Monday, October 19, 2009

On Hold Indefinitely

Our plans to try and adopt have been put on hold indefinitely. Basically our case worker at the LDSFS sandy agency disliked us (probably more specifically Michele) so much that she found a way to no longer work with us. We were told that she would not work with us! It was bad enough that we were able to get our non-refundable deposit back.
All I can say is that she is one of the cruelest people I have ever known. She made us both feel like we had no right to be there trying to adopt. She made me feel like all the decisions I have made in my life were bad, not just wrong and things I would have to deal with but things that were bad and therefore I am a bad person.
My recommendation...do NOT go to the Sandy LDSFS. If they treat birth mothers even half as bad as I was treated no wonder they don't have more placements.

So until things change I am no longer going to update this blog. I suggest you let others know about the poor treatment given to perspective parents and that they do not go to the Sandy branch of LDSFS.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

A Thought to Share



I know God won't give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish he didn't trust me so much

--- Mother Teresa

The Gift of Adoption

This is one of our favorite articles about adoption. It was in the Feb 2009 Ensign. Reading this article individually touched both of us. We hadn't really talked about it prior to that time but because of this article we did. I remember the day we decided that adoption was right for us. We were sitting on the couch just chatting. I don't remember who brought it up but when I said, "I think we should look into adoption." Rick gave me an enthusiastic "I thought we should for awhile now." It was a great day. Ever since, both of us have had our decision confirmed over and over again. Even now as I write this blog post, I feel my heart swell with excitement and get goose bumps all over.
I hope this article can touch you as it has us.
The Gift of Adoption

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Our Birthmother Letter

I have been putting off writing our birthmother letter. Rick is also going to write part of it but until I start, he is just waiting. Well this evening I decided to start. I have been thinking about it for months now. Unsure of what to write. Wanting to outline it all before committing anything to "paper".
I wanted to make it long enough, about 1.5-2 pages and thought I would never be able to do it. Well I just finished writing and have to edit it down. By myself I filled 3 pages! Once I decided to start the words just starting spewing from my fingers. I know that I have been touch by the Spirit while writing but maybe a little bit less would have been good. hahaha
Each time I work on a different step, I am reminded that this is the right thing for us. I am SO excited! I thank my friends and family for their prayers and want all possible birth mothers who read this to know that we are praying for YOU and want you to know that our friends and family are praying for you too.

New Favorite Song

I am not what I would consider a Nickelback fan; however, they have some songs I really do like. They have a great beat to them and others have words that crack me up. A few weeks ago I heard this song on the radio. I thought it was a bit hard for them but the voice sure sounded like them. It took me 2 weeks to find out who it was but when I did I was excited because I knew I could get a copy of the song. This is a great live video too. I am thinking, they might be really fun to see in concert!

Snowcones

I like snowcones. Apparently they are a learned taste thing. My siblings all pretty much like snowcones, some more than others but still we all like them. Rick, does not so much.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

ReAl Salt Lake vs. Seattle Sounders

We had our family that lives in the Northwest over to eat, play some guitar hero and then go to the soccer match. We had an AWESOME time. We had 22 people in all in our group. Only 3 of us had on ReAl colors while the rest wore their green Sounders garb with pride. In the end, ReAl won!
Hooray for the home team!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Getting to know ME Tag

I grabbed this from a friend's blog and thought it would be fun to post on here.


1. What time did you get up this morning?
--- 6:43 AM (I slept in cause the boss is out of town)

2. How do you like your steak?
--- Well done. I am not a pink meat person.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
--- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Twice I might add and it looks like we will be attending the IMax version in the not too distant future)

4. What is your favorite TV show?
--- Burn Notice - I just love the sexual tension between Michael and Fiona, not to mention all the things that get blown up! CSI in Vegas is a close second!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
--- I a home that I share with Rick and someday our child and maybe even children.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
--- Carnation instant breakfast

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
--- I am thinking Mexican

8. What foods do you dislike?
--- Most seafood (While friend halbut aka fish n chips is one of my favorite meals) and all Indian (It's a curry thing)

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
--- Most anywhere that I won't have to clean up! With that said, I love Costa Vida, Strawberry shakes from In N Out and this little Italian place in Bellevue Washington. It was AWESOME!

