You can't keep a good girl down!!

  

 Alot has occurred since my last blogging session. To make a long story short we went through an adoption in which the mother changed her mind at THE very last minute.More details. We named the child, we went from our home in North Carolina to RI to see her a a 10 days after she was born and we so prepared for her arrival! In fact, Nate's mother and I were spending a week up there with 2 month old Kaidance, planning her introduction to our families in RI, scheduling photography sessions and just holding her. We bought plane tickets for Nate to come too and the night before departure, we heard that the mother had second thoughts from the beginning! :/  Hurt, you are damn right! A hurt like no other, a hurt I would not wish on my worst enemy but also a hurt that instilled the strength in us to move forward with a determination like no other; a hurt that enabled us to do bigger and better things!
    We are currently in the process of becoming foster parents!! We have taken our classes, dissected our lives, and are closing in on the "application" process. We started the journey on February 6th and hopefully by the fall we shall hear the pitter patter of little feet throughout our empty home!!! LONG journey but its wonderful  think that a little girl and the loss of her in our lives will touch so many other children who need us even more! Kaidance will be so proud of the lesson she taught us and the good that will come of it!! She was adopted by a good friend of mine whom also adopted her sister. She told us from the beginning that if the birth mother <drug addicted and could never get custody herself> she would contest it and fight for her (since she was married into her family and Social Services is a family first establishment) to keep the sisters together. So, Kaidance Marie has her family ( and we'll always be a part of each others lives) and we will have ours and help many other children in the meantime!

     You see, we could have hated the world. We could have dwelled on all of the sleepless nights we spent worrying about the adoption, worried about her safety in her careless mother's womb. We could dwell on money lost, heartbreak and the unfairness of it all, but we made a pact to take life's blows and make the best of it!! Like I said hurt like hell? yeah. but closure has been obtained and we stuck to our motto and made the best of it! Hero, I hope to be someone's someday...and I feel like one already with all we've overcome with this, miscarriage, years of  infertility treatments and procedures and NOW this!!!! We rock, we took a bad situation and made it good again! That's what life is all about. Let's face it, life sucks sometimes. It just does. You always get over it though and life somehow goes on!! Why not turn it around as fast as you can so the hurt doesn't linger? I mean, grieve--we did for a month, I couldn't go into the nursery and see the Murial painted above her crib with her name and ours in a tree that 3 of my friends spent 10 hours on to surprise me. Mourning is natural and necessary to let go, but do it and move on. We found something to do with our time that would make us feel good, give back AND make our dreams come true!!! What better way than to foster--with the option to adopt if the option presents itself!!!! I am SO excited and ready for what is being brought our way!! :)

Please pray for us! :)
XoXo ~Lisa Marie

Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookies

I am a member of Influenster.com and received a "Mom Vobox" full of products that they'd like feedback on! I was very impressed with Quaker's Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookies that I saved half for my husband to try and he felt the same way!! It is so moist, soft and freshly baked tasting!! I must admit I was impressed, as I'm more of a home made cookie girl because I like them soft and crumbly...these were that and then some!! Mmmmm!



XoXo ~Lisa Marie

Shore Savings with Patti: EVERY FRIDAY IS A $50 FRIDAY ~ ENTER TO WIN $100 T...

Shore Savings with Patti: EVERY FRIDAY IS A $50 FRIDAY ~ ENTER TO WIN $100 T...: Everyone loves cash, right? How would you like a chance to win  $50 EVERY FRIDAY ? Well, I am very excited that I have joined with an amazi...

XoXo~Lisa Marie

A Child Called It

   

  On one of my book hunts at a local used book store I bought a book titled: 'A Child Called It'. Two years later, after throwing it aside numerous times due to the gruesomeness of the subject: child abuse, I finally read the book.  A couple of friends who know the two subjects that interest me most (Children and True Crimes) mentioned that I should read the book, and I decided I was going to just dive in and give it a chance. 
   Six hours later  I've finished the book and can't get my mind off of it. I wonder what ever happened to the mother of David Pelzer, the abused victim who tells of the abuse he endured during his life with this heartless- ugly- evil woman. This woman starved her child for days at a time. She and her husband enjoyed dinner joined by his four other siblings, while he's forced to sit outside the door and listen, clean up dinner and sleep in the garage with an empty stomach. David was considered  “The Boy”, and never a member of the family; ignored by his siblings and though his father felt bad, he chose to tolerate the abuse. I could not put this book down, I felt compelled to find out every dirty detail of this boys journey. Being a victim of child abuse myself, one thing that stuck out to me was how he felt the need to protect his mother. I know the feeling all too well. I never wanted to be taken from my abusive mother in fear of being alone, that someone would hurt her, and most importantly I wanted the love a mother is supposed to bestow on her offspring, a love that should come natural. I thank god I had my siblings who would have never let the stuff that occurred to David, occur to me. That's one of the biggest differences, I had someone on my side, this guy, he had ABSOLUTELY noone. He was helpless, he had to beg, borrow and steal to eat. He was put through several near death experiences and he had not a soul; 4 siblings, but again, it was him against the world. A world he wanted to change.
    I have ordered his next book in the Trilogy, and I cannot WAIT to find out what happened next. I do know that this man served in our U.S. Military for 10 plus years and is now a motivational speaker!! He took his life experiences and soared! This was an incredible book, cleverly written. Kudos to David Pelzer for sharing his story, AND overcoming his past!!  


  If you're interested in learning more about the author, David Pelzer go to David Pelzer's official site.
                         
  Last but CERTAINLY not least. Report these monsters out there who are abusing OUR future. Abuse is a scary thing to endure, especially from someone you love and trust. You always see the best in the person even in the midst of all the abuse. Help them find hope. HERE is more information...or HERE is a non profit agency   which raises awareness and helps educate their local community, I happen to know the founder who is very passionate about the cause!!

Washington, D.C.

Our Nations Capital is one of the most historic looking, patriotic cities I’ve ever visited!! We spent 4 days there and were out and about exploring the entire time, waking up and getting out at 10 am and not getting back to our suite until 11-12ish that night! We were worn out by the end of our trip, but pleasantly worn out if that makes sense! Here’s our Vacation in pictures…ENJOY!!

   First Stop: The White House! We’d heard it was tiny compared to pictures and to television, but we thought it met our expectations and then some!!

The front of the White House..beautifully landscaped!

Our favorite view of the White House: the back..we got to see the garden which was huge!!

The Washington Monument, it was close due to the recent earthquake..still quite a site to see!

The Jefferson Memorial!

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, opened August 22nd 2011. This is one of my favorite men ever, I love all that he stood for!

A VERY crowded Lincoln Memorial!

Good thing the wading pool was closed due to construction, Nate had EVERY intention of replaying the scene from Forest Gump!!

A small fraction of the FDR memorial...this being my favorite! I Hate War too!

Before this trip, we'd never seen protesters, this is one of the many protests we saw. We signed this canvas with peace and love!

Of course we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum!! 

The Air and Space Museum was cleared as we neared the end...due to protests ending with pepper spray. It made the news.

The National Zoo was amazing!

We of course explored more, but I do not want to post the 800 photos we took!! We enjoyed late night walks downtown, drinks at a few trendy bars, explored The Crime and Punishment Museum (it was okay, nothing too impressive); we even squeezed in 2 hours at the Holocaust Museum, which was very saddening. We enjoyed great food at A Taste of DC, which was a pleasant surprise that ended with an awesome concert put on by Big and Rich...best of all it was free!! A few friends along with the Food Channel recommended 'Ben's Chili Bowl' and they were closed due to plumbing issues, but were at the taste of DC. We got the famous chili half smoke...we LOVED it! It's called a half smoke because it's half beef half pork smoked sausage!! We will definitely go back for more exploring in the future! 

PS. Here is our White House Security HARD at work. Hmmm...

Toddlers&Tiaras turn into Teens with issues!

This girl would be adorable with no makeup.....just what a 5 year old should be--ADORABLE!

  I was reading this weeks issue of People Magazine and was appalled at what I saw!
I cannot believe that this show is being aired on television, much less The Learning Channel!! I am not opposed to beauty pageants, I am opposed to how far these parents take it.  These little girls are dressing up like 25 year old prostitutes!! Yes, I mean literally. I love the movie Pretty Woman, but come on!! This next video is THE most appalling video of all in my eyes. Just plain sick, twisted and TOO far!!!

  I wonder what would possess a parent to push their children into this sort of activity instead of ballet, dance or the many other child oriented sports/activities out there? Every child should know that beauty starts from within,  not encouraged to change their appearance in order to be beautiful. If your child likes to play dress up and wear makeup, why not acting lessons? I just think this show sends the wrong message to our youth, and that being a young woman in a shallow world is tough enough already without fake tans and false lashes at 5 in order to be pretty.  I think that these parents are trying to live through their children!! Their children are little pawns. I've seen it all, from mothers SCREAMING at their kids, to waxing their 4 year old!

   Take a look at the little girl who's mom does her makeup so she can be pretty for her mom. And before you say it's for the fun of it, does this look fun to you? 

  Where is the line drawn here? I mean what happened to the olden day beauty pageants? You know, the curls and the ruffles and the cute little poems? I say keep them young, pure and care free like a child should be. Let them be kids. I personally think that every child is beautiful, more so when they are their silly little selves; Au natural!


XoXo ~Lisa Marie

We won!

Ahhh, there is nothing like ending the summer and heading into another year of marriage at Myrtle Beach! Well, there was one thing that added the enjoyment of it all: paying a mere six (6) dollars for 3 nights in an ocean front efficiency room at Sea Crest Resort on Labor Day/ Anniversary weekend! Yes, we won the Photo Contest on Sea Crest Myrtle Beach's Facebook page!! Thank you if you took the time to vote and if not, heck THANK YOU TOO!! :) We enjoyed our stay to the fullest, and cannot wait to do it again next year!! A HUGE thank you to Sea Crest since the weekend we chose was a holiday weekend--their busiest one of the year and they made it happen just for our anniversary!!

The Sea Crest Resort

Here is our stay in pictures, since they are worth a thousand words in my eyes!

We rented scooters for a day!

Nate caught some waves..

I even chased waves...which DOESN'T happen often!!

Ran into this little guy!

Walked the boardwalk!! 

We do this every year, even  last year, on our wedding day!!

           

Met Richard Blais from Top Chef!!

Enjoyed breakfast at our usual spot in Myrtle Beach! Worth the wait!!

Ate some local seafood at a hole in the wall..

Enjoyed a nice anniversary dinner at Seablue!! 

And visited the place where we became one, one year ago on that day (9/5/10)

XoXo ~Lisa Marie