10 ASB pictures

It's the 10th and I am following along with Shimelle and crew. 10 things on the 10th. The pictures below are from an Alternative Spring Break trip I took with some university students. ASB trips are where students give up their break to have transformative experiences through volunteering. Lives are changed forever. At the very least they help and change a community through volunteering and relationship building. This was a while ago, but it is a trip I reflect on a lot. We went to Mexico and worked in orphanages. Head on over to Shimelle's blog to link up if you would like to share your 10 Things or to see others 10 Things!

We made jewelry

Singing and dancing

Jewelry making

There were sweet babies! Here I am holding one.

Hanging out and posing for the camera

The group including the nuns that ran the place and the kids that were around that day

Hanging out in the stairwell

Someone said, "Let's make fish faces!" so we did.

We made art

Blowing bubbles

YEA! Layouts

OK, I finally got around to doing and photographing some layouts. I am still trying to figure out the best way to photograph a layout.  I always seem to get reflected light in my pictures and have to take many shots, until I get one without reflected light. Also, my layouts seem far away. This may be because I am use to zooming in when I take photographs. You can't exactly do that and get the whole layout in the picture. I may have to re-visit Shimelle's class. I believe one of the lessons was on this very thing. Any advice blog readers?

I was experimenting with some washi-esque tape here. I found it in the dollar bin at Michaels.

This one I actually did some journaling. Woah, woah. This was my first Alternative Spring Break trip I took with university students as the acting advisor. ASB trips are when you use your school break to volunteer. Here we are in New Orleans.

This is the first 12 X 12 layout I have done in a long time, much less a double pager! I was following Shimelle's 4 X 6 Love class on Two Peas. I was going off her sketch/layout. I tend to freak out with all the space a 12 X 12 has in front of me. Hence, my favorite layout size is 8 X 8. However, I did enjoy making this 12 X 12 layout a lot. Maybe sketches can help with the fear of negative space issues (:

Journaling on above layout:  On the journaling block: "UT forgot to order robes for their first graduating class of law students. The students at the time decided to wear white and sunflowers." On the brown strips below: "Tradition continues to this day" On the brown strips above the Four Seasons picture: "brunch before graduation" On the brown strips by the wilting flower picture: "someone froze all the sunflowers and they wilted!"

I have been....

I like the update post on this blog, so I thought I would give it a whirl.

I have been....

• attending a funeral
• contemplating a patio make over
• worrying about cleaning for the homestudy
• anticipating that adoption intake call
• watching True Blood
• organizing my scrap stuff
• hanging with my sister
• thinking about possible vacations
• celebrating my grandma's 85th birthday
• attending card camp
• scrapping with friends
• learning to give myself shots (for osteoporosis)
• eating from taco trucks
• working summer orientation at UTSA

10 Things (I love about summer)

Over at Shimelle's blog is a new project called 10 Things. The idea is on the 10 of the month you blog about 10 things. You can do anything. You can do pictures or words or whatever inspires you. Today I am going to blog about summer, my favorite season!

1) Sunshine. I am fair skinned, but love the warmth of the sun. Sunscreen is a must accessory.

2) Swimming. I love being in the water and I love to swim. (I use to be on a swim team)

3) Bar-B-Ques. Love the smell of mesquite bar-b-que and the fun and friends that come with it.

4) Vacations. Our anniversary is in the summer, so we always take a trip in August. Also, as a kid we always took our family vacations in the summer.

5) Sundresses. I love it when all the new sundress styles come out. I love the loose free kinda dresses. 

6) Walking barefoot just because you can. (In TX, you may want to be careful because sometimes it is too hot and you will burn your feet.)

7) Ice Cream. Really you can eat this anytime, but in summer it is much more refreshing.

8) Outdoor Festivals/Concerts. Yes, it is hot. However, the food, the fun and the music are worth it. Just bring sunscreen and a large hat!

9) Schliterbahn. This is a ginormous water park in New Braunfels that I love!

10) Tubing/Camping. Again camping can be hot, but that is why you spend your day sitting in a inner- tube floating down the river. Floating Ice chest is optional. Usually, in my world, tubing and camping go hand in hand.  Although, they can be done separately.

Do you have a favorite part of summer? If so, please share!



Gone Country

I took about a week or so off because my brother was in town and I love hanging out with my sibs. Steve came to town because our cousin Neal was getting married. Neal is Texas born and raised and loves everything country, so naturally his wedding reflected this. I loved all the details in their wedding. My favorite was the decoupaged boots. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

 The happy couple at the reception

 The girls all wore boots with their dresses

The centerpieces! Love <3

The men wore boots, jeans and the vests matched the girl's dresses

Color Combo Blog Hop

Today we are doing a color blog hop with Amy, whom I met through Shimelle's Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers class. The theme is color. I enjoyed his blog hop because it really made me look at color in my everyday life and I was suddenly looking everywhere for our combo of colors. The rules were that you could do anything that represented the color combo (scrapbook page, card, photo, etc.) Here is our color combo:

Here is my photo to represent our color combo:

If you arrived from Ade's blog you are in the right place! If you are here and didn’t come from the Ade's blog, I am listing the blog hoppers below, so you can go start back at the beginning.  Now let's head on over to Sara's blog and see what she has for us! Thanks for joining us.

