We're Off To Minnesota

This Friday, Doug and I are flying up to Minnesota for the weekend to attend a travel orientation meeting at our agency, Children's Home Society and Family Services. Everyone logged in November of 2005 is invited to attend.

Doug and I always figured that we would fly to Minnesota for a travel orientation, but we thought we would go right before we traveled. We didn't know the orientation would be scheduled this soon. And we didn't think we would be going to Minnesota in December - and the weather forecast says it is going to be freakin' cold!

The e-mail invitation from our agency said...
We'll prepare you for answers to these questions and more:
What should I pack?
What documents will I need?
Who will arrange my flights?
What can I expect when I receive my child?
What are some cultural tips I should know?

I am going to take very detailed notes. I want to know everything! And I am looking forward to meeting other members of my adoption group as well as everyone who works in the China program at my agency.

I'll give all the details when we get back!

A Night At The Symphony

Saturday evening, Doug and I, along with my sister Amy and brother-in-law Andy, went to a special screening of the classic movie The Wizard of Oz with live accompaniment by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It was so great! It was amazing how the orchestra played the entire score of the movie without missing a beat. Incredible...

Before we headed to the movie/symphony, we all ate at a restaurant in Midtown Atlanta called South City Kitchen. I got their specialty - buttermilk fried chicken - delicious!

What a fun evening!




Doug and Me










Amy and Andy

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and though Briana is not home with me this year to celebrate like I had hoped, I do have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband Doug. I am truly blessed to have my soul mate and best friend by my side through thick and thin. I am also so thankful for my wonderful family (including my mom, dad, sister Amy, both my grandmas and the list goes on and on) and friends (old friends and new friends). I am thankful for my kitty Asia because right now she is my only child, and I love that I get to hug and cuddle her every day.

I am also thankful for what this China adoption process has brought to my life. Though this process is long and frustrating, it has been a completely different experience for Doug and me. The infertility process was terribly isolating, but through the adoptiong process, Doug and I found a community that is so supportive and friendly. I have really enjoyed meeting new people at adoption gatherings and also meeting new blog buddies online. And I am so grateful that I met and became friends with Kathy and Mick this year. They are both amazing women who are so much fun, and I am lucky to know them. I am also glad that I got to have lunch with Georgia on Monday, and after our three and a half hour marathon chat, I am happy I got to know her better. I look forward to more lunches in the future! (And luckily we were not kicked out of the Longhorn!)

So for everyone celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I hope you all have a very happy one.

Just For Fun #2

Here is another video from the "Back Dormitory Boys". This was the first video I ever saw from them and it's my favorite one. Gosh I love their passion!

Fingerprint Renewals

First thing Tuesday morning, Doug and I left the house at the crack of dawn to head down to the immigration office in rush hour Atlanta traffic to renew our fingerprints. Traffic was nasty, but we managed to get to the area where the office was in about an hour. Our appointment was at nine, and we were just under an hour early.

We were going to meet friends Kathy and Matt at the immigration office because we had the same appointment time, but on the way Kathy called me on my cell saying she forgot her ID, they had to go back home to get it and they would be late for their appointment. Doug was hungry, so we decided to stop at Chick-fil-A for breakfast and hang out a little. We then headed down the street to the office and got there about 15 minutes early. They let us in the building, but only after we brought our cell phones back to the car because they are not allowed inside. The whole thing (including wait time and fingerprinting) took about an hour.

Just as Doug and I were about to leave, Kathy and Matt entered the building. From across the room, we waved, wished them luck and headed out. I am SOOOO happy to have fingerprints done. It stinks that we had to spend another $140 to get them done though.

Neat Things We Have Done Since LID #2

As promised, here is the second neat thing we did back in January.

Neat Thing Number #2
BON JOVI CONCERT!

