And in an instant.....

My life changed forever.

Yeehaw!

I still can't believe it but we are leaving on August 11th!!!! I am still sort of in shock that it has all happened so fast but we are scheduled to be on a plane to China (via Detroit) on August 11th!!! We will return August 29th! So much to do......

Whew.....

Wow. We thought our dossier was a lot of paperwork - I never expected to have so much paperwork for LOA and travel!!! Once our PA arrived we were moved to the travel department with our agency (so exciting!!!) and the forms started coming fast and furious! We filled out every single form that we had, signed our LOA and thanks to Fed Ex it was all delivered back to our agency today!!!

Amazing to think we only got our referral on the 22nd!!!! PA on the 24th, LOA on the 2nd! Our agency estimates that we will travel in 5-8 weeks!!!! OMGG!!!! I can't believe it. Just getting an email from the Travel department was exciting - I never thought I'd see an email from the Travel Department!!!

So much to do........but so happy to do it!!

Amazing Grace!!!!

Well it's been a while since my last post. But I'm posting again with the best reason ever!!!! WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!!!! She is 17 months old and in Maoming, Guangdong, China!!!! We got the referral June 22nd and GOT LOA TODAY!!!!! Presenting Grace Michaela:

She is absolutely beautiful!!! We are absolutely over the moon with excitement!!!!! God is so good.

LID-iversary

We have been logged in for 31 months today.   It really doesn’t seem like that is possible, but it is.  When we started the process the wait was 18-20 months and that really seemed like a lifetime back then.  Ha.   18 months??!!  Now that feels like nothing.    31 down.   ????  to go.  

Halloween – Finally. :-)

So it took me a few days to go through the 100’s of pictures I took on Halloween of the kids and pick out a couple of good ones.   Every year we go to my sister’s for Trick or Treating – for a couple of reasons.   Number one - we love those kids and have the best time T or T’ing with them.   Number 2 – we live up on a hill and as sad as it is, kids will walk right past our house instead of walking up our driveway to get candy.   Now little to they know that I have always been THE house on the street with the good candy.  I buy full size candy bars people!!!   But they don’t know that – they are too lazy to come up the hill to get candy!   What is this world coming to??!!!    When I was a kid we would have walked on our knuckles in the snow all uphill to get to the house with the good candy (although that may explain why I’m not a size 0). 

So we turn all the lights off and head to my sister’s to Trick or Treat.   The little ones were so cute.   Curtis was Harry Potter!  Karly was a kitty cat and Hopie was the cutest Dumbo ever!!!   We had such a great time.

Karly spent the night with us before Halloween and of course we ended up going to the mall to Build A Bear.   Hey, I’m the aunt – I’m allowed to spoil them all I want.  :-)  I guess giving life to a bear really is exhausting.

That can’t possibly be comfortable.    But it’s cute.

I Think She Liked IT!!!

I’m not 100% sure, but I think Hopie likes chocolate pudding!   :-)

On a very sad note, I found out that very good friend of mine from high school lost her battle with breast cancer.   I am just in shock and so sad over this news.   We had lost touch in the last couple of years but I’ve thought of her often and am very saddened by the news.

On a much lighter note – if you’re looking for a gift for someone this holiday season (and you’ll have to think of something else for me because I already have this :-) ) I highly, highly, highly recommend this cookbook:

I pre-ordered it from Amazon (click link to go directly to it!) and it graced my mailbox the other day.  I sat down and read it from cover to cover!!!   I absolutely LOVE  The Pioneer Woman anyway and have made many of her recipes.  I love (and appreciate) the step by step instructions and pictures that she provides with each recipe.   I actually make my Thanksgiving turkey using her method/recipe  - tried it a couple of years ago and will never ever make a turkey any other way.   I’ve already made two other recipes from this cookbook and they are wonderful.  Be warned – she is not a low-fat cook – that’s what makes it all so good!!    Perfect item in time for the holidays!

I love the Amish!!

Every year a group of us girls takes a “Girl’s Weekend” this same time of year.    We usually spend the whole weekend shopping and basically doing whatever we want to do.  :-)  I really think it is important to have some time with just the girls to talk, laugh, shop, laugh, vent, laugh, eat, laugh, eat and really have fun.

