Privacy Please....

After much discussion-- the decision has been made to end this blog and take our new blog to a new site altogether. A private one-- one that is being created as I type this. There are several reasons for this.... Not the least of which is the fact that we do NOT want our daughter's face posted publicly for all the world to see. We would prefer to keep photos of our baby for just our friends, family, and of course those of you who request access. We also want to maintain a level of privacy due to the fact we will be out of the country for a while and do not want to invite any 'issues' with regards to the security of our home,etc.

In closing,we look forward to creating and posting on our new blog and we invite you to join us. If you are interested in following our journey-- please leave a comment to this post and we will e-mail you a web address and password.

Quick Update

Just trying to catch up from a busy-busy last two weeks and wanted to post an update. Last weekend we were in Florida for my cousin's wedding - Congratulations Nathan and Angela!! - as well as a little time on the beach. If you're looking for a place to visit, I would recommend Destin, FL. I will try to post some pictures later this week for everybody.

Adoption Update

We just wanted everybody to know that we have switched adoption agencies. This was a very tough decision for us, and required a lot of thought and research. We feel that this is the best decision for our family and we are looking forward to working with our new agency.

Tagged

Hello Readers-- (J writing today)
Just wanted to respond to a tag (sent by E) and let everyone know what has been going on.
Adoption related news: Our agency signed 2 more provinces in South Vietnam and more babies should be referred shortly!! YAY!! We were very happy to hear this info. So, this should help our agency fulfill its quoted timeframe of 6-9 months since we turned in our dossier. YAY!!

Not much else new to report...

Now, on to this tag-- Here are 10 odd things about me (J):
1. I hate horses. No clue why-- I just do. Could have something to do with the way they smell. I am not big on the 'barn yard' odor.
2. I can close my nose without using my hands. I have always been able to this and I don't remember how I discovered this 'talent'.
3. I have developed a fear for driving alone on the highway. It just makes me very nervous anymore.
4. I am INCREDIBLY allergic to red dyes in food. I will break out in hives if I have something as simple as a Cherry Coke or 7-Up.
5. I make it a goal to read 50 books each year and I keep a book journal detailing all of what I have read. I always come up a couple books short- well, there's always this year!
6. I can NOT handle being told to 'calm down'. Most people will honor such a request to cool down a bit-- not me-- if I hear the words 'calm down' being directed toward me during a time of stress- WATCH OUT!!
7. I have never met a pen that won't make it into my mouth- I also chew on pen caps until they break. Gross, I know- a terrible habit for sure-- Especially when these pens belong to someone else!! OOPS!
8. I love combining bread and ketchup. Also, potato chips and ketchup are good too.
9. All the male cats (3) that I have ever had have been black- all black.
10. On the same note as #9, I can tell our cats apart by their meows-- just their meows and even in the dark.

Well, that's about it-- hope everyone learned something interesting.

Happy New Year

Yesterday was the first day of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. We celebrated at a local restaurant (Song Long) with our FTIA Vietnam group as well as the Cincinnati chapter of Families with Children from Vietnam. It was great to catch up with old friends (Candy, Perry, Leslie, Bob, and Dana) and make some new ones!

Seeing the families with their children was a good picture of what our life will soon be like.

The Vietnamese government shuts down during Tet, so there are no families currently in country. However, there will be two families traveling at the end of this week and our agency's director will be in country working to get contracts with new provinces. We will be watching their progress and wishing them the best of luck.

Adoption Fair this Weekend

We just wanted to remind everybody of the Miami Valley Adoption Fair this Saturday. The fair will be held at Fairhaven Church in Centerville, Ohio (suburban Dayton) from 9 til 2. Whether you are interested in adoption or want to meet other adoptive families, this is a great opportunity. For more information, email adoptionfair@woh.rr.com or call 937-438-3073.

Newspaper Article

This morning there was a great article in our local newspaper, the Hamilton Journal-News, about a local couple who have adopted two girls from China. Its always nice to hear about local families who have had this experience.

The author did a great job of using positive adoption language and capturing the parents feelings. If you get a chance, please read it!

Many people have asked us when we expect to get a referral. Currently, we hope to have a referral sometime this summer. Of course, there are several factors that could affect our timing, including the families in front of us and the number and type (age and gender) of referrals our agency receives.

Also, today we had our first snow of the winter! It was nice to wake up to a carpet of white snow, even nicer because we didn't have to try to get to work! Cincinnati, of course, shuts down with any measurable snowfall, so its good this didn't happen tomorrow.