The Lane Train

New Blog

2011-03-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

We decided to start a new blog to chronicle and celebrate our life as a family of two. You can see what we're up to at The Two Lane Road (http://thetwolaneroad.blogspot.com/). We hope you follow us over there!

Announcement

2011-03-20T18:52:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

After more than five years of waiting for our adoption from China to go through, we have made the difficult decision to close our adoption file. We have decided to remain a family of two – we no longer wish to pursue parenthood. This was not a decision that was made lightly; this was a very personal decision and we hope that you will let us claim our privacy in this matter and be respectful of our choice.

As this journey comes to an end, we want to take the time to thank you for your support. Friends, family, and those on the journey with us, have helped us get through the tough days, and celebrate the good days - what a roller coaster ride. We’re so glad you were there with us. Thank you!!

We are looking forward to moving on with our life and starting our next adventure… wherever or whatever that may be!

Kevin and Tonya

~Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference – Robert Frost

Referral Status – February 2011

2011-02-25T15:33:00.001-07:00

China Center of Adoption Affairs has processed families with Log-In-Dates (LID) through June 9th 2006!

We have 62 days left for CCAA to process before they get to our file.

At the current processing rate, we estimate we will get our referral around October 2011!

Click HERE to see babies from the latest referral batch.

Menu Plan Monday - Week #2

2011-01-10T00:01:00.001-07:00

Monday - Leftover Chili and Corn Bake

Tuesday - Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks

Wednesday - Mini Beef Chimichangas

Thursday - Leftovers / Fend for Yourself

Friday - Chicken in a Bag

Saturday - Dinner Out

Sunday - Grilled Flank Steak and Parmesan Potatoes

This Week In Pictures

2011-01-08T18:12:00.001-07:00

We celebrated New Years at a Teppanyaki grill. Kevin's tradition is to try a weird food for New Year's - we tried green mussels. I didn't like them but Kevin did.

I had grilled shrimp - Yum. (The restaurant was packed - as you can see from the background of this photo. We waited 2 hours after our reservation time before we were seated for dinner!)

Kevin's work had their annual awards banquet on Friday. This year it was at the Ritz.

Kev with the bevy of beautiful women he works with - good thing I'm not the jealous type!

My outfit (I love my glitter shoes!) This was at the end of the night after someone had spilled a glass of red wine all down the front of my dress. Grrr.

Kevin set up his new grill!

It was a busy week. Besides all of these fun activities we had to head back to work and back to the gym. No wonder I'm so exhausted.

Menu Plan Monday - Week #1

2011-01-03T10:07:00.001-07:00

One of my goals for 2011 is to meal plan for the entire year - so get used to these menu plan posts! I know you don't really care what we eat, but posting our menu helps keep me accountable. Kevin got money towards a new BBQ grill for Christmas, and I got a new crockpot - so we'll probably have lots of grilling recipes. I already use my crockpot at least once a week, but now I have a much newer, larger, nicer one. Here's the plan for this week:

Monday - Leftovers (Spaghetti & Meatballs) and Caesar Salad

Tuesday - Ground Beef Tacos

Wednesday - Easy Oriental Chicken

Thursday - Leftovers (Easy Oriental Chicken)

Friday - Dinner Out!

Saturday - Gilled Chicken and Baked Potatoes (On the new BBQ Grill!)

Sunday - Chili (in the new crockpot!) and Corn Bake

Our favorite new recipe from last week was the Chicken Caesar Wraps. They're easy to make, delicious, and heart healthy. Click HERE for the recipe.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T15:55:00.001-07:00

We spent this Christmas hanging by ourselves at home, which we really enjoyed. Our tradition for Christmas eve is to drive around and look at lights. Of course I took pictures – it’s what I do!

Once we got home we relaxed in front of the tree listening to Christmas music. Abbie fell asleep on Kevin’s legs, it was so cute.

Christmas morning we opened our stockings and presents and spent the rest of the day watching movies and eating Next Day Turkey Soup (and lots of other junk). I have to tell you it is the best soup ever… seriously! Click HERE for the recipe. We had one bowl left over and Kevin wanted to Rock, Paper Scissors me for the bowl the next day.

You can click HERE for the rest of our Christmas pictures.

We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday, thank you to everyone who sent us cards and gifts and treats.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011.

Menu Planning -- Week #52

2010-12-27T00:01:00.002-07:00

Here's what's cooking this week:

Monday (12/27)
Leftovers (Crockpot Chicken Nachos)

Tuesday (12/28)
Scalloped Ham & Potatoes

Wednesday (12/29)
Leftovers

Thursday (12/30)
Chicken Caesar Wraps

Friday (12/31)
Dinner Out

Saturday (1/1)
Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks

Sunday (1/2)
Breakfast: French Toast Bake
Dinner: Spaghetti and Meat Balls

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-25T00:01:00.003-07:00

Thanks for reading our blog and sharing along with our family adventures throughout the year. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love

Kevin, Tonya, Cassie & Abbie

Referral Status - December 2010

2010-12-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

China Center of Adoption Affairs has processed families with Log-In-Dates (LID) through May 29th 2006!

We have 73 days left for CCAA to process before they get to our file.

At the current processing rate, we estimate we will get our referral July 2011.

Click HERE to see babies from the latest referral batch.

Menu Planning -- Week #51

2010-12-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since I posted our menu plan. Once I stopped posting our menu plans, I wasn't as strict about making a plan, and then stopped altogether. So I'm going to start it up again this year.One lesson I learned earlier this year is that since there are only two of us, I have to plan for lots of leftovers!

Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday (12/20)

Dinner Out (Grimaldi's Pizza)

Tuesday (12/21)

Mom's Baked Chicken, Rice, Green Beans

Wednesday (12/22)

Chinese Casserole

Thursday (12/23)

Leftovers (Chinese Casserole)

Friday (12/24)

Christmas Dinner (Turkey, Stuffing, Corn Bake, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Apple Pie)

Saturday (12/25)

Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs, OJ, Blueberry Muffins

Dinner: Next Day Turkey Soup

Sunday (12/26)

Crockpot Chicken Nachos

Falling for Plaid

2010-12-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

A casual plaid outfit for fall/winter. I couldn't find the exact shirt I'm wearing in the photo, but it's the same jeans, shoes, and purse. Any fitted plaid shirt would work. For colder weather you could layer it over a long sleeve crewneck t-shirt. Just make sure it picks up one of the colors from the plaid shirt.

Button Front Tops at Kohl's
Boots by Mia

Find more outfits in My Lookbook on flickr

My Lookbook - School Girl Crush

2010-12-07T18:56:00.001-07:00

If you know me at all, you know I love clothes (and shoes, and jewelry, and makeup and bags)! I am a fashion freak. So anyway, here is a look that I wore recently. If you like the look and want to recreate it for yourself, just click on any of the items in the picture below and it will take you to the retailer's website where you can purchase.

Coats by Calvin Klein
Platforms by Nine West

If you want to see any of my other looks, check out my lookbook on flikr. More looks coming soon (I've been shopping)!

Happy Birthday Abbie Rose

2010-12-06T17:15:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe Abbie is already 4 years old! We got her not too long after we were logged in for our adoption. Wow, time flies in some ways. Here are a few recent photos of her (click to enlarge).

Deck the Halls

2010-12-05T23:18:00.001-07:00

The house is ready for Santa!

This year I decorated our formal tree, and had the honor of putting the star on top.

Abbie and Me in a festive mood

Kevin Trimming the Ornament Tree. It is my absolute favorite tradition of ours, pulling out all the old ornaments. This year we decided to put the tree in our bedroom.

We got two new ornaments for 2010. The first was from when I hiked Angel’s Landing at Zion’s National Park. It took me three attempts to finally make it all the way to end. I am so proud of myself for doing it. The second ornament is from our trip to the Bahamas

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Kevin!

2010-11-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

This year for Kevin's birthday, he got something he's wanted for a long time, a new truck (and some cupcakes too).

The truck is a silver, 4 door, 3/4 ton 2007 Dodge Ram, with a Cummins diesel engine (I hope I got all that right).

More birthday pictures can be found HERE.

Dani’s Room

2010-11-19T17:04:00.001-07:00

We’ve been working on Dani’s room for the last few weeks. My parents came down for a visit last weekend and I’m sure I drove my mom crazy. I thought I would have fun just going out and picking out things to decorate and organize the room, but I couldn’t find much that I wanted, so I got very frustrated. We trolled every baby store for miles around. I have an idea now of what I want and we got a few things picked out. It is slowly coming together – I have the furniture, the bedding, the curtains, the walls are painted, and now I’m having fun picking out little things to put in the room. Here’s a sneak peak at some of the items I’ve bought/ordered:

Pottery Barn Kids – Large pink woven basket. I’m going to roll up the quilts I’ve made Dani and put them in the basket by the chair (I’m still looking for a chair!)

Pottery Barn Kids – Green Pleated gingham lamp shade to go on her dresser.

I’ve also gotten a mobile, a nightlight, a clock, some storage bins, a piggy bank, and a rug.

I’ll post more pictures when I get it all put together.

Referral Status – November 2010

2010-11-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

China Center of Adoption Affairs has processed families with Log-In-Dates (LID) through May 23rd 2006!

We have 79 days left for CCAA to process before they get to our file.

At the current processing rate, we estimate we will get our referral Spring/Summer 2011.

Click HERE to see babies from the latest referral batch.

Referral Status

2010-10-04T12:16:00.001-07:00

China Center of Adoption Affairs has processed families with Log-In-Dates (LID) through May 18th 2006!

We have 84 days left for CCAA to process before they get to our file.

At the current processing rate, we estimate we will get our referral around May 2011!

Click HERE to see babies from the latest referral batch.

**Last updated 09/29/2010**

I Feel Like a Bad Mom

2010-09-28T20:04:00.001-07:00

Abbie has had goopy eyes lately. It’s been happening for a few months now – but I didn’t think it was anything to be worried about. We took her camping this weekend and things got to a really gross level! She was pawing at her eyes and whining. That was enough for me to say that I needed to take her to the vet ASAP.

