Words I will never forget

It was almost four months ago. Baby K had a very serious episode and we were in the E.R. I was terrified. K was very sick. Looking back at our three E.R. experiences, I now know that if you are whisked back ASAP and surrounded immediately by nurses and the doctor - its not that the E.R. is super efficient, its that the patient is in bad shape. I was thankful that our last two visits we were not seen by the doctor within minutes. But that's not the point of this post.

Things calmed down a few hours later, and I had a chance to go to the bathroom to regroup and just breathe and cry in private, I went back into K's room. The pediatric doctor arrived. I wish I knew her name so I could thank her for her treatment of us. She was gentle and kind. She complimented my diaper bag. (Marie Hasty makes the best diaper bags, FYI.) She looked gently into K's ears and began talking to K. I could tell by her voice that she meant what she said. She told K:"You are going to grow up to be big and strong. You are such a handsome boy. You are going to go to Kindergarten and you are going to learn to read and write and do math. The girls are going to love you. They are going to say, 'Ooh there is K. Isn't he handsome? Isn't he smart. We just love him.' You are going to grow, be smart, and be healthy."

I'll never forget those words. Words of comfort and hope midst so much negativity. And those are our prayers for our sweet Little K. That he grows big and strong and healthy..and of course, that the girls love him;-)

Home sweet home

Our little K-man is home after 5 weeks, 3 days at Children's Hospital of Boston. He received wonderful care down there - but we are very happy to have him home in our arms. We are especially thankful for Dr. Katie O'Donnell who was an awesome advocate for K's care. Thank you, Dr. Katie!

We came home with a new course of meds and a new treatment plan. We are cautiously optimistic that this will keep K out of Children's. Please pray with us that God protects little K from all the colds and flus this season!

Perspective

Having a baby in the hospital is tiring and stressful. We love visiting K. We do not love the hour + drive to Boston.

After having a baby in the hospital for over a month, I was a just a bit miffed to hear that that the pulmonary doctor wanted to re-run a test. (this test takes about a week to be scheduled, performed, and then have the results read.) Especially when about an hour earlier, we were being prepped on going home. It was disappointing to say the least.

My mom, dad, Morgann, Baby I and I were on a walk around Boston near the hospital when I heard the news that K. would be staying for the next week or so. I was mad. I was cranky. I was not rejoicing that he has the best care in the country. My mom chided me to thank God anyways. I mumbled under my breath like a rebellious toddler apologizing, "thank you God that he is staying." I didn't mean it at all.

As we walked closer to the hospital, a hearse was leaving Boston Children's Hospital. At first, I did not even realize what that meant. Mom pointed it out to me - Abbey - a hearse just left the hospital. A mommy and daddy are NEVER taking their baby home. A parent's worst tragedy. I stopped and prayed for that family. Though we do not know K's future, it is seemingly not that grim. He will come home. He will get stronger. And I firmly believe he will LIVE. K will live life. My perpective was quickly changed. Boston is doing above and beyond to ensure K thrives. And I am even grateful that he is still in the hospital getting the best care.

Cheese with your whine?

Our sweet, sweet foster son, K is back in the hospital. This time he's in Boston. My heart breaks for this little trooper. We had quite an experience on Sunday - complete with me and Rich getting our first ambulance rides. We told K that he better get a good job when he grows up to help repay all the tax dollars he's been spending lately. But I do have very high hopes for this little boy when he grows up. He is going to be something special.

Today I am just sad. Sad for K. Sad for us. Sad for Morgann. Sad for baby I. Just sad. My tear-factory is flowing. Our hearts, energy, souls, time, and lack of sleep are wrapped up in this special little boy. Part of me doesn't know how long we can continue doing what we are doing. The other part never wants to lose him. I'm sure other parents of medically fragile children feel what we are feeling. In fact, I saw it in their eyes yesterday while down at the Children's hospital. 11 floors of hospital comitted to caring for kids. Its overwhelming.

