The Full Moon Callers

I think I am moments away from reaching the end of my rope. I am totally out of energy! I'm not sure if it is the emotions of the holidays and all the thoughts about future transitions or if it is just working overtime and not sleeping well. No matter which way you look at it, I am exhausted and feel like I am barely able to make it through a day without either crying or being so livid that I could just spit!
I am thankful for the hours that have been available to work, but now it is totally biting me in the rear and I need a break!!! The last few days have been crazy with bizarre calls, stupid calls, and sad calls. Then there are the odder than odd... the "full moon" calls! Some say it is all superstition the full moon thing- I beg to differ. Request to sit in on a police dispatch center when the moon is full and I can guarantee the strangest, craziest, oddest events will, in fact, happen. It is entertaining to say the least. The whole department has a totally warped sense of humor, so there is a lot of laughter, but we do tend to stay busy, if not slammed and everyone is tired by the end of their shift.
That said, I look forward to going home to a warm bowl of chili with some corn bread, a good Seinfeld episode and Garrett's arms to find rest in.

Donation News

Happy Thanksgiving! After yesterdays interview with our social worker, Garrett and I have been talking a lot about all of the amazing gifts we have been given over the last few months. We have so much to be thankful for without all the exciting news, but somehow with it, comes a mix of humility and joy. We are overwhelmed at all the support and encouragement we have received from family and friends with all the changes going on in our lives. It goes without saying that there is NO way, we could have gotten to where we are now without you. Your thoughts and prayers have not gone unfelt and our lives are being changed by them. Our greatest thanks on this Thanksgiving Thursday is for all of you and what you mean to us.
Also, great news for those of you who have requested information on contributing towards our adoption fees; all donations are tax deductible! All you have to do is mail your gift to Family Connections Christian Adoptions (our Home Study agency). Any instruction about who funds are to be distributed to can be written on your check directly, or a note can be enclosed with your gift. FCCA will promptly process funds received and send you a receipt for tax filing purposes.

Family Connections Christian Adoption
1111 Howe Ave, Suite 395
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916)568-5966
http://www.fcadoptions.org/

Med School is Official/Interview Day

Garrett received his official letter of acceptance to UHUSH in the mail on Monday. It came on Department of Defense watermarked paper (made me laugh). He immediately completed the forms and sent back priority mail, back to the school. We are both so excited. Sometimes we just find each other smiling at the thought of all the things ahead. How funny are we?!?
We met our social worker, Christine, today. What a pleasant visit! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but she put both Garrett and I at ease and just chatted with us for a couple of hours.
This whole process has really been a huge endeavor for both Garrett and I. We have had to filter through our history's and share who we once were, where we came from, who we are now, and how we got here. Some areas were more difficult than others to share about, but all the blessings that have come from those struggles have grown both Garrett and I in ways that we wouldn't trade for the world.
Christine filled in any missing details today and I was extremely encouraged to hear that our paperwork is more likely to be finished and on it's way to CHSFS by the end of December! This means we will probably be on the "waiting" list by mid January. I emailed CHSFS today and they are still advising a 5-7 month wait for an infant. That wait can vary depending on the circumstances of the family waiting as well as the status of the Ethiopian government, courts, and the orphanage itself. If there happens to be a flood of children available, it could be much sooner. Once you are "waiting"- any call that comes in from CHSFS could be THE CALL!

Nursery Update

Isn't it sooooo perfect?!?!?!?!
I know... I know, we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Things just keep coming our way and we are trusting in Gods pacing of it all.
We got a phone call earlier this week from a friend of mine, letting us know that her sister had a crib that she was no longer needing. Well, my own sister had offered us the one that she has, but as we began to think about it, we realized that we may well, need two! We jumped on the offer and went and picked it up tonight! What a beautiful crib. We, of course, set it up right away and have fallen in love with our new little nursery. Dudley has even found that he fits perfectly underneath the crib. His new sleeping place, no doubt.
Anyway, thank you to Jamie and Dani and their famalies for their generosity and support! WE LOVE IT!

Other Big News!!

