Yes, we are adopting a boy! We received word last week that child we asked for will indeed be ours. I absolutely wish I could tell you his name, but we haven't got one picked out yet. This is what I can tell you about him...He is just a little over a year old. He weighs approx. 23lbs and is 30" long. I wish I could show you pictures, but we can't until all of our acceptance paperwork is filled out and sent to the agency. But trust me when I tell you he is super cute!
I have today and tomorrow off of work to just fill out paperwork for the adoption. When this all done and we are off to pick up our kiddo I'll take a picture of the stack of paperwork just so you can see how much is required!
Also this week my boss and I came to agreement that my last day will be June 2nd. Eeek! He is giving me my full three weeks of vacation after I quit, so I'll still be receiving a paycheck for the entire month of June. Hopefully our kiddo will be ready to come home at the beginning of July. I am somewhat fearful of the unknown, but I know God's timing is perfect.
We are working on some fundraisers and I should have more details ironed out in the next couple of days. In the meantime please buy some yummy coffee. If we sell 15 bags of coffee the month of March we get a coffee basket in return. The basket is made up of 4 bags of coffee, a travel mug and a bumper sticker. I would really like that travel mug because my favorite one just broke! If we meet this goal I will be giving away the bags of coffee to the people that buy the most coffee! Please check out our store by clicking on the picture to the right.
Now I am off to make sure all our acceptance paperwork is order for us to sign in front of the notary later this evening...
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
One Year Without Television
It has been a little over a year since we decided to cut the satellite and not get a digital box for our somewhat ancient television. Honestly it seems like we've never had a T.V. Here are a few changes I've noticed over the past year.
1. We have rooms in our house that we do not use. Our house is deceptively big, one might say it's kind of like a Tardis. (For those of you who've never seen Dr. Who you are totally missing out, it's a great show, and it's where I got the Tardis reference from.) While we use most of the main floor, living room, kitchen, dining room our bedroom...etc., we do not use the basement. We used to use our basement. Down there we have two more family rooms, a bedroom and bathroom. One of the family rooms has a nice fireplace (wood/gas) and that is where we used to watch T.V. Now it is the room we walk through to the let the dog out the back door. It's also the room where I occasionally walk on the treadmill that is currently parked in front of the fireplace. The other family room has a wet bar and we've NEVER used this room. It is currently getting a coat of paint in an attempt to brighten it up so that we will use it. The bedroom is sometimes used a guest bedroom.
2. The T.V. that we do have has not been turned on in over 4 months. We have a Wii, we haven't used in over 4 months. We used to have an Xbox 360 but my husband sold it to my brother because he is saving up money to buy himself a new computer.
3. We need another computer. I've noticed over the past few months that each of us wants to use the computer at the same time and it has become increasingly difficult to "share" :)
4. We watch a ton more movies and watch a series of shows at one time. For example, right now we are going through Battlestar Galactica. It's easier to watch them whenever we want and there are no commercials. We very rarely watch anything that is currently airing.
5. My house is actually cleaner and generally stays clean. I know that this will change when we bring our son home, but overall I've felt more motivated to keep things clean. Sometimes I can't sit down and relax until it's picked up and neat. Before we cut the television I would go down into the basement and ignore the rest of the house.
6. We fellowship more. Over the last year we have really built lasting friendships with other people. We tend to go out more with these friends and spend time with them.
7. We spend more time at church. Before we said no to T.V. we wouldn't really go to the mid-week bible study. There were sometimes we would go (during re-runs) but most of the time we would stay home and not make an effort. It is a little strange that we wouldn't go because our church offers a meal before the mid-week service; I have no idea why we didn't go to this before.
8. I feel more organized. I actually have time to organize things and then keep them that way. This kind of goes along with number 5.
9. My husband and I spend time learning new things and spend quality time with each other. We actually look at each other have conversations. This didn't happen very often when we did have T.V.
10. We don't miss the T.V. After the initial shock and withdrawal we have come to find out that we really don't miss having it.
