Goodbye House! Hello Road Trip!

The house is empty, the car is packed, mail has been forwarded, bills paid and goodbyes said. Dudley is as ready as he can be and I am ACTUALLY getting excited! It feels so good to have things moving forward. I hit the road tomorrow for family, friends and a lazy trip up the Pacific North West then off to our new home in Maryland! Wow! This is actually for REAL!!!!!
Anybody have any recommendations for sights to see?

C.O.T.

C.O.T.= Commissioned Officer Training, for those of you not familiar with military lingo (Don't worry. It's new to me too!).
Garrett left Sacramento Sunday morning at 6:30am for COT in Alabama. He had an opportunity to call tonight and says that while he is exhausted, things are going well and he is excited to see how things progress. He sounds good, anxious to get the month over with and begin school, but good, none the less.
In an attempt to escape for some alone time, I rented a convertible and headed to the coast for a couple of days after dropping Garrett off at the airport. I found this great little place only a few hours from home and upon arrival, promptly tucked myself in for the evening with a glass of wine and a great book. It didn't take long for me to drift off into never never land for the entire night. I slept harder than I have slept in years! I woke up to coastal weather (it was FREEZING COLD) and jumped in the shower ready to begin a day to myself of R&R. Shortly after fixing the room up and grabbing all my "beachy" belongings my phone rang and caller i.d. showed that it was my mom. I had spoken with her in the days leading up to my intended R&R trip and didn't expect to hear from her until I returned home. I picked up the call and was sadly informed of a close neighbors death. After a very brief conversation I packed up my belongings, loaded the car, checked out and headed home.
I'm not sure if the trip was for the benefit of a single nights sleep or simply to let me fall apart for an evening by myself, but after driving the distance it took to get there and back, I was thankful to be home.
It has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. Emotions are amazing things. One minute you are completely together and making perfectly logical choices that would make sense to a completely confused person, and then the next, you are a puddle on the floor trying to figure out what type of movie you need to distract from all the insanity going on around you.
Somehow, in spite of it all, I am still functioning in a somewhat upright position. I have had some junk food consumption issues (cake, milano cookies, candie bars... etc), but outside of that, I am actually fairly impressed with my overall ability to carry on with life, in spite of the chaos.
In other (more uplifting) news, we received an update on Ella today. It appears she is doing well and her development is right on target, so that is encouraging information that has left a smile on my face all day! I am anxious to hear about our court date, but am trying not to get my hopes up for a July hearing. It appears that there are other families that have already been scheduled for that week, and having not heard anything about it, I am now reluctant to even ask our social worker. Regardless of the court date we get, our girls are being cared for, fed, and loved. That knowledge in and of itself lifts a huge burden from my heart.
The next two weeks will be filled with more difficult goodbyes and lots of hugs. Forgive me in advance for delayed entries and spastic thoughts. I will do my best, but am also trying to pace myself as life continues to move around me at a very fast rate. I'll keep you as up to date as I can, but appreciate your understanding as well.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere.

You never realize how much stuff you collect over the years until you pack it all up. We have a small house and there are just two of us at the moment, so we didn't think that we had much to speak of. However, today the movers came to box and load up all of our worldly possessions for our move to Maryland. Not only was I surprised at the all that we possess, but I was shocked at the emotional reaction I had to watching our home being shipped off.
This is probably the first time in my life when I really have felt like I had a home. We havn't been here that long, but we've settled into a place where we know our neighbors, love the people around us and have built a life here. Now we have to say goodbye and I, like many others, hate goodbyes. Our house may be small, but it was ours and we made it that way. Now, it is just a house, empty and void of that home feeling.
It didn't take long for Garrett to realize that I was going to need time away today. This move is harder on me than I expected and while I know there are so many good things that will come of it, all of the steps in between are more and more difficult.
That said, I have to tell you, it is WONDERFUL to have your things packed for you. A new experience for me, but one that I appreciate greatly. It would take Garrett and I weeks to prepare for a move like this. These guys come prepared and ready to roll. Stuffing, wrap, boxes of every shape and size, tape, supports, the whole nine yards. It's really quite impressive.
Our belongings fill up maybe a three quarters of a full truck load, so we really don't have that much, but it is still humbling to see what we have come to depend on. Now the house is empty and it's just the three of us. Garrett, Dudley and myself. Dudley did fairly well with the move, only freaked out for the first 6 hours or so. Now he is just loving the space in the house that he can run in!

The Wee Small Hours of the Morning.

