It's beginning to look a lot like....

We had a great Thanksgiving in Spokane. Steve's mom flew in from Denver on Tuesday, and my parents & Uncle Dave drove over from Seattle on Wednesday. It was the first time our parents had the chance to meet one another since Steve and I have been together, which was kind of nice. We managed to put together the entire Thanksgiving dinner successfully and it actually wasn't as stressful as I thought it might be...hooray!

My parents drove home on Friday, but Steve's mom has stayed thru the weekend and returns home tomorrow. On Sunday we decided to start our Christmas decorating. First, to the tree lot, where we found and gorgeous (and not too $$$) Noble Fir.

It is really fresh and smells amazing!

We enjoyed pulling out all the decorations, some of which have been passed down from our grandparents, through our parents, and now us.

Then we hung our "Candy" lights on the inside of the front window above the garage. Finally, we started on the outside lights. Our house is too tall to take on the whole "outlining the roof" thing - so we settled for decorating our entryway arbor, and two trees near the front porch. I think it looks great! It's been fun to see all of our neighbors out decorating. It's been (relatively) warm the past couple of days (temps in the 40s) so everyone got out to do their lights before the REAL snow and cold are upon us!

Giving Thanks...

(on the fence in our backyard this week...Wild Turkeys!)

This week I give thanks for lots of things...

First and foremost, my health and my family's health - thank you God! Especially that my sister's breast cancer has been in remission for 6 MONTHS now. YAY!

I am so grateful that Steve and I are both employed and able to put food on the table and pay our bills. I know a lot of families have fallen on tough times this year.

I am thankful for all the old friends I have stayed connected with - or reconnected with thru Facebook - and for the new friends I have met in Spokane this year.

I am also thankful for this beautiful house we were able to move into in August, and the two mini-vacations we were able to take to the Oregon Coast this year. I am thankful for our loving pets Luna and Killer (who turned 12 this week!), and for the beautiful spirits who visit our yard daily in the form of deer, turkey, and quail. I am also grateful for finding a terrific aqua class with a great teacher nearby, so I can burn off steam (and calories) every few days. Hooray!

I am thankful for our new social worker "N", and the agency she works for here in Spokane, that helped us complete our new homestudy. Through her diligence and commitment, we were able to complete the process in only three months. I am also thankful to my agency in Colorado, CCAI, who helped step me thru the process of applying for my I-800A. Thank you to my friends Linda, Beth, Megan, and Betsy who provided personal references for me (again!). My I-800A application was mailed out to Texas last week.

I am thankful for so many of my adoption community friends, who met their beautiful children this year, and by sharing their successes, motivated me to submit my Medical Needs Checklist for the Waiting Child Program. Marcy, Amy, Laurie, Kim, and Kris J. - I am thankful for each one of you! Thanks also to Beth, Holly, Dana, Kris F. and Lillian - all adoptive moms themselves - who regularly provide me with the encouragement to keep moving forward and stick with the program, knowing that my daughter IS out there.

I am thankful for all the generous folks out there who - even in this time of economic hardship - are willing to give a few of their own dollars to help out those less fortunate. The generosity I saw at the food bank drive, and at the adoption agency auction last week, renewed my sense of hope in humanity. Thank you.

I am also thankful that Steve's mom will be able to join us in Spokane for Thanksgiving this year...I haven't seen her since March 2008. It will be so good to spend some time with her.

...and of course I am thankful for Steve. He is an amazing daily presence in my life. Even on the toughest days, he helps me remain centered and reminds me of all the good things we are blessed with in our lives...including one another. It only gets better from here baby! :)

FINALLY, I am thankful (in advance) for the rollercoaster ride that sure to ensue over the next 12-18 months, and all the folks who are willing to take this ride with me...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

31 Months

Today marks 31 months since my dossier was logged in over in China... Our new homestudy was approved by my agency this week, so it is soon to be mailed off to the USCIS (immigration dept.) in Texas, where it will undergo another approval process that will likely take several weeks to complete... *sigh*. I saw this quote this morning - and it struck my heart even more than ever today:

"Hold fast to your vision. Do something everyday to bring it into manifestation and watch it unfold"
~Michael Bernard Beckwith

When I updated my homestudy, I also talked with my social worker about special needs kids, and what types of children (and what types of needs) I might be able to parent. This is important as an estimated 85% of the children in China's orphanages have been labeled with some kind of special need, and the wait to adopt a "special needs" child is often much shorter than to adopt a healthy baby. Many of the "needs" these kids have, wouldn't be considered a "special need" in America - or they are issues that would be corrected shortly after birth here in the states. It is rare that you see an American baby with a cleft lip or a club foot...that is because, in America, where we have better prenatal screening, and newborn care services, those issues are often corrected right away. The same with seizure disorders and minor holes in the heart... I know the resiliency of kids. I saw it every single day when I worked at the children's hospital. And now, working for the adoption agency, I continue to see kids who are labeled "special needs" thrive once they are home with their adoptive families. I don't know if Lia will have a special need or not, or what that need might be...but I feel at peace knowing that we have opened up more pathways for her to be matched to us.

