6 Years Ago Today...

Troy and I got married at 2:00! It is amazing how fast the past 6 years have gone and where we are today! What a journey it has been both personally and as a couple. More reflections later. We have to leave so Troy can get his body marked up for his triathlon on Sunday.

By the way, check out all the hair Troy has!

19 Inches, YIKES!

While enjoying my morning newspaper and coffee, I saw an that Marble Falls, TX made the national news. My brother and his family live in Marble Falls which is not a huge city, but a beautiful Texas Hill Country type of place that has a beautiful lake. Marble Falls received 19 inches of rain the other night and it is to continue until the 4th of July! Praise God my brother and his family are safe and dry!

Bye, Bye Camry, Hello Matrix!

Yep, we have a new car! Troy and I looked at cars Sunday evening and wrote down vehicles that we were interested in. We were looking into used Toyota Camrys and Corollas since we could not afford used Odysseys or Siennas. Low and behold, there was a used Toyota Matrix that was kind of cute. We didn't see a price on it, but looked it up online. Come to find out, it was in our price range and included everything we wanted. I could not sleep Sunday night thinking of this car and how I was going to wheel and deal the sales associate. We did A LOT of research Sunday night on Matrix's and got comparable prices and reviews. I went to the dealership Monday afternoon and test drove the car! It was SO much fun to drive. Troy drove it later that afternoon once I picked him up from work. He liked it a lot and we made an offer. Come to find out, the price was painted on the winshield of the vehicle and we didn't even see it Sunday night. It was a God thing because we wouldn't have considered the car based on the price on the winshield. The internet had it at a cheaper price and the dealership had to honor it. The rest is history! We prayed that God would lead us to the right vehicle and sales associate. Indeed he did! Just shows you to stay open to what God wants for you and not what you want yourself! We hadn't even considered a Matrix until we saw it that evening! We KNOW God wanted us to have that car! As the towing company was taking away our Camry, the dealership called to tell us the title on our Matrix was in and we need to sign!

Bye, Bye Camry...

We got word from our insurance agency that our 1994 Camery was considered a total loss. It is sad to see this car go. The "junk yard" is going to pick it up on Tuesday morning to take it to its new home. We don't realize how attached we become to our cars. Troy and I are grateful for the 4 years we have had it. It was a gift from my parents when Troy was doing his internship. We became a one car family after we got married and he entered seminary. We really needed two cars once he did his internship and asked to borrow it for one year since my parents had 3 cars between the two of them. They gave it to us and we have LOVED it! Despite its age, it was an incredible vehicle!

When it Rains, it FLOODS!

Oh, what a weekend we had! Troy and I decided to go to Chicago to celebrate my birthday, Fathers Day and our anniversary, but NO, the Devil wanted to play some games with us. Here are some of the things that happened to us in our 24 hours of trial:

* We were in a fender bender that did some damage to our car. We are waiting to hear back from our insurance to see if we have a total loss or they will fix it.

* A bird died as it flew into the grill of our wrecked car as we were driving it back home to pick up our other one so we could go on to Chicago.

* We woke up to water dripping from the ceiling in our hotel room. It was insane! We felt like we were walking in a thunderstorm! Of course management was rude to us when we told them about our problem.

* The bed that we REALLY wanted from IKEA did not fit in our car.

* It POURED on us as we loaded our car with a bookcase and desk from IKEA and the sun was out!

Oh well, we laughed and prayed the rest of the time that all would go well. We didn't do everything we planned in Chicago because we were ready for the drama to STOP! Now the positives:

* The guy we had the accident with was incredibly nice! He served two tours in Iraq and got out before they sent him on his 3rd!

* IKEA had a great .99 breakfast, coffee and cinnamon roll. It only cost us $4.54!

* TGIF Fridays had mojitos and rum/coke on special when we arrived Friday night for dinner!

* The customer service help was fabulous at IKEA!

* We came home with an awesome bookcase and desk that will premire in the new catty! They were cheap (and a good quality) too!

So in the meantime, we are debating what type of vehicle we need in case our car is considered a loss. We thought of a minivan once we got our kid(s), but maybe now this is a good reason to jump ahead. Any suggestions? Maybe China is going to speed up and God is saying "get ready". Who knows! Were sure have been tested though!

Whoo Hoo Troy!

Once again, Troy completed another sprint triathlon and got 2nd place in the Clysdale Division (for men 200+ lbs.). He missed being 1st by 2/100 of a second! Troy was 24th overall and 5th in his age group. This is Troy's 3rd tri and he is 3/3 in walking away with an award so far! This was a sprint tri, but there were MANY very good, competitive athletes on the course. Troy did an incredible job considering he was riding one of the cheapest bikes (an antique Bridgestone RB2) of the day. Just shows you it's the rider and not always the bike that counts. I am so proud on him! Here are some pictures of the day. They are totally out of order, so my apologies.

You can barely see Troy crossing the FINISH line!

Run Troy Run!

My speed demon on his fabulous and antique bike!

Getting ready for the 300 M swim!

The lovely sight of balloons lifting off at 7:00 a.m. on the lake! What a treat to witness!

He is a winner!

WWWAAAAHHH!

This is how we feel right now since the CCAA only matched 6 days worth of Log-In Days! This note is from CCAI, our fabulous adoption agency:

We are happy to announce that we received matches for our May, 2006 expedited Chinese Descent families! Congratulations to the families who were recently matched! The CCAA matched up through November 7, 2005 for our Traditional Program families. We are disappointed to have not received any matches for our Traditional Program families in this group. We do not have any news on the next group of matches at this time. We will update this site when more information becomes available.

We Are Back!

Actually, we have been back for almost a week now. Troy and I went to Hunt, TX for the first annual Lehman Family gathering. We stayed at Casa Bonita Lodges and our cabin was right on the river. It was perfect! Troy and I woke up every morning and enjoyed our cup of coffee and a book on the terrace by the river. It couldn't have been better! We did lots of kayaking, swimming, fishing, eating and laying out in the sun! Now back to reality. We cherish those moments we got to spend together with our family and as a couple!