Monday, July 23, 2012

Tell Me More, Tell Me More!

I know, I know, blogging twice in one day!  But I just couldn't resist Amy's Tell Me More Party!

even the sight of Tillman Hall
makes me want to cry!
1.  I am probably definitely the biggest Clemson Tiger fan EVER!  Even after transferring to the rival school, the University of South Carolina, I stood in the student section at every single football game and screamed as loudly as I could for the other team (no matter who they were), because I HATED the Gamecocks!

2.  I wish I were Samantha Stevens from Bewitched.  I wish it in every fiber of my being.  I want to twitch my nose and solve all the world's problems; however, I would have never, ever married either of those Darrins.  Talk about BORING!

3.  I am the Queen of Grammar, and compulsively correct everyone's grammar.  I talk to the television, when it spouts out incorrect grammar.  I cannot stand to hear grammatical errors.  My father did this to me, and I love him for it!  I even buy books like Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Grammar for Dummies, and, yes, I know when National Grammar Day is!

here's the nutball...I always said I
wanted someone who could make
me laugh...
4.  I married the absolute love of my life.  He is THE one, even though it took me thirty-one years to find him.  Oddly, we went to high school together, had many mutual friends, and he knew both my brothers and cousins, but we never met until I was thirty years old.  Then, his sister (my BFF) called me to ask me on a date with him (hahaha) in January.  We were engaged by April, and married in December.  Talk about your whirlwind romance!

no, thanks!
5.  I cannot get in the bed without checking under the covers first.  Again, I can thank Daddy.  When I was little, he told me about the time he was in bed, and felt something cold at his feet.  He called his Daddy in, who jerked back the covers to find a black snake curled up at the end of the bed.  Papa shot it with a shotgun in Daddy's bed!  Yep, check under there every night!

my China Doll, catchin' tadpoles
6.  I have always wanted a Chinese baby girl.  Now, if you're not a believer, this might save your soul:  So, you know it took me for-ev-er to find Mr. Right, but then things went along pretty quickly.  I found out I was pregnant on our first anniversary, the perfect gift!  Our daughter was sideways, because of huge ovarian fibroid cysts and chocolate cysts from my stage 4 endometriosis (which I didn't know I had).  She was delivered via c-section, as a result.  During the surgery, the doctors were all amazed that I had been able to conceive a child, given the severity of the scarring.  Okay, TMI is over.  All that said, I couldn't have more babies.  Here's the God part:  1. Brady, my husband, travels to China for a living.  When Callie was about two, we moved to Nebraska, so he could work for Oriental Trading Company.  2. We moved onto a street that was only one block long.  3. There were eleven children, seven of whom were adopted, four of whom were from China.  4. The first friend I made had two locally adopted children, from the Nebraska Children's Home, and told me that they were a non-profit, and charged absolutely nothing for adoptions (unheard of).  5. Having always wanted, and prayed for, a Chinese baby girl, and finding that we could not have any more biological children, I suggested adoption, but didn't mention China to Brady.  6. He and I prayed about it, and talked about it, but he just couldn't get past the fear of someone wanting their child back, if we adopted locally.  7. Finally, I shared with him my lifelong desire for a baby girl from China.  He was full on board, immediately!  Two L.O.N.G. years later, I "found" our baby on the Internet, and we went to get her in Tianjing, China.  Now, if that's not God knocking me upside the head and saying, "You asked for this!" I don't know what else it could be.

Thanks, Amy!  What a great Linky idea - you are my inspiration as a second grade teacher, and the first blogger I ever found, by the way.
Brooke

2 comments:

  1. My church has quite a few couples who have adopted from China. Those babies are PRECIOUS! They adopt from Big Mama's House. So happy that you found your China doll. We serve an amazing God!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mrs. Christy! We are so blessed to have her, and I am so happy to have been able to share our story. Our God is an amazing one - He knew His plan for us, all along, as always, and every time I look in my "brown-eyed girl's" eyes (my biological daughter and I have blue eyes), I think of Him.
      Brooke

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Brooke