Who doesn't love a good BBQ??

So now that you've all enjoyed a good chikin' meal from Chick-fil-A, it's time to move on to some BBQ! 

On Sunday, September 21 we will be having our 2nd fundraiser!! A BBQ pinic catered by Smoked BBQ Co! The menu will include BBQ sliders, mac and cheese (which by the way is my favorite in town!), baked beans with sausage, cornbread and cole slaw!

The event will take place at The Market at Grelen which is located at 15091 Yager Road in Somerset, VA. They have so graciously agreed to donate their space to us, and we could not be more grateful! 

The Market at Grelen is a farm market and garden shop set on Grelen Nursery's 600 acres. It has 360 degree mountain views and will be a great place to come and hang out! You can take a look at their website HERE.

The Market will also be providing homemade ice cream and cookies to enjoy for dessert! Beer and wine will be available to purchase on site at their cafe. 

We will have Cornhole, Kan Jam, and Bocce Ball available to play, but feel free to bring any other games you'd like!

The goal is to eat, drink, play games and be merry! Families are welcome to bring their kiddos! 

We will be asking a suggested donation of $20 per person (ages 12+), $5 for children 4-11 and FREE for children 3 and under. All donations will be taken upon entrance to the event.

If you are planning to attend we ask that you RSVP HERE so we know how much food we will need to purchase. Also, feel free to pass on to friends...the more the merrier! 

Hope to see you all there!

Logo Reveal

Hi All,

I just wanted to take a minute and say a BIG, HUGE thank you to some extraordinary people who have done a lot of behind the scenes work to get our information out there AND make it look fabulous!

1) Joey Chappel
- Joey collaborated with us to make our awesome Stevens Party of Four logo for our blog header and he was kind enough to donate his time and efforts! We LOVE the end result and it will be coming soon to a t-shirt on you! :) Thank you Joey!

2) Alex Rogerson at Arobesque Design Studio 
- Alex is a creative genius and has always had an awesome eye for detail! Alex was kind enough to donate her time and creativity to collaborate with me on our second logo which will be used for a few different things coming up (keep an eye out!). Not only was Alex prompt in getting back to us with designs and options, but she was flexible even though I changed my mind daily! Thank you Alex!

- If you haven't already, check out her website HERE and be amazed! Also keep her in mind for some of your future event planning needs! She won't let you down :)

3) Angelique Phillips from AngeliqueInk 
- The beautiful script in the logo above was created by Angi at AngeliqueInk! 

- I have secretly coveted Angi's designs for the last few years and I have had her store as a favorite on my Etsy account for quite some time. When it came to creating the second logo with Alex, I wanted something beautiful yet fun. So with Alex's prompting, I decided to contact Angi to see if she would give me a quote for handwriting our name in my favorite calligraphy script and then digitize it for our logo. Well not only did she agree, but she had it done in less than 24 hours and donated her time! Thank you Angi!

- Please check out Angi's website HERE or her Etsy site HERE and peruse her beautiful work! You won't be disappointed!

Joey, Alex and Angi, you were all so gracious in donating your time, Paul and I can't thank you enough! We think both logos are AMAZING and we couldn't have done it without your help!

THANK YOU! 

Chick-fil-A Day!

We just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to show their support today at Chick-fil-A! We were BLOWN AWAY by the love and support we received, and we couldn't feel more blessed by all of you!

We want to say another HUGE thank you to Chick-fil-A's marketing manager, Gina Hutchison, for her willingness to support us, as well as all of the Chick-fil-A staff for their kindness, attentiveness and graciousness in hearing that bell ringing ALL. DAY. LONG :)

Another thank you to my AMAZING parents for working a 12-hour shift all while keeping up their smiles, pep and persistence in ringing that bell and spinning that wheel ALL. DAY. LONG :)

And last but not least, our awesome friends, neighbors and co-workers for spreading the word, sharing the invitations, spinning the wheel and encouraging people to come out and show their support! We couldn't have done it with you guys!

Here are some pictures from the day!

Hope you all enjoyed your chikin' as much as we did! Sending so much love your way!

Stevens Woodshop: Open for Business!