I'm sure if I thought about it some more I could list some more changes that have happened over the past year. We still get weird looks from people who don't understand how we can live without a television. And sometimes when we are out and about and we pass a television we have to just stop and stare at it. It's like our brains have forgotten what one looks like. We do plan on keeping the T.V. that we do have so that on those days when I just can't take it I will park our kiddo in front of it and put in something for him to watch. Of course that is if our television even still works.....:)
1. We have rooms in our house that we do not use. Our house is deceptively big, one might say it's kind of like a Tardis. (For those of you who've never seen Dr. Who you are totally missing out, it's a great show, and it's where I got the Tardis reference from.) While we use most of the main floor, living room, kitchen, dining room our bedroom...etc., we do not use the basement. We used to use our basement. Down there we have two more family rooms, a bedroom and bathroom. One of the family rooms has a nice fireplace (wood/gas) and that is where we used to watch T.V. Now it is the room we walk through to the let the dog out the back door. It's also the room where I occasionally walk on the treadmill that is currently parked in front of the fireplace. The other family room has a wet bar and we've NEVER used this room. It is currently getting a coat of paint in an attempt to brighten it up so that we will use it. The bedroom is sometimes used a guest bedroom.
2. The T.V. that we do have has not been turned on in over 4 months. We have a Wii, we haven't used in over 4 months. We used to have an Xbox 360 but my husband sold it to my brother because he is saving up money to buy himself a new computer.
3. We need another computer. I've noticed over the past few months that each of us wants to use the computer at the same time and it has become increasingly difficult to "share" :)
4. We watch a ton more movies and watch a series of shows at one time. For example, right now we are going through Battlestar Galactica. It's easier to watch them whenever we want and there are no commercials. We very rarely watch anything that is currently airing.
5. My house is actually cleaner and generally stays clean. I know that this will change when we bring our son home, but overall I've felt more motivated to keep things clean. Sometimes I can't sit down and relax until it's picked up and neat. Before we cut the television I would go down into the basement and ignore the rest of the house.
6. We fellowship more. Over the last year we have really built lasting friendships with other people. We tend to go out more with these friends and spend time with them.
7. We spend more time at church. Before we said no to T.V. we wouldn't really go to the mid-week bible study. There were sometimes we would go (during re-runs) but most of the time we would stay home and not make an effort. It is a little strange that we wouldn't go because our church offers a meal before the mid-week service; I have no idea why we didn't go to this before.
8. I feel more organized. I actually have time to organize things and then keep them that way. This kind of goes along with number 5.
9. My husband and I spend time learning new things and spend quality time with each other. We actually look at each other have conversations. This didn't happen very often when we did have T.V.
10. We don't miss the T.V. After the initial shock and withdrawal we have come to find out that we really don't miss having it.
I'm sure if I thought about it some more I could list some more changes that have happened over the past year. We still get weird looks from people who don't understand how we can live without a television. And sometimes when we are out and about and we pass a television we have to just stop and stare at it. It's like our brains have forgotten what one looks like. We do plan on keeping the T.V. that we do have so that on those days when I just can't take it I will park our kiddo in front of it and put in something for him to watch. Of course that is if our television even still works.....:)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
A Few Updates
I know it's a big blogger no-no to say that you're sorry for being MIA for the past 6weeks, but I truly am sorry. Now that that is out of the way we can move on.
Update #1 - Holidays
My husband and I drove out to Colorado for the Christmas to visit my family. We might as well have kept driving onto Arizona because that is what it felt like. It was 60 degrees on Christmas day. I didn't even wear my coat the entire time we were there. Even at night it still felt rather balmy compared to Iowa.
I'm sad to say that we did not get to go skiing, budget and time were kind of tight. We did take our dog with us and I'm pretty sure she had a wonderful time with all the other dogs (there were 4 total). I'm not quite sure the other dogs really liked having her around. She is like the party girl, always looking for a good time. The other dogs are more like the old fuddy duddies who are in bed by 9pm. There were several occasions where she was the only one outside because none of the other dogs wanted to play with her. When we got back home she was very depressed. There was a lot of moping around with heavy sighs. She really is a moody dog.
On New Year's Eve we celebrated Christmas with Michael's family. That was a nice relaxing time. We also got our first baby gift; a Green Lantern onesie. Yep, now my husband and our kid have matching t-shirts.
Update #2 - Adoption
We are starting our home study on Tuesday! We received enough money for Christmas to pay the $2500 for the home study. This is such a huge blessing! Although I'm totally freaked out about a stranger coming into our home and asking us all kinds of invasive questions.
Once our home study is complete and approved, which takes about 6 weeks, it is then sent off to Korea. Normally we would wait until we are matched with a child, but we actually have already requested to be matched with a child on the waiting child list. The waiting child list is a list of children who have some sort of special need and are posted online to see if anyone out there is interested in adopting them into their family. I can't give you much info on the little guy we are asking to be matched with, but I can tell you he is 12 months old and is super cute. We are waiting for some genetic testing to be done, at the request of our agency. As soon as that comes back we will know 100% if we will be able to adopt him.
