God always provides!

Praise Jesus! This nightmare of a car accident has paid off. Granted, I have to buy a new car, but I am getting enough money to put down a decent down payment on a car, pay off our credit card, AND pay for the February adoption orientation!!! We won't have to wait until June after all! I am so excited! Yet, at the same time, I am so incredibly exhausted. I am spent. Between the adoption, the car thing, and trying to do school, I have been stretched too thin lately. So, hopefully I'll be able to find me a new (used) car today and we'll have a snow day tomorrow and I'll get to rest for a few days. Thanks for all the prayers!

Money Money Money Money....MONEY!

Now that song is stuck in my head! Whew! It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks, let me tell ya! We turned in our preliminary paperword last Thursday, and on Friday we got notice that it was APPROVED! Step 1 of a million down! Woohoo! Yesterday, I received the formal application and paperwork and completed it today. The social worker told me Friday that if I could get the formal app and the $550 fee in by this Friday (yes, THIS Friday) that we would be able to go to orientation on Feb 5th! If we don't get it in by Friday, we will have to wait until June to go! So, I am racking my brain trying to come up with $550 by FRIDAY! That's 3 days away!

That's where you come in! :-) We are, of course, taking donations, and I am also selling homemade greeting cards. I'll take some pictures of some tonight and post them. I can also customize them for special occasions!! We have some other fundraisers planned as well, so stay tuned!

On a sadder note, I killed my car this weekend. Well, actually, the nice gentleman who decided not to stop and instead rear-end me on the interstate at 50MPH and then leave the scene killed it. That's right. He left. Just drove off. Not even so much as a glance to see if I was ok. Luckily, no one suffered any serious injuries, including the people in front of me that I was pushed into. So, praise God for that! Just a warning...if you see a hispanic gentleman in a red F150 and a dented front bumper, let me know....and don't drive near him.

To say that I am overwhelmed would definitely be an understatement. I am experiencing all sorts of emotions. Excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, nervousness, impatience.... My head just won't stop! It seems like there is SO much to do and me being the type A personality that I am, wanted it done yesterday! To think that we will have to wait until June to go to orientation and start the home study process is almost unbearable! But, on the plus side, I think we have plenty to (hopefully) keep us occupied until then. Like, finishing my mom and dad's scrapbook for their 50th anniversary in March, starting on our family profile (which technically we're not supposed to start on until we get the homestudy info at orientation, but since I'm making it scrapbook style, I thought I should get a head start), getting the formal application approved, and not to mention funraising! I have several ideas for fundraising. Hopefully we will be successful. Oh, and I am sure I won't be able to refrain from shopping for baby :-) So, we definitely have our work cut out for us. I am exhausted already, and we have only just begun!

Big news!

We have decided to ADOPT! We are incredibly excited! (And quite nervous, too!) We've already told our families, and they all seem to be excited and supportive, which is a major relief! We haven't given up on having a biological child. In fact, we truly feel that this is the direction God is leading us, and we want to be obedient.

We met with the agency this evening, and the coordinator was very nice. They are right here in Nashville, which is convenient. We turned in our preliminary application this evening. Once that is approved (hopefully within days), we will be sent the paperwork for the formal application. We are so excited to get the home study started, but it will probably be a few months, or more, depending on when we can get the formal application in. If we don't get it completed in time for the Orientation in February, we'll have to wait until June for the orientation. We receive all of our home study info at orientation.

So, stay tuned for updates! This is where I'll be updating everyone, instead of making a million calls with every step we achieve. Keep us in your prayers!

Thank you card

This is a Thank You card I made using my Cricut Expression. I used the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for it. It took a while to get it sized right, but the final outcome was very impressive( for a beginner, anyway)!