Seasons of Life

Turtle, Early Intervention, and Adoption Plans

2012-02-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

We’ve had little Turtle for over a month now. I can’t believe how much progress he has made in such a short time. He came to us only crawling, and now he runs through the house like a tiny tornado. He gets into EVERYTHING! Haha!! He seems to be learning new words almost everyday – although we still have a hard time getting him to say anything to anyone other than close family. It gets frustrating sometimes, because one of his SLP’s isn’t seeing much improvement in him, since he doesn’t interact with her the same way he does with us. We’re always telling her about his ever expanding vocabulary, and she just kind of looks at us like we’re crazy, because he won’t talk for her. I’m almost to the point where I want to record him around our house, to prove to her that he does speak.

I don’t know… I have to admit that I’m getting frustrated with the fact that he has to see so many specialists at such a young age. I mean, does a 19 m/o really need a therapist, SLP (2 different ones), and an OT? In my opinion (and this doesn’t come from any type of medical standpoint), but I don’t think he needs all of these interventions at his age. I know that he is delayed, but the vast improvements he’s made in the short time we’ve had him have caused me to believe that the most important thing he needs right now is attention. I am not at all saying that all of these interventions are ineffective or unnecessary. I’m a special ed teacher, and I know how therapy, counseling, speech, etc. can help a person be successful in life. However, I think that he just needs to be given a chance to be successful on his own. He’s probably not going to be a genius, and yes, he will probably need some type of academic intervention(s) when he gets older, but I would really like to see how he would respond if we discontinued some of his services for now. At least long enough for us to be able to document his progress (or lack thereof), and make a sound decision as to whether or not he needs all of the services he receives. Sometimes I feel that the state system places foster kids in certain situations that cause them to receive unnecessary interventions and/or medications that, in the long run, may be more harmful than helpful.

Okay, rant over… I just had to get that off my chest.

Next topic. For the past couple months, we’ve been pursuing the adoption of a sibling group of 3. For a while, things were going well, and it seemed like it was something that was going to work. However, after we were placed with little Turtle, things started to change. I have my opinions as to why I think there was such a shift in attitudes by our state agency, but I’m not even going to go there right now. What it came down to was Keith and I having to turn down the kids. There were some pretty serious allegations of sexual abuse that came up, and neither of us felt totally comfortable taking on that type of responsibility. It was a sad situation, and I pray that those kids find a good home in which they’ll prosper.

In the meantime, we’re back on the waiting list. We did get a phone call with an offer of another sibling group this afternoon, so we’ll see how things pan out over the next few days/weeks. As soon as we learn more, I’ll pass on some additional information about them, and let you all know if we decide that it’s something we would like to pursue.

Our Story

2012-01-23T15:20:00.001-07:00

I finally have some downtime to get this posted.

I started out last week with pink eye and strep throat. I was given drops for my eyes, and antibiotics for my throat. All seemed to be going well until this past weekend when I, once again, started to get sick. My fever broke last night, so I got up this morning and went to work. I was still feeling a little weak, but thought I could tough it out. Unfortunately, once I got to school, I started feeling bad again. I went to the school nurse who looked at me and said, “You have strep throat.” She sent me home, and said to make an appointment with my doctor for stronger antibiotics. I made an appointment with my doctor, who confirmed the strep throat diagnosis. He gave me a penicillin injection, and said to go back on Wednesday if I wasn’t feeling better.

So now I’m laying on the couch at home, while Keith is bus working, and the baby is at daycare. I can’t go back to work until Wednesday, so tomorrow will be another day of rest. I have a mask I’m supposed to wear for the next 24hrs so I don’t spread my germs to Keith or the baby. I just hope I don’t scare our little Turtle when he gets home. ;-)

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I promised to get the story of our little Turtle's placement posted, so the rest of this entry will tell the story of how we got him.

We got Turtle on Dec. 30^th, for 5 days of respite care. On the day he was supposed to be picked up by his foster parents, we got a call from CYFD asking if we could keep him for long-term care. We don’t know all the details, but for one reason or another his foster parents weren't able to take care of him anymore.

At first we said no. Our two main reasons for turning it down were because 1) we weren’t interested in doing foster care where the goal is reunification, and 2) we’re still trying to get that sibling group, and were told that we couldn’t foster and pursue adoption at the same time. About twenty minutes after we said no, they called us back and said that if we kept him, we would still be able to pursue the adoption of the sibling group. We again said no, but offered to keep him temporarily until they could find a more permanent foster home. CYFD agreed to that, and said they would start looking for a home for him immediately.

That night, however, Keith and I started talking more seriously about the whole foster situation with Turtle. He’s so young, and had already been through a lot with his bio family, and previous foster family. We didn’t want him to move from home to home, and knew that if we kept him, we could at least guarantee him a good life for however long or short of a time we’d have him. So the next day when his caseworker came over to visit, we told her we’d keep Turtle for long-term care. She was so excited, and said that she had been praying all night that we would change our minds. Apparently the caseworkers, therapists, and even Turtle’s bio family had seen a positive change in him in the 5 days he was with us, and were pushing for us to keep him.

As of right now, we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with him. We were told we would probably have him for at least 6 months. However, if parental rights get terminated, we’ll be able to adopt him. His bio dad has a court hearing next month, which we will be attending, so we should get a better idea about what’s going on with the whole situation.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying our time with him. He and Keith have really bonded, and they spend a lot of time together. He loves to explore everything around him, and is always happy. He does have some motor skill and language delays, but we’ve been working with him in those areas. He’s already shown major improvement since we first got him, and seems to improve more and more each day.

That’s it for now. Until next time…

And Baby Makes Three!!

2012-01-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it happened... We accepted a foster care placement. When we started the process we were sure of our decision not to accept any foster care placements who had a chance of reunification with their birth parents. We also vowed never to accept a placement under the age of 3 years old.

That all changed around 3pm Tuesday, when we made the decision to be the concurrent foster parents of the 18 month old we had been doing respite for over the weekend. It's a long story, and one I will go into more detail on later.

We're still pursuing the adoption of the sibling group, so I will keep you all updated on that as we receive more info.

The past few days have been hectic, tiring, overwhelming, and altogether WONDERFUL!!!! More to come...

2011 in Review

2011-12-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

This has been what I would consider to be a good year. Although nothing truly momentous happened, there were definitely some notable highlights.

The most significant thing that happened to us this year was finally getting our foster/adoption license. Right now we are still waiting, but have a potential placement. In the meantime, we’ve been doing respite foster care, which is actually very enjoyable. It has helped us gain some parenting experience, and has given us some first hand perspective on some of the issues that kids in foster care face. My hope for 2012 is for us to get a permanent placement.

We were able to go on a couple of small vacations this year. During the summer, we took my mom and Keith’s parents to Laughlin, Nevada. A good time was had by all, and it was nice getting away for a few days. A few months later, in September, we headed up to NY for my brother-in-law’s wedding. I always have fun visiting his family, and this was no exception. I’m hoping that next year we’ll have a placement by summer so that we’ll be able to take our kids to visit my family in Ohio, and Keith’s in NY.

We celebrated our 4^th anniversary married, and our 7^th as a couple. I know everyone says this, but I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. Keith is without a doubt my soul mate. He is everything that I’m not, and helps bring out the best in me. Over the past 4 years of marriage, we’ve gone through a lot, and he has always stood by my side. I can’t imagine my life without him, and never want to.

Finally, my brother and his girlfriend of 2½ years, recently got engaged. I’m so excited, and can’t wait for their 2012 wedding!!

As 2011 winds down, and 2012 begins, I wish each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday. Here’s to 2012!!

Happy New Year!!

Update on Best Interest Placement Meeting...or lack thereof

2011-12-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

All I can say is that I’m really disliking winter this year. For some reason it seems like NM has been hit with one storm after another. Even now as I look outside, snow continues to fall.

Due to the weather, our meeting was once again postponed (3rd time!). I do, however, have some good news. Before we found out that their caseworker (who lives in a different city) had been snowed in, and wasn’t able to make the meeting, we were able to look over a report on the kids.

We found out their names, and quite a bit more info. about them. They don’t seem to have any severe behavior, physical, or educational problems. Based on what we read in the report, we didn’t see anything that would give us any type of hesitation about adopting them. Of course we didn’t get to speak to their case worker, so we can’t (and won’t) make any decisions until after we actually have this meeting. Right now we’re looking at rescheduling the meeting for the beginning of January.

In the meantime, we’re going to be doing respite again. ☺ This time we’re going to have an 18 month boy from Dec. 30th – Jan. 3rd.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

An Update...finally!

2011-12-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

I got a little lazy while writing this blog post, and since there's so much info, I C&P'd a letter that I wrote to my family. Since it's been a while since my last post, I left some of the background info to refresh memories. Enjoy!
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At the end of November, were informed by our caseworker that there were no kids, who met our criteria, available for adoption in our area. When I heard that, I was really thrown for a loop. After all, we're open to adopting a sibling group ages 0-12, and have no preference as to race or gender. We're also comfortable opening our home to children with mild to moderate physical disabilities and emotional needs. I wasn't here when she called, but the only conclusion I could come to is that the majority of children in our area probably aren't released for adoption. In other words, parental rights haven't been terminated. That is one area in which Keith and I aren't budging. We only want placements in which the kids have been completely released for adoption.

However, all was not lost. The adoption specialist reassured us that she would begin contacting some of the other state agencies within a 200 mile radius to see if they had any prospective placements. In the meantime, Keith and I contacted one of the caseworkers from a town about 3.5hrs south of us. We had been in contact with her before, regarding a sibling group who went on to be adopted by another family. During that time, she had told us that she would be more than happy to look over our home study if we would send it to her. After hearing about the lack of placements in our area, we contacted her, and had our home study forwarded to her office. She contacted us immediately, and said that she had a sibling group of 3 available, and that by the look of our home study, they may be a good fit for us.

She gave us some basic information about them, and asked if we were interested in finding out more information. We said yes, and had our case worker contact her office to set up a meeting. That was two weeks ago, and we have yet to have a meeting. We’ve actually had two meetings scheduled, but both times they were cancelled due to circumstance beyond our control (at least that’s what they tell us. ) ;-). We have our third attempt at a meeting scheduled for this Friday at 10am, and so far it looks like this one is actually gonna take. This meeting is called the Best Interest Placement (BIP). At this meeting, we’ll get more basic info. about the kids, in order to determine whether they would be a good fit for our family. If, after the meeting, we decide that we want to pursue the placement, we’ll schedule the Full Disclosure meeting. At that meeting, we will learn everything that the state has on file about them. Since there are three kids, that meeting could be anywhere from 5-8hrs.

If we wish to continue with the adoption after the full disclosure meeting, then that’s when we’ll meet the kids. We’ll go through a 4-6 week transition time, where we’ll get to know each other through phone calls, day visits, weekend sleepovers, etc., until they finally move into our home. There has also been talk of placing them in our home sooner than those 4-6 weeks, because right now they are separated, and would like to be placed together ASAP. We’ll see… We have to say ‘yes’ to them first, but I’m sure we’ll have a better idea of what we’re going to do after Friday.

In the meantime, we’ve been staying busy with respite care over the past couple of weekends. Our first placement was supposed to be 2 girls, but we ended up with 5 kids, instead! We had a 2,3,4, & 6 year old, as well as a 9 month old with an ear infection. Needless to say, it was quite an experience. The kids were actually pretty well behaved, but required lots of attention. The first two days we had them, Keith kept telling me how he thought he’d be able to handle 5 kids, and that if they ever went up for adoption, he’d be open to them. By the third day, however, he was ready to send them home (as was I!). Five kids, at that age, are too much to handle. I think it would’ve been a lot easier if we didn’t have the baby, because it seemed like everything revolved around her schedule. We agreed to keep them on our respite list, so we’ll probably be seeing them again in the future.

This past weekend was easy, because we just had a two year old girl. Her foster parents attend our church, and had to go out of town for their daughter’s college graduation. I picked her up from daycare on Friday, and she spent the weekend with me and Keith. She’s really cute, and Keith’s parents fell in love with her. Her foster parents will be going out of town in January for the birth of their first grandbaby, so little T will be with us again during that time.

So that’s the update for now. I’ll let you all know if it looks like we’re going to pursue this placement after our meeting on Friday.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Whew!

2011-12-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

We just completed our first weekend of respite care. We started out with 3 kids (all under the age of 4), but ended up with 5, all under the age of 6! Needless to say, it was a very tiring, yet enjoyable weekend.

