life lately - a random recap

Man have I been neglecting this blog lately.  Although, I'm not as awful as it seems, as I have had many topics, ideas, and musings swirling around in my head, but unfortunately none of those made it down on paper, or keyboard, in a timely matter (if at all).  And so, here is a hodge-podge post about our lives lately:

We've watched multiple dogs - all within a close period of time.
[After which I got sick of walking through the front door and only smelling dog, so I did a thorough cleaning of all the floors and baseboards, including washing them on my hands and knees (made mom proud).  I vacuumed and febreezed all the furniture too, as those two littles got up no matter how many times we said no.  Love them dogs, but not the smells that multiples of them in one house seem to make.]

 
We had our first fire of the year in our new fire pit.
[Which we got in the spring and just put to use.  Summer always gets away from me...]

We completed more yard work.
[Where I got carried away with my non-electric hand trimmer and majorly trimmed half of a bunch of trees off since they are over our fence.  Col loves the end result and feels it opens up our yard a lot.  Even though we can see more light through to the neighbors' back yard, I like it too.  He said he knew that if I got going, I'd have it all down.  I can't help it; once I start cutting, my arms just keep moving!]

We attended our first Adoption S.T.A.R. picnic as a waiting family.
[I loved seeing the large turn out, meeting another new waiting family - who had a connection to us through our adoption of Mendon! - and seeing all the kiddos.]

I attended a seminar for work on social media.
[Which got me really excited and shouting to myself in my head, "I can do that!," over and over...until I remembered that at the moment, I do not have time to do that as I'm still working double duty.  But, once I'm able to fully transition, I can't wait to implement what I learned.]

Col's grandma had her 80th birthday.
[We celebrated with his mom's whole side of the family.  Another fun day of watching all the kids play and eating good food.]

I've had friend and family time.
[Bills training camp with a community group family.  Roomie time after an emotional day.  Visiting the newest community group baby.  Bridesmaid dress shopping for Rach's wedding - woot!  Redwings game with Col's fam.  Firemen's competition.  Lots of relaxing at home.]

We started obedience training with Mendon.
[She's actually quite well-behaved, and Col has done a great job training her.  But it's free through his work, so we thought, why not!  It can't hurt, and she'll love more time with other dogs.]

We've had moving on the mind for all of our parents.
[We've been assisting Col's rents with going through/selling stuff from their attic and garage as they prepare to move...sometime.  And we've been keeping up on my parents as they "moved" in with grandpa today, and will hopefully close on their new house soon.]

I'm working on organizing, re-arranging, and going though many areas of the house (again).
[I honestly think I'm nesting.  While I love myself a good organizing project any day, why else would putting clothes away turn into taking all of Col's clothes out of the closet and rearranging them by color while he and Mendon enjoyed a nap?  And check out Col's new tie storage solution!]

thinking of you...

Thinking today of my Grandma Grower and Grandpa Saile.  She passed away four years ago and he last year.  It's weird when it feels like just yesterday, but has been that long.  It's been an adjustment when at family gatherings, when missing a piece on both sides of the family.  For one who was so blessed to have them for longer than many others do, it still sounds strange to have to say "my grandpa" or "my grandma" instead of my grandparents, or to receive a card signed by only one of them. 

I've been thinking about them a lot throughout our adoption too.  So many losses tug at my heart, but one in particular about how I won't get to take a four generation photo with my grandma.  Even though biologically our child will not have the genes that have run down our line, I've always thought about how special of a picture it is to have, and a few years ago, I could have even done a 5 generation one (my great-grandmother lived until her 100th birthday - past my grandmother's death).

But I digress.  I am so very thankful for grandparents who were involved and familiar, who I still miss dearly.  And I am already thankful, knowing that our parents will mean just as much to our future children. 

So today, thinking especially much about you two.  I love you!

[learning to] gain patience

I've been riding the rollercoaster of emotions lately.  Not bad, just beginning to really experience all these swirling emotions that come along with waiting for Little L.  Ahh, Little L.  I can't wait to hold you in my arms.

I had an unfortunate doctor's appointment, where I had to once again speak to why I'm not on birth control.  Yes, I've dealt with it.  And yes, I can easily talk about it.  But no, I don't really want to have to say it again and again every single time I come in.