Our next adoption financial goal is the money for the government forms. These will cost us $890. Right now we have $145 toward this current goal. I've updated our thermometer off to the right and have added a new one for this goal. If you would like to help us reach this goal you can donate to the adoption in several ways. First is our coffee fundraiser, there is a button off to the right. Just click on the picture and it will take you to our personal page where you can purchase coffee and for every purchase we get a portion of the proceeds. Also, we have a donate button as well, just click that and you can just donate any amount you see fit. The third way you can donate is to do so directly to our agency (although this will not go towards our government forms mini-goal). Let me know if you would like to donate directly to our agency on our behalf and I will give you the scoop on how to do so. In donating to our agency on our behalf it counts as a tax deductible donation because they are a non-profit organization.
Well I think that is all for the updates right now. God has truly blessed in being able to pay for things when we need them. Thank you so much for your prayers as I know many of you are praying!
Update #1 - Holidays
My husband and I drove out to Colorado for the Christmas to visit my family. We might as well have kept driving onto Arizona because that is what it felt like. It was 60 degrees on Christmas day. I didn't even wear my coat the entire time we were there. Even at night it still felt rather balmy compared to Iowa.
I'm sad to say that we did not get to go skiing, budget and time were kind of tight. We did take our dog with us and I'm pretty sure she had a wonderful time with all the other dogs (there were 4 total). I'm not quite sure the other dogs really liked having her around. She is like the party girl, always looking for a good time. The other dogs are more like the old fuddy duddies who are in bed by 9pm. There were several occasions where she was the only one outside because none of the other dogs wanted to play with her. When we got back home she was very depressed. There was a lot of moping around with heavy sighs. She really is a moody dog.
On New Year's Eve we celebrated Christmas with Michael's family. That was a nice relaxing time. We also got our first baby gift; a Green Lantern onesie. Yep, now my husband and our kid have matching t-shirts.
Update #2 - Adoption
We are starting our home study on Tuesday! We received enough money for Christmas to pay the $2500 for the home study. This is such a huge blessing! Although I'm totally freaked out about a stranger coming into our home and asking us all kinds of invasive questions.
Once our home study is complete and approved, which takes about 6 weeks, it is then sent off to Korea. Normally we would wait until we are matched with a child, but we actually have already requested to be matched with a child on the waiting child list. The waiting child list is a list of children who have some sort of special need and are posted online to see if anyone out there is interested in adopting them into their family. I can't give you much info on the little guy we are asking to be matched with, but I can tell you he is 12 months old and is super cute. We are waiting for some genetic testing to be done, at the request of our agency. As soon as that comes back we will know 100% if we will be able to adopt him.
Our next adoption financial goal is the money for the government forms. These will cost us $890. Right now we have $145 toward this current goal. I've updated our thermometer off to the right and have added a new one for this goal. If you would like to help us reach this goal you can donate to the adoption in several ways. First is our coffee fundraiser, there is a button off to the right. Just click on the picture and it will take you to our personal page where you can purchase coffee and for every purchase we get a portion of the proceeds. Also, we have a donate button as well, just click that and you can just donate any amount you see fit. The third way you can donate is to do so directly to our agency (although this will not go towards our government forms mini-goal). Let me know if you would like to donate directly to our agency on our behalf and I will give you the scoop on how to do so. In donating to our agency on our behalf it counts as a tax deductible donation because they are a non-profit organization.
Well I think that is all for the updates right now. God has truly blessed in being able to pay for things when we need them. Thank you so much for your prayers as I know many of you are praying!
Friday, November 19, 2010
A Little Break
In case you haven't noticed I've taken just a little break from blogging. The past few weeks have been a little chaotic and there really hasn't been much time to do a lot of blogging. I have a few blog posts in my brain that will eventually be typed out and posted. One of the posts that I am working on is a Christian perspective on racial issues. I guess it's more about my perspective on racial issues and since I happen to be a Christian as well...well you get the idea; it's more about my opinion.
We are in need of some help! This is something that is really hard for me to ask for. Both my husband and I are very independent people and have a hard time asking others for help. We are just a little over halfway to our home study goal. We have $1260 in already and need another $1240 to be able to continue onto the next step in the adoption process.
