Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I stole this idea from my friend Elizabeth's blog and thought it was pretty cute.

When my parents first told me that we were moving to Minnesota, I could not believe they would have such horrific taste. My dad was considering churches in Florida and California, yet they chose Minnesota. My first winter here was hard - it was the coldest and snowiest place I'd ever lived...but then summer came along and it was the most beautiful summer I had ever experienced. Every summer I am reminded why I love living here.

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It's graduation season! I am very proud that this year my brother graduated from Minneapolis Community and Technical College and will be going to the University of Minnesota this Fall. This time every year I marvel at how quickly the years have gone by... I used to be the one lifting him up and carrying him around. Now he towers over me and easily picks me up when we hug.

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Every once in a while I am reminded of why I work with lawyers all day long and put up with their endless demands, unrealistic deadlines, short fuses and often over-inflated egos (sorry Jen and Tori - but sometimes it's true : ) At the end of the day, they are just people - scared of the power they have over people's lives and are just looking for a little reassurance.

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Every weekend should be 3 days... I feel so much more rejuvenated after 3 days of rest rather than just 2.

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I am amazed that my husband can work in the yard all weekend and love it. While he worked, I read 2 books and watched a couple of very long movies. Am I a lazy wife? If so, should I feel guilty about it? Why am I feeling guilty of not feeling guilty?

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We have a lava rock planter from Reunion Island where I lived with my family as a child and teenager. It's a shallow planter, but no matter what we - and by we I mean Brandon - plant flourishes in it every year. It's weird.

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I love country music but will never understand or relate to Gretchen Wilson's song "Redneck Woman." Probably a good thing.

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Twilight (the series AND the movie) is one of the best things that has every happened to me. That's right - I'm not afraid to admit that I am completely and utterly obsessed with the book series originally created for teenage girls and now a worldwide sensation. I watch the movie once a week and am starting to read the 4-book series for the 3rd time. It's cruel and unusual that the 2nd movie does not come out until November. Needless to say, I will be premiering it and actually might be wearing some sort of logoed T-Shirt, despite my usual disdain for any T-Shirt, especially those with logos.

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Until last week I had never even been a part of a jury trial. Now I have 2 in one month. It's far from the fun...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Dossier

Quick update - we will be handing over our dossier on Saturday, May 30th. It will likely go down to Colombia that next week. Yay!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Timeline Update

We are happy that steps 9 and 10 of our "Adoption Timeline" have been completed:

1. Submit adoption application to Crossroads- DONE
2. Receive approval from Crossroads - DONE
3. Attend education sessions at Crossroads - DONE
4. Homestudy evaluation - DONE
5. Homestudy completion - DONE
6. Forward documents to USCIS for approval - DONE
7. Receive receipt notice from USCIS - DONE
8. Get fingerprinted for USCIS - DONE
9. Receive approval from USCIS - DONE
10. Collect dossier for Colombia (birth certificates, marriage certificate, letter from Bank, evaluation from psychologist, evaluation from medical doctors, letters from employers, homestudy, tax return copies, ect.) - DONE
11. Forward dossier to Colombia via FANA
12. Receive approval from FANA (in Colombia)
13. Receive referral (notification that we have a baby!!!!!)
14. Seek and receive final approval from USCIS
15. Travel to Chicago for Colombian Consulate appointment (Visa)
16. Travel to Colombia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17. Hold, love and cry when holding our baby for the first time. Become a family of 3!!!!18. Complete adoption process in Colombia
19. Come home

We are hopeful that our dossier will be able to go down to Colombia either later this month or in early June. I'll post again as soon as it goes down!

Anna

P.S. 9 more steps to go!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

A Great Day

It's a beautiful day in May and I just ran my first 5K, yes all the way! What could be better than running a 5K in May? Finally receiving approval from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to be adoptive parents - Yay!

We are so excited that another step in our journey has been accomplished! More updates to follow!!!