Nothing too new, and some Hume photos

I know I should do a better job at keeping this blog, everyday I think "I should write an update..or something..." Not much new around here (my sister just got back from a year in the UK, which is SO great) Summer is coming in an end, and I am welcoming the change.  We are changing seasons in our lives, not just literally (summer-fall) but figuratively. 

We have been so blessed so far in our adoption.  Not just financially, but through prayer and emotionally.  We have made new friends, gotten the chance to share about Jesus, had some not so good moments (ask Justin about his conversation at In-N-Out with a complete stranger who although uninvited, gave us her opinion about our adoption...) but all moments so far have grown us into the parents we will need to be, we are learning patience, wisdom and how to be sacrificial for our future child.  It's not easy all the time, but it's good. And it's just the beginning. 

We'll be 3 months DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) next week.  It isn't much, but it's something.  We're getting close to being fully funded. It's absolutely insane.  When we started this joinery, we didn't even have the money for the application fee, but God has provided, through the generosity of others, through an unimaginable grant from Show Hope, and through the diligence He's given us to be very strict with our own fiances. It's all God, not a bit has to do with us.  Looking at our monthly budget, I have no clue how we make it, but we always have what we need, and then some.  God has moved (and will continue to move) mountains.  And we are constantly in awe. 

Here's some photos from our recent trip to Hume Lake with the high school students.  It. was. amazing.  Probably the best Hume ever. I love Hume, it's one of my favorite places in the world. 

Love them all. 

(last photo thanks to Rachel Wurzbach, thanks Rach!!!)

The 26 to-do's before 27

Last weekend, I had a birthday.  This birthday I did a lot of thinking. It's like this year, I officially felt like I was getting older, not necessarily growing up, but getting older.  I reflected a lot these past few weeks, reflected and visioned.  I thought about this last year, things that happened, things that didn't happen.  It was a good year and made me look forward to this next year, but it also made me think about some things that I hope to accomplish before I turn 27, so I have compiled a list of my 26 things to do, before I turn 27.

1.Make a quilt. I have always wanted to do this, but the thought of making a quilt intimidates me, but its a goal for me to make a quilt for our baby, and since I'll have some time,  may as well start now.

2.Pierce my nose. I have almost done this several times, but I always chicken out.

3.Get plugged into a good bible study. This is something I know I need to do, and my friends and I always talk about wanting/needing to do this, this year I hope to make it happen.

4.Run the Tinkerbell Half Marathon.  First goal, run. Period. I hate running, but I want to run this marathon.

5.Visit friends in Portland.  Justin and I have been talking for months that we need to do this, we deeply miss our friends in the Pacific Northwest, and its time we visit our favorite city.

6.Make Noonday a big deal in Fairfield.  I'm encouraged with how well Noonday has been received in our tiny city, my prayer is that I'll be out in the grocery store or running errands and people would recognize Noonday.

7.Visit another country.  It's no secret that I *hope* we will visit Ethiopia this next year, but I would love to travel somewhere Ive never been, outside of my comfort zone.

8. Go white water rafting.  This ALMOST happened last month, but we couldn't make the dates work.

9. More intentional time with my husband.  When we spent out weekend at the Lords Land it was so nice to just be together, we're working hard at being intentional with our time.  Not just sitting down and watching TV together (all though at times that's nice) but we'll take walks, sit outside, or just sit and talk. It's nice.

10. Make jam.  When we were taking care of my grandma she went through what I called a "jam phase" where she made jam all.the.time. Now, I think I'm ready for my jam phase.

11.  Get back into the piano.  I've played the piano for a long time, took lessons for several years, and even played in college. I still play, in my house, usually when I'm nervous or upset ha ha.  But there's a few songs I've been wanting to teach myself, I hope to do that this year.

12. Sew more.  A few summers ago I was really into sewing, then I stopped. It's time.

13. Build deeper relationships.  As I sit and watch social media explode, I find that we have, at times, used it as our only form of communication with the world. I'm completely guilty of this, and yet at the same time am so thankful for what we're able to do these days. I was reminded tonight, of when WIFI first came out.  I was working at a coffee shop and someone asked me if we had WIFI..I thought it was a kind of tea, so I showed him the teas...how far we've come. ha ha

14. Get outside more! We've been doing a good job about this lately, getting out and just exploring, I want to continue to do this more.

15. Created for Care.  This is a retreat for adoptive moms, foster moms any woman who has a heart for orphans and orphan care. I really want to go there this year. I've heard amazing things.

16. Organize! Organize! Organize! I've been doing good at getting organized...kind of psycho organized.  I want to continue this...but not so much in as a psycho Martha Stewart wanna be (which was where I was headed..)

17. Memorize Scripture.  I met with a friend a few days ago because I was feeling overwhelmed. She suggested I write scripture and put it all over my house, as reminders. I used to do that in college, and kind of stopped, I've since started doing it again, and wouldn't you know it? I'm not so overwhelmed anymore :) This is a must continue. 

