a blog about faith, family, and {in}fertility
“The background check paperwork can take anywhere from 3 to 10 weeks…”
We just found out that half of our check is all done. Washington State already got their paperwork in. Now we are just asking for favor on a quick return of the FBI paperwork.
6 days!!!
With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
–2 Peter 3:8
Once again, I have to give credit to my buddy Tami for this fabulous find. This poor woman was at a coffee shop when two armed robbers barged in. This is her story (dunk dunk).*
*Law and Order Chimes
Looks like T-Pain helped her come up with a remix. (Make sure you watch the original video first!)
So to update you incase you aren’t sure what’s the heck EA Progress is, after being diagnosed with infertility Jason and I are moving forward to adopt through Embryo Adoption Services of Cedar Park. We attended a service there on Sunday, September 19 (watch the King5 video here) and had the opportunity to meet some other amazing couples who are at different stages in the embryo adoption (EA) process. We left the service/brunch feeling an overwhelming sense of peace (and lots of excitement too). So we turned in our application the following day. Jason and I stayed up until 3am finishing our letter and our photo collage so that we could get it in the mail.
One of those couples we met were Brian and Melanie (the couple from the video) who have an adorable son, Julian, through the embryo adoption process. Melanie was amazing and really encouraged me to call her and to use her as a resource as we proceed ahead in our embryo adoption. She offered to be my mentor! I felt connected with her immediately and was able to chat with her on the phone and ask some questions this past Sunday.
Melanie had some great ideas (and also is teaching me PC vocabulary for adoption—first lesson you don’t say “your own child” for a genetic child, you say “our genetic child” because your adopted child is your own child as well). For more lessons on loving ways to talk about adoption, check out this link from our friends Mackenzie and Cliff’s blog. So Melanie shared some thoughts for me…things to be working on. I had sent in the application and was kind of thinking that I would wait to hear from Maria, the program director, to know what our next steps should be. But instead, Melanie gave me a list of things that we could be working on in the meanwhile! Excellent advice, Melanie!!!
So here’s a list of things that need to happen:
1. We need to both have physicals and get a letter each from our doctor indicating that we are both in good health and will be able to be parents. So I set appointments up for both of us for that. Mine is next Wednesday, and Jason’s is the following Monday.
2. We need to make an appointment with a counselor to discuss the whole process. Maria wants couples in her program to speak with a professional counselor BEFORE starting the process so that incase anything goes wrong, we will have someone who already knows the situation and will help us grieve and process through any losses. So I called on that today to meet with our favorite counselor that we worked with a year ago.
3. We need to get a letter from my fertility specialist saying that I will be able to carry a child to term. I already wrote my doctor to get an official letter, but I forwarded the email to Maria from our doctor saying that I’m an excellent candidate for EA.
4. We need to contact our social worker to set up a home study (x’s 2) and fill out paperwork for our FBI background check and fingerprints. I spoke with her tonight, her name is Heather, and she got us on the calendar for our first home study on Saturday, October 9 (a week from this Saturday—awesome)!!!! She is going to be sending us the paperwork to get started on tonight! This part of the process requires a $900 payment and the processing time can take up to six weeks.
5. Then, I think we wait for our match! And somewhere in that process we pay the EASCP fee of $2,500.
Both Maria and Heather were fantastic to talk to tonight. Both talked about seeing the hand of God over and over again in this process in the way that He brings families together, in the way that He calls them to this process, grants them the strength to make it through disappointments and loss, and through blessing and joy, and in the way that He orchestrates the timeline in a way that brings the right child(ren) to the right adoptive family. Maria said that it’s very hard to give a definitive timeline because there are so many different factors, but just to give you an idea she was thinking that we’re looking at maybe January or February for the transfer. But it could be earlier, and it could be later. It’s in God’s hands.
So if you’re praying for us, you can be praying for the paperwork to be processed well and quickly, for our home study to go well, and for our donor couple and embryo(s) that may already exist and that probably are praying/thinking about this process as well and to find the adoptive couple that is right for their child(ren), and for this entire amazing journey to bring a child into our home that will be our very own to love and to raise!
I have to say, we are definitely at peace and are patient…and we are excited OUT OF OUR MINDS!!!!!
So there was a customer that come into work today. He’s a much older gentleman.