http://amysoto.blogspot.com

http://scrappin24-7.blogspot.com/

http://scribblesstickingstitchingstroking.blogspot.com/

http://throughthecameralens.typepad.com

http://digipage-blog.everything-digital-scrapbooking.com/

http://blog.mshanhun.com

http://alyssephotographs.blogspot.com/

http://www.calendulafitzpatrick.blogspot.com

http://spud-pickle.blogspot.com

www.scrappingmojo.blogspot.com

www.MichelleRoycroft.blogspot.com

http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com

http://www.vsws.typepad.com

http://scrapyourlife.net

http://sugarandscrap.blogspot.com

http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

http://craftygoodies.blogspot.com

http://adriennefalzon.blogspot.com

http://airbs.blogspot.com/                  You are here!

http://1200somemiles.blogspot.com

http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

http://xnomads.typepad.com/

!

Pinata Fiesta

Last Saturday was my brother-in -law's birthday party. (Happy 32!) We had two pinatas to celebrate. The first one was for the kids and was full of candy. The second one was for the adults and full of tiny alcohol bottles. It was awesomely creative. It was a nice night to be outside enjoy bar-b-que and laugh with friends/family. I see a layout in the future with some of the new American Crafts Zing! It definitely needs to be a bright and happy layout (:

My nephews celebrates that he knocked the head off the kid's pinata

My brother-in-law taking a swing at the adult pinata

In the end we put the head on the mail box, just because we could.

Family Blog Hop

This is a rare photo of us and the dogs. Our dogs hate cameras and don't want to be anywhere near them. Although this is not the best photo, I love it alone for Wally's expression. (Wally is the small dog.) I feel as if Wally is looking at his big brother incredulously and thinking, " I can't believe you are actually posing" (:

Now hop on over to Patricia's blog and see a picture of her family.

Our blog hoppers: (in case you get lost)
Margie: http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Melissa: http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com/
Carol Ann: http://www.scrappingthoughts.com/
Ruth: http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com/
Jo: http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com/
Sharis: http://www.airbs.blogspot.com/ (you are here)
Patricia: http://patoliveira.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/lets-start/ (go here next)

Blog Hop

I will be particIpating in my first ever blog hop at 9am CST on May 5th. The theme is that you post a recent photo of your family. It can be whatever you define as family.
This blog hop is in support of a grander project that one of my fellow classmates in the Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers class is working on. Margie is doing a photo a month for a year of her family. I think it would be interesting to see people change over time. A lot can happen in a year!
Anyway, I hope that you stop by my blog on Thursday May 5th to see photos of our families and to give inspiration/support to Margie to keep going on her mission of family x 12!

The Royal Wedding

I've been obsessed with the Royals for sometime, so obviously I was super excited about the royal wedding. Our family went to the Lion and the Rose to watch the wedding festivities. They were having wedding coverage all day. The food is good and pretty authentic. We arrived complete with hats and were sitting right by a giant screen. Our timing however was a little off, because the Spurs were also playing and this was the game that determined their future, so half way through the wedding coverage we got cut off with the Spurs game. Spurs mania was rampt in the pub, so there was no chance that they were switching back to the wedding coverage. We finished up our dinner and decided to go home to watch the rest of the coverage on BBC America. I was a little sad that the wedding pub party was not exactly as advertised and I probably built it up in my head (where were the prizes?!) In the end though it was fun to hang out with the family.



The ladies with their hats (Mom's hat is the hat she wore to my wedding in Scotland)


This is a great picture of Dad. Love his hat!

My Day in Photos

SEE MORE DAYS HERE!

layout

I am taking two online classes at once. Which in retrospect was a little much for someone who has not taken many online classes before. Anyway, I am learning and being inspired lots, so it's a good thing. Below is one of the layouts I did for Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 3 class.

Blog goals

So I am taking an online course called Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers:

http://www.shimelle.com/classes/1001/online-scrapbooking-class-beyond-blogging-for-scrapbookers/

One of their prompts was to write goals for your blog. Here are mine:
Get connected to crafty folks
Get my name out there
Work on my header
Create my own blog designs vs. using other's designs.
Create sidebars/corners of stuff in neat little boxes
Better ways to archive
More concentrated journaling with themes.
...Basically, kick my blog up a notch!

Shimelle (our instructor) suggested these:
Do you want to blog more often?
Write posts that feel more special or important?
Increase the number of readers?
Have more conversation in the comment section?
Get your family to read and interact via your blog?
Start to make money with your blog?
Use your blog to help get on a design team or other scrapbooky thing?
Use your blog to help organise the stories you want to scrapbook?

I think those are awesome, too.

Scrap Poll

Good morning all!

In reference to the organizing scrapbook supplies on my part, I wanted to do a survey specfically about organizing paper. (Yes my favorite thing ever is pretty papers and I have a lot) Anyway, I want to see what my readers thoughts were on paper organization. Please take the time to fill out the poll below:

Ideas

Hello Readers!

