Just Adopt!

This is a great article I came across today. Some of you may be able to relate to it but probably most will not. Either way, it's a small glimpse into the emotions of a mom's decision to adopt.

Click Here to read "Just Adopt" by Sarah Kelly

solo dining etiquette

Dear Fellow Solo McAlister's Diner:

We have some things in common, you & I. We both love to eat lunch at McAlister's. We both are comfortable dining solo. We are both...women. And that's about all we have in common. You see, we apparently do not share the same ideas about solo dining. Being the nonconfrontational, somewhat bashful person that I am, when I dine alone, I prefer to actually dine...alone. In other words, I chose this seat at this table because it is a comfortable distance from all other solo diners, because it faces the door {yes, I'm THAT person who needs to face the door}, and because it is not directly facing any other solo diners. You, however, have completely ruined my process of seat selection by sitting at the table directly in front of me. But wait - you didn't just sit at the table directly in front of me, but you oh-so-thoughtfully chose the seat directly in front of me, FACING ME. Thank you. Thank you for making me self-conscious the entire time I'm eating that I will drop chili cheese dip on my face & you will be right there to see it. I mean, would you like to just sit at my table? You may as well.

Perhaps you should have chosen the seat behind me, with Jason the over-zealous salesman who makes cold calls during his solo McAlister's lunch. You obviously enjoy working for your real estate business during lunch too, so maybe you & Jason would enjoy each other's company. Actually, you probably could dine with him and you two wouldn't even acknowledge each other's presence with all the work you're doing during lunch. It could be fun! He would make obnoxiously loud sales calls, and you would text and randomly look at your laptop. Then you could get married & ignore each other even more, much like the 70-something-year-old couple to my left. How precious. I digress.

So, Fellow Solo McAlister's Diner, might I suggest that next time we find each other dining alone, that you please choose a table that is NOT directly in front of the seat that I have obviously chosen from the sea of empty seats. And if you must choose the table in front of me, please choose one of the other FOUR chairs that is not directly facing me.

Thank you.

blessed beyond measure

Baron & I are so blessed! This blog post explains our most recent blessing. We are overwhelmed with gratitude to Julie &, most of all, to our amazing God.

Thank you, God, for people who allow you to use them to minister to others.

{Romans 8:28...}

butterflies in november

I bought some flowers toward the end of the summer. Four gorgeous red verbena plants. And, of course, they died. Well, they wilted beyond repair, anyway. I thought I did everything right. I didn't over water; I didn't underwater. I fertilized, but not too much. They got full sun, as required. But I have this gift for ruining plants.

So, when they were completely dead-looking, I cut them back. All but one of them, which was starting to bloom again. I treated all 4 of these plants the same way - same watering, same fertilizer, same soil, same sunlight. But 3 of them are gone & 1 is flourishing. I took this picture of it today at lunchtime. You may not be able to see it, but there is a butterfly enjoying my anomaly of a plant.


Why can't the other 3 look like this one???

adoption update

Several people have been asking me & Baron how the adoption process is going. Most of you who are interested already know, but just for kicks {and because I have been neglecting the ole blog}, here's a quick post to bring you up-to-date.


1. The profile. We finally finished our profile! {For those of you not familiar with the adoption process, the adoptive couple makes a profile of themselves, which is basically like a "get to know us" sort of scrapbook deal. It's what the birthmother looks at when she picks parents for her child. This is basically the adoptive parents' marketing ploy. :)} We decided to do our profile a la Wal-mart photo book, and we FINALLY finished it. Just waiting on the 937 copies to arrive at our nearest Wal-mart store. {Ok so there are only 4 copies.}


2. The agencies. We started off using Carolina Hope out of South Carolina. They "merged" with Nightlight Christian Adoptions, so now they're known as Nightlight. Agape of Central Alabama did our homestudy. {Speaking of the homestudy, that has also been completed as well...whew.} So, we decided to have both Nightlight and Agape working for us. The more the merrier!


3. The books. Ah, the books. Both agencies require a certain amount of "education" before adopting. Nightlight offers several webinars, which we plan to do at some point in the near future. In the meantime, we are reading the oh-so-informative-and-slightly-boring adoption books we ordered.


4. The first phone call. A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Nightlight. They had a birthmother who came in, and they wanted to show our profile! But alas, we did not have a copy, due to the procrastinative (?) nature of ourselves. So I quickly proofread what we did have & sent them a link to the online version of the photo book. Oh and p.s. the birthmother's due date? October 21st. But, as it turns out, she never got back in touch with the agency. Strike one.


5. The crib. So, after that first phone call, I got all giddy with the realization that this could happen ANY DAY NOW. Granted, the odds are that it will still be months, but who knows? So in an rare form of non-procrastination, I started thinking of what we need to do to prepare ourselves should we suddenly have a new baby in the house. Coincidentally {or not so coincidentally, as I don't believe in "coincidence"}, Elizabeth told me about this consignment sale in P'ville and how I may want to check it out for any awesome deals. So I went over on a Sunday afternoon, and lo and behold, there stood the exact style/color crib I'd been planning to get! And for the low, low price of $150 smackaroos. I got Baron's permission {via text, since he was in a coaches' meeting, oops!} and made the first official baby purchase. Fun times!


6. The second phone call. Just this past week, Agape called us. They got an e-mail from their sister agency in Texas - they had a birthmother who was being very particular about the adoptive parents she wanted. And we just so happened to fit her criteria. The catch? This agency's placement fees are WELL over our intended "baby budget". And by WELL over, I mean about $15,000 more than we planned to spend. Oh and the mom is due in December, which would give us 2 months to come up with that money. So, since we unfortunately purchased a red maple from my brother rather than a money tree, we had to ask not to have our profile shown for this case. It really broke my heart to come to this decision. I cried at the thought of having to basically tell this mom/baby "no, we can't afford to adopt your precious child into our home." {Yes, there are grants out there available for adoptive parents. Unfortunately, we just don't have time right now to get everything together to apply for them in time for this particular case.}


So, there you have it. Our adoption process thus far, in a nutshell. :) Feel free to ask questions...I'll consult my latest 1200-page book for an answer if I don't have one. :)