He started telling some stories…
His “lady friend’s” son got a brand new Mercedes and wanted to take them for a ride. So this older gentleman, we’ll call him Lenny, sat in the backseat patiently waiting until they were zipping down the highway in the brand new ‘Benz. Suddenly, Lenny leaned forward, let out a huge gasp and said, “Ew, I have s@%& all over my shoes…I’ll just wipe them off on your carpet back here.” At which point the young lad whipped over to the shoulder, slammed on his brakes and made poor old Lenny get out of the car and walk home (not really, but he threatened him—not that Lenny would have cared).
Then, apparently his “lady friend,” who is of another nationality that we will not mention (a nationality, Lenny insists, where the women will “take over your home and all your business”), wanted to stop by to drop off some yams (really?). But she knew that she was not allowed over at his home. Lenny’s rule. So when she disobediently decided to show up at Lenny’s front door with a can/plate/dish/bowl? of yams, Lenny decided that he would teach her a lesson.
“Whoa! What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
“Nothing, this is always how I walk around my house.”
Mortified, she handed him the can/plate/dish/bowl? of yams and left.
Several weeks later, Lenny apparently looked out his window to see his “lady friend” pull in his driveway a second time. Frustrated that she had not learned her lesson, he stripped off all of his clothes again. In his socks alone, he flung open the front door.
“Lenny! What are you doing? I thought you were kidding last time!” she whispered.
“No, I told you. This is always how I walk around my house.”
She dropped off whatever it was that she was bringing to him, shaking her head in disbelief. As she turned to head back to her car, Lenny took a peek around the neighborhood and believing that no one could see him, he took a step out onto the front porch in her direction and asked, 
“Want me to walk you to your car?”
Lenny’s “lady friend” no longer makes house calls at Lenny’s.
Lord, let me be hilarious when I am old, please. Please, Lord.
Oh, forgiveness.
I’m not trying to get all theological in this post. I just wanted to say something about the concept of forgiveness (or grace-not getting what we deserve).
Jason and I have very different ways of apologizing to one another. One thing I’ve learned since being married is that just because Jason doesn’t handle situations with the same emotions, demeanor and words that I use, it does not invalidate his method. I used to have a really hard time with the “way” he would apologize because it lacked an emotional connection that I felt that my apologies contained. What I probably should have been focusing on instead of how he SAID “I’m sorry”, was actually saying “I’m sorry” more myself.
I can say with full confidence and sincerity that Jason’s got me badly beat in the apology arena of our marriage. Without a doubt, he has entered the arena more frequently (for things we would probably both say weren’t his fault). He’s got a greater sense of humility than I do, and ironically, regardless of whether I always “feel” like he means it, he says it more often than I do and is more willing to eat humble pie.
And it’s got me thinking. His example has really helped encourage me to grow in this area. Not only that, but as I’ve looked at my life, I see nothing but forgiveness and grace from Jesus, from friends and from family.
None of us are perfect, and we all make mistakes, but I definitely feel like I’ve made more than my fair share. I’ve had some serious trip ups in my life, and can remember thinking that, “Oh, I’ve for sure gone too far for forgiveness this time.” I knew I didn’t deserve grace. Or forgiveness.
I was right.
But that’s what’s beautiful about both. The definition of forgiveness is to grant an undeserving pardon, or to give relief to one owing a debt. It means to let go of resentment and to wipe the slate clean.
When Jason forgives me for hurting him, he’s saying that he’s not going to hurt me back. He’s going to let go of what I’ve done or said to hurt him and move forward as if it didn’t happen. He’s not going to hold it against me, he’s not going to bring it up in an hour, or in a week, or in three years. He is extending me a gift of mercy that I do not deserve. I have wronged him, and he is choosing to look past it. Anyone who has forgiven me has done the same thing.
It makes me want to be someone that is quick to forgive, to cancel debts, to wipe the slate clean and to move forward. What does holding onto it have to benefit us anyway? Thorns of bitterness grow in our minds consuming our thoughts, and spreading down to our hearts making us cold, cruel, and calloused.
Instead, we can choose to extend grace to someone who doesn’t deserve it and doesn’t expect it (that’s all of us). When you are the person that has been wronged (or is continually being wronged), how are you going to respond? I have spent YEARS of my life holding onto grudges and pain for something that started out trite (or sometimes pretty big and hurtful). It doesn’t really matter how big or small the offense. You can still choose forgiveness and grace.