So I took her to the vet and now I feel horrible for not taking her sooner. They had to shave all of her hair around her nose and inner eye and the skin underneath is really red and irritated. So are her eyes – the whites of her eyes are completely red. She looks awful! She has either a severe allergy (which is what I think it is because it gets worse when we go camping), or an infection that hasn’t cleared up on its own. So now she is on antibiotics twice a day, eye drops twice a day, and Benadryl twice a day. We have to go back in two weeks to see how she is doing. If things haven’t cleared up she will need to go to a doggy dermatologist!

I feel bad that I didn’t take her in before it got to this level. I wish pets could tell you when they are feeling crummy!

In these pictures the pink area is where her hair has been shaved and the skin is red – It doesn’t look as bad now as it did when she got home from the vet (which is a good thing). Don’t worry – she got lots of good treats for being poked and prodded and shaved at the vet (and for posing for these pictures!)

The Big 9

2010-09-17T13:04:00.001-07:00

We recently celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it has already been nine years. To celebrate, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then to the Cheese Cake Factory for dessert!

You can see a few more pictures HERE.

Scrapbook Camp

2010-09-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

I finally convinced my sister, Jessica, to go to scrapbook camp with me. She flew in on a Thursday and we drove up to camp on Friday. It was so good to get to spend time with her, and all my other scrapbook friends too!

Jessica & me eating breakfast in the dining hall. Jessica can’t live without milk and I can’t live without Diet Pepsi!

Jessica working on a layout. Us and all our scrapbook supplies.

Gorgeous camp sunset

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy

2010-08-31T18:19:00.005-07:00

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy is a documentary that airs tonight on PBS (Channel 8 at 10:00 PM AZ). It's about an 8 year old girl adopted from China by a family from New York. Check out the preview! It looks interesting, I'll definitely be watching.

Kevin and I recently passed our 4 year LID - which just means we have been waiting 4 years now. It is looking pretty good that we will get our referral next year (Hopefully Spring/Summer). My parents bought a book for Danica 'First Thousand words in Chinese' to celebrate the milestone.

My friend, Qinfen, brought home this beautiful dress for Danica from her recent trip to Shanghai. I love the peacock - so pretty!

Bahamas

2010-08-25T16:10:00.001-07:00

Kevin and I just got back from a five day vacation in Nassau, Bahamas! We stayed at the all-inclusive Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort. We didn’t plan out an itinerary before we left. We just wanted to relax by the Ocean. Here’s what we ended up doing:

Monday – We pretty much traveled all day, we got picked up at the airport by a shuttle that took us directly to the resort. After a full day of travel, all we wanted to do was eat. It was difficult to figure out where to go because lots of the restaurants required reservations or a specific dress code or were closed. We finally found an Italian restaurant but the food was really gross though! After dinner we walked along the beach and hung out by the fire pits.

Tuesday – We woke up really late on Tuesday (because of the 3 hour time difference) and hit the Beach. We spent most of the day playing in the water and relaxing in some beach chairs under a thatched umbrella. Later in the day we took the boat over to the Sandal’s private island. We found a secluded cabana and read, played in the water, and took pictures. I ended up falling asleep listening to the ocean waves roll onto the beach. ah! By dinner time we were starving, we finally talked to a concierge who got us a last minute reservation at a really nice Teppanyaki Restaurant. The food was so good! After dinner we floated around the pool.

Wednesday – First thing in the morning we rented a jet ski for an hour. It was fun jumping the waves! Then we spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool. For Dinner we grabbed some pizza and scored a big lounge chair by the fire pits and watched the sunset.

Thursday – We got up early and took the first boat over to the private island. We got a cabana again and just relaxed and swam in the ocean. We had lunch at the outdoor cafe. After lunch we went back to the main resort and did some souvenir shopping. Kevin got me a new leather Dooney & Bourke purse, and a charm for my pandora bracelet. We had a romantic dinner at the Crystal room restaurant.

Friday – We had to leave the resort first thing in the morning to catch our flight. There were long lines at customs. The Bahamas airport closed while we were waiting for our flight because the air conditioner in the traffic control tower broke. We finally got on the flight and made it to Miami. We had an hour or so layover. Once we got on the plane, they had to do some ‘Routine’ maintenance and then we had to wait out a thunderstorm. We were in the plane for an hour and a half before it took off. Needless to say, Friday was a very long travel day!

Click HERE for more pictures!

New Insulin Pump!

2010-08-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Yay! I'm upgrading to a new insulin pump - This one is the MiniMed Paradaigm Revel. I ordered the clear one so I can customize it with cute skins if I want too. My diabetes educator says it was like this insulin pump was custom designed for me, it has all of the features that I've been waiting for!

KOL

2010-07-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

An outdoor concert pavillion on a swealtering 112 degree day? Yes, we braved that for a Kings of Leon concert, and even though we were dripping sweat the whole time, it was worth it! They are such a good band - they put on a really great show. This weekend we're going to see Silversun Pickups (we love their music too) -- thankfully this concert will be indoors!

We didn't get a lot of good pictures because we only had our iPhones. The one above is a self-portrait in front of a mirror that we took at home before the show (and before all of my makeup melted off in the heat!).

Fun, Food, and Fireworks

2010-07-06T21:28:00.001-07:00

Kevin and I escaped the Phoenix heat and drove to Albuquerque for the 4th of July weekend. We really had a fun time. We stayed at Mom and Dad Lane’s house where we were stuffed with Green Chili Veggie Enchiladas (my favorite) and Lemon Meringue Pie upon arrival Friday night.

Saturday afternoon Kevin and I bought some fireworks. Since we aren’t able to buy and light fireworks here in Phoenix, we were really excited to hit the fireworks stand in Albuquerque. We went a little overboard! We bought all the ‘insane’ fireworks we could fit in our basket. After all that walking to the fireworks stand and lugging our purchases home, we were ready for a nap. Then it was time for a BBQ at the house with Traci, Clint, and the kids (Riley, Jacob, and Parker). Roasted Pork Ribs, Chicken, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Potato Casserole. YUM!

Traci and Clint hosted a 4th of July party at their house on Sunday. We caught up with Clint’s parents (Tom and Linda) and his brother, Kevin, and Kevin’s wife, Malena, and daughter, Anna. We did a lot of eating (hot dogs, more potato salad, flag cupcakes and mom’s homemade ice cream), had some water balloon fights, and of course we lit lots and lots of Fireworks!!

Now it’s back to the gym to burn off all those calories. We hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July!

Click HERE for more pictures.

Random Update

2010-06-30T22:36:00.002-07:00

It's been nearly a month since I've posted anything! I guess I just haven't been in blogging mode lately. So here are some random updates:

I hired the The Design Girl to make over my blog - I needed a change! Of course I love it, What do you think?

I recently went on a four day trip to New Jersey/New York for work. I had a lot of fun going into the city. We saw a broadway show, Lend me a Tenor, which was very funny. After the show we took a pedicab ride from the theatre over to Serendipty III, which is a famous New York restaurant/ice cream parlor. I also did some shopping on 5th avenue. Get more trip details and pictures by clicking HERE.

Kevin and I booked our summer vacation. We're going to the Bahamas for 5 days in August. I'm so excited. We have been working out like crazy trying to get ready for the beach. So far I have lost about 8 lbs., I've dropped 1 or 2 sizes (depends on the clothes), and I've really toned up and feel better.

I think that's it for now. I'll be back to blogging soon.

Woods Canyon Lake

2010-06-02T18:09:00.003-07:00

Kevin and I packed up the trailer, scooped up the dogs, and headed to Woods Canyon Lake for Memorial Day Weekend. We took a few days off work to get an early start. We went hiking and fishing (OK – Kevin went fishing), and spent lots of time napping, reading, talking by the camp fire, and eating!

We attempted to make our first dutch oven dinner in the fire. It was… interesting. We both had no clue what we were doing, but the food turned out excellent (even though it looked like a big pile of mush). I’ll need to get some tips from my sister-in-law, Luann. She always makes the best dutch oven dinners.

Cassie had the time of her life. She really enjoyed playing in the dirt chasing birds and squirrels. She was so dirty that she wasn’t even the same color anymore. She was exhausted by the end of the trip. Kev and I were sitting by the fire and she kept whining – we didn’t know what the problem was. Finally, Kevin stood up and followed her to see what she wanted. She practically ran to the trailer, and when Kevin opened the door, she jumped in and went straight to bed. If you know Cassie – you know how funny that is – she is usually a bundle of energy that never quits.

Abbie is funny when we’re out camping. She hates the dirt and being outside. She likes to watch all of the action from in the trailer looking out the screen windows. She gets so excited when we get home, she runs and jumps on her blanket and rolls all around, then scampers around the house wagging her little stump!

Click HERE for more pictures.

Attack of the Peanut Butter

2010-05-18T20:37:00.002-07:00

Sick of Being Sick

2010-05-16T19:12:00.003-07:00

I have been sick… really sick… living on the bathroom floor sick! First, Kevin and I both had a flu/cold. I missed four days of work and Kevin missed six. At first the doctor just thought it was a virus, so he didn’t give us anything for it. But then my blood sugars were getting so out of whack that the doctor finally decided to give me antibiotics to see if that helped – it did and I was back at work the next day (a Friday). Kevin had to suffer through the weekend without the antibiotics and ended up being sick until Tuesday. I was supposed to travel for work but was too sick and missed the trip.

Recently (only two or three weeks after the flu/cold incident) I got food poisoning. Another two days of work missed. I don’t usually get nauseous– but when I do, It’s bad. I couldn’t even keep sips of water down. I literally didn’t eat for three days.

Last week I had a lipoma and four moles removed - so I have stitches and bandages everywhere! If you look closely at the top picture you can see the Lipoma.

I am getting back into my normal routine again now, getting back to the gym, getting back to eating! I lost 10 lbs. in the last month, which is one nice thing about being sick.

I think I’ve done my fair share of being sick this year –no more!

Progress

2010-05-13T21:40:00.004-07:00

I'm making progress on my 100 Good Wishes scrapbook for Dani. I got lots of pages done at scrapbook camp this weekend. I have 109 pages done - 21 more to go (since I actually had 130 wishes). You can check out some of the recent pages I've done by checking out Danica's Wishes 'n Stitches blog.

As soon as I get all the scrapbook pages done, I'm planning on uploading all of the scrapbook pages to shutterfly and printing out a book.

