We had such a busy weekend! N had to work Sat. morning, but that didnt stop us! S and I finished planting our vegetable garden. Then I started on my front flower garden. After N got home from work, he started building a planter box for me to cover our well head. (love killing two birds with one stone!) Today I planted, planted, and planted some more! Whew... and I'm not even finished! Ha... I didnt have enough floweres, so off to town tomorrow I go to get more and finish it up before our trip. Oh... and we've already gotten many compliments from our neighbors about our gardens and new fence. That makes me feel good that we arent doing all this work for nothing!
In addition to all this gardening, I'm also trying to get all my training finished for my Pure Romance business before we leave. It's been hectic and busy this last week, but I'm certainly not complaining!
August 2013
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
I hate waiting
I know N always tells me no news is good news, but I still hate waiting. I received a phone call from the adoption agency last week and was told that they were going over all of our information. They would call back this week to let us know if we are able to go ahead with the homestudy. Meaning = we are able to afford to adopt. So now it is Thursday and I still haven't gotten a phone call or an email. GRRR. Did I mention I hate waiting? I'm gonna keep my hopes up, it'll all happen in it's own time! **fingers crossed**
Flower garden too? Yes I think I will!
As if I don't already have enough projects going on, I decided to also fix a flower garden. Right now it is 25x4. Yeah I know, long and skinny. Depending on my mood tomorrow it may just be 25x8. :) Oh, and I'm also going to do a few little flowers around the mailbox to spice that area up, and the area around our biggest eye sore - the well head. My flower garden is almost ready to go. I still need N to put the edging in and then plant the flowers. I finally had an iris bloom in the other flower bed my mom fixed for me. It's all daffodils and iris's... so very pretty colors!
I've been researching and researching all kinds of flowers and I like way too many of them! Right now my list consists of a bicolor butterfly bush, marie jean dahlias, gladiolis, twinkle toes, sweet vanilla butterfly flower, rainbow lewisa mix, crocosmia 'emily mckenzie', and stargazer lily. I'm certain there are more, but these are all I can think of at the moment. The colors are purples, pinks, orange, yellow, and white.
On the agenda tomorrow... plant vegetable garden??? I'm ready to get my plantin' on!
Oh and I talked to my Dad last night! :) He probably doesnt realize it, but I enjoy talking to him.
I've been researching and researching all kinds of flowers and I like way too many of them! Right now my list consists of a bicolor butterfly bush, marie jean dahlias, gladiolis, twinkle toes, sweet vanilla butterfly flower, rainbow lewisa mix, crocosmia 'emily mckenzie', and stargazer lily. I'm certain there are more, but these are all I can think of at the moment. The colors are purples, pinks, orange, yellow, and white.
On the agenda tomorrow... plant vegetable garden??? I'm ready to get my plantin' on!
Oh and I talked to my Dad last night! :) He probably doesnt realize it, but I enjoy talking to him.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ebay Frustration!
I have to admit I have a love/hate relationship with Ebay. I love finding deals on there, but this morning I definitinly have a hate relationship. I sell quite a bit of stuff on Ebay. Mainly clothes. Most of the time I get pretty decent prices for K's old baby clothes. My gripe today... I listed K's old snow suit. Mind you, this is Columbia Sportwear, worn very few times so in excellent condition. We spent over $100 for this suit. You know how much it sold for? 99 freakin cents! Let me also tell you, the person that bought this item waited until 1 MINUTE until bidding ending... I am so irritated and I really want to tell the person that ripped me off that they cannot have it, but, me, being a good ebayer will pack it up and ship it out and leave a note that says "thank you for your purchase." **GAG**
Okay now that I got that out of my system, I must admit this is partly my fault. Most of my listings, I do not set a reserve price, as sometimes that turns people away. I should've with this item, and so now I have learned my lesson.
