The Facts

There might just be one person out there who will watch this and wonder if they might be the right family for a child is going without a home.
It is to you, my wondering friend, that blogs like this are made. So that you will not doubt in the love you can give and the miracles that adoption can be.
Start looking. Start digging. Begin to seek it out. You will find it is far more possible than you imagined.

Coming Home

Well, California is DEFINITELY warmer! I left Maryland and it was 35 degrees outside (early morning hours) and came here where it is 84 degrees and WONDERFUL!!!
I flew into Oakland and Mom and I tracked down a couple of the houses she lived in as a girl and the church she grew up attending. For all the negative press Oakland gets, parts of it are actually quite beautiful.
Anyway, we headed home after wandering the city for a bit and I crashed early. I had to get up at 4am in order to catch my flight so sleep couldn't have come soon enough.
This morning I woke up refreshed and after making some breakfast, I decided to start the day with some yoga and a walk. Mom and I headed to DMV where I renewed my license (something I forgot to do until I was reminded by airport security) and then we headed to a walking path in town and enjoyed the morning sunshine.
After running some errands, we came back to the house, I threw on a bathing suit and basked in the sun for a couple hours.
We have now rented a film, picked up my niece and are about to enjoy a chick evening full of unhealthy food, estrogen filled movies and quality time together.
That has been the day today. Just kickin' back enjoying the warmth!

We Made It!!!!

We made it through court today! YEAH!!!!
Here are the updated pictures of our girls....

Macie




Ella



The next step is waiting for MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs) to complete a letter regarding the case that will be forwarded to the court clerks office for birth certificate processing. Once the birth certificates are completed we should hear word about a travel date. The visa's and passports will still have to be issued, but that will happen in a relatively short period of time.
Travel is still guessed to be around 6 weeks out, so I'll keep you updated as we hear more.
Until then, I am taking my HUGELY relieved self and heading home to California for a visit with family and maybe even some sunshine!

Because Pranks Are Fun!!!

Turning #@%^&!

Ok- it has happened. 10 years have passed and I am faced with the knowledge that I am now the age that I deemed to be "old" when I was only 10. I know I am not old, but there is something about remembering how you felt about age as a child, that puts a twist on birthdays beyond your mid twenties. I approach this time in life, humbled by my "oldness" (WHATEVER!!!), but thankful for the painful growth spurts the I have behind me.
I think it's fair to say that a girls teenage years pretty much suck. Jr. High is the WORST!!! You couldn't pay me a million dollars to re-live that! All the hormones and the uncertainty, short boys and akward school dances, only served to remind us how great life would be once we got beyond that point and hit high school.
Highschool was a relief to reach, but we still spent it dreaming of being old enough to leave home and the freedom we would find outside of our parents "loving" grasp.
Our twenties are spent "discovering" who we were, what we believed in, and breaking into a new way of thinking and living that we could finally call our own. A decade of lessons learned and mistakes made (some bigger than others) that taught us more about who we didn't want to be than who we did.
There were endless meals of ramen noodles, rice, beans and of course, coffee. It was a time when our bodies were somehow able to manage staying up til 3am and waking up only a few hours later to attend a biology lecture or meet a friend for breakfast before a big exam. Hormones were more in balance, but our judgement was still severely impaired and we walked away with some battle wounds that would leave scars on both ourselves and those around us.
Mind you I've only been 30 (there, I said it!) for 8 hours, but I look forward to the next 10 years. I hear it is the decade when others opinions matter little, confidence in one's self is not determined by appearance and an understanding of the truely valuable things in life sinks in, making the importance of each day a little easier to grasp.
So bring it on 30! Do your best (not really. It would be nice if you were a kind year [insert shrugged shoulders and sheepish grin here])! Let's see what the next 10 years brings.

P.S. Does that mean in 10 years I'll be 40????
AUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Every Season

I have been here only a number of months, but already have watched as one season clearly rolled into another. The chill in the air is brisk and the leaves seem to fade from one color to another within a single day. The morning frost rests heavy on everything exposed to the weathers changes and the evening air quiets the crickets that have been so busy singing during warmer nights.
Garrett loves the changes in weather. It doesn't matter if it is blistering hot or frostbite cold, he has a smile on his face and simply says he feels "alive". I can't relate. I tend to feel more like I am dying. In fact, it is a yearly struggle for me to share his appreciation for the tougher seasons in the year.
It's the seasons of life that aren't so easy for either one of us. We have both struggled as we have faced this "winter" in the adoption process. We have both had days of silence, disbelief, grief, and heartache. There is reason beyond what we understand and we struggle to grasp at what that reason might be.
While Garrett has school to serve as a distraction, his heart is just as broken as mine. I see him carry the same burden I do when he enters the house. He often looks to me for some piece of good news and, failing to find it, his face falls in recognition of another heartbreaking day.
We have fallen hard. Fallen so in love with these little girls, these little lives that we have yet to meet... the thought of being apart another month, maybe longer, is more gut wrenching than either one of us have ever experienced.
Each day is spent thinking of them, dreaming of them, praying for them, and longing to bring them home. Our heads fall on our pillows each night and we invite sleep so that another day of the wait can pass.
There may come a day when we understand the "why's" that surround our, now, daily questions. I know the reason is there and I trust it's purpose is far greater than either Garrett or I can understand.
For now, we wait for the "spring", the hope of a new beginning, and we continue to fall more and more in love with our little girls