We get over that checkpoint and things are fine until the end of my appointment when the doctor starts waxing poetic about our other option for having children (after asking if I even want any).  Fine, give me all the options (I do know them, we did think just a little bit about our decision to adopt thankyouverymuch).  However, when I've already told you that we chose adoption, are very happy with our choice and believe it's the best option for us, have finished all our paperwork, and are now waiting to be chosen for a baby, do not keep going on and on about the other option that you obviously prefer.  When I've already told you that essentially I am "paper pregnant," loving an unknown child in my heart, please just say, "Congratulations," or, "That's great!"  Anything to affirm what I've already told you is done (and which I'm very happy about!).  Ugh.

After it had all sunk in (I was polite and conversational until I had the chance to replay the conversation in my mind) and I was leaving the appointment, I just wanted to go home.  Unfortunately, I was upset that evening because of it.  I recently read a blog post about negative, or un-helpful, responses that people have gotten in response to telling that they are adopting.  I guess this was my first!

Also, my patience has been running low these days.  Not with waiting, I'm doing pretty well with that, but with everything else.  I decided that all my patience is being put into waiting and that this is a lesson in gaining even more!  Lesson #1 (out of an infinite number of others): Patience.

 

James 1:2-8
² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

 

Proverbs 19:11
¹¹ A person’s wisdom yields patience;
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

unexpected blessings

Recently I've been reflecting on one aspect of our adoption journey that I didn't really think about much, but that has been a huge blessing, and frankly a bonus of our experience thus far.  It began happening when we started to be more open about our infertility.  The topic would come up about children or pregnancy, and with those I felt comfortable with and in situations where it made sense, I would respond that we were unable to have biological children but that we had exciting plans in order to grow our family.  Simply being open about the fact that we are infertile, even if mentioning it casually and without telling our whole story, seemed to give others the go-ahead to do the same.  I learned others' stories about their own infertility, and it was nice to form that bond, knowing that even if it were never mentioned again, there was someone else who really "got it." 

Not only did this happen in my own work/life community, but when we attended our first adoption class and had to go around the room to introduce ourselves, someone about halfway through said that they had experienced infertility and tried treatments but were now adopting.  I had to chuckle as every single couple after them stated something similar (we were second to last, and I was going to say it anyways).  Infertility is still such an unspoken issue (even though much more prevalent than many think - due to this unspoken-ness!), and even though each and every story is very different, I am glad that there are those out there willing to share, as this then gives others a chance to share too.  No one wants to go around telling everyone everything, and I know many people, us included, don't talk about it for sympathy.  However, it is an issue, it hurts, and it can also sometimes put people on the outside looking in.

More recently, I have been amazed at how many people, even just within my workplace, are touched by adoption themselves.  I would have never known, and the only reason each person has shared is because we shared our story.  Think about it: First introductions usually don't go like this, "Hi, I'm so-and-so, going to be working in the whatever-office, and I was adopted."  No one I know has ever done that, and why would they?  Yes, it's a huge part of someone's identity, but do I go around saying that I have OCD tendencies or that my husband and I aren't able to have biological children?  No!  But, how many times have you experienced, being brave and sharing a part of your story, only to be blessed by someone sharing theirs?  It has by far been the one perk that I never would have expected.  It also makes me more and more aware of how important it is to embrace our story and share it boldly and proudly, all the happy, sad, tough, rough, and miraculous moments.  Isn't that part of why we are here, to lift others up, be in community, and love?

And so lately, I've been thankful for this part of our story, because without it, our eyes would have never been opened to some of the stories of those around us.

"Everyone has a story to tell.  You just have to loosen up and tell it." ~ Jim Rhodes

Dave Ramsey would be proud

Tonight. Marks the night. That Colin and I. Paid off our last student loan!  May 2009 undergrad grads are student loan debt free in August 2013!  WOOT WOOT!

Honestly, I know that when I added up my student loan debt after graduation, it totaled around $30,000, and I had no idea how I would ever pay it off.  However, we did it with ups and downs of job situations, Col going to grad school (debt free), saving for and buying a house, a 3-year capital campaign for church, and more recently paying and saving for our adoption.  Seriously, we couldn't have done it without this --> We <3 Financial Peace!

One last loan left to finish and that's for my car.  Then we can declare ourselves d.e.b.t. f.r.e.e. :)

Katie and Aaron's Wedding

Happy Wedding Day, Katie and Aaron!

8/3/13



 

 

 [ their first kiss with each other! :) ]

[ congrats - we love you guys!! ]

doggy cousins

This week we dogsat for my sister- and brother-in-laws' dog, Liby.  Her and Mendon get along so well and were the perfect mix of play and rest.  They were the only dogs who would both settle down at night and sleep all night long without being separated.  It was lower-key for us and fun for them.  The cousins even got some cuddle time in :)