I have been spoiled by Morgann's perfect health. We've had one sick visit and she's never even had antibiotics or a prescription in her 4.5 years of life. We see Dr. T once a year and he marvels at her immune system. I'm blessed by that. Now, when I travel with K, my car is filled with medical supplies that are worth at least 5x the amount of our vehicle.

And today, I am just...sad. Please pray for us and our sweet little K.

A weekend away

Every weekend after Labor Day, Rich and I are blessed to attend the Pastor's Encouragement Retreat sponsored by Phil Waldrep ministries. It is a wonderful, relaxing, encouraging, and basically spoiling weekend sponsored by people who have a passion for providing a weekend of solace for New England pastors and their wives. Being able to come together with so many people in the same situations as us and sharing with one another is also a precious time. (I also met two other foster parenting couples!) Rich and I look forward to this weekend every year.

Dad and Sarah came down last week for Morgann to take her to VA for a week. I hear she is having a fabulous time - though I miss her a lot today! We were able to get respite care for the boys. They seemed to have a good weekend there.

And us, well we had a perfect weekend. The retreat was great, the speakers were inspiring, the food was delicous, and we went canoeing and fishing and the fish were biting - we caught 8 in two hours! It was lovely. And the weather was perfect to boot. Life seems a bit easier to tackle after weekends like these. We are refreshed and ready to take on our crazy lives again:-)

P.S. Who wants the kids next year Sept 9-11? Anyone??

3 kids...

All three kids are at home now:) We are very happy Baby K is home and mostly healthy. Please keep his health in your prayers as he is medically very fragile.

We will have 40 hours a week of nursing care for him. I'm thankful for that - and will be able to get some good sleep some nights as he is on monitors that alarm quite often.

My brain is mush.

I hear that being pregnant is what takes part of your brain away. I don't agree. It is the kids, they must somehow suck it out when you are changing their diapers. :)

We have three kids. That is crazy. Not so much having three children is crazy, but going from one kid, to two, back to one, then to three, two of which are babies, is a bit crazy. And its only been 12 weeks since we became "true" foster parents.

In Limbo

It feels like this past week, I've been just hanging in there and waiting. Things are about the same with K: he's still up at CHaD. He seems tired of being there. Baby I started daycare and that has been a tremendous help. I feel like we have no great direction or plan right now with how life will be after K is discharged and I'm supposed to start doing Pre-K stuff with Morgann. She is begging me to do school and teach her to read.. The planner in me doesn't like that. I know things will work. The Bible tells us in fact that it will work out, however, my plans are not God's plans and His timing is not my timing, and I just need to wait. Waiting is hard. Probably a lot harder than God intended it to be, however, I make it hard.

what to say, what to say...

These past two weeks have been eventful to say the least. In fact, the entire summer has been quite eventful. This is the first week in almost 9 weeks, that its just us at home - that being, Me, Rich, Morgann and our foster kid(s). It has been nice just being us for a few days. We love having guests stay with us, but this a welcomed change.

Our sweet little foster son, K, is now at the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth. Please pray that the doctor's have wisdom and help correct his problems. He's been quite a sick little guy. He gave us quite a scare on Sunday night. Thankfully we acted very quickly and he was able to turn from critical to stable very quickly. We won't be able to visit K every day, but trust that God will take good care of him while he is at CHaD.

Its been quite a learning experience. Its really made me realize how much endurance humans can have, especially when they are trusting in God. I faced a very scary situation in the ER, where, I thought previously, I would never be able to withstand something like that, however, once I began to pray, and pray hard, I was given strength that only can come from God. God continues to provide for us and take care of us. We don't know what the future holds for us and our sweet foster babies, but we will just rest in knowing that each day is a blessing. I wrote earlier about fearing the loss of our foster son W. I learned to cherish the time I had with him, as I did not know how long he would be with us. I was heartbroken when he left, but God comforted us and brought us new blessings. Our foster twins do not replace W, but give us new joys (and trials, and lots of spit up and poop.)

Its not to say that I am not tired. I'm exhausted. I'm emotional and a bit cranky. But God is getting us through this. We are blessed to have each other, these sweet boys and our sweet, patient and ever helpful (but not always obedient) Morgann.