With all of the ~~chaos~~ adventure that was our weekend, I am barely getting to my lesson plans right now. That said, I will make a conscience effort to post tomorrow, going into more detail about our time with the kids.

Also, I have some exciting, adoption related news! I don't have time to type it all up, but just know that it has to do with a potential placement!

More tomorrow...have a good night!

Delays...

2011-12-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

For the first time in my life, I was not excited to have the day off. It snowed a couple inches last night (which for us is a lot), so everything shut down today. For this reason, we didn't receive the information we've been anxiously waiting for all weekend. It's still snowing, and there's already talk about possible closures for tomorrow. Needless to say, my news is going to have to wait for another couple of days. As soon as we get a chance to speak to our case worker, I will post an update.

Oh My!!

2011-12-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

We got a call today...a very good call! No details now, but I will update on Monday after we find out some more info from our caseworker. Until then, keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

News...Good and Bad

2011-11-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

We had a meeting with our new caseworker on Monday, and things went pretty well. We didn't get any placement offers (which is what we were really hoping for), but we did get to spend time getting to know our caseworker. As it turns out, she grew up in the same area as Keith, so they did a lot of reminiscing about life in New York. Before leaving, our caseworker informed us that our name was on top of the list, and that she would call us as soon as they had a possible placement.

Fast forward to today... We received a phone call from our caseworker who informed us that there were no kids, who met our criteria, available for adoption in our area. What?! When I heard that, I was really thrown for a loop. After all, we're open to adopting a sibling group ages 0-12, and have no preference as to race or gender. We're also comfortable opening our home to children with mild to moderate physical disabilities and emotional needs. I wasn't here when she called, but the only conclusion I could come to is that the majority of children in our area probably aren't released for adoption. In other words, parental rights haven't been terminated. That is one area in which Keith and I aren't budging. We only want placements in which the kids are completely released for adoption.

However, there is some good news in all of this. The adoption specialist is contacting some of the other state agencies within a 200 mile radius to see if they have any prospective placements for us. In addition, they are going to try to schedule a meeting with us and each of the adoption specialists in the state to see if there may be kids in their areas that would be a good match for us. If we can get it, that meeting would be scheduled for the last Tuesday in January.

So that's my update for the day. If we hear anything else, I'll be sure to post.

Thanksgiving and our Black Friday Shopping Experience

2011-11-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had a very different Thanksgiving this year.

We usually have a house full of people, but this year there were only 6 of us. It was very laid-back and relaxing.

We weren't planning on doing any Black Friday shopping, but somehow found ourselves at Walmart (the only store in town!) at 10pm Thursday night. It was insane!! About 8:30pm, me and Keith had gone on a drive around town, in which we passed the Walmart parking lot. There weren't very many cars there, so we thought that maybe it wouldn't be too bad going in later on that night to check out their deals.

We got home and talked my sister and one of our friends into going with us. Around 9:45pm, we jumped into our truck to check out the sales that were starting at 10pm. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was a madhouse, and looked nothing like what we had seen an hour and a half earlier. Every parking space was filled, as was the field surrounding the store. Our town has 12k people in it, and I think everyone was there!

That's when we should've turned around and gone home,...but we didn't. We parked in the field and headed into the store. I couldn't believe how many people were in there! We were literally like sardines squashed in a massive Walmart can.

I had a few things that I wanted to get, but after spending what felt like an eternity trying to work my way through the crowd, I gave up. I have never been one to get nervous in large crowds, but this was too much. I was actually starting to feel a little claustrophobic, and was trying to figure out that quickest escape route.

About that time, I bumped into our friend who informed me that my sister had fought her way through the crowds, and picked up some of the items I had wanted. He also informed me that she was already waiting in line to check out. Go sister!!!

I pushed my way through the crowd, found my sister, and waited in line to check out. Of course I was thanking her the entire time, but I was more in awe of how she actually managed to get some of the items. Standing in line, she was making me laugh at her stories of jumping in the middle of displays to grab the last item, and so on. In total, we were in and out of the store in a little over an hour, but it felt like much longer.

I'm glad we were able to try out the whole Black Friday shopping experience, but I can almost guarantee that I will never do that again.

Update - adoption related

2011-11-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

We're in the middle of a transition period. Right about the time we became licensed, our caseworker (who I absolutely love) informed us that he would no longer be assigned to our case.

When we first started, our town didn't have a permanent caseworker, so all prospective foster/adoptive parents were assigned to someone from the next town over. However, in the middle of our licensing process, someone was hired to take over our town. We were told to expect a phone call or visit from her within the next week so that we could all get to know each other. For almost 3 weeks we waited...and waited...and waited, and heard nothing.

At one point, Keith actually made up a reason to visit her office just to make sure she knew we existed, (okay so maybe we just needed to be patient), but she wasn't in that day. Finally, after 27 days of waiting, we received a phone call from her. We are set to meet each other on November 28th, and I'm hoping she comes in with some prospective placements! Hey, one can dream, right?!

Until then, we are going to enjoy our last (hopefully) Thanksgiving as a childless couple.

Living Room Reveal

2011-11-20T14:42:00.001-07:00

This whole renovation thing has been quite a journey. By doing everything ourselves, we've saved quite a bit of money, but it's also taken us 3 times longer than if had we hired someone.

The final projects of our renovation have been completed in lengthy intervals as we've had to save the money to do one project at a time. When we were finally able to install the living room floor I was ecstatic. For the past year or so we've had an old piece of carpet (which we pulled from our old office), covering the majority of our living room floor. What wasn't covered by the carpet was just plain plywood subfloor. It was very unattractive, and kind of embarrassing when people came over to visit (not that it stopped us from inviting people over!).

Our living room is not at all traditional, and the walls are an aqua color. We chose a dark floor to contrast the color of the walls. It's definitely not everyone's style, but I like it a lot.

Daybook - November 17th

2011-11-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't got around to posting pics of our new living room floor, but I will this weekend. For now, I thought this was a neat survey in which to take part.

Outside my window... it's nighttime, but I can see students walking to and from the university library.

I am thinking... about how ready I am for Thanksgiving break.

I am thankful... for my family - especially for Keith.

In the kitchen... I have the dishwasher running, and everything cleaned up from dinner. We had flat enchiladas for dinner, and are so stuffed that we didn't even have room for dessert. It's still sitting on the counter waiting to be eaten.

I am wearing... a t-shirt, jeans, and my fuzzy, purple socks.

I am creating... reviews for my students. I'm gonna be testing them on Tuesday, so I want them to be prepared.

I am going... to work tomorrow. :-)

I am wondering... how much longer we will have to wait for that "perfect" placement phone call.

I am reading... A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

I am hoping... to get an adoptive placement in the very near future.

I am looking forward to... the weekend. I need to get the house ready for when my family comes down for Thanksgiving.

I am hearing... Keith & one of our friends yell at the tv while they watch the football game. Two quarters down, two to go.

Around the house... I keep admiring our new living room floor for which I promise to post pictures this weekend. The rest of the house is actually pretty tidy. I need to mop the kitchen floor, but the house definitely presentable.

I am pondering... how I can reach the kids at school, and get them to stop bickering with one another. My kiddos are heavily involved in gang life, and represent 3-4 different ones. It's hard to go through one period without them flashing gang signs to one another, or threatening harm to each other. Needless to say, I'm working very closely with the assistant principal, and counselor to keep the students safe all while trying to give them a quality education.

One of my favorite things... is working on house projects with Keith. I don't mind the work, and I enjoy our conversations.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I have some paperwork to do (lesson plans, IEPs, and grading), but I'm also planning on getting the house ready for Thanksgiving.

If you're interested in taking part in the fun, go to: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

It's About Time!

2011-11-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have a secret...

Even though it's been a few months since we completed the addition on our house, we still don't have permanent flooring in our living room. We've actually been walking on the sub floor covered with a carpet remnant taken from our old office.

Obviously it hasn't been a huge issue because we passed the home inspection required for our adoption, but it's not at all attractive.

Yesterday, however, we were able to pick up the materials for the floor. Yay!!

At first we were planning on going with carpet. However, after spending the summer with three kiddos running in and out of the house while dripping wet from the pool, we changed our minds. Hardwood just seemed to be the best option.

We're planning on spending the next few evenings installing the floor, so I'll be posting before and after pictures soon.

Until then, keep praying for us as far as the adoption goes. We're still waiting for the right phone call, and are getting super antsy.

Frustrated!

2011-10-31T19:56:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Keith and I were talking about the adoption as we lay in bed. We've only been licensed for about two weeks, but these past couple of weeks have probably been the most frustrating part of the whole process. Waiting for that phone call is nerve wracking beyond words. Every time the phone rings or I get an email, the first thought in my head is, "Could that be the agency?"

Keith expressed it perfectly last night. He said, "It's hard knowing that our kids are already out there somewhere, but we have no idea how long it will be until they come home to be with us."

I hope we don't have to wait much longer, because this is not fun!

Two Weeks and Two Calls

2011-10-28T19:14:00.000-06:00

Two weeks...that's how long it's been since we became licensed. In those two weeks we've already had two phone calls about potential adoptive placements.

Both times we've turned them down.

It's been tough having to make a decision that so strongly impacts another person's life. All kids deserve to have a family, and it's been so difficult having to walk away.

However, there are some situations that at least one (or both) of us are not totally comfortable handling. Adopting through the state is difficult, because the kids have been through so much in their lifetime, and what they've seen and dealt with affects them emotionally, academically, physically, psychologically, etc. We know what we can handle, and what we can't. I just pray that there is a family out there who is able to open their hearts and homes to these kids.

We know our kids are out there somewhere, and when it's time, we'll welcome them with open arms.

Until then, we'll wait patiently, and pray for God's wisdom in every decision that we have to make.

We Passed!!!

2011-10-13T21:41:00.000-06:00

We had our final walk through today, and everything turned out great. Our case worker told us that everything looks good, and that we are D-O-N-E, done with everything on our end of the process!! He still needs to finish up our homestudy report, but said that he should have it all completed by no later than the end of next week. After that, Keith and I will have to look over the report to make sure that we agree with everything that was written, sign it, and then we will be officially licensed.

Keith and I are so ready to be licensed that I don't know how we're going to make it another week or so.

Please pray that God gives us the patience that we need, because we are seriously lacking in that department right now. :-)

It's the Little Things...

2011-10-09T23:25:00.000-06:00

As I was driving home from work on Friday, I smelled the wonderful scent of freshly roasted peanuts coming from our local peanut factory. Every time I drive by and inhale that aroma, it makes me smile, and think of all the simple things in life that I’m grateful for. As I finished my drive home, I started thinking about the little things that make me happy. Therefore, in no particular order, I present to you my top 10 simple pleasures in life.

Watching the small, yellow crop duster that flies around the fields on my way to work. His arrival every year reminds that that fall has come and winter is on its way.

(not the actual plane)

The scent from the field of black-eyed susans that I drive by every spring. I love to roll down my windows as I approach the area, because the smell is just heavenly.

Receiving a real letter via snail mail. E-mail has become the primary source of written communication, and most snail mail these days is junk mail. I love opening the mailbox and finding an actual letter or card addressed to me.

Waking up in the middle of the night, and realizing that I still have a couple more hours of sleep. Yes!!

Cuddling on the couch with my hubby. I love those nights when we don’t have any personal or work obligations, and we have time to spend a couple hours laying on the couch, watching tv.

3-day weekends!! Need I say more?

Bubble baths….love ‘em!! Sunday nights are my time to spend an hour (or more) just soaking and catching up on my reading. So peaceful…

Spending time with my family, just laughing and catching up on life. We only get together a few time a year, and I enjoy every minute of it.

You know those books that grab your attention from the beginning, and no matter how often you put it down, you still can’t stop thinking about them? That’s what I love.

Finding that front row parking spot in the middle of a crowded lot.

Getting Closer... :-)

2011-10-04T21:30:00.000-06:00

I received an email from our case worker today. Our final walk through is scheduled for Oct. 13. That's a week and a half away!! I'm excited and scared and nervous and overjoyed all at once, because the first part of our journey is finally coming to a close. After this last visit (providing that all goes well), our home study report will be submitted to the state and we'll just be waiting for our license. This means that at any time after the submission, we could receive a phone call with a possible placement. Yay!!

We pulled out the list of house requirements this evening, and we have a few items on our "to-do" list, but nothing major. We need to install the childproof latches on our cabinet doors, make sure that all medications, cleaning supplies, etc. are not within a child's reach, place those plastic covers on the outlets, and padlock the gate to the pool.

Please pray that everything goes well during our physical's on Monday, and that we pass the walk through next Thursday. Thank you!

