Ok - it wasn't a huge deal, but I thought the snow we got yesterday was FABULOUS. From about 4 pm 'til 8 or 9 pm, we were getting big fluffy flakes that actually stuck to the ground.
I tried to take a photo to post on the blog, but all I got were up-close & over-exposed (from the flash) snow flakes.... and a little fuzzy house in the background.
This morning, it's only rain.
Oh well! It was fun while it lasted.
c
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Not much to blog about - but I thought I should jot down about the weekend. Went to Yoga / We hosted Soup Night (which was a much smaller crowd - and we got to talk to everyone this time) / Sunday we went up the street so Todd & I could talk to a neighbor about a front porch addition (he'll do this project) / went to an art store to buy some cover stock for our profile books / then went to babies r us to look at car seat / stroller combo (we MUST have a car seat picked out and ready to take with us). We found one we like but we need to research it. We have a consumer reports on its way. Also looked at convertible cribs too. Todd and I both agreed on a style. We'd really like one of those beautiful mission-style hand-made cribs, but cha-ching.... especially for the convertible kinds (so that they don't go to waste after a couple of years).
Speaking of cribs & stuff, check out this bassinet that my grandpa made quite some time ago. My dad gave it to us when we went to visit him at Thanksgiving. (below: pic of our spare bedroom / future nursery)
I'm not sure if the walnut used came from his farm or not -- but he always uses walnut. I suppose that's why I built this table (on the opposite side of the bed) out of walnut and ash? It's the first time that a piece of furniture that my grandpa made and that I made are in the same room. I just noticed that in this picture... cool! Our college begun offering furniture design in the 4th year of our 5 year program. If they had begun it sooner, I may have switched majors. It was so exhilarating making this piece / gluing together the strips of walnut so that I could bend them around the jig I made / sanding down the pieces. ahhhh.....i'd love to get back to woodwork.
Maybe once all of our "projects" (adoption and finishing a few things around the house) are done, I can get back to it. We've talked about turning our garage into a shop. I bought some old windows at an antique store that was going out of business. I think - if we put those windows in the walls of the wall and brought some daylight / some cross-ventilation in, it would make it a great work shop.
that's all.
g'night.
Speaking of cribs & stuff, check out this bassinet that my grandpa made quite some time ago. My dad gave it to us when we went to visit him at Thanksgiving. (below: pic of our spare bedroom / future nursery)
I'm not sure if the walnut used came from his farm or not -- but he always uses walnut. I suppose that's why I built this table (on the opposite side of the bed) out of walnut and ash? It's the first time that a piece of furniture that my grandpa made and that I made are in the same room. I just noticed that in this picture... cool! Our college begun offering furniture design in the 4th year of our 5 year program. If they had begun it sooner, I may have switched majors. It was so exhilarating making this piece / gluing together the strips of walnut so that I could bend them around the jig I made / sanding down the pieces. ahhhh.....i'd love to get back to woodwork. Maybe once all of our "projects" (adoption and finishing a few things around the house) are done, I can get back to it. We've talked about turning our garage into a shop. I bought some old windows at an antique store that was going out of business. I think - if we put those windows in the walls of the wall and brought some daylight / some cross-ventilation in, it would make it a great work shop.
that's all.
g'night.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Yay!
There are so many things I'm happy about today!
- work was fun today... I attended a breakfast meeting which was interesting... and at lunch I atteneded another presentation (I should have more work days like this - going and learning things!)
- while I was at work, Todd was meeting with the social worker. She came to our house to do an inspection. She found a battery in a smoke alarm that was dead, but otherwise, I think the appointment went well. BIG RELIEF.
- I had a clean house to come home to after work! We have both been working so hard cleaning, but mainly putting the upstairs back in order affter the renovation to the art studio.
- I took a nap when I got home. I love naps! And - I did it upstairs... in the room that we just cleaned out. The reason I did that: when you crack the window, you can hear the stream in the back yard. Total relaxation.
As I was laying there, I was thinking 2 things: 1 -- of the Chalet that Todd & I used to go to in north Georgia on a river..... and 2 -- what a cool room this would be for a teenager. It would be like a suite with a media room (our upstairs den). It's got the fish tank. A computer niche. A karaoke machine! (that was a gift, by the way)
I am definitely chill right now. And happy. ahhhhh..... it's all downhill from here regarding the home study.