Favorite Photos

2010-05-01T20:40:00.004-07:00

Kevin agreed to be my subject today so I could practice my photography skills. First we went fishing and then we went to Tempe Town Lake. I love a lot of the pictures I took today but I've whittled it down to a few of my favorites. click HERE and HERE to see the rest of them. These are all straight out of the camera - no editing. P.S. Kevin took some great shots too!

Photography Class

2010-04-25T19:48:00.006-07:00

I am taking my photography class (again) - I dropped out 1/2 through last time because it was just too overwhelming for someone who had only shot in auto mode before! I'm a lot more comfortable with the concepts this time around. These shots are my favorites from this week, and most of them were shot in manual mode and most of them are of the dogs - my favorite subjects :)

Beggin' for Treats

This one is blurry - but I like the composition.

ISO 400, f/2.8

Hangin' Out

A familiar scene in our house - Kevin on his computer with Cassie nearby

P.S. Please excuse the messy house!

shutter speed 1, ISO 400, F/3.2

Pampered

Kevin brushing out Cassie's winter coat.

Shutter Speed 1/15, ISO 800, f/4.5

On the Path

Shutter Speed 1/15, ISO 800, f/4.0

Polka Dot Bow

Shutter Speed 1/6, ISO 400, f/3.2

Abbie Rose

Shutter Speed 0.3, ISO 400, f/4.5

Only Time Will Tell

2010-04-20T18:02:00.002-07:00

Just a quick note on where we are (mentally/emotionally) with the adoption process – I know I haven’t blogged about it in awhile.

It feels like we’ve turned a corner in the adoption process. Things just feel better. We basically stopped thinking about adoption, talking about adoption, and kind of went the other direction – thinking about NOT adopting, NOT having children at all. I won’t speak for Kevin, but for me 2009 was an extremely difficult year to get through, I was in a dark place – my breaking point – but it was a place that was necessary for me to get to in order to see that I will be OK, no matter what happens with this adoption. Somehow I held on and I’ve made it through that difficult period. Like I said before, things just feel better now. Not completely better – it is still very frustrating to be in limbo. It’s still aggravating to have to explain to people why things are taking so long (when I don’t know the real answer myself), and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received unsolicited advice on what to do. I really, really can’t take any more advice! I know that the advice and questions are well meaning – but dealing with a constant barrage of it is not easy. We will figure it out on our own – we will come to a decision about what is best for us.

We plan to see how far China has referred by the time our paperwork is ready to expire (in April 2011). We will make a decision at that point to keep going, or to drop out. So far it looks like we will be close to getting our referral by then – but I hate to give any kind of a time frame because we just don’t know what’s going to happen.

So there you have it – now I’m going to crawl back into my happy place and (try my best) not think about adoption again for awhile.

Camping

2010-04-17T08:59:00.007-07:00

Kevin and I have already gone on a couple of camping trips this year. The first trip was to Sedona, March 19th - 21st. It was freezing cold! We tried to go on a hike, but the we got to a spot where we had to cross the river, and the river was so full we would have gotten wet - and I was way too cold for that. We went back into town for some chips & salsa and shopping!

Our next trip was to Zions National Park in Utah, March 31st - April 4th (Easter Sunday) . We went for the 'Hawker Family Reunion' which is just my parents and my siblings and their kids and dogs. Kevin and I got there a day before everyone else. We went on a couple of hikes, watchman trail, and Angel's Landing. I have tried to make it to the top of Angel's Landing 2 times before, but got too scared and had to turn around. The last 1/2 mile of the trail is up a steep mountain with sheer drop-offs on both sides. You have to hold on to chains to make it to the top. I finally conquered my fears and made it all the way to the top this time!!

We celebrated Easter in the park too. We hid eggs for the all the kids and then set them loose. We also left Easter baskets at home for the dogs and for Frank and Pauline too - who were watching the dogs. They always take such good care of our fur girls.

While we were packing up camp, we heard a loud rumbling sound. I couldn't figure out what it was at first, but then we figured out it was a rock sliding down the mountain. My sister in law saw it and said it was a huge rock the size of our trailer. Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough to get a picture.

Click HERE for Sedona pictures, and HERE for more Zions pictures.

Summer Entertainment

2010-03-31T00:21:00.003-07:00

Summer entertainment I'm looking forward to:

May 4th: Dead in the Family - Sookie Stackhouse book #10. I love, love, love this series. I'll be in B & N that day to pick up my copy.

May 23rd: LOST series finale. Will we finally get all of our questions answered? I hope it doesn't dissapoint.

May 27th: Sex and the City 2. For the first show I dragged Kevin to the midnight showing, maybe this time too?

June 5th: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - a new Twilight novella by Stephanie meyer.

June 13th: True Blood - Season 3 on HBO. This is the TV adaptation of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. It's a guilty pleasure!

June 29th: Mad About You - Season 4 on DVD. Yipee -they are finally releasing a new season. I have everything from the series they have released on DVD.

June 30th: Eclipse - Third Twilight Movie.

July 10th: Kings of Leon concert

New Jersey/New York

2010-03-14T12:55:00.003-07:00

I had to fly to New Jersey for business meetings this week (Wed. - Fri.)

First Class

I ended up flying first class on the way out, which was an interesting experience. Here's the difference between first class and coach:

Priority baggage check-in (no waiting in line with those 'coach' people, plus it is free, and it gets off the plane first and is waiting for you immediately upon arrival at your destination)
Priority security lines
Priority Boarding
Coat check - they take your coat and hang it up for you
Priority Drink Orders - They take your order immediately when you get on the plane and you can order as many and as often as you wish.
Food - They serve you food with a tray that has a cloth napkin, and real silverware and glass cups and little teeny tiny glass salt and pepper shakers. Plus we got cinnamon rolls and/or muffins, and milk and warm cookies.
First Class Bathroom - first class has its own bathroom
Large, comfy seats.
Seating by Celebrities - I sat next to Dennis Farina on the plane. He was very quiet. I talked to him a little bit, but nothing exciting. He asked me what I do for a living and I told him I designed software. He said he doesn't own a computer or even know how to operate one - all the people that work for him take care of anything he would need a computer for.

New York City

I went with one of my coworkers Wednesday night into 'The City'. We took a shuttle from our hotel to the airport, there we caught the air train, and then we transferred to the NJ railway. We ended up at Penn Station in NYC, which is right below Madison Square Garden. Being in NYC was awesome - I loved it. We ate dinner at a little deli in times square, then we walked around 5th avenue, looking at the all shops and entering any that were still open. We also made it to Rockefeller center.

I was hoping to make it back to the city on Thursday night, but we ended up having a big work dinner, and got back to the hotel too late.

Flowers

Kevin met me at the Phoenix airport with a big bouquet of beautiful white flowers. What an amazing hubby I have :)

Meal Planning -- Week #11

2010-03-14T11:26:00.004-07:00

This week is going to be another busy week. All the meals I've planned will be quick and easy to prepare (but still yummy).

This weekend will be our first camping trip for the year! I found a great website for Camping Recipes, that I've bookmarked so I can get ideas for our camping trips this year. Kevin is excited to be getting The Lane Train Too out of storage.

Monday - Crock pot BBQ Chicken, Rice, Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday - Dinner Out (Tonya work dinner)

Wednesday - Fend for Yourself (Kevin working late - St. Patrick's Day Events)

Thursday - Spaghetti & Slow Cooker Meatballs, Peas, Garlic Bread

Friday - Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Salad (Camping in Sedona)

Saturday - Campfire Foiled Chicken Dinner, Corn on the Cob (Camping in Sedona)

Sunday - Ground Beef Taco Salad

Here's a quick, delicious, healthy recipe from last week:

Crock Pot Potato Soup

8 cups diced potatoes (about 6 Potatoes)

1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 onion)

3 cans (14.5 oz each) reduced fat chicken broth

1 can (10.75 oz each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/4 tsp pepper

1 pkg (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese, cubed

1/2 lb slicked bacon, cooked & crumbled (optional)

snipped chives (optional)

Add first five ingredients to crock pot, cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until potatoes are tender. Add cream cheese, stir until blended. Garnish with bacon & chives.

Nutrition Info (without bacon) for 1 cup

148 calories

4g fat

22g carbohydrates

2g fiber

6g protein

Meal Planning -- Week #10

2010-03-07T13:52:00.002-07:00

This is the real meal plan for the week...

Monday - Crock Pot Potato Soup, Garlic Bread, Green Beans

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Fend for Yourself (Tonya in New Jersey)

Thursday - Fend for Yourself (Tonya in New Jersey)

Friday - Fend for Yourself (Tonya in New Jersey)

Saturday - Chicken Pizza with a Kick (Really, really I'm going to make it this time!)

Sunday - Grilled Chicken, Mixed Veggies

Have a great week!

Kevin's Meal Plan

2010-03-06T12:30:00.004-07:00

We haven't had time to go shopping for groceries so here is Kevin's meal plan for the week:

Day 1: Half a block of Ramen Noodles with warm pudding dessert

Day 2: Can of Pinto Beans with freezer burnt ice cream sandwiches

Day 3: Jiffy Pop, flat Diet Pepsi half of an apple dipped in Halloween carmel dip

Day 4: Heated tomato sauce with a squeeze of lemon, choice of candy canes or Laffy Taffy dessert

Day 5: Macaroni noodles sprinkled with taco seasoning

Day 6: Canned carrots with string cheese

Day 7: Peanut Butter on a spoon

Meal Planning -- Week #9

2010-02-28T13:40:00.002-07:00

I have to admit that the last two weeks I have not been following the meal plan very well. I've been busy, on vacation, and/or fighting a cold. So this week is going to be a mix of items that I was supposed to cook the last two weeks.

Monday - Minestrone Soup

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Chinese Casserole

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Soup, Salad, Breadsticks

Saturday - Dinner Out

Sunday - Pizza with a Kick

Vegas!

2010-02-28T13:23:00.003-07:00

Ah, the glittering city of sin, Las Vegas, Nevada. Kevin and I have gone the last few years around Chinese New Year. The first year was completely by accident, last year was on purpose, and this year mom and dad just happened to be going there at that time and invited us along.

Here's what happened in Vegas - At least the things I'm willing to talk about ;)

Visited Belagio Conservatory to check out the Chinese New Year decorations
Stayed at Mandalay Bay and went to the Shark Reef Aquarium
Saw the Carrot Top Show
Went hiking at the Valley of Fire State Park
Saw the new City Center Casino's and shops
Ate lots of food and lost lots of money

Check HERE for lots of pictures!