10. Favorite dressing?
--- Homemade Ranch but I found a yogurt based ranch that has more than half the calories and half the fat that is very tasty

11. What are your favorite kind of clothes to wear?
--- My swim suit is #1 then come summer clothes - shorts and short sleeve shirts

12. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
--- Italy (again cause I loved it there), Hawaii, England and not necessarily in that order

13. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
--- Is it never on the empty side

14. Where would you want to retire?
--- In a home that is paid off and not the retirement home type places! ;-)

15. Favorite time of day?
--- When the sun is coming up. I love knowing that a bright new day has started. Things are so much crisper and cleaner in the morning.

16. Where were you born?
---Utah.

17. What is your favorite sport to watch?
--- NASCAR, Soccer, and then pretty much anything except basketball.

18. Bird watcher?
--- No! Those little buggers like to wake me up at 4:30 in the morning! Yes I know I love sunrise and I am a morning person (see below) BUT that doesn't mean I want to be woken up by bird fights BEFORE the sun is up

19. Are you a morning person or a night person?
--- Morning

20. Do you have any pets?
--- Nope - I had 2 dogs for many years that I LOVED and my sisters had hamsters and all sorts of other pets growing up but for me and my house, I want it to be hairless and stinkless. Besides, every time you pet a dog or take it for a walk, you could be spending time with your child and that to me is a MUCH better use of time!

21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
--- I am having my carpets cleaned this morning. Oh yeah, I have all my northwest family in town this week. That is new and exciting!

22. What did you want to be when you were little?
--- a stock broker (Yeah go figure!) A mom

23. What is your best childhood memory?
--- I have SOO many - I loved that my mom sung to me every night before going to sleep. Sometimes she would sing lots of songs other times just "my song" but every night I did receive it.

24. Are you a cat or dog person?
--- Dog.

25. Always wear your seat belt?
--- Yes!!!!!!!

26. Been in a car accident?
--- A few but never my fault

27. Any pet peeves?
--- Yes but sometimes they bother me more than others.

28. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
--- Tomatoes and mushrooms with extra cheese

29. Favorite Flower?
--- Pink roses

30. Favorite ice cream?
--- It is a toss up between chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies n cream

31. Favorite fast food restaurant?
--- Didn't we already have this?

32. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
--- Never. I don't think I missed any on the written nor the driving part

33. From whom did you get your last email?
--- Carrie my sister in law - I am ordering some new make up from her.

34. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
--- None of them unless someone else was paying off the bill! If that were the case, one with things and clothes like a department store.

35. Do anything spontaneous lately?
--- Well...after some thought...I don't think so. No wait, going up the canyon last weekend was spontaneous. =)

36. Like your job?
--- Absolutely! I would love to be a stay at home mom but without a child, that is hard to do.

37. Broccoli?
--- In stir fry or soup it is alright.

38. What was your favorite vacation?
--- Disneyland! I was with my best friend (Rick) and we had SO much fun! I can't wait to go back and the best part is that it isn't some trip that is a once in a lifetime trip. (I would like to go back to England and Italy with Rick but those weren't my favorite.)

39. Last person you went out to dinner with?
--- Rick - we went to Chili's before Harry Potter

40. What are you listening to right now?
--- Pandora Radio Online

41. What is your favorite color?
--- Pink! This summer though I have realized that I really love green and blue. The bright green against the bright blue sky. Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing when he created that combination.

42. How many tattoos do you have?
--- None.

43. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
--- No one.