You know what else doesn’t matter? You can choose forgiveness and grace even when the person offending you hasn’t asked for it. Even when they don’t apologize. Even when they don’t care if they’ve hurt you. You can still choose forgiveness.
Here’s my thing. I’m just touched because I saw someone today that has no reason to grant me forgiveness. And she did anyway. And it points me to something greater than me, greater than her, greater than even the act of extending grace. Because when it’s all said and done, it’s amazing to receive forgiveness from another human being when you don’t deserve it. But it’s another thing entirely to receive forgiveness from God.
He made me, He pursued relationship with me as His daughter, and over and over again I’ve chosen other things instead of Him. He has given me so much, not the least of which is His Son, and yet I still turn. I’ve done some wicked, wicked things in my life. And I’ve been selfish, I’ve lied, I’ve been jealous, I’ve broken promises and hurt people that I love, I’ve kept secrets, and not used my time and money well, I’ve looked at strangers with judgment and condemnation, even hate. I have spat in the face of my Father who loves me. I’ve run down a distant path to get away from Him, and yet He waits for my return with open arms. Forgiveness and unmerited grace—if you’ve felt it from another human being, you know that there is nothing like it.
But if you’ve not yet felt it from Christ, well, I pray that you will.
You have to check out this song called “Forgiven and Loved” by Jimmy Needham (check out his bio and site here).
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
-Colossians 3:13
I have a video to share with you, but before I do, I need to provide a little background info…
Kate and I both went to Grove City College in Grove City, PA. I was in a housing group (Frat lite) known as Alpha Omega (AO). The AOs were easily the most awesome dudes on campus. (Trust me, survey results back this up.) Aside from being Grove City’s greatest asset, the AOs also provided a little comic relief/social policing from time to time, via a little thing called a “panda suit.” The PDA Panda would often emerge at night to rid the campus of PDA offenders (Public Display of Affection). Whenever the PDA Panda showed up, the people would rejoice because they knew that they could roam the campus without fear of stumbling upon…well,” the same side sitters,” for example.
In addition to the panda suit, the AOs also utilized a gorilla suit, a marching band costume, a “nude” suit, and a single necktie for various “hijinks” around campus.
For the most part, people would respond favorably when they were confronted with one of the AO outfits. However, it appears that recently someone did not appreciate the PDA Panda. And that’s when things took a turn for the worse… (Disclaimer: I do not condone violence.)
My friend Tami showed me this video at work today and I had to post it to share! Supposedly this politician was trying to give a speech on dried meat or imported meat or some sort of meat and couldn’t keep it together.
Here’s the article from the associated press:
GENEVA — Switzerland’s finance minister has sparked hilarity in the Alpine nation by collapsing into giggles while answering a parliamentary question about imports of cured meats.
The video showing Hans-Rudolf Merz convulsing with laughter at the unintelligible bureaucratic language in his script has created popular sympathy for the outgoing finance chief.
Merz was widely criticized in recent years for signing away much of Switzerland’s banking secrecy and failing to secure the release of two Swiss citizens held by Libya.
His speech has been viewed by more than 300,000 people on YouTube and other websites since Monday and prompted one maker of air-dried meats to advertise their wares with the slogan: “Never lose your sense of humor.”
If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve seen in a long time, I don’t know what is…
(Thanks, Tami!)
It’s been a pretty exciting time on the embryo adoption front, and I’d like to take a moment to fill you in on the latest happenings…
Thursday, 9/16/2010, 7 PM…Kate and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting new friends, Cliff and Mackenzie. It was Cliff and Mackenzie’s testimony at church a few weeks ago that inspired us to look deeper into adoption, and it was only a matter of time before that search led us to embryo adoption. We had set up a dinner date to hang out with them and talk about both of our journeys, and it turned out to be a really great night. Cliff and Mackenzie are Capital A Awesome, and we are so excited to call them friends. I have to admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect when we were driving to their house because you just never know who’s going to be on the other side of that front door, but I can honestly say that we couldn’t have picked two better people. It’s almost like God knew what he was doing when he prompted us to contact C and M about meeting. Hopefully this is just the first of many posts about shared times with Cliff and Mackenzie.
