High Five for Friday

Friday! The first Friday of Summer! So that means that June is almost over. Holy cow. Here's a question for ya: is half Christmas in June or July? Anyway, let's get on with it...

1. I got a new job in April in a different department at the same company and have been both jobs for the past three months. Well, someone finally got hired for my old position last week! This means I get to fully transition over to my new department. I'll do the full transition mid-July after I help train my replacement.

2. We're heading to Minneapolis this weekend for Adam's grandpa's wedding! We'll be seeing Adam's parents, aunts and uncles, and their families. I feel like it's just been forever since we've seen family. I'm really looking forward to it.

Just, this. 

3. Adam and I have been really kicking it into gear working on our house lately. We're working on converting a room into a laundry room and have just been stuck on the worst part: ripping out plaster. For some (unknown to me) reason, people used to put drywall up, and then put plaster on top of it [insert are you kidding me? face]. So when we rip it out, it's even more heavy and even more dusty. Ew. But this week, we just felt some motivation to keep going, which is awesome, because it's something we've been praying about. . . shout out to the big guy on this one!

Doesn't that look so fun?

4. I made home made mint chocolate chip ice cream on Sunday. And it was good. Having fresh mint is pretty fun. Even though I don't always know what to do with the abundance of mint that I have.

5. Before our home study is complete, we need to complete a 10-hour Hague course that can be purchased from Adoption Learning Partners. Some of the courses took a half our to get through and some took longer, but I was able to knock them out this week. The courses are on transratial families, grief and loss, attachment, medical needs of adopted children, and adopting an older child.

How was your week? Sending blessings your way!

The T-shirt Situation

Who remembers when I said we were meeting with a t-shirt company to look into designing shirts as a fundraiser? [counts raised hands]

So we met with Eight Seven Central, down in Des Moines when we had our first home study a few weeks ago. We gave the designer a few ideas and let him work with his imagination. He came up with a great design earlier this week and we are super excited. We've been emailing back and forth since then talking about logistics. However, yes, one of those, I checked the website today and it looks like the price per shirt went up by $2.00. (I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but when you've got to by a pretty substantial quantity, it adds up!)

So I'm kind of bummed about that, it just means we'd have to come up with a couple extra hundred dollars just to order the shirts. I've asked designer we've been working with if we could use the original pricing that we talked about originally, since we had no heads up that this was going to happen. 

What do you think? Is that weird or am I just being cheap? I guess either way, I might look into some other screen printing companies. I think you have the ability to buy the artwork from the designer, so we could still use the design we like.

High Five for Friday

Friday has come again! Sorry I didn't get a chance to post last week, so I may be mixing in a few posts from the last two weeks–just think of it as a really long week.

1.  Home study #2 is complete (see previous post). So that's exciting. We scheduled our next home study (where our social worker will come back to our house) for July 3. We're moving right along!

2. A couple I "met" (over the internet, of course) who is also adopting from Uganda through Bethany found out last week that they got a court date! They are leaving today (12 days after they found out) to go meet their son! They also have to leave their 2 year old son at home while they're away, which would be so hard. We'll be praying for their save travels and for peace while they're there. I can't wait to hear about their trip!

3. Nellie got to come to work with me this week and she was in heaven. Everyone loved her butt-wiggling and she loved all the attention.

4. We're going to an iCubs (Iowa Cubs) game tonight with some friends. We haven't been to one yet this year and they're always a good time. 

5. We went to a wedding last weekend back home. We got to stay with my brother on Friday night and came back again after the wedding. It's been both a curse and a blessing living a few hours from him. We're pretty close and I would say that I actually enjoy his presence, but I'm not sure if I could live in the same town as him anymore. I suppose we're in a happy-medium, that's what that's called, right? 

Enjoy your weekend! Hopefully the weather is cooperating where you are and you'll be able to spend some time outside! Cheers to Friday! 

Home Study #2: Check

Home study #2 has been completed. . . and it was easy [insert Staples guy's voice].

Lindsay came to our house and we immediately got started. She met Nellie (who didn't even jump up on her., she must have known), and handed us both a few sheets of paper to fill out. the paperwork consisted of questions mainly about ourselves; things we've experienced, family history, if we do drugs, you know that fun stuff.

We had to fill out the paperwork at the same time, but couldn't talk to each other to ensure we weren't going to conspire against our social worker. We're good people, we wouldn't do that.

