Tailgating

Well, as everybody is witnessing, my Hogs are virtually imploding and an amazing rate. But...I will always cheer for my team. So to celebrate, below are some pictures from tailgating last week (when we all still had a tiny bit of hope)

 Ryan, me, Heather and Charlie

Heather went to school with Heather and Charlie. Charlie is the basketball coach at Pea Ridge and now my cousin Trent is his assistant. Small World.

 Me, Lyndsey and Anniston.I took Anniston over to Spencer's tailgate and she was a hit - the Bag-O Champion.

Cousins - Emily and Matt, Shelby, me, Ryan, Lyndsey and Spencer 

 This is the moment Spencer is asking Ryan to be a groomsmen. Spencer asked me if I "told Ryan he was a groomsman" I obviously told him no and that was his job so he walked right over and asked. And.....last week Lyndsey sent me a sweet note and asked me to be a bridesmaid! We are honored to be a part of their big day! 

More Recognition for That's My Bag!

Remember this post about "That's My Bag"? Well our little project is getting more publicity which will hopefully, increase its reach. The article below was in the NWA Times today. So excited to be a part of this committee and the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas.

THAT’S MY BAG

PROJECT GIVES CHILDREN SOMETHING TO HOLD ON TO 

By Ashley Batchelor

A little boy recently placed in a foster home in Madison County received a stuffed animal as he was leaving a law enforcement office.

“He held on to the stuff ed animal until we reached his foster home. He was very attached already and named it,” said Tessa Bunch, family service worker at the Arkansas Department of Human Services County Oftce in Madison County.

It was “a big comfort to him during a time where he really did need to be a very brave little boy.”

The stuffed animal was one of the items in care bags given to the DHS Madison County Oftce by the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas. The bags are part of the That’s My Bag project, which branched out to include Madison County in August, said Gracie Ziegler, chairwoman of the That’s My Bag committee. The project previously served only Benton and Washington counties. Each bag is fi lled with a blanket, clothes, toiletries and a comfort item like the little boy’s stuff ed animal.

Ten bags were delivered to Madison County, and one has been given out to a child so far, Bunch said. The identity of and circumstances surrounding the child could not be released.

Ziegler said for the project, the committee has bags in storage throughout the year that are for kids who are removed from domestic violence or a drug-related situation. When DHS workers take children out of their homes, “a lot of times they’re pulled out with absolutely nothing,” Ziegler said. Kids leave with only what is on their backs and may not even get to bring a special toy or blanket, she added.

The bags are age and gender appropriate, so when a child arrives at his next destination, he can be given a bag that is his own, Ziegler said. The program started in 2004, and 40 bags have been delivered this year since July.

The committee works with DHS and also Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter, EOA Children’s House and Peace At Home Family Shelter. Junior League members deliver bags to these outlets, but they never get to see the kids, who are often in protective custody,she said.

Ziegler said last year’s committee delivered about 250 bags, so this year’s committee is fi lling the needs of the diff erent outlets, keeping them stocked with an array of bags for diff erent ages.

Meredith Pettigrew, vice chairwoman of the That’s My Bag Committee, said they realized this year that they wanted to grow the program and thought it would be a good idea to look into a different county. She found her contact in Bunch, and the DHS Madison County Oftce was “more than willing to let us help them out.”

Bunch said she was very excited the Junior League reached out to Madison County.

“Resources are far and few between over here in a rural county, so it’s been a great benefit to have the extra support,” Bunch said.

Ziegler said Pettigrew orchestrated what Madison County’s needs were and set up a schedule to deliver the bags.

The DHS Madison County Oftce asked for bags for infants, toddlers, children and teens, Pettigrew said.

They delivered half of the bags for boys and half forgirls, and she said they sent more children’s bags because the oft ce sees younger kids come through more often.

Madison County is the first county to request infant and baby bags, Pettigrew said. Bunch told the Junior League that they have babies come in who don’t have a set of clean clothes or even a bottle or blanket, Pettigrew added. The baby bags are now available for all three counties served.

