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.

It's Coming Along...

Not a lot to report lately. Still doing some unpacking and decorating of the house. Steve's been working a ton of hours, and I've been busy with work myself, as well as wading through lots of homestudy paperwork. I'm happy to report it IS coming along!

FBI clearances have been received. All eleven state clearances were requested and are now coming back (slowly). My four personal references were submitted (thanks friends!) Our doctors have completed and submitted our medical releases. We've written our 18-page bio Q&A (that's single-spaced, typed) and have sent it off. Next? We schedule the actual home visit with our social worker. I'm not too stressed about this, as I've been through it before and also I realize it is more to determine that our house is a safe and appropriate environment in which to raise a child more than anything else. Mainly I just want the house to look somewhat organized. We've been in this house almost two months now and there are still a lot of bare walls and unpacked boxes, but each weekend we get a little bit more done.

Our social worker will be on vacation for a week in October, so I'm hoping we can get this appointment scheduled sooner than later. After that, we will be waiting on her written report so we can go get our immigration fingerprints done and then wait for our immigration approval. Again, I've done this all before - it's just been three years. I know everything will get done in it's own time, and when the timing is right. It's just hard for someone like me to not want to control the entire process from beginning to end. But so far I have been able to maintain a respectable level of restraint during the frustration and seemingly endless red tape of the process. I'm learning patience. I know these are the Universe's lessons for me: giving up control and practicing patience. Good lessons for a mom-to-be I suppose.

29 Months!

I'm currently knee deep in paperwork getting my adoption homestudy updated. Since we moved to Washington state in March 2008, I've needed to get a homestudy update. And my I600A (U.S. immigration approval) expired in September '08. With the move into our new house last month, we'd finally saved up enough money (close to $3k) and I was able to get the "paperchase" started again. I won't even get into how complicated all this paperwork is, but just know - it could be a fulltime job by itself! But nose to the grindstone...I WILL get it done. Hopefully a couple of years from now I will be able to look back on all this and laugh...OK, maybe not laugh, but at least look back at these years of waiting with relief and a smile?

In the meantime, for the next two weeks I will read Kris and Laurie and Kim's blogs and remind myself that there IS someone amazing and worth waiting for at the end of all this!

Labor-less Weekend

Steve and I had a great Labor Day Weekend. For me, it was "labor-less". Steve had to work a couple of remote broadcasts from furniture and mattress stores in the area. Doesn't it seem like mattress and furniture stores are ALWAYS having sales? And the number of mattress stores always blows my mind. Now clearly, everyone needs a mattress, but how do all these mattress stores stay in business? Do THAT many people buy new mattresses that often?

Anyway - we headed down to Spokane's "Pig Out in the Park" food festival on Sunday. Had myself some banana nutella crepes - yummy. Also did some shopping for some artwork to hang in a couple of strategic places in our new house. Good times!

This coming week is exciting because THREE of my adoption world friends are reaching milestones this week. Kris and Laurie both leave tomorrow for China - whoo hoo! They will be meeting their girls next Monday. I can hardly believe it. All three of us submitted our applications and dossiers to CCAI during the same time period three years ago. Their girls are so cute, and I can only hope to be following in their footsteps soon! My friend Kim, who has been in Kazakhstan since July has finally had her adoption approved and has gotten permission to take her daughter out of the orphanage on Wednesday, so they will be coming home to Memphis in just a short couple of weeks!

Summer Beach Trip 2009

We arrived home from our week at the beach on Friday night. We had an amazing time, but were also ready to be home for awhile. The last few weeks have been crazy - for us and for the dogs. First our sudden move on the 7th, then a weekend trip to Seattle, then back for one week before heading out to the coast for our beach trip...WHEW!

The house we stayed at in Oregon was right on the cliff above the beach. It was a "round" house, so the sound of the ocean waves would come in the windows and literally bounce off all the walls in the house. So even sleeping in the back bedroom (away from the ocean), you felt like you were sleeping seaside with the window open. It was awesome! We also visited some amazing restaurants on this trip. The Blackfish Cafe in Lincoln City was AMAZING. Pan-seared scallops with pumpkin risotto - followed by a "homemade Ding Dong" for dessert. OMG (aqua sport class here I come!)

We also drove south to Depoe Bay one day and were amazed by the serious waves crashing on the rocky coast down there! All the tourists standing up on the lookout were trying not to get drenched by the huge fans of ocean spray being shot up by the sea. Enjoy the photos!