Had a great time in Salt Lake...

I'm back from Salt Lake City and had a fabulous time with my bloggy friends! Lisa W. was the perfect hostess and gave us a whirlwind tour of Salt Lake.

She picked me up at the airport on Friday at noon and we headed back to her place. She has an absolutely adorable 1920's bungalow...it's so charming and full of character. Her street has great big trees and lots of greenery, very different than my neighborhood here in Arizona.

Lisa S. and Mary-Mia also arrived on Friday and we all headed up to Park City, a ski town which was home to the 2002 Olympic skiing events. We stopped by Olympic Park to check out the site of the ski jump and bob-sleigh events. After that we had a nice, leisurely lunch (of course, Mary-Mia had tacos) and did some shopping.

On Saturday morning, Lisa W.'s mom, Sunny, came over to make us all a special treat for breakfast. She made the most wonderful Norwegian pancakes that we filled with butter, jam, and sour cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar...YUM!

As we were finishing breakfast, Tiffany, who also lives in Salt Lake, and Julie, who's flight had just gotten in, arrived at Lisa's. Since all the Utah trip bloggy ladies were all together, Mary-Mia and Lisa S. gave us some goodies they had brought along.


Mary-Mia had these adorable little shirts printed up with our daughters' names on them and Lisa S. gave us each a goodie bag filled with fun stuff....mine had ladybug playing cards, an adorable photo album and a ladybug memo cube.

We spent the day doing some shopping and then we stopped by Tiffany's house, which was built in the 1950's. She's done lots of renovating and the place is really cute. Just like Lisa's place, it's filled with lots of great character.

Here's Lisa W. with Tiffany's baby, Beau.

Saturday night we had some great Thai food and Lisa S., Lisa W., Julie, and I stayed up late chatting and laughing...it was a really nice evening.

Sunday morning we all met up and saw the weekly performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...it was a beautiful and touching performance. This is the longest running weekly broadcasted performance in history and they have it down to a science. It was quite a treat to see them perform live.

Mary-Mia had to head out to catch her flight after that, and Lisa W., Lisa S., Julie, and I took a walk through Temple Square. After that, Lisa S. drove us up to the Snowbird ski resort and we took this massive tram ride up to the top of the tallest peak (12,000 ft elevation). I was pretty nervous on the tram, but it sure was beautiful once we got up there. The next thing on our agenda was the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island State Park where antelope and buffalo roam free. We didn't see any antelope, but we drove through a big heard of buffalo including a momma with her two babies. They crossed the road right in front of us and were just about 10 feet away....pretty cool. We had a full day on Sunday, so we just chilled out that night and took it slow and relaxed a little on Monday.

Lisa W., thank you so much for opening your home to us and spending your time keeping us entertained. I so enjoyed meeting you and Mesa, who by the way, is the sweetest dog ever! Mesa really is 90lbs of snuggle fun as Lisa has said before on her blog...I definitely found that out first hand as Mesa came in to say good-night my first night there.

Great weekend ahead....

Well, I head out tomorrow morning to Salt Lake City for a girl's weekend with some bloggy friends. I can't wait to meet Lisa W, Julie, Lisa S, Mary-Mia, and Tiffany!

It seems so strange that I'm actually going to meet these ladies. I've been e-mailing back and forth with Lisa W. and Julie for many months now and we have been following along on each others' journey. Blogville is a funny place...you feel like you really get to know people through their blogs. When I started this journey, I never imagined that I would actually be heading off to meet bloggy friends who are such a big part of my support network. I originally started poking around on the internet just to get some adoption questions answered and I quickly discovered a whole world of support and friendship.

By the way, Lisa W, I got my hair chopped so I'm glad you recently posted some photos of yourself on your blog so I can recognize you at the airport! Otherwise, you would be holding up a limo driver sign that says "Looking for Lauren's Momma". ;)

Thanks for the wishes...

Instead of quilt squares, I've been collecting Good Wishes scrapbook pages. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent a page for Lauren!

I'm putting a book together and hope to collect 100 pages. I'm up to 25 so far, and here's a look at all the beautiful pages...


| View | Add Favorite

If you would like me to send you a scrapbook packet to create an 8" x 8" page, please let me know and I'll get one out to you.

Fun birthday gifts...

This past Friday was my birthday and I had a really nice day. Even though I had to work, my day started off perfectly when I spotted a card sitting on my keyboard with a Starbucks gift certificate. To me, that's the perfect gift since I LOVE that place!

Just as I got back from my Starbucks run, Michele stopped in with the prettiest gift bag full of all kinds of really fun scrapbooking supplies, including a Xyron sticker maker!

