this and that

1. my close-up selfie after my hair appointment on wednesday. kinda bummed that it isn't the way i wanted it even though i had asked for a CUT and color, she was double booked.

2. i changed my profile pic on fb (wish there was a way to do that without having to announce it to the world) to this one and my funny brother asked if i had short dinosaur arms.

3. then said if i needed help with taking selfies to ask his wife which was funny because over the weekend, i nicknamed her aunt selfie. (she posts at least 1 if not more a day)

4. i'm dog sitting ollie's girlfriend for a week. hope she doesn't poop or barf all over the house. and i wish there was a way to train her to sleep in a little longer.

5. her parents are going to indiana for his work. this will be their deciding factor if they really want to move back or not because its cold and snowing!

6. wednesday night we met up with lonny and his family for some pizza and trivia at mellow mushroom.  pizza is still good and we still suck at trivia but its all for fun.

7. i made it to target twice this week. who am i kidding, i usually make it to target twice every week. (i've got 2 of them 10-15 minutes away in each direction)

8. because i save myself 5% off my total purchases by using the target DEBIT card.  if its stuff i'm buying why not?  tuesday i forgot to check out cartwheel but thursday i didn't and saved myself over $50 bucks! (flannel sheets, board games for christmas gifts etc...)

9. i decided i'm going to get a quote and see how much it will be for someone to come and paint the rest of the house. i've got benjamin moore revere pewter left over.

10. so the master bedroom, master bath, spare bedroom and laundry room will be the same as the rest of the house. they will also need to finish painting most the trim and doors. oh and cabinets in the bathrooms. YIKES! thats a lot of painting!

bad selfie and lazy blogger

1. i'm not very good at taking selfies.  i know i'm not facing the right way for a clear shot but i like the unclear ones of me the best. (taken after i had gotten my hair done that day)

2. boy have i been a bad, lazy blogger. too lazy to upload photos or to link back some of my favorite items.

3. i went crazy shopping today. headed to the woodlands and went to marshalls/homegoods.

4. got my self a top and a quilt for my bed. its so pretty!

5. then headed over to world market where they had this quilt on hold for me. its in kaylee's room and we're using the purple side.

6. then i went to pottery barn to see if they had any placemats and napkins in stock that i saw on joanna gaines instagram.  they did so i bought them plus linen colored napkins plus silver napkin rings.

7. now i'm debating if i want to do half printed/half linen napkins and place mats so its not so matchy match.

8. and since i was in the area, had to stop at the cheesecake factory to order a shrimp and bacon club sandwich with sweet potato fries to go.

9. and on my way out, i had to stop at kiehls because i had gotten a sample of their bb cream and loved it so a big tube had to be bought.

10. then i told myself i needed to get straight home and that tomorrow is cleaning day. 

i got happy mail

1. wednesday i got my much anticipated urhere swap. the florida mug is SO pretty. actually, i love them all. i really want hawaii but have only seen it by googling it. its selling for $30 bucks- what the what?!

2. at first it didn't bother me that my partner didn't send anything homemade then i saw her flickr page and was a little disappointed. love the cross stitching she does!

3. then i got my erin condren lunchbox that i had ordered. its bigger than what i had expected but still too small to add the containers it came with and a drink. [no containers = big enough]

4. debating if i should give this one to kaylee. [i got our initials on it- kb so we both could use it]

5. i was going to use it to hold drinks and snacks/food in the car instead of my purse/bag. [i got granola bars in my purse right now]

6. i also got my october birchbox.

7. i am now patiently waiting for the arrival of my duck boots and purple filofax.

8. i decided to get duck boots since we walk to school and my current rain boots are too small when i wear pants. i have huge calves.

9. and the only time i don't wear pants with my rain boots is when i'm at home to get the mail or newspaper. i am wearing shorts though. for my neighbors.

10. and sadly, the filofax isn't estimated to be delivered till the end of october.

beauty in the eye of the beholder

friday night @ the yardhouse

1. when my husband tells me i look pretty, this is how i think he sees me.

2. i made this recipe last night after seeing it pinned a few times. mike kept saying how good it was while he was eating it. 

