Home Study

Our home study is now complete!! I heard a lot of stories about how particular they can be about every little thing in your home. I also heard how laid back they are and not to sweat it. Well the later was certainly true for us yesterday. I took the motivation of having a home study and cleaned out all our closets, sending a lot of stuff to Good Will and organizing the rest. I have to admit that once I got the closets clean, I really didn't want to put anything back in it. But it was either back in the closet or sprawled across the room. But there was no checking closets during our walk-through (i secretly wanted to show her them anyway). It was just a simple check to make sure our home is a safe place for children.

We had interviews with the social worker, together and then separate. I was a little nervous about this (don't know why), but is was an easy conversation that was comfortable. She was so nice and even gave us some advice. One piece of advice included to try and protect our feelings. We have known from the beginning the risks involved in adoption. For some people, it all happens fairly quick and smooth.  Others may wait years, experience multiple failed adoptions, and/or even have a child take from them after placement. I wish so badly that our social worker could tell us our future and what to prepare for. But maybe we wouldn't want to know. Maybe the only way we can face it is one day at a time. The when's and how's of it all are unknown to us, but one thing for sure is that it will all be worth it. That is something we have complete faith in.

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So my husband comes home a few months ago and says "Guess what? We bought a shave ice trailer and I think you are going be GREAT at making them this summer!".  My thought: I'm offended. And how dare you ruin my plans of getting a tan this summer!

 Well it turns out to be a pretty cool little gig of ours (along with some friends).  We work evenings a few times a week and are pretty much spent by the end of the day.  {Proof: Matt NEVER sleeps in his clothes (only I do when I'm lazy), but he's had his moments the last couple weeks.}  It's fun to create new mixes and try all the flavors. Okay, there are some I might be trying over and over again ;) Today I made this board today:

I'm not quite done- need to add some Hawaiian flowers. Oh, and my little sister is coming to visit this weekend! Alright fine- she may be younger but she's a little taller than me now (meaning I can't steal borrow her shoes anymore).  And just for fun- I found this pic while cleaning yesterday:

2004- I had just graduated high school and my sister was ten!  

Ps. We passed our home study and we should be officially approved in the next 2 weeks! :)

1997

Yesterdays happenings:

I never thought that 85 degrees could feel so good, but living in Vegas you take anything in the double digits. Bella and I went to the park for a walk and it seriously felt SO nice! The only thing missing was a good book to read while sitting under the shade.

We got home and I was determined to get all the laundry done and clean the upstairs.  I accomplished most of it, but got a little distracted looking through some of Matt's old crap school stuff.  He LOVES to hang on to every little thing which is so opposite of me (I just keep the important stuff, not my 7th grade essay on Robin Hood).  And then I stumbled upon these:

That's right. Love notes from 1997 that Matt has no idea where they came from, haha.  So funny to read... "When is your birthday? Will you be 16 or 17?" and "How many brothers and sisters do you have?". Talk about a boring love letter! I hope teenagers still handwrite notes instead of solely texts.  That was just too much fun!

Matt's aunt was in town along with a friend- he took them both for a helicopter ride.  They came over later and it was fun talking with them both. Before bed, we just had to read a few more papers that Matt had written back in junior high.  One of them was how Tom Sawyer and him were exactly alike in that they both hated school.  It was pretty funny and so true.  Every time I mention the word "essay" or "paper", Matt cringes as if it's his assignment.

I'll let you read this one.  Matt has told me this classic story before and I'll have to take this as proof that it really happened ;)

 (imagine a not-so-skinny teacher)

Thank you times a million!

I've been so overwhelmed at everyones kind response to our intentions to adopt and spreading the word  with family and friends. It's so amazing to me how quickly news can spread via internet (especially FaceBook!). I could hardly sleep the other night because I just couldn't believe it. People I hardly knew were trying to help us out and that meant so much. It makes me want to be a little better and to try harder to help others I may not know.

So this blog is intended for you to follow us on our adoption journey, which we will update with new info as it happens. It also will be a place for us to share our current lives to help others get to know us a little better. We can't pretend to have perfect lives and that we will make the perfect parents one day. We like to think we are "normal" (whatever that means) and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.  If there's ever any questions, please email us under the contact tab.

That being said, our home study is scheduled for next Monday! And I'm sitting here thinking how I should be cleaning the house and organizing that one bedroom that is our "I don't know exactly where to put this, but I want to get it out of my way" room. We had to buy a fire extinguisher and they give us a long checklist of things that need to be in order.  There's a lot to do this week. Does any else foresee your summer going to go by WAY too fast this year? Maybe it's just me.  

Side note- I couldn't stop smiling when I got these cute cards in the mail yesterday:

My talented friend makes these cards and I just love them- it's hard giving them away sometimes because they are just so cute!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog and the start of our adoption journey! Hope you will look around, use the tabs, and learn more about us. It's not easy to put yourself out there like this, but we are taking a leap of faith in hopes to find our missing piece.

Matt and I are still in the process of getting approved, but we wanted to let everyone know our intentions. We have done fingerprinting, paperwork, references, doctors appts, classes, more paperwork...deep breath...and we are awaiting our home study now. Oh, and there's a few more papers to fill out! We are getting there though and would love for you to send any friends/family that may be considering adoption our way. Thanks for your support :) We love you all!