Cleaning out your closet?

My next door neighbor is an amazing woman. She's in her early-mid 30's, has a brain tumor, is going through chemo (for a previous stomach cancer before they discovered the tumor), had brain swelling from the tumor which caused her to have a mini stroke and left her with partial paralysis on her left leg! Through all this she still has a positive personality. Because she has to take it easy and is on heavy duty treatments, she has gained a little weight and asked me if I knew anyone who is willing to donate size M women's clothing.

Soo....if you have any size M clothes or know someone who does, please let me know so I can give them to her. Thanks!!

My Inspirational sport art up for bid!

Bid on my Inspirational Sports art for our friend's adoption fundraiser & help them bring their daughter home from Columbia! Click on the link below.... Let me know if you can't view it:

ADOPTION SILENT AUCTION

Help a Sista Out!

Hey everyone! Our friend Wendi & fam are having an Adoption Silent Auction to raise the fees & bring their daughter home from Columbia! One of the items up for bid is my custom made, 15in Laptop sleeve with adjustable strap. This bag is made from a burlap coffee bag that I got from a local coffee roaster. It will fit a laptop with a 15in display screen (see listing for exact measurements).

Only 4 days left & bidding is already up to $20... click on the link below and please pass this on!

Adoption Silent Auction

A New Year

Nate and Lily

Hey we made it to another year!

2011 ended with a few road trips and major blessings. 2 weeks after our Hawaii trip, Nate & I jumped in the MINI and took off to St. Louis. I do NOT recommend taking a vacation 2 weeks before your Christmas trip. The week before, I was swamped with custom burlap bag orders and when I finally finished...no sooner had I got the decorations up and I was only able to enjoy them for a couple of days before we had to leave again. Crazy! However, we wanted to be with family for Christmas and Nate had not seen his Sullivan cousins in 3 years. Two of them are already in college and it won't be long until they may go in different directions, so we really wanted Nate to spend time there while the family is still in one location!

The day we left, a blizzard hit the exact route I had planned to take to St. Louis. Rather than risk it (considering my limited blizzard driving skills in the desert), I took the looooong southern route through El Paso & Abilene. And long it was. Day 1, Nate and I spent 12 hours on the road. Day 2...14 hours! Ugh! But, it turned out to be the wiser choice since they closed down the hwy on the fast route due to the snow and were fishing tons of people out of the ditches. I didn't see a single flake of snow the entire trip up.

Thankfully, Nate is a great traveler. He played by himself or watched his dvds the entire time. By the time I got close to St. Louis, I was beat. That hotel bed felt GREAT. Next day in St. Louis, Nate and I toured the Arch & the St. Louis Zoo (free and AWESOME!) That night, we met up with one of the families we went to China with and got to see their daughter, Lily, for the first time since we left China 4 years ago! It was interesting to see how similar but different the 2 kids are. Some of their facial expressions and personalities are the same, but Lily is definitely the more outgoing of the two. Seeing that family made the long trip worth it. The next day, before we headed to the grandparents house in Kansas City, we stopped by our adoption agency, Children's Hope International. It was nice to put faces with the people who helped make our adoption happen and they were thrilled to meet Nate.

Christmas was a ton of fun with Gma & Gpa Sullivan, Aunt Susan, Uncle Stuart and all the cousins. Even though they range in age from 12-20, Nate had a great time playing with all of them. We spent a week with them, visiting other relatives, eating Braums ice cream and exploring Kansas City (which has an amazing downtown... I'm a bit jealous because I love busy & interesting downtown areas).

It was a great trip and over too soon. You'd think I'd be wore out from all our travels but actually, it's just fuel to the fire. I love traveling! Maybe I get it from my parents. haha. I know you're reading this mom. hee hee. However, I think I'll stay put for awhile. At least until Africa! Still waiting to get a referral...hopefully within the next 3 months. Which reminds me... our first New Year blessing. Another Sullivan family in Pinetop (3-4 hrs north of us) saw our blog and contacted me. They had adopted a girl from Ethiopia and are in the process of adopting a child from China. AND they are going through the same adoption agency! How wild is that?! They were in Tucson during New Years, so we hooked up for lunch and had a great time.

Hope you all have a VERY BLESSED New Year!!!

Don & Denise

Looking down from the top of the St. Louis arch

Nate & 3 of his cousins (Kily was working)

Visiting family in Kansas

Sullivans meet the Sullivans