Addiction

So, it's pretty safe to say that I have a few vices in life. If you know me then you can probably name, in order, the things I am thinking/blogging about. Yes, coffee tops the list! I'm totally addicted to Starbucks, the Trenta size is the best thing to happen to coffee since Splenda. My current favorite is a Trenta iced coffee, without the syrup, 6 Splenda, and a shot of espresso. Ahhhh, just thinking about it brings me to giddy, caffeine induced joy! I also have a pretty strong adoration for my Keurig machines. Yes, that's plural, I have one big one at home and a small one in my classroom. We also get automated shipments of coffee every few months from Green Mountain. So you can see the love/addiction.

Another is sweets. Cake, cookies, candy, I'm not too picky. However, I made the decision to give up sweets for Lent this year and let me tell you it has been difficult! I've stopped counting the days left in Lent because it's too depressing. I didn't realize how much sweet stuff I ate throughout the day, but apparently it's a lot. Boy do I miss it though. I'm going to buy one of those ginormous chocolate bunnies, you know the kind I'm talking about, and bring it to church on Easter. I'll gnaw on that sucker all day, maybe I'll get two!

TV is of course another, although with the busyness of our lives lately and coursework (did I mention the fact that I only have 3 weeks left!) it has shifted slightly to a Netflix/DVR addiction. Streaming to my TVs, iPhone and iPad! Sure thing!

Why do I post this you ask? Well, it's a random train of thought stemming from the fact that I am struggling to muster enough motivation to do homework but instead have gotten lost in blog-reading, my latest addiction. Adoption blogs, teacher blogs (I've gotten some awesome ideas from these, and sometimes random blog wandering. See the connection? Anywho, that's what leads me to this delightfully random post/trip through my thought process! I hope you've enjoyed the ride. Now it's time to get back to my attempt at homework and bemoaning the seasonal loss of sweets! Wish me luck.

Oh, and if you're wondering, no, I didn't post a Sunday Snapshot yesterday. I didn't have material! :( it really bummed me out too because I love me some blogging and Sunday Snapshots! It's just been so darn busy lately. Bummer! I'm hoping the impending start of Braeden's soccer season will solve that dilemma! But that's a post for another time!

All is well, addictions included, in Drosche Land.

iHere!

Well, as I'm sure you can guess from the title of this post, our iPad2 finally arrived! It came in the mail, as promised by FedEx, yesterday. Since we only bought the wifi version rather than the 3G one we weren't able to do much with it at school other that stare at it and admire its beauty! However, once we got home we were quickly personalizing, updating, organizing, synching, and downloading. And yes, I am currently posting from it right now!

We also got a wireless keyboard but that's downstairs and I am upstairs in bed (and clearly slightly lazy) so I am just typing away at the screen. I'm excited over the fact that, like my iPhone, it has spellcheck as I type! I'm hoping this well lead to fewer times where Amy reads the blog after I've posted it and brings to light a spelling/grammar error or two! I know it gives her pleasure to find those little mistakes so I may just have to throw some in every now and then to keep her happy and on her toes!

Back to the iPad! I LOVE it! It is totally AWESOME! I cannot wait to take it with us to China when we get Margaux! It'll be so fun fun being able to take video of her and send it back home to our families and even possible video chat with them! This was, after all, one of the reasons we decided to get it. I know want played a large role also but still, being able to connect our family to Margaux ASAP is a big part too! In fact, we had the back engraved with Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans I have for you. This has been a favorite verse of ours during this adoption process and has brought us much comfort and peace. :)

So, the wait has ended and now we sit back and enjoy it. Believe me, we have been enjoying it! Now the wait for this summer's release of the iPhone 5 begins! Conveniently enough we are due for an upgrade this summer! Ahhhh, I love me some Apple products and I love me some techie toys! So I think now I will post this and get back to playing around. I highly recommend getting one though if you have been thinking about it. You will not be disappointed! We haven't!

All is well, iPad in hand, in Drosche Land.