Funny faces

People are fascinated by twins. I know I like to look at twin babies and coo. However, our twins don't exactly match us at all. They don't look a thing like Rich or myself. Me, being a hyper-Caucasian, especially look nothing like these sweet little bundles of joy (and poop, spit-up, and drool).

Leaving the hospital, we were stopped about 3 times by people who wanted to coo at these little boys. They'd first look at the babies, make funny baby noises, say how cute the boys were and then look at me and Morgann. Then their face would say it all - how did they get babies that look like that? I even had one well meaning, but out of line lady ask me: Do they look like their father? My bad response: I don't know. Hahahaha!

Last night, we went on a walk, this time with Rich, and we got the same reactions. It was kind of funny, but also makes the puritan in myself want to say: I promise! I did not cheat on my husband!

Oh the funny joys of fostering.

T for Two

And T for Twins
And Two Twins for me.

Oh boy. Make that Oh boys!

2 eight month old baby boys.

Baby I is already here. Baby K will hopefully be well enough to come home soon.

Please pray for us as we adjust to life as a family of 5 and for Baby K's health.

I know we can do this. I know it will be hard. Make that, I know we can only do this with God's strength. And as someone told me the other day: God wouldn't have sent them to you if you couldn't do it. I agree.

That Mom

Rich, Morgann, and I went to Maine for a long weekend. We had a super fabulous trip. It was nice to get away from people and spend time together. As most of you know, we lost our sweet little foster baby last week and we really needed the time to heal.

But that's not really the point of my post, just the setting.

On our journeys in Maine, we headed to Freeport for the evening. We had planned on going to a free Blue's Traveler's concert at LL Bean. Now, Freeport is a quaint idyllic Maine town that has sold out to commercialism, yet, cons its visitors into thinking that they are not in fact being commercialistic because the outlets are all located in historic buildings. I could blog on about that being the ultimate sell-out of all, but thats still not my point. Perhaps another day...
The atmosophere of Freeport is described basically as: LL Bean wearing, reusable bag toting, Mclaren stroller pushing, caucasian shoppers (who in fact are a lot like me.)

It was a bit crowded and Rich and I just weren't feeling it there. We wanted to get away from people and were just a bit critical of Freeport because basically outlets have somehow taken over the entire historic downtown village area. We were being just a tad bit judgemental, no doubt.

But a cute little local candy shop sucked us in. They had a big display of kiddie candies - paper dots, gold coins, lipstick candy, wax bottles, candy necklaces, all the good stuff - even totally un-politically correct candy cigarettes! Then I saw whistle pops. Morgann was allowed to pick out 4 pieces of candy - she had chosen a candy necklace, a lipstick candy, Neccos and was debating the last one - and I, being That Mom, pointed out the whistle pop to Morgann - Morgann look! A whistle pop! You can make noise while you have candy!! She was more than delighted. We paid our $1.10 for her candy picks and left the store. She picked out her first piece of candy, which of course, as the whistle pop. I happily gave it to her and she began to loudly whistle her whistle pop. I just laughed. I was then That Mom who allowed her little girl to loudly whistle her whistle pop while going from store to store (while not purchasing anything.) Rich said that I would end up on some mom's blog about how dare that other mom let her daughter disturb everyone with that darn whistle pop. After she finished her whistle pop, we decided to skip the concert and just head on to Bath, Me, where we enjoyed a quiet evening out in a non-crowded, less touristy town.

Happenings

I have all sorts of happenings I could post pictures and blog about.

Like...

...our fun church camping trip with two kiddos

...our awesome block party in front of the house

...our friends from Florida visiting

...Vacation Bible school going on this week

...my love of the Goldenrod

...how happy Little Dude has been since Monday

...Morgann's first crush

...how my husband is better than Mike or Brian

...how I spewed tea all over the keyboard reading Sarah's blog

But I don't have time. In fact, I should be working, instead of pretending to work while reading blogs. Since the arrival of Little Dude, our lives have been on super-busy mode. It has been fun, emotional, tiring, exciting, challenging, constant activities, sleep deprived three weeks. I wouldn't trade our lives for anything:) But a little sleep and downtime would not be turned down!