A List of Updates

2011-09-27T21:52:00.000-06:00

1. I have a new sister-in-law!! We went to NY a couple weeks ago for Keith's brothers wedding. It was tons of fun, and great seeing the whole family again.

Me & Keith at the reception

2. Work is still great...I've been super busy, but that just makes the time go by so quickly.

3. We have our physical's scheduled for the 1st week of October, and after that we'll be able to do the final walk through. Our case worker is currently tying up all the lose ends, and will have our final report typed up by our next appointment. That means that we should be licensed (and waiting!) by the end of October!!

Can't Wait!!!

That's about it for now...short and sweet!

Home Study #3

2011-09-04T09:38:00.001-06:00

We had our 3rd home study meeting on Tuesday, and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We started out by filling out a survey about each other and ourselves. We weren't allowed to compare answers at all, so we had to sit in separate rooms. Afterwards, Keith sat down with our case manager for his individual interview, and an hour and a half later I sat down for my interview.

The questions really weren't as invasive as I thought they'd be. Some of the topics we discussed were as follows:

1) Family - Do you get along with your family? How close are you to your siblings? How close are you to your parents?

2) Discipline - How were you disciplined as a child? How do you plan on disciplining your children?

3) Relationship - How is your relationship with your spouse? How did you meet? What do you argue about?

4) In-laws - Do you get along with your in-laws? How is your relationship with them?

5) Work history - That's pretty self-explanatory

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. In all, the interviews lasted about 3hrs total. Our case manager told us that we're about 80% through with the process, and all we have left is the walk through, and our physical's (which are scheduled for Oct.).

Our case manager is going to start typing up the report, and will call us in a few weeks to schedule the walk-through. If God wills, we should be licensed and waiting for a placement by the middle to end of October.

Homestudy rescheduled

2011-08-25T18:33:00.000-06:00

We weren't able to meet with our case manager today due to an emergency that came up on his end. We did, however, reschedule it for this coming Tuesday (08/30/11).

In other news, school started on Monday, and so far it's been going rather smoothly. I'm the self-contained teacher this year (as opposed to inclusion, which I was doing before), and I am having a ball. The kids are great, and work well with each other. I'm getting a couple more students next week, which will raise my class size to 12 kiddos...not bad! :-)

We're Still Chugging Along

2011-08-21T19:47:00.000-06:00

We have home study #3 coming up on Thursday. So far everything is going smoothly, and we hope to be licensed by the end of October. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

Home Study Visit #1....complete!!

2011-08-04T16:53:00.003-06:00

We had our first home study visit today. We got the call 3 days ago, scheduling the home study for today, so needless to say, I spent the past few days scrubbing down the house. I may have gone a little overboard, but at least every closet is perfectly organized, the baseboards are gleaming, every window is sparkling, and there isn't a dust bunny to be seen.

Once our case manager arrived, we all sat down at the kitchen table, and he went right into discussing what we should expect throughout the process. We already had an idea due to a lot of reading up on the subject, and by the PRIDE classes we took through the state, but it was nice going over it all again. Afterwards, he brought out a TON of paperwork that needed to be filled out. He presented them to us in two piles. The first pile was paperwork that needed to be filled out before our next home study visit, and the second pile was what needed to be filled out before the entire process has been completed. The piles of paperwork consisted of super long surveys about our past (i.e. life growing up, life before marriage, life after marriage, finances, family, friends, etc.). It also included financial paperwork, emergency plans, lists of references, birth records, marriage records, and tons of other stuff.

After going over all the paperwork, we took him on a tour of our house. He told us that everything looked good, and that it didn't look like we would have any trouble getting our home to pass the inspection. Of course he'll have to do a more thorough inspection when the time comes, but I'm not too worried about failing that portion of the process.

Finally, he informed us that the process takes about 4 months to complete on average, but he always works faster. That kind of caught me off guard, because without thinking I said, “oh wow!” He then looked at me and said, “Is that 'oh wow!” that's fast, or 'oh wow!” that's slow?” I said, “Oh wow, that's fast.” He then started asking me whether or not I was questioning the decision we're making. I know it's part of his job to question the sincerity of prospective parents, but it threw me off guard. So of course I started stuttering, and assured him that I was definitely ready. It was just a little nerve wracking (yet exciting), knowing that in less than 4 months we would officially be waiting for our future family. I think he understood where I was coming from, because he agreed with what I was saying. Next time, though, I won't open my big mouth. :-)

We talked a little more, and I made a comment that we would probably have most of the paperwork done by this evening. He then said, “Well, in that case, would you like to schedule the 2nd home study visit for next week?” Of course we said “yes!” He then reminded us to be prepared, because the interview portion of the process (which he will do next week), was very invasive, and may be a little uncomfortable for us. He likened it to spilling our darkest and deepest secrets to a complete stranger, which, in fact, is what we'll be doing. Yikes!!

As soon as he left, me and Keith sat down, and started filling out the paperwork. Four hours later, we had every piece of paperwork filled out, notarized, and handed back to the county office – both stacks! I'm going to call this week to make appointments for physicals for both of us, and also to schedule a time for Keith to become CPR certified.

So now we're just kind of waiting until next Wednesday. After next week's visit, he told us that he'll probably have to come 1 or 2 more times total before we're officially licensed. Hopefully things continue to move quickly. :-)

Whew! That was long, so if you've got this far, thank you for reading, and I'll keep you updated.

It's a GO!!

2011-08-01T14:51:00.000-06:00

It's been a while, but now that things are starting to get back on track, I'll be updating more frequently.

We have our first homestudy scheduled for Thursday at 10am. I'm so excited, but scared at the same time. Since we had started the process earlier, we have already completed all of the PRIDE classes, the fingerprinting/background checks, and part of the paperwork. We were told that we can start where we left off, so I'm hoping that things go by quickly.

I was hoping to be able to start the process back up in May, but unfortunately, we had some setbacks. Our electrician was never able to finish up the last of the electrical work (cable and telephone), because he had some unexpected major medical issues that he had to deal with. We're still waiting for him to fully recover, so we still have electrical work that needs to be finished. We thought about hiring someone else, but it's really not a big deal, and he's worked with us for many years, so we'll just continue to wait patiently. When I talked to CYFD, I sent them some pictures detailing what we were still waiting on, and they weren't too concerned about it. They were willing to restart the process with us, so we're going with it.

That's about it for now. I have to a lot to do before Thursday! Until then...

Quick Update

2011-03-16T13:26:00.000-06:00

We were finally able to call the electrician to finish up the house. He came in yesterday, and is hoping to finish no later than the middle of next week (he has some other houses he's been working on, so he's squeezing us in, between jobs). After he finishes up, our house, will be D-O-N-E.........DONE!!!

(Well, minus the decking outside and the updating of the old bathroom, but I'm not counting those, since they're pretty much cosmetic work. ) :-)

I talked to CYFD today, and we're getting ready to pick up where we left off in the adoption process.

Yay!!

House Updates (Lots of Pics!)

2011-01-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple months, we've been working hard on the renovation. The two main projects we had been trying to complete were the kitchen and dining room.

Kitchen

In the kitchen, we didn't have a lot of cabinets or counter space, which were my two biggest wishes for the kitchen reno. The biggest problem we had was finding cabinets to match our old ones. We had purchased the previous cabinets at a local hardware store, and they were eventually discontinued. Ugh!! So we took a risk. We ended up buying unfinished cabinets at Lowes and stained them ourselves. I have to admit that they came out pretty good. We also bought two pantry cabinets, stained them, and built them around the refrigerator.

Projects:

1. Closed in a window

2. Painted (walls and trim)

3. Stained the cabinets

4. Installed new countertops

5. Installed ceramic tile (as opposed to the Peel & Stick that we had before)

Before

After

Before

(yes, I used to have my birds in the kitchen) :-)

After

Book Room/Office Area

This was our old dining room. You can't really see it, but to the right of the electric box was our laundry room area. It consisted of a closet with bi-fold doors. Our extension was built outside of those french doors, so this room became a "hall" of sorts into the new part of the house. For this reason, we made this area the office/book room.

Projects:

1. Built & installed a bookshelf that covers the entire left wall.

2. Turned the laundry room area into a computer nook.

3. Installed ceramic tile (as opposed to the Peel & Stick that we had before)

4. Painted the walls and trim

Before

After: Book Area

After

The old laundry area was where the computer is now located.

We also created an area to house our water cooler.

Dining Room

This was our old living room. I really liked it, but it was pretty small. We ended up remodeling this room and turning it into the dining room. It's connected directly to the kitchen, so it's a good area for eating.

Projects:

1. Tore down one of the walls and completely insulated it.

2. Removed the old pergot flooring and installing ceramic tile.

3. Painted (walls and trim)

4. Closed up the door that led to the old office area (now our bedroom)

5. Installed a new light fixture

Before

During the Renovation

After

One other thing we did to the dining room area was build a half wall right at the entrance. Since our entryway is located where our new dining room is, I didn't like the idea of people coming over and walking directly into our dining room. Keith and several other people didn't see anything wrong with it, but I wanted at least a small separation.

Before the wall was built

Almost Done!

After

What do you think? We still have a lot of decorating to do, and eventually we're planning on replacing the dining room set, but for now I am very content.

Life, and All That Goes With It...Medical Update

2010-12-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

It’s taken me a while to type this, because I only have the use of my right hand. I’ve been pecking away a little each day, and am so thankful that I don’t have to work like this all the time.

First off, it's been a while since I've updated anything, and we've actually had some major work done on our house. I'll have to save that for later, though, but will try to post some pictures after Christmas.

About 6 months ago, I started feeling really weird palpitations in my chest. At first they were few and far between, but as time went on, they became more frequent. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with a chronic heart condition, and although my heart has always had various problems, this was a symptom that I had never experienced before. In August, after months of experiencing a multitude of symptoms, I called my cardiologist and made an appointment to see him ASAP. At that appointment, they hooked me up to a holter monitor, and had me wear it for 3 days so the could record all of my heart activity. At that appointment, they confirmed that not only was my heart beating irregularly, but it was also skipping beats, and stopping for 3 seconds at a time. At that point, it was discussed that surgery was definitely in the near future, but we weren’t sure if it would be in the form of a major heart surgery or a pacemaker.

For the next 4 months, I continued to be monitored, tested, poked, and prodded. Finally, when I went to my next cardiology appointment in November, it was agreed that a pacemaker would be my best bet. One month later, on December 15^th, I was admitted into the hospital for the procedure.

The procedure itself wasn’t too bad. I was given a local anesthetic and a mild sedative to keep me relaxed, but was awake during the majority of the procedure. The meds were pretty strong, though, because although I remember talking to the docs during parts of the procedure, I only remember bits and pieces of our conversation. I ended up staying overnight for observation, but was released the next day.

It’s been one week now, and I have to say that although I’m super sore, I’m starting to feel a lot better everyday. I was given a sling, and although I don’t usually wear it during the day, I do sleep in it every night, because I’m an acrobatic sleeper, and my doctors don’t want me to rip out the lead (I only had to get one!).

The pacemaker sits directly under my left clavicle, and because I’m pretty thin, you can see the outline of the pacemaker. It’s not the prettiest sight, but I’ll adjust. I have my follow-up appointment on January 10^th, so I won’t be able to go back to work until then. It’s pretty boring just sitting around the house, but at least I’m getting some much needed rest, right?

Until later…I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

Day 28 - What's In My Purse

2010-10-17T14:53:00.000-06:00

In one word? Trash!

Yeah, I have tons of garbage in there, and I really need to clean it out. Other than that, my normal staples are:
1. Chapstick (2 tubes)
2. Wallet
3. Comb
4. Hand mirror
5. Keys
6. Oil blotting pads (face)
7. Pen
8. Gum
9. Lipstick

101 in 1001 Days - Goal #22

2010-10-10T15:55:00.001-06:00

Number 22 on my list of goals was to get a skin cancer screening. I've always been pretty good about putting on sunscreen first thing in the morning, but sometimes the thought of having a golden glow during the summer months causes me to go a little skimpy on the reapplication process.

Earlier this year, when Keith & I went in for our yearly check-ups, we had our doctor set up a referral to a local dermatologist. There was a 4 month wait, but we had our appointments set for 9/28/10 in Lubbock. I was pretty pumped, because I've read in a lot of magazines (and seen on tv) about how important yearly screenings are, and I felt that after 28 years of never having been screened, that this was the thing to do. Since this would be my first time getting checked, I figured that a screening probably consisted of me putting on a robe or gown of some sort, with the dermatologist checking me from head to toe. Unfortunately, I was wrong...