Okay now that I got that out of my system, I must admit this is partly my fault. Most of my listings, I do not set a reserve price, as sometimes that turns people away. I should've with this item, and so now I have learned my lesson.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Adoption Seminar
Well, we sent off our paperwork this week and are now signed up for the Weekend Intensive Workshop for May 21 and 22nd. We are starting on our homestudy process beforehand, so that's been even more paperwork! I'm so excited... to know that ONE day we will have another little baby. I know it will take time, and I'm okay with that. Now that I think of it, maybe I shouldnt get my hopes up until we are approved!
Adoption Session
We went to the adoption information session with IAC on Marh 6. We learned so much! It was a wonderful experience! We met with other prospective adoptive parents and also an adoptive mom. We are hoping to schedule the weekend intensive workshop for May. We of course would like to go sooner, but our schedules won't allow it! The weekend intensive is a more detailed workshop than the information session. At the weekend intensive we actually become clients of IAC. There, we will learn all about the adoption process from homestudy to post placement, reviewing all forms, guidance to create our "Dear Birthmother" letter and adoption website, resolve any questions we may have, a successful adoption parenting class, and preparation for our first "match meeting". We hope to start the homestudy process before we actually go to the workshop. We are very excited to start this journey, every day is one more day closer to our goal.
I talked with Aunt Sherry and she is teaching me all about "couponing" . I'm so excited to learn all about that! I am all about saving money! Nick calls me frugal, and I certainly take that as a compliment, because I believe if it weren't for my "frugalness" we wouldn't be going down the path we are! All the money we save by couponing will of course go to our adoption fund. We are also paying off two bills (with our tax money) that we have and will be rolling all that money into the fund. Slowly but surely.
I'm going to apoligize now for my all overness! Blogging isn't something I'm very good at, because I write all over the place.... my brain goes way too fast for my fingers, so I jump all over the place!
On that note, I want to explain a little more about OPEN adoption and IAC. IAC specializes in newborn open adoptions. Alot of times the adoptive parents will witness the birth of the child. IAC is among the very first agencies to offer open adoptions. Open adoption is where contact with the birthmother remains after the child is placed. It is a positive experience and the birthmother and adoptive families receive counseling. After a birthmother matches, counseling is then focused on dealing with loss and grief. Although the child is still healthy and alive, there is still a sense of loss and grief. Birthmothers that place their children for adoption LOVE and WANT their babies... they place for adoption out of love for that child. At that time in life they realize that they cannot give to their child as the child needs. They are very strong, I can only imagine that that decision would be the hardest one to make in life.
After starting this I decided to look up the definition of open adoption, of course there are tons of views. Ask 5 people what the definition is and you're likely to get 5 different answers! I found this definition, and in my opinion, it explains it to a t!
"The primary difference between a truly open adoption and a semi-open adoption is that the adopted child has the potential of developing a one-on-one relationship with his or her birthfamily. It is not about the adoptive parents bestowing birthparents with the privilege of contact, nor is it about birthparents merely being available to provide information over the years. Direct contact, in the form of letters, phone calls and visits between the birthfamily and the adopted child, along with his adoptive family, is essential if they are to establish their own relationship. After all, how can we honestly call an adoption open if the child is not involved?"
I know alot of people probably think open adoption is a little weird. I have to say when I first started researching adoption, I wasn't so sure about it. The more I learned, the more I understood that it is the healthiest way. A child can grow up knowing his birthmother, knowing where they came from, and having any questions answered they may have.
I talked with Aunt Sherry and she is teaching me all about "couponing" . I'm so excited to learn all about that! I am all about saving money! Nick calls me frugal, and I certainly take that as a compliment, because I believe if it weren't for my "frugalness" we wouldn't be going down the path we are! All the money we save by couponing will of course go to our adoption fund. We are also paying off two bills (with our tax money) that we have and will be rolling all that money into the fund. Slowly but surely.
I'm going to apoligize now for my all overness! Blogging isn't something I'm very good at, because I write all over the place.... my brain goes way too fast for my fingers, so I jump all over the place!