Words can not express

I just can not find the right words to post how I feel and what is going on. I do not know how much I am allowed to post anyways.

Life with the little guy is good. He has adjusted swimmingly. He's a wonderful, wonderful kid. We are smitten.

Which is great - and scary at the same time. After six short days, he's fit right into our little family. Morgann is an awesome helper and loves her baby brother. She does know that he may leave soon and does not like that idea. We talk about it every day.

For now, we are just enjoying the time we have with this little blessing and loving him as much as possible.

Each night, I put him to bed, and he falls asleep quickly in my arms. His lips purse together, his little chubby fingers lay gently on my arm and he is at peace. It's a gift I will always treasure and fear will leave too soon.

Every child is a gift from God. We do not know how long we will have our children - biological, adopted, or foster: be it one week, one year, or fifty years. Each day is a gift. So I am learning to treasure each day with my two kids, but still working on not fearing the future.

Oh the things you forget....

For example: One must first feed the baby THEN give the baby a bath.


At least the dog likes all the flying food.

:)

oh baby

so there's a new little dude hanging out for a while at the Clegg house. He doesn't seem to like to sleep at night. 2:33 a.m. Finally fell asleep. I'm sure it was quite a day for this little dude. Pray for us and for good sleep.....

now I sleep....

Thoughts on parenting....

I came across this from another blog that I like to read: Mama Is. While, I don't agree with everything she writes about, I love her style and her old Hathor comics. :)

THE MANIFESTO OF THE IDLE PARENT

We reject the idea that parenting requires hard work
We pledge to leave our children alone
We reject the rampant consumerism that invades children from the moment they are born
We read them poetry and fantastic stories
We drink alcohol without guilt*
We reject the inner Puritan*
We don’t waste money on family days out and holidays
An idle parent is a thrifty parent
An idle parent is a creative parent
We lie in bed for as long as possible
We try not to interfere
We play in the fields and forests
We push them into the garden and shut the door so we can clean the house
We both work as little as possible, particularly when the kids are small
Time is more important than money
Happy mess is better than miserable tidiness
Down with school
We fill the house with music and merriment
We reject health and safety guidelines
We embrace responsibility
There are many paths
More play, less work

What are your thoughts? Its always a bit refreshing to find a view that lines up somewhat close to my views on parenting, but in reality our house doesn't always look that way.....but ideally, it would line up closely.

Us, a Jesus loving, thrifty, city dwelling, outdoor and fun loving, striving towards "less is more" type of family. And yes, Morgann and I love to lie in bed together as long as possible. :-)

* We don't drink. I cook with wine and have no guilt in doing so;)
* I'm not sure what rejecting the inner Puritan is supposed to mean. We love God by loving God we live our lives to glorify Him. We don't live the the Law, but out of love of Jesus.

I think I want to write more on this later. But Morgann and the Hasty kids are on their way and I should take my freshly folded, but not put away, laundry off the couch and maybe put it away, or just throw it back in the basket, before they arrive;)

Playing House

Do you remember playing house as a kid? It was one of my favorite past times. Morgann has been playing house with her neighborhood friends quite often. It is so cute to watch and listen.

What a cute family.


Sarah and I think Guerto is the cutest boy ever! (He's pretty darn stylish for a 5 year old, complete with a faux-hawk.) He's a sweetie and he and Morgann have such a fun time together.

Diggin in the Dirt

Loretta loves to dig dig dig. She's a digger dog. We are pretty sure she is part beagle, part golden retriever, both of which enjoy digging. However, someone else in our house doesn't help with the digging problem. A certain 4 year old little girl. Its okay. we love both the digger girls.

If all goes as planned, we will be meeting a potential foster daughter soon. More details later....but if you want to pray - pray that its a good match and we know for sure if this is the home she is supposed to be in.

Yellow Dog

We have a favorite local icecream shop -The Goldenrod. They make their own icecream and its wicked good.

