Octoberfest

Sold!

Wow. Where did October go?? Exactly one month ago, we were opening the garage door for day 1 of our adoption fundraiser garage sale. By the way, it went very well and you can read more about it here. It actually continues to go very well as we just sold a few of the leftover items this past week via Craigslist.

Speaking of which, we still have a number of clothes and other items remaining from our sale, but probably not enough to host a third garage sale prior to our activation. If you know of another family looking to host an adoption-related sale in the future, please let us know. We'd love to pass on any of the items we received to help supplement the stock of another family.
 
Back to October. It really did seem to fly by. Between the garage sale, time spent out of town, birthdays, a wedding, and pumpkins, we somehow managed, with some help, to prepare the house for our first home visit. In addition to being ready for the visit, we got a really clean house out of the deal. Well, it was clean for a little while at least. We also ate Shakespeare's three times in the last month, and that's always productive.


Say pumpkin!

The home visit itself went as well as it could. Our home study specialist, Karla, was super friendly and very accommodating to us. She visited with us for a couple of hours as a family to learn more about our history:  how we met, our first impressions of each other, our experience raising Riley, and so on. She also did a home tour which, thankfully, we can say passed her inspection. All in all, it was a great visit and a good feeling to have our home study essentially 50% complete. We have one visit left, and we'll be doing that later this month, just before Thanksgiving. Once that visit is completed (and successful), it's just a matter of us waiting for Karla to finish the paperwork so that the home study can be formally approved. Overall, the process has been simpler than we thought, and it will be great having it completed before the end of the year. 



Hayride at the pumpkin patch

A successful home visit wasn't the only adoption-related milestone we reached in October. We also formally submitted our APQ (more info here). The APQ, along with the home study and the profile, is one of the steps that must be completed before going active. With this document submitted, we can now have a conference call with our adoptive family specialist, Laurie, to finalize this portion of the process. That call will be happening this Wednesday and will represent another big step forward towards being an active family.

All in all, October was super fast, but also pretty productive. We have been fortunate to stay on task thus far, and, as of now, we are still on target for activation as a waiting family in early 2013. Our current task is to complete our adoption profile (narratives, dozens of pictures, and even a video) which will essentially represent who we are as a family to potential birth mothers. This process will likely take us through the end of the year, but it will be fun to watch it come together. Special thanks to Kelso for a last-minute photo shoot yesterday! Once the home study is complete, we'll also have the opportunity to apply for some grant programs and other fundraising resources.

One final thought for today's post. Yesterday was Orphan Sunday and next week is collection week for Operation Christmas Child. If you have not heard of either of these events/efforts, check out the links for more information. These are excellent ways for individuals, families, churches, or other groups to get involved in supporting children across the globe. I hope to post more about this and other things we've been learning through the process in a future post. Maybe we won't wait a month this time.

 

More Than Enough

That was fun.

We had our first ever adoption fundraising garage sale this past Friday and Saturday. To be honest, we weren't quite sure what to expect when we hit the garage door button that first morning. We knew we had stayed up extra late getting ready. We knew that a lot of generous people had helped us prepare for a successful sale. We knew the weather was "iffy". We just weren't sure what might greet us when we opened the door.

All set to go.

At 7 AM on Friday, we pushed the button and got our first clue. There was nobody there.

It was a bit chilly.

I don't know that our hearts sank right then and there, but there was at least some concern. After all, we'd had a garage sale in our neighborhood a couple of years before, and the first hour of Friday morning was the peak of our sales. Given that not a single vehicle was waiting for the garage door to open on this morning, we quietly wondered if the chilly, wet weather was going to deter most visitors. It wasn't exactly a beautiful morning.

A few minutes later, however, here came a car. Then another, and a few minutes after that, one more. That would prove to be the pace of the weekend. Never a huge rush all at once, but just a slow and steady trickle of people and the cash they brought with them. It was 6 bucks here, 50 cents there, and from time to time, 20, 30, or 40 dollars.

At one point, the rain actually proved quite beneficial. Around 9 AM there was quite a downpour that one would think might keep people from coming. Fortunately for us, it kept people from leaving. We probably had about 10-12 people at the sale at that time, and they were stuck in our garage. The longer they stayed, the more often they kept coming back to the front to pay for stuff. Funny how things we can sometimes perceive to be a detriment actually prove to be a blessing. Lesson learned.

