Fortune, Cactus Flower & Ladybug

I am sure there are a number of you out in blogland that are believers in signs. I have to admit, I believe got a few of them right around my China referral. The night of our referral, Doug and I went to our favorite sushi restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat. This is the actual fortune I got that evening, "You will soon gain something you have always wanted."

About a week before referral, my sunrise cactus started to bloom. Ok, your thinking "so what"? Well, this cactus has not bloomed in probably six or seven years. Nothing, nada. My mom brought it to me full of blooms and a few days later they all fell off and it never bloomed again. The first picture is of the cactus blooming right before referral and the second was taken a few days ago.

And two days before referral, I went to look out the big picture window in my bedroom and saw a lone ladybug sitting on the outside the glass. That was a ladybug siting I will never forget. I snapped a few pictures, but it is kind of hard to tell what you are looking at. But I promise, it is a ladybug.

Well, what do you think? Kind of unusual, right?

Gifts For Moi

Wow - do I feel the love! I have gotten more great goodies from family and friends.

This is the "Child of My Heart" figurine by Willow Tree, and my mom gave this to me for my birthday. I know several of my bloggy buddies already have this one. It is proudly displayed on my mantle.

My childhood friend Debra sent me this beautiful outfit and journal for Briana. I can't wait for Briana to wear it! Thanks Deb!

This is the awesome t-shirt my mom made for my whole family. I wore it all day on my birthday! I am also including the pic of my family again. I realized that when I posted it before, if someone tried to click on the picture it didn't zoom up. Hopefully, it will this time.

This adorable jacket and brag book is from my gal pal and neighbor Amy B. Amy just got her LID - congrats Amy!

This great book is a gift from my girl Kathy! Thanks so much Kathy - I love it and Briana will too!

And this little cutie my mom bought too. (She is going to be a first time grandma if you can't tell!) She saw it as we were walking through Babies R Us and had to buy it. Squeeze this baby's tummy and she says "I love you." Too cute!

Tuesday Lunch

I hosted lunch at my house yesterday for our great group of ladies who lunch together each Tuesday. Yesterday, Debbie (with LiLi and Ian), Lisa (with Maisie), Kathy and Randi all came over. I served a chicken and broccoli casserole for the adults, and I am so glad it turn out ok because I had only made it twice before! For the kids, I whipped up Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and learned that it is a perfect food. I believe Maisie liked it because I heard, "Mmm, Mmm" from across the room - too cute!

I had a line of Briana's toys lined up in the family room for the girls to play with. It was a great test run! I think it was big thumbs up from the girls for all the toys, except for some kiddie chairs that I bought that were a little too light for kids under two years old. I found they tip a little too easily. I think I will wait until the kiddies are older to reintroduce them!

LiLi and Maisie are always as cute as can be! I love getting kisses from those girls! And Ian was very impressive with his knowledge of movie ratings. You name any movie, and Ian can tell you the rating. Very cool!

Of course, I had tons of questions about China travel. Lisa & Debbie - thank you so much for always answering all the billion questions I have when I see you. You both are so helpful! Kathy - thank you so much for my b-day gift! I absolutely love the activity book for Briana. And Randi, thanks for the encouraging words you gave me yesterday right before you left. I will remember them. Have a great trip!
As always, it was a wonderful afternoon! Thanks for coming!

Trip To Chattanooga

Doug and I had a great Saturday in Chattanooga at the Tennessee Aquarium with Doug's cousin Stacy and her husband Buddy. Before we met Stacy and Buddy at the Aquarium, Doug and I stopped for a few minutes at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
I can say it was HOT on Saturday. As Doug and I walked the streets of Chattanooga, we knew we were preparing for Chongqing! After checking out the aquarium, we all sat down and chatted for while (in air conditioning) and sipped on frozen drinks.
Thanks Stacy and Buddy - we had a really fun time!

Care Package and Doug's Shopping Spree

Look how excited my hubby is (and look how adorable he is too)! Doug and I had to return the air conditioner to Target last night, and while I was there, I needed to pick up a few things for our China trip. We started to pass by the baby clothes section, and Doug said that he wanted to pick out a few outfits for Briana. He wanted to pick them out himself, and they would be her outfits from daddy. He was so cute going through every rack trying to find the perfect items. Look at what he bought - not bad, huh?

And here is the care package for Briana that I am mailing out tomorrow. My agency sent us a letter prepared in English and Chinese for us to include in the package along with camera instructions in English and Chinese as well. That was such a big help. I am sending a blanket, small bear, photo album, a butterfly toy that lights up and makes sounds, a disposable camera and the always popular Jelly Belly's.