Meal Planning -- Week #8

2010-02-21T00:00:00.001-07:00

Watch for my Vegas post - coming soon. Here's the menu for this week:

Monday - Dinner Out (Vegas!)

Tuesday - Fend for yourself

Wednesday - Chicken Pizza with a Kick

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks

Saturday - Dinner Out

Sunday - Grilled Lemon Chicken, Steamed Asparagus, Brown Rice

Rag Quilts

2010-02-18T12:53:00.003-07:00

Linda and I just finished up another project. This time we each made a rag quilt. Linda wanted to make one that was ‘All Boy’ for her son, Adam, because The first quilt she made for him was while she was pregnant and didn’t know the sex of the baby – so the fabrics were all gender neutral. She did a diagonal pattern with the same fabric on the front and back of the quilt squares. I just love her quilt it turned out so cute!

I did mine a little differently – I picked a random pattern and put different fabric on the front and the back of the quilt squares so the curled edges that show through from the back of the fabric would be different from the front. I will NEVER do this again. It was a nightmare trying to put the quilt together without getting two squares of the same pattern together! There was a lot of seam ripping on this one. I love the end result, though. I’d love to make another rag quilt, but I’ll make one like Linda’s next time :).

Our next project is going to be making a lunch tote for work. That one shouldn’t take us more than a night or two to finish and then it’s on to more quilts.

Click HERE for more pictures.

Valentine's Weekend 2010

2010-02-14T16:23:00.002-07:00

Somehow I hit the jackpot when it came to husbands! Kevin got me a teddy bear, ballons, and a box of chocolates. He had hidden a prize inside the chocolate box, a pandora charm! He also took me to the ballet, The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet was awesome! I loved it, Kevin suffered through for me. I gave Kevin a monogrammed pocket watch (since he loved the ones we gave his friends for Christmas, I figured he would love one for himself.)

It was also the beginning of the NASCAR season. We grilled up some hot dogs and watched the Daytona 500 race. Kevin wore his Ryan Newman T-shirt, and I donned my Jimmie Johnson bracelet.

Cassie celebrated her 8th birthday. Wow. I can't believe she is 8 already. She is starting to show her age. She lays around more and has a hard time getting up - her knees are hurting her. Poor PupPup.

It's also Chinese New Year today, the year of the Tiger. We are heading to Vegas later in the week, we hope to see all the casino's decorated for CNY.

Click HERE to see pictures of our weekend.

Menu Planning --Week #7

2010-02-14T12:03:00.004-07:00

This week's menu was really easy to plan since we'll be out of town for three of the days. Looking forward to Vegas!

Monday - Slow Cooker - Italian Herb Chicken

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Chinese Casserole

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Dinner Out (Vegas!)

Saturday - Dinner out (Vegas!)

Sunday - Dinner Out (Vegas!)

Our favorite recipe from last week was the crockpot chicken nachos. Here's the recipe...

Crockpot Chicken Nachos

3 boneless chicken breasts

1 can beans, drained (black or pinto)

1 can corn, drained

1 cup salsa

Place chicken in bottom of crockpot

top with remaining ingredients

cook on low for 4 hours

shred chicken

We added reduced-fat colby jack cheese on tortilla chips and microwaved for 30 seconds, then added the nacho topping. Yummy!!

Here's another requested recipe...

Easy Oriental Chicken

4 whole chicken breasts - skinned, sliced into strips

3 tbsp oil

1 cup celery, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 1b (16 oz.) frozen stir-fry vegetables (or any combo vegetables as desired)

3 cups chicken broth

3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Prepared rice

Heat oil & Saute chicken; about 5 minutes. Add celery and onion; cook 3 minutes. Add frozen vegetables and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 12 minutes. Mix cornstarch in 2 ounces water. Pour into cooking brother. Mix well and serve over rice. Serves 4-6 poeple.

Scrapbook Camp

2010-02-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to a scrapbook escape at Camp Pinerock in Prescott. I rode up with Hillary and her friend, Julia, early Friday morning. Let me tell you – these girls have a lot of supplies. Things have changed from the old days! My best friend, Melissa, and I have been making scrapbooks since we were twelve years old. We used to buy one color cardstock for each year, and plastic page covers and a three ring binder. We’d use glue sticks and maybe a sticker or two. Anyway, we were not lacking in the tools and supplies department (or junk food).

Our group stayed in two cabins. Our cabin had three bedrooms. My room had a single bed and off of my room there was a room with four bunk beds. There was a room beside mine with a bunk bed and a single bed. There was also a shower room with two showers, another room with two sinks, and the bathroom. Suffice it to say it was not a four-star hotel! We ate most of our meals in the dining hall, but we went out to the local brewery for dinner on Friday night.

The majority of our time was spent in the scrapbooking room, of course! It was so much fun to listen to music, chat with the girls, eat junk, and just work away on scrapbook layouts. I got 15 pages done (which is pretty good for my first scrapbook camp). Everyone was very nice, and everyone was willing to lend supplies or tools or advice.

Click HERE for more pictures.

Menu Planning -- Week #6

2010-02-07T11:05:00.003-07:00

Last week did not go as planned at all! I was out of town the weekend before so I was playing catch-up the first half of the week, then I had lots of drama at work Wed - Fri which left me exhausted by the time I got home from work and the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner, also we decided to go out to dinner with Pauline and Frank on Saturday - so we ate out a lot of meals last week!! So again, you will see some of the meals carried over from last week. Here goes:

Monday - Crock pot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Spicy Sloppy Joe's

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Tomato Basil Soup, Garden Salad, Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls

Saturday - Dinner Out (Valentine's Date)

Sunday - Apple Glazed Turkey Breast, Pear & Walnut Salad, Berry Cheesecake Dessert

Menu Planning -- Week #5

2010-01-31T10:02:00.003-07:00

The Easy Oriental Chicken and the Minestrone Soup from last week were both delicious!

I am still catching up from being out of town Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - so the beginning of this week will be easy meals to put together. We didn't end up eating the Spaghetti and Meatballs as planned last week so you'll see that again.

This Week's Menu

Monday - Hard-boiled Eggs and Toast

Tuesday - Spaghetti & Meatballs

Wednesday - Beef Tacos

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Tomato Basil Soup, Garden Salad, Reduced-Fat Crescent Rolls

Saturday - Apple-Glazed Turkey, Pear & Walnut Salad, Berry Cheesecake Dessert

Sunday - Crockpot Chicken Nacho's

Menu Planning -- Week #4

2010-01-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

This week I'm giving us lots of leftover days! Here is the Crock Pot Chicken Taco recipe for those interested:

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 packets taco seasoning

2 cans balck beans, drained

3/4 c. water

3/4 c. chicken broth

Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hrs.

remove chicken and shred

take beans and liquid and mix with chicken to get the consistency you like

add to taco shells, or use as a topping for nachos

This week's menu

Monday - Crock Pot Vegetable Minestrone Soup

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Easy Oriental Chicken

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Fend for Yourself (Tonya out of town)

Saturday - Fend for Yourself (Tonya out of town)

Sunday - Spaghetti & Meatballs

Menu Planning -- Week #3

2010-01-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

I know you probably don’t really care what Kevin and I are eating for dinner every night – but posting the meal plan holds me accountable to do it!

Last week did not go according to plan. As Kevin put it I ‘grossly overestimated the amount of food we eat’. We had so much food left from the previous week that we really just ate leftovers most of the week. So this week I’ll be cooking some of the meals we didn’t eat last week. Oh, and the Crockpot Chicken Taco Recipe was excellent (two thumbs up) and super easy, so now I have another recipe to add to the rotation. :)

Monday – Fend for Yourself
Tuesday – Ham, Corn on the Cob, Dinner Rolls
Wednesday – BBQ Chicken, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes
Thursday – Dinner Out
Friday – Leftovers
Saturday – Grilled Trout, Brown Rice, Mixed Veggies
Sunday – Mac & Cheese, Peas

Birthday #35

2010-01-18T13:17:00.004-07:00

I'm 35 years old now! I decided to start looking at it like 'I will never be this young again' instead of worrying about getting older. I'm so happy to be at the point in my life where I am - having earned my age through various life lessons - sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always interesting. I wonder what the next 35 years will have in store for me?

I always keep my birthdays low-key. Kevin and I went out to dinner, and I opened some presents. Kevin got me a gorgeous leather fossil purse and wallet for my birthday. The purse is a classic and I'll have it forever. It smells so good too! I got a pink iPhone cover from my friend, Linda - and the girls all took me to lunch for my b.day.

My parents came to visit me (they try to make it to Phoenix every year for my birthday). They bought me some presents - a lighted makeup mirror, and a necklace. My sister made me two really cool bracelets for my Christmas/Birthday present. We also went to a balloon glow. I haven't made it to the balloon glow in Albuquerque yet - so when I heard this one was going on in town, I wanted to go. We took a shuttle bus from the college campus over to the event. We walked around, had some hot chocolate and churros, and checked out some antique stores. They closed off a lot of the streets downtown and had balloons at most of the intersections.

Last, but not least, I got my mom addicted to watching LOST! I have been trying to get someone in my family to watch it so we could discuss it. Sunday I suggested we watch just an episode of LOST to see if they liked it. Dad said he had seen it before - mom was instantly hooked and wanted to keep watching. We ended up watching the first 6 espidoes and sent home the DVD's of seasons 1-3 with them.

Click HERE for more photos.

Kevin's Holiday Party

2010-01-15T16:53:00.003-07:00

Kevin’s work doesn’t like to do things the normal way, like having a holiday party during the holidays! So they held their first annual holiday party and awards banquet on January 8th. It was a semi-formal party held at a very nice resort in Paradise Valley. They had cocktails and a three-course dinner. I got to meet lots of Kevin’s co-workers- it was good to put a face with some of the names I hear. After dinner the awards portion of the night began. Kevin’s campus won the ‘Agility’ award for going through the most changes during the year such as having numerous campus directors and moving the campus to a new location. Kevin got to go up on stage to collect the award since he was the most senior person from his campus. He also got a lapel pin for 7 years of service!