Countdown

Well, it's official.  My M.Ed. program is quickly coming to an end!  As of today, I have only 3 weeks left.  Yes, you read that correctly, 3!  Needless to say, I am stoked!  The problem isn't that the work has been hard, but rather that there has been work.  Yes, I know I have a strong tendency toward procrastination and slight bouts of laziness, but still.  Honestly, I think I'm lucky though since my coursework has been entirely online.  I have no clue how people take actual courses.  Juggling the boys, work, the adoption, life in general, and homework has not been easy.  I know I'm not really one to complain, but this is my blog after all!  :)  My poor Amy though still has a few courses left.  I'll need to focus all my energy that I would use on homework to motivate her as she finishes.  Admittedly it's not much energy that I put forth, but anything can help! 

So, what will I do with my new found free time when I have completed my coursework?  Well, I'd like to say that I will replace it with the bliss of nothingness, or maybe take up recreational reading again (you may recall the brief resurgence of this over this past summer).  Truth be told though, I will probably just replace it with something else, hopefully something with less work!  :)  Right now at the top of my list is Trinity's yearbook for the 2010/2011 school year.  I have done nothing, scratch that, I have only gotten the cover done.  There is plenty of time left since we have a fall delivery, but I will definitely need to begin devoting some attention toward that.  But it is hardly work, I've done it before at Memorial and I do enjoy it.  Then there is the reading thing.  Lately I have taken up reading again, occasionally though, every few days.  I am currently in Beaches.  I know, sappy and I'll admit the movie makes me bawl like a baby, but so far it is good.  I enjoy me a nice emotional dramatic book every now and then.

The best part of being enrolled in my M.Ed. courses has been the fact that, with continued education, my student loans have been on automatic deferment!  This was also done for Amy's loans and has come in super handy as we whittle down our debt snowball and begin paying for Margaux's adoption.  Even better news?  I know, there has been a lot here already, but wait, there's more.  Amy and I both just got letters stating that our loans will remain on deferment until February/March of 2012!  That's just around the time when we will either be traveling to get Margaux or (hopefully more likely) we will have had her for a while by that time.  Pretty awesome coincidence huh?  Guess HE does know things better and plan better than we do right?  :)  

So, not major news, but good nonetheless.  Things here are (somewhat) calm right now.  We are though smack in the middle of considering the potential purchase of a second car.  But that's an adventurous post for another day, maybe tomorrow.  

All is well, 3 weeks left!, in Drosche Land. 

Sunday Snapshot - The Eyes Have It!

So, last weekend to kick off Spring Break we went bowling with Amy's family.  It was a blast and the boys loved it.  Afterward we went back to Amy's Mom's house where Amy made her famous pizza (trust me, it's delicious!).  While there Jack had yet another injury.  My poor little guy.  Cute, funny, mischevious, and endlessly accident-prone.  I was in the back yard with the kids taking pictures (see below) when he ran behind his cousin who was on the swing.  BAM!  Right in the eye.  It wasn't a typical swing, sort of like a seesaw thingamajig.  Anyway, it hit Jack right above his right eye and sent him flying.  It swole up pretty quickly and was nasty looking.  A call to the doctor and some ice later and it was getting slightly better.  The swelling went down a bit and he calmed down a bit as well.  But, as you can see from the last picture, it developed into a wicked looking black eye and knot.  That's our Jack.  Gotta love him!  The pre-impact pictures are great though!  :)

By far my favorite shot of the day!  I love his face!  Ironically this is the swing that later hit him!

 

Braeden on the safer swing!

 

The morning after, it got blacker over the next few days though!

Done!

Over!  Finished!  Finito!  We are finally through with our flooring adventure.  Sure it was fun and yes I have a strong sense of accomplishment, but I am glad it is over.  I don't want to see mortar, smell mortar, or even think about mortar for a long time.  I don't even want to wear a mortar board when I graduate from my M.Ed. program [get it :)]!  Plus I think I've grouted my fingerprints off.  All in all though it was pretty awesome.  The toughest part?  Not having our living room or dining room for a week.  That and the dust and grime that covered everything. We are still a few moppings away from having everything gleaming, but there is only so much we can fit into a day.  I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time, but we over-measured and still have 20 boxes of tile, 6 bags of mortar, and 1 bag of grout left!  Oops!  I know what you're thinking, return it!  Get your money back.  Yeah, that would work if we weren't slightly crazy and gluttons for home improvement projects.  Plus now we are totally in love with the tile.  So, next on the agenda is the laundry room/pantry.  Luckily Amy has agreed to put this project off until summer!  