18.Enjoy game nights. I hate playing games, board games. I've never liked them. I don't like puzzles, never have, even when I was younger.  My husband on the other hand, loves both.  I'm going to make an effort to enjoy games more. 

19.  Learn how to take pictures, we saved and saved for a camera we've been wanting for a year. Pulled our birthday money AND...it sits, waiting to be used. I need to learn how to use it. Especially before baby gets here, that's one of the reasons we bought it. 

20.  Get another tattoo.  I know what I'm getting...I just need to do it, but since our tattoo artist lives in Portland, we may need to combine this with our Portland trip 

21.  Stay in a yurt. That's all. And a tree house. 

22.  Cut out our processed food. We've slowly began to do this. It definitely is something to be done over time, but I started reading In Defense of Food, and we realized that for us and our family, we will do our best to eat a clean/whole whatever you want to call it, diet. I've been doing lots of research, and I know eating this way will take commitment, mostly on my part, because I prepare the majority of the meals, but once I get the hang of it, I think it will really benefit us

23.  Ride my bike more, I got a bell, so that should help ;) 

24.  Make homemade Christmas gifts, my family's probably reading this and groaning, but I promise they'll be good!!!

25.  Be thankful, I've got a lot. I need to remember that.

26.  Love more, a genuine love. 

We shall see how much gets accomplished this year! 

Away

Oh, hi. You might have wondered if I forgot how to write/type.  Well, kind of.  I've been working on some things, and blogging just hasn't been on the forefront of my mind lately.  Sometimes I feel like life just gets way to busy and jumbled and I find myself just making it thorough each day, which is not how life should be. I wasn't designed to "make it through" or "survive" each day, but rather to treat them as gifts, because I'm not promised tomorrow.  God's been working on my heart lately, and I've been dealing with some yucky stuff, and did not like who I was becoming, so Justin and I choose to get a way a few weeks ago, for 2 nights we choose to pack up our puppy and spend the weekend disconnected at The Lords Land. 

Okay, have you heard of this place? The story behind it is crazy amazing, and I won't do it justice so make sure you read up on them.  Basically it used to be this hippie commune/ place of "spiritual" refuge for the hippies out of Height Ashbury in San Francisco in the 60's.  This lady sold all of her possessions to buy this safe haven type place where the hippies could go and well, do hippie type things I guess, clothing was optional (not now of course) but at the time it was, and they build this sanctuary type place full of crazy houses. Anyway, missionaries came eventually and shared Jesus and eventually "The Land" became "The Lords Land" where people can go and just be with God.  We spent our time talking and just being together, which we haven't done in a while. We talked about our hopes and dreams for our family and the changes that will be happening before we know it. 

I love how The Lords Land literally has script everywhere, there are hidden crosses and hearts all over the places, you find them when you least expect it.  

So, my trusty 15 followers :) I'll leave you with some pictures of our time away, a time I'll treasure always. 

Fort Bragg

Our cute little cabin (see the tilted window, way to not conform :) )

That song "Beautiful Things" came to mind..

Such a special time away

Still

This time of the year, we seem to be constantly be busy.  I remember looking ahead to June and thinking "wow, every weekend is full, and most weeks are the same I can't wait until July..." well, now July is here and it's the same thing! ha ha. I remember summer as a kid, time seriously seemed to stop and the days just went on forever.  Now that I've grown up a bit, there never seems to be enough time in my day to get anything done.  Time. This is something that God has been speaking to me quite boldly about lately. 

Time. Time in the day, time in the month, year, blah blah blah...

I'm learning to be still. Because when I'm still, I'm at peace.  I've allowed myself to be controlled by time a lot in the last few months, and it's been driving me insane. I find allowing time to control my life takes control away from God.  

I love my app Jesus Calling, it just seems to speak to me at all the right times. Recently a portion of  my devotion read this:

Wait patiently with me while I bless you. Don't rush into My presence with time-consciousness gnawing at your mind.  I dwell in timelessness: I am, I was, I will always be.  For you, time is a protection; you're a frail creature who can handle only twenty-four-hour segments of life.  Time can also be a tyrant, ticking away relentlessly in your mind.  Learn to master time, or it will be your master."

I have slowly, once again, allowed time to be my master.  And this is a huge problem.  It's where the enemy wants me to be.  This weekend, we are escaping time. We are getting away to be still. We are going to The Lords Land to soak up the presence of the Lord and of each other. Distraction free. We will remember what it's like to be still. 