Last weekend was girl’s weekend.   We had such a great time.  We shopped til we dropped – and sadly for me the drop happened earlier than I expected.   Not sure why but I lost my shopping groove early….could have been the weather – it rained ALL the livelong day.   But we’re troopers and we forged ahead!!!   I didn’t do too much damage (cough**lie**cough).  

I did discover a new love – one that is like that boyfriend you had as a teenager with a motorcycle or a fast car – sooooo not good for you – and yet so good!!   We hit an Amish grocery store called Walnut Creek Cheese and let me tell you I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  This place was amazing!!!     They had it all – bulk food, mixes, cheese homemade candy.   But the bakery was my favorite place of all – and where I found my fast car boyfriend – the fry pie.

Doesn’t that look amazing??!!  It was heavenly with the flaky crust and the fruity deliciousness on the inside and that sweet glaze on the outside!!   Oh my.   The best part was that each of them were in individual baggies and there was steam on the inside of the baggie because they had taken them right out of the oven.   Good thing I only bought 8.   I could seriously overdose on the fry pie.  

All in all (even despite the rain) we had a great weekend and I just love those gals.  I feel rejuvenated and already looking forward to next year so I can buy 3 dozen fry pies spend some quality time with my girls.

Open letter & I’ll give bullets a shot. :-)

Dear nice, nice people at the Groomer:

I love you all dearly but……. please don’t ever do this to my girl again.  She hid under the dining room table for about 2 hours.  I’m certain my laughter didn’t help but you started it.   Can’t you see the embarrassment in her face??!!   Thank you for your attention to this very serious matter.

Now onto the bullets:

• Go BUCKS!!!!  
• Go BENGALS!!!!
• It was a great weekend for football although the Bengals are going to have to start providing nerve pills to their fans if this keeps up.  
• Loved seeing all the pink items in the NFL!!!  You can see more details here:  NFL Pink

• Hubby’s Aunt and Grandma are visiting from California – love having them visit!!!   His Aunt and I get along famously and we have the best time together.  They are good people.
• Sad day is coming – the boat will be put in storage for the winter next weekend.  This summer has been so odd weather wise that we don’t really feel like we’ve gotten enough boating time in and now it’s time to put her away for the winter.   Boo.   
• 900+ days that we’ve been logged in.  Enough said.
• I don’t dislike Fall, I dislike losing summer.   But it has to happen so I’m going to go with it.   I do like the smells of Fall – especially Yankee Candle Fall scents.  Be Thankful and Pumpkin Spice are my faves!!!    I also love to bake this time of year.   I’m still searching for the perfect Pumpkin Bread recipe.  
• We are taking the younger kids to an apple orchard on Saturday.  I’m excited!!  I’ll be doing more baking – and more eating which is not in line with my weight loss plan.   But it’s for the kids.  :-)

Go Ahead and Make Yourself Comfortable

We spent the weekend at the lake which was absolutely lovely.   A bit chilly for my taste but I guess I can’t fight Mother Nature on the coming of Fall.  She is certainly a force to be reckoned with.   We got to watch the OSU game and although they lost,  Buckeye fans are some of the most fun folks around!! 

Saturday morning I got out of bed and went to start the coffee.  When I came back this is what I found:

I couldn’t believe it!!!  The funniest part was that he had pawed at the fitted sheet and pulled it off the mattress without disturbing the pillow!!!!  I guess it was cooler for him to lay directly on the mattress!   The other funny part was that when I walked back in to the room both Riley and hubby were snoring away!   Riley was very careful not to wake hubby because he knows he is not allowed on the bed!!!  Goofy dog.

And I am so proud of this chick, my niece Lindsay (pictured here with her mama, my sister) :

She is a sophomore at University of North Texas and she was accepted into the Honor’s College!   She’s such a smartie pants.   She moved into the sorority house this year and my sister has been helping out there – I guess she was preparing meals in this picture considering she is wearing an apron.  I don’t think she wears it just around town.  :-)    Lindsay is going to medical school so she will be leaving UNT after this year.   Beauty AND brains – she get all of it from her aunt!  :-)  I am so proud of her.