Looking back at 2008

Well, it's the end of 2008. I am not sure how I feel about it. I started the year energized and ready for change. I am ending the year worn out and wanting things to just be simple. My resolutions lasted only about a week. I didn't lose the weight that I resolved to do. Thanks to the Twilight series of books, I didn't read as many biographies as I resolved to do. My positive attitude about all aspects of life-- well, it fell short too. Is it taboo to keep resolutions from year to year? I will have to google search it for sure!

Now, here we are on New Year's Eve. We met our deadline at work and I left the office slightly earlier than normal. Then I spent the next 2 hours in the doctor's office. I have acute sinusitis. I got a shot on each side of my rump. It hurts-- bad. Then another hour at the drug store filling two prescriptions. Then home to the couch and a box of tissues. To top it all off, my husband is in bed (if you don't remember, he works nights). But, he's getting up at 11:30 so we can bring in the new year together! We usually always watch the ball drop on tv. Have you seen this year's ball? I think it is gorgeous!

What's in store for tomorrow? Well, that is debatable at this point in time. I wanted to take my Christmas decorations down (yes, we are that family on the block!). If I feel half as bad as I do right now, our Christmas decorations may stay up for another week. We'll see. I know the day will involve a trip to the grocery store. The doctor told me about a home remedy for painful sinus swelling. It involves uncooked rice and an old sock. We don't have any rice in the pantry. And since we can't wash any clothes tomorrow (an old superstition of my mom's), I hope I can find a clean sock! You just place some rice in the sock and tie it off, put it in the microwave, then use it like a heating pad. She said I should have some relief soon. Let's hope so! The other reason for the trip to the grocery store is for a few more ingredients for my lasagna. We've had it for dinner for several years now-- who needs greens and black eye peas?

I hope everyone has a great night and a happy and prosperous New Year!

It's Almost Christmas Day

I know that it's been forever since I have updated the blog. We've been really busy at work and at home, and honestly, I just haven't felt like being on a computer all day at work and then going home just to get online to update the blog. I am really sorry to all of my avid fans-- like MH who complained to me just the other night! I will do better in 2009!

We had a little get together at our house on Friday night. It was just some of the people from the office. It was a great time! We had plenty of libations, conversations, and laughs. Here is a picture of the ladies from the party (apparently, the guys were too shy to get in a picture and stand close together!!).

Also, I thought I'd add some pictures of our Christmas decorations. Please note our newest addition to our trees-- the black tree! We absolutely adore it!

Our big tree in the dining room.

The black tree and Santa tree in the living room.

The Black Tree!!!!

The mantle with stockings (before I get any wise cracks, no the cats do not currently have any stockings)

Santa on top of the entertainment center.

The Original Snow Village... Part 1

The Original Snow Village...Part 2

The Original Snow Village...Part 3



Merry Christmas to All!!!

Overdue Blog Entry

It's been a month since our last blog entry, but nothing has changed. Unfortunately. We don't have anything to report on our home study, or the adoption process. We are getting very discouraged. But, we may have one last trick up our sleeves...don't count us out yet! Things may be changing, and when we find out more information, we'll clue you in! I don't want to count any chickens before they hatch, so that's all the information I can give right now.

Just an update on the two of us... Since I have last blogged, there have been a lot of events. My friend, Amanda and her sister Stephanie, ended up with a couple of extra tickets to Wicked, so my sister, Jo, and I took them off of their hands. The show was absolutely awesome! It was at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.

Then, just a couple of weeks later, we were on our way to Atlanta again for the New Kids on the Block concert! What a great show! All of us were hoarse afterward. Believe me, I have love Donnie forever and you will think my opinion is biased, but it was the best show that I have ever seen (and I have seen some good ones-- Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, Prince). Hands down, it was the most energetic crowd that I have been a part of!!

Then there was Halloween! As usual, we have a big pot of chili for dinner after the trick-or-treaters were gone. We have 143 kids this year!! It was a good time for all of us... and lots of good snack foods too!!