I had a busy weekend and haven't tried it yet, but I can't wait to give it a try. I'm sure it's filled with possibilities for scrapbooking and card making.

Michele, thank you so much!! This gift was so thoughtful and just perfect for me!

I had just finished opening up the gift from Michele, when Kim stopped in with a big, heavy box wrapped in the cutest laydbug wrapping paper.

Check out this pretty dessert set with an asian flair! It comes with 4 mugs and plates of matching designs, spoons and forks....just perfect for having friends over for coffee and chocolate cake. Any takers?? ;)

Thanks Kim, I love this set and will use it often.

Today, Joe and I were hanging out by the pool at our friend, Linda Marie's house and she gave us the cutest set of his and hers beach towels. Check out the ladybug trim on my towel...too cute!

She also gave me the cutest doggie frame for Addy's & Lucy's photos and an Asian baby doll that's so soft and adorable for Lauren.



Thanks, Linda, for these great gifts and a nice, relaxing day by the pool.

Secret Pal strikes again...

Our July theme is Fun on the Long Trip to China. Thank you, Secret Pal, for the awesome box of goodies!

Check out how my Pal decorates the shipping box according to the theme...how cute is this!

My goodies include:

• Movie & TV Trivia Puzzle Book
  
• TV Guide Crossword Puzzle Book
  
• Travel Checker Game
  
• Chinese Stamps & Ink Pad
  
• Sleeping Mask (how did you know I have trouble sleeping on planes?)
  
• Two Mini Fans (and that I'm always hot on planes?)
  
• Special Socks (to help with circulation)
  
• Ty Panda Bear for Lauren to snuggle with on the trip home (I notice his name is Fortune, which is very fitting since we feel very fortunate to make the trip)
  

and last but not least, she made this wonderful CD of relaxing music called Just Relax - The Orient.

Thank you so much, my Pal, you totally spoil me...but I love it!

FCC Directory...

We got our Families with Children from China 2006 local membership directory in the mail today.

It was so cool to see our info listed among all the other Arizona adoptive families! We have 215 families listed in the directory, and it's so heart warming to flip through the pages and see all the beautiful children living right here in Arizona.

I'm hoping that our family photo with Lauren will be listed in the 2007 directory!

Waiting families get together...

Last night was our monthly FCC-Arizona Waiting Families meeting. It was hosted by Megan and Scott and their beautiful daughter, Maya, who has been home for four months now. It seems like we had record high attendance at the meeting and several babies, which is always fun. There was also a family there who just got their referral with the June batch and brought along their photos and info on Fiona to share.

After the meeting, a group of us got together at Rock Bottom Brewery to hang out for a while (click on the smaller photos to see a larger version).
Front left are Nancy & Brian (who were LID in late August '05), next to them are Heather & Damon (who are paperchasing and hoping to be DTC in September), then Kim & Scott (who were LID in late July '05). Joe and I are in the back row along with Michele (who was LID in late September '05).

Here's a shot of Joe and Damon (Heather and I didn't make it into this one)...

Kim & Scott...

and Nancy & Brian.


Here's all the very excited mommas to be:

Nancy, me, Michele, Heather, and Kim. It's been a great experience getting to know these wonderful ladies and sharing this journey with them. I hope we continue to be friends and get to know each other better throughout our adoption journey.

The hippo and the tortoise...

A friend of mine sent me these photos taken in Nairobi of a baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast and has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa.

www.flickr.com

The story that came along with the photos was as follows:

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, 2004 before wildlife rangers rescued him.

"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.

I thought this was such a heartwarming story and wanted to share it with my bloggy friends.

Slideshow...

I decided to try a slideshow like I've seen on some other blogs. This one covers our paperchase and a little beyond...

Five months and counting...

Our dossier will be logged in for five months tomorrow. Truth be known, the time since we've been logged in has gone pretty darn fast. Don't get me wrong, this waiting sucks, but we've been keeping petty busy and still have lots to do in the house before we're ready for Lauren.

Right now, our dossier is in a gigantic pile somewhere at the CCAA like the piles you see in this matching room photo. Unfortunately, it will be many months yet before our dossier sees the inside of this room. Hopefully, we'll make it there by next January or February and have our referral by March. Wow, another 8 months before we get a glimpse of our daughter...sounds like a LONG time, doesn't it?

Scrapbooking Swap...

I've really been enjoying our Ladybug Hunters Scrapbooking Club. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with for our exchange each month. I just finished my 8" x 8" layout to send to Christie and she is doing a layout for me. She had my name last month too and sent me an adorable Summer Fun layout.

