Surprise!!!

This is Greg hijacking the blog again! Surprise sweetie! I hope you like this!

We're no longer posting on this blog because we have moved to a brand new address. You can now find us at:

Our Journey to Claire.

Please update your links and we'll see you all on the flip side!

I'm baaaaaaaacccckkkk!!!

I just got back from Charleston. It was a really great trip. I got to go with my friend Jessica, and we always get along really well. It's always fun to travel with someone you can have a good time with.

No major events happened. We taxied on the runway in Atlanta on Sunday night for thirty minutes, longer than our 29 minute flight we'd just taken, so that was good times. Monday morning, the girl at the hotel desk gave us the wrong directions to the conference, so we walked about five blocks too far. Tonight, we landed in Atlanta and went to the complete other side of the airport, only to find when we got there, they changed our departure gate to the one right next to the one we had come from. We literally only had to walk five feet. I was not a happy camper trekking back to the other side of the airport. Needless to say, I'll take ALL OF THAT because my plane didn't crash! Yes, once again, I jumped at every noise, and put my head in my hands every time there was the slightest turbulence. I am getting better, though. No flight attendants even talked to me beyond the drink request, so that's progress!!

When I got to the airport in Knoxville, I was greeted by an adorable little boy dressed as a chauffeur, wearing a black suit and sunglasses, holding a sign that said "Mommy". People in the airport were laughing hard! I wish so badly that I had a picture of him in his little outfit. He refused to let Greg take one of him before I got there. It was a great way to come home! He loved the little Delta airplane I brought him home and wanted to sleep with it. He really wants to fly in an airplane!

We got some really great teaching ideas and insights. Got recharged a bit, which is always good. We also came to the realization that frustrations with education are universal. Sometimes I feel like it is only in our school, or county, but as I heard teachers from other states, they are going through the exact same things. It is always comforting to know that you are not alone.

Charleston is such a beautiful city. I had been there once before a couple of years ago on vacation. Jessica and I laughed today as we were eating cheeseburgers in this old diner right across the street from Gucci! Only in the south can you be eating a greasy cheeseburger, sitting in a ripped up booth, and stare across the street into a window with $600 shoes displayed. I love being a southern girl!

We had some great conversations about life and work. Ate some good food. Got lots of free stuff. Learned great new ideas. It was a pretty productive beginning to the week. Now, back to work! A bearable thought because Christmas vacation is in sight! I'm so looking forward to my two week vacation! I love being a teacher!

Mommy is Out of Town!

This is Greg taking over Jessica's blog because she's in Charleston without internet access for a few days and I know her password. Muuuaha-ha-ha-ha-ha! When Jessica is out of town, me and the little man have a big time! Here are a few pictures of our adventures in downtown Knoxville tonight.





The first thing we did was to go up the Sunsphere. It's been closed for years but just recently reopened to visitors and Connor has always thought it was pretty cool. Since Mommy is too scared to go up there, I thought I would take this opportunity to take Connor to the top. He thought it was pretty cool.





Here's the view if you've never been up there. It's pretty stellar!





Why yes dad, I would like to have a gingerbread cookie for dinner!





Connor doing one of his famous Zoolander poses in front of the Market Square Christmas Tree. He calls this one "White Lightning!"

Weekend at Home

Well, we had a busy weekend at home. On Friday, we took Connor to the Christmas parade and did a little Christmas shopping on Market Square. He was in a horrible mood, and we put him to bed early and enjoyed a movie. I of course, can't make it through a whole movie without falling asleep.

On Saturday, Greg and Connor surprised me with breakfast. They snuck out while I was still sleeping. We laid low until noon and then I went on a cleaning rampage. I cleaned and decorated for Christmas at the same time. Greg and Connor went out last night and got a Christmas tree. Everything is decorated, the stockings are hung, and the "bank tree" is now up. Connor told me last night, "Mom, I really like our Christmas house!"

We enjoyed our time together.....and now things get CRAZY!!! We have something going on non-stop every night until Christmas. We have company in town the next two weekends, Christmas programs to see, and Christmas parties to attend! A normal person would be stressed......I LOVE IT!!!!!

I am headed upstairs to pack. My plane leaves in a few hours. I absolutely HATE HATE HATE flying, so I've been sick to my stomach all day at the thought of it. Hopefully I can avoid the flight attendant asking me if I'm okay today. How am I going to fly to Taiwan??????

The Ballet Recital

I've been teaching ballet after school since September. I teach students at my school, so it has been a very easy way to earn extra money for the adoption. The girls are so cute and sweet, and honestly it's been fun to do something that has nothing to do with academics. They had their little Christmas performance on Thursday, and I was so proud of them! They are a great bunch of girls with a great heart! It has made me feel so great to share something with them, that they might not have been able to experience otherwise. So many of the parents have told me how much they appreciate this opportunity for their girls. I gave each of them a rose after the performance, and the girls got so excited over a silly flower. They kept saying, "Oh my gosh, it's real! Smell it!" I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to work in the environment that I do. I don't know if I could ever teach at a middle-class school. Everyday makes me so thankful for everything that I have, and everyday I just want to love those kids as much as I can. It truly is ministry to me.