Yesterday, we decided to put up one of our Christmas trees (yes, just one for now). We put up our black tree-- our newest addition to our stockpile of trees. We bought it last year after the holiday season, and it is absolutely gorgeous!! Special thanks to Yuko for making the bows-- she saved the day.

Frustrated, to say the least

Ok, ok. I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. But my frustration for the system is overwhelming and I just really haven't wanted to put it in writing.

I have been told that our home study has been sent to the Alabama Department of Human Resources for review (yes, still in review-- just a different party!). It was just sent this week. No one can tell us an estimate of how long it will take them to review it. It's just another waiting game. Then what, you ask? Well, after it is approved by ADHR, it has to be sent to INS for another review and approval. We'll have to have another set of fingerprints done for them. Then, it goes to the consulate and on to China. I think this is a never ending project! It's so frustrating because we are dealing with "experts" but a lot of our questions seem to go unanswered. Either that, or we are asking too many questions (which I have been said to do!).

Hopefully, we'll have good news soon. Keep your fingers crossed!

New Recipe Sundays

For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying a new recipe for Sunday dinner. My newlywed friend, JWP, gave me the idea. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to cook and usually cook on Sunday's since that is one of two nights that Stephen and I get to eat together. But, I've been told that the typical family has only a handful of foods that they typically cook and eat. So, with the new idea and some hardly ever used cookbooks, I thought now would be great time to start "New Recipe Sunday."

The recipe for last week was Bruschetta Chicken Bake. It was good. It was certainly different than anything I've ever cooked. It was a casserole with stove-top stuffing, tomatoes, and chicken. Stephen and I decided to "put it in rotation"- meaning that I'll cook it again.

But tonight was awesome-- I tried another casserole (I just love to cook casseroles- a whole meal in just one dish- what could be better?!). It was Layered Taco Bake. I am telling you this- I could have eaten the entire thing by myself! The recipe was very easy, which was great considering we spent a few hours in the yard and were contemplating just ordering a pizza. The ingredients were easy- ground beef, taco seasoning, mac and cheese, and salsa. We both gave it two thumbs up and we agreed that it should be put into rotation and more often than the chicken from last week!

If you would like a copy of either recipe, let me know. Or if you have a "must-try" recipe for me, please send it (just remember- nothing with lettuce!!).

In Review...

Maybe I have been working in a professional office for too long, or maybe I am just anxious to get this adoption moving, but what does it mean when someone tells you things are "in review"? When I tell one of my professional contacts that something is in review, it means that I have worked on it and that it my supervisor has the final authority to approve/deny it. However, my term of "in review" is only that way for a couple of days-- at the most.

I have been told for several weeks that our home study is "in review." Granted, we are at the mercy of our social worker and her timeline. She has to have one of her contacts approve the home study before it can be sent to DHR and be approved there. Then on to homeland security.

Everyone keeps telling me to be patient. I am trying, truly I am. But seriously, how much waiting can we do? How long will it be in review this time? Pray for us- out patience is wearing thin. We need something to happen soon so we can be refreshed and up for the next challenge.

Back from Alaska (long post, but lots of pics)

It's been a while since I have blogged. I hope to have some news on the adoption process this week-- I hope we are getting close to having everything done so we can send our package to China. More on that when I actually have something to report.

We took an incredible trip to Alaska! We sailed on the Star Princess from Seattle to Ketchikan to Tracey Arm Fjords to Juneau to Skagway to Victoria then back to Seattle. We've been back for a week, but I have been trying to catch up and get the jet lag out of my system for the entire week. But, now, I have decided that I just had to blog about it (plus, some of you knew about the trip and wanted to see some pictures). So while the blog is primarily about the adoption, I wanted to take some time and show a few pictures from the trip. We took over 300 pictures, but I won't bore you with all of them.

First- a day in Seattle. We went to the Space Needle, the Science Fiction Museum, and to Olympic Park. Here are a few of my favorites:

In case you can't tell, Stephen and I are sitting on a pair of eyeballs!

