Cold Weather, Work, and more cold weather!

So today is my second day at my new job. I'm enjoying it. Everyone is so friendly and I am happy I found something I will enjoy doing. Still training today but going to start working on the computer later this afternoon. 

It's very cold out today, only about 40 degrees. I am glad that I am inside and not outside! I'm hoping it doesn't snow but I am sure it will snow this week!

Not much to blog about since I have been working, but I will have much more to say this weekend!

LIVE LAUGH BLOG!

I have a job!!!!!!!!!! Finally!

So tomorrow I start a new job. I have been unemployed since June 2008 and I am really getting bored. Granted, I watched a little boy for almost a year and I have been going to school since September 2009 but we really need a second income and this part time job will help. 


So I will be working for Davenport University in their call center. I will be answering the phones, transferring calls to their 14 campuses and scheduling appointments with advisors. I've done phone work before so I think I will be happy doing what I do. AND...it's not far from campus and they work around my school schedule as well as any meetings I may have. They are very accommodating! I am truly looking forward to working again!


So that is all I have for now. I need to get pictures of the crib and changing table put up, but I guess it really doesn't matter until the baby's room is done! We have been blessed with clothing and other baby items from friends. I cannot wait until we have a little one in the house! 

So Many Things

I haven't blogged in a few days. Wow..I have been BUSY! Between school and meetings for school organizations I am involved in, I have been crazy this week. 


I belong to a group called HIMTSA (Health Information Management and Technology Student Association) and we are big into networking. We have board meetings and regular meetings. Since I am the secretary, I have to be at both meetings. We have one board meeting a month and one regular meeting a month. This month we had our Assistant Dean of Health Information Management talk about upcoming changes (study abroad) and then we had a speaker from the MHIMA and she talked about her job and privacy, security and getting involved in networking. 


Another group I am involved in is called National Society for Leadership and Success. I have decided to become part of the Executive Board for this group as well so I am now the secretary for that. Within NSLS we have what are called Success Networking Teams. They are small groups of students involved in NSLS that get together and have meetings. They each set goals at these meetings and get suggestions from the others in ways that they can help them reach their goals. Our SNT has a very good team. We are very cohesive and we seem to think along the same wavelength as well. We have chosen to adopt a family for Christmas and get presents and make them a dinner. We hope to become friends with this family so that we can continue to help them. Or it may even be more than one family. 


Since I have gone back to school I have definitely become more involved. I know a lot of people within the school, faculty, advisors, and students. It's nice to have that networking. I have also been looking for a job. I had a job interview last week and I got a call today (but I was not home) and I need to call him back tomorrow morning. I will be calling him ASAP as I want to find out what he needs. Jeff said the man had a question for me. I hope that question is "when can you start?" LOL 


Jeff & I have also been busy putting things together. We put the crib together because we were advised to since there was a nick in the changing table. So there are a couple of spots that need to be touched up on the crib, changing table, and dresser. Now we have to put together the bookshelf and make sure that is okay! It's crazy that as soon as the nursery is finished (just need the drywall and painting done and carpet) then we can move the furniture in there. The only thing I do not have yet is a rocker. I want one of the wider cushy rockers that are low to the ground (I'm Short) and I want it in Chocolate brown...so that is on my wish list!


I have a couple friends that are awesome. They are giving us clothes from their children so that we don't have to spend so much on clothing! I am thankful to have friends like them! In fact, one of them is bringing her two boys down on Saturday and we are going to Middleville to Trick-or-Treat :) It will be a blast!!!!


So that is all I have for now! As Christina would say.....




Live Laugh Blog!

Nothing new today

Live Laugh Blog - I have nothing to say today :)

Klackle's Orchard - October 2, 2010

My friend Mynde and I took her two boys, Noah & Dillon to Klackle's Orchard and we had lots of fun. There is so much to do there. We got to pet goats, chickens, a cow, bunnies, llama, & sheep. The goats were quite mean.

We also let Noah play on bounce houses and the velcro bounce.