Most of my friends in the adoption community have already seen this video, but I thought I would share it here for my friends and family who have not had the chance to see it:

A Happy Halloween!

We had fun decorating our house for the kiddos this year. We didn't get many trick or treaters (maybe 25 total?) but it was still fun. The front porch looked great!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Autumn in Spokane

Steve took the photo of this tree in our backyard about three days ago. Today, there are very few leaves left on the tree...but we've got a heck of a bunch of leaves covering our back deck. Call in the leafblowers!!!

There hasn't been a lot of interesting news to report. My parents came to Spokane for a visit about 10 days ago, which was nice. It was a quick trip, but we had a chance to show them our new place, and got in a visit to the resort in Coeur d'Alene for lunch. We're looking forward to a visit from Steve's mom over Thanksgiving.

The weather has been all over the map the past month - from 70 & 80 degree highs, to 18 degree lows...typical fall weather I guess...especially in this part of the state. Not nearly as much rain as Seattle and western Washington. Actually, Spokane reminds me quite a bit of Denver in terms of weather. I like it.

Downtown, they opened the outdoor ice rink this week. Seems a little early to me, but I guess I need to suck it up and realize that winter IS coming! (Hopefully it just won't bring the record six feet of snow we saw last year). I don't mind if it's feezing cold - but snow is a pain in the butt. Especially in such large amounts. Although this winter will mark the FIRST winter that I've ever had a garage for my car! WHOO HOO. Hallelujah! Yes, that's right folks, I lived in Ellensburg for 5 years, and Iowa and Colorado for 13 years, and just went thru Spokane's worst winter in 50 years...all without a garage. Meaning, I've had the pleasure of scraping the windows and/or scooping off snow for TWENTY years now...(and people wonder why I need a chiropractor?) I am so excited about parking my car in the garage, that I *almost* WANT it to snow, just so I can feel the pleasure of backing my clean, warm car out of the garage... :)

In other news, Steve's on-air shift is moving from morning drive to afternoon drive this week. No more 4 a.m. wake-up calls! This is exciting news for me, but more-so for Steve. He did an amazing job with his morning show over the past year, bringing it from #11 to #3 in the ratings (YAY!)...but waking up at 4 o'clock every morning gets old pretty fast. Especially living this far north, where in the winter, it stays dark until 7:30 am. and starts getting dark again around 4 p.m. Now he will actually be able to go to work during the light of day, and although he will have to stay a bit later (and still come home in the dark) at least he will be able to stay up a little later with me in the evenings.

In adoption news, our social worker finished writing our homestudy report this week, and has sent it to my agency for review. Fingers crossed for a speedy and seamless review, so we can move forward with getting our USCIS (immigration) approval. That process will probably take another several weeks - especially with the holidays coming up - but I'm trying to keep a positive outlook. My goal is to start 2010 with all the required paperwork updated and in place.

30 Months (and 3 years...)

Today marks 30 months of Wishing for Lia...

...and Thursday marked 3 years since the day Steve and I met.

Dear Universe,

How about us meeting Lia and bringing her home WITHIN the next 30 months, and giving Steve and I at LEAST 30 more years together?

Sounds good to me too. :)

~ Julie

The Road Less Traveled...Homestudy #2

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

On Sunday we endured a 3-hour visit from our new social worker to update my homestudy. Of course, in the days leading up to this, I was a mad woman trying to clean, organize and decorate the house. I laughed at myself the entire time, because as part of my job - I am constantly telling people NOT to stress about the homestudy - that it ISN'T a white-glove inspection of their home...etc. I guess this is a good example of "Do as she says, not as she does!" LOL.

Anyway, our new social worker "N" is great. She was very friendly and calm. She said our 18-page bio report was the best she'd EVER read. HA! Maybe she says that to ALL her clients, but I'm guessing that the past 2.5 years I've had to read books, get to know other adoptive parents, and actually WORK in the field...has paid off. "N" said she's never met anyone more prepared... You can say that again sister!

So of course, this was my 2nd time through the homestudy process, but it was a first for Steve - and of course he did wonderfully. Who doesn't love Steve? As an "adult member of my household" he has had to have all the background checks and answer a lot of questions that I'm sure he had NO IDEA he was signing up for when we met three years ago THIS WEEK! For the record, I was not worried one bit about how he would answer N's questions. :) No, I was more worried about dusting and straightening bookshelves and putting out clean handtowels in the bathroom.

Now we wait for N to write her report. Then she will submit it to my agency for review and make edits as necessary. Then it will be sent off to the USCIS (Homeland Security) for immigration approval...and then we will wait some more...

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference...

So we're still moving down this road. Some days it's like wading through a swamp. But we've strapped on our hip waders and we're working our way through. Moving forward...slowly, but with determination...and trying to enjoy the journey along the way.