Getting back on track...

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's been 3 months since I last posted a blog! The summer flew by and now I'm back to school. This summer seemed a little weird for me. We had some really fun times, but at times it was tough. My body has healed from my miscarriage at the end of May, but the wounds of my heart have taken a little longer. I still have days where I break down in tears - but then I also have days where I don't even think about it. I'm sure this is normal - and it's just a part of the process I need to go through.

Here is a quick run-down of what happened in the life of Jennifer & Brandon Willis this summer....

• Spent a great week at Camp Magruder leading a 3rd-5th grade camp. There were tough moments, but there were more amazing moments than tough ones, and it was a great week!
• Brandon turned 32 and I turned 33.
  
• I lead worship for VBS at our church. We did the "Big Apple Adventure" and had a lot of fun and a LOT of kids!! I think the final count was 179 kids or something amazing like that!! Several families from my school were there as well which was a lot of fun! And we had 16 kids accept Christ this year! So awesome!!!
• We spent a few days in Idaho for the Cooper Family Reunion - which was so much fun! We went white water rafting, on a zipline and just enjoyed hanging out with my family!!
• Got home from Idaho and then we MOVED!! Yep we moved!! :) (if we're friends on facebook you already know all of this!)
• We're really happy with our new house - we're still renting, but were able to find a great house, in a neighborhood really close to my school and we really love it! I'll post some pictures soon - we've worked hard on getting it all livable and how we like it!
• We celebrated our 3rd anniversary last week - and Labor Day weekend we had our annual cousins anniversary weekend with my cousin Wendy and her husband Kevin. This year we spent the weekend in Portland. We went on the Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler, stopped at Multnomah Falls, ate at awesome restaurants, went to OMSI and had a great time!! (oh yeah and watched some football...that was a sad weekend for my Ducks! Thankfully they looked a LOT better this past weekend!!)

So that is a nutshell was our summer! I'm back at work now - and even that looks a little different this school year! I'm not a classroom teacher this year. Instead, I'm back to my "roots" and I'm teaching K-5 Music and PreK-5 Art. It's a lot of fun so far - I'm really enjoying it! It's weird to only be working part time - but you know me and I'll be filling my time soon enough! :) Even though I love my summers off, it does feel to be getting back into a routine and schedule. I'll be starting up an after-school choir soon, and of course teaching some private piano and guitar lessons. My cooking is getting back on track as well, after hardly spending any time in the kitchen this summer!! I have missed it!! It feels great to be eating better and not spending all our money in restaurants!

What's next, you might ask....well I need to get myself in shape. I'm really out of shape right now, and heavier than I ever been, which doesn't make me very happy! And since I can't afford to buy all new clothes, nor do I want to buy all new BIGGER clothes....that leaves me with trying to get myself in shape and lose a little weight! I'm back walking now since I walk home from work every day (plus back to school and home again on Tuesdays and Thursdays because of the way my schedule is) - and eating our meals at home will help too. But I've got to do more!

Also, you can be praying for Brandon and I for a few things. We have some opportunities for leadership at church that we're looking into - but want to be sure we're making the right decision - so we can use prayer for that. And also, we're looking into growing our family....and while yes, I'd love for that to mean I get pregnant again. But all along (since we were dating!), Brandon and I both have felt like we should think about adoption. And it's continued to stay on our minds....sometimes more in the forefront than others. Well, it's been on both of our hearts and minds more and more lately. And in the last two months or so, in a series of totally unrelated events, it's been literally dropped right in front of me.....

A little background here....Brandon has always prayed for God to make things truly clear to us when it comes to how we should live our lives for Him - and God usually does that by "stalking" me! Now, I know that sounds weird....but I have no other way of describing it. As He was wanting us to become more aware of ways we can serve people in our community and around the world, He was "stalking" with me certain scriptures and they would pop up in books, at church, on billboards, everywhere! Well, that's been happening again!

While I've always thought I would like to adopt, I never had a clear picture of that would look like. Would it be international? Domestic? Would we adopt through the foster care system? I never really knew, that hasn't been clear. Until now. Like I said before, through a series of totally unrelated events - several different blogs and websites were brought to my attention. I would be searching for a recipe, or for a craft project, or....all things completely unrelated to adoption, and yet there it was....these beautiful children in Eastern Europe, with an extra chromosome....Down Syndrome. And for the first time, I knew that was it. Check out the kids at Reece's Rainbow - aren't they beautiful? So pray for us as we look into this and hopefully start this process - I've not felt this confident about anything in a long time! We both feel absolutely at peace with this and confident that we are to bring one of those little miracles home! They need us! At 5 years old these children are sent to institutions, where they spend the remainder of their lives, lying in a crib! It's heartbreaking - and makes me want to get there as soon as possible!

Wow, I had no idea this blog post was going to end up being a novel - I guess I had a lot to update on! I'll be back soon with more recipes and updates - I wont' be gone for another 3 months this time!! :)