On that note, I want to explain a little more about OPEN adoption and IAC. IAC specializes in newborn open adoptions. Alot of times the adoptive parents will witness the birth of the child. IAC is among the very first agencies to offer open adoptions. Open adoption is where contact with the birthmother remains after the child is placed. It is a positive experience and the birthmother and adoptive families receive counseling. After a birthmother matches, counseling is then focused on dealing with loss and grief. Although the child is still healthy and alive, there is still a sense of loss and grief. Birthmothers that place their children for adoption LOVE and WANT their babies... they place for adoption out of love for that child. At that time in life they realize that they cannot give to their child as the child needs. They are very strong, I can only imagine that that decision would be the hardest one to make in life.
After starting this I decided to look up the definition of open adoption, of course there are tons of views. Ask 5 people what the definition is and you're likely to get 5 different answers! I found this definition, and in my opinion, it explains it to a t!
"The primary difference between a truly open adoption and a semi-open adoption is that the adopted child has the potential of developing a one-on-one relationship with his or her birthfamily. It is not about the adoptive parents bestowing birthparents with the privilege of contact, nor is it about birthparents merely being available to provide information over the years. Direct contact, in the form of letters, phone calls and visits between the birthfamily and the adopted child, along with his adoptive family, is essential if they are to establish their own relationship. After all, how can we honestly call an adoption open if the child is not involved?"
I know alot of people probably think open adoption is a little weird. I have to say when I first started researching adoption, I wasn't so sure about it. The more I learned, the more I understood that it is the healthiest way. A child can grow up knowing his birthmother, knowing where they came from, and having any questions answered they may have.
Adoption For Us
We knew after we lost our baby and the ability to conceive in March 2009 that we still wanted a little baby to love. We researched all of our options and decided that open adoption was right for us. We talked about it, researched, and talked some more! We knew it was what we wanted to do, but we felt it was out of our league (as it can be very expensive). We held back for some time, mainly due to money, but also emotionally we weren't sure we were ready. I told Nick that 2010 was going to be "our" year. So far it has been good. I have started thinking more about what we could have instead of what we have lost. Everyday I am getting stronger and more optimistic about what the future holds for us. We have started the wheels rolling with our adoption process. Although we have a long road ahead of us, I feel better that we are doing "something" to complete our lives. We are scheduled to attend an adoption seminar on March 6 2010. We are both pretty excited about it. We have decided to work with the agency Independant Adoption Center. We choose them because they have a branch in Raleigh, NC (about 3 hours from us). They have a lot of good feedback and a high score with the Better Business Bureau. They offer counseling for the birthmother and adoptive parents. Also, if the birthmother changes her mind, they would match you with another birthmother. If you're interested in learning more about them, follow this link http://www.adoptionhelp.org/.
We have had tons of support from family and friends, and we can't thank you all enough! Please keep the warm thoughts and prayers going! We welcome any questions or advice. If you have your own adoption story, we would love to hear it.
We have had tons of support from family and friends, and we can't thank you all enough! Please keep the warm thoughts and prayers going! We welcome any questions or advice. If you have your own adoption story, we would love to hear it.
Memorial Tattoos
For the one year anniversary of the death of our angel baby, we decided to get memorial tattoos. These were thought through... (lol, a year!) Nick's is pretty self explanatory. He got an angel holding a baby on his arm. The tattoo artist we went to felt honored to do our tattoos. As he said, stories like ours, is what makes him want to be better and puts meaning into his work. My tattoo needs a little more explanation. I got two liles and one daffodil on my back/right shoulder. The two lilies represent Nick and I. It was the main flower in our wedding and the chinese meaning is "forever in love." The daffodil is the March birthflower, and when it is single foretells misfortune. This special flower represents our angel. Nick's tattoo is not completely finished. He has to go back for another session to finish the wings.
I love the detailing... C did an awesome job!
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