Big News...

We are excited to tell our friends that we have begun the adoption process. We are so excited and a little overwhelmed. We have been asked a ton of questions and really we do not know a whole lot. We have researched a ton and can share that with you, but as far as concrete details...we just do not know.

Where are we in the process: Well we have begun. We have had our first home study visit, have been fingerprinted, and have filled out all the paperwork. We have scheduled our second home study visit and our first conference call is tonight. So we are moving along and waiting all at the same time. We have been told that our fingerprints can take anywhere from 4-16 weeks to get back....anyone who has FBI/ABI pull let me know. We would love to get those back sooner.

Once we finish all of the home study process we will be cleared to move forward in the matching process. This process can take anywhere from months to years. we are praying and hoping that it will not be a long process and we will be parents soon.

We will keep you posted as the process moves forward.

Summer was here and is going...

I feel like summer is about over and I have not blogged in forever. So, I thought I would give a quick update. I am doing great. We are doing great. And summer has been a lot of fun.

Michael and I had the privilege of taking 36 kids to camp and that was an amazing trip. I was home 24 hours and left to take another 34 kids to our middle school camp. I was not sure I would make it through the two weeks but I did and they were both really fun and neat weeks.

Other than that we have just been on the go. I am not even sure what all we have been doing that takes up all our weekends but we have not been home at all. But, that makes life fun and so I will take it.

Hope your summer is going well.

What a Year!

Tomorrow will be a year that I was diagnosed with cancer. I cant believe that it has been a year. Some times it feels like it was yesterday and at other times it seems like it was a really LONG year. We have worried, cried, laughed, and celebrated this year through the roller coaster that we have been on. I am officially in REMISSION and I am really glad to be able to tell people I am a cancer survivor. It has been one of the hardest things I have ever been through but glad to BE THROUGH! We are praying that 2010 is a better year in our house!

my favorite time of year...

Many have asked for an update so I guess I need to be better with the blog...

No news is good news though. I am cancer free and feeling great. My hair is growing back and I no longer wear hats.... YEAH! I am however sporting the "chemo curl" but glad to have hair. I have had board straight hair my entire life and now having to learn what to do with frizzzzzzz. Every day is a new hair day.

Life for us has been full.... We moved into our new house on Halloween day and have been trying to get the house in order ever since. We are finally settled (and decorated) and now it is Christmas season which for me in my job is a busy time of year.

My challenge has been to slow done and enjoy this season. I love this season and really want to be able to sit and soak it in.

We are moving....

The week I found out I was in remission or NED (no evidence of disease) we also got a contract on our house and made an offer on a new house. It was a busy week but very exciting for us. The day is now approaching our closings and we are getting excited.

I am a little sentimental towards my house because it was my first house and I

have had a lot of first things happen while living in it. I have

loved my neighborhood and really have great relationships with some of my neighbors that I will miss.

our current house....

But, we are SO EXCITED about our new house. We are moving on Halloween to a great neighborhood and cant wait. Michael's sister and brother-in-law will live across the street so we will get to see our niece and nephews a lot! We can't wait. This house has a great back yard and is exactly what we were hoping to get in.

our new house!

REMISSION!

I am officially in remission! We are so excited. I will begin the phases of coming off of different medications and begin a different chapter in life. Thanks for praying for us throughout the past 10 months. It has been a hard journey but we have been able to see the Lord work in our lives in powerful ways. I now can say I am a cancer survivor!

I will blog more soon, but wanted to get the word out today.

We have had quite a week. We got a contract on our house on Monday. Heard I was in remission on Wednesday, and put a contract on another house today..... If you want to know what it is like in our house... this is it. Stick with us to get the news of next week!

the "GO RUN"...

Saturday we had the opportunity to go out and participate in a 5K that raises money for my specific cancer. It was a really neat experience to think that the money they raised goes to the research for cancer's that are not hardly ever heard of or rarely mentioned. My oncologist is in the middle of me and Michael and does lots of research. He is a neat man that has been incredibly encouraging to us. I am very thankful for all he has done for us and for all the cancers he researches.

This weekend really is the first physical thing that I have done since January when I started chemo. It was a great feeling and I was excited to be "on the move" again. I am playing tennis in a league again starting in October, so I hope to begin to get some stamina back. I never really knew how much chemo stripped me of everything.

On the hair front.....I think I might have a little growth beginning. It is slow and I am not 100% sure that it is not just wishful thinking but I am now hoping to be able to be hat free by Thanksgiving. My niece did tell me tonight that I could keep my hat off cause she could tell my hair was growing back. Usually she brings me my hat as soon as she sees me to cover my head. My first dream was hat free by Labor day then it went to Halloween and now I have pushed that back to Thanksgiving. I am still wondering what color, texture, and whether it will be curly. Hopefully just a few more months and we will know.