So as you have seen in the previous post I am in the process of clearing out my scrapbook room in favor of the nursery (getting ready for the home study). I still really want a scrap space of my own, but I am struggling on what that new place will be and what it would look like. I want a space that can be organized and tucked away, especially since there will be a kid in our future. I am toying with the idea of having supplies in more than one room, but I don't want things in every nook and cranny of the house. I am looking for ideas, so I turn to you dear readers. I am wondering what your creative spaces look like? Is there a defining piece that brought your nook together? Where do you scrap/create in your house? Where do you store your stuff? Please leave any ideas in the comments section of this post. Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers!

changes

So I am currently clearing out my scrap room to make it into a nursery. I am a hoarder of things, so at times it is overwhelming. I am also not known for organizing. I really just don't have the knack. I always exist in a form of messy chaos that makes sense to me and no one else. I can find things, but others would be confused at my labeling system, since there is no logic to it.

Anyway, I started putting things in baskets, but I kinda have a lot and no scrap room, so I may have to let go of some things. Tear! Things that I am not ready to let go of I have been putting in big bins and shoving into the garage, until I can figure out what to do with it. I may be able to find other spots in my house for things. I thought about my bedroom closet or the laundry room. Of course there is tons of junk in both places already. It really comes down to Sam and I have a ridiculous amount of stuff. We are both hoarders. I am also not a fast cleaner. I always find something that triggers a memory and then I sit and think about it and usually decide to save it in a random drawer I 'll forget about later. Yea, you can imagine packing and moving go awesomely with us.

All those organizing shows say you should set timers, so it does not feel overwhelming when doing the cleaning. They also say you should lay out different sections to categorize your stuff. On TV the sections usually are categories like: sell, giveaway, and keep. I may try some of these techniques and see how it goes.

What I decide to give away I am going to give to the YWCA. Mom said they are going to do a scrapbooking class with the teens. They did it once a while back and they loved it. Even guys came. So at least I know folks will appreciate my stuff.

Wish me luck!

Lutherans!

Ok, so we set up a meeting with the Lutherans and they look awesome! They answered all our questions and we met for about an hour. There were a few questions the gal we met with did not know,so she said she would get back to us on. She was getting ready to go into a meeting after us and some answers would be revealed there. One had something to do with cost. Ekkk. She said it was more about when to pay versus rising costs. They are quite a bit cheaper. The Methodisst were great,too. However, you can't argue with cheaper.

Thier next intake is in June/ July. They do them once a year unless there is a need to do more. They have a day long orientation session that explains all the processes in adoption and also general new parent stuff. The home study expeirence they do all in one super long day. The homestudy could be resolved in a month.

I could see us having a baby by the Fall. The reason I say this is we are more flexible on race and general issues than most. We are at least willing to weigh and look at most situttions, where others are not. They give us a profile of the birth family up front and then ask if we want to meet..that is part of the discuss part. The gal we met with said we can have plenty of time to do this. Even if a baby was born and there had to be a discussion we could still do it and the baby would just go into craddle care. Essentially a very temp. home/foster sitution. She said it is basically retired ladies rocking babies. Cute!

I am hopeful!

Scrapbooking classes

So I took Ali Edward's Scrapbook On The Road class and loved it! See link below:
http://aliedwards.com/shop/project-classes/scrapbook-on-the-road

So I thought I would try some more classes. I came across the post below and I thought it gave some good info. to think about when thinking about which classes to take:
http://www.scrappyjedi.com/2011/03/upcoming-online-classes-im-taking-how.html#

So I am going to take these two:

http://kellypurkey.typepad.com/its_me_kp/2011/03/sketchbook-3.html


http://amytangerine.blogspot.com/2011/03/class-is-now-in-session.html

I will letyou know how they go!

Back to the Future

This is cool:

http://irinawerning.com/back-to-the-fut/back-to-the-future/

Travel scrapbooking

After reading about this yesterday:

http://amytangerine.blogspot.com/2011/02/many-pictures-of-mini.html

I recieved an email about this today:

http://aliedwards.com/shop/project-classes/scrapbook-on-the-road

Obviously, google is reading my mind!

Adoptive couple friends

Sam's friend he games with is adopting from the Methodist Mission Home. They decided and signed up. Sam's friend and his wife saved up half and the parents paid the other half. So they have a home study in March. Is it wrong I want to be these people and am a little jealous? At the very least they can give us the scoop on everything!(:

I did find out some dirt, though. When I asked about the price increase, I was told economy. However, Sam's friend noticed that there was a big dip down in adoptions last year (stat. nerd) Anyway, they finally got MMH to tell them why. They had a mother who found out you can get money for having babies from the government, so she rode it out got free health care from MMH and then changed her mind, so she could get the $$. She came back to the campus and convinced 7 other mothers to do the same. That means there were seven tearful hopeful adoptive parents crushed. It's one thing to change your mind because you just can't go through with it after all. It's another thing to change your mind for cash. Tear. Anyway, Sam's friend thinks that's why prices went up. Kinda of a weird circumstance. They still seem one of the better agencies. Just wish prices had not gone up.

Oh, the lady I was working with at the Lutheran place is going on maternity leave! (yea another thing. Sigh!) So I get to work with her supervisor. She will be the one we interview in March. This could be good, cause she probably knows a lot of stuff.