I sit here typing this, wishing I had one more day of Spring Break before returning to work.  Why is it you always need a vacation to recover from your vacation?  Oh well, at least everything is back to normal here as we resume school.  I could not even imagine the nightmare it would be to return to our usual hectic schedules sans those two oh-so-important rooms!  I shudder even thinking about it.  I've included some pictures below of the floor-a-thon.  Before, during, and after.  I have to say I am totally in love with tile floors now though.  They turned out beautifully and we are enjoying them very much!

All is well, totally floored, in Drosche Land.

 Ugh, carpet!

 The insanity that was our dining room for a week!

 Amy beginning the demo!

 Goodbye carpet!

Our garage - construction central!

 The first tile!

 The first night's work!

 

 My two helpers - spacer gatherers!

The finished product!

 Love it!

 Ahhhh, back to normal, but tiled!

 

iWait

So, another event from last week that I forgot to mention was the fact that the iPad 2 came out on Friday.  I know you all had your calendars marked and reminders set (I did!).  Anywho, Amy and I have been awaiting this because we finally decided to get one.  Obviously the main reason is that we wanted one, duh!  The other reason is that we think it will be extremely useful for our trip to China to pick up Margaux.  Pictures, video, emailing, Facebook, and blogging would all be much easier with an iPad rather than via our iPhones.  That way we can update and keep in touch during that leg of the adventure.  See, we really did need one right?  I know, whatever validates it for me.

So, in addition to ordering the iPad we ordered a wireless keyboard, a cover (of course), and the camera connection kit.  Little did I know that everything would come seperately!  Over the next coming weeks we will be receiving several packages for Apple, ironically the last of which will be the iPad.  We will end up having our accessories here, taunting us, before it is actually delivered.  But, waiting is something we have become pros at lately right?  If we can wait months for Margaux, we can wait a couple of weeks for an iPad.  I can't wait though to play with our newest techie toy!  Of course now that it has been ordered and is on its way here, our anticipation shifts to the iPhone 5!  Hopefully by summer?  Woo hoo!  I just love me some Apple products!

All is well, iOrdered, in Drosche Land. 

Sunday Snapshot - Yee Haw!

Wow, two posts in one day!  I've missed blogging this past week and an trying to make up for lost time.  Anyway, Friday we went to the Rodeo with my parents.  The boys love rodeo events, especially Braeden.  However, before the rodeo we spent some time at the carnival riding some rides and eating carnival food.  Amy and I were once again reminded that we no longer have any babies as both boys are the required height (36 in.) to ride all of the rides!  Hard to believe but they are.  I have to admit though, I gave in to anxiety and worry for the first couple of rides and went with them.  Crazy I know, but I couldn't bear to see them, so little, on the rides all by themselves.  They, however, were ecstatic to be riding.  Eventually I was able to get over myself, slightly, and they rode alone.  Jack even took us all by surprise by riding a little roller coaster all by himself when Braeden backed out.  Jack is our fearless daredevil and he had a blast.  I didn't have my camera so these were taken with my iPhone which, of course, is always with me!  Better than nothing though.  It was an awesome time and we all had fun.  The kids are excited about going again with their cousins tomorrow!  I'm excited about seeing KISS!  

 

 Jack enjoying a ride!

Braeden on the same ride, just before he freaked out from the speed!

A fun train ride they rode by themselves!

Brave Jack on the roller coaster by himself!

 

Catch Up

Call off the search, bring in the hounds and give them treats, alert the authorities - I'm back!  So yeah, it's been a week since the last post.  Far too long.  I have hated not being blogging but things have been super busy here in Drosche Land.  I'll quickly try to catch up the past 7 days and inform you of our latest adventure.  