It's 2:45am and I can't sleep. My mind won't stop spinning and I can't keep the girls out of my head. I thought I would share what has gone on in our little world over the last few days.
Friday morning I got home from a long night of work and after talking briefly with Garrett, I headed to bed to get some rest. Garrett left to visit family for the afternoon and I was thankful for the quiet, hoping sleep would come quickly. I was in that perfect state of zen right before you fall asleep when my phone rang. Usually I don't pick the phone up if I don't recognize the number, but for some reason I picked up.
When Kristina (our social worker at CHSFS) identified herself, my ears perked up and I was suddenly wide awake. When we started this process we were told the wait would be six to nine months and likely longer if we wanted siblings. We have watched couples wait over a year for siblings, so we were prepared for the six month minimum and left our referral open to either a sibling pair or a single infant. We decided from the beginning to trust that the children we were supposed to have would come to us at the right time and we were prepared for the wait.
That said, four and a half months into the wait, when the phone rang, I was caught completely by surprise. In a daze, I asked Kristina if I could get ahold of Garrett and call her back. Between giggles at my stuttering, she made sure I had her contact information and hung up the phone. I called Garrett and with rushed excitement told him Kristina had called and we had two girls that she wanted to talk to us about. Thinking I was joking (I wasn't sure it wasn't a joke at this point) he double and triple checked what I had said and with a few "really's!?!?" between us, Garrett got in the car to head home and I called Kristina back.
She was good enough to put Garrett and I on the phone together as he headed home to view the referral via email. She shared a bit about them, stayed on the line long enough to make sure the email went through and then let us know she was there if we had questions and contact her when everything had sunk in.
The next 5 minutes spent waiting for Garrett to get home was an ETERNITY!!!!! He pulled up and got into the house in record time, hugging me on the way in the door. We sat for a minute staring at one another and the email trying to take in the moment. We turned the camera on, clicked on the email and saw our daughters for the first time.
We sat there for hours reading, staring, crying and staring some more. They were so small! The twinkle in their eyes brought a smile to my face but it also served as a reminder of the heartache those little lives had gone through and the longing they have for a family. They were truly BEAUTIFUL and in that moment, I was a mom.
It was hard to take it all in. One day you think you have a few months before you MIGHT be parents of a single infant and the next day, you are suddenly the parents of two toddlers! Wow!
It has taken a few days for things to sink in a little better. Telling family and friends has been so much fun and we have thoroughly enjoyed putting together a care package for the girls to keep until we can get to them.
Immigration will be tricky with the move, but Kristina has already notified the Ethiopian courts and we are waiting for a court date. Once the court date is issued (probably a few weeks from now), we wait for them to process paperwork and once the birth certificate is issued we are given a travel date and can be on our way. This sounds fairly simple, but it takes a while between each step and we have been encouraged to hold off on getting our hopes up about travel before September (at the earliest). It is also possible that we may be caught in court closures, which would extend travel as far out as November.
We have received more love and encouragement from people throughout this process than we can begin to say. Needs that we thought would never get met, have been met and we have found support in places we never expected it. Thank you for the shoulders to cry on, the ears to listen, the kind encouragement and advice. We will continue to need it and are counting on you all to give it!
As for me, I'm going to attempt to count those fat sheep that are sick of stumbling around the field in my head. Here's to hoping that sleep comes quickly. Before long, it won't be the thoughts in my head keeping me up! :)

OUR LITTLE GIRLS!!!!!

We're parents! We received our referral much earlier than expected and we couldn't be more surprised or thrilled!
We got the call, spoke briefly with our social worker (love ya Kristina!), opened our email and found the faces of two beautiful sisters, one 4 years old and the other just 14 months. While we can't share a lot at this point (we will once we are through court), we can say that they are GORGEOUS and they are so obviously ours. We already feel like parents and are doing everything we can to get our heads around all of the transitions that need to be made so much sooner than we thought. It is a surprise that we wouldn't trade for the world! We only waited 4 and a half months for our kids! CRAZY!
Our hearts are overflowing and our minds are trying to grasp at all that is ahead but I had to share with my blogging buddies! What an unbelievable gift! I'm a mom!

Presidential Mail- Who'da Thunk It?

So I went out to get the mail yesterday and what do I find? Well, o.k. so there were a couple of boring bills reminding me that someone will always be after me (even if it's only for money), but there was also a letter, addressed to me, with a return address showing "THE WHITE HOUSE". Very official looking, it kind of freaked me out a bit.
I went inside, sat down and proceeded to open my "presidential" mail. Mind you, in no way is this a common occurrence in our home. Garrett may be military but we have NEVER gotten anything from the White House. As I pulled out this two page document on white house stationary (it has the watermark on it and everything) I started to wonder what in the world I had done or sent (via email) that I had somehow forgotten about.
My question was answered quickly as I read the introductory paragraph expressing gratitude for my written concern regarding the ongoing genocide in Darfur. I had written the letter some time ago and blogged about it as well, leaving a link for others to do the same. Low and behold, they ACTUALLY responded! While I don't expect a miracle (a girl can hope though), it is nice to know that ones voice is heard. I never would have expected a typed document from the White House that is for sure!
It just goes to show you, that while one voice may be quiet on such a loud issue, when many gather together, it might just be heard! Yeah!

Bill Gates- A Wise Man!

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Cute Panda