I have (another) theory that New Englanders also like ice cream more than any other region. We have many many delicious local places that open seasonally. Our out-of-town guests always comment on the selection when we visit. But Goldenrod is our favorite. My favorite flavor is "Graham Cracker." It is graham cracker flavored ice-cream with chocolate covered crunchy graham chipsand swirled with crushed graham cracker crumbs. I love it. In fact if I was ten years old, I would marry it. It's that good.

Our friend, Ryan from Florida also shares in our enthusiasm for the Goldenrod. Last summer we took him one time. The next day he wanted to go again.However, he kept saying he wanted to go to "The Yellow Dog", it took a while but we figured out where he wanted to go. Happily we obliged.

So, here's our first summah trip to the Yellow Dog. It was after Morgann's school concert. (I know its not summer officially, but hey, we have no snow on the ground, thus its summer in my book!)

Love Letter

Dear Trader Joe,
Thank you for being so wonderful for lunchtime. My lunches used to be so sad or non-existent asI do not enjoy the typical sandwich. But once you came into my life, lunch came alive again! Rice sticks with hummus and hot sauce, or wraps with lettuce, tomato and hummus, or sushi. Snow peas, carrots, apples, bananas. Or even salmon and couscous. Lunch, is alive. And my budget is still alive as well. My little girl adores you too. Her favorites are the cheese sticks, organic animal cracker and like me the hummus! Thank you dear friend Joe.

And I can afford to eat you for lunch every day. You are a true friend.

Love,
Abbey

P.S. see you next Wednesday after work. I'm so glad you are part of my new commute to Mass.

Let the Little Children Come

I haven't had a topic to blog about recently. We've been up to our normal activities: church, chaplaincy, work, community center, and random craziness. But also busy squeaking in any spare minutes outside - its been so beautiful. I am convinced that New Englanders enjoy warm weather than any other region. If its warm, everyone is out doors. Lawn chairs in driveways. Canoes on the rooftops. Neighbors hanging out. Yard work. Kids on the loose, which we call "Feral Children." On any given sunny day, our yard is filled with the feral children. I am praying for ways to reach these kids with the Good News of Jesus and the hope they can find in Him. Personally, I know quite a few of these kids have rough home lives. So we just love on these Feral Yard children. Morgann LOVES it. We are also praying for a good deal on a new swingset. We have an older one thats not so safe due to wild feral children;) Its all good though.

Repost from 2008

We are Virginia Tech.



As we remember those that were lost a year ago (now two years), I want to also remember the beauty of Virginia Tech. VT holds a special place in the heart of anyone who has attended or even visited. Whenever we visit, I totally miss those days. I took a lot of it for granted - the beautiful setting, the tight community, the good food, the freedom.







Remember when.....

• we moved in as freshmen? I was so scared.



• we ice skated on the Duck Pond that really cold winter (Junior Year) Me, Ambo and Chad.



• walking across the drillfield. (a million times.)



• Our first kiss in the stairwell of New Res. East.



• (OK, only Rich should remember that one!)



• Navy ball. Mil ball. Ring dance.



• Best of times!



• playing "Would you be my friend if....I stuck bubblegum in your hair?" Only if you ate it afterwards!



• ELECTRIC!



• Primetime in the chapel. Live from Blacksburg....iits primetime. (Old School Cru Meetings)



• Fireworks on the drillfield.



• We didn't have cell phones...we had IM and ICQ.



• Sunday night coffee at oh, gosh, I can't remember the name - the coffee shop next to the Rivermill, that had a cat in there. (I remember now, Bollo's. Of course!)



• Going out. I don't drink at all anymore, but we had some fun times playing pool.



• Football games. Emma and I one season always painted VT's on our faces. Jon, her future husband would paint his whole head.



• There is nothing better than a crisp, sunny autumn day in Lane Stadium, Hokies winning of course!I'll never forget our time there.

We'll never forget the 32 that were killed. Virginia Tech will prevail. It will always be a magical place. Morgann told me on this visit that she wanted to go to school here. I hope she does. I hope she does!

