new design and plans for the blog

Ok, so again, I am the worst blogger in the universe! I serious read my others blogs and wish I were as interesting. Then I realized what the problem is! I am a plan kind of a gal. I can follow a schedule, but sit me down and make me brainstorm on topics or thoughts in my head for the day, and it leaves you with a blog that hasn't been updated in 2 months! :) So Brian and I have been talking about this blog and what we want it to be for us. We want it to chronicle the adoption process for us. Even though it is hard to believe, one day it will be hard to remember the feelings and thoughts we are having now. We also would like for it to serve as a medium to keep friends and family updated on what is going on with us. Brian has even agreed to do some blogging! So watch for the weekly schedule of blog posts! Let's see if I can try this AGAIN!

Ethiopian food, and catching up...again

So I have come to find out that I am not the greatest at this blog thing! Every time I write a post, I have big dreams of staying on top of things and then always find myself 4 weeks later giving it another try! So here I go again!:)

Last weekend, Brian and I finally go to make the trip over to an Ethiopian restaurant, The Queen of Sheeba. There is a group that meets for dinner one Tuesday every month and a Saturday every other month. The group is one of Ethiopian adoptive families who have already completed the process, in the middle of the adoption, or still considering it. It was so wonderful to see all the different families and some of the children that have been adopted! It was such a comforting experience to hear from people who were a little ahead of us and could tell us some things to expect. It made Brian and I so anxious!

While there, we got to experience some Ethiopian cuisine. I was so proud of my meat and potatoes, only green thing he eats is gummy bears husband. He actually tried almost everything on the plate! Chicken, beef, lamb, lentils, potatoes, and corn with injera! It is definitely something Brian and I are both going to have to get use to. I was stuffed by the time we left. (I will admit that we did have to make a chick-fil-a run for Brian later that night!:)) I am already excited for the next dinner! I also can't wait to take some friends and family!


So I have officially made the first purchase for baby boy Plumb. (can anyone help me figure out how to turn this thing around!!) Aren't they the sweetest things! We got them from Perpetual Change, helping a family with their travel expenses to pick up their daughter!


Spent the weekend at the lake for out annual 4th of July trip! I'll enclose some pics soon! (maybe!:))

Anniversary, homestudy, honduras, and goodbyes.

---------------------WARNING: LENGTHY CATCH-UP BLOG AHEAD!-------------------------

Well, we have had a busy couple of weeks here at the Plumb house. I am going to blame that, along with the fact that my computer shuts down about 4 times when I use it, on the fact I haven't blogged in awhile:). I am going to try and give the the shorted version of an update.

Brian I celebrated out 5th Anniversary with a little getaway to Eureka Springs. We shopped, we ate, we relaxed, we had an amazing time! It was so nice to spend some time together before the busy summer of mission trips and church camps began. I still can not believe I got to marry my best friend! I love you Brian! The only pictures I have right now are some I took in the car on the way there, so I'll share those for now.


On the adoption front, we had our homestudy monday! Yeah!! It takes about 4-6 weeks before we have it back in our hands and ready to send in to CIS for approval! The homestudy is the only thing left to complete our dossier and Gladney application to adopted! We are getting closer and closer to the waiting list! I am hoping we are there before September! Then we will wait about 8 months for a referral!!!! (Man that was alot of exclamation marks in a paragraph!:))

Brian left for Honduras this AM for a mission trip with the teens. It is such a hard and long week for them! Please pray they remain safe through the week, are able to show the love of Christ to all around them, and grow in their faith this week!

On a sad note, the last couple of weeks had some very difficult moments. Brian's grandmother, Ruby Matthews, passed away. It has been so difficult for all of us to say goodbye. She was the definition of love and selflessness. She was so excited when we told her about our plans to adopt. She even told us we might as well pick up a couple while we are there:). I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to tell her how special she was to our family. 6 weeks before she passed, we gave we a scrapbook for her 75th birthday of 75 things we loved about her. She was an amazing woman and grandmother and we will miss her always!

I'm a big loser.

Okay, so i have heard about Jillian Michale's 30 day shred DVD workout numerous times over the past 2 weeks. I took it as a sign. So yesterday, after work, I went and purchased the DVD. I've heard it is quite the workout. But come on, I WAS a college athlete. I workout regularly (aka whenever I am not too tired after work, aka 3 times a week.... maybe). And it is only 25 minutes long. It can't be that bad, right? So I decided to try day one tonight and....oh my goodness! I seriously laid on my bed nauseated for about 30 minutes after I finished. It was tough! I am making Brian do it with me in the morning. We'll see how that goes. Hopefully, I will look like Jillian Michales in 30 days!:)

Goodies in the mail and frustrating questions.

Isn't getting packages in the mail one of the best things ever! It is seriously like Christmas to me! This week I've gotten 2 mail presents. The first was a set of books from Amazon. (I know, that is just what I need. More books to put on my to read list!)

I've already started, "There is No Me Without You". It is awesome! I think i am going to make all my friends and family read it, so me prepared!:) I also got this cool necklace


From Junkposse. I love it. I already have 2 more picked out!

