the winds of change are slow blowing

You may notice a few little changes here at G3. 

Did you know that I sometimes refer to the blog as G3?

 Go Go Galindo. Get it? You know. Because there are 3Gs. 

Right. Anyway. You'll notice some of the junk and busyness is missing from the sidebar on the right. And I've also added some tabs at the top. Well, only one so far, but more are coming so just keep a watchful eye. Or use both eyes if you prefer. It's totally up to you. 

***

Some things I'm thinking about today:

I started making a list. "Reasons Justin is Awesome". So far it has 171 reasons. We read through the first bunch a couple of nights ago and it was really funny. Then we saw a cockroach and I made Justin kill it. So I needed to add that to the list. But I didn't have a pen. 

"Reasons Justin is Awesome"

158. Justin is  a great roach killer.

159. Justin always has a pen. 

***

Today marks the 52nd day of my new lifestyle. 

Lifestyle of Health. 

I started paying attention to what I was eating.

And exercising.  (Gasp!)

And I actually like exercising! (Double Gasp!)

As of this past Monday I've lost 21 pounds. 

And over 7.5 inches in the last three weeks alone. 

I say that last part because that's when I started measuring.

***

I've been teaching on the Fruit of the Spirit this summer at our church.

Each week I think it's going to get easier. 

And each week I am not surprised by just how much the Bible has to say about different things.

Like, for example, did you know that patience is rooted in forgiveness?

What?! 

***

I read a fantasy novel. My first one.  A big one. In a series. 

(Because Justin asked me to.)

Then I read the second one. And now I've started the third. 

But I think I'm going to stop in favor of a book that actually adds something to my life. 

***

Asher will be out of school for the whole month of August. 

I'm trying to think of some fun things we can do.

And maybe some trips we can take. 

Any ideas?

***

If someone handed you a baby tonight and you had the task of naming it...

what name would you choose and why?

Taking back the blog

What? Two days in a row? I know, shocker!

Well, I'm here to say I'm taking back the blog. And I really mean it this time. I'm going to be doing some rearranging on the blog and changing things up a bit. And I'm going to write about what I want. I started this blog years ago for myself. I wanted a way to feel connected to the adoption community, but our adoption was taking so long with no adoption news that I ended up blogging about random things like our Christmas tree and horseshoes with friends and fun trips. Then we finally had adoption news and there was stuff to post about. My little community of readers grew and we all talked about adoption all the time. The blog was great for that because not many people in our little lives wanted to talk about it all the time because it was still abstract. And now Asher is two. And a half! And the adoption stuff seems so long ago (although we are still waiting on a blasted court date!!!) and that's why I don't post very often.

But now I'm taking back the blog -- my blog -- and writing about whatever I want. There are a handful of things that are going on in our family right now and I want those to be documented and people to know what's up with us. I also want to have a place to braindump. So there all that is.

Of course I'll keep posting things about Asher. To prove it here are some pictures from July 4th weekend. We spent it at the pool. I am full of surprises today. Brace yourselves for cuteness!

Asher loves to be thrown up into the air. But only by Daddy. And because Justin is so awesome, he does it. Over and over and over again. I swear I have hundreds (literally!) of pictures just like this. 

As soon as Justin's done, Asher immediately asks, "More! Please! Please! Again again again!!!"

To which, after he gathers his breath, Justin gladly grants the request. Over and over and over. 

Which is obvious. I mean, check out my mans biceps and shoulders. 

I love these two!

Just. Stinkin. Precious. 

How can one stinky little boy be so cute?

And bring so much joy? 

It's a miracle.

A gift.

from The Great Gift-Giver alone.

we are thankful. 

where did June go?

I'm way behind on the ol' blog, as some of you were so kind to point out. : ) So here's a recap of June.

June 2 I celebrated my fifth wedding anniversary with my sweet Pablo. We had a party.

We had some awesome fajitas and played some yard games. We even made a giant adult twister board, which was pretty fun, if I may say so myself. Yay for love and anniversaries and people falling over. From laughter. And maybe a little pain...

A few weeks later, my mother moved into our neighborhood (yes, that's half our parents now living in our neighborhood) and brought her fun pool. And a slide. Anyone guess where that's going?

You didn't know that was the next logical idea? We've spent several hours replicating this event. 

Ok, my next two posts are practically writing themselves. I've got another fun picture post with a tiny little hooray, and then I thought I'd post about Asher's annual report thingy. We wrote our first one this year!