Unbelievable! Two days in a row and we keep getting these amazing phone calls! I was at our neighbors house and missed the call, but got a message from our new social worker!!!!! Her name is Christine and she is just lovely! Sounds young and very excited to help us! I called the office and talked to Kim (who laughed with me at my own obvious excitement!), anyway, got through to Christine and set up some dates to meet with her! I am thrilled!
Garrett and I will have our individual meetings with her this coming Wednesday - so fast (YIPPEEEE!) and then we have set up a tentative home visit for the 30th. I have been so anxious to get things done and then this blessed woman calls and says it is possible even before the end of the month! I am grinning from ear to ear at the miracle and encouragement that God has so generously given us this last week.
With the new Med School news, I have wondered how the adoption will be affected and what will need to happen if the wait is longer than we hope. There have been, are, and will be questions and unknowns about the timing of it all, but what an awesome (in the true meaning of the word) gift to know that our paperwork could be to CHSFS in January. I am blown away.... and glowing.
Had to blog about it-:)!
Yippie!

Med School Outline - long.

Just info- here is an overview of Garrett's four years of medical school. I will try to explain it as best I can -
In the first year there is overview on basic Military/Officer service orientation. Classes will focus on the basic sciences and foundational course studies. The school has advised us that this year will consist of 7am-5pm days, 5 days a week. So the first year should be fairly standard.
Garrett will spent a month prior to his 2nd year, studying the specifics of Military Medical Field Studies. The emphasis is on military medicine as a unique science. Garrett will spend a single week field training on the issue, followed by a four-week operational assignment. Listen to this....
"While in the field, students function as soldiers, marines, airmen, and platoon/squad leaders. Students learn about nuclear,chemical, and biological warfare; night operations; camouflage; emergency medical care; patient management on the battlefield; and patient movement via litter, helicopter,armored vehicle, and ambulance. They are also challenged in leadership exercises...After the initial training week, students spend four weeks with an operational unit in their parent service (Air Force). Students are exposed to military environment, its medical hazards and the occasional intensity of an operational exercise."
All of this training will be on a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.
Once field training is completed, school begins and he second year of academics begins. There will be more advanced academic studies, and preparation for us U.S. Medical Licensing Exam.
The last two years are set aside for all medical students to engage in required and elective "clerkship's". This allows the students to better understand the specialties of medicine, in order to choose a specific area of interest.
Once an area is chosen, and clerkship's are completed, graduation happens, Garrett will be an M.D. and begin his residency program. The length of residency varies depending on your specialty (neurosurgery vs. family practice). The military has four schools that they assign their students to during residency, most of which are on the East Coast.
There will be breaks throughout the academic school years. Holiday leave in December gives us about two weeks off, and there is also minimal time in the spring and summer. We hope to come home as often as we can. Flights are a little easier to come by being part of the Air Force (yeah!), and we don't anticipate a lot of time to travel as a family once Garrett is in his residency. Not only that, but we will have babies to brag about and show off, that we hope to teach to be good travelers!
So there ya go! Everything we know about the next four years at this point. Pretty exciting!

HUGE NEWS!!!!

Garrett received a phone call this morning from the Dean of Admissions at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) and we are proud to announce that he has been accepted at the school!!!
After being told just last week that it would be a longer wait, we had prepared for another few weeks of anxiety only to wake up this morning and find that the weight was lifted and our answer was here. What a huge gift.
We had so much fun today visiting all the family that we could and letting them know how excited we are. We know that so many of you have been praying about the school and our direction over the last few months...
Garrett will be entering into active duty in June of 2008 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force. We have a tentative schedule of what the next Summer and Fall will look like, so here goes.

June 30 - August 8, 2008
- Air Force Commissioned Officer Training
Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama
August 11 - August 15, 2008
- Brigade In-Processing
USUHS, Bethesda, Maryland
August 18 - August 22, 2008
- Medical School Orientation
USUHS, Bethesda, Maryland
August 25, 2008
- First Day of Classes
USUHS, Bethesda, Maryland

I'm hoping that we will move to Bethesda some time in early June, but that may vary depending on the status of our adoption and housing issues in the area. We will have to take one step at a time.
I know I have blogged a lot this week, but I just had to share the exciting news and say thank you again, for everyones love, support and excitment!
Here we go!