I think about that day two years ago. I was in our fourth floor apartment on Wayne Street. Sitting on our maroon painted couch on the phone with Emma. Staring in disbelief at the television. It was ten o'clock or so. Time stood still. I called mom. I called Maggie. I called Sarah. SARAH?? Where is Sarah?? I got on Hokie SPA to look up classes in Norris. I remember Sarah had some class the *could* be in Norris. Of course I didn't know which class it was exactly....Finally mom called. Sarah was safe, heartbroken, but safe. Relief. Then sadness. What about the parents and siblings that did not get that call? My prayers are with those families today.

Full Term

I've thought of the foster care process as a pregnancy so that I would not get too discouraged about how the process: the amount of hoops to jump, inspections, paperwork, home renovations, to name a few. The classes were the first trimester and took about 12 weeks (Thankfully without any vomiting!) The paperwork and inspections were trimester two and took about 12 weeks too. Now we are in the third trimester. In fact, we are full term...37 weeks or so!

We are LICENSED with the state! Yahoo!! If Morgann's arrival is anything like the arrival of our first foster kiddo - it will be a little of a wait. So I will try to be patient........but still hope that a kid arrives anyday. Please pray with us that we are able to postively impact the lives of children and that they would all come to know and love Jesus at an early age.

SC and Easter

The past month has been a blur. Rich and I started up new Chaplain client companies in MA. That has added a bit more on my plate - but reduced Rich at the Y to only 5 hours a week so he can be a bit more sane and spend more time at the church. So that is good! We then went to SC for a quick trip for Rich's grandparent's 50th anniversary party. We had a good time. Last week was, well, challenging. But God is good. Easter was very nice. We had a great church service and we have a great group of people who are committed to the church and wanting to see it grow.Very encouraging! Here are a few pictures from the last month.

Online Friends

I have a few online friends and blogs that I like to read. Somewhat famous blogs - one of my favorite of which is MyCharmingKids. This mom is a lot like me in "mom philosophy" - the crunchy, breastfeeding advocating, vaccine delaying, co-sleeping, attachment parenting mom - except with 4 little kidlets (I can't imagine, though we would love 4 kids one day...)

Anyway, I added a little link at the end of my blog. Her littlest one is very sick with a heart condition. Check out her blog and pray for the little dude.

Make a new friend everyday....

I admire kids and their ability to make friends. On Saturday, we attended a friend's birthday party. There was another little girl at the party who was Morgann's age. Morgann showed the little girl her princess computer. Within minutes, they were dancing together and the two were inseparable for three hours. While I, on the other hand, had to push myself to try to be social. Its silly, really, how reserved and uneasy adults can be in social situations. Rich does do a much better job than I at being socialable and making friends. Too bad I can't just bring a princess computer to a bar, introduce myself and make a friend with in two minutes. Perhaps next time I shall try....

P.S. the title is a My Little Pony Song, in case your were wondering....StarSong sings it. Ponies rule in our house right now:)

Sunny Daze

It's a lovely 55 and sunny here today, but this, well, this was really really nice:) I love New Hampshire, but if I could live the month of February in Florida, well, lets just say, you would not hear me complain:) .

Happy Birthday Morgann

4 year old already! How on earth did that happen? It seems like just yesterday I was meeting this little girl in the outside world for the first time. I still remember: "It's a girl!" (We did not find out her gender.) Life changed in such a wonderful way with those three words:) I am so blessed to be Morgann's mom.



Morgann spent most of her birthday in a car seat. Poor kid. We were driving from FL to VA, returning from our trip. She was a trooper and was happy and 99% of our 26 driving hours. I, on the otherhand, not so much. We stopped by Me-Ma and Poppie's for dinner and cake, and then crashed and resumed our journey back to NH. Happy Birthday Morgann. We love you:)

Inspector Gadget

We had the last of our inspections today for becoming licensed foster care parents. Coupled with the home study this week, getting some other forms in place, cleaning, and being a bit nervous about the inspectors coming to look around, I am beat. Once the health inspector left today, I just felt zapped of all energy. Tomorrow, we are fingerprinted. The "man" will know who we are now. :-P (I'm such a libertarian at heart!!) And that is the LAST step. So hopefully by Friday at 9 a.m. we will have completed all the necessary forms, inspections, medical check ups, home study, and giving the state of NH every detail of our lives - such as - what is your favorite feeling? Yep, NH knows my favorite feeling now. Its worth it though.