Sunday, 9/19/2010, 10:45 AM…Kate and I woke up at 5:30 to leave Roche Harbor and make the ferry from Friday Harbor back to Anacortes. We had exactly 1 hour and 21 minutes to make the 1 hour and 30 minute drive to Cedar Park church in Bothell because they were doing a dedication ceremony for the first baby ever born through their embryo adoption service (watch the King5 special report there). We walked in the doors right as the band was starting the first song. How’s that for timing? We weren’t really sure what to expect; we just knew that the first baby would be there. Well, it turns out that the entire service was dedicated to embryo adoption. They had brought in a highly renowned scientist (Dr. Theresa Deisher) who is at the forefront of stem cell research. She talked about her research on the problems with embryonic stem cells, and then she talked about the exciting prospect of adult stem cells. The rest of the service was full of great testimonies and information surrounding the topics of embryos and embryo adoption. But the focus of the service was Brian and Melanie and Baby Julian. Julian is the very first baby to be born through the Cedar Park Embryo Adoption Services. In fact, considering Cedar Park is the only church that has their own embryo adoption service, this was a pretty historic day in church history. Kate and I were really glad to be a part of everything. At the end of the service, we went to the back to talk to Maria, who is the director of the EASCP (Embryo Adoption Services of Cedar Park). She gave us a hug, and then asked,
Are you coming to the lunch?
Uh…???
Just tell Tandra I sent you.
And with that, she was off. Apparently, there was a lunch. But what was the lunch for?
To be continued…
Just kidding. Obviously, the lunch was for something related to embryo adoption, doi. (Alright, from here on out, embryo adoption is EA. You’re probably wondering why it took me this long to think of that. Be quiet.) So, we walked in the doors to the lunch, and we saw a total of 6 people. Two were from King 5, two were with the catering company, and two were just people. Probably very nice people, but just people as far as we could tell. Alright, time for me to be real…I get really nervous when I have to meet new people. And I also don’t like curveballs in my plans. My plan that day was to go to the service, meet Maria, come home and watch the Seahawks, take a nap, watch the Sunday night game, and go to bed. Did I mention anything about a surprise lunch party? So, I’ll be the first to admit that I had a bad attitude about staying at this lunch. We knew exactly zero people there, and I wasn’t in the mood to fix this problem. Luckily, Kate wasn’t swayed by my little attitude problem, and we ended up staying. After we finished eating, we walked over and Kate introduced us to Tom and Stacy who are pregnant with Cedar Park’s 2nd EA baby. Eventually, we discovered that they go to Mars Hill! I can’t say we were completely shocked considering Kate saw them during the service and said, “They look like a Mars Hill couple.” Nailed it! =) While we were talking to them, another lady (Rachel) came over, and she told us that she and her husband are waiting to hear from a donor couple to see if they have chosen to donate their embryos. Her husband (Sorry, I can’t remember his name! Rachel, if you’re reading this, I’m really sorry. Shoot me a comment with his name so I can fix it.) is Haitian, so they are looking for a multiracial couple, and they’re hoping that this is the couple. And then, while we were all talking, Melanie (from earlier in the post) came over and started talking to us as well. Melanie is incredibly excited and upbeat, and she genuinely wanted to get to know people and help them through the process. She even offered to mentor Kate through this whole process, which was really cool. She really meant it when she told Kate,
You BETTER contact me, and don’t you DARE think that I’m too busy or anything like that.
And then she plopped Baby Julian right in Kate’s lap! There he was, a living, breathing, healthy, ADORABLE little life right in Kate’s arms. Melanie kept focusing on how she totally identifies with us and where we are in the process and how painful/confusing/frustrating it can be. But she also slammed her water bottle down on the table and said, “This is your baby! It doesn’t matter what paths you take to get here, it doesn’t matter the pain or the agony or the frustration or the difficulty that it takes to get to that baby, because when you have that precious life in your arms, it will all be worthwhile.” She meant it. And we are excited. Here’s Kate with Baby Julian (with Tom and Stacy in the background):
It was pretty cool to see the 4 stages of the EA process talking at one time: We are in the pre-application stage, Rachel and ______ are in the application/waiting stage, Tom and Stacy are very much in the pregnant stage, and Brian and Melanie are in the born baby stage. Very very exciting stuff. We loved all of them, and it was great to get their insights and encouragements about everything. We all exchanged info, so I guess that makes us friends now. Probably the fastest 4 friends I’ve ever made. What a turnaround from my little attitude tantrum to an absolutely awesome lunch. We were definitely blessed, and it just served as more confirmation that we are in the right place. An amazing end to a great weekend.