Since our appointments were in Lubbock, which is 1.5hrs away, I ended up taking the whole day off of work. We left about 11:30am, and headed for the "great" state of Texas. After 1.5hrs, we finally arrived at the dermatologist. After signing in, we sat down to wait for our names to be called. After about 10 minutes of waiting, I heard my name...and then Keith's name...being called by the same nurse. We kind of looked at each other, but figured that they must've been ready for both of us, and were going to place us in separate rooms. Wrong! They put us both in the exact same room. Now, I'm very comfortable with my husband, and don't mind sharing with him, but I didn't know what to expect out of this appointment, and I wasn't sure if I wanted my husband to watch the doctor examine me, and vice versa. Neither of us said anything, but I think the nurse caught hold of our puzzlement, because she assured us that couples sharing rooms was normal, and that it was how they always did it. Hmm, okay...

After going through both of our family histories, the nurse headed for the door, and told us that the doctor would be with us shortly. She walked out, with both of us sitting there, fully clothed, wondering what the heck is going on. A few minutes later the doctor walked in, introduces himself, and says, "Okay, so it looks like we're going to be discussing your acne today." What?! We explained that we were there to get a skin cancer screening, and after a few minutes of getting things sorted, we were able to begin.

No joke, the doctor didn't even have us take off our shirts. He asked us if we had any spots we were worried about, checked the glands around our neck (no idea why), then told us we were good to go. We were literally in and out of the room in 20 minutes. I ended up telling him that I had expected a little more thoroughness, and he told me that unless the patient has any concerns, what we had just experienced was the normal procedure.

I have to admit that I was fuming. I took a whole day off of work, drove 3hrs round trip, spent $50 on the copay, and was out in less than 20 minutes, without him even looking at a single mole. After we walked out, Keith & I vowed never to step foot in that office again. From now on, we'll keep an eye on our own and each other's moles, and only if we see anything suspicious will we make an appointment for another screening. Even then, it won't be there.

But hey, I got #22 marked off, right?

Day 27 - My Worst Habit

2010-10-10T15:11:00.000-06:00

Procrastination = my worst habit. I'm always putting everything off until the last minute. Well, let me rephrase that. I'm always putting of all the boring tasks that I have to do, and don't want to do until the last minute. Some of these tasks include homework, laundry, paperwork, and exercising. Every so often I'll get inspired and complete all of the items on my "to-do" list early, but those times are few and far between.

I'm actually procrastinating right at this moment. I have a couple homework assignments that are due in one week. The assignments aren't hard, and if I put my mind to it, I could get them all knocked out within a couple hours. However, at this exact moment, I can think of a thousand other things that I would rather do, and therefore, the homework isn't going to get done...yet.

So there you have it...my worst habit.

The Dining Room

2010-10-08T15:00:00.000-06:00

One of the latest projects we've been working on is transforming our old living room into a dining room. So far, we've closed up an entrance that led to the old office, tore out the old baseboard heaters, and ripped up the pergo flooring.

One of the biggest issues that I had with this room was the fact that it's the room that people initially walk into when they come to our house. It wasn't a big deal when this room was the living room, but now that it's going to be the dining room, I didn't want that to be the case anymore. Call me crazy, but I just couldn't get past the fact that people would be walking smack dab into the dining room upon entering our house. It just felt strange...

So, after some brainstorming, we came up with the idea of putting up a half-wall in the room. This would create a small entryway, and would divide the room into two sections. When you walk in, you're still able to see the dining room on your right, but you're not technically standing IN the dining room.

We still need to paint, put down the tile, and install new light fixtures, but I think that half-wall makes a HUGE difference.

Before we could start on the renovation, we had to insulate this front wall. It was the only wall in the house that didn't have insulation.

After the insulation was put in.

The front door, which opened up to the entire room.

Another view

The half-wall before Keith put the on the sheetrock.

After,...with the sheetrock.

An alternative view.

Master Bedroom Closet

2010-10-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

Last time I posted, I promised some pictures, so here they are. When we designed our master bedroom, we made sure that it had a HUGE closet. It has so much room that I smile every time I walk in. :-)

One of the deal's I made with Keith was that he could choose our bedroom color if I could choose the color(s) for the rest of the house. When he came home with this green I had to bite my tongue, but a deal is a deal, right? It's too 80s style for my taste, but he really likes it, so we're gonna keep it...for now. After we installed the shelves we decided that white would've probably looked better than the wood stain style, but it was a little too late. It's okay, though... I love the shelves and am absolutely delighted with my new closet.

We ripped up the pergo floor from the old living room area, and installed some of it in the closet.


Keith's Dad custom built and stained these shelves for us.

After: With some of my clothes

Before

After

Before

After


This is a mirror that Keith & his Dad installed in our closet. It's an old sliding glass closet door that they framed and stained to match the rest of the shelves in the closet.

Day 26 - Your Week (in great detail)

2010-09-19T15:25:00.000-06:00

My week wasn't very fun and exciting, so I'm not gonna go into great detail. ;-)

Monday:
I spent the majority of my day at work, followed by an hour and a half of tutoring a former student of mine who is now in college (Yikes!). After that we spent the evening lounging around, watching tv. If I recall correctly, we even ordered in that night.

Tuesday:
Work, followed by a couple hours spent working on remodeling our dining room. Actually, Keith did most of the work...I was just there for moral support. :-) Dinner, then 45 minutes exercising (C25K). After that, I spent some time reading, while Keith watched tv.

Wednesday:
Work, followed by a couple hours tutoring that same student who I had helped on Monday. After coming home, we did some more work on the dining room (Keith added a new light fixture in the entryway, and I held the flashlight). We then had dinner, exercised, and watched tv.

Thursday:
Work, followed by an hour or so of staining the built-ins that Keith's father made for us. We didn't do a lot that evening. We mainly spent the time watching tv (after exercising), and lounging on the couch. It was a lazy night.

Friday:
Work, followed by installing the built-ins in our master bedroom closet. We spent a couple hours with friends, then came home to relax.

Saturday: Keith had to work, so I spent the day cleaning, and preparing the house for the arrival of Keith's brother next week (My sister and some friends will also be coming down on Friday, so this weekend is going to be fun!). Saturday evening was spent doing some grocery shopping, dinner, and getting the master bedroom closet ready for use.

Sunday:
Keith had to work again, so I went to church on my own, grabbed a bite to eat after church, and spent the afternoon doing homework. I'm not sure what we'll do when Keith gets home, but it'll probably consist of either working on the dining room or lounging around the house.

As you can see, it wasn't an exceptionally exciting week, but this week should more than make up for it since our families are going to be spending some time with us.

Day 25 - Your Day (in great detail)

2010-09-13T19:30:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day...not spectacular or full of adventure, but good nonetheless. Hopefully I don't bore you with all the details....

I suppose I could say my day started at 1:30am, when Keith woke me up as he crawled into bed after just getting home from work. I know that he was talking to me, catching me up on his day, but I was honestly too tired to pay attention (sorry, Babe!). After going back to sleep, I woke up at 6:15am when my alarm went off. After preparing for work and, I started my 30min commute to work.

At work, I still had about 30 minutes before 1st period started, so I ate my breakfast (banana, guava juice and a breakfast burrito). I spent the day going in and out of various classrooms, as well as pulling kids out for tutoring. My day looked pretty similar to this:

Period 1: (inclusion) Algebra

Period 2: (inclusion) Algebra

Period 3: meeting

Period 4: (inclusion) English

Period 5: planning

Period 6: (inclusion) English

Period 7: (Resource) Science

Throw in a couple trips to the Asst. Principal's office to meet with students who had gotten in trouble, as well as a few phone calls to parents, and that was my day from 8:30am - 4:00pm.

After getting home, I changed into my lounge wear, and have spent the time doing homework (grad school), and messing around on the internet. Somewhere in between there we ordered dinner from a nearby restaurant and chowed down on that.

So there you have it....my day!

30 Day Blog Journal - Part II

2010-09-12T18:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm back. I was so close to being done, and was encouraged to finish. However, following the advice of my friend Abby, (thanks, girly!) I'll finish this journal by posting twice a week as opposed to everyday. I'll start Day 25 tomorrow, where you'll get a glimpse into my average day.

Quick Update

2010-09-12T18:50:00.001-06:00

We've been so busy with work (and life in general), that we've been placing the renovation on the back burner. However, in our spare time we have managed to:
1. Tear up the pergo flooring in our old living room (current dining room) which we will replace with tile.
2. Place some of that (pergo) flooring in our master bedroom closet.
3. Begin construction on a small entryway around our front door.
4. Begin construction on our closet in the master bedroom (building, staining, and installing the built-ins)

I have pictures, and will post them soon.

I Can't Do This Anymore!

2010-09-06T11:18:00.000-06:00

I've been so busy lately, that I haven't had time to keep up with the 30 Day Blog Journal. I'm gonna have to give up on this journey, and just go back to my regular posts. Until next time...

Day 24 - Where I Live

2010-09-01T08:22:00.000-06:00

I live in a small town in New Mexico. I moved here to attend college, and eventually made it my home. I really enjoy living here, and like the small-town life. Sometimes the lack of entertainment and shopping options are annoying, but I can always get my fill of those things when I go home to visit my Mom.

Day 23 - A YouTube video

2010-08-30T12:33:00.000-06:00

I'm getting a little ahead of myself right now, but I know I won't be able to update tomorrow. Here is Day 23 (on day 22).

I have to admit that I'm not a big youtuber, so this one was hard for me. After searching (okay scanning for about 5 minutes), I couldn't find a video that really stood out to me. So, I came to the conclusion that instead of me posting a youtube video, I'm gonna let you all post a link to one of your favorite videos. Yeah, I'm taking the easy way out, but I really don't feel like scouring the internet for a standout video.

Day 22 - A Website

2010-08-30T12:23:00.001-06:00

I use these two websites on a pretty regular basis, so I thought I'd share them both.

The first is Picnik. This is a website where you can edit your photos, and it doesn't even require registration. There are some premium effects that you can't use unless you subscribe to the services, but I'd say over half of the effects are free of charge, and very fun to use. I could literally waste an entire day messing around with my pictures. I wouldn't normally edit them like the one below, but I wanted to show you all some of the options you can choose from.

The second website I'd recommend is Zamzar. It's a free online file conversion website, and I use it a lot to convert youtube videos to mp3 files. Check it out...it's fast, easy to use, and best of all...free!

Day 21 - A Recipe

2010-08-29T12:05:00.002-06:00

I got this recipe from the Taste of Home magazine, and it is one of Keith's favorite dishes. He asks for it at least once a week, and eats every last bit. For the longest time I had quart jars of canned maple syrup from my Uncle's trees in Michigan, and that syrup made this recipe oh, so good! Unfortunately after we ran out, we tried to make this same recipe using maple syrup from the grocery store, and it just doesn't taste as good. Until I see my Uncle and Aunt again, I'm on the search for some good maple syrup, because until we get some, this recipe will be put to the side.

Maple Pork Chops

Ingredients

4 boneless pork loin chops (6 ounces each)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
3 tablespoons butter
SAUCE:
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl, beat egg and ginger. Place bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Dip chops in egg mixture, then coat with crumbs.
In a large skillet, cook pork in butter over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160°. Remove and keep warm. Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve with chops. Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 pork chop with about 1 tablespoon sauce equals 461 calories, 19 g fat (9 g saturated fat), 131 mg cholesterol, 432 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 35 g protein.

Maple Pork Chops published in Simple & Delicious January/February 2010, p25

Day 20 - A Hobby of Yours

2010-08-29T12:00:00.003-06:00

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies!

Day 19 - A Talent of Yours

2010-08-29T11:43:00.003-06:00

I am an organizing guru. I am very detail oriented, and I make sure that everything is where it's supposed to be. I color-code everything - especially when it comes to my planner. My cd's are in alphabetical order, and my books (once I get them out of storage and on to the new bookcases) will either be displayed by genre or author...I haven't made up my mind yet.
My organizational tendencies are more prominently displayed at my job than at home mainly because organization is very important in my line of work. I have to be prepared to pull out various types of documentation at a moment's notice, so I always have to be one step ahead of the game.
I have to admit, though...sometimes I get annoyed at how my anal tendencies seem to rule me, and I have to back down and convince myself that life doesn't always have to be so organized.

Day 18 - My Wedding

2010-08-29T10:40:00.003-06:00

March 10, 2007 - One of the happiest days of my life.

