Starting Fresh

I haven't really ever used this blog before. I used to use this other blog over at blog.com but it was always so hard to use. This one has become way easier to use. On top of that I haven't blogged since sometime in 2008!! http://kristinschadwickcreations.blog.com/ So it's been 3 years since I've posted a new blog. I also used to primarily blog about my art. But my life has changed so much snce I first got a blog. So I'm going to post some about how life has changed since I last blogged.

My kids are all grown up and out of highschool! My son, Bryce, now lives in another state! I truly never thought I'd be saying that! But back in December 2010 he moved to Denver, Colorado. I miss him so much, but I am so proud of him! Especially since he dropped out of highschool before graduation. So to be living out on his own, in an apartment with room mates and he doesn't just have one job, but two! And for the last couple of weeks he was even been working three jobs! If you would have told me this right after he dropped out, I would have told you that was insane!! But here he is, being a grown up!! And I couldn't be prouder! This was me getting a hug, from my "Big Guy" before he got on the plane to Denver.

My daughter, Sarah, has been a working girl for sometime now! She went to work with me at Michaels Arts & Crafts shortly after graduating from high school back in May of 2009. It was fun to have her working with me! I had been working there since the Christmas season of 2007, took a bit of a break and then went back the Christmas season of 2008. In fact I just recently left working there back in January of this year. Anyway, at the beginning of 2010, we went through a ton of changes at work. The first one being that our super experienced manager got transferred to help open a new store. Our new manager was not the best in knowledge, but right when things were really starting to improve, he quit! So we had to break in another new manager within just 4 months. And it was frustrating and stressful for those of us that had been working there way longer than the managers had been. So when I had the chance to transfer to the store my old manager was now working at I transferred in October of 2010. So in November, when Sarah had the chance to leave to go work at Sally's Beauty Supply, she left. And someone that I had worked with at Michaels was working there, so she put in a good word for Sarah. At first it was a wonderful job! And a great change for Sarah after the stress of working at Michaels. But once her current manager felt comfortable she has started slacking off and making trouble for Sarah and her co-workers. It's actually worse than it was for her at Michaels! But she may go back to Michaels! Especially since the original manager that hired Sarah and I is back at the store! Sarah is still dating the boy that she started dating just before her senior year of high school started and so she has her special memories of senior year with him. And they are talking marriage! He just needs to find a steady job before they actually get formally engaged and hitched! Which in today's economy has been a bit of a challenge for him, but we like him a lot and approve! But the most exciting recent news for my Sarah is that she finally got a car of her own!! We were able to help her out with getting it, by using our tax return money on it for her. It's a '94 Mercury Tracer, and it's just perfect for her!! And she might be moving in with a friend in their own apartment soon too!

On the hubby front...Mark and I celebrated being married for 20 years on September 29th, 2010! And it we decided to celebrate by getting matching tattoos! That Mark designed and I helped tweak until we got this design we loved! 

And here we are, sporting our new tats!!

This was my fourth tattoo, but it was Mark's first! And was such a worthy thing to celebrate our 20 years of marriage! I won't lie, we got married young, so we had growing pains and things we had to work through, but I would do it all over again if I had the chance! But our most recent exciting news is that we might be foster parents to this precious little sweetheart!

This is Mia Jo Baker, and she entered our lives back in August of 2010, when she was just 3 wks old. Her mother Ashley is a girl I got to know through working with the high school youth group at church called Clayhouse.  And she also became fast friends with my daughter Sarah. So when Ashley and her baby needed some place to live we offered out home to her rent free, and with free babysitting when she needed it! I already had a very special place in my heart for Ashley, but when Mia moved in she quickly got a special place too! I love them both so much! They are like family to Mark and I!! But when Ashley's older sister Amanda got out of prison things weren't going so well for Mia, and I had to call Child Protective Services (CPS) on Ashley. Of course this made Ashley very angry and she and Mia moved out the weekend I made my formal report. I wouldn't have done it if Ashley had decided to make the right choices to protect and care for Mia before her own wants and needs, but she wouldn't. And it was good insight on my part, as Ashley was arrested for child endangerment just a little over a week later. She had Mia out at 3:30 in the morning, dressed in nothing but a diaper and a t-shirt. The car they were in was being driven by a drunk driver, and had open containers of alcohol in it along with drug paraphernalia. Mia was not in a car seat, and the only reason why they got stopped was because the car was involved in a hit and run accident and the police had to pursue them in a high speed chase! It was totally God's hand in the situation that protected Ashley and Mia. So now, we are fighting to get the courts to recognize that we have an established relationship, and bond with Mia. Because Ashley's parents are both remarried and have kids in their home, that would make it hard for them to take Mia. Mia's biological father is not in the picture, and is a known felon and is currently out of state anyway. But his mother is trying to get custody of her until Ashley either gets her back or loses her parental rights altogether. There is a new law that says that we have a right over family that the foster care system, and possibly the courts are not recognizing at present, so we are praying!! And trusting God with this whole thing! I'm leaning heavily on the following verses:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
      do not depend on your own understanding.
 ⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
      and he will show you which path to take.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation)
¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (New Living Translation)

⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

And I'm praying this prayer a LOT!!

Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

I'm thinking about hosting some kind of blog giveaway here in the next week or so. I really need to get my creative juices flowing again, and I'm thinking I might be doing a give away for each week that we have to wait until we know for sure if we can have Mia come home to us or not.  So keep watching my blog and my facebook for details! I'm also going to spend the next day or so getting all of my links, etc moved over from my old blog so check back, soon!