*(Title courtesy of Boo-dah)
For those of you that don’t know my Aunt Lorretta and Uncle Pete, let me first tell you that I’m sorry. You are missing out. These two are two of the most fun, most loving, most interesting people we know and WHENEVER we get a chance to see them, we are thrilled. Consequently, their friends are ALSO amazing and fit in the same category of cool. So this past week Lorrie and Pete and two of their closest friends, Boo and Carl, were visiting the fine state of Washington from Colorado. Last weekend we drove them up to La Conner so they could begin their week long sail through the Puget Sound and Islands in the area. This week we took the ferry from Anacortes to San Juan Island to sail and then spend the night in Roche Harbor.
We left Anacortes bright and early in the morning.
I slept on the ferry ride over (which was somewhat difficult with the captain sounding the fog horn every 2 minutes as we cut through the pea soup fog). When we arrived we pulled out of the ferry in Friday Harbor. It was a totally quaint little town. The downtown area was small, but interesting shops and restaurants lined the street. We made a mental note of interest and will definitely be going back.
We met up with Lorrie, Pete, Boo and Carl in Roche Harbor, about 25 minutes away from Friday Harbor. They had rented a house for the weekend and were kind enough to invite us to stay with them! Here’s a picture of the house—with great harbor views and within walking distance of the small downtown Roche Harbor area.
After dropping our stuff off at the house, we immediately headed downtown to check out historic Roche Harbor.
The town has been beautifully maintained. We ate lunch at the Lime Kiln Cafe…
…went out sailing as the fog and clouds cleared (and saw seals and dolphins!!!!!)
…and then had dinner in John McMillin’s home which is now a beautiful restaurant right on the water. It was delicious. And we had a Tom Selleck sighting (some of us had more “sighting” than others).
It was such a fun day, and even though it was literally less than 24 hours that we got to spend together, we savored every minute and had some great laughs in a beautiful location with people we love. Those are some great “L’s”: Laughs, Location, and Love. We’ll take it. I have to say, that the most touching part of the day was when the townspeople did the ceremony where they “removed he colors—the flags” from the flagpole at the end of the dock. Carl made a big deal about us making sure to be down by the dock at 7 so we wouldn’t miss it. When it began, I understood why. Carl is retired military, and I was brought to tears by his respect for the ceremony. I watched him stand at attention during the entire presentation, and then when they started to take the American Flag down, he saluted and remained in that position until it was down and folded. He wasn’t doing it for show, he didn’t care who was watching, and he was sincere. It was one of the sweetest, most pure, moments I’ve experienced in a long time. His love for his country blew me away—it was indescribable. Amazing.
We have a TON of pictures, so I’m hoping Jason or I (hopefully Jason because he’s way better at it) will make a slideshow of our trip photos for your viewing pleasure. In the mean time, I tried to include the best of the best.
Great trip, great place, and great people. A day well spent, a day packed with tons of fun—because of who we were with. Love you guys!
If you missed it tonight, you need to catch it and get on board. It was an amazing premier. The premise of the show and the cast members are listed below. We are hooked hooked hooked. Check out the trailer here. Click here to go to NBC’s website. Mondays at 9/8 central. Be there. And keep your eye on this young chap, Jason Ritter (John Ritter’s son),…he’s going places. See his interview on Jimmy Fallon here. He was super nervous at first, but hit his stride and was hilarious by the end—and you can tell how super excited he is to be a part of this show. Folks, I sincerely think this is going to be huge.
The Event is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, “The Class”), an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila (Sarah Roemer, “Disturbia”), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.
Sean’s quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including newly elected U.S. President Elias Martinez (Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, “In Treatment”); Sophia Maguire (Emmy Award nominee Laura Innes, “ER”), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Leila’s shadowy father (Scott Patterson, “Gilmore Girls”). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.
Ian Anthony Dale (“Daybreak”), Clifton Collins, Jr. (“Star Trek”), Taylor Cole (“The Violent Kind”), Lisa Vidal (“The Division”), Bill Smitrovich (“The Practice”), and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (“Damages”) also star in the ensemble drama.