I may not get any of these items back, but I really hope to get the camera back. I hope Briana likes her goodies!

Birthday Celebrations

Once the fathers opened their gifts on Father's Day, the birthday party began! I gave my sister a really cute Vera Bradley purse and a few extra goodies. And my sister gave me several goodies including a "dip chiller" - it is a dish in which you place ice cubes in the bottom of the dish to keep your dip chilled for hours. So neat! And my parents gave me a number of great goodies too - including an adorable ceramic panda, a really cute blouse to wear in China and a beautiful Faberge type egg that had a tiny baby in it.

After presents, we went to dinner and I enjoyed a mouth watering plate of spaghetti and meatballs - delish!

On my actual birthday, I wanted to get out of the house since Doug was working all day. My mom and I had planned to have lunch, and then my sister wanted to come along too. So it ended up being a shopping day with lunch added in. First stop, Babies R Us. I had several items on my registry that I wanted to buy, so I splurged a little bit! Then we headed to the mall and had a great time. When my sister and I were teenagers, every so often the three of us would have a girl shoppy day. It felt like old times.

When Doug got home, he took me to my favorite Japanese hibachi restaurant. The place was practically empty. It was like the show was just for us! Doug gave me his gifts after dinner. First, he gave me a receiver to play my nano Ipod through the speakers in my car. So cool! Then his second gift didn't work out so well. I am always complaining because my (home) office gets so freakin' hot in the summer. It is on the second floor but the wall of the office adjoins the wall of the garage, so I think the heat comes from there. Doug bought a portable air conditioner for the room. What he didn't realize is you need to place a valve out of a window for the exhaust and that is against the convenance in our neighborhood. So I can't use it. It was really a great idea! He tried so hard to come up with something different! Here is a pic of me leaning against the air conditioner...

Tonight, we are going to take it back to the store and he is going to let me pick out something else. It is the thought that counts and I love him for it!

And I am working on getting a care package together for Briana! I have everything ready to go - I just need to assemble and mail it!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yep - today is my 34th birthday! I have a very nice day planned, and Doug is taking me out to dinner tonight. I honestly don't need any presents. I got the best present I could ever get for my birthday - a daughter. This is my happiest birthday ever!

Happy Father's Day!

I want to say a big "Happy Father's Day!" to my dad and to Doug - who is celebrating his very first Father's Day! As you can see, I gave Doug a picture frame with pictures of Briana to put on the wall in his home office. And you can also see that kitty Asia is a total daddy's girl. She is sitting in her favorite place, daddy's lap. Doug was posing with both of his girls!

Since my sister's birthday is the 16th of June, mine is the 19th and Father's Day always lands somewhere in between, we always lump our celebrations together on one day. Today my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law came over to my house and we had a Father's Day/Birthday celebration.

We had a great time opening gifts and then we all went out for a delicious Italian dinner. I don't think I need to eat again for a week! Since today is Father's Day, I am going to post pictures of the Father's Day portion of our day. I will post the birthday pictures in a few days!

Here is Doug with his two girls again!

My mom had these wonderful t-shirts made for all of us that say "Briana" above her picture and "Almost Home" below it. I am going to wear it all the time! Thanks Mom!

Here is my dad showing off his groovy new luggage!

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's and dad's-to-be out in blogland!

Chongqing, China

In doing a little research on Chongqing, I found out that Chongqing is not a province but a municipality. In 1997, the city become the fourth municipality, independent from Sichuan Province, to be under the direct control of the central government. Chongqing is the major port of the upper Yangzi River and the gateway to the famous “Three Gorges."

It is know as the "Mountain City" and is also know as one of the "four furnaces of China" with blazing hot summers (thanks Georgia for being the first to tell me that!). Oh yeah, we are going to be there in August. Trying not to hyperventilate here...

Here are a few pictures I found on the internet. I hope I will be able to travel to Briana's orphanage in Dianjiang.

Referral Day Video

Warning - this video may make you cry (it still makes me cry). Disclaimer - please excuse my puffy eyes, no makeup, flat hair, shaky voice, whimpered crying and the extra 30 pounds the camera added on to me. Hee, hee. ;) Basically, I look like a mess. I was completely exhausted from crying and from the tons of phone calls I made and e-mails I sent that day. Well, no matter how I look, it was one of the best moments of my life (and Doug's!).