Last week was National Lutheran Schools Week.  Basically we just celebrate how awesome Lutheran schools are by offering great education plus the opportunity to share God's love and great message.  What better way to celebrate than with fun, themed dress up days!  My favorite of course was Pajama Day, I rocked some fierce Smurf jammies!  I did end up getting good news regarding my course work.  Since I am in the middle of a weekly tutoring plan for my class, due dates for my assignments were pushed from Wednesdays to Saturdays.  This is nice and brings some ease to the craziness.  I am 3 weeks down, just 5 more to go!  Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and Amy and I took Lent seriously this year.  She gave up Mexican food (gasp!) and I gave up sweets (double gasp!).  Needless to say we have been struggling with maintaining discipline with our choices but so far so good.  The week flew by quickly despite being busy.  Friday night we went to the Rodeo with my parents.  Tons of fun as the boys rode the carnival rides and we enjoyed carnival food (no yummy Pappasito's for Amy or funnel cakes for me though!).  The boys love the Rodeo action, the roping, bucking, wrestling, and general Western fun.  Then then promptly fell asleep when the concert (Lady Antebellum) began!  

Saturday we were zonked from a late night but then realized we had yet to decide on a home improvement project for Spring Break.  See, we always take on some project around the house.  Last year was painting the entry and living room.  This year we decided to take it up a notch and try our hand at flooring!  Yes, we ripped up the carpet in the living room and the vinyl tile in the entry.  The demo part was surprisingly easy, although quite disgusting as we took  the carpet up.  We knew we were getting a less expensive carpet/pad when we built the house, we always had intended on replacing it.  We just didn't know how nasty carpet could get, even in 3 1/2 short years!  Yuck!  We have made the choice to, over time, replace most, if not all, of the carpet in the house.  We are currently about 3/4 of the way done.  Amy had to go back to work today so I will be tiling alone this afternoon, hopefully finishing laying all of the tile that does not need to be cut.  We are saving that part for last!  I do finally understand though why people say your house is a wreck when you remodel.  All of our furniture is stacked in the dining room and there is dust everywhere, I mean everywhere!.  Our hands are sore to say the least, as are many other parts of our body!  But, we are loving this and having a lot of fun!  It is beautiful and we cannot wait to be finished and enjoy our new floors and of course our clean and settled house!

So, there you have it.  We have been tiling the past few nights past midnight so there has been no time to blog, even though I have wanted to badly.  I also missed a Sunday Snapshot so I am going to try and get that out later.  Thanks for missing us, I missed you too!  It's good to be back!

All is well, cluttered/sore/improving, here in Drosche Land!   

A Little Bit More

So you might recall our frustrations and sadness regarding our inability to move forward with anything until Amy's 30th birthday.  You might also recall our decision to request an update on Margaux.  Well, today God gave us a "Yes" answer to that prayer.  We got the email this afternoon from our agency that we were in fact able to receive an update!  This is very quick as we had feared it would take weeks to get anything back, if we were even able to get anything period.  Yet, lo and behold here it was today.  Even better, there were pictures to accompany it!  4 in fact!  While we still cannot share anything at this point, trust me when I say she is beautiful!  Trust me when I say that we received good news about her and our questions were answered well!  Who knows if we will be able to receive any other updates about her throughout the rest of this process?  But for now this was just what we needed and just when we needed it.

It's amazing how God works and how he has this entire journey planned out.  I cannot wait for the day when we are able to share more about her.  Both information and pictures.  But that too will come in due time.  For now though we revel in the information we do have, which is positive, and the pictures we have which are amazing.  These will help carry us through the coming weeks and months as we trudge through paperwork and pray.  When we feel down or unhappy with the wait time, we have her pictures to look at, although they're memorized already,  and details to pour over, for the umpteenth time.  Tiding us over until that very special day when we no longer need a picture or paperwork to enjoy her and everything about her!

All is well, with a "Yes!", in Drosche Land.     

Sunday Snapshot - Dog Days

Well, Rex is just so darned cute I decided to give the newest member of our family his own Sunday Snapshot.  I'll hold onto the soccer pictures for another day.  So far all is well with Rex and he is doing great!  The boys love him, Lucy is getting along very well, and he has had no accidents in the house (fingers crossed)!  He slept most of this morning and early afternoon but has started to play around a bit recently.  Lucy is being a good sport with her new bounding, yelping, nipping little brother.  So of course I had to throw in a picture of our first baby dog, she is awesome!  On an unrelated side note, we are experiencing some beautiful spring weather here and I am outside blogging while the kids and the dogs play in the back yard and Amy dozes on the couch.  So, enjoy the pictures below of our too-cute-for-words new little puppy! 