 

It wouldn't stop there. After Friday, we had sold quite a bit of stuff, but the big ticket items hadn't sold. Weren't these items the big draw? Shouldn't they sell immediately? It was going to be hard to reach our goal of $1,000 if they didn't sell. Maybe these items weren't garage sale material. Or maybe I'm just not very patient.

The latter turned out to be true. By Saturday afternoon, most of the "big items" had sold, including the awesome antique dresser we pictured earlier. By Saturday night, the response had been greater than we even hoped for, and we had raised over $1,300. Beyond that, we still had a large enough supply of items to potentially host a secondary sale at the end of October. I was reminded that God's not only enough to meet our needs. He's more than enough. Like 12 baskets of leftovers more than enough. Lesson learned.

To say the least, it was a lot of fun. We also got to talk to a lot of people about our adoption and hear stories of their own experiences. Riley had a blast, and our excitement to continue moving forward has only been fueled. Thanks again to all the wonderful people that helped us prepare for the sale whether it was donations, organization, suggestions, etc. You all are great. A special thanks to Mema, Papo, and Annie for helping us out during the sale. We couldn't have done it without you!

Hot chocolate anyone?

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Seriously, I don't know how people keep these things up to date. We had a modest goal of updating this blog once per week. This post comes two weeks after the last...and it's mostly a picture post.

Regardless, we are excited about it as it represents an early milestone in our potentially lengthy journey. This Friday is garage sale day. Not just garage sale day, but adoption fundraiser garage sale day. In the grand scheme of things, it's not the most significant step we'll take along the way. It is representative, however, that we are indeed moving forward and making progress. This is our first organized fundraising effort, and it's exciting.

Though it's been some work to put together, it's only served as affirmation that this is what we're supposed to be doing. We also have awesome family and friends who have done a lot to help make this happen...suggestions, donations, promotion, spending extra time hanging out in our garage, etc. A big thanks to all who have helped. You've made it a fun process.

In case you're interested, the sale is this Friday from 7-4 and Saturday from 7-12. For those of you in the area, feel free to spread the word. Below are a few pics of some of the items that ended up in our garage, many by way of the generosity of others. It should be a good time.

One last note...we will have our first home study visit in two and a half weeks. More about that milestone later.

Now, if only the rain will go away...

A New Hope

Here we go. Time for a new experience.

No, I'm not talking about this blog, though it's certainly new in its own right. After all, we've never been "bloggers" in this household. I've thought about it before, but the alternative of simply being a "reader" has always been too easy. I'm only six sentences in, yet I have new respect for those who manage to keep these things up to date. Even well written in some cases. Impressive.

Not just a new experience, but a new risk, a new faith, a new hope. I'm talking about adoption. Over the past 18 months and through a number of circumstances, God has clearly been preparing us for this. It hasn't always been easy to see, but it's an idea that never felt too distant. It was almost 5 years ago we began hoping God would give us a baby. He delivered on that hope at the start of 2009, and our lives have never been the same. A little over a year ago, we began hoping God would grow our family. This new hope is where we currently reside. I have a feeling our lives will never be the same...again.



Our hope realized on January 2, 2009 - Riley Kate

 

Earlier this year we attended our first seminar on adoption, and six weeks ago we formally applied for a domestic adoption through an agency in Kansas City. As overwhelming as the process is, we could not be more excited. Our goal is to use this blog as an outlet to share our experience with each of you and keep anyone who's interested informed on the process. Who knows, it may even turn out to be an outlet for the spectrum of emotions we're sure to experience over the next who-knows-how-many months. Maybe we'll even become real bloggers.

I will try to provide a current status of where we are (and what we've got planned) in the next post, but for now, we simply wanted to invite you to join us as we covet your friendship, prayers, and support. There is much ahead and much to share, but for now, we simply wanted you to know.

One last thought regarding our new hope. We chose the scripture at the top of our blog because of it's encouragement and application to this endeavor. For us, our ultimate hope is in Christ and what he accomplished for us through the cross. Likewise, he gives us hope in the things he's called us to, even things we cannot see. Especially things we cannot see. On the one hand, we wait for the realization of our hope with eagerness. On the other hand, we wait for it with patience.

This is where we are. Eagerly waiting. With patience, of course.