a new business venture: what and why,,,,,

because we are completely and totally crazy around here...what BETTER TIME than now to decide to become involved in a new business, right?? ((insert crazy/scary laughter here)) so......we are now new distributors for these products:

advocare is a debt~free company that has already been around for many years, and they make top~quality health and wellness products that are sold exclusively through their direct sales distributors.  One of their top~selling products is this:

the advocare SPARK energy drink is awesome. take it from someone who until two weeks ago was drinking up to 4 diet sodas a DAY.....it's GREAT!!!  you just add it to water, and it tastes great and provides me with lasting energy for my day.  I haven't had ANY diet sodas in over a week now.  and that in itself is amazing. because of my success drinking the spark and giving up diet sodas, i decided i wanted to try advocare's popular 24 DAY CHALLENGE:

i've had so many friends try this challenge and they've been very successful!  the average weight loss is 12 pounds and 11 inches, yall!  i'm presently on day 9 and i'm already 7 POUNDS DOWN......but better than that.....I FEEL AMAZING!! better than i have in a LOOONNG time....more energy...less fatigue. i'm extremely pleased to have found something that works FOR ME, and i've tried lots of different things to shed some extra pounds over the years. one of the things that impressed me most when i started researching this company was that hundreds of unpaid athletes use and endorse their products.  you can see these on their website.  chief among these is their now national spokesperson:

DREW BREES....quarterback for the new orleans saints. if you know anything about football, then you're probably aware of drew and the fact that the saints won this past superbowl.  did you also know that he had his entire team on advocare products the entire week BEFORE the game??  pretty interesting.

so why did we jump on board with advocare?  a couple of reasons:
~ i was truly impressed with spark and wanted my family to have a discount on the products.
~ i wanted to try the 24 day challenge because of the success some friends had experienced.
~i'm about to give up my preschool paycheck when we come home in 6 WEEKS OR SO with our baby girl from china....and i've been wondering if i could somehow make just a little extra a month to make up for that.

most of all.....we are about to get into the BIGGEST part of our adoption expenses,.....TRAVEL TO CHINA and BACK.  and honestly......i'm pretty nervous about it. this is ALOT of money,naturally.  so i worked up the nerve to talk to kevin about being an advocare distributor with the hopes that i could help with our travel expenses.....and maybe i could use advocare to somehow slowly pay back the portion of our adoption that we are funding through a loan.  that's it.  end of story.  i'm trying to help us physically and financially....and this looked like a way i could possibly do it.  now the tricky part about this is that i don't have a "pressure~you" type of personality.  i'll put the word out and then the ball is in your court....that's how i wanna do things.  probably means i won't be one of those who will get rich off this. ha!!  but that's ok.....i'll just take baby steps and see what God will do with it.