Anyway, I am excited. Another good thing, is our house has been extremely clean all week and is almost organized. Though, somehow I lost Lo's medical forms. I have searched high and low.....thankfully her vet faxed them through to the Health and Saftey guy ASAP.

We are praying for the future child(ren) that will come live in the Clegg household. We hope they come soon:)

Run, Run, as fast as you can!

Loretta would like to run, run as fast as she can! But, sadly, I can only sustain a sprint for, eh, 1/10 a mile! But we went on a lovely run just a few minutes ago:) I wore....SHORTS! Its amazingly warm out - 52! Sweating never felt so good. I've kept up running this winter - but not as often as I would like - and as far as I would like - my lungs, I feel, freeze, running in 15 degrees. And I just don't sweat. Perhaps, I do sweat, and it just freezes immediately. Hmmm, that's a theory. I'm just beyond elated at the warm weather today.

I need to take a picture of my old Camry for those who asked still. I will. I promise!


I'm looking forward to running again tomorrow and in FL during winter vacation! Woohoo.

In my neverending quest to save money (God knew we'd be church planters and made me thrifty since childhood), I am devising a new grocery plan for the month. I have to admit, I have been way slack on keeping up with grocery expenses and attempting to save extra.

So since we moved here, I've seen in the paper an ad for JD Foods. They always had super low looking prices for meat BUT only accepted cash and honestly I am a wimp at trying unfamiliar places. If it wasn't for our Nepali friends, I still would have not gone to the Asian Market. So here's my new plan and the outcome thus far for the month.

We get rent (in cash) on the 3rd. So after depositing most of it, I went over to JD's to check it out. Its in an industrial park and not-so-glamourous. Its like SAM's Club, but much less attractive. But does that really matter? A nice guy works there and he was very helpful.
So I got:
10 lbs of shredded cheddar cheese @ 1.69/lb
5 lbs sliced lunch cheese @ 1.99/lb
10 lbs chicken breasts @ 1.69/lb
5 lbs. potatoes @ 1.69
2 loaves of bread @ 3.00
5 lbs. ground beef @ 1.89/lb

Total tab: $58

I estimate it will be enough meat for the month and we won't be buying sliced cheese until June (expiration date)

Time spent repackaging everything so I can freeze it: 10 minutes

So for the rest of the month I will be buying: Apples, Bananas, Lettuce/Spinach, Carrots, Cilantro, Yogurt for Morgann, crackers, hummus, Cereal, Rich's snack cakes, & milk & probably a trip to the bread outlet. I'll do one trip down to Trader Joes (get: hummus, apples, bananas, ygurt, cereal, salmon, & crackers for Morgann, and sushi for Sarah and I to devour) in my fuel efficient old Toyota and spend about $50, and if possible just spend $50 more at the regular grocery store for the rest of the month getting perishables.

Frozen

Ok. I love snow. I really really do. Love it. I'm just a little cold...my toes are cold. My hands are cold. My face is cold. Brrrr. I could use some warm right about....now.

I did find some "Smart Wool" socks for a good price at the LL Bean outlet, that amazingly warm my feet. They are being washed now though:( If you (women) wear a size 6-8, you can fit into kid's socks and they are MUCH cheaper. Just a hint.

hot new ride

Okay. Not hot. Not new. But old and ugly. But for some reason, I love it - 1990 Toyota Camry with 128,000 miles (thats barely broken in for us!)

Rich's truck needs major work, so we've been a one car family since November. I suppose it saved us a bit on gas, but was becoming a pain to coordinate schedules. I'm sure it could have been done forever, but alas, we got a $400 old Camry. I think it rocks. I'm crazy! It needs a new quarter panel (eventually) and its set. West Side Manchester ride for sure!

