September 30, 2026

Before I Do More Catch Up...

I said in my last post I was going to post about our trip to Colorado and I do plan on doing so, but I thought I would do a little update on me personally first.
 
I want to start another blog/website where I can start writing down all of my thoughts and feelings separately from this blog. When I figure out where I want to be, I will let you know where I am.
 
 As I type this post, I feel totally exhausted and have a pretty good headache. I don't know what it is about having Hashimoto's and I am sure everyone who has it copes differently, but I am worn out every day. 
 
Every. single. day.
 
It is a fatigue that I cannot explain. I can do one short outing and then I feel like I have been out and about all day. My bloodwork numbers show that I am in range now with my thyroid, but that doesn't matter. I am tired and sluggish. My stomach bothers me off and on. I have been getting sinus headaches lately. I have been having lots of issues with my ears blocking up too. I have had a couple of muscle spasm attacks in my upper back. It is awful. 
 
Going to Colorado and being pretty busy for 4 days straight (getting there, the actual visit and the trip home) and making yet another visit to Briana's apartment to bring some things over right after that, took a toll on me. (On a side note, she is now finally settled in her apartment and she is absolutely loving it. She loves her privacy and her ability to cook. I will do an update on her in another post, but she is doing great.)
 
So between going on a trip, getting Briana all settled in her place, going to doctor appointments, helping my parents with doctor appointments and other life things, catching up with friends, dealing with chronic illness, living in this absolutely insane political environment and just doing my every day chores - I feel a bit beat up. I often think about ways I want to start making a little money, but I then always have to take how I am feeling into consideration.
 
 A quick positive note...I went to the grocery store today, and I walked all around the store. I felt tired afterward. But, I did think to myself that two years ago, I was recovering from heel surgery. I sometimes cannot believe how well I walk now and how good my heel feels. That is one thing that I was able to overcome and that has been wonderful.
 
I swear I am not lazy. In my heart, I have so much I want to do. My body just can't seem to keep up with all of that. 
 
And I am SO fatigued mentally as well. 
 
 This has been floating around social media and it hits the nail on the head...
 
 Living with anxiety and chronic illness makes you tired already. You add in how badly our country is being run right now and everything feels debilitating to me.
 
I am trying to go about living my life knowing the worst of the worst are running our country into the ground. People with no moral compass. Absolutely no experience. No feelings for people in need. Total "kiss the ring" people and yes people. People who only care about power and how much money they can make and at the same time, take away from the less fortunate. The pedophile, rapist, racist, lying head honcho is absolutely dementia-ridden and droopy-mouthed from stroke - which accentuates his horrifying narcissism. And he craps his pants every day. This all feels terrifying to me. There are NO adults in the room. Which I clearly stated would happen before the 2024 election. Everything I predicted has happened. It is actually worse than I imagined.
 
And NO, this stuff isn't happening because of B!den. Two years into this presidency, this crap show is all on MAG.A. 
 
Grocery prices and gas prices are through the roof. Diseases we haven't dealt with in decades are returning because of the ignorance around vaccines. Our food is constantly being recalled because we have no one in charge making sure it is safe anymore. We are in an ongoing war that started based on a lie. Our healthcare premiums are going up. So many people have lost their jobs. Farmers are losing their farms (FAFO). Data centers, which zap all of our natural resources, are being built everywhere. Christian nationalism is being forced down all of our throats. The negative effects of climate change are showing up in full force. Women have lost their right to bodily autonomy (including my daughter). Minority groups are less safe. We now have concentration camps here in America. Free speech is being suppressed. I can go on, but I just don't want to.
 
And I have to try to go about my normal business knowing all of this. How? It is getting harder for me every day. Trying to put a smile on my face knowing the shit show this country is now. And how angry and disappointed I am at everyone who either wanted or allowed this to happen. I am just very, very tired.
 
I am scared about the midterms. Nervous people will be too scared or indifferent to vote for change. Nervous that MAG.A will try to suppress the vote (which they are already starting to do). Nervous that people who rightfully win their elections will be called fraudsters and/or won't be sworn into office. On January 3 of next year, we will find out how corrupt the right really is.
 
 So how am I doing?
 
Good in some ways. Not so good in others. Doug is doing well. Briana is doing well. I really really really wish I could feel better. I wish I had more energy, though I am happy for the energy I do have and I am grateful that I can walk again. I hope that the election in November will bring about positive change because something has to change for the better. I am not sure my mental state will be able to take it if things don't change soon.
 