---- On a separate note ----
Yesterday, we had another lead on a birthmother situation. Todd & I made the decision to send a profile to the woman's case worker. We're not getting our hopes up that this will pan out, but the timing is good (mid-april is her due date), the location is within driving distance (Arkansas), and there's a famous building in that state we've always wanted to visit... so we'd have something to do while there while waiting.
We are pursuing all options at this point. Our personal network is AMAZING and strong. I'm constantly getting people telling me how they've like the website / how they're passing along our adoption letter / etc. We'll see what happens.... either one of the opportunities that our consultant finds will work out for us or perhaps something within our personal network (or both?!) : - )
Todd & I are about to head out to grab a bite... I think we'll watch a netflix movie tonight when we get home. I'll check in later.
Tomorrow is yoga in the morning and then Soup Night in the evening.
Oh yeah -- Soup Night last Saturday went really well. It was our largest "opening night." Normally we have 8 - 10 people on our first Saturday. We had over 20. That's a little scary -- hopefully all of the Soup Nights aren't double or triple in size like this one was! We served French Onion as the vegetarian and a smokey ham & black bean soup as the non-veg. I got to catch up and spend time with most people there, but there were a handful that I didn't get to spend too much time with. I think Todd got to spend a lot of quality time with neighbors and friends.
Tomorrow I'm making the shrimp corn chowder and either a sun-dried tomato soup or a pumpkin / butternut squash soup as the veg.
ok. now I'm going to run.
Candice
- work was fun today... I attended a breakfast meeting which was interesting... and at lunch I atteneded another presentation (I should have more work days like this - going and learning things!)
- while I was at work, Todd was meeting with the social worker. She came to our house to do an inspection. She found a battery in a smoke alarm that was dead, but otherwise, I think the appointment went well. BIG RELIEF.
- I had a clean house to come home to after work! We have both been working so hard cleaning, but mainly putting the upstairs back in order affter the renovation to the art studio.
- I took a nap when I got home. I love naps! And - I did it upstairs... in the room that we just cleaned out. The reason I did that: when you crack the window, you can hear the stream in the back yard. Total relaxation.
As I was laying there, I was thinking 2 things: 1 -- of the Chalet that Todd & I used to go to in north Georgia on a river..... and 2 -- what a cool room this would be for a teenager. It would be like a suite with a media room (our upstairs den). It's got the fish tank. A computer niche. A karaoke machine! (that was a gift, by the way)
I am definitely chill right now. And happy. ahhhhh..... it's all downhill from here regarding the home study.
---- On a separate note ----
Yesterday, we had another lead on a birthmother situation. Todd & I made the decision to send a profile to the woman's case worker. We're not getting our hopes up that this will pan out, but the timing is good (mid-april is her due date), the location is within driving distance (Arkansas), and there's a famous building in that state we've always wanted to visit... so we'd have something to do while there while waiting.
We are pursuing all options at this point. Our personal network is AMAZING and strong. I'm constantly getting people telling me how they've like the website / how they're passing along our adoption letter / etc. We'll see what happens.... either one of the opportunities that our consultant finds will work out for us or perhaps something within our personal network (or both?!) : - )
Todd & I are about to head out to grab a bite... I think we'll watch a netflix movie tonight when we get home. I'll check in later.
Tomorrow is yoga in the morning and then Soup Night in the evening.
Oh yeah -- Soup Night last Saturday went really well. It was our largest "opening night." Normally we have 8 - 10 people on our first Saturday. We had over 20. That's a little scary -- hopefully all of the Soup Nights aren't double or triple in size like this one was! We served French Onion as the vegetarian and a smokey ham & black bean soup as the non-veg. I got to catch up and spend time with most people there, but there were a handful that I didn't get to spend too much time with. I think Todd got to spend a lot of quality time with neighbors and friends.
Tomorrow I'm making the shrimp corn chowder and either a sun-dried tomato soup or a pumpkin / butternut squash soup as the veg.
ok. now I'm going to run.