our website ((if you'd like to learn more about the products or just browse around)) is
~~~~~ www.raperadvocare.com ~~~
ps....we do presently have products available at our home if you live in the metro jackson area ((which would save you shipping. if you have any questions, you can email me at raperadvocare@bellsouth.net.   thanks yall!!!!!!

Happy 1st birthday, little one...

Dear Lane..

Today is your first birthday, little one. As you are on the other side of the world from me, I can only imagine how this day has been for you. I pray it has been different from the other days....somehow special for you. I hope you have been loved on today and maybe someone showed you the soft photo album with our pictures in it. Maybe you got a small taste of the cake that was ordered with love....from thousands of miles away. I hope you smiled and were whispered to and loved on. There is so much more I want to say to you, sweet one....but today is bittersweet. We love you, Lane, and you'll never spend another birthday without a family....

We're coming soon...

Love,
Mommy


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

One HUGE step closer!!

I realize this pic is sideways BUT...we got our LOA (letter of approval from china)!!!!!! This is a major step towards our sweet baby girl and we are just incredibly blessed by the fact that it came on DAY 49!!!!! Many families are waiting 90-100 days more for this PRIZED piece of paper. Once again....God showed out....and I'm so thankful!!


Seriously...I'm definitely giving Him all the credit b/c we did nothing to deserve the way things have been so smoothly proceeding. I've been meaning to put this info on my blog for a while now b/c the LOA was dated 1/20!!! Now our agency says we will travel in approximately 12 weeks from that date. WOW!!!!!!!

Soooo.....things are starting to fast forward around here just a bit. I'm beginning to make plans for Lane's room, and Kevin put the crib up. It was used by BOTH our boys....and I'm so glad we kept it!!



Can't wait to see her cute little self playing in her room. I'll post pics when it's all done :)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

ever have one of THOSE afternoons??

yeah...i just said afternoon b/c really this morning (up until 2:30) was GREAT!!  it was only then that a series of small (but unfortunate) events made the afternoon unravel...

lemme preface the below timeline by saying that i woke up with a headache that decided to hang around ALL day:

1:45pm~ rushing home to get on a 2:00 webinar about Lifesong and how they partner with churches to provide orphan care.  realizing i'm probably gonna be late....(story of my life)
1:46 pm~ my tummy starts rumbling/grumbling at me b/c of the lunch i overindulged in...
2:05 pm~ boot up computer and try to figure out how to LOG~IN to the webinar.
2:06 pm~ realize the concept of logging into a "webinar" is not in my skill set, so i call on my backup...my hubby...who is probably on his own WEBINAR and not currently available to me (naturally)
2:12 pm~ finally get logged into webinar only to discover that every third word or so the speaker says cuts out on my phone.  nice.....
2:15pm~ omigracious...i realize i absolutely HAVE to go to the restroom...riight away.....NOW WHAT DO I DO????
2:16pm~ i will graciouly leave the next 10 minutes OUT of this timeline for politeness....
2:26 pm~ the call is over...i'm so glad they're not giving a test on content b/c i'm afraid it didn't go so well on my end.  (no worries....i have the slide presentation downloaded so i can look back)
2:30 pm~ bus pulls up and off come my rambunctious boys :):)
2:35 pm~after hugs and kisses, i remind boys that it's our swim team practice day, so we have about 35 minutes to snack, change into swim gear, and basically do as much homework as possible.  needless to say....the race is on.
2:37pm~ a very sweet friend's son knocks on door to tell me he is locked out of his house.
2:38pm~ BAD BAD LOLABELLE RUNS PAST SAID CHILD AND OUT THE FRONT DOOR!!
2;39 pm~ for the next 10 minutes i chase lolabelle and some random STRAY dog around the yard, the house, and basically the neighborhood.  anxiety is rising.....
2:49 pm~ throw her tail BACK in the house making wild threats to her that i won't make good on.
2:50 pm~ the next 25 minutes begin my not~so~finest parenting moments as i cram food into the boys, cram them into the swim gear, and freak out over homework assignments...all in front of my sweet friend's very nice son.
3:15pm~ friend's son leaves
3:16pm~ spend the next 10 minutes saying :getinthecar, getinthecare, getinthecar.....while looking for my purse, my phone, my keys, my boys, and basically my sanity.....oh...and more headache meds.
3:26pm~ leave for swim team
3:27pm~ as soon as we are moving, russ loses his LEGO MAN...a prize posession...under the seat...and whines/complains/drives momma crazy for most of the drive to the pool.
4:00pm~ arrive 15 minutes late to practice....
4:05pm~ wrestle russ while trying to assist with his swim cap and goggles..
4:06pm~ look directly at the coach (whom i hardly even know) and tell him i'm seriouly about to lose my mind.
4:07pm~ coach backs slowly away....
4:08pm~ i sit comatose in the chair for the remainder of the practice and try not to pull out a brown paper sack to breathe in.

fastforward to now....yes, of course my head still hurts, BUT i have to look back on this crazy afternoon and SMILE....okay...maybe not a full~on smile, but a little grin.....OH WELL....you get the picture.  have a GREAT EVENING!!!

What's up in January, part 2