There are a few ways you can help us out. There are two links off to the right. One is a donate button for those who just wish to donate to us directly. The other button is for our coffee fundraiser. This button will take you directly to our coffee page where you can shop for some fantastic coffee. We get $5 for every bag of coffee that is purchased. I have it on good authority (my dad) that the coffee is excellent. I would like to point out that my father worked for a coffee company for 20+ years, and he thinks it's great coffee. Also, they have really fast shipping.
The other way you can help is if you attend church with us you can donate to the adoption fund that has been set up. This adoption fund is not necessarily just for us, however, we are the only ones right now that are going through the process.
If you can think of other ways you can be of help to us please let us know. Perhaps you would like to donate goods that we can sell, or maybe host a fundraiser. We are open to all kinds of ideas.
Thanks for praying for us!
We are in need of some help! This is something that is really hard for me to ask for. Both my husband and I are very independent people and have a hard time asking others for help. We are just a little over halfway to our home study goal. We have $1260 in already and need another $1240 to be able to continue onto the next step in the adoption process.
There are a few ways you can help us out. There are two links off to the right. One is a donate button for those who just wish to donate to us directly. The other button is for our coffee fundraiser. This button will take you directly to our coffee page where you can shop for some fantastic coffee. We get $5 for every bag of coffee that is purchased. I have it on good authority (my dad) that the coffee is excellent. I would like to point out that my father worked for a coffee company for 20+ years, and he thinks it's great coffee. Also, they have really fast shipping.
The other way you can help is if you attend church with us you can donate to the adoption fund that has been set up. This adoption fund is not necessarily just for us, however, we are the only ones right now that are going through the process.
If you can think of other ways you can be of help to us please let us know. Perhaps you would like to donate goods that we can sell, or maybe host a fundraiser. We are open to all kinds of ideas.
Thanks for praying for us!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Blessings
Early last week I was a little bit discouraged, $30,000 is such a huge amount of money. I kept thinking about it as the big picture and it just kept getting me down. I will let you in on a secret about myself...I am a worrier. I worry about everything. This past week God has challenged me to give over my worries and fears to Him. One of the verses He brought to mind is:
The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you, He will be with you, He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. - Deuteronomy 31:8
After I confessed my sin of worry to the Lord blessings came pouring in! Saturday we received the first donation to our adoption fund. This donation came from a very unexpected source and when I opened up the envelope I cried. The person who gave us this money doesn't have much to give. It was a great sacrifice on their part.
Yesterday we received a rather large donation that we were not expecting. With that donation we are now halfway to paying for our home study, which is $2500. We now have $1250 towards our adoption! Also yesterday it was mentioned to us that our church has set up an Adoption Assistance fund to help with those who need assistance with adoption. This is exciting because it is there to help with anyone in the congregation who has chosen to adopt.
My husband and I are humbled by those who are willing to help us out, whether it be by donation of money or time. The Lord is teaching us so much through this process. I am truly excited to see what else God has in store for us. It is only through Him that all things are possible no matter how small or large they may be!
The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you, He will be with you, He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. - Deuteronomy 31:8
After I confessed my sin of worry to the Lord blessings came pouring in! Saturday we received the first donation to our adoption fund. This donation came from a very unexpected source and when I opened up the envelope I cried. The person who gave us this money doesn't have much to give. It was a great sacrifice on their part.
Yesterday we received a rather large donation that we were not expecting. With that donation we are now halfway to paying for our home study, which is $2500. We now have $1250 towards our adoption! Also yesterday it was mentioned to us that our church has set up an Adoption Assistance fund to help with those who need assistance with adoption. This is exciting because it is there to help with anyone in the congregation who has chosen to adopt.
My husband and I are humbled by those who are willing to help us out, whether it be by donation of money or time. The Lord is teaching us so much through this process. I am truly excited to see what else God has in store for us. It is only through Him that all things are possible no matter how small or large they may be!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Five Years Ago...
....I married the most wonderful and amazing man. On October 29, 2005 at 2pm in the afternoon I married my best friend. We had met just 9 months previous, started dating 3 months after meeting. He professed his undying love for me just 10 days after we started dating. We were married just under 6 months later.
If you were a guest at our wedding you will recall how short the ceremony was; 10 minutes. I walked down the aisle at 2pm and we walked back up the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. at 2:10pm. If you were just a few minutes late, you missed it :). We had several comments that it was the shortest wedding that one had ever been to.
Since we have been married I have fallen more in love with my husband. We really didn't know each other all that well and it has been a great joy learning and getting to know my husband on a much deeper level. I am truly grateful for my husband and the way he challenges me to grow and to try out new things. Most of all I am grateful to the Lord for allowing such a wonderful man be apart of my life.