We took a wagon ride and picked apples. The apples were DECLICIOUS!

Noah & I road on the peddle carts. They were fun. I tried to get Mynde to ride one but she refused....chicken :)











After that we rode the pumpkin train to the pumpkin patch so that I could pick out some pumpkins.

After that we went into the little store and bought Honeycrisp apples, Apple Cider, DONUTS (mmm they were GOOD), and I bought some apple butter.

I have more pictures to add but they won't upload right now..so I will add them tomorrow!

Pets

I wasn't sure what to blog about today. So I thought I would share a little bit about my pets. Or I should say, our pets. When Jeff & I moved into the apartment we started out with a 2 gallon fish tank. We bought 3 fish, Whitey, Beaver, & Lumpy. Well...Whitey & Beaver didn't make it, but Lumpy did and he grew too big for his little fish tank. We ended up buying a 55 gallon fish tank and put Lumpy in there. Jeff thought he would be lonely so he went and bought two more goldfish. They were just the feeder goldfish, 15 cents each. We named the other two Bumpy & Stumpy. Lumpy, Bumpy & Stumpy grew to be over 12 inches long each. They were able to weather the move from the apartment into the house. We hired a professional fish guy to move them.

After we moved and they got bigger and bigger we started feeding them Koi food because they were so big. They were doing really well but right before Christmas in 2006 they must have gotten a bad batch of food because they all died within a few hours of each other. It was devastating to watch them die. We couldn't "flush" them because they were so big.

Jeff & I cleaned out the tank and got it set back up and we went to the pet store and bought two medium-small koi. We named them Feisty & Leroy. They were smart fish. You could walk over to the tank and say their names and they would swim up to you. They also grew very big. Feisty was over 16 inches long and Leroy was about 14 inches long. We ended up having to get rid of them because they had no room to swim in the tank. We sold them to the mother-in-law of a person I worked with at the time. She had a koi pond at her house.

Before we got rid of the fish we "adopted" two cats. They were the cats of our neighbor's boss. She had to get rid of them and they knew we wanted cats. They came to us named Ziggy & Roach. Hmmmm..not something I would name my cats. The gray cat ended up sitting under our couch and wouldn't come out and the black cat...well he just hung out. We started calling the black cat Bubba and the gray cat just stayed under the couch. I laid on the floor and started saying names to him. He finally came out when I called him Jimmie. So we now have Bubba Lou and Jimmie Jay.

They are great cats. They are so spoiled. They would stare at the fish tank and occasionally I would find Bubba on top of the filter, swatting at the fish. Mind you, the fish were almost as big as Bubba :) When we got rid of the fish the cats would sit in front of the tank looking at it. We ended up putting the tank in another room where the cats couldn't see it because it made us sad to see them missing their fish friends :)

We eventually sold the fish tank and just have our two "babies" now. They are truly babies. They are spoiled rotten. They each have a bed, they have their own fleece blanket, they have little houses to sleep in, and they have tons of toys. We found these little "bugs" that the cats both love and we love watching them chase the bugs. They will sleep with us, they know when I don't feel good, and they are just good cats. Occasionally we will catch them on top of the cupboards or in spaces that just crack us up. We have a suitcase in our closet and Bubba likes to sleep on top of the suitcase, surrounded by my hanging clothes. They also like to sleep in odd places. I have found Bubba in the bouncy seat that someone gave me or even in the infant car seat. Bubba also liked the baby travel swing. I think he was sad when I took it up to my mom's house.

So anyways...that is our little family...our family of myself, Jeff & two kitties :)

Job Prospect

I have been unemployed for almost 2 1/2 years now. I have applied for countless jobs and have not received even a call back. Oh wait, except for McDonald's who said I was TOO qualified...TOO QUALIFIED TO FLIP BURGERS OR DROP FRIES???? Come on..really?


So tomorrow I have a job interview at Davenport University within their call center. Hopefully I will get it because money is tight and I really need to get a job.


So please...keep me in your thoughts and keep all crossables crossed!!!