 That is my update. Trip to Colorado post will be next.
 

September 24, 2026

The Rest Of August

Because of how the schedule works at SCAD (quarter system), unlike most college students who are heading back to school in August, Bri still had the entire month off. And Bri's classes didn't start until September 14th this year (because Labor Day landed late), so we got her for a short time in September as well.
 
As most of you know, we had several birthday celebrations at the beginning of August for Briana, which I already blogged about...
 
Bri took several days off to celebrate her birthday, but once that was done, Briana was back to work - and she worked quite a bit. Doug and I visited her a few times and bought ourselves lunch at Firehouse...
 
She and her co-workers make some very pretty and delicious sandwiches...
 
B chose August 29th to be her last day at work so we could take a trip to Colorado before she started back at SCAD. She plans to work some during Christmas break, so she will be happy to see her co-workers/friends again.
 
Briana had a request before she went back to school. She really wanted to return to a little soda shop that she and I had visited last summer that was so yummy. Neither of us ever made it back there for an entire year! So we went back and this time, we asked Doug to join us for lunch...
 


Then Bri had another request. She wanted to visit the Spirit Halloween that is not too far from our house (because the Spirit Halloween near her school is much smaller) and then stop at the mall as well to shop at a couple of her favorite stores. So we did that one evening.
 
I am going to hold on posting the Spirit Halloween photos until closer to Halloween!
 
 We did visit the mall and stumbled across an adorable little store called "Exotic Snacks" and Bri was so happy. It had a lot of Asian snacks (kind of pricey, so we didn't go too crazy in there)...
 
Briana did some crocheting over the summer, and she made this adorable peach pie purse...
 

One evening after work, Briana plopped down on the couch and decided to watch the original "Footloose" (without any coaxing from me!). So of course, I watched it with her...
 
So many young ladies (and some young men too I am sure) developed a massive crush on Kevin Bacon after seeing that movie. I know I did. **swoon**

 And at the very end of August, Doug and I had a great dinner with our dear friends Kai and Kelly to celebrate Kelly's birthday...
 
Doug and I really enjoyed having a lot of time with Briana in August. 
 
At the beginning of September, we did take that trip to Colorado to visit family. It had been too long! I will post all about that next!

September 11, 2026

25 Years Since The Tragedy of 9/11/2001

It has been 25 years since America changed. Since the world changed. The terrorist attacks shattered the long-held belief that the United States mainland was safe from foreign threats. We were naive then. We were unprepared. We were easy targets and didn't even know it. We learned the hard way.
 
I am going to write today about 9/11 because it is a "milestone" anniversary. 
 
I have written before about what I went through that day - which was minuscule compared to what so many others were going through. So I won't repeat it (you can click the link if you want) since I have already talked about it many times.
 
I have heavily commemorated this day for the last 25 years. Sometimes immersed myself in it. I have read so many articles. Listened to the stories. Watched the documentaries numerous times. Listened to the names read of those who lost their lives. I visited the memorial in NYC. I have felt the grief - for those who perished, for the loved ones who lost their persons and for the country that lost its innocence. I know what happened that day. I will always remember the before and the after of that day. It was tragic and horrible and heartbreaking and terrifying and infuriating and heroic all at the same time.
 
And I do plan on visiting the 9/11 museum one day. Not sure when. But I do plan to because I do think it is important. 
 
  But...after 25 years, I don't think I can engulf myself in the remembrance of this tragedy anymore. I'm not saying I won't remember or pause or think about what happened on each anniversary. But I personally can't keep reliving what happened over and over and over again anymore. It has finally worn on me after 25 years. I have heard on social media from some of those who lost family members and friends in the towers that day say how hard it is to watch their loved ones die over and over again on their screens. I can't even imagine.
 
So today, I will think about what happened. I will remember how brave so many people were that day. I will privately take a few moments to feel sad for what happened, for what was lost and for what once was. But then I will continue on with my day because that is what we have to do in life. Learn from what happened, understand it and then continue to live life.

August 19, 2026

Celebrating My 20 Year Old Daughter

I think you have probably noticed that our family celebrates birthdays for days. Many many days - LOL!

 Bri's 20th birthday was no exception.
 