A baby bag will have items such as baby powder, diapers and baby wipes, and all the other bags will have toiletry items like shampoo,body wash, toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant, Ziegler and Pettigrew noted.

A toddler bag may include a coloring book, and a teen bag may have a young adult book. Pettigrew said the committee members are also trying to put journals in all of the bags. They have heard it might be therapeutic forchildren “to write down their feelings and their thoughts about what’s happening and what’s going on in their world at the moment,” she said. She added that the Junior League members hope these bags “help ease transition into the next phase of where they might be going.”

In His Father's Footsteps

Mark Humphrey of the Enterprise Leader (Farmington Weekly) wrote a nice article about my brother and his coaching career. I have a feeling he is going to be a great coach, just like his father!

In His Father’s Footsteps

SPENCER ADAMS ENJOYS COACHING CARDINALS

By Mark Humphrey

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

FARMINGTON — Spencer Adams has benefited from having a father, who championed his children’s cause, when their mother, Diane Adams, was killed in a car accident when Adams was a mere 18 months old.

Current Charleston head football coach Doug Loughridge was a 16-yearold sophomore on the Charleston football team and remembers the incident which occurred when Mike Adams was head coach at Charleston.

“It happened on Homecoming day,” Loughridge said. “That game that night was for the conference championship against Hackett.”

The team was called in and school off icials explained they could either play the game as usual or by noon the next day by Arkansas Activity Association rules, or forfeit.

“We decided to play that night. Jeff Stubblefi eld, our superintendent now, was head coach that night,” Loughridge said.

The game was a blowout in favor of Charleston because as Loughridge put it, “That’s what we knew Mike Adams would have wanted.”

Adams had just been dropped off with a babysitter and wasn’t in the car. His mom and older sister, Meredith, were en route to get Meredith fixed up as part of the Homecoming royalty but his mom never came back.

“He was just a little bitty ol’ dude,” Loughridge said. “He could just barely walk.”

Mike Adams did whatloving fathers do and took care of his children and football became a way of life for the family.

“I don’t know if I had a great lesson then as I do now, just being a dad. With kids that young I cannot imagine,” Loughridge said. “I have the utmost respect admiration for him how he handled that. He had to be a strong, strong man. He won ball game after ball game still. That was just the midst of keeping the program together.”

Adams has fond memories of growing up in Charleston and said the community rallied around the family.

“It was nice to have a big support system down there,” Adams said. “I’d go to work with him every day. I grew up crawling around his fieldhouse. Charleston, it was a good place to be.”

“He [Mike Adams] won’t tell you that, but he built a football powerhouse down in Charleston,” said Jana Harper, wife of Farmington defensive coordinator, Jay Harper.

After Charleston won the state championship in 3A football in the 2008 season, Mike Adams was invited back to speak at a banquet to commemorate the development of the program.

“He started the Charleston legacy,” Adams said. “I got to go with him and that was a lot of fun to see kind of how much they love him, still.”

Adams grew up going to every one of his dad’s games and practices as the Adams family compiled football memories during a career in coaching

“All I ever wanted to do was to go hang around him and his team,” Adams said. “I knew from a very youngage that I wanted to be a football coach, and I’m sure that comes from growing up around the game and having such a great role model like my father to try to model myself after.”

Within a few years, Mike Adams remarried and, along with bringing a mother into the household, came a new brother, Robin Adams’ son, Jon David, whose father had passed away when he was six months old.

Adams refers to the expansion of the household as on the plus side of the adversity. The brothers are three months apart and have been frequently mistaken for twins.

“We’ve grown close,” Adams said.

Adams, 25, is beginning his second year as head coach of the Farmington seventh grade football team along with serving as an assistant with the Cardinal varsity. Adams earned a degree in Kinesiology, which, according to the University of Arkansas website, is designed to prepare for a variety of career options in the vast field of Movement Science, including teaching Physical Education, coaching, analyzing and prescribing fitness programs and athletic training.

“He spent a lot of time in college learning how the body works, how to protect kids and how to get kids in shape,” Mike Adams said.

Mike Adams said experience garnered from Spencer’s college career playing football at Harding University has helped the Cardinal football program.