This guy made me laugh....

His enthusiasm for weather is awesome!

http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/cantore-surprised-by-thunder-snow-19541#19541

response

So the agency called me back. They said we could come into the program at any time. They said they had 3 birth moms right now that would be ready to look at folks with one mom due in Feb. Us and one more family would be the only ones shown because no one else was ok with african american moms. Yea, but I did lose a little faith in humanity. Really people? Its none of my business, but I am surprised that more people are not more open, but then again I am not surprised.

Then the bomb hit. The prices have gone up. Really up. I always just assumed I would be a stay at home mom. I still want to, but I also would like a kid before I am 80. They have a payment plan, but we can't make the payments if I quit. We make good money, but evidently not really enough to get a baby.

The price is high enough that we are going to look at other agencies. Back to the drawing board, I guess. I will re-call the Lutherans. They don't do sit down info. meetings, but will talk to you on the phone. I am going to request a sit down and see what they have to say. I just don't trust conversations over the phone. I can't see your body language and what you really mean. Some of Sam's friends were doing foster care through an agency in Austin I may check with them, too.

There have got to be cheaper places out there. Really, I am just kinda of sad. I just feel like once we get close to something a hurdle is thrown in our way. It happened with China, Ethiopia and now this. I just don't think it's fair, we are not rich folks and we just want a baby. That is all. Just one soft little baby. I know there must be a master plan and everything happens for a reason, but mostly I am just disillusioned and frustrated. I think I need to go take a bath and just go to bed early.

decsions/waiting

I was going to do Project 365, but I have decided to wait. I was coming off of Dec. Daily and I think the combo of both were too much. I may save my Project Life kit and document the first year of my baby's life. The kit basically sets itself up. I just need to remember to take pictures. Somehow with a new baby I think I will be inspired regularly.

Speaking of babies....
So I got a call from the adoption agency on the 10th saying they want to talk with me about the prelimanary application we sent in and said that they were looking for people to be brought into the program in Jan./Feb. I called and emailed back..several times. I am at the point that I feel like a stalker and I am wondering if something else is up. There is only one person that coordinates domestic adoptions. Maybe the coordinator is at a conference or sick. She has been prompt with replies in the past. I think next time I may just ask the front desk what is up and see if they tell me anything. I am excited, but now conused on what is happening. I had some questions I wanted to ask on timing, but so far no respose. I guess this is the stressful waiting people talk about. Boo.

Dad Labs

These guys are cool:

http://www.dadlabs.com/about-dadlabs.html

World Heritage Sites

This person is awesome! My new goal (the other being visit all radio telescpoes in the world)is visting World Heritage sites!

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/checklist.php

Only 877 more to go!

Yea

So we got an email from the agency asking if we want to come into the agency this month. (meaning Jan. I guess.) It is exciting. We are not exactly sure what this means. Does this means we are on an active list or waiting list? Are we moving through the steps on the Powerpoint or zooming through at top speed. She told me that they placed 7 families in one month. Meaning they matched them, not necessarily handed them babies. Our agency contact was out with bronchitis for a month and then went on vacation for the holidays, so we have not yet spoken to her to see what this all means and what we should be doing on our end. So far Sam and I are just cleaning out the garage and generally trying to look less like an episode of Hoarders. I have been reading Baby Bargains which was given to me as a gift. It has been super helpful. I was going to get creative and design the nursery myself, but then I decided that was insane. So I like this bedding/design: http://www.kidslineinc.com/products/infant/bunny_meadows.php
I also like the is furniture: http://www.babysdream.com/ProductBrochures/Serenity%2009.pdf
I am still deciding whether I will do cloth diapers or not. It does not look as hard as I thought it would be, but you never know until the baby is in front of you. If I did, I think I would go for the all in ones. It seems there are less steps too worry about. There will be constant washing, but isn't there anyway? Hmm. I am still thinking on that and not sure which brand I would use.

cute ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M6cFmY79w9g

Dec 1 Page complete

Here is my completed page for Dec. 1:

Dec. Daily

I am going to try Ali Edward's Dec.Daily project
For my album I am using: Making Memories Mistole albulm.
The papers I added were from Stampin Up! Designer Series Paper: Deck the Halls collection and DSP: Christmas Cocoa collection. I also used My Mind's Eye: Snowed In collection and Basic Grey's Fruitcake collection. I may add bits and scraps later on, but I wanted a base to start with.
The other concept I wanted to do with this albulm is to have all my photos be iphone photos. I wanted the pictures to have a on-the-go graniy feel to represent the on-the-go crazy of Dec. I am going for a snapshot travel albulm feel. That is why I am keeping the albulm small at 8X8 (that is my fave scrap size anyway.)
So here are are few pictures of the albulm before I put anything in it:

Rad!

http://www.novica.com/

Found this link from the Do They Have Salsa in China blog. (see link under blogs I read to the right)

Friday Fave

http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/Furniture/Furniture/tabid/519/CategoryID/155/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/28398/ProductName/Dana-Embroidered-Slipcover/Default.aspx

Holiday Card Time

My favorites:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/top-ten-moments-christmas-card-5x7-flat


http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=4376

Two Things

1.) We sent the preliminary application for our adoption to the agency. They have 60 days to review it and then will call us about whether they will let us go with thier agency or not.

