New Site

I told you last week to stay tuned for some excitement around here, and now I'm ready to share the news.

I've been working on a new site for Answering Our Call, and it should be ready to go on Monday!

Now don't panic, with my limited tech knowledge and resources, it's still easy to understand and navigate. I've also added information on our home renovations, to keep all my content in one spot. With the preparation of our Dossier, I imagine updates from the adoption will become far and few between (remember, it's a 12-24 month wait period for our referral). By mixing up my content a bit more, it will allow me to keep writing (which I enjoy!) and keep you reading (if you want).

One change that you will notice, is that you will no longer have to add .blogspot to the URL. Simply go to answeringourcall.com and you will be directed to the site.

I know, old habits die hard, so if you put in the old site, you will automatically be redirected to the new.

Easy as pie. Speaking of pie, I might throw in some recipes here and there as well.

High Five for Friday

Is it just me, or does it feel like I only write about H54F anymore? Things have been a little slow on the adoption horizon. I've got some things up my sleeve for the future of Answering Our Call—stay tuned! As for now, let's get on to the high-fiving. 

1. It's March, which means Spring. 'Nuff said. No, but I'm serious. We've got 60s in the forecast. 

2. My bro-in-law and future sis-in-law are in town for Spring Break. We're only able to spend a few days with them, but it's been fun. We've got plans to visit them a little later this Spring. You know how you just have those people that get you? They're them for us. Living states apart isn't that great.

3. I think this technically happened last week, but I got to talk to a good friend/family member and just catch up on life. There are times in life when you don't realize how much you really miss someone. She also makes awesome stuff. Check her out at vinyltigersbears.com. She makes the softest. blankets. ever. Think of your favorite blanket...the ones she makes are softer. 

4. Some of our friends stayed at our house and watched Nellie for us when we went on vacation (in December), so we finally figured out a time for us to take them out to dinner as a thank you. We went to a town favorite, Hickory Park, which, in my opinion, never gets old. We usually see them about once a week with our small group, but we were out in a new environment this time, which was kind nice.

5. This weekend we're heading back home. Adam has some stuff to work on at his parents house and we're also going to celebrate my brother's birthday. We haven't been back to that side of the state since Christmas-ish, so it will be fun. I'm looking forward to it. 

That's all for me. Like I said, stay tuned for some hopefully exciting things. But in the mean time, what are you doing this weekend? 

The Drop Box Film

The Drop Box is a documentary created by Focus on the Family that looks at the hundreds of babies that are abandomed in Souel, South Korea each year.

An idea that originated in the Czech Republic, the baby box is now common among cities around the world. One brave pastor felt the call to rescue and care for these unwanted babies, and, with the specs of a Korean newborn, the drop box was created.

The story walks us through Pastor Lee and his wife's journey through parenting a severely disabled child, who would become their son. From there, Pastor Lee created the "drop box", for mothers to anonymously leave their children to be cared for by the church.

As soon as the baby is dropped off, a bell immediately rings, alerting the pastor and his wife that a baby has been dropped off. We learn of a common practice in Souel—abandoning children on the streets, which leads to a probable death.

It's a beautiful story of a man's answer to a call that we're all asked to do—look after orphans. A man choosing to love the way God loves us.

It's only in theaters March 3–5, so you've only got two days left to see it. I highly recommend it!

Watch the trailer here.

High Five for Friday

It's darn near the last Friday in February. I know it's a short month, but that went way too fast. But the good thing about Februray ending, is March beginning. And the good thing about March beginning is Spring.

1. This week has actually gone by really quickly for me since I took Monday off. I didn't do much, hung around home and ran some errands. But it was nice to have the day off work.

2. I went to visit my girlfriend on Friday night and had a great time with her and her friends. We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant (have I mentioned Mexican is my favorite?) and had some drinks. On Saturday we tried on bridesmaids dresses and got them all ordered. Bring on August!

3. I'm trying to read more this year (playing part in some of my goals for this year), and am going for a book a month. So far so good. Last month I read Tina Fey's Bossy Pants (I didn't love it) and this week I finished up Francine Rivers Redeeming Love (loved it). So now I'm on the search to find a new one. Any suggestions? I'm heading to the library this weekend to hopefully score a new one.

4. I felt some serious love this week for my birthdya this past weekend. Adam got me an awesome induction cooktop to use while our kitchen is non-exhistant. It's been a pretty exciting week, being able to cook again. As Adam says , "You don't even need a kitchen now!". For the record, that's not true.

5. It's been serveral weeks of H54F and not many updates. Well, we haven't got much to share. We're waiting for two more letters, a recommendation letter from our pastor and a recommendation letter from our accountant, before we can send in our paperwork to be state sealed by the State of Iowa. I'll be able to give an update once we get to that point!

Happy second to the last day of February! Hope you have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

Funny thing about Fridays, they come every week. Thank goodness. Some come quicker than others (or so it seems), this week, it felt like it took three weeks to get to Friday. But we're there (in my best Lloyd Christmas voice).

1. Adam was working out of town Sunday and Monday of this week. A few days before, he asked me if it wold be okay if he left on Sunday instead of Monday monring (in order to get home sooner). This was perfectly fine with me because there was a special, two-day airing of The Bachelor on Sunday and Monday. I was lucky enough to get Mkini sucked into the drama, so we watched it together. It was actually pretty cool because the girls were in Des Monies. Sort of a "Hey, I've been there!" type of thing.

2. Adam and I received a gift card for our favorite Mexican restaurant a few weeks ago, so we went there for this weeks date night and it was so good. I'm still dreaming about it. If I could go there every day, I think I would.

3. This past weekend Adam's parents were in town and we spent Valentine's day at an Iowa State basketball game, followed by pizza and wine at their hotel room. Adam and I don't really get into Valentine's day, so the fact that we actually did something was exciting enough. Plus the Cyclones won.

Tammy with Cy (photobomed by Rob)

4. Adam's been working on our upstairs bathroom when he's not working on other jobs, and it's really coming along nicely. It's fully drywalled, and we should be able to start painting in a couple days (he's got a few built-in cabinets to do first). This excites me a lot. It really hasn't been hard sharing a bathroom between three people, but the excitement for another part of our house to be complete is definitely there.

5. This weekend I'm heading out of town to see my best friend and bride-to-be, Sarah and join the fellow bridesmaids to try on dresses for their upcoming nuptials. I'll be coming home on Saturday to spend some time with Adam as I approach 24 (my birthday is on Sunday). And I took Monday off so I could keep the weekend going as long as possible.

Have a great weekend!