I am so proud of Kevin and all the hard work he does throughout the year. He does everything from organizing events (like guest speakers, assemblies, and graduations) to helping domestic violence victims find temporary shelter. I think he is the perfect person for the job – he is a very hard worker and we all know that he has a big heart!

Love you Kev!

Click HERE for more pictures.

Menu Planning -- Week #2

2010-01-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Week one went as planned, but we had so much food. I'm going to have to cut the recipes in 1/2 so we don't have so many leftovers.

Monday - Crockpot Chicken Tacos, Corn on the Cob

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - Grilled Trout, Brown Rice, Mixed Vegetables

Thursday - Mac & Cheese, Ham, Peas, Cupcakes :)

Friday - Dinner Out (Tonya's Birthday)

Saturday - Dinner out (Balloon Glow)

Sunday - Pot Roast, Dinner Rolls

Meal Planning -- Week #1

2010-01-02T20:45:00.003-07:00

I think one of the best things I can do for my health is to eat more balanced meals. This will also help me to have better control of my diabetes. So I went to a nutritionist in December and she said I should 1) Pick a specific day to plan out all our meals for an entire week 2) make a grocery list based on the meal plan and 3) pick a specific day every week to go grocery shopping. Because of our schedules I usually only cook a nice dinner on Sundays, and we eat soup or sandwiches during the week (or go out to eat). So my nutritionist challenged me to increase cooking to 3 meals a week.

So for 2010, I am planning on doing weekly meal planning and grocery shopping. Based on our schedule, I'll routinely cook dinner on Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. So without further ado, here is my first meal plan:

Monday - Bruschetta Chicken Bake, Steamed Brocolli

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Seasoned Chicken and Veggies, Brown Rice

Thursday - Veggie or Tomato Soup, Salad, and Garlic Toast

Friday - Dinner out (Kevin's Holiday Party)

Saturday - Dinner out

Sunday - Beef and Cheese Enchiladas, Mixed Veggies

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!

2010-01-01T17:00:00.003-07:00

We spent New Years Eve at the Joel McHale comedy show. We love watching his show, The Soup, on the E channel. We find his pop culture satire amusing. The comedy show was more of the same, so it didn't dissapoint. Before the show we stopped in at Crazy Jim's Greek restaurant for some pizza. We got home about 11:30pm and listened to the countdown to midnight on the radio. I have a few iPhoto pictures HERE.

I have to say that I am glad 2009 is over. It wasn't a good year for us for a variety of reasons, so we are happy 2010 is here. We have a couple of fun things planned already!

We spent today (New Years Day) sleeping in, watching episodes of 24 (season 1) on DVD, and we met up with our friend Amy for lunch. In general just having a lazy, relaxing day before heading back to work on Monday (we're dreading it already).

We want to wish everone a Happy New Year, may it be your best year yet!

Christmas in Albuquerque

2010-01-01T14:40:00.002-07:00

We spent Christmas in Albuquerque this year. We stayed at Kevin's parents house from the 23rd to the 27th. We had a yummy Christmas dinner, had lots of fires, watched movies, exchanged gifts - and ate tons and tons of Mom Lane's homemade cookies. Mmmmmm......

I've added more pictures to our Christmas 2009 Gallery. Click HERE to view the gallery!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!!

We hope you are enjoying your holiday. We're in Albuquerque celebrating the day with Kevin's family. You can be sure that we'll be blogging and loading more pictures soon (especially becase I'll be playing around with my new telephoto lens!) In the meantime, you can enjoy some outtakes from our Christmas card photo session.

Celebrating Christmas!

2009-12-22T19:54:00.005-07:00

Kevin and I decided to celebrate Christmas on Monday night - so that we would have all day Tuesday to get ready to travel to Albuquerque on Wednesday. We had the 'fire' going (a fire playing on our TV!), Christmas music, and candles. We took turns opening our presents - Cassie had to help us open every single one. She was very excited. Abbie could have cared less and went to bed early on.

My big presents were a telephoto lens for my camera and a hand-made king size quilt for our bed (Thanks, Steph, I LOVE it!!). Mom and Dad H. got me an outfit and books for Danica, and a little book that tells me what colors to wear for my skin type!

I mostly just got Kevin a bunch of random stuff - a swiss army USB knife, an LED gripper light, a cradle for his iphone - nothing really big. Mom and Dad H. got him a socket set - and of course the leg lamp.

Abbie got a dress (she hates it) and toys. Cassie got toys and treats.

Click HERE for pictures. I've also updated the photo set with more pictures of our house decorated for Christmas.

Christmas Date 2009

2009-12-22T18:54:00.002-07:00

This year we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens, Las Noches de las Luminarias. There were thousands of lumarias and trees covered in lights. There were also different entertainers around the various sections of the garden. We ate dinner at the patio cafe where there was a band playing, and we also watched The Swingtips, a jazz band, for awhile too. Other than that we walked along all the lit paths. It was really beautiful!

Click HERE for more photos!

Nello's

2009-12-22T17:28:00.003-07:00

Kevin and I started our Christmas vacation on Friday. We went out for dinner and drinks at Nello's (our loca pizza joint) with Craig & Hillary, and Craig & Ceci. We were just hanging out and having a good time! Kevin bought the guys a pocket watch engraved with their initials. The pictures aren't that great, I still haven't figured out how to get good pictures in low light.

RSS Feeds

2009-12-09T16:09:00.002-07:00

Just thought I’d share my obsession with Google Reader. I can’t live without it! I am constantly checking it (even from my iphone)! Some people are addicted to Facebook – but not me, I’m addicted to Reader. You can learn a lot about a person by what RSS feeds they subscribe to. Here are the categories of feeds I have:

Adoption – China adoption blogs
Friends and Family – Obviously, blogs and photo albums of my friends and family
Childfree Blogs – Blogs of people who have chosen not to have children
Diabetes – diabetes news, diabetes management tips, personal blogs of diabetics
Entertainment – blogs of artists and writers I love (like Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Woolcott)
Fashion – Makeup, fashion, lookbooks
Goals/Motivation – organizing blogs, goal setting blogs, meal planning blogs
Hobbies & Interests – OK here’s where a quirk of mine comes out of the closet – I love notebooks (all office supplies really) and I love to see what people use their notebook for – and I’d like to mention that I’m not alone in this. There are thousands of us! So anyway this category has lots of blogs about notebooks and writings/drawings/organization etc. from peoples notebooks. It also has photography blogs too!
Tech – stuff related to my line of work (such as business analysis & healthcare blogs), as well as feeds for google reader, gmail, etc.

What RSS feeds do you have? If you don’t use RSS feeds (gasp!), what sorts of blogs do you follow?

We're on the Chart!!

2009-12-07T09:49:00.002-07:00

We’re on the chart! This is the first time since we started the adoption process that we have been on Rumor Queen’s Projection Chart. What does that mean? In simple terms it just means that we are close enough for Rumor Queen (RQ) to start projecting when we will get a referral. Now don’t get too excited – we are still a long way off!

RQ takes polls of who is logged in when so we can get a feel for how many people are logged in on a particular day or month. She then takes this information and makes projections about how far CCAA will process in the next few referral batches.

Here’s how to read the chart: The left column (e.g. Dec/Jan) is the month that the referral batch will arrive. The top row (e.g. Spr 2008 Small) is the size of the batch. Since China has been sending out different size batches over the years, she tracks how far she predicts they will get based on different batch sizes. If they referred Smr ’07 (Bad) size batch we would get our referral around Apr/May of next year. Lately CCAA has been referring either the Spr 2008 Small column or Wntr ’08 (Horrid) column or somewhere in between.

The caveat here is that CCAA can do whatever they want whenever they want. So this information is only accurate if they continue sending out referrals at about the same pace and size as they have been doing. Recently they have been slowing down a bit more – sending out a batch every 6 weeks rather than every 4 weeks. This chart doesn’t take that into account because we don’t know if that is just a fluke or if it is a new pattern.

Christmas Ornaments 2009

2009-12-06T16:17:00.004-07:00

We have two Christmas trees. One is a formal tree that we decorate with gold and bronze balls, gold leaves, berries and stars, and pretty jewel ornaments. The other tree is our ornament tree that we decorate with ornaments that we've collected through the years. Each ornament represents a trip or something significant that happened during the year. Each ornament is dated with the year that we purchased it. So decorating the three is a fun time to reminisce! This year we added four new ornaments.

The first was for a trip we took to Kartchner Caverns. It is kind of hard to see what it is but it's bats hanging upside down.

The second ornament is for our trip to Houston. It is a Texas boot.

The third and fourth ornaments are inherited from Kevin's Grandma who passed away this year. She was 96 years old! One of the ornaments has a date on it 2/25. Does that mean its from 1925?

The formal Tree

The Ornament Tree

Abbie's Birthday

2009-12-06T15:10:00.005-07:00

Abbie turned three today! I decided to get her a self refilling water bowl because every time I get home from work her water bowl is empty. Cassie keeps drinking it all. She also got a new food bowl, a new toy, and some birthday cookies! (don't worry Cassie got one too!)

Fun with Sensors

2009-12-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

I have been going to "Intensive Diabetes Management" sessions with a diabetes educator for a few months now - ever since I got my new pink pump! What she does is have me wear a glucose sensor that will read my blood sugar every 5 minutes and send the readings to my pump. Then she downloads all the information to her computer and we go over patterns and try to see where I can improve. I was wearing the sensors when they first came onto the market - but had stopped because they were such a pain (literally). They are still a pain (as you can see from the purple bruise in my picture) but she has given me some really good advice for making them work better. Now I am wearing one 24/7 and couldn't be happier with them!

I have also joined a gym and I have been working out several times a week, going to cardio classes and seeing a personal trainer. This has been a nightmare on my blood sugars - they spike up really high right after a workout and then will plummet extremely low several hours afterward and run low all the next day. My diabetes educator is working with me to get this figured out. I am determined to stick with it and get my blood sugars under the best control possible!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T00:00:00.001-07:00

Kevin and I are spending the holiday together at home – just the two of us! I am cooking a turkey with all the trimmings and even making an apple pie from scratch. Kevin’s mom has been supervising my apple pie making attempts the last few times – so this will be my first one all on my own. I sure hope it turns out! We’re going to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while the smells of turkey and pie are wafting in from the kitchen.

We are also planning on going to dinner at PF Changs with some friends on Friday night. Saturday is my ‘Girl Movie’ day where a bunch of us girls get together and watch a chick flick sans husband and kids – we go every month. This time we’re going to go see New Moon.