Keith and I started dating on Feb. 14, 2004, and got engaged on May 12, 2006. I was just about to graduate from college and start my new job (teaching), so we scheduled our wedding for March of 2007, over spring break.

Usually the brides are all about planning the wedding, and to an extent I was, but I wasn't near as involved as Keith was. I would've been happy with a small church wedding, and a reception of cake and punch in the basement. Keith, however, had bigger ideas in mind, and did about 90% of the planning. His sister and I used to call him Groomzilla, and joke with him about his binder with all of our wedding info that was practically attached to his hip.

I have to admit, though, he did a great job! The wedding was beautiful, and I had so much fun. And the best part? I got to marry my best friend. He is wonderful, and I am so blessed to be his wife.

Day 17 - An Art Piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)

2010-08-29T10:26:00.002-06:00

Starry Night is one of Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, and, replicas can be found everywhere. As a matter of fact, I was at the dollar store the other day, and found a copy of this painting for $1.00 (no, I didn't buy it). Even though its popularity makes it a somewhat boring/common display for a person's home, I would love to have a copy of this painting in my house. Unfortunately, it won't happen for a long time (or maybe ever), because the colors in my house don't go with the colors in this painting, and it'll just look out of place in my humble abode. For now, though, I will continue to adore this piece and maybe, just maybe, I'll buy a replica in the future.

I'm a slacker!

2010-08-29T10:24:00.002-06:00

I've been MIA for the past few days, so I'm a little behind in my 30 day blog journal. Life is hectic and crazy - especially now that school is back in session. I'm gonna catch up on all my posts today, and will hopefully stay on schedule for the remainder of the 30 days.

Day 16 - A Song that Makes You Cry (or nearly)

2010-08-24T17:17:00.002-06:00

One of the only songs that makes me cry is Christmas Shoes by Newsong. It's a touching song and all, but I never listen to it because I absolutely despise sad songs. Any time it comes on the radio, I change the station to something else. I heard there was a Lifetime movie based on the song, but I will never watch it because I'm afraid that if I do, I'll lose it and bawl my eyes out. So there you go...the sad song that I will NEVER listen to.

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-08-24T17:10:00.000-06:00

Grosgrain is having an awesome giveaway!! She's giving away a silhouette machine with cuttings mediums as well as a $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store. Click on the link below to enter.

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Day 15 - Your Dream House

2010-08-23T19:07:00.004-06:00

Hmm,...my dream house?

I don't have a dream house per se, but I've always been attracted to Victorian style houses. They remind of a place that Anne (of Green Gables) would live in, or perhaps, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. I love the huge wrap around porches like the one below.

Day 14 - A Non-Fictional Book

2010-08-22T13:34:00.002-06:00

I couldn't choose just one, so I went with two. :-) I read both of these books for the first time in Jr. High. They really touched me, so I eventually added them to my book collection. I still read them about once a year, and will hopefully pass them along to my future children.

Day 13 - A Fictional Book

2010-08-21T13:55:00.002-06:00

This is one of those books I can read over and over again without getting bored. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and consider it an indispensable classic.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn - Betty Smith

Day 12 - Something You are OCD About

2010-08-20T21:11:00.002-06:00

I am a list-maker, and I make one for EVERYTHING!! My lists annoy Keith at times, but I seriously need them to function properly.

Day 11 - A Photo of You Recently

2010-08-20T21:07:00.003-06:00

July 2010: Me and my sister at a kickball tournament in town.

Day 10-A Photo Taken Over 10 Years Ago of You

2010-08-18T20:44:00.004-06:00

This photo was taken when I was 12 or 13 years old. It's actually part of a family picture, but to keep the rest of my family's identity private I cropped them out.

Day 9 - A Photo You Took

2010-08-17T21:15:00.003-06:00

This photo was taken last summer in Prince Rupert, Canada.

Day 8 - A photo that makes you sad/angry

2010-08-16T19:35:00.005-06:00

I actually had a really hard time finding a photo that invokes one of these emotions in me. After searching through my photos, I found the one below. This picture doesn't particularly get me upset, but it takes me back to a sad time in my life. This picture was taken the day my Dad was moved into hospice care...2-3 days before he passed away. His brothers and sisters came from across the country to say their goodbye's and to spend time with family.

[In order to maintain the privacy of those pictured, I blurred out any identifying characteristics (i.e. faces, school logos, etc.)]

Day 7 - A Photo That Makes You Happy

2010-08-15T15:22:00.004-06:00

This photo makes me happy because it shows me how far we've come since we started the renovation. We are so close to being done, and I can't wait until then!

Day 6 - 20 of My Favorite Things

2010-08-14T16:19:00.001-06:00

Here they are in no particular order:

The Lord’s love for me.
My family
Traveling
My job
Hymns
Watching my student’s have "ah ha!" moments as they learn.
Bath & Body Works lotion
My engagement/wedding rings
Music
Sleeping
Reading
My red “girly” truck
Cruises
Cuddling with my dog, Franklin
The smell of roasting green chile
Eating
Cooking
Baths
Laughing with my husband
Freshly baked bread

Day 5 - Favorite Quote

2010-08-14T15:57:00.002-06:00

I saw this quote for the first time 2 years ago, while I was taking some of my students on a tour of the local H.S. It was hanging in a teacher's room, and really stood out to me. I now have a copy of it hanging in my room at work.

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thought become your words.

Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions.

Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits.

Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.

Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.

Author unknown

Day 4 - Favorite Book

2010-08-12T20:53:00.002-06:00

3 years ago I read this book for the first time, and have loved it ever since. It's thought-provoking and very entertaining. I don't think I will ever get tired of this book, and pull it out every so often when I'm looking for a quick read.

Day 3 - Favorite Television Program

2010-08-11T21:46:00.004-06:00

I don't know what it is about Chef Ramsey, but I really like watching his reality shows. Hell's Kitchen is probably my favorite show (followed closely by Kitchen Nightmares). I don't like the cursing so much, but thankfully it's all bleeped out. The food that is made on Hell's Kitchen really makes me want to submit an application for Master Chef because I think it would be totally awesome to work under the guidance of Chef Ramsey.

Day 2 - Favorite Movie

2010-08-10T18:56:00.002-06:00

I have loved this movie since the first time I saw it in Jr. High. The acting is pretty cheesy, but the plot and the music make it great. I have it in vhs, and unfortunately, it's on its last leg. I definitely need to invest in the dvd! :-)

Day 1 - Your Favorite Song

2010-08-09T20:05:00.003-06:00

It's hard for me to pick a favorite song, because music has always been a big part of my life. I can easily live without tv, but living without music would be hard, if not impossible for me.

However, the following song has impacted my life tremendously, and has a lot of meaning for me. I even have it as my ringtone on my cell phone. When my Dad was sick, my brother would play this song on the guitar and sing it to him. During the time my Dad was in hospice care, my uncle would play this song on the piano, and we'd all sing it. The day my Dad died, this is the song we (as a family) sang as we said our goodbyes. This song has helped to remind me that no matter what the situation, I have made it a point in my life to always praise God. It's easy to praise God when everything is going right, but as soon as life gets tough, it's human nature to follow the path of bitterness. There have been situations in my life when my heart has been tainted by a bad doctor's report, financial trouble, or even not getting my own way. This song helps me to remember that I need to be traveling down the pathway of praise and trust my entire future to God. Yes, there are going to be trials in this life, and sometimes my issues may seem unbearable. However, God knows what He is doing, and as humans, we can only see part of this picture He is painting for us.

Thank you God for always being there for me - through the pleasure and pain.

Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

30 Day Blog Journal

2010-08-08T13:19:00.003-06:00

I got this idea from Christy at The Domestic Princess. I've enjoyed reading her list over the past couple weeks, and thought I'd try it out too. My blog entries are definitely few and far between, so I thought this would help me get into the habit of updating on a more frequent basis. Tomorrow I'll start with Day 1.

Day 1 - your favorite song
Day 2 - your favorite movie
Day 3 - your favorite television program
Day 4 - your favorite book
Day 5 - your favorite quote
Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things
Day 7 - a photo that makes you happy
Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 - a photo of you recently
Day 12 - something you are OCD about
Day 13 - a fictional book
Day 14 - a non-fictional book
Day 15 - your dream house
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
Day 18 - my wedding/future wedding/past wedding
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe
Day 22 - a website
Day 23 - a youtube video
Day 24 - where I live
Day 25 - your day, in great detail
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - my worst habit
Day 28 - whats in my handbag/purse
Day 29 - hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - a dream for the future

Fireplace and Closet doors

2010-08-03T11:27:00.010-06:00

This past week we were able to complete 2 projects on our ever shrinking list - finishing the closet in the 2nd (kid) bedroom, and completing the fireplace (which was an adventure in itself). We also started working on our master bedroom, which is the final room in the new construction. Tonight we'll put on the 2nd coat of spackle in that room, so hopefully in the next week or two we'll be able to install the top floor and paint the room.
After our bedroom is completed, work will begin on the old part of the house. Thankfully we don't have a ton of work to do in that area, so we should finish rather quickly. We're still lacking electricity in half of the house, but we're getting closer to being able to get that fixed. :-)

The inside of the closet, before we installed the doors.

After the doors were installed (ignore the smudges)

Another view of the room

Now for the fireplace.....

After our first night of tiling

After all the tiling was completed

Keith and I built the mantle ourselves, and we were so proud. Unfortunately, after we put it up, this is what we saw. Ugh!! We had two options...1) rebuild the mantle, or 2) figure out a way to lengthen it.

We went with option #2, and came up with this...

Finally, we installed trim around the fireplace (the color of the wall), and it was finished. Yay!! I really like how it turned out, and I can't wait until winter.

Keith picked these flowers from our yard, and I really like how they look against the wall color. These colors will definitely be incorporated into the decor as soon as we get to that phase.

Needles...Ow!

2010-07-22T15:34:00.001-06:00

A couple weeks ago, I had made an appt. for me and Keith to get a yearly checkup. I usually have a checkup every year, but Keith hadn't had one in a looooong time. Since we're in the process of adopting, we are required to have a physical, in order to make sure that physically able to adopt. The visit itself was rather painless, and we passed with flying colors. However, our doctor found out that our tetanus shots were out of date...oops!! We were both given a shot on our way out the door, as well as a referral to the lab to draw blood for a cholesterol check.
The next morning we got to the lab bright and early, got our blood drawn, and within a few days received the results. Perfect....yay!!

Needles are never fun, but at least I can look forward not having to deal with them for at least another year.

New recipe #2 - Lemon Grilled Salmon

2010-07-22T15:33:00.001-06:00

Ever since we had the tilapia last week, I've been craving fish. Once a week me and Keith get together with 2 other friends, and we all cook dinner together. Yesterday it was my turn to bring the main dish, so I prepared this recipe, that once again, I got from Taste of Home (TOH). Wow!! It was absolutely delicious!! I have to admit, that as I was making the marinade, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but the flavors worked well together, and made the fish so tasty. Instead of marinading it for an hour like the recipe called for, I ended up marinading it for closer to 3.5hrs. In addition, we didn't place it directly on the grill, but on a wooden plank that had been thoroughly soaked.

This Salmon recipe is delicious, and something that I will be making again.

(photo courtesy of tasteofhome.com)

New recipe #1 - Grilled Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

2010-07-22T15:30:00.001-06:00

One of my goals is to make 75 new recipes. I actually like to cook, but I don't always have time to try out new recipes. I love, love, love Taste of Home recipes, because they are simple, tasty, and contain ingredients that I almost always have on hand.

Last week I made Grilled Tilapia w/ Pineapple Salsa. It was soooo good, and something that I will definitely make again. The only change I'm planning on making next time I prepare it, will be to add diced jalapeños to the salsa, giving it more of a spicy, yet sweet taste. In all, it's a recipe I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes fish.

(photo courtesy of tasteofhome.com)

Ugh...Exercise!

2010-07-21T15:36:00.002-06:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I absolutely HATE to exercise? To me, it's literally torture. I have tried everything to motivate myself to get moving, but that motivation never lasts more than 3-4weeks. I've enrolled in aerobic classes, yoga classes, and cardio classes, and as good as I feel after each class, I always find myself "too busy" to continue. I've tried to work out on my own, and even with a partner, but I never follow through. See what I mean? I absolutely loathe exercising. Unfortunately, the older I get, the slower my metabolism gets, and I'm starting to get a pudgy stomach.... Put my love of eating on top of my slowing metabolism, and you've got a recipe for failure.
I have now come to the conclusion that I need to start exercising - not only for my health, but also for my figure. When I found out about C25K, I was intrigued, and decided to check it out. It seems doable, and finishing this goal will help me achieve one of my other goals to participate in a 5k fun run/walk. In addition, I've found some really great podcasts to help me when I run. If you need some suggestions, just let me know, and I'll direct you to the links.

