When You've Got Nothing To Post About...

Post a picture of your dog...

Or a picture of your husband...

Or a picture of your dog WITH your husband...


Yep, it's been a slow week!

Submitting My Proposal

Brad and I have been going back and forth since we started the adoption about if we should travel or not (we could choose to have our child escorted and pick them up at the airport).

At the beginning, I was very much in favor of traveling. In fact, I didn't even give the escorting idea any thought - I just assumed we would travel. The more we talked about it, though, the more scared I got. You see, I often (more like always) get sick when I travel. I think it's because I am anxious and worried that I will get sick, and so I do get sick. I have done quite a lot of traveling, and have been to England, Guatemala, Uganda, Mexico...but the thought of being sick and caring for a baby seemed pretty overwhelming to me. So, we settled on the idea of having our child escorted.

Until last week that is. I somehow came upon a blog of a couple adopting from China, and they happen to be in China at the moment with their new daughter! It has been amazing to follow their trip, and made me realize that I really do want to travel. It is so important to me to get to experience our child's culture, to see where they were born, to meet the people who have cared for them...the list of reasons goes on and on.

I have decided that I do not want my fears to make me miss out on anything in life. And I really, really, don't want to miss out on this. I know that the Lord has always been faithful in the past. He has helped me to not be anxious, to do things I was very afraid of, and to handle it when I am sick. I know He will not fail me.

When I approached Brad about my change of heart, he told me that I could submit my proposal and he'd think about it! He was kidding...sort of...but I have decided to put together a list of all the reasons why I think we should travel :) If he truly feels it is best for us to have our child escorted, then I will trust him in this and hope that at some point we will get to see where our child is born.

But I must say...I hope my proposal is approved!

The Not-Knowing of Adoption

I've been feeling kind of strange lately. It's a very funny feeling to not know when you are going to become a mother. I grew up expecting that I would one day get to experience the joy of a positive pregnancy test, and nine months later, I would become a mother.

Our journey has turned out quite a bit different than I always thought it would. Instead of a pregnancy test, I have the joy of a completed home study! And instead of a set nine month period, I have....I DON'T KNOW!!!!! It is sometimes very hard not knowing how long it is going to be. I feel like if I could just know, then maybe that would somehow make the waiting easier.

Lately I've been feeling like I'm just...floating. Though I know and believe with all of my heart that I can trust the Lord's timing, waiting patiently for it is another thing altogether! Does that make any sense? I am eager for the next phase of life to begin, and yet I do not want to miss out on today. Which sometimes leaves me feeling a bit mixed up!

I sometimes find myself sighing, and wondering...

What will our baby look like?

Has our baby been born already?

What experiences in his or her birthmother's life led her to choose an adoption plan?

Is she sad? Is she okay? Does she have people to care for her through this difficult time? Will we ever meet her?

What will it be like for us to hold our child for the first time?

Will we be good parents?

What if they get sick? Will we know what to do?

What will it be like to hear them call me "mama" for the first time?

So many questions. Some of them, I may never know the answers to. Some of them I can only leave in the Lord's hands. And some of them...I will know the answers to someday!

My In-Law Blessings

I am so very blessed to have a family who loves me. When we are together, all is right with the world. We can laugh together and cry together, and I always know I can just be myself.

I am also blessed to have a wonderful "in-law" family. You always hear horror stories about mother-in-laws and the difficult relationships they sometimes have with the woman their son marries. I'm so thankful to say that none of that applies to my relationship with my mother-in-law, or with the rest of my "in-law" family. Yesterday we were able to get together and celebrate my mom-in-law's birthday, and I was reminded once again how truly blessed I am. It was good just to be together.

Another Month Down...

I am starting to really like the 19th of each month, because each "19th" is a milestone for us. As of today we have been on the waiting list for 7 months! It really is exciting how quickly time seems to be going and I hope that it won't seem like much longer until that amazing day comes when we receive "the call" about our referral.

To celebrate, I picked up a little something for our baby. You really can't go wrong with a rubber duckie! I find it so encouraging to have little baby things around the house as a reminder that the day is coming!!!!

Something interesting I've learned about Korea: On the right is a picture of a podaegi. This is a Korean blanket or carrier that mother's use to carry around their children. Apparently, when our child comes home, this is how they will be accustomed to "traveling".