The parents gave permission to have their girls pictures released to the media, so I thought it was okay to post a couple of pictures on here. There will possibly be an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel sometime this week, most likely in the "Your Hub" section, as well as write-up in the South Knoxville Times.

Isn't There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas Is All About?

I just had to post this picture from tonight. It made me laugh and think of "A Charlie Brown Christmas", which we've already seen twice and it's December 4th! I pray that all families will remember Linus' speech this holiday season. In our house, we have just made the pact that at three, we have the power to control his view of Christmas now. If we don't give him a million presents, and set up this big materialistic expectation of Christmas, maybe he'll always remember the true meaning of Christmas. In all the traffic, money stress, and decorations, may we not forget that Christmas is about our Jesus.

R.I.P..........Greg's Music Room

Well, we always knew it was coming. It was a great little music room for four years. Greg proudly decorated it himself, and everyone who came over thought it was the coolest room in the house....very "Trading Spaces". This weekend it was made into a playroom. We kept the whole "creativity" theme in there. There are still musical instruments hanging on the walls, but everything else is gone. Connor has a neat little dress-up corner, tons of room to play trains, an art corner, and lots of his art work displayed on the wall. We had a budget of $80 to convert the room, so I thought it turned out well in that respect. My dream is to build a little stage in there, and really let the kids' imagination go wild! There is so much I want to do in there, but we just don't have any money right now after writing some crazy high dollar checks this past week for adoption stuff.

Connor has spent endless hours in the room since we converted it. He has wanted to play in there non-stop. We put his Christmas tree up in the playroom instead of his bedroom this year. This weekend, before I fly out on Sunday to a conference in Charleston, we will try to get the "bank tree" (as Greg calls it) up in the living room. Yes, all my ornaments match the living room decor, and the wrapping paper also has to match. We all know I'm type "A", come on!

Anyways, here are some pictures of the new play space.

Some Pics!

Since I've been sick since Thanksgiving, I haven't had a chance to get any of the pictures off of my camera. We have lots of great pics to post! Take a look!

Connor is super excited that it's Christmas time!



Oh my! Atley is already catching a ride with Connor! I cringe to think of this scene in 12 more years!



Mmmmm!!! Connor loves making cookies!



Fantasy of Trees was so much fun!



Very tired, but happy to welcome Eliza home! Mandy, Nancy, Eliza, and Me at the Nashville Airport the day before Thanksgiving (actually it was Thanksgiving about this time).

We Rock!

Well, this week we were on fire getting our papework done! We have almost everything in order and will start our homestudy sometime next week. Greg and I both are "to do" list type people and we found a cool little website that allowed us to have our list of things to get done online and both work off of it. It is really neat if you like that kind of stuff....maybe we're just nerds!

This week we found our new adoption agency (totally a "God" thing), mailed our application fee and application, ordered various paperwork (birth certificates, background checks, letters of employment, etc.). We filled out our VERY lengthy homestudy application, and each of us wrote a 10 page autobiography. (Oh my goodness.....we were so sick of talking about ourselves at the end of that!) We also talked to Greg's dad about a will. Right now we are waiting on our will to be finalized, to get our medical exams (our doctor couldn't fit us in until mid-December), and for our homestudy to begin. Yes, we are frantically organizing our house this weekend! I'm sure it would be fine like it is, but we just wanted to!

After our homestudy is completed (hopefully in January), it will be sent to Taiwan, and they will approve it or not. If they approve it, we will pay our adoption agency our program fee, and then they will finish up everything and send our official dossier to Taiwan and wait and wait and wait and wait for a referral. Our file will probably not even be considered for a referral for at least 18 mos. due to the other families ahead of us. Then when we are picked, we will have to wait 6 months to travel. In Taiwan all the court proceedings are done over time, and you cannot travel to pick up your child until they are finished. OH, WHAT A LONG SIX MONTHS THAT WILL BE! We will receive monthly updates, pictures, and videos while we wait, and are allowed to send gifts to her during that time. So, we are probably looking to have Claire home in two years...still too long, but what can we do?

Good news: We rocked the paper chasing this week! Bad news: I have been sick since Thanksgiving and since we pushed ourselves so hard this week, and many nights I only got 4 hours sleep, I am terribly sick. My little cold has spread to my chest, and I can barely talk, and cannot stop coughing. I am off to the doctor now to get "fixed up" as Connor called it. I am hoping to have some meds in my system soon. Greg has been straightening and organizing like crazy for two days, and all I've felt like doing is sitting. I am hoping to make some sort of contribution this afternoon!