Bedroom, Bathroom, and Laundry Room

2010-07-21T13:26:00.012-06:00

As I said yesterday, we've been busy working on the 2nd (kid) bedroom. We were planning on painting it the same green color that we had painted the 1st (kid) bedroom, but remembered that we had this purple paint in our shed, which we never used. The fact that we painted the room purple is kind of risky, because we're not sure whether we're going to be placed with boys or girls. If it just so happens that we're placed with all boys, then we'll repaint, but for now, the room is staying purple.
In addition, the plumbing is all finished, so we now have a working 2nd bathroom and laundry room. Yay!! We can now begin work on the last room of the addition (the master bedroom). We still have a long list of things we need to do, before the renovation is complete (including renovations on the old part of the house), but we're definitely getting closer.
We still need to call the electricians back, to finish up their work on the house. After they're done, we can have the final homestudy (for the adoption). Unfortunately, we're kind of at a stand still with that, because we need to save up some more $$ before we can call them back. This whole renovation has been expensive, and as much money as we've saved doing it all ourselves, we've still gone through a ton of cash. Thankfully, though, we've already paid the electrician more than half of his fee, so as soon as we save up the other chunk of change, we can call him back. In the meantime, we still have quite a bit of work to keep us busy, so we'll focus on that until the time comes to call the electricians back.

The bedroom before carpet & trim

Another view of the room before

After

After: To the left of the window, you can see the breaker box that I need to cover up.
I already have an idea as to how I'm going to do it, so we'll see if it works. :-)

The closet: We're planning on installing some built-ins, before we put the doors on.
I should have pics within the next week or so.

The bathroom: Yay we have water!!

This is the medicine cabinet/mirror that we will be installing over the sink.

This is where it'll go.

Water!!

The laundry room: We still have somework to do, including building some shelves on the wall.

We're also working on building the mantle for the fireplace, and it's about half way done. We should have that done in the next week or so, so I'll post pictures of that too.

Update

2010-07-20T20:19:00.004-06:00

The 2nd (kid) bedroom is painted, and the trim installed. In addition, all the plumbing has been completed, so the 2nd bathroom is now functioning, as is the laundry room. Yay!! I'll post some pics tomorrow.

And so it Begins...

2010-07-19T15:37:00.002-06:00

I decided that I wanted to start the 101 in 1001 Days challenge. After much thought, these are my 101..uh, 110 goals I want to reach in 1001 days. I am going to do my best to document every goal I reach throughout the next 2.75 years. If you want to see my list, just click on the "101 in 1001 Days" tab at the top of my blog.

So what exactly is 101 in 1001? You can read the description below, or just go to www.dayzeroproject.com to find out more.

The Challenge:
Complete ~~101~~ 110 (I have a lot I want to accomplish!) preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. They key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Start Date: July 13, 2010
End Date: April 8, 2013

Pictures!!

2010-06-23T18:50:00.013-06:00

Here are the pics I promised! The living room and halls are painted Winter Surf by Behr. Now, I know it's not a color that most people would want for a majority of their house, but I absolutely love it! The laundry room, which you can see a part of when you scroll down, is banana split by Behr. The trim on the floor hasn't been nailed in yet, but we put it down just to give us an idea as to what it's gonna look like.

The hall directly out of the living room. Ignore the box, it's for our cable. You can see our bold colored bathroom (Bison by Behr) at the end of the hall.

The hall directly outside of the master bedroom, leading to the other two bedrooms and our brown bathroom.

A wall/tile view of our laundry room.

That string hanging down is from the pull down attic stairs.

Okay, so maybe I went a little overboard on the colors (just wait until you see the rest of the house!), but I love them, and since I'm the one living here, I wanted something that would make me happy.

Quick update

2010-06-08T12:04:00.005-06:00

The top floor has been laid, and the living room, and both halls have been painted (Winter Surf by Behr). The laundry room is also ready to be painted, so hopefully we'll get that done in the next day or two. Pics to come!

Living Room & Bathroom

2010-05-29T11:48:00.019-06:00

We were working on the living room last night, doing the last of the sanding, spackling & priming, and as I was taking pictures, I realized that I hadn't posted pics of the 2nd bathroom. So, here are some pics of the bathroom as well as the living room. (Note: the reason the pictures look so spotty & dusty (especially in the bathroom) is because I had just finished sweeping up all the spackle dust.)

The bathroom color is Bison by Behr.

Shower

The linen closet

Looking out into the hall

This is our living room.

This is what we still need to do

Another view

I'm hoping we can have the living room done in the next week or so. I'll post some more pictures as we progress.

Quick Update

2010-05-10T19:30:00.003-06:00

I'm still here...I promise!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted. Here's a quick update as to what we've been up to. We're still working on the house. We actually moved out of the living room and into one of the smaller (children's) bedrooms. Our central air and heat were installed, the 2nd bathroom has been painted and tiled, and is almost complete. In addition, the entire house has been sheetrocked and spackled. Right now we're just focusing on completing one room at a time.

In addition, after much prayer, we made the decision to hold off on the adoption for another 6 months or so. We just need a little more time to focus solely on the completion of the house, without worrying about how the non-completion of the house is slowing down the adoption process. It was a hard decision, but is definitely for the best. It'll actually help us to relax a little bit, without devoting every free second to completing the house.

I have pictures, but will post them another time. Take care!

We're Getting There

2010-03-29T20:00:00.008-06:00

Slowly but surely, we're moving closer and closer to finishing the house, and getting our final homestudy done. I'm not gonna lie, I've been so impatient over these past few weeks, as it seems like the whole project is taking too much time to complete. I honestly want to start the homestudy already, but I know that I need to wait just a little bit longer. We don't have a whole crew of people working on our house, just Keith, his dad, and me, and really, for so few people doing all the work, a lot is being done. I just need to remember that God's timing is always perfect, and after the house is completed, the children He chose for us will be placed in our home.

The back view of our house. We still don't have the trim, but it will be done in time.

A side view of our house. Soon enough we will have a deck again.

One of the children's bedrooms. Tomorrow the trim, carpet, and closet doors will be installed.

A different view of the bedroom. I absolutely love the color, but Keith is still getting used to it.

Keith installing sheet rock in the bathroom.

A partial view of the bathroom.

This is our little Franklin (Frankie). Two weeks ago, my poor baby was hit by a car. He's doing much better now, and thankfully didn't break any bones. He had quite a few stitches (thus the reason for the bandages), but is able to get along pretty well now. He still follows us around the house while we're working, because he doesn't like to be by himself. :-)

That's what's been going on here. I should have some more pictures posted by this weekend. Have a great day!

Progress? What Progress?

2010-02-27T13:05:00.008-07:00

It's been a slow month. We've been waiting on the electrician to come in and do his thing, and so far we've only seen him twice (for an hour each time). We can't do anything until he finishes up the wiring and duct work, and everything has been inspected. After he's done, we will be able to put up the insulation, sheet rock, and all that goes with it, and be that much closer to finishing up. I have to admit that I've been getting very irritated, because we had gone almost two weeks without hearing anything from him. Yesterday he finally called and said that he should (key word) be in next week, and should have everything done within the next two weeks. We'll see...

In the meantime, Keith and his dad have been diligently working on my book room. They've been building my bookshelves, and even painted the room. So far, they've installed one of the larger bookcases, and a smaller one. They still have one more large bookcase to build and install, and have to add the trim to all cases. I've posted a few pictures below. We used peanut brittle on the walls with the bookshelves, and pumpkin bread on the open walls.

Ignore the ratty curtains. They're keeping the heat in our house.
As you can tell, we're also pulling up the old tile and will be replacing it with something else.

The area where we will place a small bookcase.

One of my bookcases.

The small bookcase. The open area underneath it will house our water cooler.

We still have a ways to go, but it's getting there.
BTW, our new LR is on the other side of those curtains.

I also have to share with everyone our awesome find. Yesterday we were at Lowe's choosing tile, when we walked through the vinyl siding area. Lowe's had it on sale for 75% off!! Although we weren't planning on purchasing the siding for a while, this was an offer we couldn't pass up. We immediately went to one of the associates, and purchased the whole lot. That was definitely a blessing from God, as it saved us a significant amount of money.

Renovation, ER, & Memories

2010-02-07T19:50:00.007-07:00

Since my last post, we’ve been steadily working on a lot of the small details. We framed out our bedroom closet, and increased the size of our old bathroom, by tearing down some walls. The plumbers have almost finished, and the electrician is working on installing all of the duct work. As soon as the electrician finishes up, we have to have one more inspection, then we can install the insulation and drywall. After that, we’ll start focusing on putting together one room at a time, until they’re all done. The first room to be completed will be our bedroom, because we are both sick of sleeping in our living room, on a pull-out couch. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed! ☺

I’ve posted a few pictures of some of the small details we’ve been working on.

We had a minor accident this past Friday night, that gave us quite a scare. Keith was standing on a ladder, doing some nailing, but the it was a little unsteady. I went over to hold the ladder, and started looking around at everything that we still needed to finish. While I was off in my own world, looking around, Keith informed me that he had finished and was coming down. Only thing is, that I didn’t hear him. He started climbing down the ladder, with the paslode (nail gun) in his hand, when he accidentally bumped me on the head with the tip of the gun. It didn’t really hurt, and I assured Keith I was okay, but when I took my hand off my head, it was soaked in blood. Blood was spurting from my head, running onto the front of my shirt, and dripping to the floor. I ran to the bathroom to get a towel, and applied pressure to my head. Keith was in a panic, and insisted we go to the ER We hopped into his truck, and sped to the hospital. When we got there, a nurse checked my head, and declared that not only had the bleeding stopped, but that my “injury” consisted of a small scratch to the top of my head. That’s all! Apparently, head wounds bleed excessively, and that’s why I was covered in blood. After being assured by the doctor that I was okay, we left the ER, breathing a sigh of relief. That night, I learned a very important lesson. When you’re holding a ladder for someone, hold it from the side, or back…not the front.

And finally, yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my Dad’s death. For the whole week leading up to yesterday, I felt a great sadness because it was almost like I was reliving his death. I would think to myself, “Last year at this time we were…” or “Last year at this time, Dad was feeling and/or looking like…” Yet when Saturday came, all those feelings were gone, and I felt at peace. As I thought back to the days leading up to my Dad’s death, I remember being filled with different emotions of sadness, anger, hurt, etc., but the day that he died, I felt at peace. I think it had to do with the fact that even though he was gone, I knew that he was in a better place. When I woke up Saturday morning, I felt that same peace as I did the day he died, and all those feelings that I had earlier in the week seemed to disappear. I am so thankful for the wonderful memories I have of my Dad, and even though I won’t see him again on this earth, I know that we’ll meet again someday in heaven.

Talk About Progress...

2010-01-16T16:55:00.019-07:00

Keith's brothers arrived from N.Y. 9 days ago. They have been working their butts off, which is very evident by the progress that has been made. When they got here, we had most of the office tore up, the subfloor put down, and the framing done. Now our house is totally weatherproof, the floor in the office (which will now be part of our bedroom) has been raised, the roof has been built and shingled, all of the windows have been replaced, the fireplace has been put in, and the remainder of the stucco on the outside of our house has been removed. Wow!! The fact that the four of them (Keith, his 2 brothers, and Keith's dad) completed so much in such a little amount of time amazes me. They are awesome!! Check out the pics below to view our progress.

FYI: You'll notice that some of the pics are a little blurry where the writing on the house wrap is. The internet isn't at all private, so I blurred out the writing since it has the city and state I live in.

This is a picture of our former office. This wall came down in order to expand our bedroom.

The wall is down, increasing the size of our bedroom significantly.

The floor in the office had to be raised about 12" in order to match up w/ the rest of the house.

This is the new part of our bedroom. Our new bedroom put together is shaped like an L, so that's why I'm having a hard time getting the entire room into the picture. The far corner where the window is will be a sitting area.

The front after all the windows were replaced and the house wrap was put on.

The new addition in the back

The roof is starting to go up. Can you see those wires going through the house? Those are the telephone and electric wires. They built the roof over them, and had the electrician come and raise up the wires after the roof was completely done.

The electrician came and moved the electric wire up, so we were able to put in the windows and house wrap. Now our entire house is covered in that stuff.

Installing the fireplace

Franklin posing in front of the fireplace.