2.) Love this!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/kids/index.asp?cds2Pid=35583

Disney

Walt Disney World is full of magic! They are serious about it and I bought right into it gleefully.

We have picked an agency

Sam and I have decided that we are going to use The Methodist Mission Home as our adoption agency. Really it came down to we liked what we saw in person. They seemed pretty straight forward, which was refreshing. Also, the gal in charge of domestic adoptions answers my questions right away on email, even if they make no sense.

We have to fill out an initial application to see if we can move forward to the actual contractual stuff. The initial application takes about 60 days to assess. We are planning to fill this out once we get back from out Fl trip (extend stay at World Disney World after Sharis' conference ends)One of the things we have to do is give them a family picture. We wanted to do one with the dogs, but mostly it went awry. Evidently dogs don't sit still for pictures, hate flashes are generally looked too big or kujo-like in the finished picture. If you know our heelers they are very cute and friendly. Any kid would *heart* them. Anyway, we have decided to send a separate picture of just Sam and I and a separate picture of the dogs looking at treats. Hopefully, this will work out well.

raining crazily

It's raining horizontal. My dogs are living it up inside. I am drenched because I went home to let them outside to go to the bathroom. The dogs immediately got drenched, so I am sure the house smells like wet dog. Sweet!. The wind is gusting, so even though I had a raincoat, umbrella and rain boots I am soaked. Luckily my hair is naturally curly and actually looks good.

babies

I see babies everywhere and I really want one.

Agencies

Sam and I have narrowed it down to two agencies:


http://www.mmhome.org/


http://www.lsss.org/

We are looking at domestic adoption, perferably a wee baby. I know folks that were adopted from MMH back in the day (70s) and a couple that adopted a baby from LSS. So I know that both are good. I feel comfortable with both agencies. One "fits" with us better, but we will be on a "waitlist" for the waitlist. (kinda crazy) The other we could start showing our profile in Jan 2011. Do I go with one that will get us showing quicker or one that feels more right? Oh, the decisions. Sam's vote.. MMH. We went to an info. meeting and he liked their straight forwardness. Also, he thought they seemed more about the families; meaning all of us: birthparents, adoptive parents and kid.

Deep Thoughts

"There is only one good reason to adopt, just as there is only one good reason to bear a child: Your desire to be a parent is greater than your fear."
-----You Can Adopt: An Adoptive Families Guide

stroms and contacts

Two things:

#1: So did y'all experience the storm with high winds on Wed night? Evidently there were 65 to 85 mile an hour winds. In fact the wind ripped a tree from our backyard and threw it into the adjourning neighbors fence. Luckily our neighbors were once in APO, which I advised briefly. Rock and roll.
After the storm when trees were all jacked upall over Oxbow and debris was all over the street and no electricity I decided grandma might be in trouble. So I ventured out to find her. Sam pointed out she survived the dust bowl and depression and regular twister activity in KS and she was probably fine. When I arrived she was kicking it on the front porch talking about how everything smelled so fresh and new. She was totally fine. In fact she drove through the storm coming home from choir practice. Hard core.

#2: I met a women on the internet through one of the adoption forums I joined and she is adopting and is from San Antonio. She is more organized than me and has been to some local agency orientations already. She liked Gladney as well and is attending their orientation soon. She is looking at the ABC program, too. I am excited to have this person to talk to through this journey.

Inspirations

Sandra: I "borrowed" this issue from the dentist office and read it and then became very inspired by her story and also her baby is super cute. Love him....
http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20364464_20364639,00.html

Rooms: This is a dreamy room. Maybe one day if I have a little girl...
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/nursery-tour-josephines-lovely-lost-and-found-031082

Shirt: just cute and I love narwhals...
http://shanalogic.com/item.php?item_id=2901

new plan

So Sam and I have decided not to adopt from Ethiopia. The travel rules have changed and Sam can not get enough time off to travel and be home (while earning income.) So we are looking at domestic adoption. In the begining, I think we were afraid of this choice, thinking it would be too complicated and worried about birthparents changing thier minds, etc. I think as we read more we realized that open adoption is a good thing and that we can move forward even if folks should change thier mind. I realize knowing your birthfamily could be a positive thing as far as idenity development. I guess Sam and I are just more open now. Seeing a friend's adoption and how sucessful it was is also encouraging to us. So we are now on a new journey to adopt from this program through Gladney:

http://adoptionsbygladney.com/html/abc/index.php

Hair

Today someone thought my hair was naturally red. Cool.

people are good

http://www.giveallforlove.com/

*hearts*

I've re-discovered the public library and am in love. Last time I had a library card was easily 10 years or more. A LOT has changed. Self check out is awesome! Anyway, I *heart* you library.

http://www.mysapl.org/location.aspx?id=igo

Changing lives

These people are cool:

http://thepeppereater.wordpress.com/

Ethiopian blogs I like

Sam and I are looking into adopting from Ethiopia. These are some of the blogs I have been reading on the expereince:


http://aroundtheworldand2kids.wordpress.com/

http://happysagers.blogspot.com/

http://endsofthenile.wordpress.com/

cute kid

Follow the link to the bottom to see the very excited girl with books. I just love her joy. This is genrally a cool blog, too.

http://karenrussell.typepad.com/my_lifejust_not_on_the_ro/2009/08/library-cards.html

trains

The Brackenridge train is still fun even when you are 35!