The Event is a production of Universal Media Studios and Steve Stark Productions. Evan Katz (“24”) serves as executive producer/showrunner; Steve Stark (“Medium,” “Facing Kate”) serves as executive producer; Jeffrey Reiner (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” “Trauma”) is director/executive producer; and Nick Wauters (“The 4400,” “Eureka”) is creator/co-executive producer.
-Courtesy of NBC.com
Tonight I had the infinite pleasure of Sushi-ing with some very special friends (some more special than others—but we’ll get to that in a moment).
So I wouldn’t so much call myself a sushi aficionado. This was only the third time that I’ve eaten REAL sushi. California rolls don’t count, do they? My first sushi experience did NOT go well. People like to laugh when I tell them because of WHERE I was when I first tried sushi. But I like to tell them that it doesn’t matter that I was in Colorado. And it doesn’t matter that it was a land-locked state. “You can still get good sushi in land-locked states,” I say. Cause I know. The throwing up had nothing to do with the land-lockedness of Colorado. Probably just a weak stomach. Or the altitude.
The second time I ever ate a sushi roll was in Hawaii for Mindy’s wedding. Angie helped me grow a set and I actually tried some raw fish there. Kauai is as far away from land-locked that you can get, right? It was a success. Not only did I not throw up, but I really liked it.
So when Kait and Kendi invited me out for sushi tonight, I was destined to say yes. I picked up Angie and headed to Sapporo. We met up with Eve, Kendi and Kait. Little did we know that we were entering a secret sushi society. Kait was all grins and smiles as Angie and I sat down, excited that we were arriving at her favorite sushi spot. Kait and the others had arrived early, so as we were looking over the menu their meals arrived. I don’t know if you’re ever really prepared to have a “dragon” with a tail set on the table 12″ from your face.
It was a beautiful presentation! Such a creative combination of eel and carrot.
Next came the sunshine. “The food is happy!” Eve exclaimed after repeating numerous times how beautiful it all was.
This was raw salmon with lemons and lots of other magical sushi ingredients. So Angie and I chose our meals. I personally ordered the equivalent of what the waitress called “sushi for beginners” which was appropriately titled “Dynamite.” Angie ordered something with the word “Spider” in it (which I would later find out had crab and baby fish eggs—we’ll get to that later as well).
It was at about this point that I first discovered the secret sushi society. I notice that Kendi (sitting directly across from me) was eating her eel with chopsticks. I lifted my hand in the air to high-five her for eating authentically when suddenly Kait’s special red box was brought to my attention. The conversation went something like this:
“Kait has her own special chopsticks.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean?”
“She comes here so often, they’ve given her her own chopsticks in a box.”
“Wait, like with her name on it?”
“Yes.”
Apparently if you meet a certain quota of attendance at this establishment, they award you with your very own set of authentic chopsticks. If not, there’s always honorable mention.
You know, nothing says “come back” like giving your customers some incentive. “Eat here enough and we’ll provide you with eating utensils that won’t splinter off in your fingers and your food.”
As it turns out, the owners of this place knight their customers with their own set of chopsticks, personalized with their name for all of their future visits. Kait said that when she was given her chopsticks it was after about a year of coming 3-4 times a month! One day, when she was not expecting it, they proposed sweet chopstick love to Kait, and she threw her arms in the air and accepted! She “did not see it coming!” And apparently, according to Kait, you also can be chopsticked “prematurely.” Like one of her friends that had only been going for a few months. Unacceptable! You have to earn your chopstick knighting. And it’s arbitrary. Those sushi societies, man. Exclusive. Elite. I tried to get them to give me one, but the lady told me I’d have to come back at least 100 times.
Back to the meal. My dynamite arrived.
It was good. I liked it. I didn’t like the dynamite as much as the sunshine, but it was still tasty. But there is just something whack about trying to swallow raw fish when this is happening across the table from you.
“Come on, Kendi, do it!”
“I can’t, I’ll get eel on my chin.”
“Oh come on, do it.”
“I can’t!”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” (Yes you do).
Siiiiiiiiiick! Kendi ate an eel!!! Siiiiiick! I can’t believe you did that! 🙂 Yes, I can. That was AWESOME!
