A big problem. I’ve got a picture stealing, name using, story maker-uper person to deal with. Apparently my life is so interesting that some one felt compelled to take my life and pictures and create their own life with it on line!

This “Leah” and blog is a fake. I repeat: a fake. I’m not 17 years old, not still in HS. Savannah is already born and almost 1 now. Mark and I are already married. I do not have problems with Mark’s parents or my Mom. My Mom was not an alcoholic, etc. This is disgusting, immature, and just plain rude. I will see to it that the site is taken down.

Thank God, she did not touch the pictures of Savannah yet, because then there certainly would be hell. You just don’t mess with other people’s kids.

Seriously, immature. And scary.

Now, with that said. My flickr photos will now be moved to private, so if you still want to view them make an account and add me as a friend. And as far as this blog goes? I’m going to have to re-think about some serious privacy issues. Any suggestions?

Lord, help this world.

Granted, high school wasn’t that long ago for me (3 years this May. Graduated 2005), still I thought I could have fun with this Photo Friday from Blog Her.

So, let’s begin with sophomore year, shall we? I don’t have my anywhere decent pictures of me prior (of course, that’s probably the fun of this post…but I won’t be posting pictures of me with horrible make up habits). Here we are at my 15th birthday, looking young as ever, with my little sister and her broken arm. Not much to say, just be jealous of my amazing ability to tan.

Next well go to Easter Day 2004, my junior year of high school. I was 20 some weeks pregnant with Kaylee Ann. Also, apparently trying to be a chameleon and blend in with the back ground. By 40 weeks…there was not hiding that belly! 16 was a rough emotional year, but this is the year I truly started to believe and trust in Christ and it was a year of growth (besides the belly, hips and hair). There was the birth of a new me in the image of Christ, the birth of my beautiful daughter that forever changed my world and another family’s. Much beauty within pain.

And you can’t talk about high school without prom. I won’t post a picture of me with my prom date, because that would be weird seeing how I’m married to a different person now. This is me with my little sister. Prom was just ok, not the big whoop-la I spent years dreaming it would be. Partly because I couldn’t get a date. I hadn’t dated in 2 years and God just wasn’t opening opportunities for me to date (I was more focused on school and God than guys, anyways). So, I turned to a friend for help and I got her cousin. It was fun, but prom isn’t quite as good when 1) You hardly know the person. 2) You’re self conscious about dancing. At least I can say I went.

There concludes the very brief tour of High School Leah. Please make your exit safely (ya know, closing your browser).

This is by far the funniest post I have ever read. Go check out Burgh Baby’s Mom!  I needed a laugh, I’m sure you do, too.

(This shortest post ever that contains no content of my own is brought to you buy a cold and headache.)

Does any body want a box of Johnson&Johnson breastfeeding pads? It’s practically a full box, I only used about 4 (leaving you about 56 pads). We stopped breastfeeding a few weeks ago, and even before then I wasn’t making enough milk to use/need them.

These were my favorite pads by far. Very comfy, rounded shape (so therefore less visible under the shirt), VERY absorbent (with little micro bead absorbent things) and they have the nifty adhesive to keep it in place. Just pay for shipping and they are yours!

 You know, there is something great about being able to come on here and spill my heart out on these internet pages. I can come on here and cry about my sleep deprivation, rejoice in how God’s working in my life, post pictures of my awesome and cute daughter, share about things going on in our life, talk about my adoption story, or whatever else I please. But, what about the daily detailed stuff that gets left out? What about random things you may not know about me from just these posts?

Well, here you go! 11 things you probably wouldn’t know about me.  Why 11? Because that’s my favorite number.

1.  I rarely watch TV unless I’m completely and utterly bored with nothing else to do (or avoiding laundry!). And about the only thing I watch regularly is the reruns of King of Queens with Mark.  Because that is seriously the funniest, best show ever. It’s sad how alike we are to Doug and Carrie.

2.  I danced for about 7 years, tap, jazz and ballet.  I didn’t start ballet until my last 3 years but it’s my favorite. I even tried pointe (you know, the wooden toed shoes that allow you to stand on your toes? Ouch.).  For 2 years I competed with a dance team. We usually did pretty good, but only because it was small competition.  None-the-less, it was fun until one day the dance flame I had in me burned out and I quit in the middle of practice.

3. My thumbs are double jointed.  They look normal most of the time, but they can pop horizontal when the rest of my hand is vertical. Hard to explain.  It makes my thumb look crippled, but it’s not.  See? Normal.  Not normal. There, I said it. I’m a freak.

4.  I have moved so many times in my life, I don’t think I could count.  I haven’t lived in the same city more than 6 years in a row, and even within that time period I’ve never lived in the same house/apartment/dorm more than 2 years. I think.  No, I wasn’t a military family (Mark’s is though so he grew up with the same thing).