After we finished that up, Adam had to leave. So, naturally, he went to the garage. While he was gone, Lindsay and I went through the questions where we answered something other than "neither" or "not applicable".

The first box I checked was that I had experienced violence. The first question. I explained to her what happened when I lost my mom and how it affected me. Sidenote: I'm wondering if this is weird if there is anyone who doesn't know what happened. Is that weird? 

Some other questions she asked us were about why we chose to characterize our spouse the way we did and how we plan on disciplining our children. This this we were both (separately) like, "uhhh? Not exactly sure?" so she was pretty lenient on that answer. I mean, we have an idea of how we want to discipline, but then, who's to say that will stay the case once we have children?

Overall, the second home study was a breeze. I didn't need to worry about it as much as I did, of course. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts while helping us through. Two down, two to go!

Anticipation

Tomorrow marks our second home study! We're anxious to get the second one over with. Like I mentioned in my last post, this is the first time our social worker will be coming to our house to interview us; she'll meet with us together, then separately.

To tell you the truth (that's a weird expression isn't it. Like I haven't already been telling the truth? Well I assure you, I have been–anyway, focus), I think I'm most nervous about her actually coming to our house.

I know I've mentioned before that we're remodeling–like really remodeling. The whole house, the whole kit and caboodle. She said she needs to know that we'll have a designated space for our child (which we do), but I just fear that she'll look at our house and the busted down walls and think, "you can't bring a child here!" and we know that. We started the adoption now thinking that we wouldn't be bringing a child home for a couple years, which is still the case.

I'm asking for prayers to keep our (my) nerves calm tomorrow. I just came across a wonderful little quote: "Pray or worry, but don't do both." I need to remember that more.

Have a blessed Wednesday!

Home Study #1: Check

Whoo hoo! We survived our first home study! That's exciting, right? Well, we think so. 

We met down in Des Moines for our first home study. I know, you're probably thinking "wait, if it's a home study, why wasn't it at your home?" Right, right. Well the first one is at the agency's office–I assume it's so we can meet our social worker before she comes straight into our home. 

The home study itself went really well. Here are the things she asked us:

• Describe your personality.
• Describe your hobbies.
• Describe your house.
• Why do you want to adopt? What's your story?
• What does a typical day look like? 
• What does a typical weekend look like? 
• How do you celebrate holidays? 
• Do you have any family traditions? 
• How culturally diverse is your town/neighborhood?
• Etcetera. . .

Honestly, I don't think we answered any questions that we haven't already covered with someone at Bethany or in our paperwork. 

While we were there, we went ahead and made our home study #2 appointment. We scheduled it for a week from today. Our social worker said she will need to meet with Adam and I together, then separate. She said she'll do a quick look around the house and then talk with us. So we'll see how that goes. 

Cheers to step 2.1! 

High Five for Friday

The first June H54F post.

1. This weekend I'm headed off to visit a couple friends in Davenport. My friend Lauren and I have been friends for about 6 years. She got married last year and her and her husband moved to Davenport, which is about a three hour drive. I haven't seen her since January, so I've very excited to do some catching up and of course watch our pups play.

2. I made custard on Monday. It was yummy. We have this awesome Deni ice cream maker that makes ice cream in 30 minutes. So good. 

3. We had a team event at work where Creative Spirits came in and brought paint and canvases and taught us how to paint. I'm no artist, but I did have a lot of fun doing it. I would definitely get together with some girls and do it again!

I'm sure you'll find this in a gallery soon.

4.  Our first home study is a week away. We're so excited to get the first one out of the way.

5. We've been busy thinking a lot about fundraisers that will help with our adoption. We're meeting with a t-shirt company after our home study on next Thursday. We're also selling our motorcycle if you happen to be interested [insert desperate plea]. For real, I'm just going to put the Craigslist post out there. You know, just in case. It can be found here.

The Congo

Two of our friends have been in the adoption process for years. Like, years. They're adopting two kiddos from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a boy and a girl. They also have three biological kids.

They've been on a roller coaster of a ride, but last week they received an exit letter. My heart is so happy to hear they are able to go meet their children this week. They are only able to bring home their son, and are not sure when they'll be able to bring their daughter home yet. Like many countries in Africa, the Congo is extremely corrupt right now.

When they received their exit letter last week, they were told they had until June 15 to get to the Congo and get back home. So needless to say, they needed to get things in order fast. They arrived yesterday and get to meet their children today. 

I'm asking pray for their journey, their children, and their anxiety as they meet their children for the first time. What an exciting time for their family.