All in all, if I were to wager a guess as to what happened to the “dragon”, I’d say my dynamite landed smack dab in the middle of the plate.
But there was still sunshine. A wonderful meal indeed. Lovely ladies. Good times had by all.
And after eating sunshine, I *rode off into the sunshine.
*(Note that I didn’t say “drove off into the sunshine.”)
Holy cow there’s a big bloggin’ world out there.
The first person to ever introduce me to the world of blogs was my friend Jen. She started her blog, HultmanHouse, several years ago to chronicle her family’s journey. I remember checking it out and seeing her pictures, videos, links, and updates and being totally inspired. She has a gift with words, and is a faithful blogger. The HultmanHouse now includes their 14 month old son, Landon, and is definitely worth checking out!
Anyhow, a while after first seeing Jen’s blog I decided to start blogging myself. Jen was one of the first people I shared mcmiracle with and she continues to faithfully encourage me along the way. Because blogging has been so therapeutic to me, I owe Jen a huge thanks for the original inspiration and for the constant affirmation and encouragement along the way. So, thanks, Fair.
Enter another special friend, Erin, of Ski’ing Through Life. The story here is totally cool and full of divine providence. Erin and I went to the same high school and graduated a year apart. We hadn’t been in touch for eight or nine years when she and her husband Paul connected to my parents through their church in NY. Long story short, my parents absolutely adore Erin and Paul and have had the privilege of walking through life with them. As a result, I’ve also had the honor of seeing God work wonders in this family’s life. Check out her blog. No, seriously, check out her blog.
Anyhow, Erin has also been such an encouragement to me our blog. Not only that, but I feel like she’s on my “team” in this whole infertility thing. She is totally trying to hook me up with ideas and resources as we move ahead and it is much appreciated. One of the most recent pieces of wisdom that Erin shared was to get online and start finding other bloggers out there with similar stories about infertility. So I finally did tonight.
I am NOT alone.
Seriously. Holy cow. There are so many wonderful men and women out there that know EXACTLY how I’m feeling, how we’re feeling, and how it feels to be labeled an infertile. There are hilarious blogs that I NEED to read like 999ReasonstoLaugh that take a humorous stance on the whole infertility sitch. Here’s a quote from one of her recent posts:
Possibly the worst advice you can ever give an infertile – Just relax and it will happen. Are you KIDDING us? The only thing that’s relaxed right now is our sperms because they don’t seem to be swimming.
Then there are sites with people at the beginning of the journey, at the end of the journey, working through IUI’s, IVF’s, adoption, foster, miscarriages, and a whole array of baby-making struggles/joys/blessings. Some are depressing and offer little hope. I close those quickly. Some are inspirational, and some, even some have pictures of miracle babies that came after much prayer, time, and…money.
I’ve added a whole bunch to my blog list of “Blogs I Love to Love”, but there is one in particular, A Greater Yes, that is standing out to me. I have no idea where this will go, but…I’m interested. And prayerful. And humbled at the thought that maybe, just maybe, this could be an option for us to consider (one that we didn’t even know existed).
Prayerful.
Should I be concerned that Tennessee Waterfall and Tiffany Wallin have the same initials?
Here’s how the last 5 minutes of my life just went:
Ding.
Picture message from Tiffany.
I respond: My camera is broken, I can’t get pictures.
Tiffany: Oh, that’s right, I forgot. I’ll post it to FB because it’s worth looking at.
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Are you sure it was Target, and not Walmart?
Tiffany: Dude I wasn’t sure if I was in the south, let alone what store I was in. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Gig Harbor anymore.
Me: I literally woke up both of the dogs with my outloud snorting and uncontrollable laugher. I don’t know what’s funnier…the picture, your caption, or the fact that you know he is there buying batteries for his Flowbee.
“For free?”
Yeah, it’s that time of the year to upgrade our phones (and if it wasn’t time, I’d be in trouble considering my Blackberry is cracked, the roller is broken, and my camera doesn’t work).
So one of the free phone upgrade options was the Motorola Cliq XT. This phone is comparable to, but less pricey than the Droid and iPhone. It’s got Motoblur, Swype, 3G internet, pinch and zoom, and front navigation pad scrolling. I’m excited. It’s free, so that’s always good. I’ll let you know what I think.
I’m just excited to have a phone that works.
M C M I R A C L E 