Hi friends, Bettina here.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to craft and make DIY items for my room, apartment, friends apartments, whatever! Sooo when we bought our first home in 2012, you better believe I went to work! Since moving in, Paul has been a gem; always putting up with my crazy ideas and making them come to life. I started small with things for our walls, but as my taste for expensive items grew, I realized we needed to get some more tools in our belt {see what I did there ;)} 

We started with a couple ottomans, a coat rack, a sign for the guest room and a jewelry holder. Since then we've built a coffee table, side table, headboards, entryway bench, and china cabinet. The more we built, the more we wanted to build, and it became a nice way for us to enjoy time together without just sitting on the couch :)

Initial projects before our home became a local hardware store

Paul and I never imagined we would be building furniture as a way to raise support for our adoption, but as people continued to tell us they would buy our pieces, the more we thought, why not? Over time we've bought the tools required and a few weeks ago made a trip to Lowes to make our woodshop a reality!

If only our garage wasn't built for just a single car! :)

 DeWALT to the rescue!

We started just by word of mouth, and surprisingly had a few items purchased almost immediately! Below is our work on a custom coffee table bought by one of my co-workers (thanks John and Amanda!!)

 Putting the chevron pattern together!

 Gluing them down before the the nails go in

Pattern done with trim attached!

 Sanding away! You can see I have an N95 mask and glasses...safety first people!

Stained per their request!

Complete with legs!

Since we started having more inquiries, we decided to put together a brochure that has a few of the pieces we've done for our own home, stain options, as well as contact info for custom orders! You can view it as a Google document HERE, but download it for best viewing, as the pictures are a little grainy otherwise!

As of right now, I've decided not to list the furniture on my Etsy site (as we currently don't have a good way to ship them), BUT if you don't live nearby and are interested in a piece, let me know and I can get you some pricing to have it sent your way!

We are open to doing custom pieces and would be happy to talk options, colors, and details to fit the needs of your space! 100% of these proceeds will be put toward our adoption, and our future kiddos will forever be represented in your home! :)

Please feel free to contact us with any questions and as always, spread the word! 

Happy Friday to you all! xo

Did somebody say Chick-fil-A?

       

Hello friends, family and fellow Charlottesvillians! 

We wanted to announce our first official fundraiser! The nicest cows in town over at Chick-fil-A have agreed to host a Spirit Day in our honor with 15% of their proceeds going toward our adoption!

Here are the details!

When: Tuesday, August 19 (2 weeks from today!) from 6:30am-10:00pm (all day long!)

Where: ONLY at the Chick-fil-A located at 350 Woodbrook Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22902 (The one on 29 in the Lowes Plaza)

What do you need to do: Bring an invitation or show the invitation electronically on your phone! Chick-fil-A will then keep your receipt to apply to our fundraiser. 

What else is available: 

- You will be able to go in and spin a wheel for $1 which will give you coupons for free or discounted Chick-fil-A food! All of the money from the wheel will go directly to us, so spin away! :)

- If you think your place of work is too far away to make a quick trip that way for lunch, Chick-fil-A has kindly offered all party platters called in for pick-up will also be put toward our fundraiser. Just let them know over the phone that you're calling in for the Stevens Adoption Spirit Day!

- All calendars (filled with coupons for free items!) and plush cows will be available for purchase and will also be applied toward our fundraiser. The calendars make great gifts! :)

Here is the invitation!

Please print or e-mail and share, share, share! 

Every penny counts in bringing our little ones home!

As always, Eat Mor Chikin!

Introduction

Welcome to our blog! 

Paul and I are so excited to officially announce that we are adopting from Uganda, Africa! We always knew we would do this, but never anticipated it would be this soon! Life has unexpected ways of surprising you, and we could not be more excited to begin our family through adoption.

We have decided to start a blog for a few reasons. The first being so our friends and family can follow along with us on this journey, and know how to pray and support us during this time. Second, so others going through the adoption process will have a common place to share, learn and support one another. Third, so people can stay apprised of our upcoming events! This has already been a very humbling experience and we've learned that without the love and support of our friends and family we would not be able to bring these little ones home.

We started the research for our adoption over a year ago, but have been pursuing agencies since February of this year. In June we got down to business, and actively began the lengthy paperwork process of completing our home study and dossier. We have already hit many roadblocks, and while there are still many variables up in the air, we are continuing to move forward. God has already shown us the need to trust and rely on Him through this process, and we are learning to let Him carry our worries and fears as we enter these uncharted waters. 

We ask that you partner with us during this time and continue to remind us of the goal set before us. We know this is going to be a crazy, emotional process, but when we have those kiddos in our arms every minute of difficulty will have been worth it. At this time we are pursuing to adopt 2 siblings, ages 6 and under and we are open to some medical need. We pray daily for the lives of our children and we know God will be with them (and us!) during this time of waiting.

Thank you all in advance for your love, support and encouragement; we couldn't do it without you! Here's to the start of something wonderful!