Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas 

 Love, 

Allison, Lydia and Matt

Be the Difference

Love this new video that AGCI just released. Lets "Be the Difference" Enjoy this sweet video and pray about how God might be calling you to be the difference in the life of an orphan.


Be The Difference from Videos for AGCI on Vimeo.

A Special Day

I cannot believe I haven't posted a thing since Friday, I really have no excuse except that maybe I am just trying to enjoy my Christmas season with my sweet girl who is making it oh so fun this year! I also have a short work week and I am trying to wrap things up before I leave until 2012!

So today, is the first day of winter (although it's in the 50's in Indianapolis today) it is also my Grandma's birthday! I am so thankful and blessed to have this woman in my life. Not everyone is as lucky as me to grow up with their grandma coming to sporting events, graduations, weddings, and becoming a GiGi to your child. God has blessed me with all of those things.

What a role model and example this woman is of selfless love and devotion to our God. We love you Grandma (GiGi)



4 Generations



InstaFriday

sleepy kiddo

fashionista

Sooo yummy

I am a sucker for romance novels and just finished this one this week

I wish you all a happy and wonderful weekend :)

Don't forget to head over and participate in the HOPE BOX fundraiser for Voices 4 the Voiceless,  we have a big goal and although it seems far away right now we know our God is bigger than the simple $5 donation it takes to enter. So please consider donating $5 of your paycheck this week to help put food in bellies, purchase medical supplies and spread the word of how much the fatherless all over the world need our love,support and prayers.

Total Gleek

I will admit again and for my new followers you may not know but I am a GLEEK. Well this season has been a little rough not gonna lie. However, the episode "Hold onto Sixteen" they redeemed themselves a bit for me.

It was sectionals and their performance had me dancing and cheering from the comfort of my bed.

This last number was so fantastic and resembled the much loved Season 1 and 2 that caputured my musical/performing loving heart.

Christmas at the Zoo

This past weekend was full of Christmas fun! Friday night we went to Christmas at the Zoo, we knew Lydia would love the lights, my parents hadn't been since we were little and my Grandma (Lydia's GiGi) had NEVER been to the zoo, we had to fix that and she came along with us.

It was a pretty chilly night so it really felt like Christmas time, minus snow. We got to go into some of the buildings and see the animals who were still awake.  We saw the penguins, the polar bear (who was sleeping), the sea lions, the walrus (ugly ugly creature), we got to see the dolphins from below in the newer exhibit underneath where they do the shows, and we got to experience the new Tiger exhibit and let me tell you it is AWESOME, they come right up to the glass, so cool!

We also got to ride the "choo choo" through lights and it played music, Lydia did awesome and stayed seated the whole time (I was a little nervous she might jump ship and wake up with the zebras) but she danced to the music and enjoyed the lights.

It was so fun to experience this with her and Matt actually went through old pictures on facebook and found a picture we took while we there on a date 5 years ago. My how times have changed and now we had our little family there.

Hope you are finding time to enjoy fun Christmas activities with your family and friends.

Next up, Ugly/Tacky Christmas sweater party on Saturday. I have no idea what I'm wearing, I saw an awesome pair of footy pj's at Target, they might be calling my name J

Voices 4 the Voiceless or V4V

I am happy to announce that I am the newest team member of Voices 4 the Voiceless as their Outreach Coordinator I am thrilled to help this amazing organization spread hope and advocate for the fatherless.

I have been emailing back and forth with Brantley (the founder of V4V) regarding how I can help and how I can get involved from Indianapolis. The ideas, the opportunities are endless but today I want to introduce this organization to you. You have probably by  now seen the button on the right that rotates in and out and you might remember them from another fundraiser I participated in this fall.

V4V mission:

Voices 4 the Voiceless is a Non Profit 501 C3. Everyone involved is a volunteer. We are passionate about looking after the orphans &  the fatherless, but even more passionate about our Creator! The Bible is clear when it talks about our rolls as believers... to care for the orphans! We firmly believe God calls ALL of us to do just that. James 1:27

Our purpose is to be the VOICE for those that do not have one. There are so many orphans all around the world, including the USA, and our hopes are that [we] can make a difference. With your help... we can make an even BIGGER difference! Will you join with us to be a VOICE?

Today we are launching a fabulous fundraiser that is a win win for all those who are involved or take part. This fundraiser is called "The Hope Box" it is full of goodies that have been donated from small shops and generous supporters. It includes: Mary Kay items, a Thirty-One Tote, Starbucks mug and gift card, some fun prints from the V4V shop and much more! Please head on over to the blog to learn more and to participate.

We also relaunched our twitter page and you can follow us @V4Vorphancare.

Look for more posts about my involvement and how you can get involved as well with Voices 4 the Voiceless, let's be a voice, lets advocate and love on the fatherless together, because everything is more fun when we are in it together J

Scarfament Swap

I was so excited to take the leap and participate in Danielle's Scarfament Swap this year. I love buying gifts for people and this proved to be just as fun as buying for people here at home. Meredith was my partner and I am a really bad Scarfament swap participant because I forgot to take a picture of the package before it was shipped off to her.

However, her favorite colors were yellow and red so I found a fun flowy scarf with those colors and then also included 2 wooden snowflake ornaments, one yellow and one red.