"I Love My Hair" - Sesame Street

Now that Jeff & I are in the adoption process and our preferences are none, we are always looking for things that might benefit our children if we adopt children of another race. I saw this on the news last night and then a friend posted it on her Facebook. I'd love to see more from this Sesame Street character.

I know that if we adopt a child of color, that I want to be able to share with them their culture, how things are done with their hair, and I think as a young child seeing something like this on TV will definitely help them relate.

Pampered Chef Caramel-Banana Ravioli

So today I have decided to share a recipe that sounds absolutely wonderful and quite easy. I am planning on trying it soon.

The Pampered Chef Caramel-Banana Ravioli

Ingredients

2 firm medium bananas 3 rolls (1.7 oz each) 

milk chocolate-covered chewy caramels, unwrapped (24 pieces total) 

2 pkg (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls with no seams (see Cook’s Tip) 

1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar 

1/3 cup (75 mL) Caramel Sauce 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with vegetable oil. Using Santoku Knife, slice bananas diagonally into twenty-four 1/4-inch-thick (6-mm) slices. Cut caramels in half.


Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of pan, gently shaping to form a rectangle. (Do not stretch. Dough will not cover entire bottom of pan.) Arrange banana slices over dough in four rows of six each, spacing 3/4 in. (2 cm) apart. Top each banana slice with two caramel halves. Unroll remaining dough directly over filling, matching edges and shaping to fit. Press firmly around filling to seal; pinch together any tears.


Using Pastry Cutter fitted with fluted wheel, trim and discard edges of dough; cut into 24 ravioli. Using Mini-Serving Spatula, separate ravioli over pan. Add sugar to Flour/Sugar Shaker; sprinkle over ravioli. Bake 10–12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove ravioli to Stackable Cooling Rack; cool 2 minutes. Place on serving plates; drizzle with sauce.



Yield: 24 ravioli


Nutrients per serving: Calories 210, Total Fat 8 g, Saturated Fat 4.5 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbohydrate 33 g, Protein 3 g, Sodium 300 mg, Fiber 2 g


Cook's Tip: If desired, refrigerated regular crescent rolls can be substituted for the crescent rolls with no seams. Unroll dough onto pan as directed in Step 2. Firmly pinch seams. Fill as directed in Step 2. Unroll remaining dough onto lightly floured Large Grooved Cutting Board, gently shaping to form a rectangle; firmly pinch seams together. Place dough over filling. Proceed as directed.

Caramel ice cream topping can be substituted for the Caramel Sauce, if desired.

Visitors and other ramblings

So I forgot to blog yesterday. I wasn't feeling well and things were just not going my way. I was going to blog, then got distracted, so I didn't get around to it. Now today is Sunday and I am blogging again. I wasn't sure what to blog about, but I decided to blog about my visitors today. 

Visitors. We love visitors. My mom, Aunt Toody, & Aunt Sally are headed to Las Vegas for a few days. They are flying out of Grand Rapids and I met them to give my mom a pillow and get some books from mom. Well shortly after I get home (we live a few minutes from the airport), we get a phone call from my mom telling us that their flight was delayed for 2 hours. Then we got the phone call that the flight was delayed until 11pm so I went and picked them up and brought them back to our house so they didn't have to sit in the airport for hours upon hours. 


Aunt Toody said she wanted spaghetti. So I cooked spaghetti. And I had to put bibs on them so that they wouldn't spill spaghetti sauce on their shirts. (I used receiving blankets) And now I am sitting here listening to three middle aged women blabbing about who knows what. They are wondering what the big deal about facebook is. It's funny. I should have taken pictures of them in the bibs. It was quite funny. 


I am going to have to blog about something interesting tomorrow. I think I might blog about some recipes. I have good recipes I want to share with others. 


Live Laugh Blog!

Angel Babies

Today, October 15, is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. Today is the day that we remember all the babies that have been taken too soon, through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. Today is the day we remember our angels and ask them to watch over us. 