Candice
Saturday, January 5, 2008
a quick blog - Saturday
Having a good day today -- went to yoga this morning (haven't been in awhile & needed it) -- making preparations for some cooking later this afternoon (we have soup night tonight) -- and just keep getting a lot of encouragement on the web link as people are (finally) getting their Christmas and New Year's cards. Thanks, Becki (if you read this) for passing along the web link to your friends. Didn't think about that, honestly, just thought about distributing the cards -- but COOL!
For those of you who knew about this, we finished our profile book just before Christmas and our adoption consultant found a prospective match for us. We were asked to FedEX a profile book out the next day if we were interested... and we did. We just found out yesterday that Chelsea S. from Nevada chose another family to adopt her baby. Todd & I are both ok with it... we've been insulating ourselves from getting our hopes up (honestly - the ups and downs of fertility treatments has prepared us for this)... so we're content to keep pressing on. The right baby is out there -- we just have to find the right fit.
Also, I had my 2nd meeting with the social worker yesterday. It went well, but she revealed to me that the state of Georgia has undergone some changes in the adoption laws as of Jan 1 and there is MORE paperwork, training, and tests that we have to do on top of the mountain of things that we already had to do. We thought we were through with the bulk of the work in the homestudy, but apparently we're not. Todd has is 2nd meeting with her on this coming Friday. This one will be at the home. (After Soup night, we'll be cleaning a lot more 'til her visit!!!)
I should run, but just wanted to report the news as of yesterday. C
For those of you who knew about this, we finished our profile book just before Christmas and our adoption consultant found a prospective match for us. We were asked to FedEX a profile book out the next day if we were interested... and we did. We just found out yesterday that Chelsea S. from Nevada chose another family to adopt her baby. Todd & I are both ok with it... we've been insulating ourselves from getting our hopes up (honestly - the ups and downs of fertility treatments has prepared us for this)... so we're content to keep pressing on. The right baby is out there -- we just have to find the right fit.
Also, I had my 2nd meeting with the social worker yesterday. It went well, but she revealed to me that the state of Georgia has undergone some changes in the adoption laws as of Jan 1 and there is MORE paperwork, training, and tests that we have to do on top of the mountain of things that we already had to do. We thought we were through with the bulk of the work in the homestudy, but apparently we're not. Todd has is 2nd meeting with her on this coming Friday. This one will be at the home. (After Soup night, we'll be cleaning a lot more 'til her visit!!!)
I should run, but just wanted to report the news as of yesterday. C
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Through the hard part of the home study!
Todd and I spent ALL DAY today (Sunday) working on the 15 pages of narratives that each one of us had to write as a part of the home study. I will turn those in when I meet with the social worker on Friday. One of the hazards of the home study: cramps in your hands from writing so much!
We are making a lot of progress. As mentioned: cleaned a ton last week. Did the fingerprints & mailed the ones into the Ga Crime folks Friday... got Todd to sign the coverletter for the one for the FBI and will send that tomorrow. These two documents are the ones that take the longest to process: 6 - 8 weeks, but they can be expedited if needed. We got our criminal background check done on Friday also -- all clear. Another hazard of the home study: wearing fingerprints off of your fingertips by cleaning so much! Seriously. The person at the police department taking our fingerprints didn't seem so concerned.
We're going to continue to clean tomorrow & Tuesday (New Year's Eve & New Year's Day. It's a good time to do it anyways.... before folks come over for soup night.) There's a few other forms that we need to fill out (only 1 - 2 pages each. easy!) and we'll need to set up doctor's appointments for physician's statement of health. The cats will get updated vaccinations tomorrow as well. I think that's about the jist of it.
On a side note, we are getting SO much positive response from the networking cards that were in our Christmas Cards... and great feedback on the website. I fixed the pages today that had glitches and made a couple of other tweaks. We feel pretty good about it and are happy with it overall.
Got more "New Year's" Cards to do -- and more networking cards to go in them. Still have a hundred or more to do. Wow....... it's a big big job. I should run. Candice
We are making a lot of progress. As mentioned: cleaned a ton last week. Did the fingerprints & mailed the ones into the Ga Crime folks Friday... got Todd to sign the coverletter for the one for the FBI and will send that tomorrow. These two documents are the ones that take the longest to process: 6 - 8 weeks, but they can be expedited if needed. We got our criminal background check done on Friday also -- all clear. Another hazard of the home study: wearing fingerprints off of your fingertips by cleaning so much! Seriously. The person at the police department taking our fingerprints didn't seem so concerned.