She got me an oh so fun infinity scarf, which I have been wanting one for a while and this one happens to be perfect for my days downtown at work. I also love the personal touch with our family picture in our frame and our "H". So thoughtful. Thank you Meredith!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is a very important person's birthday, it's my Dad, Lydia's papa's Birthday!! For those who have not met my dad, this will give you just a glimpse into the handsome, kind, funny man who has raised me.



With his kids and a brand spankin new Lydia



My wedding day, with his girls

Loved dancing with him at my wedding, what a fun moment and memory, I think my smile says it all



Now he's not only the best Dad but the best Papa EVER!!

Happy Birthday Dad & Papa, we love you and thank you for all you have done for us, I hope your day is fabulous and full of fun! 

Monday Thoughts

Here are some of the places my mind is going and things that I am loving and doing on this Monday.


1. An orphan no more!! Will and Rebekah just received their referral for their sweet son Israel and I could not be more happy for this sweet couple; CONGRATS you two! This gives me such hope as the stories of longer and longer wait times are surfacing as we are saving the funds for our own adoption. Knowing that these times will likely be even longer once we get started, it is nice to see a portion of the wait come to a close and to hear about "the call".


2. Giving Tree and Gift Exchanges. I just went to purchase our giving tree gifts and our gifts for our friend Christmas party exchange during my lunch hour. I had so much fun! I love buying things for people and Christmas can get awfully dangerous for our bank account. I'm trying to keep it all within reason and all within some semblance of a "budget". I think I have my mother to thank for this, her love language has always been gifts.

3. Our World Vision child, I think about her often and even more so during the holidays. I sent in our Christmas donation so that her family could receive something they truly NEED this holiday season. I cannot wait to hear what they received and get our next update, they are so cherished in our family and we love being able to see how she is doing.



From the World Vision website, please go visit and learn more about this amazing organization! http://www.worldvision.org/

 4. The gym, I happen to love you these days, please let this continue to be the case as the weather gets colder, the calendar gets fuller, and my desire for sweats by the fire trumps your allure.

Whether this Monday finds you in an office, snowed in, working out in the rain, away from your families or cuddled up close to your kiddos I hope it was a Monday that left you feeling blessed and that you felt the joy of Christmas and the love of our Jesus in your hearts. As Father said in mass last night, "May Jesus be born in your heart each day."

InstaFriday

This is what a Holiday Hangover looks like Toddler Style



Emptied out her dvd's and books and was reading them to Daddy, Bentley and Ellie




Downtown is looking festive for the Holidays!!




Lydia's Little People Nativity Set ends up distributed throughout the branches of our Christmas Tree on an almost daily basis.

You should definitely link up over at Life Rearranged with your Instagram photo's, where else are you going to photo dump your phone pics! Such a fun way to share them.

Have a happy weekend :)



Clarity and Love, Extravagant Love

Time for a deep, from this mamma's heart post J

Life, it is hard. Sometimes I feel like there is just not enough time to get everything done, I feel like I am doing everything ½ way just to try and get everything squeezed into my day. I fail daily at being a good mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend and employee. I ignore my ringing phone because I am afraid I will become Scrooge as I answer and bite the persons head off, I take over a week to get some important paperwork in the mail and I forget things daily that I have promised people. It is a blurry stressful mess at times. Sometimes quite honestly I feel like I'm drowning, finding the last bit of strength within me to keep my head above water.

Then, at the very moment you feel all things might come crashing down around you, all those hats I've been juggling trying to keep in the air, they are unsteady and about to crash around me. GOD, he answers and provides a quiet clarity, a moment where I swear my breathing slows back down to normal or I start breathing again all together, not even realizing I'd been holding my breath. A moment, where my heart rate becomes regular, the tension leaves my shoulders and that blurry mess of my life is crystal clear.

For me this moment came last night, I went to work out and almost fell to my knees right there in the gym thanking God for the song that came across my iPod in that moment, "Your Love is Extravagant" by Casting Crowns

Spread wide in the arms of Christ is the love that covers sin
No greater love have I ever known You considered me a friend
Capture my heart again

I instead grabbed a hold of the bars so I wouldn't go flying off my machine and prayed, truly had a conversation that I have not had with him in weeks, an in depth spilling of my heart and my guts all in his lap. You know what he did next?

He gave me the opportunity to come home to a screaming child, a kiddo who did not want to go to sleep and was screaming mommy from her room. I went in and she fought me as usual, but instead of getting frustrated, he provided words to Christmas songs and nursery rhymes that I sang until she started calming down, until finally she fell asleep holding the neck of my shirt in her sweet little fingers. I listened to her breathing even out and rocked her, I prayed for this sweet gift and all of a sudden that clarity came, that moment of complete calm and restoration. Where God's words and purpose for my life were clear as day, he filled me up in that moment, showing me where my priorities should lie, showing me just how much he loves me, so much in fact that he gave me the greatest gift of my life in Lydia Rose.

I hope that throughout this Holiday season I do not lose site of the season through my daughters eyes, her wonder and joy at seeing the tree lit up for another day. Yes we have parties or commitments every weekend, work is crazy busy, there are gifts to wrap and buy yet. I just need to celebrate all of it and be thankful for all of these blessings that are sometimes disguised as burdens, my Savior was born this season and that is worth Celebrating every day, in the midst of this "hustle and bustle"