Validation

Hey all!
Since I last posted, two cool things have happened, and even though they're not actually related, they feel enormously validating for Paul and I.

First of all, we are COMPLETELY done with our home study (thank goodness)! Because we're working on grants now, we needed a letter that essentially says that we have a completed home study- it's easier than sending these million-page home study packets to every single grant we apply for. At the bottom of this page, the final sentence was:

"Therefore, I recommend and approve this family to adopt a child as described in this study."

I stared at that for a few minutes. I maybe cried. I realized that there had been a part of me that wasn't sure we'd be approved- not because I don't think we'll be good adoptive parents, but because it feels like there's so much we don't control. We let these adoption workers in to the intimate details of our lives and then see what they say- it's nerve-wracking! It was so important to let go of that last burden (for the moment), and in a weird sense, it gave us more confidence- like, heck yeah, we're approved!



The second thing that happened had very little to do with us, but has made all of the difference.

We have some lovely friends named Justin and Katy, and they just brought home their baby girl!

Celebrations

The last week and a half has been all about celebrations for us, and so today I'm going to focus on those, with some updates interspersed.

! Today's (more or less) the last day of school! I could not be more excited- it's been a long school year. Adding the adoption paperwork to working full time has been even more difficult than my last two years of working full time and going to grad school full time. I could use a week or so of sleep right about now.

!! No more garage sales!! After five garage sales over 6 days, we are exhausted. Not only are we celebrating being done, but also raising just over FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Seriously, that's our combined total from the Craigslist, Ebay, and garage sale items that were donated and a part of our purging. Incredible! Interestingly, we got to meet the most wonderful, heartwarming, encouraging people through the process. We are thankful to be done, but so grateful for the experience, your donations, and getting closer to bringing Baby J home.

!!! Today is our anniversary!!! Nine years ago today, we began the adventure of marriage, and it has been such a gift. I am so thankful that we ended up together- I couldn't have gone through this process with anyone else (nor would I want to)! Pictured here is us about eleven years ago, when we first started dating. 

!!!! Our home study is done! We are waiting on the signatures, but it has been approved by both agencies! This means several things, not least of which that we can start applying for grants. We will next be working on our dossier, and besides a MASSIVE amount of paperwork, we're not sure what to expect. I'm sure adoptive parents can/will enlighten me, but I'm sure we'll also figure it out as we go along. We are also thrilled to have our sweet friends coming home with their precious adopted daughter right now (like, literally right now) and it feels like such a great thing to be able to celebrate as we're in the middle of our small victories. While we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we're getting to see what actually at the end of the tunnel, and it's so remarkable!

Thank you all for your love, support, encouragement, help, time, donations, prayers, and patience. We couldn't do this without you and we're happy to have you all around to celebrate these things with us! We will update again soon- until then, we love you!