quote

I found this quote on a wall hanging in Hallmark the other day - I love it!
***************************************************************

Just think,
you're here not by chance,
but by God's choosing.
His hand formed you
and made you the person you are.
He compares you to no one else--
you are one of a kind.
You lack nothing
that His grace can't give you.
He has allowed you to be here
at this time in history
to fulfill His special purpose
for this generation.
_{-Roy Lessin}

Ever store your toilet paper in a bag?

posted by Aaron:

Have you ever stored your toilet paper in a bag? All unrolled and loose? Well we're doing that right now. We're not trying to start a new trend - there's a logical reason for this.

I was home with Matea the other day and she was in her room playing. Or so I thought. I went to check on her and she was standing in the bathroom next to the toilet, holding the plunger with an entire new roll of toilet paper in a huge pile on the floor (one of the "double rolls"). I'm to cheap to just throw it away, so for the last couple days we've been using a pile of toilet paper out of a bag. So if you happen to come over in the next day or two and need to use our bathroom, the toilet paper is safe to use...it's just in a Target bag on the floor.

Spain - the 51st state?

posted by Aaron:

So today I had a customer from Spain contact me and ask where a his package was that he should have received by now. "A quick call to the USPS should get the ball rolling" I thought.

I called the USPS 800 number managed to navigate their efficient automated system and was speaking to a person in a mere TEN minutes:

Auto-Attendant: "Please say yes or no." (to a question that is not yes or no)
Me: "Customer service"
Auto-Attendant: "I'm sorry, I can't tell what you're saying"
Me: "Representative"
Auto-Attendant: "I'm sorry, I can't tell what you're saying"
Me: "CUST-O-MER SER-VIIIICE"

I don't remember how I got through that, but finally did and was speaking to a person.

USPS Agent: "Hello sir, may I have your tracking number please."
Me: "123456789"
USPS Agent: "Ok sir, I'm showing that your package left Duluth on January 19th for SPAIN and no further information is available at this time."
Me: "Yes, I'm aware of that - I looked that up on your website. I'd like to start a claim on this since it was shipped Express and should have been delivered by now."
USPS Agent: "Ok. Is this an INTERNATIONAL shipment?"

I should have just hung up there.

Me: "Yes."
USPS Agent: "Ok."
awkward and lengthy silence....
USPS Agent: "Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't process this claim right now. Our systems are down. You'll have to call back later to process this."
Me: "I have an idea. How about I give you my phone number and YOU call ME back when your system is back up?"
USPS Agent: "I'm sorry, but we don't make any call backs."

President Obama, since we're giving away money I make a recommendation to throw a few million at the USPS for geography lessons and a new "system."

6 months

Aaron and I just realized that Matea has been home with us for six months as of today! She sure has changed a lot over the last half a year. When she came home she couldn't even sit, and now she's on the verge of walking and literally does not stop talking. And her hair is huge. I just posted pictures of her from about a week ago, so here is a picture of when she came home to refresh your memory.
So happy six month anniversary to us!

Tell Me What You Know

Have you seen this video yet?


I saw this on a blog a while back and thought it was pretty amazing - lyrically, musically, and visually. I started checking out the album this song is on - Tell Me What You Know by Sara Groves. After reading the inspiration behind the album Aaron and I decided to pick it up.

I had high expectations for the album and when I started listening to it I was a little disappointed! There were only two songs that I loved right off the bat. However, after listening to the album a few times it has really started grow on me! I am really loving the song When The Saints. The lyrics are, in my mind, incredible. You can listen to the whole album here and check out the lyrics. Take a listen, see if you like it!

First year pics....?

Here are Matea's first year pictures that we attempted to take. We actually weren't super thrilled with how they turned out, but, here they are. Matea refused to give us any great smiles! She is just too interested in the camera. I did minimal editing - I wonder if they'd look better if someone with real skills did something with them. I might try to throw them in a collage and see how that looks too. Anyway, enjoy.