Okay so....what else have we been up to in january??

Well.....we've done a LOT of staring/wishing on/praying over/obsessing over this little picture....


(I had to sneak another one in! Isn't she cute!!??!!!)

We sent her the following care package in december, and 27 DAYS LATER....it finally arrived. I hope she's enjoying it!



Another fun thing we've been learning this month is how to use Skype!! It's so much fun!! Several of our family members have an account now as well, and we love talking to them at night!! Kevin even knows how to add funny faces and special effects. Here are two of my fave people in the world playing with Skype..


(SOO FUNNY!!! Look at them!! Daddy has the funniest "mask" on and I LOVE Nancy's smile!)

We've also been putting together some of the Lego kits the boys got for Christmas. Check out this pirate ship!!


(my cuties!!)

Sooo...that's what's up so far! Hope your January is going as well as ours!!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What's up in January ...PART 1

Well, I'd like to say that I made lots of new year's resolutions for 2012, but honestly I didn't. "resolution" is such a strong word, sooooo.....I decided to make smaller more task-oriented goals. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes. ONE OF THEM includes updating my blog more often.
Here are a few more:


(before the start of st. Jude half marathon in December....w/my friends Jamie and Gina)

1.RUNNING/EXERCISING....should continue even though I don't have any more halfs planned right now....


(yes...we seemed super excited BEFORE the 13.1 HILLY miles)

And one more....just for fun...


(we look a little like baked potatoes)

2. ORGANIZE THIS house... We do havta get ready to add another little person to our family....and I need to clean out. You know...REDUCE and GIVE AWAY and just plain ole THROW OUT some things! Here's a start at organizing....


The "Rubbermaid" drawer. My new rule is....if there's no top, throw it away! We'll see how long it stays this way. Sadly, I threw out one entire garbage bag full. Next up...


Kaden's room!! I had the cork board/dry erase combo left over b/c it was the only one we made that didn't sell. I also had the two shelves from LONG AGO from a garage sale. So this cost us nothing, and now Kaden has a place to put his Lego creations. Yay!!! Can't leave Russ out, so...


This is now in his room! It was an old pallet (yes, this idea originated from pinterest. I'm not so clever.) that Kevin ripped the front off of and we hung it (carefully) for Russ to put his little Lego treasures on. And yes...Kevin ripped his fave jacket in the process.....may it rest peacefully in the garbage...forever.

3. Okay so....I don't really have a picture of this one, but I want to become more disciplined with my daily quiet time. I'm reading through the new testament with my church AND we are beginning a bible study that somewhat ties into the movie "Courageous". Can't wait to see what God has in store through that!!

Ummmkay....this is getting long, and I see your eyeballs are glazing over, sooooo....part TWO is next!!

Love...Demetria :)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Introducing Lane Carolyn-Wen Raper!!!

First, I need to apologize to the one person still checking for an update to my blog. Ha!! I've promised myself I'll do better at blogging this year b/c I need a place to consistently document our adoption process.

On Wednesday, November 30th, 2011, we saw our daughter's face for the first time. I got the call from our precious counselor Amy around 1:00. There was a file for us to look at, and I was stunned!!! See, china releases a list approximately once a month of children that are available for adoption, and that list had already been released the Monday before. We hadn't gotten a call after that list was released, so I assumed we would be waiting another month. My heart was heavy and waiting yet another month seemed like an eternity. BUT GOD HAD OTHER PLANS!!!

The phone call came and shortly after there the referral was.....in my email box. The problem was that Kevin was at work, and our agreement was to look at any referrals TOGETHER! I called, texted ((and blew his phone up)) until FINALLY I text him to say...." I'm about to look at a file without your tail if you don't call me back right now!!". Needless to say, he left a meeting to call me and was whispering in his cell phone....asking how could we possibly have a file to look at when we didnt get a call about the last shared list!?! He had less than 20 minutes before his next meeting, so we decided to look at the File together....over the phone!! We even counted to three out loud...and opened the attachment at the same time. It was SOO FUNNY!!! And there she was.....our baby girl!! We looked at the pics and read through everything together, and then Kevin had to go. We both felt very positive about this referral, and decided to send it right away to the international adoption doctor in Birmingham, my brother (an ER doctor), and our awesome peditrician.

I stared at her pic while waiting to hear from the doctors about her medical report. I have to say, I was pretty confident that this was our daughter, and so was Kevin, but we wanted to see if there was anything huge we were overlooking that would be required in her care. My brother called and gave it the thumbs-up, as did our peditrician. We didn't even wait to hear back from the adoption doctor before we had officially accepted her referral.

And so, here she is.....our love....Lane Carolyn-Wen Raper....




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone