Thursday, February 25, 2010

Lucky

I have some of the sweetest friends. Chelsea and I have been friends for a long time. She lived just down the street from me, we ran around together in high school, we washed our clothes on rocks in Bear Lake at girl's camp, but we lost touch after high school. Recently we 'found' each other again online...finding her was just what I needed. She always was such a bright, positive person and I looked up to her and her sunny personality.

She just did the sweetest post on her blog. I got all teary reading it and I wanted to post the link on here and brag that she's my friend.

Love you Chels. xoxo



Thanks also to all of you who have posted our button on your blogs.
My super-crafty-just-got-her-degree SIL Sheila
My picks-up-drunk-Indians friend Kristen
My only-met-twice-also-a-navy-wife friend Kate

If you posted our button too and I haven't listed you. I'm sorry I missed it. Thanks you!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Button, button, who wants a button??

You may have noticed the cute little button on my sidebar...I had a friend make it and I think it is beeeeautiful.




Don't you just LOOOURRVE it? Want one? Because you want to help us find our baby, right?? RIGHT? To get one, you just copy and paste the html code into a widget on your side menu on your blog. (If you are totally lost by that last little bit, call me, I'd be glad to walk you through it...it is quick!) The code can be found way down my right side menu. Go get it, I'll wait...



...



...



...




You might not think it will do much, but you NEVER know who is reading your blog. 70% of placements within our adoption agency are something called designated adoptions. It means the adoptive family and the birth family found each other on their own, not through the agency. ~~70%!~~ That means that chances are someone who reads this blog will be the one who helps us find our baby (or babies!). I would generally be inclined reward that kind of assistance with yummy baked goods...you wanna turn down some of my baked goods?? Didn't think so. Now grab a button.

(Oh, and if you want to find some cute free backgrounds, etc...go here. She is the one who made my button)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I should be better at this by now...

I've had a couple people ask where the adoption stuff is at so I thought I'd post it here, just to let ya know. :) (Cause I know you just can't start the day without an update from the Holinator)

Our paperwork didn't get signed, {BOO} so now we wait. Again. I'm not sure when a second person will be trained and available to sign off on our state paperwork. You'd think that after waiting for years just to get to this point I'd be able to tack on another month or two and be fine...well, you'd be wrong. Having something we want SO much JUST out of our reach, and knowing that we can't move any closer to it, that we have to wait for someone else to hand it to us...that is wicked aggravating.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Go Navy!

A year ago today Nathan went to TPU. (Although it should have been a year ago yesterday...remember all that crazy stuff?? sheesh!) Seeing him finally be able to put his arm to the square was great.

Thinking over the last year makes me a little sad but a lot excited. We moved away from family, which was hard...and I still miss them almost everyday. I'm thankful for phones and webcams and gibberish calls from my little nephews saying "Miss you Aunt HaHa..love you". All (ok, most...) the heartache with missing family is washed away with the excitement about being able to grow our own little family. I am grateful that Nathan is able to get paid to do what he loves...and that we get to live in a wicked cool city to boot.

Happy One Year Return-to-the-Navy Anniversary!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Man-date=Bangs

Nathan had a man-date today with his buddy Bruce up at the base to change the oil and spark plugs in the car. I figured I would use the time alone to take care of all the girly things that I had been putting off. I needed to dye and trim my hair and wax my eyebrows and give myself a manicure. Well, I started trimming my old side-swept bangs and I just couldn't stop. So now I have full blown bangs.


I haven't had real bangs since 8th grade...at least this time I will not need a kilo of Aquanet to keep them in shape.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Another Step

We fought the winter storm this morning and set out to our agency for our individual interviews for our adoption. (We are about 45 minutes from our agency's office on a good traffic, fair weather day...traffic was ok today but we're getting dumped on in the weather department). As we've done before we had to get photographic evidence for posterity.

(As a completely unrelated aside - don't you think our caseworker bears a striking resemblance to Mr Bean??!?)