Here's the layout I'm sending off to Christie and I sure hope she likes it! I had a lot of fun putting it together.

Expectant Cousin??

I was surfing the Cafe Press adoption shops and came across Julie's Invisible Red Thread Shop. I love her designs and asked if she would consider doing a shirt for my nieces who are very excited about meeting their cousin someday.

Well, Julie whipped up an adorable expectant cousin shirt with a design on the front and back. You have to check it out, because if you have nieces you may need to order one for them. She is also offering it in child sizes for younger kids too.

For me, I love her "Wait, Hope, Dream, Repeat" design.

Happy Shopping!

Fun stuff...

Check out this pretty box that came in the mail last week.

It's a thank you gift from Kim, of Our Journey to Grace, and it was filled with adorable little goodies for Lauren.
The sunglasses and little hair curlies are so cute and I totally love the ladybug hair clips. They are going to look absolutely adorable with her ladybug cardigan and onesie from Gymboree...






Thanks again, Kim, you're such a sweetie!

This and that...

Joe and I have been home on vacation this week. We had big plans of cleaning out our junk room and setting it up as an exercise room while we actually had some time, but I was sick for two days of our time off. I spent that time basically going between the sofa/bed and the bathroom...it wasn't a pretty picture at all!

I'm feeling better now and we actually did get some stuff done, just not exactly as planned. We bought a new 4-drawer filing cabinet and I went through all our files and purged and reorganized them into new folders...not a fun project, but when I was done it felt darn good.

We did salvage some of the week and had fun hanging out with a few friends on the 4th of July. Also, Joe and I saw the Disney movie, Cars...if you haven't seen this yet, it's TOTALLY adorable and well worth the time. We hit a local casino today and I won $80 on a slot machine (that money is now tucked away in my Coach purse fund). I'm saving up for either the new signature, reversible tote or the new mia satchel. I haven't decided yet which one, but between the cash I've been socking away and my birthday coming up at the end of the month I'm pretty sure one of these is in my future. ;)

We took Lucy to the groomers on Thursday morning since she was long overdue for a haircut. Here she is looking pretty shaggy before we left...

and here she is all washed up, trimmed, fluffed, and hot oiled. The hot oil is a little extra, but she smells so good afterwards.

Did somebody say dare???

Ok, Julie, I'm taking your dare and posting a photo of our pantry and I'm raising the bar with a shot of our refrigerator too, just like Lisa did.

Can you tell that I totally have no shame??!! I just opened the door and snapped this photo, as you can tell by the absolute mess going down on the 4th & 5th shelves.

As you can see there is no organization whatsoever. As much as I try to organize, it doesn't take long before it looks like this again. Notice the nice stock of wine and Baileys on the top shelf to help me through this long wait. I've got regular Baileys and the one with caramel...love the stuff in coffee!


Now, here's the bonus shot of the frig. You actually caught me on a day when I have fruit and green stuff (no, not mold) in there.

Just in case you're wondering why there is a bowl of dog food in there, we have to soak Addy's food to soften it before she eats so she can get meals down a little better (she's an old girl).

Well, who's next in taking this dare?? If you're up for the humiliation, post a comment here so we all know to check out your blog. I dare you!!!

Thank you Secret Pal!

The theme for this month's exchange is "Summer is here - fun in the sun" and today we got our gift! Check out our box filled with goodies...Joe was so surprised when I told him there were packages with his name on them too...he got a big smile on his face. Check out the cute card and labels my secret pal made.

Joe got a "World's Greatest Dad" book and an "I love my daddy" bib. The book is perfect because the dad in the book is a master on the grill and so is Joe...also, we don't have any bibs yet. We also got an adorable pink polka dot bikini with little ruffles across the top and a Ty beanie ladybug (I've never seen one of these).

Last, but definitely not least, my favorite part of the gift is the "Playful Patti" doll all decked out for a day on the beach complete with beach ball, tiny towel, and flip flops to match her swimsuit. Isn't she the cutest!!

THANK YOU so much, Secret Pal, once again you made my day (actually, our day)! I can't wait to find out who you are so I can properly thank you. You're the best!

Just booked my flights...

for a trip to met a couple of Blogville buddies!! Soon I will be off to meet Lisa, who is waiting for her daughter Tate, and Julie, who is very close to her referral for Tess.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this because anyone who knows me knows that it's pretty darn out of character for me to fly somewhere by myself to meet people for the first time. First of all I HATE to fly and second of all I'm pretty darn shy and not the most outgoing person you would ever meet. I have a feeling that this will all change the second I step off the plan and meet Lisa, who is a self proclaimed wild child and party girl!