44. What time did you finish this quiz?
---9:33am

45. Soda Drinker?
--- Nope - Nor carbonation for 11 years now.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Lazy August Weekend

This weekend has been very quiet. We played some tennis, did some shopping, went for a drive up the canyon, hung out around the house watching tv and even got in a nap after church. I was able to get several new clothing items including a super cute skirt and a new swim suit top.
I took some photos around Silver Lake where we went for our drive. Last time we went there was in the fall and the leaves were changing. It was pretty to see it so green this time. There were a lot of people up there as the temperature was perfect. We walked out on the little dock into the middle part of the lake. It was SO clear. We could see everything and unfortunately, it smelled like dead fish. The little duckies were very friendly and came up on the dock to see us.
There were little chipmunks aka pot guts running around. There were VERY tame. One came right up to Rick's shoe and almost to mine. Rick wore his Jeff Gordon shirt for good luck. The shinies on the sleeves are the good luck part. ;) The race ended up being rained out though. And I am hiding the video camera behind my back so it wasn't in the photo.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Update on The Process

Since this blog is not only about getting to know us but about our process on the way to adoption approval and finding our child, I thought maybe I should post something about the process.
Rick and I are almost done! We had our intake (first) interview the middle of June. Here it is the end of July and we are almost done. We have all the hard copies of information into the agency. We need to have our individual interviews and finish some items for our online profile and then just wait for the background checks to arrive. Which could be any day now, I think. I don't know how long it takes the agency to actually approve us and I don't know who is involved. Rick thinks it is a panel of people. I guess maybe I should look into that.
All in all, we are feeling great about adoption. We know that it is the right way for us. I am sure we will face adversity along that way, such is the nature of life, but we KNOW that it is the right thing for us and are so very excited about the process and opportunity.
To all of our friends out there, please let your friends know that we are looking. We need all the help we can get in getting the word out that we are looking.

Photobucket

TacocaT is a Palindrome


On the radio there is a channel that has a game with the name of something like "That's True or That's a Crock". I unfortunately listen to it from time to time as it is a quiz of sorts and I sure do like useless knowledge. This week they asked: True or False, a Palindrome is a word that is spelled the same frontwards or backwards. Well the guy didn't get it right but I sure did. Once they explained it the guy said, oh like dad. They thought he said dead and made fun of him. I decided that I needed to let these radio guys know about my favorite palindrome;
TacocaT
.
Yes I know it is not really a word but it still makes me laugh. So I called them up and actually got through. (That in itself is a miracle.) I told them my word and they had to say, well that isn't a word. What is it? I said it is a cat in a taco costume making it a tacocat. They then had to listen to themselves talk some more about other palindromes such as pip and mom. Heaven forbid they come up with one longer than 3 letters. A few minutes later, low and behold, I was on the radio. It didn't sound like me so I am sure no one knew it was me hehehe until now. =)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Pioneers and Chillaxin'

This week has been a very uneventful week around our house. We celebrated Pioneer Day on Friday July 24th by playing tennis in the morning and going to Harry Potter again! It was a great time. I played some mean tennis that day. The movie was just as good as the first time.
On Saturday, we went and did sealings at the Mount Timpanogos Temple during the morning. We have also talked a lot about our ancestors who were pioneers, including ones who survived the Willie Handcart Company. Because I have learned so many wonderful stories about almost all of our great great and great great great grandparents who were pioneers we have had a lot of stories to discuss. I am SO grateful that they all suffered so I could live now and not have to trek across the plains.
I went shopping and to the pool on Saturday afternoon while Rick chilled at home watching lots of soccer. We had a great homemade steak dinner with fresh picked corn. Let me tell you, that corn was mightly fine. mmm mmm mmm
Today being Sunday we did the church thing, watched some NASCAR and are watching soccer right now while I mess around on the computer.
It has been one of the most quiet weekends we have had a in a long time. Our phone has not even rung once during these 3 days. You would think that we were on vacation but still able to sleep in our own bed.
One great thing...I was able to get my own ReAl Salt Lake shirt. We are going to a match next month and I want to be able to show my ReAl pride.
I love our weekends together. It is great fun to spend time with friends and family but sometimes it is so nice to just hang out and not have to worry about entertaining anyone else or them entertaining us.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