We don't have much left to do. (Insert large smiles) In the state of Illinois we have to be ok'd through DCFS so our caseworker has a packet of info he needs to send off to them...the problem is that the packet needs two signatures. Right now our agency only has one licensed social worker. It will be at least a month before someone else will be certified and able to sign. This Thursday our caseworker is meeting with someone that might be able to sign the paperwork...*MIGHT*. If you have a spare sec, say a prayer that she is able to sign it for us so we don't have to wait ANOTHER month, that would be great.

After our paperwork is sent in and they ok us, our caseworker will come to our apartment and do our couple interview and our home evaluation and then we'll be done. I'm getting SO excited, the end of this long approval process is so close, I can feel it!

I've done it again...

I have been wanting an ottoman, but there are lots of things higher up on the priority list. Enter this table:

It was being used as an elevated home for the kitty food, but Besta had figured out how to get his big goober head high enough to slurp the cat food out of the dish with his long tongue, so I needed to move the food to someplace higher. That left the table unused and so I decided to get my crafty on and re-purpose it.

First thing I did was take off the legs.


Then I painted them. Now, if you're going to be smart, sand the legs before you paint them. I didn't and the paint ended up peeling off so I had to redo it. (Grrr....I hate it when I try to take shortcuts. When will I ever learn!?!)


I used this spray adhesive to attach to squares of foam to each other - both bought with a coupon - gotta love Joann's 40% off coupons! (I printed off multiple copies of the coupon and made Nathan stand in line behind me and use one...hehe) I also picked up the fabric at Joann's in their red tag section...I am a bargain shopper!

Then I sprayed the foam and attached the fabric - which I would NOT do again..it causes the fabric to gather and get bumpy on top.


Then I sprayed some more adhesive on the bottom of the foam and attached the table top. I pulled the fabric tight and had Nathan staple the fabric to the bottom of the table top.


After it was all secure, I trimmed the fabric, reattached the legs and tried it out. Problem...it was about three inches too tall. It was uncomfortable to use as an ottoman. So Nathan used a handy cheap-o IKEA saw and sawed three inches off the legs. (Note to fellow crafters...it is probably not a good idea to try and saw something after midnight if you want it sawed straight...fair warning)

I touched up the paint and re-attached the legs and viola:

Not completely sold on the legs yet...they might get painted a different color...but I LOVE the fabric.

Friday, February 05, 2010

...cause I wanna be like Amanda

(My friend Amanda is so cool...I stole this request from her)

I need you to do something for me. I know, I know...I'm always asking, nagging, begging, etc. Get over it, you wanna help me, I know you do.

I love blogging, and I love being able to blog stalk people without necessarily letting people know I'm there...and if you're like that too, you probably HATE when people do the "We're going private" schpiel. Then you must weigh the pros and cons of coming out of obscurity...and I am always secretly worried they will reject my request to read their special, private blog....alas I digress.

So what is this special thing you're going to do for me? If you have a link on your blog that links to my blog can you make sure our last name isn't included?

That would be just swell. Thanks.

I know if someone tried hard enough they could find where we live, I just don't want any joe schmoe freak head to have our first and last names right at the tip of his greasy, unwashed fingers.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

The Car Analogy

I stalk this blog about adoption...well it isn't ALL about adoption, and technically I'm not stalking because I have commented before. Mrs R is the author, it is about her life which happens to have two incredible (and heartbreaking) adoption stories in it. She is an awesome adoption advocate and I have learned a lot from reading her heartfelt posts.

I read awhile back where she told the Adoption Car Analogy. I remember it being one of the first times I got teary over the sacrifice a birth mother makes when she places her child. Here is the link and here's the text for those of you who have an aversion to clicking on links: (she is mrs. r and tyson is the first baby they adopted)


~
the car analogy.
a young man and a young woman are out on the lawn outside of a very busy street.
the child they are both responsible for runs out into the street. at the same time the couple becomes aware that there is a car coming at a very high rate of speed. there is no chance that the child will not get hit. the car is coming much too fast.
the couple as four options.