 His first bath

He won't fit in the kitchen sink for baths very long!

 

The new big sister!

 

Too cute!

 

I couldn't resist playing with and editing some of his pictures!

 

Another cute one!

Addition

Well, Friday night the boys stayed at my parents' house and Amy and I enjoyed a date night.  We ate a restaurant that was not particularly kid-friendly and the boys would not have enjoyed.  We ate and enjoyed each other and adult conversation.  There were no reminders for anyone to sit down or use their inside voice.  There also weren't several trips to the bathroom.  Nope, just a nice relaxing dinner with my beautiful wife.  See, Saturday, yesterday, Amy and Julie had a Scentsy booth at the Kingwood Mardi Gras Festival and I was going with to help them set up and run things.  So the boys stayed with my parents, hence the sleepover the night before.  All in all the day went great.  Sales weren't terribly great, but they weren't awful either.  Plus it was a great time and we enjoyed the festival itself, eating delicious nachos from a restaurant called Chachi's (YUM), who had a booth, and of course some funnel cakes!  

How does the title tie into this post about Scentsy and carnival food?  Well, next to the Chachi's booth (which was conveniently located directly across from Amy's booth) was a both for the Montgomery Count Humane Society.  Oh yes, we did.  Amy fell in love with a little black Lab mix they called Wesley.  After a trip over to view and then hold him, she called me over.  How could I say no to those adorable pleading eyes, that cute look that said "I love you and you know you love me too."?  The puppy was also cute.  Of course I was putty when it came to the two of them teamed up together.  I can't lie though, I too am a sucker for a puppy and we have been debating getting another dog.  Amy and I were equally smitten with him and he melted our hearts!  So we made the decision to go with it.  The boys are older and Amy's hours are better so the timing does seem to be right for us.  He spent the rest of the day wrapped in a blanket (it was chilly yesterday) in one of our laps.  He was so docile and calm.  When we brought him home Lucy was highly interested and we had to keep reminding her to be calm with the "baby puppy".  All in all the evening, and night, went surprisingly well and today has been great also.  As I write this he is sitting at my feet, alternately licking and nipping at them!

His name?  Well, we were at a Mardi Gras festival so we thought Rex (King of Carnival) was fitting.  Plus it's easy for the kids to say!  Speaking of the boys, they are loving him and he seems fond of them as well.  He is so calm, I hope he stays that way!  :)  We could use a little calm here every now and then!  But he is awesome and a wonderful addition to our family.  Another adventure to have!  Of course I have been taking tons of pictures of him so I now have to decide on the topic of today's Sunday Snapshot!  Check back later to see what I've chosen!  For now enjoy the first picture we took of him below, how can you not fall in love?  :)

All is well, with twice the canine fun, in Drosche Land.

    

Bittersweet

Well, today was a special day for Margaux.  I'm not going to go into too many details since we are not at the point where we can freely share information, but I am sure you can guess what today was.  Which leads me to the title of this post.  Happy?  Yes we were.  But also sad.  It was another reminder that we are missing parts of her life and that she is not here with us.  I'm not going to say it was easy because it wasn't, it is somewhat rough.  However, there is not much we can do but continue to work on paperwork and get it all ready and organized.  And pray of course, lots of that as well.  Adding to the stress level is the crazy week we have been having.  Last night was another late night and we ended up eating out yet again, despite having sworn it off as I mentioned earlier.  We've been staying late as all the schedules and whatnot of the new building are worked out.  So, due to several late nights in a row, fatigue has set in here in Drosche Land and that doesn't do much to help the feelings brought about by today.

In other adoption news, Amy had the great idea to contact our agency and see if we could get an update on Margaux.  Technically we are really only supposed to get one in the process, but we figured that given our circumstances it wouldn't hurt to ask.  Turns out we were told we could request one and it would be submitted.  We thought up some questions to ask the caregivers at the orphanage and emailed them off.  How long it will take is unknown.  It could be a few days, weeks, or longer.  So once again we wait.  We were assured though by Cori, our super helpful and awesome contact at the agency, that they would stay on top of it if it seems to be taking a long time.  So we are hopeful and prayerful that we will get an update on Margaux and how she is doing.  Maybe this will help ease our emotions.  We will see.  Speaking of waiting there is a song that fits our (and I'm sure many other people's) situation perfectly.  While I'm Waiting by John Waller.  Awesome song.  So true for us right now and I try to remember it and use it as guidance for our endless waiting.  Check it out if you are not familiar with it!