3. today was the first day that the school store was opened which i volunteered for, again.

4. we have a new lady who runs it and she's asking that we write down the kids names and how much they spend so we know how much is in the cashbox. [it will get annoying but for now i'll just go with it]

5. went to zumba today only to come home and eat garbage. [why is lunch the hardest thing to make?]

6. then i couldn't decide what i wanted to do except that i didn't want to spend money so i went and took a nap.

7. boy was i tired! i slept for an hour and half.

8. i did get the dishes washed and dinner made. [southwestern tilipia and cheese/potato pierogi's. i've never made or had them before. they were pretty good except next time i think i will saute them.]

9. i signed up for another swap. this time its a ur here starbucks mug swap. i'm hoping i get someone from a really cool place like oregon or california or maine or ....i think i need one from scotland too.

10. i just finished a my favorite things swap and need to get mine sent out. i already got my goodies and planned on sharing them soon.

mom sick= sucks!

i'm recovering from being sick over the weekend so i'm welcoming the quiet house. here are a few photos from weeks before.

at the dolphins vs texan pre-game. look at how close our seats were!

he was happy at the game even though the dolphins lost, he has high hopes for his team.

daddy getting lov'ns and kaylee getting ollie kisses

my one of my spa days

my beautiful stylist soaking shampooing my hair with a water bottle

kaylee hugging her weird-o brother good-night

i hope my kids have a great day today and get some really rad teachers. i'm off to rest and see what movies are on while drinking some warm tea.

A little bit sad

Over the weekend, I took a better look at the paperwork my parent's had sent me awhile back about my adoption.  I wondered what White Lilly Orphanage looked like and was surprised to see the above photo that I googled. I was expecting to see a shack for some reason.  I think I read that in 2004 it was converted into a day care.

 According to the paperwork, I was sent there on March 12th, 1976.  Before that, I was at Taegu City Children's Counseling Center but when I googled it nothing came up besides some type of Army info.  So now I wonder if my father was in the army and left my mother and us behind because, as i have always thought, they had to have been together to have 2 kids or at least my mother had us but we have different fathers? [my sister and i] To be placed in an orphanage at the age of four seems kinda odd. Wouldn't I have known my parents names? Where I lived? On my paperwork it says birthplace is unknown.

I've also been reading some blogs and other information about Korean's being adopted.  I found that between 1970's through the 1980's, South Korea had more adoptions than any other country and that 150,944 babies/children were put up for adoption from 1953 [Korean War?]- 2006.

Also from 1971- 1980:  17,260 were abandoned, 13,360 came from split families and 47,153 were from a single mom.  Now, after being sent to the White Lilly Orphanage in March, i was sent to Holt Adoption Agency in Seoul, South Korea in April of that year.  I give all this information because of Mr. Holt who founded the Holt Adoption agency.  I've read that he found a way to make lots money by sending Korean babies to whoever was willing to pay the small price. All they had to prove was that they were Christian, had a job and promised to take care of the babies.  This was God's work according to him.  I also found that Holt & Co. would change paperwork information, like names or birthdays to make kids more "adoptable".  So there were/are many who wind up at a dead end when trying to find their birth parents.

I realize that some babies and kids needed to be adopted because they had no other family members but there are thousands and thousands whose parents were talked into giving up their children.  If the mother was unwed, spouse died or left them, etc... Mr. Holt & Co. convinced these mother's that no one would take care of them, not even their own extended families because of the shame they have caused, etc...

So now there are thousands and thousands of children, including myself, who wonder....

Wonder who I am. Wonder where I was born. Wonder what my mother looks like.  Wonder what my father looks like. Wonder if they love/loved me. Wonder if there's an Aunt or a cousin or a grandma looking for me. Wonder if they even know about me. Wonder what my life would of been like. Wonder if my mother was one of those that was coerced into giving away her children. Wonder when my real birthday is. Wonder if my parents, if they had been together for those 4 years, if they were happy and in love. Wonder what our house looked like. Wonder if it was my mother who taught me the Korean songs and dances that i use to know and do. there's just so much to wonder.