“He’s a great teacher of technique. He got to play two years of college and learned a lot there,” Mike Adams said. “He brings great understanding of pass protection. I’ve learned several things from his experience passprotecton-wise.”

Adams said while he doesn’t know much about upcoming opponents, neither do they have a good knowledge of the Cardinals.

“That’s the beauty of seventh grade,” Adams said.

“It is very rewarding to see these guys grow up and mature over the years they are in our program,” Adams said. “A lot of them impress me. It’s a great blessing to have kids who work hard and want to get better.”

"That's My Bag" and the Junior League

I am a part of the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas and this year I am vice chair of a committee called "That's My Bag". As part of this committee, we assemble back packs for children that were abruptly taken out of their homes and put into foster care for various reasons. When this happens, they are allowed to take nothing with them. These bags are filled with comfort items for the kids to make the transition a little easier.

This is my second year on this committee and I really enjoy it. Since I have been so abundantly blessed in my life, I feel it is only appropriate and necessary to help those in my community. I know our League and this committee are directly affecting children in our area. In previous years, we were only reaching Washington and Benton Counties, but this year, through my wonderful husband and his contacts in Madison County, we were able get hooked up with Madison County and now their children will be given bags. When I made contact with them they were so excited because they say so many times the smaller, outlying counties get overlooked.

Recently a NWA philanthropic publication, 3W Magazine, wrote a story on our committee and it is posted below. If you would like to make donations to be provided in the bags or get involved, please let me know.

The Junior League of Northwest Arkansas is making additional strides in improving the local community in 2012, including expanding its services into Madison County with “That’s My Bag.” The League’s “That’s My Bag” project is a partnership with the local Department of Human Services (DHS) that provides backpacks and care bags of necessities to children who are taken into foster care or are taken out of their homes abruptly.

“That’s My Bag” has aided hundreds of children in Washington and Benton Counties since 2004. With the League’s additional resources, this year Madison County received its first set of bags in August. The care bags are filled with clothing, underwear, socks, toiletries, a toy or stuffed animal, and additional age-appropriate items as needed. Contents of the bags are either purchased by the League or donated by community members, and the League fundraises throughout the year to support the campaign.

“As stewards of our community and citizens of Northwest Arkansas, it is important to remember that this area consists of more than just Benton and Washington Counties,” says Gracie Ziegler, “That’s My Bag” committee chair.

“The Junior League of Northwest Arkansas wants to reach all the surrounding areas including those that, in some ways, are in even more need of our services. Madison County is a perfect example, and we are so thrilled that we can help children by providing necessities and a small sense of comfort,” adds “That’s My Bag” committee vice chair, Meredith Pettigrew.

This year, the “That’s My Bag” committee will assemble and deliver an estimated 250 bags to the three county DHS offices and additional agencies. The committee will also work towards providing more customized bags to help accommodate as many children as possible. Customization will be done by age and gender.

For more information about the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas, the ‘That’s My Bag’ project, or to become an agency beneficiary, visit www.juniorleaguenwa.org, call 479.751.7054 or email info@juniorleaguenwa.org.

This is What Happens....

When you ask your die-hard Razorback Fan husband to take a picture with you when he realizes his team is going to lose....

1. "No smile because I am mad"

2. "Ryan I know you aren't smiling so SMILE!" = Smartass face

3. "Seriously?!?"

4. "No, Seriously, SMILE damnit, I am starting to get pissed!"

5. And this is the best I got. His fake smile. 

Results = a miserable, terrible, embarrassing lose to a directional school. Sad day for these Razorback fans.

Patience

My big prayer request lately has been for patience: patience in my professional life, patience in my personal life, patience in my spiritual life. I have found several scriptures that have helped me with this so I thought I would share  few in case anybody else is having the same struggle.

"And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap a harvest if we do not grow weary."
Galatians 6:9

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

The Jeremiah verse was the one verse that got me through a rough time in high school. Every time I read it I think of that time and feel comfort.

"In their hearts men plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps."
Proverbs 16:9