ALIF-One Woman's Story

Remembering the need for change.

Fall

While it may not have hit the DC burbs yet, Fall has definitely struck the Maryland countryside. Garrett and I drove into northern Maryland on Saturday and this is what we found.




We came home Saturday night and were informed by our friendly neighborhood weatherman that it was expected to get into the low 30's at night and to expect freeze warnings to kick in by the following day. The guy described this weather as Fall "finally hitting". My jaw was on the ground. If this is fall- am going to be an icicle by next month! How cold does it get here in the WINTER?!?!? This little California chick-i-dee, might just have to hunker down and kick up the heat a little earlier than the rest of the population out here because IT IS COLD!!!!!

Enough!!!

So, here I sit, 48 hours after another day of bad news. I have consumed an ENTIRE Boston Cream Pie in an attempt to eat my feelings and don't remember tasting a bite of it (I know I am not the only one that has gone there, so don't judge)! It has been a difficult couple of weeks and there have been few words spoken within the walls of our house, let alone outside of it. I have cried thousands of tears, screamed endlessly into a pillow, asked "why?" more times than I can count, and moped around this house in my pajamas for FAR too long!
I can't begin to understand why those two, sweet little faces have to wait another month for their mom to come and get them. There are more unanswered questions than I can count and I am left feeling completely out of control.
The complications with the adoption are things that I can do nothing about. Not only that, but they will pass and, hopefully, be forgotten once I hold Macie and Ella in my arms (Girls, I'm still coming I PROMISE).
Thank you all for your support. Your encouragement has meant more than any of you could know and I want to make sure you are recognized for being part of what shook me out of my somberness.
The world has bigger problems and there HAVE to be things that I can do, to make it a little bit better, even if my mind and heart are in Africa with my girls.
So, that said, I am going to do my best to move past being so self-absorbed and do something worth while with each day of this wait.
I just wanted to make sure that I put this down in writing so that I had something to hold myself to. I'll keep you updated as best I can on how I am doing and what I find to help me get myself out of this rut I've been in.
If anyone has any ideas, I am open to suggestions! With all my heart, thanks again.
Beth

Another Delay

Our case was scheduled for review by the judge this morning. Apparently out of all the documents given to the judge, there was a single sheet without the girls names on it and the judge ordered that the sheet be corrected before she re-hear the case.
We have another week of waiting.
I'm sick.

The Adoption song-our family is still waiting

It doesn't need explaining. It's just how it is.

Bad News.

The judge that heard our case on the 31st of July never signed the original documents prior to court closure. The new judge assigned, due to court closure, wants to re-hear the case.
The new court date is the 17th of October. If that judge finds no errors in any of the court documentation, the birth certificates will be issued two weeks later. We will not be given a travel date until our agencies US office receives the birth certificates.
We won't be traveling until mid to late November.
Another month of waiting.
There are no words.

Update

Well, I have an update, but the fun part of it won't be posted until the end of the week, maybe later.
I got a call this morning, informing me that while our case had been heard by the judge prior to court closure, the birth certificates had not yet been signed and that piece was still being processed. They are hoping it is completed by the end of this week.
Once the paperwork is signed off, then we have to wait the typical two weeks for Visa and Passport issuance before we can travel. In short, we won't be traveling as soon as we thought. At least it doesn't look that way at this point.
Our agency is talking with the Ethiopian courts on a daily basis about our case and they are doing all that they can to expedite things.
As soon as I hear more I will let you know and keep you all updated.
The good news is that we got a TON of new pictures of the girls! Nine of each of them and they are beautiful. They look healthy and happy! That said, until we get those birth certificates signed, I am again left, unable to post their photos.
I promise I will put them up as soon as I can!!!

Blah.

Still no news. :(

Tacie- This One Is For You!!!

In order to appreciate the second, you have to see the first!



Thank you Evelyn!

Bono On The "Red" Campaign

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