Waiting Child Webinar

So Sam and I attended a Waiting Child webinar on Tuesday evening. After going through it we decided it was not for us. This means the plans for China are officially over. (Waiting Children are kids with special needs or healthy kids over six.)
Ethopia is looking to be the best bet as international adoption requirements become stricter and stricter. The adoption process moves quickly, so we need to save the money up front. My estimate is that it will take 2 and a half years. This includes saving the money and then the waiting. We are also able to request an infant and travel once. We are now looking at two agencies Gladney in Dallas and Great Wall in Austin for the adoption. Both seems organized and cool. One has 4 years expereince the other just started Ethopia adoptions. Both have been doing other types of adoption for decades. So at this point its wait and save....

I love this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdpQ8B1j3Vo&feature=player_embedded#

Awesome

http://www.weezer.com/raditude/

The Oscars

Get Ready....

http://oscar.go.com/nominations/nominees

Adoption agencies

So it turns out that Holt is not accepting an application for Korea unless you have adopted through them before, have Korean heritage,or will take a special needs kid.

It also turns out that if you take a special needs kid from China you can go over there in a year and a half versus the 4 years for the regular adoption. Evidently, special needs in China are things small or fixable in the US. I still would want an infant so we will see what the waiting child list is like. Sam and I have signed up for a webinar next week through this group http://www.gwca.org/wc_webinar

If we go with Ethiopia this agency looks promising: http://adoptionsbygladney.com/html/ethiopia/index.php
They are in Dallas.

Really?

Overheard from student up front regarding add forms:

"You mean I have to do this all by myself?"

Yes, that is what being an adult means, especially when you wait until the last mintue and end up doing add forms.

Rain Boots

These boots are entirely cute and fun!

http://www.dsw.com/dsw_shoes/catalog/product.jsp?index=1&sort=&category=dsw10cat70019&prodId=189856&brand=

Sweet Maggie

Narrowing Things Down...

So far Ethipoia and Korea are looking promising for adoptions:
http://www.holtinternational.org/ethiopia/

http://www.holtinternational.org/korea/


I think I need to make a chart with all the countries and then mark things off according to our preference and what the countries offer. This might helps make things seem less overwhleming.

China is a 4 year wait

So Sam and I attended a webinar on adoption from China what we found is that the wait is 4 years...so we are beginning to re-think things. I kinda had my heart set on China, so it has been hard for me to turn this corner, Maybe it is for the best. Not even sure I want to pass on China, but the idea of 4 years seems so long. Of course if I have to wait 2 and a half years for Africa is two more years for China that big a deal? (1 year to save $ 1 and a half to get kid) I will be 41 with my first (probably only child) if I go with China and 37 if I don't. Does that matter? These are all questions I need to think on. Sam is all for going to Ethiopia or really anywhere. He is kinda thinking China is ridiculous now with all their rules. He did point out that things are ever changing with countries and who knows what could happen by July or in a years time. I am pretty luck that Sam is flexible because a lot of men are not. Still not really sure where I am going or what I am doing. I kinda always thought I would go with China and had never looked at other places until now.

waiting to start

So we are going to have to wait on starting the application for the adoption. Evidently, there is now a net worth requirement. Sam and I currently do not meet it. We should by July.

Word

I am taking Ali's lead and doing a word for the year. My word is growth.

http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2009/12/my-one-little-word-story.html

cool blog

This blog is cool. I like the idea she came up with.

http://laurakurz.typepad.com/365_days_to_30365_people_/

365 Days photo project fail

So Sam and I got sick with bronchitis and it literally took a month or more to recover. So I did not take a picture everyday, because I just felt bad or was puking. I was thinking of calling off the 365 pictures a day project. However, folks seemed like they did not want that to happen. One person's suggestion was to just extend it a month to make up for the month I lost. Another idea was to do a collage of what is happening now in my life and not really follow a daily timeline, but more of a highlights for the month. I like this idea. So I might approach this project very differently starting now.

even more 365

even more 365
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

Ok here is the rest that i have uploaded:

March 9: view of my office at work
March 10: Ruben's saved my car and money. go here.
March 11: finally it rains!
march 12: Sam eats with Dad and chats
March 13: Supernatural is a good show
march 14: new kitchen tile
march 15: Moonlight path is back at Bath & Body and its my fav
march 16: bought a swimsuit and Life is Good gear. Its my fav.
March 17: Kat and I at Stamp Club
March 18: SA finally re cycles!
march 19: mailed off passport
march 20: El Chaparell for Book Club
march 21: my scrap room. Notice its clean!
March 22: sweet Alex sleeps with his hands in the air
march 23: Buster sleeps in our yard. He lives across the street
march 24: my fav cabinet
march 25: got this chair in Ecuador
march 26: toby has awesome hair
march 27: I love reading NY Times at work
march 28: its spring. China berry trees in back yard
March 29: kat holds wee Alex
march 30: our backyard
March 31: grape leaf spotted. We planted these ourselves
April 1: new tile in bathroom
April 2: another random cat in our front yard napping

more 365

more 365
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

Hi folks ok here are some of the 365 pictures for feb and March...more to come....