The Nursery

OK- so I am way ahead of myself, but what can I say, I can't help myself. While we have limited space in our house, Garrett and I are doing the best we can to open it up and make room for our little ones. We won't be here long, whether med school works out or not. Kids grow, and I anticipate running out of room fast. That said, our second room is quickly becoming a furnished nursery.
My sister has lovingly offered the crib and other supplies that will be greatly needed once the babies come home and Garrett and I have put our little rocker and what will be the baby dresser and some decorations up.
We are told that this is a bit early to be starting on the room (dugh!), but ya never know and we have the time now to do it- so why not? Nothing crazy, just basic spacial planning stuff.
We recieved a form in the mail that was somehow missed by FCCA, which put a hold on assigning us a social worker. (Aughhhhh!) That was put in the mail today (it was really tempting to drive down to Sacramento yesterday and deliver it, as their office was open for the holiday). I am on a first name basis, with Kim the Office Manger in the Sacramento office,and she assures me we should hear from someone by Friday.... needless to say, I am on pins and needles.
Garrett couldn't resist making a call to USUHS last week. The six weeks we had planned on has been moved out to 8, so we may not even know about school by Thanksgiving. Timing is not in our hands and it seems like the closer we get the more anxious we become. At least we still have a sense of humor about it all! Here's to hoping it can last another 3 weeks!:P

Ethiopian Women

I look around the internet on a daily, ok, sometimes hourly, trying to find any information I can on Adis Ababa, Ethiopia and the circumstances that our children and their mother may be in. In looking around I found myself humbled and extremely thankful. After seeing what many Ethiopian women are doing, just to survive and feed their families, I am reminded what a gift it has been, simply to be born in this country. We are very blessed. Click on it to see for yourself.
www.globalcolors.org/fuelwoodcarriers.html
I also wanted to expose those interested, to what our children are living in and coming from. I caution you, this is not a video for the weak spirited.... it left me in tears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJyOcazokps
As you think of Garrett and I, keep us,our children, and their families in your thoughts and prayers. We are all in Gods hands.... waiting for him to put us into one anothers arms. Thank you for all of your support.

Social Worker Assignment

Big sigh of relief- all of our paperwork finally got to FCCA! Yeah! It took longer than we thought, but it is finally all in and we are ready to meet with our social worker for our interviews and home evaluation.
Both Garrett and I will meet with her separately, and then together in our home. I will be cleaning like a maniac next week or so, the house should be spotless by the time she sees it. While it is a small little house, it is ours at the moment, and we feel it gives a pretty good sense of who we are. That said, a little dusting, vacuuming, spit polishing, etc....:), never hurt anyone. The difficult thing is that Dudley is shedding like crazy this time of year, so dog hair is all over the house- bless his little doggie heart- we love him so!
While we have no dates scheduled yet, we are hoping the meetings will happen before Thanksgiving so that our paperwork can be completed and sent to where it needs to go before the New Year! Yeah- another week, another step!

I-600A

We recieved a letter from the Department of Homeland Security that our immigration paperwork (I-600A) has been processed and our family has an open file with them! Yeah! I am so glad to hear that all our paperwork went through smoothly. I have heard horror stories about immigration and some of the difficulties other families have had. So far so good!

The Garage Sale

Wow! What an amazing collections of items we had in our back lot this morning. I am so thankful for all of the people that took the time out to sort through their homes to uncover treasures for our sale. It was a tremendous turn out and while we were warned about getting our hopes up, they were far exceeded. We made over $400.00 and Garrett is doing it again tomorrow! Yeah!
I felt totally out of the loop all day. I was at work, which is unpredictable and fun, but my head was at home, wishing that I could help out in some way. For those of you that know me, you also know that I have major control issues with things too, so that is always a challenge to try to reign in. :P What a gift to have so many wonderful people remind me that the world will not fall apart if I trust it to those that love me.
I must give thanks when it is due and to my tremendously supportive mother, neice, Emily, and friend, Linda, thank you a million times over for taking the drive, the time, and the muscle strength it took to help out all day.
Bob, Barb, Sarah, Andy, Mike, Becky and Tim, thank you for the tables, we used them all.
There were so many of my "2nd homes" that helped out too. Thank you to all the "Purple ladies", I look forward to announcing some exciting news in the months to come! :)
Finally, my friends at work. Dottie and Martha, what a great support you have both been throughout this process. Not only with the giving of gifts, but with your listening ears and honest feedback. It has meant a lot to have the support of my co-workers and friends.
We'll do it again tomorrow! We are hundreds closer to bringing our kids home! Thank you.