As if all that weren’t enough, I’ve rented a bunch of movies too! It’s going to be a fun and busy weekend – just the kind we like :)

Kevin and I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and are thankful to count you as our friends and family!

Quick Trip

2009-11-25T13:09:00.002-07:00

We took a quick trip to St. George this past weekend. We had to get new brakes on my car and drop off some Christmas presents my mom had purchased when she was here. We drove out Friday night after work and came back Sunday – so it was very quick. We packed a lot of fun in though.

Kevin got to go on a short helicopter ride from the flight school where my brother works. His flight was really early Saturday morning – so he didn’t get much sleep!

We went to the Jubilee of Trees. It is a fundraising event where Christmas trees are professionally decorated and auctioned off. The proceeds go towards a life flight helicopter for the city. Before the trees are taken home, everyone can come and see the trees and vote on their favorite. Mine was a Cat in the Hat themed tree. Kevin’s was an old-fashioned tree next to a fireplace with popcorn strung on it and old time toys underneath and a rocking chair nearby. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to post because my camera battery was dead.

We also went to eat at a new Italian restaurant, The Bent Fork, with my parents, my sister and her kids, and my niece MaKayla. I remembered I could take pictures with my iPhone, so I took some photos while we waited to be seated.

Oh, and we got to meet our new nephew, Andy. He looks like a mini replica of his dad, Brad.

Mom and Dad gave Kevin a 'Fra-gee-lay' gift! We are discussing whether or not it will go in the front window!

Not Happy

2009-11-23T17:04:00.001-07:00

I think Kevin and I are both at the end of our rope with this China adoption. I am very angry today with our agency for misleading us on the timeline when we first signed up. They told us 14 months – knowing full well that the current time was 14 months but it would be expanding exponentially and we would be waiting years. They do not give us enough information to keep us informed on what is happening (although I don’t know if they even know what is happening).

I am also angry at China for not communicating what is going on. For all appearances it looks as if the adoption program is falling apart. They are sending out only a trickle of referrals and not even on a regular basis anymore. Why wouldn’t they just tell us what they are doing?! If they want the program to be special needs only or if they want to close the program – then tell everyone so we can move on with our lives. We have put our lives on hold for nearly four years for this.

It has been a rough roller coaster ride and I’m getting nauseous!

P.S. If you are wondering why you are receiving an email about this it is because I made our blog private. This is something very emotional that we are dealing with and I don’t want to share it with the rest of the world. Since I want everyone to be able to read the blog posts without having to check the blog – I automatically email them out when I post. If you would rather not get these emails, please let me know and I will take you off of the distribution list.

Why are you so fat?

2009-11-15T13:16:00.004-07:00

If you think society puts a lot of pressure on you to stay skinny, try being a childless couple. Of course it is not the exact same situation. It would be completely unacceptable for me to ask an overweight person "why are you so fat?" But somehow it is perfectly OK to ask me why I don't have kids, if my wife or I are "unable" to have kids, or why we are adopting. It would not be appropriate for me to tell my overweight friend that he or she needs to get on the treadmill and run four miles a day because "its worth it" to be in shape. Does anyone honestly think that I don't get that "its worth it?" No one can understand what Tonya and I have been though for the last seven years of dealing with this issue. We have signed countless documents, met with tons of strangers , answered a million personal questions, been through every medical test that every uncaring doctor could bill us for, paid thousands of dollars, taken a second mortgage on our house, we have fought with each other, cried, screamed, yelled.... nobody has a right to ever tell us "its worth it." We need understanding, patience and support. We don't need lectures, opinions, and pressure to be parents. The decision is ours and ours alone - I invite everyone else to stay out of it. -Kevin

The New Love of Her Life

2009-11-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Abbie's beloved toy 'Mouse' is no longer with us. 'Mouse' had to go to the dumpster in the sky. So now she has 'Ducky' - which she will still fetch when we say 'Go Get Mouse'. She loves her ducky!

P.S. Don't you just love her red and white polka dot bow?!

A Fork in the Road

2009-11-12T17:39:00.002-07:00

LID #39 and I am at a fork in the road. I can see two paths and I can see myself being happy (and conversely – miserable) on either path.

Parenting –I can imagine having a little Chinese girl. I can picture the day we get her from the orphanage. I can imagine seeing life through her eyes as she grows, all the wonder and excitement of everything new. I can imagine helping her with homework and taking her to dance class and getting braces and all of that stuff too. I can also imagine the sleepless nights, the temper tantrums, all the teenager drama. Paying for daycare and diapers and formula, and it only gets more expensive the older they get. The loss of freedom to do whatever I want when I want. What if I get to be a parent and I hate that I have done this to my life? Plus, I am also just emotionally drained from this wait and have no idea how long it will go on and whether or not we will really get a child at the end of all this. Should I just move on with my life now?

Childfree –Having to wait so long has given me the opportunity to see a different life for myself. I am extremely happy with my current lifestyle and could see just living on my own terms – working, traveling, buying a new car, going to movies, concerts, etc. I am happy right now just being a mom to my fur girls. Plus being childfree would be much easier financially! The downside here is that I would have a loss that I would have to grieve. Would I regret this decision later in life? Would I cry every time I see a little Chinese girl? How would I survive the day they refer our LID? Would I look at the pictures of the babies and know that one of them would have been Danica if circumstances were different? I could definitely be happy without a child in my life, but making the choice and dropping out would be very difficult to get through.

I just don’t know which path is the right path. I hate forks in the road.

Kevin and Tonya's Infinite Play Weekend

2009-11-10T20:30:00.004-07:00

Kevin and I had a busy weekend...

Friday

We went to see 'A Christmas Carol' in 3D. Aren't we cute in our glasses?

Saturday

We went to the Arizona State Fair.

We went to the Kelly Clarkson Concert

Ate Carnie Food

Played Carnie Games (Kevin won me a giant stuffed frog!!)

and went on Carnie rides - then we had to go home - I was petrified from the sky ride and Kevin was sick from the twirly ride!

Sunday

We went to my gym - Kevin can go with me free on Sundays. He was brave enough to go to the cardio hip hop class with me. He was the only guy in the room - which I thought was cool!

Book Review: Julie & Julia

2009-11-06T15:19:00.003-07:00

My friend, Linda, and I went to see the movie Julie & Julia. I really loved the movie – it made me want to cook – which is amazing because the thought of cooking makes me tired. So much prep work and clean up for a meal that lasts 20 minutes at most. It also made me want to know more about the story, so I went out and got the book Julie & Julia My year of cooking dangerously by Julie Powell. This book is one of the two that the movie is based upon.

Julie is a turning-thirty New Yorker who works in Manhattan at a government office as a temp doing secretarial work. Her and her husband live in a teeny tiny loft above a pizza store. She has come to that point in her life where she needs to do something to really feel like her life has meaning (does this happen to everyone in their thirties? Just wondering). Anyway, she decides that she is going to cook every single recipe (that’s 524) in the book, Master the Art of French Cooking, Volume I by Julia Child; and she is only giving herself one year to do it. She also decides to start up a blog to document her cooking endeavors. Of course, the book follows the ups and downs of her cooking project, and how,through the project, she molds her life into something she loves.

My Rating: 1 out of 5 stars. Watch the movie, skip the book. The movie toned down Julie’s character into someone likeable – unlike the book. Julie is a foul mouthed liberal who doesn’t miss a chance to rag on anyone with a different political view than her own – really why are there so many political jabs in a book about cooking, I’m not quite sure?! Not liking the main character makes it difficult to enjoy the book. If you like this sort of person, maybe you will like the book too.

Sedona Halloween

2009-11-04T21:37:00.004-07:00

Kevin wanted to go camping for his birthday, so we took the trailer and the fur girls to Sedona for Halloween weekend. The air was cool, the leaves were changing colors and falling to the ground (that's a big deal for us since that doesn't happen in Phoenix!) I loved walking around and hearing the leaves crunch under my feet.

On Halloween we sat outside and carved a pumpkin listening to 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' soundtrack. We went to downtown Sedona for a while to check out all the people milling around in their Halloween costumes - trick or treating at all the stores. Then we went back to camp and watched our Jack-O-Lantern glowing against the dark night sky.

We had a nice, relaxing, non-doorbell ringing, non-dog-barking, non-passing-out-Halloween candy weekend!

Click HERE for more pictures.

U2 Concert

2009-10-21T22:20:00.006-07:00

We went to the Black Eyed Peas/U2 concert last night. We took off from work early, went out to dinner and then headed to the show. Just as we got to our seats the show started - so it was perfect timing. It was a great concert, though it didn't compare to the Madonna concert (that's the benchmark concert for me!). The stage was really cool - it was supposed to be a spaceship. There was an inner stage and an outer stage and moving bridges that connected the two stages. the bridges moved over people in the audience so Bono or The Edge would walk over the bridge above the audience to get to the outer stage. The 360 degree TV above the inner stage showed everything that was happening so you had a good view no matter where you sat. During one song the screen expanded like a web and reached all the way down to the stage (hard to explain but very cool)!!

We had fun watching all the crazy drunk people dancing in their seats. There was a guy in the row in front of us who was cracking us up the whole night with his "dance moves".

Catching Up

2009-10-12T17:19:00.003-07:00

So here’s the deal…

I haven’t felt like blogging lately at all. I am just tired of putting my information out there for all to see. (Also, we really don’t have anything exciting going on) So once again, I have made the blog private. Only family will be able to read it. Not that any of you (besides mom) actually do. I will also need to make our photo albums private. Do I really need facebook and twitter?… ahhh! Unplug me!

This weekend we finished decorating for Halloween. We got a new scary monster to hang up on the porch – but everything else is pretty much the same. With one exception – no Spooky Town. We have been waiting for years for them to come out with a haunted train, and they finally did this year. So we scooped that up right away. The problem is that the landscape forms we made a couple of years ago didn’t have anywhere where we could fit the train. So we have to make all new landscaping and since it is already mid-October, we decided to skip Spooky Town this year.