I Laughed, I Cried, Man I Love Harry Potter Movies

We finally saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince tonight. It was AWESOME! This is the first HP movie I didn't see opening night and I have been dieing since Wednesday of this week. Today was the first day Rick and I could both see it without one of us being exhausted for work the next day.
I laughed so much. It was great. I even cried. It was great.
At the end I sat there thinking, So is this my favorite Harry Potter movie now? I do that everytime because they just keep getting better and better.
I even wore my Quidditch Goggles. (I am slouched down in my chair ready for the movie.)
Rick went as a muggle.
We found the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. As well with the lady in the picture. As we walked to the car, we decided that this is one movie we are going to need to go to again in the theater. No waiting until DVD for us!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Michele's Company Party


We had Michele's company party this week. I have planned many parties for 5 people up to hundreds and sometimes hundreds every week for 2 months. (These didn't have full meals but they had activities and treats.)
This was a special one because I have only been on the job for about 7 weeks now. It was a good chance to show what I am capable of outside of the office and to get to know the people I work with. I was so excited for Rick to meet these people I tell him about all the time.
We have a GREAT time! Everything turned out at planned and without a hitch. We had dinner catered that was ever so tasty. We have games with prizes for all. We had a raffle and what seemed to be the bit hit, "paper rockets." Everyone was able to add fins to their Styrofoam rockets and shoot them off.
I didn't remember to take photos until the end of the party, because we were having so much fun. By then I didn't want to bother anyone so we have self-portraits this time around.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Last weekend I made strawberry freezer jam. I had never made it before but it sounded like a good idea.
It was SO easy and it turned out wonderfully. We don't eat a lot of jam so I can give it away too. I plan to make this every year now and want to try other types too such as raspberry or black berry. I am going to need to hit the farmer's markets this summer for berries.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Temple Square Scrapbook Page

The 4th of July

For the actual holiday of the 4th of July, Rick and I had planned to go hit a bucket of balls in the morning and then go to a movie. The clouds discouraged us from going to the golf course. (Being struck my lightening was not on the list of things to do that day. Crazy, I know.)
Instead I cooked us some brunch and we headed out to see TraNsForMerS around 11:00. It was a GREAT movie. We both thought the first was better but it was still a good movie. Lots of great action. Not only did we see a good movie but we saw the best two trailers out right now:

Harry Potter
AND
New Moon
!
We had watched both online but there was nothing like watching them on the big screen.
We are both SOOOOO excited!
Ok back to the 4th...sorry about that. ;-)
After the movie the temperature had heated way up so we decided to hit the pool for a bit to cool off. After hanging out there, playing and reading we came home and had dinner.
We had changed our clothes and were ready for an evening at home while watching the night race at Daytona, when I received a text from my best friend. She had invited us over for dinner and fireworks. I told her that we had just finished dinner but would be over in an hour with brownies.
We headed over to enjoy watermelon, brownies and s'mores on the back porch fire pit along with our own private firework show.
We also had glowsticks rather than sparkles. I thought it was brilliant! The kids could have glowing items for much longer than a few minutes, they could throw them around and best of all, no one could get burned.



We had a wonderful 4th of July and it was great to have Sunday to recover from all of it.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Friday Night Date Night

For our date night last weekend, we went to Temple Square. The temperature was perfect and there really weren't that many people there because of it being a holiday weekend. We didn't walk around everywhere but we did walk all through the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the gardens near it. We decided to stick to the east end of Temple square since it is often missed by people, including ourselves.
I can't get over how beautiful the flowers were in the center of the lobby in the JSMB.

Someday I will have an SLR camera so I can take better close up photos and all that but what I have does a great job for being point and click.

We went up to the 10th floor where we were able to gaze over the entire campus. The flowers are just incredible. Even petunias look pretty at Temple Square.