I think about the baby that Jeff & I never got to hold. We were ecstatic to be pregnant. We wanted to shout it from the rooftops. We wanted EVERYONE to know that we were going to be parents. When I started having abdominal pains, we knew something wasn't right. We were devastated. All I wanted was to be able to hold a little one in my arms. We don't know whether the baby was a boy or a girl, but we named the baby, Jorryn Lee. Jorryn means "The One God Loves" and we thought that God loved our little one so much that He needed him/her for something special. We know that Jorryn is up there watching over us. Jorryn entered Heaven on November 12, 2005. 


I was due June 26, 2006 and we never made that day. I found out awhile later that my cousin was due the exact same day as I was, and she too lost her little one. I know that they are both up there in Heaven playing games and watching over us. They are guardian angels to so many little ones. Alex, Jayce, Jordyn, Chase and so many others have guardian angels watching over them and protecting them. 


I think about a woman I recently "met" online. She and her husband are the founders of Ella's Halo and the parents of precious little Ella, who was taken from them way too soon. I think about Taryn, Ryan and little Ella today as we light candles in remembrance of all the babies gone too soon. 


I think about all my "boardie" friends that have all lost a baby as well. I hope they feel the virtual hugs I am giving them. They have been my strength and my rock as I walk this journey of trying to have a baby. 


My candle is lit, is yours? 

Forehead Kisses (and other ramblings)

So many of you may be wondering why I named my blog Sunshine Wishes and Forehead Kisses. Well, I have lots of wishes and it just sounded good...and forehead kisses...well they are just amazing. I truly believe you can get more out of a forehead kiss than you can out of other kisses. When Jeff & I first started truly hanging out (when he owned the video store and I would visit him while he was working) he would always give me a kiss on the forehead when I would leave. This made me believe that he had some sort of feelings for me. Obviously that was true, but at the time it made me wonder. I didn't know how to interpret the forehead kisses at the time. Now I know. The caring, the love...it shows in a forehead kiss. 


Think about a newborn baby....kissing their soft "new baby" smelling head, kissing your child goodnight with a gentle kiss on the forehead, having your spouse kiss you on the forehead when you are sick, telling your dad that you love him and gently giving him a kiss on the forehead moments before he took his last breath...there is meaning behind each and every one of those kisses. 


I will never forget April 1, 2005. This is the day that my dad passed away after a battle with cancer. Have I told you lately that CANCER SUCKS. I remember giving my dad a kiss on the forehead and telling him that I loved him. My dad was/is my hero. I was daddy's little girl and I still am. I think about my dad daily and wish he was here. I wish he was here to see my nephews grow up, I wish he was here to ask advice of, I wish he was here to be with my mom, I wish my dad was here to teach my children how to fish, how to hunt, and swim, most of all...I just wish he was here. Needless to say, I miss my dad. 


So now that I have made you cry or tear up, I will tell you another story. My nephew broke his arm yesterday. He is 3 1/2 and such a boy. He is a trooper and will be fine. I actually thought it would have been his younger brother who broke the first bone since Jayce is such a daredevil! They are both ALL boy and rough house like crazy. I love my nephews! 


So I am not sure what else to blog about today. I had school, took a midterm, and am going to relax. I have been looking for a job. 


Oh yeah...we are holding a Pampered Chef fundraiser for our adoption fund. It is online and you can go to http://www.pamperedchef.biz/marthamckeiver and check out the catalog and all the wonderful kitchen and pantry items available. When you check out, just make sure you enter my name (Kellee Van Houten) in the host information. We receive up to 15% towards our fund. If you have questions, let me know!!! We appreciate all the support we have received. I will probably blog about this again. We are closing the fundraiser on October 23, 2010. 

