Dossier to Secretary of State

All of my dossier is finished!! I will be mailing it on Monday to the Secretary of State's office for the apostilles. I have not heard from USCIS yet about fingerprints but hopefully next week.

A friend I met on a Yahoo Group is about to get her baby. Her husband is in Kazakhstan now to pick him up. Frank and Dmitrii should be home by next week. I am so happy for that family.

Dossier - Good News!!

It was good news to me anyway. I faxed my dossier to my agency for my coordinator to look at before I paid for apostilles. Today I heard from Anne and I only had to redo THREE FORMS!!! I thought that was great. I already have them finished and will get them notarized tomorrow. I was afraid I was going to have to redo about half of them. Next the "real" dossier will be off to Topeka for apostilles.

Vote Jez!!!

A friend of mine is trying out for a reality t.v. show. (Can't say what at this time.) Anyway, his tryout video is going to be on The Today Show (NBC) on Friday. Please, check it out and give your support by voting for Jez Luckett.
Thanks a lot!!

What Am I Doing?

This is a two year old in my daycare that has heard a lot about my adoption and coming baby. Can you tell?

Where is Spring??!!

It is 2:00 in the afternoon and schools are dismissing now. It has been snowing since about 8:00 a.m. Where is Spring? Where are the 70 degree temps?
The first picture is part of the backyard. The wet snow is very heavy on the trees and we are fearful we may lose some branches. The tree in the picture is the one the children play under when it is hot and sunny. We want to keep all of those branches.

The second picture is out the front door. You can see the sidewalk where the footprints are. I did clean it a few hours ago. The streets are already a mess.
Hope those of you done south (Angel) are enjoying the warmer weather.

Thanks Doug!

I just got back from getting all my dossier papers notarized. My notary was my friend and my brother-in-law's business partner, Doug Harder. He notarized 10 pages for me and didn't charge me a thing!
THANKS DOUG!!!

Making The Disciple's Cross

I got my order of supplies this evening to make The Disciple's Crosses to sell for fund-raising. With the supplies came an instuctional dvd on how to make them. It looks so easy with the dvd. So, I gave it a try and made my first one. I WON'T BE SELLING THIS ONE. Mom told me to keep making them and with practice I will get better. I sure hope so. Above is a picture of the one I just made, minus the leather necklace part. I guess I will let Mom have this one.

Tax Detuctible Donations - Accepted!!

I am happy to announce that I have an account set up with "His Kids, Too" to accept tax-deductible donations. I still need to raise about $17,000 so any and all donations will be GREATLY appreciated. If you would like to donate you can send your donation to:

His Kids, Too
219 - B Delta Court
Tallahassee, FL 32303

Do not put my name anywhere on the check but include a note saying that the donation is for my account. You will receive a receipt for your donation in December. I will receive a letter or email telling me who donates so I can thank you properly.

Thank you for helping me to "adopt my Johanna Faith."

Johanna's Room

I had to take pictures for my dossier so I thought I would post them here too. This isn't really Johanna's room but our downstairs playroom. I just thought the yellow wall with the big flowers would look better than the plain blue wall of my room.

In the top picture is a shelf that used to be yellow and an what was an unfinished rocking chair. I painted them both. I got the nice pink cubbies at Target and they fit perfectly. The activity garden came from my SIL and she got it from one of her daycare parents. I need to round up the other vegetables to it.

In the second picture is the 3-in-1 crib from Wal-Mart. I put it together all by myself. It has stuffed toys and dolls in it. I have two packages of size 3 Huggies that I bought while the coupon was still good. In front of the crib is a plastic storage box with Christmas outfits, ornaments, etc. for Johanna. (I hope she will be home by this Christmas.) Over the front of the box are three of the MANY outfits I have for Johanna. The one on the right is a onesie that says "Kazakhstani Baby" on it and has a stork with a bundle. I got it on Amazon. Beside the crib is the "Pink Throne" as Heath as so kindly named it.

I have a larger storage box full of clothes that I did not get in a picture. I am still looking for a dresser to put all those clothes in. Tomorrow I have to put all of this back in my bedroom. That is where Johanna will sleep when she first comes home. It is a very large room.

Dealing with USCIS

Today Mom brought in the mail and said it was all junk. A few minutes later she hollered to me in the office and asked why I was getting mail from "Homeland Security." DUH? Okay, I didn't say that to her but told her it was about our fingerprint appointment. (Boy was that fast!) That wasn't what it was. DARN! I guess I hadn't sent in the $70 for Mom's fingerprinting or a copy of her birth certificate. They were both in the mail within 30 minutes. By next weekend I should hear about our appointment. Right?

I found my digital camera this morning that has been missing for over a week. I was laying in bed and tried to think of all the bags, suitcases, etc. we took with us to Memphis. The camera has to be in one of those. I couldn't think of any. FINALLY, I decided to pray about it. I don't know what took me so long. I had just spoken God's name when the thought came to me, "the dvd bag!" Then God said, "I was waiting for you to ask Me." GOD IS SO GOOD!!! I didn't even have to ask Him. He just wanted me to acknowledge that I needed His help.

Let the Waiting Begin

Boy is this no fun!! I hate just sitting and waiting. I have sent my home study to K.C. and now have to wait for my I171, I think that is what it is called anyway. It is a piece of paper saying it is okay for me to bring an orphan into the US.

There are things I need to be doing during this waiting time but it is difficult to get motivated for some reason. I know if I want my daughter here I have to do them - - - things to raise money. I still have a lot of things I need to get listed on ebay to sell. Problem is, I lost my digital camera. I will have to borrow one since I refuse to spend the money on a new one. As soon as I do that, my old one will turn up.

I also need to get things finalized for the Miles of Smiles "Women's Day Out" fundraiser. I guess I am going to take orders for gourmet popcorn. ( I sold it a few months ago and it is delicious!) I am also going to take orders for specialty pasta. I may try to sell coupons for Antiquities Photos to if I can get a space from my church to do the pictures in May. I just have a difficult time calling people and asking for favors, or asking for anything for that matter.

Guess I will close this post and get busy. Just typing this has convinced me I need to get started.

Home Study to USCIS

I sent out an email to some friends and family over a week ago saying that I had an appointment for fingerprinting. I messed up. I have to send my home study to the USCIS office in Kansas City first and then wait for them to contact me about fingerprinting. I have hear this can take
2-3 weeks. BUMMER! I hope that for some reason, they get mine finished quicker. I guess I will have plenty to do for 2-3 weeks. I am mailing in my home study today. I have it written on my calendar so in about 2 1/2 weeks I will start calling if I haven't heard anything. I am an impatient person when it comes to things like this.

I got my new car seat yesterday. It is WONDERFUL!! I love it and it is beautiful for a little girl. I didn't even have to leave town to pick it up. The family was coming here to visit relatives so I just drove about a mile across town to get it. It is brand-new and still in the plastic. It will stay in the plastic until Johanna gets here. I don't want it collecting dust.