5. I have a complicated family. My Mom and Dad are not (and were never were) married.  I grew up most of my life (until age 13) with my single mom, visiting my dad every other weekend and holidays. I have a Step-Mom, Cyndi, who I’ve known as long as I can remember and I would say she’s one of my best friends (a long with my Mom and my husband).  I have a younger half younger brother and sister through my Dad and Cyndi, who are the cutest but most talkative little kids ever (but I love them! Their pictures are below with the wedding party)).  My mom also married, so I gained a Step-Dad and two older step-brothers. They (the brothers) are both way older than me and I’ve never lived with them, so there fore I never really got to know them. Two whole different worlds and families, plus now my own family. It gets complicated trying to visit everyone. Growing up was hard, to say the least. It was crazy being in the middle of two families and traveling so much all the time.

6.  One of my step brothers is Joey Cheek, the Olympic Speed Skater. He won the bronze in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah (Which, I got to go and it was the coolest thing ever to experience in person). In 2006 he won a gold and silver medal and donated ALL of his winning money to help children in the Right to Play foundation.  I never talk to him, and when he is in town I’m too shy to speak, but I am very proud of him and all that he’s accomplished.  Maybe some how he’ll find this blog and finally know that.

7. I was able to plan (with the help of my amazing family) and have a beautiful wedding with $3,000. This makes me proud.  All you see on TV and magazines are these amazingly elaborate and HUGE budgets of $25,000 or more, and I think it’s insane. If I had that kind of money, I still wouldn’t have used it on the wedding. Shouldn’t savings for the future, putting that money towards a house, or something be more important than ONE day.  I just don’t get it. But I guess when you don’t have a lot of money you value things more.

8. I can’t keep things clean and tidy. I hate it. I hate things being a wreck but I hate taking the time to clean.  My laundry from last week?  Still sitting in about 4 baskets all wrinkled up. I’m horrible. But really, when you spend all day chasing a almost 9 month old, changing diapers and trying not to get bit and, oh yea, going to school and doing homework all week long…would you want to clean in your very rare few minutes of free time?  I think not.

9. I’ve changed my ideas of what I’ve wanted to be “when I grow up” many, many times.  When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher (ask any girl and most say a teacher, at least the ones I grew up with. It was thing to do!), but then I realized that you actually had to talk in front of people and I wasn’t up for that.  Then it was Interior Design, which lasted mostly though high school.  I took a few classes in school that I loved, but it didn’t feel quite right either.  Then I became pregnant with Kaylee, I experienced adoption and I had my wonderful social worker help me through my pregnancy and years after birth, and I thought maybe I could do use my own experience to help other girls. So, I majored in social work my freshman year in college.  I love, love, love sociology and psychology courses, but they just aren’t my best grades.  And, there was still the whole, having to actually talk to people thing.  After Kaylee’s birth and adoption writing also started to take a huge place in my life, and has since grown and developed even further to my passion.  So, I prayed and talked with family and my heart feels lead to write for a living!  Eventually.

10.  As you may have noticed the trend, I’m a really shy and quiet in person. I’m a complete behind the scenes person, I like the attention but not everyone staring at me (or judging me…ah!). Unless, you are my Mom or Mark, only then you’ll see the truly dorky, weird side of me.

11. I’m really short:  4 foot 10 1/2 inches (the half is important!). You obviously can’t tell that in my writing, but that is usually the first thing people notice in person. I look like a kid. Some day I will be thankful for this when I’m 50 and only look 40. Yes! (To the right is me with my old buddies in our senior year of High School. Good grief my hair was long!)

And there you have it, a little weird and random background of the Mrs. O.

I admit it. It’s taken me until now to start using Google Reader (or any RSS Feed condenser type-service. If that’s even what to call it).  I have several blogs I am faithful readers os (a few of my favorites are to the right under Blog Roll) and ever day, some times several times a day (especially when I’m home alone with Savannah and bored) I would click my way to every single one of them. And then I thought, “Hey! Maybe I should try something else to save time!”

So I signed myself up and added subscriptions.  It does it’s job, and so far I like it. It notifies you when a blog has a new post. You can share it with others. You can even be the ultimate lazy person and scroll through all the posts with the push of one button (I believe the space bar).  Oh yea, and it’s free!

I like it, I do. It’s gotten me reading more blogs because I have time to view all them. And I have time to comment on them more!  Cause ya know, bloggers like comments.  I’ve been able to save time by not checking the blogs that hardly ever post but once a month or every few weeks, because it does that for me!

My only problem with it?  It doesn’t update as fast as the actual blog website does.  There are several blogs that I read that post usually once a day (at least), and some times it takes hours for it to show up on Google Reader. So, I still end up clicking to their sight just to make sure there isn’t a post I’ve missed.  Which, I don’t mind doing, but still, if this thing is going to be the ultimate lazy blog condenser thing, it’d be nice if it was faster getting their stuff together.  Is it really that hard?  I don’t know. I know nothing about this stuff, though I’d like to learn.

Anyways, just my thoughts and confession of late technology-ness. Cold medicine is kicking in (can you tell? Please ignore my poorly put together ideas, sentences, grammar and spelling) and I’m suddenly feeling light headed and sleepy.  Goodnight.