Flooring and Plumbing

Well these pics are about as exciting as the title of this post. However, we are a few steps closer as the floors are in and the plumbing is completed.We are planning on putting new fixtures on the sinks but are choosing to do it ourselves to save on the cost. We also hope to eventually put hardwood in the formal living room and kitchen. All in time..... we tell ourselves. but, it will be fun to have these projects to do. It will be gratifying to save up for them, complete them one step at a time and see the results. Thanks for checking out the pics. I think next week is carpet? (not sure) FYI-Our walk through is 11/21/06 and our closing date is 11/27/06. Hope to have you over soon!

Bigger and Better!

To raise funds for Invisible Children, our student ministry, E-life, played a fun game called Bigger and Better. Brian got this idea in college and tweaked it a little bit to help raise awareness and money for children of war in Uganda. Our youth started out with items such as a box of crayons, hand sanitizer, plastic fireman hats, etc and went door to door in the community within a 30 minute time frame to trade for bigger and better items. At each home, you trade what you received previously for something bigger and better. The plan is to then take pics and sell all the items on E-bay. The youth get to set the starting price and track throughout the coming weeks the items they put up for sale. We split up into several groups and off we went. People were so generous and God provided! We were very surprised at what we were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. Some of the items we received were: 3 computer monitors(1 was not even opened), a stereo, a karoke machine, a robotic techie dog, some cash donations, a T.V., several game cube and playstation games, 2 limited edition Hallmark giant teddy bears, a Minolta 35mm camera, a new electric back massager, a yankee candle with candle crockpot, a flute, a big red dog, a digital camera, an unopened Simpsons Jeopardy game, a game boy advance, and a few others I can't remember right now. We also have some people dropping off some items tomorrow. How amazing is that? All of this within a 30 minute time frame! (each for Jr. High and Sr. High) We were thrilled. We will be able to raise a lot of money for the invisible children! We were also able to hand out flyers at each house explaining the movement! We are so grateful. What a fun, creative way to make a difference in lives of children living in poverty. As Americans, we are blessed with so much "stuff" What a honor it is to give our "stuff" away to bless others in need. Check out www.invisiblechildren.com to find out how you can support this effort! If you are interested in any of the items you see, let us know and we can let you know when and where it is on E-bay.

Colors, Colors, and more colors

I have been thinking aobut colors for quite a while now. I have looked in magazines, at the stores, and even done virtual painting. It is so overwhelming....in a good way. I have basic colors I like, but coordinating them is the hard part. Brian says they mostly look the same to him and Tayler thinks it is odd that I would even want to paint most rooms in the house. Oh boys! Where are the girls when you need them! Any ideas from the ladies out there? Feel free to comment. I am in need of help!

Countertops, Cabinets, and Trim!

They put these new additions in the house this week. I took these pics in the dark, so it is not the best angle or lighting (sorry, Carmen:) I could barely even see what I was pointing the camera at! There are some pics of the countertops in the kitchen(black), our cabinets in the kitchen, the countertops in the upstairs bathrooms, and last but not least, the trim! I tried to get a pic of our double sinks, but wasn't too successful. However, walking in and seeing (or what I could make out) these additions, made the house seem much more like a home. It is morphing in front of our eyes. Obviously, these are still unfinished products and the pics aren't the best, but hopefully you can get a good idea. Enjoy!

Halloween Tradition

These pics are of our halloween tradition with the Englands. Our families get together with some other families for some good ol' fun. It is a good time. We ate some pizza then went throughout the neighborhood. Tayler was an Ole Miss fan. (pretty creative costume...he used his Ole Miss flag for a cape and pom poms for his hair) Enjoy the pics!

Veggie Tacos Rock!

Not to confuse with Veggie Tales Rock, Veggie Tacos are the best ever! Brian made veggie tacos for dinner last night and they were so good! As most of you know I am a vegetarian. But, I have never really been into meat substitutes. Brian, however, has been lately. He has been making veggie burgers, veggie sloppy joes, and now veggie tacos. He does such a great job and they really are good. He has even bought me veggie riblets for lunches at work and suprisingly they are also really good. (how many times can I say really good?) Anyway, I am proud of his willingness to try out these meat substitutes and wanted to pass on the word to try them out. They are REALLY GOOD:)

Invisible Children

Please take a moment to go to www.myspace.com/karinhume to view a video from Invisible Children. (It is titled about three..travel) If you scroll down on this page, you can also view some excerpts from their campaign. Check it out. It is worth your time.

She's a Brick.......House!

As you can see, they put the brick on our house this week. Seeing the brick on the house, made me fall even more in love with this house. Enjoy the pics!

Pastor appreciation

This month is Pastor appreciation month. Our church decided to honor our pastors today. They gave Brian this lovely cake along with several touching, affirming cards. I took a pic of the cards as well but for some reason the pic isn't transferring from my camera to the computer. I will add it later if the camera decides to work with me:) It was a lovely time and we so appreciate our church family taking the time to apprecaite all of the hard work Brian does with the youth of PUMC and the community!

Busy Workers!

Yes, they are working very diligently on our home. In this last week, we have seen a driveway, garage door, beginning stages of drywall, and the siding all installed. We are still loving the process and enjoy seeing each stage of our first home being built. Enjoy the pics!

