Happy Highlights

Just have a string of happy things that I wanted to briefly record, starting with winning! 

• At the end of the December, we won a drawing at the kids' orthodontist for a $50 gift card!  And then bright and early in January, they hold a drawing from that group of gift card winners from every month of that year.  The winner of that drawing wins FREE BRACES.  And do you know who won that drawing by the good grace of the Lord???? Kimberly Brown, that's who!  This has been such fun news to share and share again with anyone who will listen.  Can't believe we finally won! We have been sporting that Smile Construction car magnet for years and never got spotted.  Finally got spotted last month and the rest is fresh history.  Woohoo!

• Josh and I are are attempting to lose a pound a week.  Maybe? Probably.  I don't know.  But we are trying to make wiser eating choices regardless and already seeing progress!  For me, for starters, simple stuff like smaller portions, dropping the cokes, making walking part of my days, and not eating after dinner.  Anna affectionately cheers on our efforts by giving it all a title:  Downsizing Daddy/Minimizing Mommy.  She also has us trying a Shape Up video game and has agreed to be my walking buddy.

• We are back to school again and it's good to get back into that routine.  It's nice to not be working school around twice weekly trips to Nashville for language therapy.  It was this time last year that we started that for Noah.  Can't believe it's been a whole year!  So glad we did that though!

• Anna has started a little Etsy shop online with Josh's help. She is creating Lego pieces.  I was sure nobody would buy ANYTHING, but she already has two sales!  Go figure.  She has already invested her profits into her much-anticipated spring garden ... she is planning an herb and flower garden and has already bought her seeds.  Now she is saving up for a birdbath, something we fell in love with at Memaw's at Christmas.

• I have joined a D-group for this year.  It's a small bible study/discipleship group of 6 women.  We read from this F260 Chronological Bible reading plan and journal twice a week and we meet up on Thursday nights to discuss, recite scripture memory passage work, and pray.  We are going to memorize the first two chapters of Ephesians.  Which is kinda Whoa! for me, but I am willing to try!

• Have I said yet how much I love 2019 JUST BECAUSE it has no foster or adoption details to deal with.  None.  That FOUR YEAR chapter is over.  Just wow.  I also love 2019 because it neatly wraps up a crappy second half of 2018 full of outrageous family drama on the Higginbotham side.  Ick!  Love you and your fresh new slate, 2019.

• I sorely, sorely missed getting to take a beach trip last year.  I really, really hoped we would take one this year, but it's not looking like we will.  Alas.  BUT, we HAVE opted to do some frequent local trips to the mountains of east Tennessee instead.  And along that way, we are finally gonna check Dollywood off our list of destinations to try.  We hear so much good stuff, we went ahead and got season passes for this year.  We are excited!  Going for the first time in March, right after they open for the season.

• In other news, our church did its first ever fundraising campaign the last three months of the 2018.  The goal was $75,000 and 100% participation going toward covering expenses of our new modular building and building back up our savings acct from that purchase.  I had NO idea how the Lord would provide that much money among our small (but growing) congregation in such a short time frame and during the holidays no less!  But He did.  And it is amazing in our eyes.  By the end of December, a little over $83,000 came in and a little over 82% participation +13 or so extra families.  Goodness, Lord.  So good.  Love our Redeemer Church family and what the Lord is allowing us to see Him do among us.

• Finally, I have picked a word for 2019.  Rather, a whole club of words and will be dropping those here soon, too.  So love the start of a new year!