Meet the Shaneyfelts

Adoption Update!

Hey hey, y’all!!  We’re halfway through with the week!  Dustin is still recovering from Alabama’s loss to Clemson (love Dabo though!) and I’m recovering from watching my recorded Bachelor episode last night. ๐Ÿ˜‚  We’ll see how far I make it in this season because I’m currently trying to make it through a really good book that I can’t wait to share with y’all!  I’m really just interested in seeing how far Miss Alabama USA, Hannah, makes it.

Today I want to share a quick adoption update with y’all because my last one was mid October, which was before we were matched!

Right now we’re under two months until our due date and I’m equally so excited but also not wanting to rush it too quickly.  We’re trying to get last minute things together so we aren’t scrambling in February.  We got the travel bag for our stroller since we’re flying and the warranty on that is awesome (and much needed).  The picture above is the bassinet stand I got for our stroller’s bassinet because the baby will sleep in that in our bedroom when we get back home–right next to my side of the bed!!

I’ve pretty much got the nursery done.  There are a few things I’m just going to wait and register for when we get back home because they aren’t really needed now–I don’t think??  I finally got the nursery bedding in this past weekend ๐Ÿ™ˆ  I knew what I want, but it was hard to pull the trigger!  Last weekend I reorganized the closet….again ha!

Since my last update, we had another fundraiser which was a craft booth at an advent market.  We almost sold out of everything we brought, so that was great!!  And we applied for another grant at the end of December that would be AWESOME if we were awarded it!  

Thank you for praying for us, our birth mom, and the baby during this time!

Friday Faves!

Happy Friday, y’all!!

First, I want to thank all of y’all who either took my survey from Wednesday’s blog post or answered the questions last week on my IG stories!  Y’all were SO nice in your answers and I’m really happy to say that they were overwhelmingly the same!  Y’all read my blog because I like to keep it real and honest and share the good along with the bad.  Y’all also really like Friday Faves, every day life type posts, adoption posts, and Day in the Life posts which is awesome because this means that I can just keep on doing what I’m doing–yay!  It also reminds me to do another day in the life post, so I may do one either on Saturday or another day next week.

So, thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  I love connecting with my readers, and lately, I’ve had some really sweet and encouraging emails that have really made my day!

Now, onto my FAVORITES from this week!!


I listen to the Royally Obsessed podcast every Thursday when they release a new episode. Over Christmas break, they asked their readers to video themselves telling what their favorite royal moment from 2018 was and THEY USED MY ANSWER!!!  When you listen to the podcast, I’m the very first person they talk about (there are two Sarah’s)!!  If you want to listen, it’s the episode that was released yesterday.  I love the hosts, Lisa and Kaitlin, because they are hilarious!


 My dad retired on January 2nd, so we threw him a surprise family retirement party on Tuesday at our family New Year’s Day meal!  This was the cake my sister and I got him–it was made by our favorite cake baker, and it was so, so good!



 Then his work threw him a retirement breakfast on the 2nd!!  And listen, when I’m not working, I’m not going to wear make up if I don’t have to ๐Ÿ˜‚



 Dustin and I are eating much healthier now that the holidays are over, so I baked salmon and roasted corn on the cob one night.  I bake my salmon with dill and lemon slices on top to season it up.  And I like to roast my corn with a few thin pats of real butter, seasoning salt, and chili powder.  SO GOOD!



I got a new make up primer over the Christmas break and so far I’m really liking it!  It’s lightweight and goes on smooth.  I really am loving all Becca products lately, and when I saw this one was supposed to help cover uneven skin coloring and that it basically is like a filter, I snatched it up!  So far so good, and I’ll report back to y’all after using it for a month.



I saw the movie VICE yesterday with Dustin and my dad.  I enjoyed it!  I thought it was theatrical storytelling and I loved the big name actors in the movie.  Christian Bale does an excellent job transforming himself into Dick Cheney! 


And today my Christmas break is over because teachers have to go back, so I want to leave y’all with a fun song for the weekend!

See y’all Monday!

My Word for 2019 + A Survey!

please answer the survey at the bottom of this post!!!  thank you!

A couple years ago at school, all teachers led their homerooms in choosing a word for the year  This was right after we returned to school in 2017 after Christmas break.



To back it up a bit, in September of 2015 Dustin and I started trying for a baby.  Then all of 2016 brought 6+ months on Femara and Clomid, a move to a fertility specialist, not feeling comfortable with that doctor, a move to a new fertility specialist, surgery, and a diagnosis of endometriosis.  Whew.

I was excited about choosing a word for the new year, so I chose JOY for 2017.  I wanted it to be a reminder to me that my joy was to be found in Christ alone–not in a pregnancy or a baby or my husband.  God was so gracious to me that year because even though it was a hard year, I found lots of joy.

Then 2017 ended with another failed IVF round, so my word for 2018 was HOPE.  I chose hope because even in spite of the bleakness that the end of 2017 saw, I was so hopeful that God would bring us a baby.  He has placed such a strong desire for children on both of our hearts, that I just knew God would provide.  I believed so much that He would.

Well, I went through a period of time in 2018 where I had no hope.  And then I was extremely hopeful.  So 2018 was a rollercoaster of emotions, and you can read about that here.

All of that to bring me to my word for this year…

TRUST.

In just examining my life not only last year but the last few years, I keep coming back to trust because I’ve had/still sometimes have a hard time trusting God and His plan for Dustin and me.  In my sinful flesh, I try to grab onto anything that I can to have some sort of control over.  While IVF was very hard, in a way I felt like I had a little bit of control–I controlled what I ate/drank, my exercise, the timing of my shots, etc.

And then we entered the world of adoption, and let me tell you, I had ZERO CONTROL.  None.  

My faith in God’s goodness, His omniscience, and His sovereignty has really lacked for the end of 2018.  And I get so mad at myself because I see that I am worse than the Israelites.  Previously, whenever I would read a passage in the Old Testament that dealt with God’s provision and the complaining Israelites, I would think, “Why in the world do they doubt God?!  They saw Him part the Red Sea, lead them with a pillar of fire, and make bread rain down from the sky!!”  But I am the same.  I’ve seen so many instances of where God has been so faithful to me and yet I don’t trust.  I doubt.

So for 2019 (and God-willing, forever), my word is TRUST and I want to trust Him because I know that God loves me more than I could ever imagine and He wants what’s best for me.  And what’s best for me is to be more like Christ, so I pray that I live by faith a life that glorifies God.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1

If you choose a word for the year, what did you choose?





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