(there is a not so well taken pic of our cathedral ceiling....hope you can make it out)

Update of Information Meeting

Sorry for the late post! A few people have asked how the information meeting for international adoption went. We attended on Wednesday, October 18th. There was a lot of information and some of the process can be overwhelming. Adoption is an emotional process with ups and downs. Because of this, we are going to take the next month or so to pray as a couple and receive assurance that this is indeed the path for our family. We believe it is, but want to take some time to step back and make sure our emotions are not in the way and that we are hearing from God on this. We also want to confirm that this is God's timing. Thank you so much for your continued prayers throughout this process. Your prayers mean so much to us and we are very grateful for them as we know that our Father hears them all and rejoices to hear His people pray. We will keep you updated. Keep following along!

Invisible Children

Invisible Children is an initiative to bring awareness of and resources to the Children of War in Uganda. This effort began with three young adults who traveled to Sudan for a story to document. This is what they found. What came of this, is a true testimony to one of my favorite quotes, "Never believe that a few caring people cannot change the world, for indeed that is all that ever have." Our family has been supporting this effort for a while now and it is something we are very passionate about. Please check out and see how you can give to this amazing effort. There are several ways you can take action. One way to bring awareness is to show the movie to everyone you know. We showed it last year to our youth during our 30 Hour Famine. The youth's response was awesome and their passion was inspiring. We hope to one day travel to Uganda to meet these resiliant, joyful people. Please check it out. http://www.invisiblechildren.comIt could change your life and theirs forever! Also check outhttp://www.worldvision.org to see other ways you can give to this effort and for more info on the 30 Hour Famine

Gratitude

I just want to publicly thank God for all of His wonderful blessings in our life! Tonight, we received yet another donation from the purchase of our beautiful jewerly. We have also had several orders for the jewerly and as mentioned in previous posts, several friends stepping forward to help us raise funds for the adoption. We even heard from a friend today that another friend wants to give us her crib or donate it to the church garage sale to help raise funds. I see all of this as confirmation that we are in God's will by pursuing this adoption. Thinking about having a crib in our new home is just too much for me! And while the wait is long, just thinking about having the need for a crib brings tears to my eyes! God is so faithful.

On another note, we would appreciate prayers as we attend our international informational meeting next Wednesday, October 18th. I am so excited! We will get to hear a family who has adopted from China speak. We will also get general information about international adoption, etc. After this meeting, we are planning on announcing this decision formally to our church. After that, we have friends who are planning a church garage sale for us in November. We will also send out support letters to close friends and family. As we raise funds, we will move one step closer in the process. For example, November 30 is when we could potentially fill out our formal application. We could also potentially have our homestudy done in December or January. But, we will have to raise the funds first for both of the above mentioned. After that, it is a lot of paperwork before sending off our dossier to China. Once China receives the Dossier, we will officially be logged in. The wait will then begin (which at this time is 13-14 months)

Well, me thanking God has turned into more than I was planning on writing. But, at least now, you have somewhat of a timeline and can see some of our goals. God Bless and keep following our journey!

Bracelet Fundraiser-updated

These pictures were professionally taken thanks to Carmen Daugherty! We have recently had several orders along with inquires. So, I will tell a little bit about the jewerly. As a way to help raise funds for the adoption, we came up with this concept. The red lines inside of the beads represent the old Chinese proverb stating "There is an invisible red thread that connects those that are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may tangle, but never break." The charm is the Chinese symbol for orphan. We are hoping these bracelets will serve as a reminder to pray for orphans around the world. Jesus says "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." So, as stated before, we hope these can serve as the reminder that Jesus doesn't leave us but desires to come to us. Thanks to Judy Weese for making these beautiful pieces. If you would like any of the jewelery listed please let us know!

A clever boy he is!

Tayler, in ever so middle school boy fashion, chose the planet Uranus for his science project. Even though he thought this was hilarious and that he was probably the first boy to ever think of this, he did get into the project and did a wonderful job. He worked on this with a little bit of help from Brian, but mainly on his own. He even picked a background for his report and laminated it. He is learning so much about our solar system and galaxy. He has even been quizzing Brian and I at dinner! It is fun to hear him talk about his new found knowledge with enthusiasm. Although it is sad to see him grow up so fast, it does come with its advantages. I love seeing him learn new things and mature. We are so proud of him! Okay, I have been a gushing parent enough now!

More friends, more service!

We had another dear friend order a bracelet last night. We are so excited to see so many of our friends support this effort. It means the world to us. Thank you girl, you know who you are!
Most likely, in the month of November, we will be hosting a church garage sale. We have two wonderful friends who will be heading this up. They have a ton of ideas and we feel so blessed to have them offer their time and talents! As we know this date is set in stone, I will update it on the blog.
We attend our international adoption informational meeting on the 18th of October. Please pray for confirmation that this is the path we should take. Thanks again for following our journey.

Bathtubs, windows, doors, a roof, and the beginning of a driveway.........OH MY!

Whew........that was a alot to just type! The workers have been busy the last week and a half. We have the beginning of a driveway and sidewalk, our showers/bathtubs are installed, windows are in, the doors are in, and the roof is complete. Again, we are amazed at the process and love going by the house to walk through. It truly is a dream come true for us. Continue to follow our journey and share this experience with us! We will update photos weekly.-Hume's

See you at the Pole!

This is a pic of Tayler at his very first See you at the Pole.....officially anyway.
I was so excited that he got to participate in this cool event. We have been doing these at the MS and HS since we moved here. It is a good event for kids to come together to pray and fellowship. (He looks just a little sleepy, right?)