We're going to continue to clean tomorrow & Tuesday (New Year's Eve & New Year's Day. It's a good time to do it anyways.... before folks come over for soup night.) There's a few other forms that we need to fill out (only 1 - 2 pages each. easy!) and we'll need to set up doctor's appointments for physician's statement of health. The cats will get updated vaccinations tomorrow as well. I think that's about the jist of it.
On a side note, we are getting SO much positive response from the networking cards that were in our Christmas Cards... and great feedback on the website. I fixed the pages today that had glitches and made a couple of other tweaks. We feel pretty good about it and are happy with it overall.
Got more "New Year's" Cards to do -- and more networking cards to go in them. Still have a hundred or more to do. Wow....... it's a big big job. I should run. Candice
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
After Christmas
We had a busy holiday. This was the first time that Todd or I had ever missed Christmas in NC and NJ. We have SO SO much to do regarding the home study / creating an adoption network (spreading the news with our friends & family - basically) / finishing our website!!!
I've only finished 88 Christmas cards (I have to hand-deliver about 45 of those today around the neighborhood). There's about 200 more to go. Seriously! Christmas cards are always a big thing to do anyways (never this many)... but with adding a "dear family & friends" letter and a couple of post card-sized enclosures has made it an even bigger job. So..... if you haven't gotten a card yet from us -- please know that it's on the way -- we just have a few extra steps to getting them out.
The website was really the big hold-up on getting the cards out. I have been working day & night to finish it. There were also several pages that glitched -- so I had to re-do some of the pages. (There are still 2 pages that I have to re-do and a group of letters that Todd is scanning today (we scanned them previously, but couldn't find them on either computer or our memory sticks)).... so - if your letter isn't up there yet - it will be.... and it is VERY much appreciated! Again: just running a little more behind than normal!
The priority over the next 2 - 3 days is to finish the Christmas cards, get our FBI fingerprinting done, and to begin filling out the home-study paperwork. I think that will take us through to the new year, then we can begin working on the agency applications.
We are going full-force on ALL avenues (personal adoption network, agency adoption, and the random opportunities that come through our adoption consultant). We feel that we're working hard now... but it will pay off SOON!
__________
On another (non-adoption!) note: we had a nice Christmas. After cleaning all weekend, Todd worked hard on Christmas Eve to make his mom's lasagna recipe. He also made creme brulee for dessert too... then even did the dishes!! My mom came to town earlier that day and we all went to see a play (the Christmas Carol) at a neighborhood theater a little north of where we live. It was definitely a small / community theather, but was nice. (Then we watched a musical version on TV when we got home... which was much higher-budget!!) We finished the day with watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and working on those cards into the night. Mom helped address some of the envelopes while I tried to personalize or write a short note in each one.
One thing I'm amazed by: the bravery of the children who were in the play. It's so impressive to see them up there performing for strangers and family. There was one little girl who was distracted by someone in the crowd (she kept looking over and smiling to someone at one side of the audience).... but all of the others were in their game. It was not the best production we've seen by any means (a few of the actors were nervous and stalled on their lines or sounded like they were reading... and some of the adults and children who had singing roles weren't so polished or always on key) but I'm so glad we went to support a local production!! It was small, personal, and nice overall.
On Christmas day, we received a package from Todd's mom with her decorated sugar cookies and a few gifts inside too. I'm so surprised that the Post Office delivered it that morning, but they did! We all opened gifts... laid around the house a bit... did some more Christmas cards (of course)... and then started cooking. I haven't ever made Christmas dinner and was a little intimidated -- so I ordered a package from Publix. It was economical and pretty easy. Well, the turkey breast still had to be cooked like a real turkey. But, the mashed potatoes / gravy / stuffing required only to be heated up & put into a dish. Mom brought & made home-grown green beans. I made Todd's mom's sweet potatoes and also made a "light" chocolate fudge pie. We invited a neighbor over who had a pre-cancerous disease / had been through a bone marrow transplant and chemo a few days before Thanksgiving. He & his father came over for dinner b/c he could not travel and be with his family. We had a nice dinner and conversation.
