Chaaaaaanges!

There's changes coming. If you visit our blog for updates, you probably noticed it immediately. There's a bunch of them! Links are hidden, pages are gone. In fact, even the name changed. If you read our posts through your reading list, well then, I'm telling you now.

Changes are coming. And the name just didn't feel right anymore. The puzzle piece thing still worked but the rest was just wrong. So, bare with us. I promise, I won't leave you in the dark for too long. We're busy with all these exciting changes. <3

Mary Kay and Scentsy Love!

One of the brightest things to come out of our losses is the friendships I've gained with the women I've met. I wish we all could have found each other some other way but I'm glad that I have them in my life.

One of those sweet ladies is my friend Ashton. Recently she's dived into the world of Mary Kay! She has been so extremely supportive but it took me by complete surprise when she offered to have a fundraiser for us! Starting tomorrow (February 1st) through the end of the month, a portion of her profits will be donated to our adoption fund! If you are a Mary Kay fan (or know someone who is, Valentine's Day is coming!!!), please head on over to her page.

I was completely blown away by Ash's offer. We talked about it for a few months until just a few days ago, she posted about it on her Facebook page. She shared a little about both of our journeys as well as the plan for February. Shortly after sharing, a friend of hers, a complete stranger to me, got in contact with her. Meredith is a Scentsy consultant. She has also offered to donate a portion of her profits from the entire month of February to our adoption fund!! Please like her on Facebook. You can visit and purchase from the "Maddie Sanford" party. (If your concerned that you're not in the correct party, at the top of your screen, you should see an arrow. Click on the arrow. Next to my name you can click on "Shop!")

Thank you again so much ladies for your donations! Thank you also to each one of you that are keeping up with our story and shopping. It's appreciated so much more than you know!! :)

Hi, I'm Maddie and I Have an Addiction.

Before our fourth loss, I was on a healthier living kick. I lost about 35 pounds. During the pregnancy, I wasn't allowed to work out. Most foods I had been eating, made me completely sick to my stomach. After the loss, quick and easy foods were usually not the foods I should have been eating either. So, I gained some of that weight back. As we got back closer to the holidays and moving, I was determined NOT to continue to gain more weight back. While I was trying to find the best way to stay accountable over the holidays, a friend shared a dietbet with me. It began Thanksgiving and ended Christmas. 

So, I signed up, I paid my $20, and I weighed in. I had never done one so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I tracked my weight over the four weeks and did my very best. The best part, I WON! I won $51.38!! Woo! When I woke up to the e-mail saying I won, that was it. I was addicted. I immediately needed another one. 

Jess and Ash are now hosting a New Year Bet. This bet is $25 and currently the pot is up to $1200. You're betting that you can lose 4% of YOUR body weight. ALL of the winners split the pot. The final weigh in is January 30th-31st. It started this morning but you can still join. Please feel free to come join us!

Hello 2014!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's already 2014! It seems like it was just January 2013! 2013 definitely had it's ups and downs for us but overall, it was a great year for us. :) We're hopeful for another wonderful 365 days.

Several years back, a blogger that I followed had a list of 365 things she wished to accomplish the next year. It wasn't necessarily one a day, just 365 over the the next year. I'm a huge list person, so I thought it was awesome. Every year since then, I've wanted to do the same. Every year, I've failed at making the list or half way through the year, I forget my list. Then toward the end of that year, I recycle a lot of my list and try to come up with the rest of my 365 goals. This year, I have my list. (On time!) For the most part, my goals seem pretty attainable. There's a few that will make me really push myself but what would be the fun if they were ALL super easy?

My goals (I actually ended up with 400. The extras ended up being really easy now that we're home owners and there's a decent list of little things we want to do this year to the house.) are typed and ready to go. They are totally random. Some are house related, quite a few are adoption related. Some will push me to be more involved in my community while others will hopefully keep me much more active. I have goals that I hope will make me a more loving wife and friend. They are all over the place. I'd love to get them ALL accomplished but thinking back over my history with this list, to stay realistic, I'm hoping to at least get half of them done.

Do you have any goals for this year?

Honey, I'm Home!

Really this time! You've been missing me because I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! I was convinced our underwriters hated us. Our closing date kept getting pushed back and pushed back but it finally happened! We closed on the house and we MOVED!

WE'RE HOME!

We moved the day after Christmas which was crazy enough. Now we're trying to get things updated and settled. There's a few things that needed to be done right away. Dustin took Friday off to change all the locks. He also took the ancient thermostat off. With the help of my best friend's husband, the new, fancy WiFi controlled thermostat is up and running. Now, he's working on my "honey-do" list for the kitchen before the unpacking can really happen. Our refrigerator will be delivered in two days. Hopefully in the next two weeks or so, it will really start to LOOK like we live there.

It's Been a Crazy Month!!

 It's been a month since I've gotten a chance to post an update here. Man, it's been a crazy one! In the last month, we've put offers in on four different houses. Two of those houses were bought from underneath us and one of them our offer was rejected. The fourth one might be THE ONE! Our offer was accepted and the house inspection looked GREAT. The termite inspection is tomorrow afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

We've had three fundraisers that were very successful! The rummage sale raised over $700! Dealicious Cakes' gift certificate sales raised $100! Kim's Peanut Gallery's auction raised over $200!! We still have a few more ideas that we're trying to plan out and schedule. We're really looking forward to them.

Edit: Oh! Our puzzle has also raised $360!

We've both been really busy and we're hoping that everything goes as planned and we close on the house December 20th, or sooner. (Ideally, I'm hoping for the 13th.) This will give us a chance to settle for Christmas and the new year. Then January will bring last minute preparation before getting our home study completed!

Before I began this blog, I had another blog. I really miss blogging about all the happenings in life so there's a very good chance that soon this blog will not just house our adoption updates. Hope you all don't mind. ;)

Rummage & Bake Sale Benefit

During the last post I talked about my friend Melissa, the owner of Dealicious Cakes. I also mentioned my friend Deena, who helped create the flyers and gift certificates for the October Fundraiser. It turns out that a month or so ago, they started organizing a secret benefit for Dustin and me! After they had some details nailed into place, they contacted one of my best friends, Katie, to help finish organizing and to pull it off.

I didn't know anything about it for a few weeks. One day, Katie took me to lunch before a secret errand. This secret errand ended up being Deena's house, so they could tell me all about it! There will be a bake sale and a lemonade booth for some yummy treats while you shop the rummage sale! Rumor has it there will also be some games for the kids! My sister will have a Jamberry table set up. You'll also be able to check out Sue's Pot Holders! I may also have a Thirty One table set up. :)

Flyer!

If you're coming out to see us, you can see the yard from Eisenhauer as soon as you pass Dell Oak Dr. If you can't, just look for these!

Deena created and print out all of these wonderful items. I can't wait to use our thermometer tracker!!

If you have any items sitting out around that you've thought about getting rid of or donating to Goodwill, please e-mail us! I can pick up or meet you! This is a great time to go through your closets. ;) We will happily take these items off your hands! All of the proceeds are be donated to our adoption fund. We have a goal of $2,000 for the day. Help us meet (or exceed!) this goal!! :D