On the bright side though, today we were reminded of how blessed we are and how He is looking out for us always.  Remember we haven't been home a lot lately which means eating out which means frustrating.  Well, today a friend/coworker made and brought us some meals so we would have food ready and prepared, regardless of when we got home.  Amazing huh?  Thanks so much Sean & Carol!  Y'all are awesome!  Also it was the first day this week we were able to leave early.  So, we got home, enjoyed some delicious food, and were able to have some fun time together as a family.  This served as a bit of medicine for the bittersweet day we'd had.  Amy and the boys began a rousing game of soccer in the back yard after dinner and I was quick to stop doing the dishes and grab my camera.  It was fun.  After a while I joined in and Amy was kind enough to take some pictures of me with the boys!  I smell a Sunday Snapshot!  :)  

So, it's been a long week but we push forward.  It's not always easy but in the end everything seems to have a way of working out, or should I say He has a way of working things out!  We just need to keep remembering that, while we're waiting.

All is well, bittersweet but blessed, in Drosche Land. 

Deal!

So, on the way home tonight we had one simple errand to run.  The boys needed new shoes and Braeden needed some shorts.  Since he is perpetually in a phase where he only wants to wear athletic shorts we headed to Academy.  Turns out, as I have been beginning to realize lately, we don't have babies anymore.  Nope, we've officially got kids on our hands now.  No matter how many times this fact rears its head, I am still taken by surprise.  So, into the "Boys" section we headed.  6 pairs of shorts (5 for Braeden and 1 for Jack who of course had to try on and get his own!) later we were set.  Braeden chose every color available in the soccer shorts and Amy and I talked him into some burnt orange basketball shorts!  Hook 'Em!  Then we headed into the shoes where Jack can still fit into toddler sizes but Braeden once again had to go to the "Boys" section as he now wears an 11.  Jack was easy to please and quickly picked out a pair, Braeden on the other hand took his sweet time debating which shoes he wanted, walking up and down the same aisles.  I have no clue where he gets it from!  Ok ok ok, stop pointing at me, I give in, maybe he takes after me, a bit!  :)  So we finally picked out shoes for Braeden and headed home.  But that is not the best part of the story (I know it has seemed routine and mundane up until now but I had to give you the whole story, you know me!).  We were looking at the sale rack and I came across the cutest Longhorns dress!  In a size 3T!  I know Margaux will be adorable in it!  The price?  You will never guess.  At first I thought it was a misprint, but a quick jaunt to the hand dandy price checker proved the tag to be correct.  Scroll down and take a gander at the dress before I tell you the INCREDIBLY AWESOME deal we got.  Go ahead, I'll wait . . . . . Ok, you ready!  $.88!  Yes folks, that decimal is in the right place, we're talking 88 cents, less than a dollar!  Can you believe that?!  I am still stunned honestly so of course I had to blog about my great deal.  Amazing.  So head to Academy if you are in search of a Longhorns dress and only have about a buck to spend, that or if you are looking for some deals.  

The remainder of the night was crazy though as we ventured home from our eventful Academy experience.  See, we've sworn off eating out.  Last week was so crazy with the opening of the new building and all we were tired (I know, crazy concept) of eating out and were ready to eat at home.  Well, the best laid plans.  Turns out there was a streetlight out on Fry Rd (which seems to be the case far too often) so our trip home turned into a ridiculously long ordeal.  By the time we were even near home there was no way we had the time, energy, or patience to get home cook, serve, and clean up after a meal.  So we gave in (slightly grudgingly) and headed to our favorite stand-by - La Finca!  You'd think they would know us there by now.  So, better luck with eating at home tomorrow I guess.  Seriously, we are swearing it off, if we could just make it home at a decent time!  :)  

All is well, can you believe my deal on Margaux's dress?!, in Drosche Land.

LOVE IT!  And just $.88!!!