We usually go to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque every October, but decided this year to hike the Narrows in Zion National Park with my family instead. Only we didn’t get to hike the Narrows. Kevin’s work was moving campuses and he was unable to get the time off work. So no Balloon Fiesta, No Narrows, but we did get to Albuquerque, though not for a good reason. Kevin’s maternal grandmother passed away – just a few months after her 96th birthday. So we went there for the funeral. It was nice to see family and some of Kevin’s extended family that we don’t see that often.

We celebrated the moon festival this year (a Chinese Holiday) by having a fire in our chiminea in the backyard and eating moon pies (which were gross, but not as gross as moon cakes). Next year I am just going to make cookies. The moon was very bright and beautiful. I thought a little about Dani and her birth family. The whole point of the holiday is to think about family near and far – everyone looks up at the same moon in the same night sky!

I-171H Renewal

2009-09-21T19:37:00.002-07:00

We got our I-171H in the mail today. We're good now until April 2011. It's going to be close. I sure hope we don't have to renew again.

Every dog has her day... at the vet!

2009-09-16T10:49:00.008-07:00

It was Abbie's turn at the vet today. We took her to have her teeth cleaned and she had to have two baby teeth extracted that never fell out. Poor baby is on lots of pain meds, but doing well otherwise.

Ever since Cassie's Surgery both of her ears have been standing up. Usually just one of them stands up and the other is down. How is it possible to do surgery on her armpit, but fix her ear?!

Summer Book Report

2009-09-06T14:05:00.003-07:00

I've been doing a lot of reading over the summer...

Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris. This is the 9th book in the 'Sookie Stackhouse' series, which is a fantasy fiction series. Vampires have 'come out of the coffin' and are living in mainstream society thanks to the invention of True Blood, a synthetic blood that satisfies a vampires need to drink blood. Sookie is a telepath who falls in love with a vampire, and finds it quite refreshing since she can't read vampire minds. She doesn't have to know everything he is thinking when they are together. Throughout the series we also learn there are also shapeshifters, werewolves, fairies, among other supernatural beings. In this book, the shapeshifters and werewolves decide to go mainstream, and it doesn't go so well. Also, Sookie finds herself the center of a fairy war.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I love the characters in the book, the story of Sookie being in the middle of the supernatural conflicts, is getting a little old by the 9th book. I would like to see more of her telepath abilities in the book, and especially communication with other telepaths!

Three to Get Deadly - Janet Evanovich. This is a laugh out loud series about a woman named Stephanie Plum who gets laid off from her retail job, is starving and desperate for work, and goes to work for her relative, Vinnie, as a bounty hunter. This is the 3rd book in the series. This time a candy-store owner, Mo, skips bail, and Stephanie gets involved with drug dealers and other low-lives trying to keep her off of Mo's trail.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. It's a fun read. In this book LuLu becomes more of a main character as she helps Stephanie try to solve the case. I don't particularly like the character. Less LuLu more Grandma Maser please!

The Bonesetters Daughter - Amy Tan. Ruth has always had a rocky relationship with her mother, LuLing, an immigrant from China. Ruth starts to notice her mother's memory isn't what it used to be. LuLing is soon diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Ruth goes to her mother's apartment to clean it up, and finds a manuscript written in chinese. She has it translated and it is the story of her mother's life in China. Ruth learns many secrets about her mother. The story intertwines LuLings story with Ruth's story. At the end of the book, Ruth feels she is finally seeing her mother for the first time, and appreciates her all the more.

My rating: 5 out of 5. I always love Amy Tan's books and this one is no exception.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin. I have always been fascinated with Ben Franklin. This book tells the story of a young boy who travels to America without any money, and chronicles his life as a printer, inventor, and politician.

My rating: 2.5 out of 5. It was really hard to read because it was written in the 1700's, and the latter half of the book isn't as interesting to me as the first. There are some definite pearls of wisdom in the book. I would love to read his journal!

Twenty Wishes - Debbie Macomber. This is also a series. This series is about a street in Seattle, Blossom Street. Each book is about a different shop on the street and focuses on the story of the owner of the shop. This book is about the book shop, Blossom Street Books, and it's owner, Anne Marie Roche and her little yorkie, Baxter. Anne is a young widow (38) and on Valentine's Day, she throws a party at the bookshop for other widows. They each decide to write down Twenty Wishes, things they have always wanted to do or be, some simple things and some things that seem impossible. The book details how their wishes come true - not always in the way they expect - and gives them new meaning to life.

My rating: 3 out of 5. It is a little too predictable and ties up too neat, like all romance novels do I suppose. You know what's going to happen, but you let the story unfold anyway. I like the imagery and the moral of the story.

Shakespear's Champion - Charlaine Harris. Another series. This series is a murder mystery series. The main character is Lily Bard. She moves to a little town - Shakespeare, Arkansas - to escape a haunting past. She takes a job as a maid, cleaning houses and doing other organizing jobs for the towns residents. She also takes up martial arts to learn self-defense. This book is the 2nd in the series. Lily gets into the gym early one morning and finds one of her fellow patrons dead - a barbell has been dropped on his neck.

My rating: 3 out of 5. I love the characters, but the story was just OK.

Real Murders - Charlaine Harris. Surprise - It's another murder mystery series. Aurora 'Ro' Teagarden is a librarian who loves true crime mystery books. She belongs to a book club - all the members also love true crime books. At the book club meeting, Ro finds one of the members dead - murdered in exactly the same way as the book they are supposed to be reviewing that evening. Throughout the book more members of the club are murdered all after the fashion of another true crime book. Could one of the member's of the book club be taking their love of true crime a little too far?

My rating: 5 out of 5. I love, love, love the series! It may even surpass my love of the Sookie Stackhouse series (Gasp!). I read through this book in a day or two.

A Bone to Pick - Charlaine Harris. This is the 2nd book in the Aurora 'Ro' Teagarden series. This time Ro inherits a windfall of money from a fellow book club member, Jane. Along with the money she inherits a house with a shocking surprise - a human skull with a big hole in the back. Who does the skull belong to? Did Jane kill whomever it was?

My rating: 5 out of 5. After reading the first book, I went out and got this one right away - and finished it in a day. Again, I love the way Charlaine writes, I love the characters, and it's a fun quick read. As soon as I finished this book, I went back an bought the rest of the series. Can't wait to get started on it.

A Girl and her Clothes

2009-08-25T17:46:00.005-07:00

When I was growing up, every summer before school started, my mom would go through all of my clothes - my dresser and my closet. We'd donate what I didn't wear or had grown out of, and then we'd spend a whole saturday going to the mall buying clothes and shoes for the new school year. It was a fun day with just me and my mom. Those are some of my favorite memories growing up.

My mom came to visit me for a long weekend and we ended up organizing my closet! My mom happened to see my closet, and she about died at how messy it was! I have been putting off organizing it for months and it just kept getting worse and worse. So we went through and donated clothes and shoes - 4 large trash bags worth. Then we arranged all the clothes, shoes, and accessories that I was going to keep. I absolutely love it now and it will be so easy to find exactly what I'm looking for. We kept going and organized my make-up drawers too.

I had a great 4-day weekend with mom and am so glad I got to spend the time with just her, shopping, watching movies, and eating :) - Maybe we'll have to make this a yearly tradition.

So on to the (embarrassing) before and after pictures...

Before

(Click a photo to enlarge)

After

100 Good Wishes Quilt is Complete!!

2009-08-21T21:53:00.003-07:00

I love it! Check out our other blog for more pictures: Danica's 100 Good Wishes Quilt is Complete

Pink Pump

2009-08-19T14:11:00.004-07:00

This cutie pump will be mine on Monday! I'm excited to get a new insulin pump in a fun color. Just incase you want to know, it is the Paradigm 522 Insulin Pump from Medtronic Minimed. Their tagline for this pump is 'The Best Just Got Cuter' and I couldn't agree more!

3 Years!

2009-08-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

Wow - we've officially been waiting for Danica for 3 years today. I don't even really know where to begin to sum up this journey so far other than to say it has been an emotional roller coaster. Some very happy on-top-of-the-world kinds of days and some very low, low days and every other emotion in between. Not a single day of these past three years has gone by without me thinking about this adoption in one way or another.

We are in the process of renewing our paperwork once again. We met with our social worker last month so she can do a home study update and renew our paperwork for the state, and we just got our I-600A packet (Application to adopt internationally) ready and sent to the Immigration office. It should arrive there today. This time our I-171H (approval from US Immigration to Adopt internationally) will be valid until April 23, 2011. So that means we have get our referral and have our consulate appointment in China on or before April 22, 2011. If we don't think that's going to happen, then we have to renew again.

Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us so far, everyone has been encouraging and understanding. We are really ready for this journey to come to an end - so we can bring home our little girl. Although we still have a ways to go, we are getting closer.

Projects

2009-07-29T21:39:00.002-07:00

We finished up the 'Closet Organizer' project in Dani's room. I have all of her clothes and stuffed animals, and books, and everything piled in there for now. We've decided how we are going to paint and decorate the room too - but I'm going to let that be a surprise. You'll have to wait until it's done before I post any pictures.

My mom sent Dani's quilt back last week, she did an awesome job quilting it! I put the binding on and now it is ready for Dani. Click HERE for more quilt pictures.

It's kind of nice being able to do something while we're waiting for her. I don't really know how to explain it except that it makes it more real. I think having her room done (whenever we get it done) will actually help with the wait rather than just being a painful reminder that she isn't with us yet.

Also... just an update on PupPup. She is recovering very well. She just went back to the doctor on Monday and got her stitches removed.

Cassie's Surgery (Summer Vacation - Part II)

2009-07-15T16:54:00.003-07:00

We are spending the rest of our summer vacation at home with Cassie and Abbie. Cassie had a large mass growing in her armpit and it was finally getting to the point where it was interfering with her walking - so it was time to get it removed. She also had a smaller one on her rib cage removed. While under anesthesia we also had her teeth cleaned. The less often she has to go under anesthesia the better.

She was in surgery from about 8:30AM to 11:30AM and in recovery until 3:00PM. The vet assured us that both masses removed were benign and that the surgery went well. He put a drain in the area where the large mass was removed. He said that when you remove a mass that big, the area will fill up with blood. So a drain is put in so it can drain out. We have to keep her in a t-shirt and on blankets and towels to catch the drainage (Yuck!!!). We go back Friday to have the drain removed.

When we picked her up she was so drugged up. She seems like she is going to be in a lot of pain. She will be on pain killers and antibiotics for a while. She is whining a little bit now. Poor PupPup! Kevin has not left her side since she got home.

