Sunday, September 30, 2007

We made it

It's almost official: We made it through September. This was a crazy busy month for us, although most of the activity was fun we didn't have too much down time over the past 6 weeks. And now, IT IS OVER! Yeah! A glance at our calendar over the next couple months shows nothing too monumental going on which is how I like it. Not only does it mean life is a bit calmer, it gives us the flexibility to go to Frederic or the Cities without feeling like we are NEVER at home.

Adoption Update: Our agency hasn't given out many referrals over the past several weeks so there really hasn't been much progress forward to document. I'm feeling a bit drained right now so the thought of possibly getting a referral in 3 months freaks me out a bit - right now I'd be ok with waiting to get one until late Spring! I'm sure though, that as we continue on with waiting I'll get more and more antsy to get that phone call from our social worker!

On that note, it is GOOD BYE SEPTEMBER, HELLO OCTOBER!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Why our blog is called "As It Goes"

Since the Brazilians are coming, I thought now would be a good time to explain the title of our blog.

Joseph practices his English while talking to Aaron on MSN. For the longest time Joseph would say, "Hi Aaron! As it goes?" rather than "Hi Aaron! How's it going?"

Now, as a joke, we say "As it goes?" You can see it makes perfect sense for a title of a blog, because we are telling you how it is going!

(Joseph also used to get "come here" and "let's go" confused, which made for some funny moments when we were in Brazil. We didn't know if he was asking us if we wanted to go or if he was "commanding" us to come somewhere. Maybe you had to be there....)

The Brazilians are coming!

Joseph and Lilia are coming on Friday! Most of you know that about 1.5 years ago Aaron, Jen, and I went to Rio de Janerio to visit Joseph and Lilia (Joseph is a customer of Aaron's). They took us all over the Rio area - we had a great vacation. Now we get to return the favor!
Like I said, they are coming on Friday and will be staying 8 days. We pulled out or Portuguese to English dictionary and we are getting an itinerary sketched out so we don't miss anything. If you have any ideas of things we should do or restaurants they shouldn't miss while they are in America let us know! One of the things I am most excited about is taking Lilia to Caribou Coffee. While in Brazil we got shots of espresso and Jen and Lilia each put in about 5 packets of sugar in that little cup. I think Lilia will love a Turtle Mocha or a Mint Condition! We'll let you know, but really, how could you NOT love Caribou?!

Monday, September 10, 2007

One month down, 4-6 to go

Well, we have been on the waiting list for one month! The good news is that the rainy season is apparently done in Ethiopia, which means referrals have started back up. Our agency gave out 3 referrals last week...we are slowly moving up the list!

Aaron is still plugging away on the office out in the garage. We have some friends coming over this week to help install some windows and get sheet rocking done. I'll be sure to post some pictures when it is complete.

One good Buddy and Page story: Saturday night Aaron and I got home late from his 10 year reunion. About 12:30am, shortly after we went to bed, Page barked at Buddy and we heard her chasing the poor cat around the house in the pitch black. It was quiet for about 3 seconds, and all of a sudden Page made this strange howl/whine/barking noise and there was another chase. I heard Buddy go down to Jen's room and I heard Page in our room. I reached my hand out and our timid dog was standing as close to our bed as she could get with her tail between her legs. She didn't leave the side of our bed until Jen got home an hour later! It was kind of funny.
Maybe you had to be there. :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Traveling

We just got back from spending a little over five days in New Jersey for my cousin's wedding and a little sightseeing in NYC. I realized why I love traveling so much - it makes me appreciate HOME! Every few months I get the itch to go somewhere - on a plane - and I get more and more anxious to just get OUT of Duluth for a while. We'll end up going somewhere, and I come home and I love it. I love knowing which street to turn on to go get something to eat, I love having my entire wardrobe available to me (small as it is!), I love my bed. And I love having the experience of visiting a new place, trying new food, watching different people, and experiencing a different lifestyle. I think it is so cool that you can get on a plane and a few hours later you can be in a completely different place. LOVE IT!

On the adoption front - Our agency has not been giving out referrals over the past couple months due to the rainy season in Ethiopia and courts being closed. It sounds like referrals will be starting up in the next week or so...hopefully there will be some news that we are moving up the list! We'll keep you updated!