading her blog and she has a way cool giveaway for a piece of art from The Canvas Heart! Go see! http://thisdomesticateddiva.blogspot.com/2011/01/blessed-gift-giveaway-for-you.html

The third giveaway is from Future Mama over at Expecting a Blessing! This family is adopting from Taiwan! I am so excited to follow along with their journey! Her site has an awesome giveaway for 3 different handmade paper and regular bead bracelets from Twirling Trees! Go check it out! http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/2011/01/first-raffle.html

A REAL snow day!

Yesterday I blogged about the not so snow filled "snow day" when school was cancelled but not for teachers. Well, guess what?? Last night, I got the call that today would be a FOR REAL snow day! Yay! And, today was Brian's day off so all three of us got to stay home and hang out together. Oh, guess what y'all? Last night Brian came home from work with this:

Seriously! Isn't that awesome? Haha! We had leftovers for lunch too! They had a deal: 2 pizzas with crazy bread and sauce for $10.00. Brian said apparently the greater Clemmons area must have read my blog cuz there was a 30 minute wait for pizza! Anyways, he was kind and patient to wait and bring it home to us.

Oh, and look what came in the mail yesterday too? Isabel LOVES getting packages and letters in the mail more than anything. I recently ordered this shirt for her and one for me from Erica's blog. They need to sell 100 shirts to help bring their daughter, Zahra, home. She is doing a giveaway now on her site too so go check it out. They need to sell 55 more shirts. Isn't it cute? She wanted to put it on as soon as she ripped it out of the bag and of course she wanted her squirrel to be in the picture too. :)

Also, last night we watched the movie "Black Gold" for the first time. I had heard that it was really good but wow, it opens up your eyes. It's about the coffee industry and its effect on coffee farmers in Ethiopia. I seriously want to only buy fair trade coffee now. I was all about it before but now that I've seen in the film how it can truly benefit families and villages, I want to seek it out. I'm thankful that we found out about JustLoveCoffee Roasters too. I love that they are passionate about adoption AND Ethiopia AND supporting coffee farmers. And, they are helping us with fundraising too. I know I've sent our link out before but I thought I'd share it again if you watch "Black Gold" and want to find some fair trade coffee.

Here it is: http://justlovecoffee.com/TheHunts

The movie also has some AMAZING views of Ethiopia and life there in the capital and in the southern region of Oromia. Check out the trailer. We got it through Netflix.

Alright I hope you all have a great night! We have ANOTHER snow day tomorrow. I'm not a big fan of going to school till late June but honestly, I love snow days! Tomorrow I'll post some pics of Brian and Isabel's sledding adventures.

"Snow day" and a confession

Uhmmm...where is the snow?! I am sitting at school in my trailer looking out the window and there is nothing! No kids here and hardly any teachers. I am not a fan of lonely work days and school called off the day before. I know it said that it's an "optional" work day but if you don't have a lot of Annual Leave days to start with like me then you are not gonna go wasting them.

On another note. I am going to confess something. I like Little Caesar's Pizza. I admitted it. I know it's only sold in Kmart but it brings back so many memories for me. Okay, let me start over. :) Last night, we had to get some batteries and the closest place to our house for batteries is Kmart. So, we went in....now mind you I always try to be open minded about going in there even though I have had several bad experiences there, and as we go through the door Brian says, "Hah, maybe we should just have Little Caesar's for dinner" and he's sorta joking. I looked at him and I said, "What? That sounds awesome!" He is not a big fan of the Pan Pan pizza and Crazy Bread and all that. So, we walk and turn and sadly, the lights were off. The Little Caesar's people weren't working. But then I just started remembering how my mom would take me and one of my BFFs over to the Little Caesar's (before it was in the K-marK...yes i know people that say it like that) and we would squish into her tiny little 300ZX and then end up holding that GINORMOUS pizza (cuz you know it always came w/ two in that long cardboard box) on our laps. We would already be on top of each other then with a huge pizza in our laps. We would laugh and laugh and then get home to watch a movie and eat Crazy Bread and Pizza. I know it's not really all that good but you know what? If it ever snows today and they say I can leave...I am totally going by K-mart on the way for lunch.

Can you help?

Alright, I wanna post a couple of things to share with you all. 1 giveaway that I found out and 3 really important things that maybe you'll help out with.

1. JunkPosse has an awesome giveaway today! You need to check out the necklace on her blog! Go leave a comment and then FB, blog, or tweet about it to enter. She's choosing a winner on Jan. 20th.
http://junkposse.blogspot.com/2011/01/neglectful-blogger-necklace-giveaway.html

2. The Shubin family is adopting a little girl from Ethiopia and selling awesome t-shirts. Brian has a long-sleeve one and he loves it! It is so soft. Isabel is super excited to get her pink one in the mail! She loves packages. Anyway, they needed to sell about 100 shirts total to pay for their first trip soon! They just need to sell 64 more now!

http://thisshubinclan.blogspot.com/ and here is the t-shirt shop.

3. A really great non-profit that we love called Caroline's Promise has applied for a grant through Kindermusik International that would allow them to build a library at Casita Adonai in Guatemala City. Your vote makes a huge difference! You can vote 10x a day between now and February 9. You have to wait 24 hours between votes so if you vote today at 2pm you have to wait until tomorrow at 2pm to vote. Here's how it works:
Visit www.kindermusik.com/legacy/grants. Choose - Ideas listed by votes. CP should be near the top! Their project is "Development of library for inner city school in Guatemala" and the name Lisa Holbrook is beside it. Here is a little video about the project.

Kindermusik Grant Request from Lisa Holbrook on Vimeo.

4. A local family that we have met through our local adoption network really needs our help! Last December they received a referral for a little boy that they had planned to name Moses but the region that he is from closed to adoptions right about the same time! They waited and waited for many months for everything to open up again but it didn't so they had to make a hard decision and accept a referral for another little boy. That little boy is now their son but they still knew that Moses would be their son too if the region ever opened up again. Last week they found out that Moses is officially available for adoption again! It's a miracle! He is paperwork ready and all that is standing between them and their son is $14,000. I have seen God provide in miraculous ways before so I know it is possible! If you would like to help this family go to: http://www.christianworldfoundation.org/home.htm
Click on Donate Now. Then under "specify donation":Select general fund and enter donation amount. Move on to the OPTIONAL section and select "CWA Family". Write Daniel and Abby Umlauf so CWA knows where to apply the donation.

New Number!

We just got our new official number today! I'm so excited because I really wasn't anticipating any movement at all! We have been dying to pull some more links off of our paperchain and yay, now we can! So we are officially:

Isn't that a cute little owl? I had no idea there were that many cool people out there on flikr taking pictures of number sets and sharing them through Creative Commons! I'm sure they have no idea all these mommas on waitlists want them for their blog updates! Haha!
Happy Thursday y'all!