We started the celebrations off several days before Bri's actual birthday. We started by having a get together with my parents at their home (and we celebrated my dad's birthday as well - he and Bri have birthdays a week apart).
 
Miss B was very spoiled with cheesecake and gifts...
 

 
The next day, I asked Briana if she was interested in seeing the "Hadestown" pro shot in the movie theater. My Broadway girlie was a definite yes. I had not been to a movie theater in 3 years! But, I knew it wouldn't be crowded, so we went for it. We had seen Hadestown on Broadway, but I really wanted to check it out with the original cast. It was so good...
 
The day before Bri's birthday, D, B and I headed down to her apartment again to bring some art/school supplies, essentials and extras (we went last weekend to bring things too). 
 
Things are really coming together...
 

 
 I think we have one more visit as a family to the apartment on Labor Day weekend to bring some last minute things and her clothes. Then she will figure out what day she wants to move in officially and will drive to the apartment on her own. I think we have made things as comfortable as we can for her.
 
Before getting to the apartment that day, we stopped an authentic Chinese noodle/dumpling place that Bri discovered and wanted me and Doug to try (it was so delish)...
 
Then Briana's actual birthday rolled around!
 
Balloons on the ceiling in the morning of course!
  
Briana took several days off of work around her birthday - and I am so glad she did. She really just wanted to sleep that day, so that is what she did.
 
We opened gifts that afternoon and she blew out candles on her birthday brownies (I always use the plate I made for her when she was a baby)...
 



We took her to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner...
 
 A beautiful sky on the way home...
 
She had a wonderful day.

 But her birthday week wasn't over quite yet.
 
Her wish was to have a couple of friends spend the night at her apartment. So the weekend following her birthday, her friends Mere and Mary joined her for some shopping, food, fun, rug tufting, movie watching and maybe a little bit of sleep!
 
I am very happy her first time sleeping at her place was with friends there.

 I cannot believe my kid is 20 years old now...
 
I am really proud of her. She has worked a lot this summer and made quite a bit of money. She has thoroughly enjoyed her time at home, but I think she is starting to feel ready about going back to school. I'm just glad we don't have to deal with any of the dorm stuff anymore. She can focus on her friends and classes and not freaking drama. 
 
I have now written about Bri's 20th and this is when I now have to decide how I want to continue this blog. I am still not quite sure. I don't have to figure it all out immediately, but I will figure it out eventually.
 
 Thanks again for reading!

August 5, 2026

Happy 20th Birthday Briana!

How in the world is she TWENTY?
 
My kid is 20. 20 years old. Goodbye teenage years. I think I am in shock today.

Wasn't it just yesterday that she looked like this? 
 
I guess not. 

A whole lot of life has happened since then.
 
She's about to start her junior year of college and will be moving into an apartment to live by herself. It is difficult to wrap my mind around.
 
I love the woman she is becoming/has become, but I do miss my baby sometimes...
 
Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to my daughter, best girl and miracle.
 
I cannot wait to see what life in your twenties will bring. 

August 3, 2026

The Rest Of Our July

 As you all know, Doug, Bri and I celebrated our 19th gotcha day anniversary on July 30th. Briana had to work most of that day, but when she got done, we went out to eat some Korean BBQ at one of her favorite restaurants for dinner...
 
On a Saturday, Doug and I went over to Bri's apartment to put together some more furniture we had ordered, but Briana had to work so she couldn't join us. Doug put together her bed, I put together side tables in her bedroom and living area and then Doug and I (mostly Doug) put together her lift-up coffee table. It was quite a bit of work, but we got it done...
 
I think we have all the big stuff done now. We just need to do finishing touches and of course, eventually fill the kitchen cabinets, closets and fridge.

On a Sunday afternoon, our friends Jim and Valerie invited Doug and I and other friends to watch Jim perform with the "Dukes of Swing." Jim (on the trumpet) and all of the musicians were awesome and it was a super entertaining afternoon...
 
After watching the Dukes, Doug and I had a nice dinner together...
 
Doug and Briana are still enjoying their weekly (Tuesday) dad/daughter Dungeons and Dragons sessions together...
 
I went to one doctor appointment and also had several meetups/catch ups with friends the second half of July.
 
August is here now and the beginning of August is always about Briana since it is her birthday. So my next couple posts will be all about Miss B. She is turning 20! How is that even possible? 

