bummed

Another batch of EPs was sent out today, but we were not on the list.  Sad day.  Who knows what this means, but it looks like it could be January once the EPs reset again before we are contacted. There is a slim possibility that we could still hear something by the end of the year, but it isn't looking promising.  

Also, we applied for a grant a few months ago that I'm fairly certain we didn't get.  I checked the website today and saw the deadline for notification was June 15.  Their site made it sound like they would notify families with a yes or no.  We got nothing.  So I emailed them to see what was going on and why we hadn't heard anything.  

Double whammy today...

Sending Hugs

maybe possibly???

Please pray with us this week as another batch of EPs is hopefully submitted.  We want to be in that group!

pop goes the 90s

We had so much fun at Pop Goes the 90s last week!  

Kevin and lots of our friends graciously donated their talents to make this happen. It was incredible!  I heard many people say it was better than they expected. 

God was good to make this a profitable fundraiser, and I'm so grateful for that.  I just mailed the check off today, hallelujah!  I want to take a brief moment to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you that made this happen.  I am humbled and blessed to call you friends, and I cannot wait for Gia to be home and start meeting and loving all the people that helped us bring her home.  So exciting!

If you weren't able to attend, here's sampling of what you missed.  Don't be too sad; they've already been contacted to play a "gig" at a local university.  We'll see...  :)

Sending Hugs

new pictures

Today I got a grand surprise.  323 pictures of GIA!
About a month ago I asked our agency to schedule a candid photo shoot that we would gladly pay for, but we were told it couldn't happen.
So it was extra wonderful when I checked the mail today and found a disc with 323 pictures (4 of them videos)!

Here's one of my faves.  :)

Sending Hugs

pop goes the 90s

I was born a product of the 80s. My parents, which I describe as Jesus-loving hippies, brought me up on classic rock for the most part, and being from Alabama, I was a rare breed in the sense that the only country artist I remember us listening to on a semi-regular basis was Johnny Cash. As I grew into the adolescence of my teenage years, I found myself falling in love with the alt-rock station in our city known as "The X" (formerly, "The Bear"). This was largely given to the fact that I'm a baby of three boys, so rock music stayed on constant in our house and in our vehicles, though as rock evolved, it was the 90s alternative that influenced my love for music more than any other genre. Most influential were the songs and sounds from collaboration records like, "Live in the X Lounge."

Fast forward going on twenty years, I reminisce about the days and the bands of my youth such as Weezer, Third Eye Blind, Oasis, Matchbox 20, Counting Crows and others. Living even today as a full time musician, I still reflect on my high school days where we left the windows down and the music blaring, so that the back roads of Alabama became the perfect audience to the soundtrack of our lives.

This next week, I get to pull some personal ammunition (relationships) together to recreate the music of our high school car stereos. With some of my really close friends that just so happen to be some of the best musicians and live production professionals in our part of the country, we will celebrate on June 6th in Birmingham the musical decade of the 90s, all in hopes to help bring our daughter home from South Korea. Consider this my personal invitation to a night you don't want to miss... the very first performance from Pop Goes The 90s. Join us, and let your $10 cover charge help us bring Gia home.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/PopGoesThe90s and/or follow @PopGoesThe90s on twitter. Thanks so much!

Mal's guest blogger,
Kevin

shopping spree

We found some items at Target to get for Gia.  Luckily, she was there to try them on.  :)   What do you think?

orphan run

Well, it's official.  

I've survived my first 5K event as a promoter.  I've run enough of them to know what runners expect, but being on the other end is very different.  When I first dreamed this fundraiser up, I had no clue what I was getting myself into.  It turned out to be a really great event overall.  

Things I loved...

• our volunteers
• Sometimes I think people say "I couldn't have done this without you" because they feel obligated to say it.  Not the case here.  I honest to goodness could NOT have pulled this off without all of my amazing volunteers.  If I tried to list you all, I'd forget some, so I'm just going to say THANK YOU!  

• my husband being home to help
• I have to specifically mention Kevin because he took the weekend off of work, which I know was not fun for him.  As difficult as that was for him to do, I am so thankful he did. When I think back to the day of the race, I'm overwhelmed picturing it without his help.  So to Kevin I say another big THANKS!

• the turnout
• We tried to schedule this race for November because that's Orphan Awareness Month.  No such luck.  Then we moved it to March.  Again, no luck.  So we tried for a third date, which worked!  The downside was that it was Memorial Day weekend.  You know, the weekend everyone goes out of town.  I had to laugh that God would give us the weekend that was vacation-packed as our big fundraiser.  What a sense of humor!  It was as if He was forcing us to a place of trusting Him with this event.  I know it sounds silly, but that's how I have to see it.  Regardless of all my worries, the date was perfect and the turnout was even better!  We were praying for 150-200 runners, and we got 150.  Yay!  

• the venue
• I chose Veteran's Park because it was a venue that was an "all in one" package.  In one fee we took care of parking EMTs, police, seating, a pre-measured course, etc.  The course is absolutely beautiful.  Definitely a favorite now!

Things I will change next year...

• committees
• To say that planning this event was overwhelming is an understatement.  Wow, so much work.  I have somewhat of a control-freak problem.  There's no way I can take this on alone again, so next year I'll be recruiting some other peeps to carry some of the load

• volunteers
• Thankfully we just barely had enough volunteers this year.  It was cutting close.  In fact, me and a couple other people had to do double duty on some of the stations.  Can you say panic attack?  'Cause that's how I was feeling for a minute.  I learned just how many volunteers I need to make a 5K happen.  

• advertising/marketing
• The goal is to make the Orphan Run 5K an annual event, with proceeds going to various companies/families that are involved in orphan care.  The number one question I fielded from people this year was "Where is the money going?" That was tough to answer because with this being a Christ City Church event, we aren't really responsible for where the funds go.  We just offered to organize an event that would help our city care for orphans. We are excited, though, to know that our Gia will be one of the benefactors of this year's race.  

• time of year
• It was stinkin' HOT.  There's no way around it.  I am so proud of the brave souls that raced in this crazy Bama summer heat.  Go you!  I'd like to see the next race be schedule for October 2013.  Probably the same weekend as Race for the Cure.  NOT!  I'll definitely have to plan around that monstrous 5K.  

• Fun Run
• Along with the 5K, we hosted a one mile "Fun Run" too.  We were thinking a lot people might like to show up last minute and participate in a little family friendly run.  I'm not sure it was as productive as we had hoped, so that will probably be tossed next year.  We'll see... 

Things I was pleasantly surprised with...

• the venue
• I touched on this earlier, but I just cannot get over how pretty this course is.  

• generosity of sponsors
• We were very blessed to have enough business sponsors to get this thing going.  I was even more surprised that some of our sponsors went over and beyond what was expected of them.   

Thanks so much for all of you that have prayed for this event and helped us with it.  We are thankful for your love and friendship.

Next up...  Pop Goes the 90s!   I'll get Kevin to guest post about that event this week sometime.  It's going to be awesome!

Sending Hugs