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.