August 1, 2026

My Surprise Realization ~ The Connection Of "The Phantom Of The Opera" Musical To "The Lost Boys" Musical

I made a recent surprise realization.
 
I follow a couple of social media accounts for "The Lost Boys" Musical and on one account, there was a post that mentioned a performer named Ben Crawford. I wasn't sure who Ben Crawford was, so I googled his name under images. An image that I posted on my blog back in 2019 popped up. I had blogged about me, Doug and Bri seeing The Phantom Of The Opera on Broadway. I recognized the picture immediately. In that blog post, I said that the Phantom's voice made me cry. That is how good he was and how much his voice moved me. For some reason, his name didn't stay with me (but it should have - shame on me).
 
 I came to the realization that the Phantom we saw in 2019 was Ben Crawford and he is now in The Lost Boys.
 
He plays the main character Michael's abusive father (who is a hallucination) and is also in the ensemble. He is also the understudy for the character Max. I had NO idea that was him. He obviously wore a mask in Phantom, so I didn't really know what he looked like.
 
Our attendance at that "Phantom of the Opera" performance put the Broadway bug into my sweet girl. She loved that show. She loves musicals but especially musicals on Broadway.  
 
I wish I had known beforehand that we were seeing "our" Phantom again.
 
Phantom Ben Crawford...
 
 
His voice is beautiful...
 
 
He was Phantom for 5 years - starting before the pandemic and then coming back after it. 
 
And now, he is in "The Lost Boys"...
 
 This is a video of the scene "The Secret Comes Out" which happens right before the intermission. It is when both Sam and Michael start to realize that Michael is now a vampire after drinking vampire blood (half-vampire) and Michael hallucinates his abusive father - played by Ben Crawford (this video was obviously secretly recorded by someone, so the quality isn't the best, but it shows the whole scene). This is one of my favorite scenes from the show...
 
 
 Ben Crawford has one song that he is featured in on the LB soundtrack and it is "You Belong To Me (Reprise)". He sounds amazing on it.
 
 As soon as I figured this all out, I told Briana. It was very exciting putting two and two together.
 
Both shows - Phantom and Lost Boys are in my top 3 favorite musicals (Hamilton is top 3 as well).
 
Wish I had known this earlier, but I'm happy to know it now! 
 
Here is a list of musicals that we have seen over the years (the ones I have blogged about)...
 
I had seen a number of musicals before Briana came into my life, as my parents were musical fans as well as Doug. I saw national tours of Phantom, Fiddler On The Roof, Wicked, Cats, The Lion King, Spamalot and Beauty And The Beast - before becoming a mom. And as a child with my parents, I saw Peter Pan (with Sandy Duncan) and Sophisticated Ladies (which I did not enjoy because I was just too young to get it). So to have a daughter who has a huge appreciation for musicals is a big win for our whole family!

July 30, 2026

19th Briana Day Anniversary AND The 20th Anniversary Of Waiting For Briana/Life With Briana (Including A Thank You Video From Me)

19 years ago today, Doug and I met our beautiful Briana (Jiang Ai Juan) for the first time in Chongqing, China at 4PM in the afternoon (China time) on July 30th, 2007.

It was an emotional, joyous, overwhelming, terrifying day for all of us...

We cannot imagine our lives without our beautiful Briana. She was our miracle and gift on that day - and she still is.

Our almost 20 year old will be starting her third year of college in September. It seems unbelievable.
 
Here is our China travel video once again...
And here's to 19 amazing years!

BUT - there is more.

  Today is also the 20th anniversary of this blog ~ Life With Briana (formerly Waiting For Briana). 

This was my very first post...

I had no idea that exactly one year later, I would be holding Briana in my arms. 

 And who would have thought that I would be here still after 20 years. This is what I looked like 20 years ago...

This is me and my friend Kathy back in 2006 consignment shopping and dreaming about our girls (and we are still friends to this day). This is a picture from the second post I ever published. Kathy is the one who encouraged me to create a blog and join the China adoption community blog world. And this blog changed my entire life. I connected with so many people from across the country and in other countries who were on the same path I was. I have met some of them. I am still in touch with many of them on other platforms. Some of my closest friends today are also in the China adoption community. 

But I am pretty much one of the very last people from the community still here on Blogger.

