Window

On Wednesday (the 15th) we exited our window. It was a sad day. We have now waited 20 weeks for a referral. It has been more than a year now that we have been working to adopt.

My 7 things

I know I was supposed to post this a while ago but I have been so busy so here it is, my 7 random facts:

1. My parents taught me to snow ski when I was 3 years old. I love it and because of that it has came naturally to me. Now that I live in Texas I miss skiing a lot!

2. I am very much a night owl and not a morning person. Typically if you want me to do anything in the morning good luck! I am a total grouch and don’t mean to be! It takes me a while to get going and my energy increases as the day goes on!

3. I loved the 90’s when over sized t-shirts were popular. I have never given this love up and would wear a slightly over sized t-shirt every day if I had a choice.

4. Part of my nose was cut off when I was little. My best friend and I decided to play king of the snow mound. I won, she got mad climbed back up on it and shoved me off. I slid down on my face and cut my nose on the thickly packed ice. They sewed it back on and to this day my nose looks really funny on that side of my face. It does not bother me at all and I often forget about it until I meet someone new who asks me about it.

5. I am ashamed to say I not a reader. I recently bought the Bible on tape and have really enjoyed it. I have no problems reading -but the biggest reason is that I hate to stop and do something. I typically have 3 things going on at once so it is hard for me to sit and focus to read.

6. I am not a great conversationalist. I say things and mean them nicely but somehow people always misunderstand and think I am meaning something else that would have NEVER entered my mind. Someone told me once that I could tick off the pope giving him a compliment. I guess I am doomed that way!

7. I have become addicted to scrapbooking. I love to learn new techniques and see how each page turns out! I hope that I can still have SOME time for it once we get our baby!

I've been tagged!

Jen was sweet and tagged me to take my mind off the wait! It worked really well and I appreciate it! I have enjoyed blogging back and forth with Jen and getting to know her and her family more. It's amazing the heart the have for God :)! There are a handful of people who have made our adoption so special (for lack of better word). I would say Jen is a big one! Thanks for everything!



While I haven't quite got to type in everything yet, I am attempting to post this from home (which did not work). I will post my 7 random thoughts tomorrow after work. However in the mean time I am not going to play by the rules and go ahead and tag my 7 people!

I love keeping up with these blogs and I tag in no particular order:

Christina- Thanks for all the encouragement you have given me. You really have been a lifesaver the days I have been most discouraged about our adoption and have known exactly what to say! I can't wait for you to get your little one.
Laura- Although I don't wish it on anyone, esp. us, I have enjoyed staying on the wait list these past few weeks with you and our writing back and forth each day! :)
Cindy- While I haven't got to post on this blog as much as I would like (or any blog b/c of our SLOW computer, but it’s more because I never know what to post :) I have really enjoyed reading your blog! I also appreciate you posting on our blog so often! It’s always fun to read your comments!
I would say J&T, Rebecca and Rebecca but they have already been tagged.
Lori S - Another one of those people who have blessed our adoption and another one of those blogs I just love keeping up w/and reading!
Better World- It’s been so fun to watch you start the process and get to where you're at now. It was so cool when you chose Gladney. I can't wait until you get your referral.
The Moaks- Come on guys, it's time to update your blog! Can't wait to get together with you guys w/our kids!!!! Hopefully this will be sooner rather than later. Renee if it hadn't been for you I don't know if I would have looked into Ethiopia! Thanks so much!!!
Tara- Your blog is always interesting and you write the funniest things! I still think you should be a writer! Thanks so much for all of the posts, info, etc!

A Year in Retrospect...

It's pretty sweet to look back and read through our past year on our blog. I love seeing the pictures, reading the thoughts, as well as the comments. In some ways it is hard for me to believe that we have been blogging for nearly a year. I believe our first post was December 13th 2007, and we sent in our Gladney Application on September 18th. We have studied hard, we have been to the doctor's office, we learned all the ways the government verifies signatures from a Notary all the way to the US State Department. We've each received a variety of comments about adoption in general as well as international adoption including adopting from Ethiopia. It has allowed us to tell our story. While we have yet to receive our referral, we have received a great deal already in terms of friends, growth, maturity, and spirit. We continue to thank you for your support, for checking in on us, for encouraging us, for providing incite, for a "tag" at the right moment, and for the community you have provided.

Here's to another day on the waitlist, and wishing everyone in the adoption process...God's speed.

Could it be?

Today I logged on and discovered that another family had received a referral! I had been hoping for this for them. It also gave me the realization that we are next in line to receive a referral for a boy and 9th for a girl. Wow! I also read recently that referrals tend to come on Fridays and so I became even more excited at the possibility that today could be THE DAY! I e-mailed Mary with more phone numbers that they could reach us at, just incase, and got a reply within seconds. Excitedly I waited for it to load to know what it said. It was an out of office reply… I guess the referral isn’t coming today.


The verse of the day off of biblegateway.com:
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

I think it's speaking to me! :)

Another week down

Today marks 4 months and 3 weeks of waiting. Today also marks the day that voting for if we’ll be referred a boy or a girl ends. Is it a sign? When I put the voting poll up I had to pick an end date and didn’t pick anything specifically I just typed in some numbers. It’s interesting that it ends today! The Lord has provided great peace recently. We have stopped being so anxious about if we’ll get a referral and know that in its own time it will come. It’s the Lords time and we put it in His hands. We trust His time completely. When it’s right it will come. This does not mean that we won’t be ESTATIC when we receive our referral we have just realized that being anxious is not proactive! Actually we have realized that long ago it was just hard NOT to be anxious. The other exciting thing is the referral has to come some time soon. Our agency says a typical referral wait is 3-5 months and we’re there. We might exit that timeframe but if we do each day brings us that much closer to our little one!


Proverbs 12:25An anxious heart weighs a man down.

Philippians 4:6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Ecclesiastes 3:1[ A Time for Everything ] There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Another week down

Today makes 4 months and 2 weeks of waiting.