I am soooo looking forward to meeting Lisa and Julie, since we've been cyber chatting for quite a while now and I've been following their blogs since I started this whole adoption process back in August '05. It's amazing how you really do feel connected to cyber pals, especially in a situation like this since we are all going through this waiting game together. Actually, I just thought of something...the timing of this trip is exactly one year from the day I mailed in our adoption application to A Helping Hand...pretty cool!

Oh, by the way, note to Blogville...it's not a real good idea to do a Google search for images of a plane to insert into ones blog when they have a fear of flying. One will instantly be bombarded with images of planes crashing into buildings and planes with gaping holes in them. Oh well, I have a month to forget about that!

I'm so spoiled...

My dear hubby just went to check the mail and look what was in there for me. This is from Lisa of Tate-r-Bug to say thanks for helping her out with her blog.

This adorable Asian "Little People" doll was the infant prize from a McDonald's happy meal...how CUTE is this! She also sent me a Starbucks gift certificate...gee, I guess she figured out from previous posts that I'm totally addicted to my cafe mochas...go figure!

Lisa, this was totally unnecessary, but VERY sweet of you. Thank you so much!

Weekend stuff...

Yesterday evening was our monthly FCC Waiting Families meeting. Our speaker was a women who has two daughters from China...one was 7 months old when they got her and one was 2 years old, and they are both 8 yrs old now (she said lots of people think they're twins). Her hobby since before they got their first daughter is Chinese history and culture and she gave a little presentation on China and spoke about her daughters. She passed around an over-sized, coffee table book called Spectacular China with gorgeous photos of the Chinese country-side. I'm going to order this one for sure.

This morning I actually did something productive and created my wish page to send off to Lisa with a quilt square for Tate's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. This is my first one and I think it turned out really cute, but I decided not to post a photo yet so that Lisa can be surprised when she gets it. Lisa, it's on the way and I hope you like it!

What a great surprise...

I drove up to the house after a LONG, busy week at the office and there was a box at the door. I love getting packages, because it always gives me a little lift.

Well, this particular box contained just about the most adorable scrapbook layout ever from Christie of Keira Joy. We are in the Ladybug Hunters Scrapbook Club and she had my name for our layout exchange. This is our first exchange and the theme is summer fun.

How cute is this layout...all ready for photos of Lauren next summer.

I LOVE all the embellishments she used and how she hung the little labels that spell "summer" from the sparkly fiber. I also love the "rule the pool" sign, because once Lauren hits the pool in an adorable little swim suit, I know she WILL rule the pool!

Christie, thank you so much for creating this special layout for me. This is the first layout waiting for Lauren's photos, so it has a special place in my heart. Now I have to head out and find a special album (oh darn, shopping again) to collect all our exchange pages, and your layout will be at the start of the book.

Also, thank you for the sweet card and such nice words.

New addition...

Can you spot the cute new addition to our backyard?

Yup, you guessed it, it's the cute little ladybug stepping stone. Our friend,Colleen, was in town from Tucson for a job interview and she brought along this little lady for our yard.

Of course I loved it and had to put it in the yard right away to keep my bunnies and turtle company. Thanks again, Colleen.

Father's Day Weekend...

We had a really nice and relaxing weekend. Last night we got together with two other waiting families from our local FCC group, Heather & Damon and Nancy and Brian. We had a nice evening at Heather & Damon's place hanging out by their pool, sipping on frozen margaritas, and we had great Mexican food for dinner. Damon made chicken tortilla soup and a really good green chili rice dish...yum! I got the recipes and will be trying them out soon myself.

Today, we had a nice relaxing breakfast and took our time reading the paper. Our thoughtful furbabies got Joe a card for Father's Day...

They also ordered him something, but UPS was a little late so maybe it will come tomorrow or Tuesday.

I got Joe a really cute father-to-be card that I thought he could relate to since it puts diapering into sports lingo. Since he's a long-time Dodgers fan, I gave him a couple of totally adorable outfits that he can have Lauren wear when he takes her to the game. He loved them both. I can't wait to see Lauren decked out in one of these outfits ready to go to the game with Daddy.

Four Month Anniversary...

Tomorrow is the four-month anniversary of our log in date. I've seen other waiting parents post about this anniversary and had always thought that it was pretty significant, but now that it’s us, it doesn’t feel that significant at all. I think it's because as the wait extends out, the four month mark is less and less of a milestone.

Since we started our application process back in August, it’s actually been a 10 month wait so far, but only four months are counted as “official” waiting months. In reality though, we’ve been waiting for a baby since our first miscarriage back in 1996, so really we’ve been waiting for 10 years!!

Right now referrals are running at 12 months from LID, so if they don’t keep slipping we may see our referral 8 months from now. In this case, we could have Lauren home by next Mother’s Day, possibly traveling in April 2007. If the 12 month wait slips to an 18 month wait as rumored, Lauren gets further and further away from us.

When I look back, it seems like just yesterday we were making the decision to adopt, but when I look ahead it just seems like endless months on the calendar. We actually have plenty to keep busy with for now (projects around the house, the nursery, FCC meetings, Yahoo group exchanges, etc), so I actually try not to focus on the waiting. Instead, I’m focusing on the positive things about the wait like meeting new people through our local FCC, “chatting” with my cyber-friends, and watching other waiting families head to China to meet their babies (seeing the photos and videos really keeps me going). If it weren’t for the support of the adoption community, I have no idea how I would be keeping my sanity through the months ahead.

I’m looking forward to posting that it’s our eight-month anniversary, then hopefully at that point we’ll be four months from referral.

20 minutes...yeah, RIGHT!!

I had decided last week that we would actually cook a few nights this week instead of one of us grabbing something on the way home. We have been eating take out WAY too much lately.

Joannah had mentioned a Weight Watchers' cookbook (Make it in Minutes) that looked pretty good, so I had ordered it from Amazon. It's been laying around the house for a few weeks and I've been flipping through it trying to decide what to try. Well, tonight I made "Zesty Chicken with Shallots, Capers, and Olives" and it was GREAT! We had it over bowtie pasta with some crusty French bread. The recipe makes four servings with 4 WW points per serving (of course this doesn't include the bread and pasta). The recipe is in the 20 minute section, but I think they are assuming that you have your own personal su chef to do all the prep work.

We liked the recipe so much I thought I'd post it for everyone:



Zesty Chicken with Shallots, Capers, and Olives
1 lb thin-sliced skin-less boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled (I used more)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1 garlic clove (I used 2)
3 tblsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their juice
5 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped (I used double)
1 tblsp capers, drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (it's a must to use fresh)

Sprinkle the chicken with the rosemary, salt, and pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side; transfer to a plate. Add the shallots and garlic to the skillet and cook until the shallots are soft, about 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar; continue to cook until the vinegar evaporates, about 30 seconds. Add the wine, tomatoes, olives, and capers. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 8 minutes. Stir in the basil. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook about 1 minute longer to heat through.

Makes 4 servings, 4 WW points each

Scrapbooking toy...

Ok, Michele...you are a bad influence on me!

At work yesterday I went up to visit her in her office and she told me about this very cool new die cutting machine. It's called the Cricut and it's the latest toy from Provo Craft. Once I took a look at the demonstrations on the website, I was hooked. My birthday is late next month and I think this will be #1 on my list when my dear hubby asks me what I want. Of course, that is if I don't buy it first myself!

If you're a scrapbooker, you'll have to check out the demonstration videos on the website. Julie, I consider you the scrapbook queen, have you seen this in action yet?

Weight and the unknown...

It's been rumored that the CCAA will be making some kind of announcement, but I haven't heard anything yet. There is speculation again that they could be instituting a weight restriction rule and it's unknown whether it would apply to families already LID. This same rumor was floating around months ago and nothing ever materialized.

I didn't think the rumor was really bothering me this time, but I was "chatting" with Lisa yesterday and was telling her about a dream I had on Sunday night...I was going through the mail here at home and there was a letter from the CCAA in the pile (like we would even have a letter from the CCAA). I opened the envelope and the word "weight" caught my attention right away. I dropped the letter before I could read it and when I bent over to pick it up, it was gone. I searched all over the house, and was getting really upset that I couldn't find it. Of course, I woke up before I ever found it. It's amazing how your subconscious can come up with these things....clearly I'm freaked out about this and I think my fear of the unknown is getting the best of me.

Anyone else a little freaked out about what might come out from the CCAA?

New Scrapbook Club

One of the members of my JanDTC Yahoo group, Susan, is starting a new Yahoo Scrapbooking Club. This group is open to anyone in the Chinese Adoption Community and their family and friends. The group will host a monthly swap to exchange themed pages to be used for their children's or family's scrapbooks. Also, it will be a place to exchange ideas, get motivated and share photos of layouts we've created as inspiration for those of us who need it, like me.

You can check out the home page and join here. I hope to see all my fellow scrapbookers in the group!