I have the first 10 years of this blog printed out. I have 10 years not printed. I would rather try to find a way to save my blog virtually at this point then print anymore of it out. I have more scrapbooks and blog books than any one person truly should and I know Briana will be super overwhelmed with what to do with all of them one day. 

Since it has been 20 years of you all only being able to read my written thoughts, I thought it would be a nice change for me to speak to you on video for the first time instead...  

 
 
Thanks so much for reading for all these years. It means so very much to me.

July 22, 2026

The First Half Of July

July has been a somewhat overwhelming month so far. From trying to get Briana's apartment set up to my dad's back surgery. And just some other life things that have had me starting to realize I need to alter some my perceptions and/or expectations. Sometimes what you put out there just isn't always what comes back to you. I'll just leave it at that.
 
Of course, July 4th happened this year. To be honest, with the orange dementia patient hijacking and destroying everything that was the 250th - I really didn't feel like celebrating. I wasn't going to completely ignore it, but I wasn't going to do jumps and cartwheels.
 
I did decorate my house a bit because I do enjoy my July 4th goodies...
 
So to keep ourselves busy and with Briana luckily having that weekend off of work, we went to her new apartment to bring furniture and assemble it. It was a LONG day.
 
Heading up to the apartment...
 
Everything lined up...
 
Work, work, work...

Briana put this TV stand together herself...
 
This was the finished product (so far)...
 

The weather was all over the place that day. It did rain for a while...
 
B's apartment overlooks her school, especially her freshman dorm.
 
A rainbow appeared and there was a beautiful sunset that evening too...
 
Our intention was to watch the fireworks in the distance that are set off yearly in Buckhead from the apartment windows. We had ordered some food in for dinner and when I looked to see what time they would start, we realized they had happened the night before. Good grief.
 
So we finished eating and just headed home. We were so tired. We did see this pretty view on the way home as we went by the lake...
 
We just watched firework on the TV...
 
Bri is still living at home right now because she has to work, but she will move in to the apartment toward the end of August. Doug and I will be going there this weekend to build a little more furniture.
 
Speaking of Bri's work, I have ordered two sandwiches from her since she started working at Firehouse. Were they gluten-free? No. Did I eat them anyway? Yes I did. I just had to eat some of her sandwiches (yes they were delish)!
 
July also brought a much needed surgery for my dad. He has had back problems for a very long time and all other options had been exhausted. So, I picked up my mom and dad and took them to the hospital and it was a very long day...
 
It was outpatient surgery, which is amazing to me. We got to the hospital at 9:30am and didn't leave until almost 6:30 at night. I spent the night at their house in case they needed me - which they did a bit.
 
I went home the next day to freshen up a bit and grab something they needed, and then I went back to their house (with Doug this time) in the evening. As Doug and I headed back home, we saw not only a beautiful double rainbow, we saw an amazing sunset. The sky was showing off that night...
 
The good news is my dad is doing well. We won't know how well the surgery worked for a little while. He still has some healing to do. I am hoping this will help his pain and get him walking better again. 
 
It was a draining week, so Mei snuggled up on me one morning - I think she could sense I was a bit depleted...
 
I will say that with all the life-ing we have had going on, having Tovala has been really great. We can just pop meals into the oven easily and not think too much about it. We love it so much, we are going to set Bri up with it when she is in her apartment. Look at these meals...
 
From crab cakes to chicken to beef to pork chops to Asian to southwest, it is all really good. I have either loved or liked all the meals I have tried - except for one. And it was these Reuben hot dogs...
 
I thought they would be fun to order around the July 4th holiday and I even decided to eat the gluten buns. Underwhelming. The hot dogs were hard. Not doing those again.
 
 Doug and I have also had a few yummy meals out over the last couple of weeks...
 
And Briana made gluten-free peanut butter/chocolate/oreo mini pies...
 
Very rich but so delish.
 
And I should have posted this in June, but I missed it somehow. My gardenia bush bloomed for a couple of weeks in my front yard (I love gardenias) and my Christmas cactus decided to give me a bloom as well - which hasn't happened in a long time...
 
After a very busy couple of weeks, my friend/neighbor Jennifer asked me to come over and swim in her pool yesterday. I had not gone swimming at all this summer and it was time. We had a great catch up and I needed a quiet day.
 
And finally, someone got her hair chopped today. I absolutely love it! She wanted a summer do and I think it is so cute!
 

Hope everyone is having a good July so far!
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