Hope

I am pleased to say that I am blessed with so many great friends, both those that I have met and those that I have never met, but feel like I know so well. Those friends would be my "boardies" - my iVillage friends. I have been part of iVillage for many years. There is so much information and articles there, as well as some awesome messageboards. I started out on the TTC (Trying To Conceive) messageboard and eventually found the TTCYFC (Trying To Conceive Your First Child) messageboard once I realized it was there. I made some wonderful friends on both boards. Alex was the first person I "met" on the boards and she struggled with having children as well. She is now the proud mother to twins, Libby & Sawyer. I am absolutely ecstatic for her! Diana, Kim, Leslie, Amber, Christina, Gina, Cristin, Erin, April, Kim, Karen, and so many others I met while on these boards. Some have "graduated", some have not yet, and some have adopted. I feel as those these girls are my "sisters". I can talk to them about things that are TMI (Too Much Info) and vent to them about things, whether it is TTC related or marriage related or just life in general. I am now part of the Adoption messageboard since Jeff & I have begun the adoption process. It is great to "meet" others who have gone through the process or are in the process. They can be a wealth of information!

A few weeks ago I got a package in the mail. When I saw the return address, I immediately had tears in my eyes. It was a package from The Vintage Pearl. Inside the package was this necklace. My absolutely AMAZING friend Christina had told me about this necklace a few weeks prior and she said she thought of me when she saw it. It was something I definitely wanted to order when I saw it and I was going to save the money to purchase it. When the package arrived and I saw where it was from, I realized then and there, I have one of the most amazing women as my friend. Christina is a "grad" of the TTCYFC6+ (Trying to Conceive Your First Child 6+ months) messageboard and was always a great support system. Well..She still is an amazing support system! She is a loving momma to Ella and wife to Derrick. She is one of the best things that has happened in my life. How could she not be. She thinks of others before thinking of herself. Christina knew how much I wanted this necklace, and even though she shouldn't have, she spent HER money and purchased it for ME. Totally unnecessary but Totally appreciated. I LOVE my boardie sisters and I will treasure their friendship forever. 


So this necklace is called the "Hope for Orphans" necklace and profits from the necklace are going towards families that are adopting. What a wonderful cause and such a beautiful necklace. 

Thank you Christina! Thank you for being such a wonderful friend and "sister". You will never truly know how much I LOVE having you as my friend!

I'm a Blogger, I'm a Blogger :)

I have decided that I need to blog. A lot of my friends blog and a lot of companies blog. I need to put my thoughts down and share those thoughts with others. There may be times I say something that you may not agree with or that you whole heartedly agree with. There have been so many ups and downs in my life that I feel as if I put them down in writing I'll be able to become a better person.

Jeff & I have been married since January 22, 2005 and our family consists of the two of us and our two little (not so) kitties. Okay..well they are not kitties but they are OUR kitties, Jimmie Jay and Bubba Lou. They are our babies. When I walk in the door and Jimmie is waiting for me, I smile. I am not sure what I would do without our cats. They cuddle with us, protect us (pretend like they are anyways) and give us comfort when we don't feel well.

Jeff & I don't have any children yet, but we have two adorable nephews. Alex is 3 1/2 and Jayce is 1. We love them to infinity and beyond and would give them the world. They are our pride and joy and we love spending as much time with them as we can. We also have lots of "adopted" nieces and nephews, those of our friends. We know that one day we will have our own children, whether through adoption (which we are in the process of) or biologically. Either way is fine with us! We just want to be able to share our love with them!

This blog will be about my life in general, our journey through adoption, and any other ramblings. You will find that some days I will ramble on and some days you won't find a post from me at all. I am unemployed, looking for a job, and a student. I have time, but am crazy busy. I belong to a couple of student organizations through the school (Davenport University) and am trying to be as involved as possible so that I can network and become employed within a wonderful company. Jeff works retail and has thoughts about moving into management (at times) and once I am done with school, who knows where life will take us. We could stay in Michigan, head west towards the Rockies, or even overseas. We are focused on making a good future for our family.

I will share with you blogs I like, blogs I might not like and other sites that I think are great! I Facebook but spent entirely TOO much time on there, so one goal I have for myself is to disconnect for a few days, but only from Facebook. I still need my email for school and other stuff.

So that is me for now. I will blog again and talk more about our adoption journey. Happy Blogging!