Exciting Changes!!!

WOOOOO HOOOOO!! CHI HAS RECEIVED IT'S ACCREDITATION AND WILL RECEIVE THEIR CERTIFICATE FRIDAY!!!

AS IF THAT ISN'T ENOUGH....

Many of you may have popped over to Becky’s blog and read her exciting news. Well, we have the same news to share. We were also contacted about switching regions and we said YES!! While we will miss knowing all we know about Vlad, we feel that this opportunity was afforded to us at a great time.

The most amazing thing was that in my last post I said I was throwing in the towel and just as my mom predicted, things started happening. I also had specifically prayed that very morning that our agency would call us out of the blue with information about anything at all. What were the chances of that?? When the receptionist told me my coordinator was on the phone my heart jumped around like crazy. She made sure to tell me it wasn’t a referral right away but that she had an opportunity for us. Now I know the Lord answers prayers, but I also know that they are answered in His time and not always so obviously. It truly was amazing to receive that call.

We have switched to a region called Izhevsk. We did have to up our age range to 18 months to 3 years with referrals generally around 2ish. The great news?? We may be able to travel quickly AND the time in between trips is only about 1 month!! Not 5, like Vlad, which was something I had been extremely worried about. Troy and I had also been discussing increasing our age range for quite a while.

This new region sounds right up Troy’s alley also!! Hunting and fishing is widespread there. Troy is already trying to figure out if we can book a fishing trip somewhere while we are there!!

Other good news – the plane ride from Moscow to Izhevsk is way shorter and the time difference is 9 hours from here instead of 15. This really is a huge blessing!!

Before making the final decision, I called my mom and Troy’s mom to hear their feelings on the subject. I knew they wouldn’t persuade me either way, but I knew they would throw some good things to think about during the conversations. My mom was reserved until she heard I had prayed specifically for a phone call and then she just said, “Well, it doesn’t get more obvious than that and if anyone can handle the adventure, it’s the two of you!!” (Did I ever mention Troy and I sent an application and video to The Amazing Race – I think we didn’t get chosen because all we could do was laugh during the video!!) Troy’s mom said a few things and when she was done, I said “we’re going” and she started saying “Go, Go, GO, GO, GO!!!!”

So....we’re going and I can’t wait for what is next!!!

Belated Happy Fourth and Here’s to Late (Very Late) Spring Cleaning!!

I am sorry I am so late saying Happy Fourth and I hope every one had a good time. As for us, I had told Troy I needed an activity where I could squeal and laugh and be silly so we went to the beach. Great idea!! Troy, my sister Cat, her hubby Joe and myself all took off for Virginia Beach for the day!! We had a blast. The water was so cold. Joe and I barreled in and Troy soon followed and then Joe had to get Cat and drag her in. Once we were in we stayed in for 2 and ½ hours because we knew once we got out we weren’t getting back in!! Enjoy the silly pictures at the bottom of the post!!

In other news, and more exciting news: Accreditations from Russia started coming in!! There were 8 agencies in the first batch (ours was not included). This is a great sign and we hope to hear that our agency is next!! It could be any day now!! We hope to see many more referrals and many long awaited court dates in the coming months.

Also, Congratulations to Melissa and Nathan who received their court date of July 20th in Vlad. They will soon be the proud parents of Little I.

And finally...I have to admit that after reading Becky and Keith’s blog and at her mention of cleaning out closets, I decided I hated our closet and made Troy help me take every piece of clothing, every pair of shoes, purses, etc. out of the closet. After scrutinizing every item before putting it back in to the closet we managed to set out a pile of clothes for a garage sale over 4 feet high AND I threw away three pairs of shoes. I was so brave. Then, last night I bought $45.00 worth of cleaning supplies and off we went. We scrubbed the bathroom, we vacuumed, we swept, mopped, you name it. Our house has never looked better, so when I was out of things to do...

We made a list!! A list of items to get done “Before We Go To Russia” and a list of things to do “In Between Trips To Russia”. I love lists. It gives me a goal. We used a huge piece of 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper and wrote each item in real big writing. (This way we can’t ignore it and we feel like we have accomplished more when we cross it off.) We even added things that we most likely can’t get done, but will motivate us anyhow.

They look something like this:

Note: Moved to sidebar to keep up with it. Bold items have not been done. Unbold or regular font items have been completed - Let's see how many items we add and how many we get done!


Cat and Joe ------------------------------- Troy and I


Cat and I --------------------------------Looking for a wave


Troy ------------------------------------- Wild Blue Yonder