Home Study Visit

We are on our way! Home study visit was yesterday and it seemed to go well. I'm not sure if I've ever been that nervous. Cory thinks I'm silly for worrying about it at all but I couldn't help myself. My shirt felt soaking wet by the time she was ready to leave. Evidently, I talk A LOT and sweat when I'm nervous. haha Cory said that he hasn't seen me sweat that much during a workout. Whew...I felt like that was a workout. :) Not really, she was very sweet and easy to talk to. It was just the fear of the unknown, I guess. She barely looked around the house. They said it would be like that but I guess I still expected the white glove to some degree. I shampooed my carpets 3 times in 2 days. Nervous energy! Well, at least my house is as clean as a hospital at the moment. Feels nice!  

Our 1st Home Study Meeting

Wow, we are really starting to move on the adoption front right now. It's a little overwhelming but it's amazing. We met with our Home Study agency (Adoption Support Center, in Broad Ripple) this morning and took care of the genealogy info they needed for the report as well as some initial paperwork. They where great! Our next appointment will be the actual home study and it is scheduled for July 21. I'm a little bummed that our new carpet and furniture won't be here in time for the home study but I'm glad that everything seems to be moving along quickly. Well, at least it is for now. It's sort of a hurry up and wait situation with adoption. Please keep us in your prayers. The next few months will be a bit of a roller coaster ride. 

Family Time

I am sooooo looking forward to some time with my fam. Mom, Jen, Maddison and Austin will be here later tonight. Barry, Michelle and Michaela got in yesterday. Barry and Michelle are spending the week at Anderson Camp Meeting and everyone else will be at my place. Woo Hoo!!! It's going to be a fun week of swimming, boating, spray parks, museums and the zoo. Can't wait! 

Sorry it's been so long!

Sorry I haven't been very good at updating this lately! Life has been a blur the last few months. Between our adoption stuff, remodeling our house, trips to Florida and shopping for new furniture I haven't had much down time. I have a feeling this is only the beginning too so I better get used to it. :)

No new news to report on the adoption front yet. Everything takes so long. It's a full time job getting everything we need together. It's a very rewarding job though. This will be the best delayed gratification we will ever experience! Can't wait to meet our little angel! 12- 16 months is just tooooooo long! 

Circumstance Does Not Define Happiness

I have learned so much since Cory and I have been researching adoption. Especially since we have placed our focus on Ethiopia. I have come across so many wonderful sites. I've actually listed a new website to my favorites list to the right. It's a blog for Children's Hope International. They have several favorites on their list that are amazing also. One of the posts was "I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me". What an amazing post! It makes you seen things differently. When most think of Africa, they think about starvation, aids, child soldiers, genocide, sex slaves and orphans. Thoughts naturally turn to "how can I help and make a difference". They have so little and we have so much. It's true, there are many tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. However, this post talks about how we shouldn't buy into the lie that circumstance defines happiness. The person who wrote the post talks about finding the truth. The truth is, in Africa she found hearts full of victory, indomitable spirits. In a place where despair should thrive, she found adults dancing and singing, children playing soccer with a ball crafted of tied up trash. Instead of payback, she found grace. Her new reality...she says, I now know that my joy should have no regard for my circumstance. What a powerful statement! 

She's not saying that Africa does not need our efforts. They absolutely need our partnership. But, she says she now understands that she needed Africa more the Africa needed her. Possessions in our hands will never be as valuable as peace in our hearts.

Adoption - Finally moving forward!

Hmmm...I guess it's been a while since I've posted something. It's been a little crazy lately. Anyway, GREAT NEWS, we are finally moving forward with our plans to adopt. We will be signing with Children's Hope International hopefully by next week. We've been waiting for this for so long. I was starting to think it would never happen. I've been patient but only because I had no other choice. Patience is painful! One thing is for sure though, I will never take this child for granted. We will be forever grateful to the birth parents who will selflessly give our child a better life. It will be a long process but I will try to keep you all appropriately updated during the next 12-16 months.  Please keep us in your prayers. This is going to be an incredible journey. 

Great EMHE pics!

Click on this link to see some updated pics of the Extreme Home. Interior pics are being taken today. The episode will air May 17th. I can't wait! The McFarland's experienced the big reveal yesterday. They said his reaction was priceless. You'll have to watch and see. 

http:/jamiesangarblog.com/

You may need to cut and paste this link into your browser. Enjoy!