All I can say is that it was awesome! We had great seats. We were in the first row behind the floor seats, so there was a wide aisle between us and the floor. Before the show started, we noticed that security was gathering near our seats, and we weren't really sure why. A security guard came up to our row and told us that Jon Bon Jovi was going to pass right by us. Basically he was letting us know that if we decided to lunge at Mr. Bon Jovi that we would be taken down...

The guy sitting next to me was so excited by the news I thought he was going to pee his pants. The concert started, and there was Jon Bon Jovi literally about 20 or 25 feet away from us performing on a tiny stage in the middle of the venue. He sang two songs and then he started to head toward the main stage - which is why he had to pass by us. Doug had the camera and tried to take a picture. He was so excited (Doug's got a slight "man-crush" on Jon - LOL!) he only got a "torso" shot. Here it is...


Yep - he only got him from the neck down. But right after this picture was taken, Jon Bon Jovi did walk right past us, he reached out his hand and Doug and I both reached out ours to shake his. I actually touched Jon Bon Jovi's left hand with my left hand. Doug got to shake his hand too. Wow - that was SO cool!
Jon Bon Jovi reached the main stage, and the whole group put on the best performance! And Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland surprised the audience by coming out and performing two songs with the group. I have been a Bon Jovi fan for 20 years and I am so glad I got to see them in person!

Bedtime Traditions Swap

These are the items I received from my great gal pal Mick for our bedtime traditions swap! Briana will have many sweet dreams in her cute pajamas! Thank you so much Mick! I love everything!

Clothes And More Clothes

This is the adorable outfit my Aunt Gail gave me for Briana last week. It is from Gymboree - and of course everything matches and is absolutely precious! I can't wait for Briana to wear it! Thank you Aunt Gail!


And speaking of outfits, this is a picture my mom took of me at her house few weeks ago when I brought over all the clothes that I bought at my first consignment shopping spree. I had so much stuff she couldn't resist snapping a pic!

Referral, Rescheduling & Registering

It is Monday morning, and so much has happened since my last post!

First, a big congrats to Lisa and Eammon on the referral of daughter Maisie Maio on Friday! Here is her picture - what a cutie pie!

Second, after almost 4 weeks of anxiously waiting for rescheduled fingerprint appointments for Doug and myself, the notices finally came in the mail on Saturday. Major relief. And I found out that our friends Kathy and Matt, who also had to reschedule their fingerprint appointments, got their notices in the mail on Saturday as well - for the same date and time as Doug and me (November 14th at 9AM). I was so happy to hear that they would be there too!

And last, I finally registered at Babies R Us and Target on Sunday! After one Margarita and a delicious lunch at Bahama Breeze with Kathy and Mick, they helped me create registries at both stores, and I unfortunately went a little crazy with the scanner!

One Year Anniversary

Well - today is the day...one whole year since our LID. I thought our daughter would be home with us by now, but we are still waiting. Hope we won't be waiting too much longer...

The good news is that 16 days of matching occured this month and January is through review! It is so nice to see so many beautiful babies on the anniversary of my LID!

Neat Things We Have Done Since LID

I've noticed that most China adoption blogs are created by adoptive parents either when they are paperchasing or when they get DTC or LID. Well, I started mine kind of late. I randomly started this blog at the very end of July 2006 which was almost nine months after my LID. Doug and I have done some pretty neat things (at least we think they are!) since we got our LID that I never got a chance to write about. Since we are just about to hit our one year LID anniversary, over the next couple of weeks, I am going to share the top ten neat things that Doug and I have done from LID to blog start date.

Neat Thing Number One...
LAS VEGAS!

Doug and I went to the massive CES convention in Vegas for a few days in early January. Well, I actually went to the convention just one day. It was really cool, but one day was good for me. Doug and his "Gizmos for Geeks" business partner Khalid went to the show everyday, so for two of the days, I did my own site seeing. I had been to Vegas once before, so I wanted to hit several of the hotels that I did not get to see the first time. This trip, Doug and I stayed at the MGM hotel. And, we did go see Cirque du Soleil's "O" - which was absolutely amazing.

Here are a few pictures of the trip!