After running a load of dishes & cleaning up a bit, crashed.... hard! (well, did a few more cards, of course, THEN crashed!)
This morning (Dec 26th), we went back into production mode and printed up a bunch more letters and enclosure cards. This is what I'll be working on the majority of the day. Remember -- your card is on the way. ; - )
Oh yeah: Did I post the website? It's up and running -- and -- we're quite pleased with it!! Check it out: http://www.candice-and-todd.com/
Have a great rest of your holiday.... Candice
I've only finished 88 Christmas cards (I have to hand-deliver about 45 of those today around the neighborhood). There's about 200 more to go. Seriously! Christmas cards are always a big thing to do anyways (never this many)... but with adding a "dear family & friends" letter and a couple of post card-sized enclosures has made it an even bigger job. So..... if you haven't gotten a card yet from us -- please know that it's on the way -- we just have a few extra steps to getting them out.
The website was really the big hold-up on getting the cards out. I have been working day & night to finish it. There were also several pages that glitched -- so I had to re-do some of the pages. (There are still 2 pages that I have to re-do and a group of letters that Todd is scanning today (we scanned them previously, but couldn't find them on either computer or our memory sticks)).... so - if your letter isn't up there yet - it will be.... and it is VERY much appreciated! Again: just running a little more behind than normal!
The priority over the next 2 - 3 days is to finish the Christmas cards, get our FBI fingerprinting done, and to begin filling out the home-study paperwork. I think that will take us through to the new year, then we can begin working on the agency applications.
We are going full-force on ALL avenues (personal adoption network, agency adoption, and the random opportunities that come through our adoption consultant). We feel that we're working hard now... but it will pay off SOON!
__________
On another (non-adoption!) note: we had a nice Christmas. After cleaning all weekend, Todd worked hard on Christmas Eve to make his mom's lasagna recipe. He also made creme brulee for dessert too... then even did the dishes!! My mom came to town earlier that day and we all went to see a play (the Christmas Carol) at a neighborhood theater a little north of where we live. It was definitely a small / community theather, but was nice. (Then we watched a musical version on TV when we got home... which was much higher-budget!!) We finished the day with watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and working on those cards into the night. Mom helped address some of the envelopes while I tried to personalize or write a short note in each one.
One thing I'm amazed by: the bravery of the children who were in the play. It's so impressive to see them up there performing for strangers and family. There was one little girl who was distracted by someone in the crowd (she kept looking over and smiling to someone at one side of the audience).... but all of the others were in their game. It was not the best production we've seen by any means (a few of the actors were nervous and stalled on their lines or sounded like they were reading... and some of the adults and children who had singing roles weren't so polished or always on key) but I'm so glad we went to support a local production!! It was small, personal, and nice overall.
On Christmas day, we received a package from Todd's mom with her decorated sugar cookies and a few gifts inside too. I'm so surprised that the Post Office delivered it that morning, but they did! We all opened gifts... laid around the house a bit... did some more Christmas cards (of course)... and then started cooking. I haven't ever made Christmas dinner and was a little intimidated -- so I ordered a package from Publix. It was economical and pretty easy. Well, the turkey breast still had to be cooked like a real turkey. But, the mashed potatoes / gravy / stuffing required only to be heated up & put into a dish. Mom brought & made home-grown green beans. I made Todd's mom's sweet potatoes and also made a "light" chocolate fudge pie. We invited a neighbor over who had a pre-cancerous disease / had been through a bone marrow transplant and chemo a few days before Thanksgiving. He & his father came over for dinner b/c he could not travel and be with his family. We had a nice dinner and conversation.
After running a load of dishes & cleaning up a bit, crashed.... hard! (well, did a few more cards, of course, THEN crashed!)
This morning (Dec 26th), we went back into production mode and printed up a bunch more letters and enclosure cards. This is what I'll be working on the majority of the day. Remember -- your card is on the way. ; - )
Oh yeah: Did I post the website? It's up and running -- and -- we're quite pleased with it!! Check it out: http://www.candice-and-todd.com/
Have a great rest of your holiday.... Candice
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Todd's going to kill me..... I elfed him.
This link will only be good for a week or so -- but it IS cute.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1716161318
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1716161318
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