Installing the door, making our house completely weatherproof.

Inside - now our main focus will be working on one room at a time.

2009 in Review

2009-12-31T19:35:00.011-07:00

In 4.5 hours, 2009 will be gone, and 2010 will begin. As I think back to the previous year, I have a lot of mixed emotions. It was a year of ups and downs, losses and gains. I've definitely grown this year both mentally and spiritually. Below is my year in review...

February 6, 2009:
My Dad passed away after a short battle with cancer. February was a month of both sorrow and joy. Sorrow in the fact that my father passed away, yet joy knowing that he is with our Heavenly Father.

In March we celebrated our 2nd anniversary. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband!! We have been through so much during the past couple of years, and he has been my rock. I am excited for our future, and whatever God has in store for us.

In May we started the adoption process. We have been slowly but surely making our way through the paperwork, homestudies, etc., and are excited about expanding our family in the future. Could 2010 be our year?

In May I was also nominated as the STAR teacher at my school. That was exciting, because it was my first year teaching in my current district. Work can be stressful, but it's nice to know that I have helped to make a difference in people's lives.

In July, me, my mom, my sister, and Keith all took a cruise to Alaska. Even though we weren't able to see my brother, who was living there at the time, we still had an amazing and unforgettable trip.

In August, I found out that I had met all the requirements to become a level II teacher in N.M. The process itself was stressful and tedious, but the result was worthwhile!!

Finally, on October 31st, we started the renovations on our house. It's just another step in completing the adoption process, and an exciting time in our lives. Stay tuned to my blog to continue to see the progress on our both our house and the adoption.

Walls & Office Demolition

2009-12-28T11:18:00.011-07:00

We now have walls, and every room is framed out. It's so exciting to see all of our work becoming more house like. I am not a visual person, so I had a hard time picturing what everything would look like after the renovation was complete. Now that we have the walls up, I can actually visualize what the rooms will look like, and am ready to start decorating. Haha!! We are completely gutting our office and master bedroom now, in order to raise the office ceiling and increase the size of our bedroom. Since we have a huge gaping hole in our house, which exposes us to outside elements, I have to say that we've pretty much been freezing our rears off. We've also resorted to living, sleeping, & hanging out in our living room. That room actually stays pretty warm because we have it blocked off from the rest of the house. Maybe renovating during the winter months wasn't such a great idea since what are usually mild winters didn't turn out to be this year. Oh, well.... In 10 more days Keith's brothers will be here helping out, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much the guy's will get done. I'll be back at work by then, and Keith isn't one to take pictures, so I may have less and less pictures to show in the future. As for now, though, I'm here and I've been taking plenty. I've uploaded a few for your viewing pleasure.

The walls are starting to go up.

All the walls have been put up, and the ceiling beams are going into place.

Franklin sits like this almost the entire day just watching what we're doing.

Our house

Tearing down the office (Keith is standing in what used to be my bedroom closet).

Our office now...

Night 1 of office demolition (9pm). Keith was acting extra cheery because he didn't want his picture taken.

Night 2 of office demolition. I just wanted to take a pic of us w/ our masks. :-)

Foundation and floors

2009-12-15T18:27:00.010-07:00

It's been 12 days since my last post, and we have gotten so much done!! We actually bought the plane tickets for Keith's brothers to fly down from N.Y. to help w/ the framing, and they'll be here in early January. I'm getting so excited, because it finally feels like things are progressing at a relatively decent speed. I'm so proud of Keith and his Dad for taking on such a huge project. Every spare moment they have is spent working on the house. I know we still have a long way to go, but I'm getting more and more excited about completing the house and finishing up our last homestudy for the adoption. Below are some pics that I posted detailing our progress.

Piles, and piles of dirt!

Keith

AFTER: We worked for hours evening out the ground in between the foundation.

Me helping out w/ the forms (and Frankie the dog checking things out).

Subfloor

The floor is complete, and the walls are ready to go up.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have some more pics soon.

Foundation & a winter wonderland

2009-12-03T18:44:00.005-07:00

The foundation has been poured!! I was kind of scared it wasn't going to happen because it's been really cold out lately, and I didn't know if the cement guy's would be able to mix it in the freezing weather. Thankfully they were able, and it is now done. My brother stayed to help, then drove back to Abq. as soon as the project was complete.

We're planning on finishing up some of the final projects on Saturday before we put down the floor, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Here in the dry dessert of N.M., it's been snowing non-stop since last night. According to the weather forecast, it's supposed to continue until tomorrow afternoon. Hmm....

I guess we'll see what happens. I have to admit, though, it's kind of nice having a winter wonderland outside!

Chugging Along...

2009-11-28T20:44:00.009-07:00

Keith and his Dad have been very busy lately with the house renovations. Unfortunately, Keith has been having to work a lot, and has been spending many evenings (after work) outside with the spotlights blazing. So far, we have passed all of our inspections, got the plumbing done, and will be pouring the cement for the foundation on Tuesday. In addition, we've still been ripping up portions of our deck, and removing stucco from the outside of the house. Between work and the renovation we are staying busy, but are moving at a pretty decent rate. Pretty soon Keith's brothers will be flying in from N.Y. to help with the framing and roof. Yay!!

Below are some pictures for your enjoyment. :-)

Busy Day

2009-10-31T20:05:00.018-06:00

Today was a busy day. Keith and his Dad worked hard at getting the remainder of the deck removed. They spent a couple hours moving the shed from one side of the yard to the other. I posted a couple of pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

While the guys were outside working, I was inside packing up the house. Since almost the entire house is going to be renovated, we’re putting almost everything into storage. I boxed up everything on the walls and shelves, and, also packed up some of my summer clothes. I’ll probably do a little bit of packing every night, so by next weekend, the house will be pretty bare.

Check out the pics below!! :-)

The back deck and pool deck before...

The back deck and pergola before...

After we pulled up all the decking, but before we moved the shed.

Moving the shed

Still moving the shed
The shed in its new spot.

That's all for now, but I'll continue to update as we progress!

I'm Baaaack!!

2009-10-26T21:05:00.003-06:00

It’s been a while…okay, a long while, but everything was at a stand still, and I really didn’t have much to post about. Things are different now, and I’m officially back up and running!

I’ll start off with a little background information just to bring you all up to date. This past April, Keith and I applied for a loan so that we could renovate the house in preparation for the upcoming adoption. We tried and tried to get the loan approved, but due to the fact that I had no credit (not bad credit, just no credit), we were denied. I was told that in order to raise my credit score I would need to actually start using my credit cards. So that’s what I did. For the past six months I’ve been using my credit card(s) for almost every purchase I have made (and paying them off soon afterwards). Two weeks ago, we were informed that my credit score had gone up, and we were approved for the loan. As a matter of fact, my credit score had gone up so much that we were able to get the loan with a very low interest rate. Yay!! Last week Keith and I were able to sign the papers, and we walked out of the building ready to start our renovation journey.

We started out by tearing up the pool deck, the pergola, and the back deck completely. Keith’s Dad is awesome, and he’s been helping us out a lot by coming over and working when Keith and I are at our jobs. In addition, Keith’s brothers (who are both in construction) are going to be flying down here from New York to help us with some of the renovation. I’m excited, and I’m glad we’re finally able to start with this whole project.

As far as the adoption goes, we have one home study left before we are approved for placement. Our case manager informed us that the average placement time after this upcoming home study is about 3 months. Knowing that, we made the decision to hold off on this home study until we were closer to finishing the renovation. We’re hoping to have the home study in February or March, and have a placement (or two, or three) sometime during the summer. I’m definitely not planning on everything working out according to our schedule, because I’ve learned that God’s timing isn’t always our timing, so we’ll see how things go.

It’s getting kind of late here, so I’ll try to take some pictures of our progress and post them up later in the week.

Remembering the End - Part II

2009-08-07T22:02:00.006-06:00

After a couple days, the officially diagnosis came…cancer. The previous year (March ’08) he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and after having surgery to completely remove one of his lungs, we were told there were no more signs of cancer. We knew there was a possibility that the cancer would return, and thankfully we had almost a full year before he was re-diagnosed. Unfortunately, the cancer came back with a vengeance, and not only was it in his remaining lung, but it had pretty much spread throughout his entire body. He attempted radiation, but the procedure was too much for him, and after three attempts, he seemed to be getting worse mentally. After many prayers and discussions as a family, we concluded that he would no longer attempt any more radiation treatments. Initially my parent’s had discussed the possibility of radiation and chemo treatments if the cancer recurred, and Dad had decided that he didn’t want to undergo such treatments. Yet when radiation was offered as an option for improved pain control and quality of life, he decided to attempt to undergo the treatments, but they only seemed to cause him anxiety and suffering. It was then we decided to focus on keeping my Dad as comfortable as possible to enjoy the remainder of his life with us, without any additional burdens.
Eight days later, my Dad passed away. Even though it had only been three weeks since everything started happening, my body, mind, and soul felt that it had been closer to three years. The morning that he passed away, I remember feeling guilty because I was, in a way, relieved. I was upset my Dad was gone, but I was happy he was no longer suffering. I remember walking out of the hospital room for the last time, and looking over at my Dad’s body, and realizing that this would be the last time I would ever see him again on this earth. A week later when we picked up his ashes, I couldn’t stop staring at the box. I’m not gonna lie, by this time, his death had begun to sink in, and I was so mad at him for smoking those stupid cigarettes. I was mad at him for leaving us behind. I was mad at him for his inability to walk my sister down the aisle, and for not being able to meet his future grandkids, but most of all, for leaving my Mom here all by herself. I was a mess, and full of emotions, and I didn’t know what to do, or how to handle them.
Then one day I was driving home from work, and I had the radio down low when I heard these lyrics come on over the speakers, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do no carry everything to God in prayer. “ It was then that everything hit me. The entire time since my Dad had passed away, I hadn’t truly called upon God to guide me. I had prayed to Him every single day during the time that my Dad was sick, asking God to help my Dad through either healing or death, but I hadn’t taken the time to pray for my own personal strength. So that’s what I did. I was a mumbling, bumbling mess, but I prayed, and afterwards I felt so much better.

Which leads me back to where I started…So there I was, last Wed., lying in bed, crying, and reliving the whole darn thing. I woke-up the next morning, grouchy and depressed, so I did something that took a lot of strength. I started thanking God for all of the positive things that took place during that time of trial. I thanked Him for giving us the ability to say goodbye. I thanked Him for insurance, and, doctors, and medicine. I thanked him for family, friends, and so on. By the time I was done, I felt so much better, and even though I miss my Dad, I’m glad for the time that we were given.

The last family picture we took before my Dad passed away (12/08).

Remembering the End - Part I

2009-08-07T20:41:00.002-06:00

Wednesday night as I was lying in bed, it hit me that the next day (Aug. 6th) would be exactly six months since my Dad passed away. I don’t know why the thought of six months having gone by affected me so much, but I literally started bawling. Six months…half a year. Those six months seemed to fly, yet crawl at the same time. I don’t know how to explain it, but even though life seemed to go on, there was always something missing.
The first few months were the hardest. There were times when I would catch myself thinking, “Oh, I’ve got to call Dad and tell him...” before I realized that I couldn’t. Even going home was hard, because the dynamics of the house were different without my Dad. When we sat down for dinner, his chair was empty. When you walked into our house, the first person you would always see was my Dad sitting at his computer. But now, that corner seemed empty and abandoned. Yet the worst part by far, was the fact that every time I thought about my Dad, I could only picture him the way he was the last few weeks of his life. I would close my eyes, and instead of seeing his crooked smile as he told one of his corny jokes, all I could picture was his pale, thin body lying in that stupid hospital bed.
For months after my Dad died, I would relive those last few weeks with him as the hospital. It was like I was in a trance or something. One moment I’d be talking to Keith, or reading a book, or even working, when all of a sudden something would trigger a memory, and my mind would wander back to his last few weeks.
Thankfully, as the months wore on, the flashbacks started coming less and less, and it finally got to the point where I could finally picture my Dad the way he was before the cancer had consumed his body. But on Wednesday night as I lay in bed thinking about my Dad, the memories seemed to flood upon me again. I went to bed that night dreaming…reliving, everything that had happened from the day he was first admitted to the hospital until the day he died (Jan. 17 – Feb. 6).
No one truly knows all of the pain that my family went through during that time, because unless one was able to see everything that transpired, there is no way anyone could completely understand. On Jan. 17th, my sister, Keith and I had made a trip up to Abq. to visit my brother and parents, and even though Dad was in pain with a still undiagnosed illness, everything seemed to be okay. We had dinner around 6:00pm that evening, and even though my Dad wasn’t feeling too well, he sat with us at the table, and ate his hamburger. He didn’t talk much…just listened, and when we were getting ready to go to Keith’s sister’s house, he gave us both a kiss, and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I’m still not quite sure exactly what happened (something to do with high calcium levels), but the next morning, we were racing to the hospital, as my Dad lay in the E.R. I remember walking into the room, and my Dad just kept repeating, “It’s okay, Kate…I’m okay. Something’s wrong, but we’re gonna figure it out.” Two hours later, he didn’t even recognize me.
For almost a week he lay in the hospital bed, screaming at the top of his lungs for help. He didn’t know where he was, or who any of us were. He had our names in his head, so he would yell as loud as he could, “Kate, help me! They’re trying to kill me.” Because of his confusion, he didn’t know who Kate was, but he knew it was the name of someone he could trust, and he would yell it (or whoever’s name popped into his head) over and over again. Finally, after four days, his memory started to come back, and after six days he was completely back to normally…at least mentally.