Next week I am planning our first Korean meal (with a recipe stolen borrowed from another Rachel who is adopting from South Korea - thanks, Rach!) and I am so looking forward to learning more about the beautiful culture and people of South Korea. Wish me luck - I have a hard enough time getting American recipes to turn out right!!!

I seem to have lost track of time and I'm not even sure how long it's been since I last posted, but we are finally back online so I thought I'd post just to say hi :) The last few weeks have been so different without the internet or cable...it has been so good for us and has not been nearly as hard as we expected. Who knew - there is life outside of computers and television!!!!

So what have I been up to?

Absolutely loving this weather!

Lots of running and enjoying a Christmas gift (Garmin watch that tells me distance and pace)

Spending time with the Lord and learning many new things about faith from the book of Hebrews.

A couple of accidents in which Brad cut his head open and I slammed my finger in a door. Lots of pain, but thankfully no stitches or broken bones :)

An adoption meeting that encouraged us so much. Our time is coming! I realized the other day that usually when I see ladies in the park with their babies or shopping at the store for their little ones, a little part of me hurts and feels like, "Why can't that be me?" But lately, it doesn't hurt and it gets me all excited and I think to myself, "That is going to be me!"

So that's life in a nutshell...very, very good :)

In the News

I was just checking my email on my lunch break, and when it logged out I was taken to the "MSN Homepage" which has news, entertainment stuff, info about celebrities who need help with their punctuation...you know, the essentials.

Catching my eye was this headline: "McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets; Woman Calls 911"

Ridiculous of course. So I had to read it. Please allow me to share my favorite paragraph with you in which the lady is speaking to the 911 operator:

"This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one," Goodman told police, according to The Stuart News. "This is an emergency."

Wow. Hard to know what to even say about that! So instead of commenting, I think I will just roll my eyes and move on.

There was another section of the page that had a category entitled, "Weird News" (please note that the McNugget incident was not included under that section...). This section also had some interesting stories:

"Woman Spends Two Days Trapped in a Bucket"

"World's Fastest Granny"

"Busted For Lawnmower DUI"

These make me wish I were a reporter - perhaps I'll go back to school and pursue journalism with a "Weird News" minor :)

I Love This Husband of Mine!

He makes me laugh...all the time. Even when I'm angry (which is very annoying by the way!). He makes life so much fun and every evening I cannot wait to get home and be with him. I thought that maybe this would wear off after a few years of marriage...but it hasn't! Not only has it not worn off, but I love him even more than when we started this crazy journey together. The last few years have not turned out exactly how we'd expected, but through it all, he has been there for me and has kept me smiling.

One example for you...last night I was in the basement doing laundry. From upstairs in the kitchen I hear him laughing. Not just a little chuckle, but a deep, belly laugh. I thought perhaps the dog had done something funny, or he'd seen a funny commercial...

Suddenly he appeared in the laundry room holding my passport (it just arrived yesterday). HE WAS LAUGHING AT MY PASSPORT PHOTO! For 10 minutes all he could talk about was how funny it was! I tried to be serious and tell him I was very upset with him...but I just couldn't manage it! Pretty soon I was laughing right along with him. It is a pretty awful photo - but in my defense they did say that I couldn't smile...

It's not a special day, or an anniversary, but I just thought I'd share it - I am so in love with my crazy husband!!!

The Year of the Scarf Carnival!!!!

Apparently I am very excited about this bloggy carnival and about scarves in general. A few days ago, I pointed out a little girl who was wearing a scarf and my husband, Brad, sighed and said, "I know, I know...it's the year of the scarf!"

I was a little skeptical at first, wondering if this would require good taste or fashion sense. But it turns out this is one fashion trend that even I can be part of!

I really just started my scarf collection, so I only have 3 to show you.

Scarf #1 - My dear friend, Denise, gave me this scarf when I was having a bad week. I was definitely cheered up by this!

This is a fabulous scarf that I got at TJ Max for $5 or $6. I like it because it has a bunch of different colors in it so I can wear it with lots of different shirts (well, in theory anyway - in real life I have only worn it with this shirt!)

This is a scarf that I knitted a couple of years ago. I love it but unfortunately the yarn is pretty itchy so I can't wear it for long periods of time. Why would anyone make itchy yarn? How is that useful???

Thanks for stopping by! And a big thank you to Rachel for hosting this bloggy carnival!