Musings of a Whimsical Realist

If all goes according to the usual time lines, we will be heading to China in ~6 weeks!  I awoke this morning to a fantastic surprise in my email box . . . our NVC (National Visa Center) letter!  This is the LAST piece of the puzzle stateside, and once it arrives in China, our Article 5 paperwork will be sent to the consulate there.  Once approved, it will be forwarded to the CCCWA (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption).  They will issue our TA (Travel Approval).  It takes an estimated 4 weeks from Article 5 to TA and then we fly out about 2 weeks after that! On the funding front , we are an (estimated) $6,000 to fully funded!  More good news this week is that we moved on to the next stage of consideration for one of our grant applications and should find out in a couple of weeks.  Another grant should be denied or awarded by the end of the month.  That initial amount seems so daunting at the time, but where the Lord calls, He will pro...

This is horribly, terribly overdue!  I can’t believe how long it’s been since I blogged.  Over 2 months!  But enough of the lamenting . . . on to the good (and/or crazy) stuff! Part of the reason it has taken so long to get back to blogging is that my mom decided to shake things up in early July by taking a tumble 8-feet off of a ladder onto a concrete floor.  One ambulance ride, lots of bruises, a broken wrist, and two surgeries later, she is starting physical therapy and thankful it was “only” a wrist.  So I haven’t had the quiet of Nana and Grandpa Days to allow for blogging like usual . . . and this was NOT a case of only appreciating it when it was gone, so definitely glad she is on the mend!  On July 21st, we got our first grant ACCEPTANCE letter. $5,000!  Such a wonderful blessing and example of the Lord’s provision!  We are waiting to hear back on other grant applications, but we are ~$7,000 away from fully-funded! On July 22nd, we g...

1. The “Brilliant Negotiator”         Item A, listed at $50             B.N. “What is lowest price you will take?”          Me. “Make me an offer.”         B.N. “What’s your BOTTOM LINE?”         Me. “$45"         B.N. “Will you take $40?”         [Face Palm] 2. The “Car-Less Buyer”         Item B, listed for $5         C.B. “I LOVE this item, I really want it, but I don’t have a car.  I am trying to                  find a ride.”         Me. “Okay, let me know.”         C.B. “I can meet yo...

It has taken me longer than usual to get my energy back post-school-year.  I think the heat we’ve been dealing with (and some unusual humidity at times) has something to do with it.  But I am getting my feet back under me and heading into the busy July weeks! So, for a fun coincidence (and not the first!), the date of my last blog was May 14th.  Unknown to us at the time, May 14th is our Logged In Date (the day China officially received our dossier)!!!  So while I was updating everyone about our progress, even more progress was being made.  From there, the dossier headed into the translation room. Our dossier came out of the translation room a little over a week ago AND . . . China requested more paperwork regarding my medications.  Thanks to some amazing help from friends, that information is ready to submit and will be heading out (electronically AND via snail mail) tomorrow.  As far as we can tell, this is the last piece of the puzzle for LOA and on...

We are 2-and a-half-weeks away from Summer Break!  Which is absolutely critical because this mommy/homeschool teacher is just about done in!  I thought that LAST semester was crazy, but this one took home the gold. On the adoption front, we are learning how true all of the warnings were that nothing works on our schedule and definitely not quickly enough.  But we are making steady, tortoise-like progress.  April and May have continued to be intense on the fund-raising front.  Garage Sales #1 and #2 have occurred, bring in a combined $1,762.00.  Thank you again to everyone that has donated items to and shopped at the Online Sale/Garage Sales!   It has been a substantial blessing to us!  We have also submitted several grant applications with more to go. On April 29th, WE RECEIVED IMMIGRATION APPROVAL!  It only ended up being about 2 weeks earlier than I had estimated, but that one page of official paperwork was a beautiful thing!  We...

Somehow I feel like I lost a month . . . seriously, where did March go?  I realize that I haven’t blogged in forever.  I’ve barely posted on Facebook.  But blogging about our adoption journey is important for many reasons, including my wanting to remember this process and share it with Sibyl when she is home.  So time for some catch-up! January 2015 saw us waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the home study process to move along as well as finishing collecting our dossier documents.  On January 22, all of the original dossier documents were mailed to our agency!  You know that feeling you get when your tax return has been submitted (and you are getting money back)?  That feeling times 10!  We also got 3 precious new pictures of Sibyl on January 5th and the disc with the original pictures/video from August 2014 PLUS pictures and 1 minute of video that we hadn’t seen.  It is such a treat to get to see her sweet face! Original Dossier Doc...

[The following was an oral presentation at our fundraising event on February 28, 2015.] On January 7, 2013, I posted my first blog about adoption.  I shared about how I first heard of the plight of little girls in China during a high school presentation and how at that moment, I felt the calling to adopt a little girl from China someday.  In that first blog, I wrote: “The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’  This is my single step – my declaration that 2013 will see us doing mountains of paperwork and making life-changing decisions and trusting God for financial provision to bring our next daughter home.  She may already be waiting for us or she may yet to be born, but she will be known even in her birth mother’s womb before I have the privilege of knowing her and holding her close.”   Unknown to me at the time, Sibyl’s mother was 8 months pregnant with her, my next daughter. When Hubby and I started ...