Jan 31: Cappicino Blasts are the best
Feb1: new software for the Mac
Feb 2: Mom and i watch The Closer
Feb 3: MAC Hello Kitty premerie with Daniel Kitty
Feb 4: Jeff, Sam and I at Thai Taste
Feb 5: making blocks for Sara's shower
Feb 6: I was sick boo
Feb 7: Sara's baby shower
Feb 8: oops gotta find that one
Feb9: doing laundry
Feb 10: stamps for $7
Feb 11: Thin Mints yummm
Feb 12: Moonsun, Sam and I eat Koren food
Feb 13: My leg hurts to move so brace time
Feb 14: sam and me happy v day
Feb 15: new tile in boxes
Feb 16: wallace
Feb 17: tea bag holder I made at Stamp club
Feb 18: simple scrapbooks magazine
Feb: 19: Friendly Forest cool scrapbook line
Feb 20: our fireplace mantle. Jaguar from Oaxaca
Feb 21: my groomed eyebrows
Feb22: Oscars!
Feb 23: Oaxacan pots
Feb 24: our piano
Feb 25: The Majestic ticket box. we saw David Copperfield
Feb 26: Our living room
Feb 27: My nesting dolls I got in Russia
Feb 28: Sam with Wallace
march 1: painting mt nails
March 2: a hello kitty motorcycle!
March 3: Heroes is an awesome show
March 4: cool flowers at UTSA
March 5: Kat wrapped up Toby in a super cute towel
March 6: Freebirds yum
March 7: deciding on blinds for scraproom
march 8: Sara and new baby Alex

Recycling

I found that i really love recycling. Recently in our neighborhood, we switched to the new recycling program that the city is beginning to apply to all neighborhoods. We got two 96 gallon trash cans from the city. One is brown for everyday trash in a trash bag and the the other is blue for recycling. They even gave us a smaller blue container for our kitchen. Basically, I love sorting the trash into recyclable and not recyclable. It is very satisfying for me. Maybe its my secret anal side. Who knows? It's fascinating to see all that you can really recycle. I found that a lot of my trash can be recycled and the blue bin is often fuller than the brown. Yea.

themes

A theme with this 365 project is that I like food and movies/TV. These seem to be events that show up again and again.

Thin Mints!

I love Thin Mints. My husband and I have gone through 4 boxes this Girl SCout season alone. Hmmmmm

Jan 17 to Jan 21

Jan 17 to Jan 21
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

Ok so I forgot a week, so here it is:
Jan 17: We read a lot! Here is our bookshelves in the "dining" room
Jan 18: Today i played with my make up. Here is a sample
Jan 19: I met up with my friend Reshmey, whom I had not seen in years
Jan 20: Obama is our new president. Today was his inauguration
Jan 21: Today I mostly watched TV. Cold Case is a favorite

Jan 22 to Jan 30 2009

Jan 22 to Jan 30 2009
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

Jan 22: Going shopping at Michael's craft store
Jan 23: This is my favorite lamp in the house
Jan 24: I made these invitations for Sara's baby shower
Jan 25: Sara, Kat and I get together once a month to scrapbook
Jan 26: We went to mom's for The Closer premerie and she made us pork chops
Jan 27: It so cold today we decide to have a fire
Jan 28: We had rootbeer floats tonight
Jan 29: At The Rack they has Kid Robot bags on sale!
Jan 30: Looking at my computer for ideas on how to do this 365 project

jan 12 to 16

My creation
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

So my original intention was to post a picture everyday and then comment on it, but it seems like the pictures are coming in groups. So here is another collage (starting in top LH corner going Left to right):
Jan 12: We eat out quite a bit. Today it was Chinese food. We love this place. Look how much food there is
Jan 13: One of my hobbies is scrapbooking. I am currently trying to organize my scraproom. This is a picture of some of my creative tools and my scrap carrier
Jan 14: Sam and I like the Great Cthulu stories by Lovecraft. We also like games. He found this game that incorporated the Cthulu mythos. We are excited to play it.
Jan 15: I spontaneously decided to go hang out with Kat. Jacky , Kat and I talked into the night! It was a really good time. Here we are taking a picture with Toby ready for bed
Jan 16: I joined this stamp club. We meet once a month to make cards. I am really enjoying it. Here some cards we made tonight