Soap Box

I really think the inauguration today is a bit disgusting. Yes, I am a proponent for LESS government not more. But that’s not really the reason. I would be disgusted no matter who won the presidency for spending 120 million on the event. A one day event! I just feel if they spent a "mere" 10 million, it could be done simply, beautifully, and celebrate the historic presidency - then designated 110 million to non-profits that help the poor - homeless - single moms - hardworking families who are having a hard time paying for there heat, like most of us in NH - it would be so much better spent. 110 non-profits receiving a million dollars would impact the lives of people perhaps for a lifetime, not a one day event.

I am proud that NH Gov. John Lynch (D) did in fact scale down his inaugural events to just a swearing in ceremony - cancelled the ball. He did the right thing.

In economic times like these, spending up to 200 million as some have reported for a one day event is irresponsible. Plain and Simple. It’s a slap in the face to those who work hard and are having a very hard time making ends meet.

Clinton spent 33 million on his inauguration. Bush 45 million (and was heavily criticized for spending so much).

Nepali Refugees

We have been incredibly blessed by the opportunity to work with a group of Nepali refugees. They are so hospitable and make the most amazing dishes!

"Here is a little explanation of the influx of Nepali people we are seeing. Our new friends are of Nepali descent but were born in the country of Bhutan. About 17 years ago, Bhutan threw out the Nepali people. Most of them went back to Nepal, but not having been born there, they had no citizenship in their home country. Nepal set up three refugee camps for them. 17 years later they are still in these camps, but of course there are many more of them now. The US made a commitment to take 60,000 of these refugees between 2008-2012. We have learned that there are around 200 in Manchester now, with more coming.
Please pray with us as we try to reach these people for Christ.

- Pray that we form deep friendships that allow us to live out the love of Christ.
- Pray for them to find jobs before their government support runs out.
- Pray that our people at church will welcome new friends and be flexible to any changes we may make in the near future." from Marie Hasty's newsletter

We have a new friend, Amos, who is Nepali working with us this week. He is praying about moving to Manchester to help us out. That would be awesome!

Below is a Union Leader (NH newspaper) article about the Nepalese. Thanks to Will Stewart for his continued support! I think you can click on it to read it.

a Hallmark special

I am a sucker for Hallmark specials. I have been since I can remember. I love a sappy love story, coupled with tragedy, perhaps an orphan, and then ending happily ever after. Most of these sappy stories take place in New England it seems. And during the winter. I think that is when I fell in love with the idea of New England and especially the winters. Snowy towns in a blanket of white for months on end.

I was driving in Concord last week, through a cute little neighborhood covered in snow. The sun was shining (though that is a rarity), and the snow was shimmering. I thought to myself: I am living my Hallmark dream! I live in a winter wonderland. And we love it.

And we are getting 5-9"more inches tonight to add to the ground. Fresh snow, horray!

525,600 minutes

How do you measure a year?

In snowfall? We had over 118" inches of snow in 2008.

In fun trips? We started 2008 out with a visit with cousin Noah. He stayed with us for a week. We went to Virginia for Sarah's graduation. We went down to CT for a retreat. We went to NYC to see Myxy and then down to VA again for a fourth of July party. We went to Ohio for a family reunion, then on down (or was it up or over) to West Virginia to help Rich's parents move to SC. And then to Vermont for a lovely weekend away just Rich and I. Then we went down to SC to help them out after the fire.

Or all the great church events and community events? I did a slide show for the church and was amazed at all that God was able to accomplish in 2008. Weekly Church, Sky Show, 3 Block Parties, 3 Neighborhood Cleanups, 1 Sports Camp, 1 VBS, weekly Community Centers, Camping Trip, Job Skills Class, Financial Literacy Class, Harvest Party, Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas party. God is good. Now we have an awesome opportunity to help out a group of refugees from Nepal.

Or as in Rent, in love? I love my God, I love my family, our friends, our church, our ministry. I love New Hampshire. And Morgann, she loves chocolate!