1. they can do nothing and watch the child get hit and killed by the car. the psychological memory of this inaction burned in their minds forever.
this is abortion.


2. they can both jump out and sandwich the child between them to brace the child for the collision. if they can stay together, there is minimal injury to the child. however, there is a 80-90% chance that they will split upon impact.
this is couples that try to stay together and/or get married because of a crisis pregnancy.


3. one of the parents can jump out in front of the car by themselves. injuries to the child are more substantial.
this is single parenting.


4. one or both of the parents and run out into the street and push the child out of the way of the speeding car and into the outstretched arms of a couple on the other side of the street.
this is adoption.


however, even with adoption, the birth parents always get hit by the car.
i imagined myself in this analogy, watching this wreck happen. mr. r and i were not the cause of the wreck. we are begging to be part of the solution with open arms and hearts. once tyson was pushed out of the way of the speeding car, we watched his sweet birth mother get hit by the car and his birth father turn his back and walk away.
but, what do we do?
do we take the child and run away?
do we rush to her side to try and help her?
do we call 911?
how do we help this birth mother heal?
collisions like this are happening everyday, in every stake and in every neighborhood.


for every 16 adoptions there are 1,000 unwed births.
for every 17 adoptions there are 1,000 abortions.
~


If you want to learn more about adoption, her blog is a great place to go. She does this segment every so often called Ask a Birthmom. She has a panel of birthmoms and she has them answer reader submitted questions. It is great to hear thoughts on sticky adoption situations straight from women who are at the heart of adoption. If you ever find yourself with a few extra minutes, or if you just want to get a peek into the crazy world of adoption...go here for some good reading.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Question for you military folk...

So, this is mostly for my military friends...but also any of you who have moved a bunch.

Since the place we call home will change every three or so years I want to find a way to recognize/remember our past homes. Here's one I've heard of...its not exactly what I'm looking for, but you'll get the idea: There is a little wooden house. A chain of little wooden signs hung from the house that had current and previous addresses painted on them.

I've thought about getting license plates from each state and hanging them (sounds crazy, but it would match our decor)...or a collage of pictures of our previous houses. What, if anything do you do to commemorate all your previous living places? It needs to be something that can be added to as we move, but not seem empty right now.

Somebody Else's Road

A friend of mine posted the lyrics to this song on her Facebook and I loved them. I tried to find audio for it, with no luck. If any of you know where I can find it, would you let me know?



Somebody Else's Road
Jana Stanfield & Karen Taylor-Good

Trying out for cheerleader, a mouthful of new braces
I jump, I yell, the gym becomes an endless sea of faces

They call the winners one by one, I pray I'll hear my name
The last name called is my best friend, I hang my head in shame
Oh, sometimes when a blessing comes it's hard to understand
My voice was meant for music, I was meant to join the band

Somebody else's road might seem smoother than my own
Might lead to greener pastures, might be paved with gold
When I look with envy at where other people go
I remind myself that's somebody else's road

Every time I hit a barricade that I don't want to see there
I close my eyes and look again hoping it won't be there
I throw myself against it and find that it won't move
Even so I'll push and shove until I'm black and blue
Till finally it occurs to me could this be a sign
Telling me as plain as day this road isn't mine

Somebody else's road might seem smoother than my own
Might lead to greener pastures, might be paved with gold
When I look with envy at where other people go
I remind myself that's somebody else's road

When it seems I'm going nowhere
Wandering aimlessly
I have to trust that where I am
Is right where I need to be

Somebody else's road might seem smoother than my own
Might lead to greener pastures, might be paved with gold
When I look with envy at where other people go
I remind myself that's somebody else's road

Monday, February 01, 2010

I Gotta Feeling...

...that tonight this year's gonna be a good year.

Today my sweet hubby and I are celebrating EIGHT years of marital bliss.


I can't shake the feeling that this year is going to be a fantastic one for us.