Jan 2009 so far

Jan 2009 so far
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

So I decided I am going to take a picture every day for a year. The collage is Jan 2 through today. Jan 1 is in Dad's camera. I will post it once he sends it. So just a quick note on each (start top row in LH corner) :
Jan. 2: Steve is in town. I am always glad when my siblings are back in town and we can hang out together like old times.
Jan 3: We visit Kat's kid, Toby. Super cute and he loves to read and show us his various toys and loves kid jazz
Jan 4: This is a movie theatre. One of our favorite things to do is watch movies. We will watch them anywhere, even in different countries.
Jan 5: I go to get my Remicade treatment. They drip the medicine in through an IV. It is for my JRA
Jan 6: Mom, Dad and Steve helped me clean put the garage. These are some of the boxes that we put on the curb for pick up, yet it rained. So here are my wet boxes that the recycling folks did not take!
Jan 7: Steve's last night. We went to get ice cream.This is another favorite activity.
Jan 8: They now have a Starbucks on campus. Yes I am there frequently.
Jan 9: I work in the freshmen advising center and we advise freshmen during orientation on their first semester classes. This is the bucket of my files and papers I drag to orientation.
Jan 10: This is our dog Jack soaking up sunshine after being in the garage. Our dogs are going through heart worm treatments, so we have to keep them in the garage when we are not here.
Jan 11: Sam and I go to breakfast at least once during the weekend. It is our little breakfast tradition. Today we went to IHOP.

Construction is everywhere

What is not cool is when folks decide to do construction on a study day assuming no is working during those days. We are working...and its loud ):

Christmas gifts

I was looking at various websites getting ideas for Christmas gifts, when I came across a neat idea. Some one suggested you get the following for someone:

Something to read
Smothing they need
Something they want
Something to wear

Ren.Fair

Sam and I drove up to Houston to spend the weekend with Von. We went to the Rennisance Fair. The first thing Von and I always do is go get our faces painted.

Getting the house ready

Sam and I want to start the adoption application in the new year. We have been fixing up our house to get ready for the home study visit. Our house looks fine, but it is older and some things could be improved. The beginning of these journeys has been a new couch and an entertainment center. We also want to fix our leaning fence, re-tile the bathroom, get gutters in the back and create a decent patio. So, yea, it will take some time. Below are pictures of the couch and entertainment center:

http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/Showroom/Showroom.aspx?PageId=Showroom&CategoryID=1&ItemNo=1420238&SetDomTab=1&SeriesNo=14202&CollectionId=&style=&PageNumber=1&IsClicked=1&CatPageNumber=10


http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/Showroom/Showroom.aspx?PageId=Showroom&CategoryID=9&ItemNo=W570-21&SetDomTab=1&SeriesNo=W570&CollectionId=&style=&PageNumber=1&IsClicked=1&CatPageNumber=3

Obama!

Oh Yes We Did!

Toby

Toby is one!

Boo

My favorite scrapbook designer is not going to be doing her scrapbook line Love,Elsie anymore. Tear.

http://www.abeautifulmess.typepad.com/

Can't wait

For our anniversary Sam and I are going here:

http://www.blairhouseinn.com/

It is going to be great fun, eats, and relaxation!

Books are cool

I am reading this book China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage. It's about his journey adopting a little girl from China. Its cool because they used the same agency that Sam and I are going to use. It is all from the Dad's point of view and I am enjoying that. Also, the guy is a reporter so he can write well.

pain

Today my hands hurt. I think it is the arthritsis. Sometimes it spreads to other parts of the body and that mostly sucks. Le sigh.

Dr. Who

Sam and I spent all Sunday watching Season 2 of the Dr. Who series and eating pizza just becaue we could. (:

cheap movies

The Hollywood Video near my house is going out of business. My parents held the record for most videos rented ever at that particular store. Now that the store is closing their record will fade. Single tear.
On the plus side Hollywood Video was selling videos and furnishing cheap. I got the movie Tadpole for $1.00

Cool quote

Pam had this quote on her blog and I really like it:

"The fruit of silence is prayer
the fruit of prayer is faith
the fruit of faith is love
the fruit of love is service
the fruit of service is peace."
-Mother Teresa

Guayasamin

Sometimes when I am sitting alone the images of Guayasamin's work pop into my head. It's something I will never forget. It was one of my favorite parts of Ecuador.

http://www.guayasamin.com/pages_ing/index.html

Once

I finally saw the movie Once. What a wonderful movie! The ending really struck me and I cried and cried.

Random Facts

I was reading some scrapbook blogs and a lot of folks are listing seven random facts about themselves. So here are mine:

1. I have had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was 9 months old.
2. My first word was okra. (I did not talk until I was almost 3 and carried my okra everywhere.)
3. I love tote bags of all kinds. I have many of them. Ok, really I like all bags. They don't have to be totes.
4. I love to travel. I have been to 14 countries so far.
5. I love llamas. I don't know why, I just do. They have super long eyelashes, which is cool.
6. I love the sun, even though I have very fair skin. Basically, I wear sunblock at all times.
7. My husband and I want to adopt from China

oaxaca mexico

oaxaca mexico
Originally uploaded by sharis1974

Found this tool from another blog that makes mosaics out of your pictures. Here is one of our trip to Oaxaca.

New Dog

Look at the cutness!

Someone that Sam's mom knows had found a blue heeler puppy that needed a home. We already had Jack. (blue heeler) Blue heelers are very social animals and do better in pairs. So we adopted the blue heeler puppy. He is about 6 months old. We named him Wallace.

Little Miss Trouble

Look at this awesome coin purse I just got. They had wallets, makeup/pencil cases and coin purses all with the Little Miss characters on them. They are on sale at Mervyn's. Sam and I walked in to buy him a belt and then I walked out with a coin purse(: