Minimalistic

It's amazing how fast time can go while doing very little.  Our days have been spent waking up late, watching football and doing lots of eating.  Eventually, we muster the energy to take the pups out for a long walk.  Mattie loves the outdoors and darts from one side of the road to another.  It's been super nice not to worry about a thing and slowing down our pace.  I think that is why I love this place so much:  my family and the fact that it forces us to slow down. 

Last night, my Aunt Leta came over for a nice chicken dinner.  A little later really good family friends, Chris and Vince, stopped by to say hello.  Once again we ended up in the kitchen and talked to ten.  It is a little quieter here today, my brother left for home.  We drove down to Columbus this morning to bid him farewell.  Tomorrow, we head home early.   

Until then, I'm hoping to get one more Pisannello's Pizza....our third outing!     

Wordless Wednesday: Pizza Joy

Wordless Wednesday: Pizza

Wordless Wednesday: Santa Puzzle

The Holiday Season

Time flies when you are having fun.  We have had a great start to the holiday season.  We celebrated Christmas with Mike's family a little early and then headed to my parents.  Christmas Eve was spent with my extended family at my Aunt Margie's.  It was cute to see how excited the kids were for Santa to come.  On Christmas, my Uncle Dick, Uncle Larry and Aunt Leta came over.  The day was spent with laughter re-telling old stories and was gone in a blink of a moment.

We spent the last few days putting a puzzle together--insanely hard with a mirage of different Santas (picture coming soon).  Tonight, we are headed to our favorite pizza shop with lots of friends and family.  We almost fill the joint all by ourselves.

I miss this magical world, but know that Philly awaits us.  Thankfully, we managed to miss the blizzard that hit home a few days ago.  It sounds like we got over 8 inches of snow.  Hopefully, it will all be gone when we get home.

Wordless Wednesday: Betty

Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus

Back when we first started this process, Mike and I made the decision to wait to tell people about our plans to adopt.  We wanted to make sure that the dream could become a reality.  As time has gone on, it has been harder and harder to keep this secret.  I will say that Mike held out much longer than me.

I immediately told my brother, the one person that I can count on to give great advice.  He was so supportive and continues to be my rock.  His only thought is that with a child we would live a full-filled life.  Honestly, I think he was already scheming on how to make this kid a future SC homer!  I then told my mom during my birthday weekend with the promise not to tell others.  To say that she was happy would be an understatement (she started to cry with joy).  I plan to tell the rest of my family at Christmas.

Last night, we broke the news to Mike's family.  During Mike hemming and hawing his way to telling them, you could literally see the wheels in motion to his mom figuring it out.  His dad was even funnier:  "are you getting another dog".    It was really neat to watch their shock and unbridled excitement.  His mom's parting words--this will take a few days to sink in.   It looks like his grandmom will be next in line to learn the news.  The rest will learn when we get the referral.

Christmas Rush

We've spent the last few days finalizing our holiday plans.  It looks like we are getting very close to having all of our presents in place.  Just need to decide on a joint gift for my parents from my brother and I.  I'm really looking forward to just relaxing with our family.

Today was a big day.  We got our fingerprint appointment for the I600-A.  I've read on the board that some families just crash their site to speed up the process.  Mike and I won't have this luxury due to the holiday.  We'll have to stick with our appointed time of January 3.  I keep having to remind myself that is worth the wait.  It is not about the sprint to the finish but the journey.

How do you know when it is windy outside?  When the pups want to abort their walk to get back to the house.  We preserved through 40 mph wind gust and made it home.  Our weather went from a rainy 60 degrees yesterday to 29 degrees today.  Parts of the midwest have been stuck in blizzard conditions.  Old Man Winter, please be kind to us!

Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful Boy

Wordless Wednesday: Imagine Lennon at 70

Winter Like Day

The weather has slowly been turning colder over the last few weeks.  Today, we woke to a very cold start (29 degrees) and high wind.  Unfortunate for Mike as he is running Brian's Run as I write.  Brian's Run is a charity 5 mile run that benefits Brian who was paralyzed playing football many years ago.  Mike originally ran the event as a high school student.  Now (a few years later) he has begun to run it again.  I'm really proud of him.  It's hard enough to run the hilly course while the weather is perfect.  Today, with the wind, it will be insanely hard.  This goes to one of Mike's greatest strength: his will and determination.

While Mike is busy torturing himself, I went for a walk in the park. I bundled up the pups and headed into the gale force winds.  Amazing how a little cold wind can calm the mind.  Just me and the pups.  About half way around, we were blessed with a visit from a red-tailed hawk.  I watched as it gracefully sliced its way through the wind.  

It has been quiet on the adoption front.  Our home study went to Korea last week.  Still waiting on the I600-A.  To keep our minds off of it, we've been busy preparing ourselves for the great Christmas rush.    And, we couldn't resist picking up our first official gift for our child.  Kohl's was selling stuffed animals for charity based on the characters from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  I couldn't resist Max, the pup who pulled the sleigh.  

All I need is a reindeer! The Grinch looked around, but since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found. Did that stop the Grinch? Ha! He simply said: If I can't *find* a reindeer, I'll *make* one instead. So he took his dog Max, and he took some black thread, and he tied a big horn on the top of his head. 

Snuggle Time

Windy & Cold

Brian's Run

Wordless Wednesday: Trojan's Double