Speechless.

Tonight I am alternately jumping up and down screaming (oh yes I am)....and sitting with my hands over my mouth saying over and over, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

SIXTY FEET IS COMING!!!!

And here's the amazing part....we DIDN'T finish in the top 3!! (we were #4) But here's what they said in their announcement of the winners:

We know we said only the top 3, but we also said we like enthusiasm and there were some serious enthusiastic voters. Valerie, we’re coming to see you!

Oh yes they did....they said they're coming to see ME! Can you believe it? :)

THANK YOU for voting!!

I was totally cracking up at all the comments people left to vote. People I don't even know were voting for my hometown, asking them to come here for ME! I sent out an email asking friends to vote, and in the email I said, "You can just say (my hometown) if you want to. Or you can say, 'My friend Valerie is a weirdo and a fanatic. Please come to (hometown) so she’ll leave me alone!'" One person - who I DON'T know - typed that exact sentence! Hahahaha!

Ok, so I know I'm acting like a tweenie who just found out Justin Bieber is coming to her house, but let me tell you - even THEY could not be more excited than I am. ;) Even before I went to Uganda this ministry completely embedded itself in my heart, and when I was there, no other place we went had such a huge impact on my life as being in the children's prisons with SixtyFeet. I can't explain it. I have no words. But this is so huge in my heart that sometimes I feel like it will totally overwhelm me.



Ever since I got back, I've been asking God what I'm supposed to do - to show me a way I can help them. When I read their blogs or see their pictures, something slams into the walls of my heart. Something more than just feeling sad for the children. It's like a longing....a desperation....for I don't even know what. A desperation to do something.



And now, they're coming here! And it's about so much more than just having the chance to meet the people who started this amazing ministry. The fact that we were #4 and they're coming anyway? The fact that they mentioned me specifically? The fact that so many people I don't even know said they were voting because of me? It was like a sweet whisper from God to my heart saying, "I see you. I hear you. I know your heart's desire. And I'm the One who's doing this in you. It's not all in your head.....it's Me."

You know when God does something He doesn't have to, just to show you He loves you? Yeah, it was like that. :)




Me and Moses. LOVE him.

[PLEASE pray with me that every aspect of their trip will be worked out in detail - the publicity, the timing, where they will stay, where the presentation will be held, and that LOTS of people will come and hear about the awesome work they are doing....and join them.]

Status.

Here are a few statuses (statusi?) you might have missed on my Facebook recently. Mainly because I didn't post them. :)

• I don't understand people who enjoy running for fun. Me, ummm, not so much. Not at all, actually.


• Almost back to my pre-Uganda weight! LOL


• "What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life, is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?" ~Blessings, by Laura Story


• Number one thing I'm going to miss while I have my braces on: tacos. Oh, and chips and salsa. And flossing the normal way. And maybe popcorn. But only when I'm at the movies.


• Finally jumped on The Help bandwagon last weekend (movie, not book). Like. But not love. And no popcorn.


• Have you guys checked out Baron Batch's blog? You should. Former TTU running back, drafted this year by the Steelers. Amazing writer, photographer, and humanitarian.


• Despicable Me = first movie in a long time (ever?) I have actually enjoyed watching over and over again with my kids. So cute!

And here's one I really did post:

• SIXTY FEET IS COMING TO TOWN!!!

Happy Friday, friends!

Five for Friday

1. Last night I decided to clean behind and under my refrigerator. Are you impressed? I wish I could say this is a regular occurrence around my house, but in reality I've probably only done it a handful of times since we've lived here. I know - you're never coming to my house again. :) I hope we can still be friends anyway.
   
   Besides it's clean now. Although not by my choice.
   
   Last night as Kloe was getting ready for bed, she said, "Mom, will you go get my earrings? I left them in my binder (she has to take them out for athletics). It's sitting on the floor by the refrigerator." So I went to get her binder, and when I picked it up it was soaking wet. What in the world?
   
   When I looked closer, it was only the bottom part of the binder that was wet. So I looked at the floor where it had been sitting, and saw that the carpet was wet. Really wet. And it was obviously coming from under the refrigerator. {Our fridge sits right at the edge of the kitchen where the tile meets the living room carpet.}
   
   And The Mister was out of town.
   
   Uggghhh.
   
   Thankfully our refrigerator rolls fairly easily. I pulled it out and saw that the hose going to the ice maker had broken and was leaking water down the back of the fridge. There was a huge puddle, and the power cord was laying in it. So like the big sissy good wife that I am, I called The Mister and he told me how to smack the plug to make sure it wasn't going to shock me, and then unplug it. And long story short....I now look like a regular spring-cleaner. ;)
   
   Here's all of Kloe's binder contents laying out to dry. So glad her homework wasn't in there! But now that I think about it....where WAS her homework??
   
   
   
   On the plus side - see that tile that's broken in the back corner? It got water under it and came loose.
   
   
   
   We've been wanting to retile our kitchen for a while now (for obvious reasons!), so I thought I'd make the most of the situation and see just how hard it would be to get the tiles up. I'm happy to report that it pulled up pretty easily (even though it broke off), and even more happy is the fact that the glue just scraped right off the concrete, easy as pie. Woohoo! New tile, here we come!
   
   All's well that ends well, I suppose.


2. Ok, that was a really long #1, so I'll try to make the rest a bit shorter.
   
   Remember this? (you have to look close - there at the top)
   
   
   It seems to be an ongoing problem around here....
   
   
   Good grief. Do you think I should be worried that he keeps asking me how to make a jet pack?


3. Kloe is learning to do her own laundry, and I couldn't be more happy about it.


4. I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who voted for my home town to receive a visit from the SixtyFeet people!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this post. I've been too nervous to look, so I have no idea how we're doing in the polls. I'll let you know as soon as I find out. And if you haven't voted yet, there's still time! Go here and scroll all the way to the bottom to leave your comment. The votes will be counted on Monday. Thanks for your help!!


5. Oh yes, and then there's this:
   
   
   
   SQUEEEAAAL!!!!