We have been so blessed that the majority of the people in our life have been so excited and supportive of us during this adoption process! It is one of my favorite things to do to share about the whole experience. However, I do find myself facing some very frustrating questions that I just can't awnser. Adoption is something that has always been in out plans. When we first started this process, I knew this is not something that is on everyone hearts. I completely understand that. Sometimes I just don't know how to awnser some questions that people ask. We just KNOW that this is the path to out family! Just had to share.

I'll leave you with something funny for the weekend. My 3 year old niece went to Frontier City this past weekend and rode her first roller coaster!


This is a picture of a picture, so it is not the best quality but it cracks me up. Every time I look at it I bust up! When she got off the ride she told her mom, "That was not quitely right". Funny girl!

I've been tagged

Crazy Eights!!!!!
Once your tagged you fill out your eights! So read to the bottom and see if I tagged YOU!

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Being done with paperwork and being on the waiting list!
2. Picking up our baby from Ethiopia!
3. Me and Brian at Disney World in October
4. Christmas
5. Paying off school loans
6. Wicked! Weekend with my girlfriends in July
7. Getting a new car (one day)
8. Spending time with my fam this weekend

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Worked
2. Watched American Idol with Brian(I am a Danny fan!)
3. Worked out
4. Read a book
5. Blog stalked
6. Laundry (gross!)
7. Dishes
8. ordered a cool necklace from junkposse

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Become debt free
2. Sing on Broadway ( or just sing in general)
3. lose some pounds
4. keep up with the laundry
5. be home from work by 3:00 everyday
6. Be ridiculously organized
7. hand out with my family more
8. add 4 more days to the weekend

8 Shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. The Mentalist
3. American Idol
4. Without a Trace
5. John and Kate Plus Eight
6. 24
7. Law and Order: SVU
8. What Not to Wear

8 Friends I am tagging: ( if you have done this before ignore me)
1. All my blog friends have been tagged, so anyone else who is reading this!
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Paperwork and Seniors

I am happy to report that after a weekend of finishing up paperwork, we are finally mailing stuff off! We sent in initial paperwork to KBS dossiers today along with our first 2 rounds of paperwork to Gladney. I know we have only had this paperwork and application for a week, but I feel like we have been doing it forever! I also feel like we are moving slow. Brian keeps reminding we that we are not, but in my head I was sure we were going to set a record on the speed of turning stuff in! It is so hard for me to relax when I know that stuff is not complete! I just want everything signed, notarized, back in my hands, and FINISHED!:) But we are movin' along!


In other news, we spent yesterday night downtown taking pictures of the seniors in the youth group. We had 17 in all. It was really a fun night, but kind of sad. We have been with this group since they were in 8th grade! Every year it is just so hard to see the seniors go. I will post some pics when I get them!

Help a cousin out!

So I thought it would be fun to share with you guys some of the stories of our announcement over the next couple of days. One of the sweetest was when we told our nieces, Amy and Ashia. We were spending the night with Brian's sister after a party and before the girls went to bed we told them we had some news. I told the girls how much their adoption has meant to Brian and I and we could not imagine our lives without them. I told them that we had decided to adopt a little boy from Africa. They about jumped off the bed! Amy then said she knew that is what we were going to say:) I then told them that he would be "painted brown" like them. Ashia threw her hand up in the air and exclaimed, "Finally! Someone in this family will look like me!!!". Too cute! We talked to them quite awhile and tried to answer all of their questions. At the end, my oldest nieces Amy said, "When he comes, we can really help him out since we've been adopted. I remember how nerve-wracking it was." Isn't that sweet! Our son is going to have the best cousins ever!

BIG NEWS!

So Brian and I are extremely excited to announce that we are adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia!! We have been praying about this for months now, and really feel that this is God's will for our family. Brian and I have always known we were going to adopt. My two fabulous nieces came to us through adoption and I cannot tell you what a blessing they have been to us!

So for us, it wasn't a matter of if, but when. And we know that this is the time. I have NEVER felt more at peace about a decision in my entire life. I know and trust that God has our family already designed for us and our son is in Africa! This does not mean that we will or will not have biological children in the future. We are just giving all that to God. We are in the very beginning stages at this point and are trying to get to the point were we can send in our paperwork to Gladney next week. I am taking off work tomorrow afternoon to get as much done as possible. We know that the journey ahead of us is long. In our phone orientation last week we learned that the process is taking about 18 months. But we trust that the timing will be perfect to pair us with our baby! Please pray for us as we begin this journey!

AAA saves the day... again

So, I know you've been there. Waiting for the clock to finally hit 5:00 so you can finally get home! That is totally me today. As I grabbed my purse to get out my keys, that is when I realize... I don't have my keys! I go down to the car and see that in my rushing around, grabbing my umbrella out of the backseat, already running late morning, I guess I dropped the keys in the backseat! AUGH! SO I called trusty AAA to come out and save the day...for the fourth time since I started my job a year ago! :) This girl needs a new car with a keypad! ( Or just enough brain's to stop locking her keys in the car!)


Me waiting for the AAA guy to save me!


I took this pic of the guy. I tried to do it without him knowing I was taking the pic. I think he kinda figured it out and thought I was creepy.:)



This is were the keys were found.