From our day in Seattle, we went and boarded the cruise ship. It was enormous at 950 feet long and 17 stories high! Our first day was a day at sea. Luckily, our room was on port side, so we had a mountainous scene for most of that day. It was also our first formal night for dinner.

Tuesday was our first day off of the ship since leaving the port. We were in Ketchikan- a small town accessible by only air or sea. It is about 1 mile wide and 7 miles long. We immediately ventured off of the ship and into the town straight to Creek Street. This small street is home to a stream that is known for spawning salmon. We saw thousands of salmon trying to swim upstream. It was an amazing sight!

Then we went back to the ship to find our first excursion tour- a seaplane tour of the Misty Fjords. What is a fjord, you ask? Well, I am glad I can answer than for you. A fjord is a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs that was formed by the submergence of a glaciated valley. The Misty Fjords is a National Monument created on December 1, 1978 by Jimmy Carter's proclamation. It encompasses more than 2 million areas with waters as deep as 2,000 feet and elevations of 7,499 feet. The Misty Fjords were 99% glacier covered 10,000 years ago. Our pilot covered a lot of information in a short amount of time. We got to see some of the most breath-taking scenes I've ever seen. Our excursion included landing on a lake in the middle of the wilderness. It was the easiest landing of a plane that I have felt. Once on the lake, he shut off the engine and let us get out on the floats and look around. It was quiet and beautiful- God's country. Just about 100 feet from where we landed was a lone American Bald Eagle watching us. It was truly a sight to see.

Of course, no day is complete without a little shopping! Did you know that Alaska is one of the best places in the world to buy jewelry? I bought a piece of Ammolite while I was in Ketchikan. Look it up- it's beautiful and rare!

Wednesday- the cruise ship did some scenic cruising around the Tracey Arm Fjords. It was awfully cold that morning at 6:00 am!

Wednesday afternoon, we ported in Juneau (current home to Sarah Palin!). We got off of the ship and directly on a bus to go to the airport. We watched a safety video and were dressed in "ice boots" at the airport and then loaded into a helicopter. Yes, we saw the Juneau Glacier Ice Fields by helicopter! But it didn't end there! We did the "Pilot's Choice" tour and our pilot picked two places on the glaciers for us to land and get out and walk around. It was incredible-- to say the least. Our first stop was at Herbert Glacier where the ice is approximately 400 feet thick. Granite rock mountains and ice was all you could see for miles. We got out and walked and saw some crevasses up close and personal. Thank goodness for those ice boots!

Our second stop was at the Mendenhall Glacier. It was more mountainous than our first stop, but just as beautiful. It looks like snow, but it actually fine ice. We made a couple of ice balls, but the guys weren't up for a fight!

Thursday we were in Skagway- another small town. We got aboard the White Pass and Yukon Railway and rode the train up to the border of Canada. We disembarked the train and got in a motorcoach that took us into the Yukon Territory and to a town called Carcross for lunch. Carcross is the fifth largest town in the Yukon and has a population of 420. We saw more beautiful and mountainous scenery on the way, and to our bus driver's surprise, we saw a bear on the side of the road eating! What more could we have asked for?! Did you know there was a desert in the Yukon too?

Friday was another day at sea and our second formal night. For some reason, we didn't take any snapshots that night. Oh, well. I guess the guys didn't mind-- they were tired of taking pictures. But don't worry, we took plenty of professional pictures on the ship that night!

On Saturday, our last port was Victoria, British Columbia. It was a cool city, but our excursion was terrible. We did the double-decker tour bus and it was more of a real estate tour than history of the town. We took a couple of pictures that day, including a man-of-war that we saw near the dock where our ship was ported.

All in all, it was a great trip! I want to say "Happy Anniversary" to Stephen- we celebrated our 14th anniversary on the ship. Also, a big "Thank You" to Jo and Brian- you guys are our best friends and we love you!

**Note to fellow bloggers- does anyone know how to correct the spacing around photos?**