If you were a guest at our wedding you will recall how short the ceremony was; 10 minutes. I walked down the aisle at 2pm and we walked back up the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. at 2:10pm. If you were just a few minutes late, you missed it :). We had several comments that it was the shortest wedding that one had ever been to.
Since we have been married I have fallen more in love with my husband. We really didn't know each other all that well and it has been a great joy learning and getting to know my husband on a much deeper level. I am truly grateful for my husband and the way he challenges me to grow and to try out new things. Most of all I am grateful to the Lord for allowing such a wonderful man be apart of my life.
Friday, October 22, 2010
October is Almost Over
Can you believe it? Where has this month gone? Matter of fact where has 2010 gone? Doesn't it seem that when one gets older time seems to fly by more quickly? October is my most favorite month out of the other 11. (February is my second because it is the coldest, followed by December because of the holidays.) I love the cooler temps, I love pulling out my sweaters and buying new ones. Although this year has been unseasonably warm, I am hoping that means February is unseasonably cold! (You can call me crazy but I LOVE winter and the cold!)
This October has been a busy one for us in the Barker household. There has just been so much going on. Most of it revolves around an upcoming family wedding, I love fall weddings, and an upcoming wedding which I am doing flowers for. I have to say that decorating for weddings in the fall is sooooo much fun! Everything else has been pretty much adoption stuff.
Speaking of adoption stuff, here is a quick update on how things are going. I am stalking bulletin boards reading all about how other people are travelling to get their cute little babies. My husband could have TB (long story) but probably doesn't and the doctors "just want to be sure." We plan on finishing the rest of our initial paperwork tomorrow and send that off. We would like to start our home study before Christmas. I added a "donate" button off to the right of this post, so it's even easier for you to donate to our adoption. Two fundraisers are in the works in addition to the coffee fundraiser...once again the button is to the right of this post. I personally like the coffee fundraiser because you get great coffee and we get $5/bag of coffee sold. Check them out and help us bring home baby Barker. There are also a couple of blog posts in works for raising awareness about international adoption and the costs associated with it as well as some info about the country of South Korea.
Sorry for the rabbit trail....I was talking about October...
Another thing that I love about October is that my husband and I were married in October. Yes coming up on October 29th we will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I seriously can't believe how fast time flies. In case you were wondering we aren't doing anything for our anniversary, funds are tight right now with the adoption. We might make it out to dinner to Jimmy John's since that seems to be our favorite place to eat right now, probably because it's good and fairly cheap. I know, we are soooo romantic.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the best things about October...Halloween CANDY!! I could eat a pound of candy corn if given the opportunity. It's a good thing I am not allowed such opportunity, plus it might be a little bit awkward if I was at someones house and I ate ALL of their candy corn.
What are some of your favorite things about October?
This October has been a busy one for us in the Barker household. There has just been so much going on. Most of it revolves around an upcoming family wedding, I love fall weddings, and an upcoming wedding which I am doing flowers for. I have to say that decorating for weddings in the fall is sooooo much fun! Everything else has been pretty much adoption stuff.
Speaking of adoption stuff, here is a quick update on how things are going. I am stalking bulletin boards reading all about how other people are travelling to get their cute little babies. My husband could have TB (long story) but probably doesn't and the doctors "just want to be sure." We plan on finishing the rest of our initial paperwork tomorrow and send that off. We would like to start our home study before Christmas. I added a "donate" button off to the right of this post, so it's even easier for you to donate to our adoption. Two fundraisers are in the works in addition to the coffee fundraiser...once again the button is to the right of this post. I personally like the coffee fundraiser because you get great coffee and we get $5/bag of coffee sold. Check them out and help us bring home baby Barker. There are also a couple of blog posts in works for raising awareness about international adoption and the costs associated with it as well as some info about the country of South Korea.
Sorry for the rabbit trail....I was talking about October...
Another thing that I love about October is that my husband and I were married in October. Yes coming up on October 29th we will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I seriously can't believe how fast time flies. In case you were wondering we aren't doing anything for our anniversary, funds are tight right now with the adoption. We might make it out to dinner to Jimmy John's since that seems to be our favorite place to eat right now, probably because it's good and fairly cheap. I know, we are soooo romantic.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the best things about October...Halloween CANDY!! I could eat a pound of candy corn if given the opportunity. It's a good thing I am not allowed such opportunity, plus it might be a little bit awkward if I was at someones house and I ate ALL of their candy corn.
What are some of your favorite things about October?
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