The Big Mass

At the Vet

The Drain

At Home - Drugged Out

If you are feeling brave, you can check out a picture of the actual mass that was removed in our photo gallery; click HERE.

Summer Vacation - Part I

2009-07-14T23:43:00.006-07:00

We spent four care-free days at Woods Canyon Lake this week. We escaped the summer heat and spent time fishing (Kevin), reading (Tonya), chasing chipmunks (Cassie) and eating (Abbie). We also spent time hiking, napping, watching animals (we saw a deer right by our camp, and a bald eagle), dodging afternoon rain storms while sitting under our awning, and roasting marshmallows.

Click HERE to view our Woods Canyon photo gallery.

The 4th in Flagstaff

2009-07-05T16:28:00.004-07:00

Friday morning we loaded up the trailer, packed the dogs into the truck, and headed off for our 4th of July weekend. We drove through holiday weekend traffic (It seemed like everyone had the same idea to get out of the heat for the weekend) and made our way to Flagstaff. We stayed in a KOA. I haven't been to a KOA since I was a kid. My parents were already there when we arrived - their super-sized trailer all set up in the spot right next to us.

We had rain, lightning, and (sometimes) scream inducing thunder every day for a few hours. The first day our camp got completely flooded. I'm sure glad we don't do tent camping anymore! The rain really cooled things off - other than the few hours of rain the weather was perfect.

For fourth of July we got up early, packed up a cooler of food and drinks and our camp chairs and went to the local parade. It wasn't much as far as parades go, but it was fun to feel the energy and excitement of the crowd. Abbie got lots of attention with her red, white, and blue hair bow. She didn't like the parade very much, it was really loud for her, but she did well with the crowds.

Of course, what would 4th of July be without fireworks? We were told that the fireworks were going to be ground fireworks - so we got really close to the front where they were shooting them off. They ended up being pretty high in the air and we were so close we were showered with ashes after each boom. It was really, really, cool though to be so close to the explosions. I think me and mom screamed at each one for the first 10 minutes. Kevin got lots of cool shots with the G10 camera.

Check out photos from our weekend HERE.

Friday with Friends

2009-06-26T21:44:00.003-07:00

We just got home from dinner with some friends from our adoption group. We like to go out to dinner with them every couple of months. It's so nice to meet and talk with people who know exactly what you're going through! We are all logged in within a month of each other. I hope we can get our referrals around the same time.

Starting Dani's Room

2009-06-21T16:03:00.003-07:00

We are starting on Danica's room. We're going to go slow and take our time and have fun painting, decorating, and picking out furniture. Today we started on her closet. We ripped out the shelf and all the shelf supports and starting putting together closet organizers. They'll go into the closet once we paint it. I've always wanted her closet to have organizers so there will be lots of shelves and drawers and multiple clothes rods - including one down low so she can reach it.

Here are some "Before" pictures

Projects

2009-06-18T17:15:00.002-07:00

If you’re wondering why I haven’t posted much lately, it’s because I’ve been keeping myself busy (very busy) with projects! I finished a major project, which was completing a digital scrapbook for 2008 and having it printed and bound into a book. It seemed like I was on the computer every waking moment for a while there. I wanted to have it done before June 1st – and I sent it off to the printers on May 31st at around 8:30 PM! While I stayed home over the long Memorial weekend working on it, Kevin went to visit his family at their cabin. You can check out pictures from his trip HERE.

After completing the scrapbook, I started on another quilt, this one for Danica. I’m calling it my “Field of Dreams” quilt – you know the line “if you build it, they will come”. Maybe sewing a baby quilt will actually bring me a baby! Linda is 35 weeks pregnant and is making a quilt for her baby (she doesn’t know the gender yet). We have been working on them every week of June, hoping to get them complete this week. We got the tops all sewn together. My mom and SIL, Steph, are going to do the quilting for us, since they have access to a long-arm sewing machine. I’ll post more pictures when we get them back and complete the binding. Check out more quilting pictures HERE.

I haven’t done a whole lot on Danica’s 100 Good Wishes scrapbook, but I have scanned in some more pages that I had already completed. You can check them out on her Wishes and Stitches blog.

My next ‘project’ is my photography class, Portraits of a good Life, which starts on Monday. I’m so excited!! For those of you who are sick of my camera and me now, watch out! I’m sure I’ll be posting lots more pictures on the blog soon.

24 Hours

2009-06-14T13:29:00.004-07:00

Have you ever wondered what someone was doing? Sometimes Kevin and I go "I wonder what so and so is doing right now" or "what would we be doing if we had kids?" So we decided to document what we were doing for 24 hours. Hmmm... interesting? Or boring? Let's see...

Saturday @ Noon

Lunch at Olive Garden

Saturday @ 1:00PM

Heading to the Movies

Saturday @ 4:00PM

Shopping for a carpet steam cleaner

Saturday @ 5:00PM

Kevin puts the steam cleaner together

while I get comfy and do some reading

Saturday @8:00PM

Steam cleaning is complete

We watch a DVD and then go to bed

Sunday @6:30AM

Kevin wakes up, makes his coffee, feeds the dogs, and surfs the internet.

He also likes to open all the doors and windows to enjoy the cool air.

I like to sleep in!

Sunday @7:00AM

I get woken up by a camera flashing in my face

I check my blood sugar (running high), change out my insulin pump, and surf the internet for awhile

Sunday @8:00 to 10:00AM

We clean the house, start laundry, start dinner (I'm making something in the crock pot), play 'Mouse' with Abbie, and brush her hair

Sunday @ 10:00AM - 1:00PM

We watch another DVD (we like to be lazy and watch movies on the weekends), Kevin hangs up our flag for Flag Day, and then Kevin starts watching NASCAR and I start blogging!

33 Months!

2009-05-10T10:35:00.003-07:00

Today marks 33 months of waiting for our referral. We need to start renewing our paperwork this month for the 3rd time. I hope it is the last time, but we could have to renew one more time after this. It's not easy to renew the paperwork - we have to do another home study, which means our social worker will have to come out to our house and interview us, more fingerprints and documents, all so we can be re-certified by Arizona and US Immigration. It is also not cheap to renew paperwork. *Sigh*. Am I complaining? I don't really know what I'm complaining about - It is all going to be worth it to bring home Danica.

Since it is Mother's Day today, I'd like to send this out to the universe to say that I am thinking of Dani's birth mom. I have no idea who she is, and I doubt I'll ever know. I don't even know if she is pregnant yet or not, but I know she will have to go through a heart-breaking situation and I wish her peace and comfort.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and waiting mom's out there!

Always wear pants while hiking

2009-05-07T21:22:00.003-07:00

While in Sedona I decided to earn a "man card" and hike in shorts and sandals, as it turns out this is not the best idea. I had a lot of scratches on my feet and legs and apparently I ran into a plant that had some bacteria on it causing a red, oozing, nasty looking infection. On top of the infection, my doctor thinks that I am having an alergic reaction to something - could be the plant that made the cut - so I have hives as well as an infection. Now I know how important it is to wear pants while hiking!

Posted by Kevin

Zion National Park

2009-05-02T20:04:00.012-07:00

While Kevin was away on a guy's camping trip, I went hiking and camping in Zion National Park with my parents. My brother, Brad, and his family came up Sat/Sun too. We took it pretty easy this trip - no Angels Landing this time. We hiked Pa'rus Trail, Archeology Trail, Watchman Trail, and to all three Emerald Pools. We're heading back to Zion in October to hike the Narrows.

Kevin had the G10, but I still managed to get a few good shots with my old Kodak camera. Click HERE to see the pictures.

Gone (not) Fishing

2009-05-02T12:14:00.003-07:00

Craig C. (Capsule), Craig L. (Bevis) and I planned a fishing trip to Sedona in April. The water in the creek was really low so we did not get to do any fishing but we did do some hiking and picture taking. Capsule has a very cool SLR, so he gave me my first lesson on taking pictures using something more than a point and shoot camera. I think I took some very cool pictures with Tonya's G10, check out the pictures HERE.

Posted by Kevin

Pets to the Vet's

2009-04-18T13:34:00.005-07:00

Ouch!

Little Thief

The fur girls had to go to the vet's today for their annual check-up and some vaccinations. Cassie hates going to the vet. She tries to hide under the bench or behind Kevin the whole time. She even likes to surprise the staff with a little 'Tootsie Roll' each visit!!

Cassie is 79 pounds and is healthy as a horse! She does have some fatty lumps - one on her armpit and one on her chest. We have already had them checked and they are not cancerous. We are going to get them removed in September when we have her teeth cleaned.

Abbie is a little pudgy, weighing in at 6.75 pounds! (Not a surprise as she likes to sneak food from Cassie's bowl and then go eat her own) She needs to loose a little weight. She also has to get her teeth cleaned in September. I haven't been very good about brushing her teeth every day. She has luxating patellas - which means her knee caps slip in and out of place. It could cause her some problems later in life so we are going to give her some joint vitamins now.

They are home now and happily sleeping in their blankets.

Quilting 101

2009-04-15T21:15:00.006-07:00

Finished is Way Better Than Perfect!
~Author Unknown

Linda and I have gotten back to our quilts again. We took a break over the holidays (yes, I realize the Holidays were over months ago!) We are determined to finish our quilts by the end of the month. I've been heading over to her house a couple of nights a week to work on mine. All I have left to do is binding the edges. Our quilting teacher laughed when we called her up and told her we were finally ready to come back to class to learn how to do the binding. At this point we've given up on having perfect quilts and just want to have a finished quilt.

32 Months!

2009-04-10T14:32:00.003-07:00

We have officially been waiting for Danica for 32 months. We are guessing that we have about 28 months left to go. When our jar of glass beads is empty, we will have our referral. This month we got to remove 2 stones, as they referred two days worth of LIDs.

This month we also cleaned out the room we are going to use for Dani. Now the only things in the room are a dresser, a nightstand, and a closet full of Dani’s stuff (Yes, she already has a closet full of clothes). I really didn’t intend to clean out the room so soon, but my whole family was coming for Easter and I didn’t have enough space for everyone to sleep. Now circumstances have changed and they didn't come out – but the room is empty nonetheless. I hope looking at an empty room for 28 months doesn’t drive me crazy!