I did notice that the windows on the JSMB need to be cleaned. ;-)
There are also 2 baby Peregrine falcons living with their parents atop the JSMB. They were learning to fly the day we were there. There was a lady walking around with a walkie talkie and binoculars. She pointed out the female flying around and the daddy sitting atop one of the spires on the Temple. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch them, but the link on there has photos and a webcam that is in their box/nest. It was a really neat experience to see nature thriving in the middle of a city.
One of the things I had never really noticed before is the stature of the woman playing ring-around-the-rosey. I suppose it is one of the often missed beauties at the east end of the sqaure. It really touched my heart this time. The beautiful flowers with so much color while their joyful faces of playing. It was just very heart warming.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Princess Bride Cookout

We are on the activities committee at church. For our June activity, we decided to have a Princess Bride Cookout. The goal was to have the movie playing while people in the ward got up and acted out the scenes. I know it worked for the sword fight scene between Inigo Montoya and "The Dread Pirate Roberts" but no other scenes were acted out; nevertheless, everyone had a great time.
We had dutch oven chicken with marinara sauce and pasta. We told everyone that costumes were welcome and we had quite a few princesses along with
even a dragon! We had 2 tv's set up with speakers so all in the pavilion could watch and hear the movie. Many of the little children ended up building sand castles in the sand volleyball court.
It was really windy and even rained a bit, but I think it was a huge success!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Happy 4th of July


Tomorrow is the 4th of July, which means, Rick and I had the day off today. We have had a great day and start to the weekend. This morning I made breakfast, then we cleaned up and went out to run errands. On the way home we picked up some lunch then ate it while watching Wimbledon. I have spent some time on my computer and now I am off to play some Guitar Hero. Probably going to hit the pool tomorrow along with a bbq and fireworks with family. What a wonderful time of year.
I want all my friends and family to know how much I appreciate being born at this time and in this country. I know that we are truly blessed to live in America.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Our Niece Amy

Rick and I have a niece named Amy who passed away from a blood clot 5 years ago. Her birthday was this past weekend. The last few years we have been going to the cemetery her birthday, usually at the same time as her mom and sisters. It is always a really neat experience. Just a chance to remember her. Actually, I never met her but I do remember when Rick took off work for the funeral. (It was before we were dating but it really struck me and obviously stood out for me.)
This year was a bit different and I don't know why. It is always very peaceful and quiet at the cemetery but this year I felt Amy's spirit as I have never felt it before. It was a calm feeling of reassurance that she is in Heaven and is very happy. It brought tears to my eyes.
I just want all who read this to know, I have a testimony of the after life. We can live with our loved ones for eternity.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Bacon

Today we ate bacon. Yeah I know that sounds lame but for the last few months we have only been eating turkey bacon. Heck it has been for at least 6 months since I last bought real bacon. When Rick first bit into it he said, "Whoa, that's good." I took my first bite and thought...mmmm That is SO good. I think I even let a little "mmm" slip out. It reminded me of this great clip.



mmmm, Bacon!

Baby Katie Turns 1

We were able to celebrate baby Katie's first birthday last week. Not only was all of her dad's family there, (Katie is our niece on Michele's side of the family) all of her mom's family was there too. We always have so much fun with them. We love having such a good relationship with so many wonderful people who truly are family. We had fun eating our bbq food on the picnic blanket, it sure is getting used now, while watching the older girls entertain us. All the while hoping that it wouldn't start raining on us.
The highlight of the night was watching Katie eat her cake. She was a bit apprehensive at first but she did eventually get the hang of it and boy did she have a good time!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

As all in the Salt Lake Valley know, we have been extremely blessed this year to have not only one new Temple but TWO! Talk about an unheard of event. Rick and I were able to visit the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House on Saturday June 6th. It was a wonderful experience.
It is so much like other Temples, in being so incredibly beautiful and yet so different as it has been individualized to reflect the area. I look forward to experiencing the blessing of the Temple there.