Fun With Zombies

Amber and I had a little excursion to the Department of Homeland Security this morning.  Our fingerprints on file with them are only valid for a year, so had to go give them a fresh picture of our mitts.  At this point I've had more experience with government agencies than I ever really hoped to have in my life.  Still, time fades the memories of each experience, and I wasn't expecting for my patience to be put to the test like it was today.
We did remember that this particular branch does not allow mobile phones at all.  We later learned that this rule is completely arbitrary and was dictated by the DHS officer of that branch simply because she doesn't like people in her branch using mobile phones.  The stuff you learn when you get to chat-it-up with a bored security guard making $25/hr.  Yep, he shared that with us, too.
After filling out our paperwork, we had a lot of time to kill until being seen by the receptionist at "station 2".  Since I was without my iPhone and didn't have the forethought to bring anything paper to read, we tried to occupy our brains with some people watching.  Believe me, there's a lot to observe in that crowd.  Amber had a hard time controlling herself when I made a comment about how every employee in that office shuffled around like they were all on quaaludes.  I mean, they were completely listless and had no apparent awareness of the 40-50 people in the waiting area waiting to get fingerprinted.  Let's hope the zombies did a good job with our fingerprints and paperwork update.  We'll see them again next year I'm sure.
>bryan

Early Nesting

Being #1 on the unofficial list is kind of making us freak out a little.  Our adoptions have always seemed light-years away, so we've never really done anything to prepare the house to have a 2 yr old or younger kid in it.  I think Amber's feeling it the most now, so she's inspiring us to start some things to make the place a little more "together".  We're not exactly known for ever having our place together, and let's just say there are a lot of candidate projects.  I've decided the first one to take on is to paint the rest of the downstairs area.  Should be "fun". 
>bryan

Find Me, Follow Me

For those of you who started following our original "booygirls" blog over at Tumblr, THANK YOU FOR FINDING US HERE AT BLOGGER! Tumblr is really cool and simple, however it just had some limitations that we couldn't hang with. Blogger will enable us to provide more information, including cross-links to other adoptive families and orphan organizations that we'd like to shine a spotlight on.

As I mentioned on our previous blog...

So many people take the beginning of the new year to look back and look ahead.  I typically am not one of them.  But this year I have some positive things to look forward to, and I’m ready to get on with it.

At this time last year, Amber and I were feeling really glad to be rid of 2008.  There we deaths in our family, and a lot of pain and disappointment.  2009 was somewhat better, but there was another death and lots of frustrations, challenges, and disappointments.  Still, I can look back and see that God has (once again) come through for me and my family in really remarkable ways.  It’s that realization that really gives me a reason to have hope for 2010.  I’m not expecting it to be a cake-walk to be sure.  I just know that somehow God’s going to give me what I need when I need it on a day-by-day basis.

In 2009, Amber and I started the process of an Ethiopian adoption.  After several months of paper-chasing, our dossier was received and logged in on 8/14.  That’s’ our “date-to-Ethiopia” or DTE.  Other adoptive parents know this well.  That marks the beginning of waiting.  In some ways waiting is harder than the paper-chase.  Everything is out of our control.  We can only watch and wait for our turn to get a referral and travel.  The remarkable thing is that the rate of referrals has actually accelerated recently.  We’re now #3 on the “unofficial list” of adoptive parents for AWAA’s program.  One of those families ahead of us also seeking a baby girl, so in some ways we feel like we’re #2.

In all likelihood, 2010 will be the year that we get our 3rd daughter.  This will come after years of striving and waiting.  This is truly going to be an amazing change for our family, and I can’t wait.  Reality is starting to set in.  I almost feel like I should be packing my bags already, but we could still be waiting some months.  Remember, everything is still out of our control and a lot can happen to drag the timeline out.  But I can’t help but to feel optimistic and excited.  I’m ready for the adventure.  Bring it!

>bryan