I'm back...with adoption news!!

2009-07-31T13:31:00.002-06:00

It’s been a while, because absolutely nothing had been going on with the adoption. A little over a month ago I got an e-mail from the agency saying that our fingerprints came back, and we should be contacted shortly in order to schedule the second homestudy. We waited…and waited…and waited, and nothing happened. After waiting three weeks, I e-mailed the agency hoping to find out what was going on. Two weeks later (ugh!) they replied, apologizing for the delay, and said that they will contact us within the next couple of days. Thankfully, they kept their word, and I received a phone call today. We scheduled the homestudy for next Thursday, so I’m super excited about that.

As far as the remodeling goes, we’re both super frustrated with how slow the process is going. Due to the fact that I have a total of 2 credit cards in my name, and I’ve only used them a couple of times, I have little to no credit history. When someone has little to no credit history, the bank has a hard time approving loans. I totally understand that, but Keith has really good credit, we both have good paying jobs, and little debt. If the company we’re working with right now doesn’t get us the loan, I’m gonna have to spend the next six months or so building up my credit. I’m praying so hard that we don’t have to wait that long, so if you all could keep us in your prayers too, I’d appreciate it.

Other than that, I don’t have much else to share. I am definitely going to do my best to update my blog more often, even if I talk about life in general. ☺

Nothing yet...

2009-06-15T16:10:00.001-06:00

So I had a meeting with our lender today. We’ve been dealing with this loan stuff for about a month and a half now, and we’re hoping to get it approved soon so we can start building. Supposedly (and maybe it’s true) lots of people have filed for loans due to the slumping economy, and the lenders are swamped with paperwork. I was informed, though, that we should be receiving a call within the next few days to sign the paperwork…I’m crossing my fingers and saying lots of prayers…

As a side note, we still haven’t heard anything from the adoption agency since their last visit. I’m hoping they call soon because it feels like we’re at a standstill right now.

Adoption Photo Book

2009-06-09T11:34:00.002-06:00

Our caseworker told us that we should have one of these even though we're adopting through the state. Her reasoning was that it could be forwarded to various caseworkers to look through who may have children on their caseload that could be a good fit for us.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t have a creative bone in my body. When I was in elementary school, I always got a “Needs Improvement.” in that category.….seriously!
Since I don’t want our book to look like it was made by a 5-year old, I have decided that I will be uploading all of my photos to shutterfly, where I will just copy and paste my photos onto their pre-designed layouts. Yay!!

Unfortunately, we were encouraged to use candid photos, in order for our prospective audiences to be able to get a glimpse of us in true life form. I say unfortunately because I really don’t like how I look in about 80% of our candid photos. The photos that I do like of myself are vacation photos, but I was told to limit those because we don’t want people to think that all we do is travel, and therefore don’t have time in our lives for children.

What to do? Well, I solved that problem by putting new batteries in the camera, combing my hair, setting the self-timer, and taking random pictures of us. I even went so far as to change my clothes every few photos so that viewers would think the photos were taken on different days. I couldn’t convince Keith to go as far as changing outfits, but he already has some good candid photos out there. The book isn’t even close to being done yet, and in all honesty, it will probably take the whole summer due to time constraints, but at least I have good pictures!

1st Home Study Complete: Decisions, Decisions...

2009-06-03T15:22:00.001-06:00

We had our first home study yesterday. I have to admit that it went more smoothly than I had originally thought it would. First off, I may have cleaned a little too much since they didn’t actually check out the house. ☺ All they did was take our fingerprints, interview us, and answer any questions that we had. Our next meeting is set to be scheduled at the end of June.

We have a lot to think about, though. We let our caseworker know that we were interested in adopting a sibling group between the ages of -6. It was then that the bomb was dropped. We were told that in our state, all foster children under the age of 5 are placed in concurrent planning foster homes.

Definition: Concurrent planning is the process of working towards reunification of a child with their biological family, while at the same time establishing an alternative back-up plan. If family reunification is unsuccessful, the planning for the child would be adoption.

In other words, we would have children placed in our home, and raise them for up to 14 months (or more) until the government decides whether or not to release them for adoption, or give them back to their biological family. According to our social worker, concurrent planning is the ONLY option that we have for a possible adoption of young children. She also told us that the chances of actually being able to adopt the children who are placed into our home is 30%. That means there’s a 70% chance that the children will be given back to their biological parents or extended family.

In all honesty, the reason that we didn’t choose to do foster care in the first place is because we weren’t totally comfortable with the possibility of having to give the child(ren) back. Plus, if we choose to do this concurrent planning, we’d most likely be placed with children in our county, or the next one over. My problem with that is, we live in such a small town that the chances of us seeing them again are high. I honestly don’t know if I would be able to handle that – especially if their home situation isn’t much different than what it was when they were originally taken.

Keith thinks that the agency is just trying to get us to foster because our state is in desperate need of foster parents. When we were taking the adoption classes, we were told (by a trusted source, not the incompetent teacher) that due to the high demand for foster parents, we would be pressured to get involved in foster care. We were told that if we truly wanted to do adoption only that we would need to stick to our guns and not give in to the pressure. Knowing that, I tend to agree with Keith, but there’s a little part of me that wonders if what she told us is really true.

So what it all boils down too, is that we have two options. 1) We can choose to stick with adoption (with the same age group), and risk not being matched (or wait years for a match) or 2) Become involved in concurrent planning where we will become matched (relatively quickly) with children in that age range, all while taking the risk that they may be taken away from us.

We’re still discussing and praying about what we should do, but I think we’re pretty close to making our decision. What we’ve come up with is this: We’ll start by sticking with straight adoption. After six months or so if we haven’t gotten any closer to being placed with a child (or children), then we will move to concurrent planning. I’m scared, but I think we’re making the right decision.

We’ll see….

More to come later!

The Superstar Award

2009-06-01T22:16:00.003-06:00

I got an award!! T from Life as a G nominated me. So here's the deal, to accept this award...

1. Add the award to your blog
2. Link the person from whom you received this award
3. Pass it on to 3 of your fav blogs
4. Leave a message on their blog telling them they're a Superstar!

My three Superstars are:
1. My Kayak Sunset
2. A Day in the Life
3. You Paid More Than Me!

Counting down to our 1st Home Study

2009-06-01T19:26:00.001-06:00

I am soooooo ready for tomorrow!! At 10:30am we have our first home study scheduled. I am nervous because I don’t know what to expect, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel excited. I have to admit that I probably went a little overboard on the house cleaning, but you can never be too prepared, right? Keith thought I was crazy because I actually cleaned out the linen closet, pantry, refrigerator, and bathroom cabinets. I’m not sure that she’ll check those, and if she doesn’t, at least I’ll have everything organized. ☺

In addition to the home study, we are also getting our fingerprints done tomorrow. The remainder of the week is going to consist of our state required physical’s ensuring that we’re healthy enough to raise children. Even Franklin (our dog) has an appt. to see the vet. We’re getting closer to completing our to-do list, and pretty soon the waiting part will begin. The waiting will probably be the hardest part, but it will also give us enough time to set-up bedrooms and so on.

We haven’t started the renovations on the house yet, but we’re hoping to get started within the next couple of weeks. I’m interested in knowing what they’re going to tell us about adopting and renovating simultaneously. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were told that we couldn’t get a placement until the remodeling has been completed. Keith and I have already discussed the fact that a lot of waiting may be in our future due to the renovation. In reality, it’s probably the best thing. I don’t know how comfortable I would be raising children in the middle of a huge housing project.

That’s all I have for now. I will definitely update as soon as possible after tomorrow’s appointment.

On our way!!

2009-05-23T20:57:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I have a lot of catching-up to do. First off, we completed the foster/adoption classes last Tuesday (5/19/09). I have to admit that as the end of the classes drew near, we were getting pretty discouraged. Our teacher wasn't very knowledgeable about adoption (which we are planning on doing), but she knew quite a bit about foster care (which we aren't doing). Plus, she wasn't very tactful, and actually asked us (and one other couple) if we were planning on having children of our own before we started the adoption process. Really?! I wanted to punch her, but decided to just ignore the question.

Anyway, on our second to last class (5/14.09) we actually had one of the director's sit in the class. His presence probably had something to do with me complaining about her lack of professionalism, but that's another story. :-/ While he was sitting in, we found out that he is VERY knowledgeable about adoption, so we (the attendees) pretty much spent the entire class asking him questions. One of the participants actually thanked him for attending, saying that we had learned so much more in that one session than we had in all the others combined. After that session, we (me and Keith) left feeling very encouraged, and decided to move ahead with the process. Plus, we found out that the guy who sat in on the meeting and answered all of our questions is going to be our case worker. Yay!!

So far we have the classes completed, the application submitted, and now we're waiting on the home study. We were told that should be scheduled within the next couple of weeks. Slowly but surely we're making our way through the process. :-)

Not What I Expected...

2009-05-06T10:55:00.003-06:00

So we had our first PRIDE class yesterday. I spent the whole day waiting for 6:00pm to come around, and I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself. I had visions of what the class was going to be like. Visions that went something like this:

I’d walk into the class, greeted by other individuals who were in the same situation as us. People who were ready to expand their family through either foster care and/or adoption. The teacher would be there, ready to answer any questions we may have all the while leading us in the right direction.

Simple enough, right? My visions were WAY off. First off, we walked into class and were the only people. The teacher starts off by telling us that if no one else shows up then we’re going to have to wait until September because there has to be a minimum of 4 people in each training.

6:00pm came and went, and still we were the only couple. I didn’t show it, but I was started to get a little panicky. I didn’t want to wait until September, so I prayed for people to show up.

6:30pm: We were just about ready to hand-in our books and cancel the class when four people (one couple and two individuals) walk in. Yay!! We started the class, and the first thing our teacher asked us is, “Does anyone in here know what the acronym PRIDE stands for?” Nobody raised their hand as she reminded us that this was something we’d have to have memorized as they would ask us at our home study. She continues, “It stands for ‘Parents…uh, Parents… hold-on, I have to look at my book.”

WHAT?!

As the class continued, she admitted that due to the fact that she only fostered, she didn’t know much about foster-to-adopt, and that we would have to get our questions answered from someone else. In addition, each session is supposed to last three hours. In those three hours we are supposed to go in depth over the various topics covered in each session. We didn’t go in-depth into anything. We covered 3…count ‘em, 3 sessions in 2.5 hours. I could’ve stayed home, read the book, and learned more than what I did in that class. I wanted to be able to delve into the lessons, pick them apart piece by piece, and learn everything that I could about fostering/adopting.

I am so disappointed and frustrated because I know that the classes aren’t supposed to be this way.

On the plus side, we will be getting done a week and a half early, and we met an awesome couple who are also planning on going through the foster-to-adopt program.

Maybe Thursday will be better…

And so it begins...

2009-05-02T17:45:00.005-06:00

2 days - that's how long we have until a new chapter of our life will begin to unfold. In two days we will be starting the foster-to-adopt classes at the local Children Youth & Families Department (CYFD). I'm a puddle of emotions right now. I feel excited, scared, nervous, happy, and unsure all at once. I don't know what the Lord has in store for us, but I'm ready to find out!

On a side note, we are getting closer to starting the renovations on our house. Not only are we going to be starting the adoption process, but we will be living in complete and total chaos for the next six months or so as we perform a major overhaul on the house. We're hoping to begin within the next couple of weeks, and would like to have it completed by October at the latest.

This blog is going to be my way of keeping everyone updated on our adoption journey, the house renovations, and just life in general.