One

June 18th marked one month waiting for baby.  I'm hoping to document month by month, this picture was actually at 6 weeks (already starting off behind). The first 6 weeks have flown by, we've been so busy that waiting has been easy (for now...) we bought our first baby room purchase the other day, it was kind of surreal.  Sooo many changes have been happening or are to come, I'm hoping to write a more detailed blog about that sometime...for now, I'm off to play some games with my brothers. I'm currently working on living in the moment, and now the moment is game time. Happy Sunday friends! I'll leave you with our month 1 picture.  One month down little guy!!! We can't wait to meet you!!! 

If we were to get coffee

Several of my friends have posted blogs about what we (and by we I mean this lovely cyber community of blogger) would do if we went to coffee together.  I thought that sounded like SO much fun seeing as how I wish I could get coffee with everyone I "meet" through this cyber land of the WWW.

So here we go, 

If we were to have coffee together...


I would be SO happy we could find a time that works with our schedules, I feel like life is SO busy, that finding time for just a simple cup of coffee with a friend is so hard, why is that?


We would probably then move to talking about the craziness of life, we would talk about time, work, family, blah blah blah, maybe throw in the weather, because if you live close to me you know we've had a HOT few days together. 


We'd probably comment on why I'm drinking a hot drink on such a hot day, but for some reason I just can't drink iced coffee drinks, call me crazy, but even in 108 degree temps I'll be sipping on a  hot one.


I'd tell you I can't WAIT for fall to come, summer is such a busy time for us. An incredibly fun time filled with lots of hangout time with highschoolers, but a busy time. 


Then, I'd probably talk to you about my problem of looking to the new big thing (i.e., fall) and how I'm working on living in the now, which some days goes awesome, others, eh, not so well.


I'd probably share with you that after watching my husband at VBS this last week, I can't wait to see him as a dad. He's going to be such a good dad.


Then I'd probably rattle on and on to you about our adoption and how excited I am to hold our baby. 


I'd tell you how incredibly blessed we've been in the process, then I might tear up 


Because I think adoption hormones are real and the most random things make me tear up


I'd look at my phone and gasp that I've been talking and talking and haven't heard how you're doing


So, you'd tell me what's going on, we'd laugh about the funny moments, get angry at the bad ones, and maybe cry a bit. 


We'd probably talk about our plans to change the world, then we'd remind ourselves that's Jesus' job and we're just here to help with the plan, so we'd talk and talk about how we can help. 


We'd share big dreams for our little city and our little world. 


We'd say we have to get together again soon, because our time was so refreshing


Then our phones would probably ring because we're on to the next thing in the day


We'd hug, and leave refreshed...


If we were to have coffee together. 

Since you asked...

Summer has officially began.  The graduation parties started this last weekend and will commence into next weekend, we've been to 4 so far, this next weekend we'll hit 4 more. Yes, 'tis the season, the graduation season. Graduation is always such a surreal time for me, I barely remember my high school graduation, but then again, I don't even really feel that old either. Time flies. 

Speaking of time, this coming Friday marks 3 weeks on the wait list for our little one!  We've had a few questions in the last few weeks, the big one being..so what's next?! Well, we'll try to get those questions answered.

So where are you at now?

We are officially on the wait list.  The wait list is just what it sounds like, a list of families waiting for little ones.  

How long will you wait?

In all reality, only God knows. Our agency gives projected wait times, and currently that's about 18 months, I've been encouraged over the last few months to hear of families getting referrals a little sooner. We aren't just "the next ones on the list" our agency works very hard to match each child to the family that will be best for them (the child). Once we get matched it's called a referral. 

What's a referral?

Well, a referral is our match :) It's that special call we're waiting for from our family coordinator. We'll get whatever medical and family history that's known, and see some pictures! This day will be a special day.

What happens after a referral?

Then we go to Ethiopia for our first trip, this trip will be our court trip and the first time we meet our baby.  We'll stand before a judge who will (hopefully) pass us the first time.  We'll get to spend time with our baby, see some sights and get to know his country better. 

Then can we all meet him?

Not quite yet. We'll return to Fairfield and wait for embassy, which we pray isn't too long, then we return to Ethiopia get our boy, finish all necessary things in country and then the THREE of us head home. 

Is he born yet?

Because of the current wait tome for our agency, he's probably not born yet.  Unlike domestic adoption here in the US, we are not matched with a birth mother, we are matched with an orphaned child.  We may or may not know much about our child's mother and father, or any extended family he may have. Our agency will do their best to get any information they may have, but there's just a lot we may never know. 

Do you have any names picked out?

yes and no. It depends if you ask me, or Justin. We will keep his Ethiopian name as his middle name to help to preserve his heritage, but we have some ideas for his first name :)

So how can we help?

Pray, seriously this is SUCH a big part. Please pray not only for us, but for our child's mother, father, family, whoever he may come in contact with.  Pray for his safety and for the safety of his mother. She is going to do a very selfless thing, and she may or may not even know it yet, please pray for her heart and for her to feel loved and protected.

We have felt such a huge amount of support from our family and friends, YOU are such a huge part in our babies story, we can't wait for him to meet you.