Another Application mailed today!

I haven't written in awhile because I've just been super busy, so here it goes.  We received our paper work for our home study agency and after doing some investigating and talking with the Director at the adoption agency we have chosen, I decided to go ahead and put in our adoption application to the agency we decided to go with.  The adoption agency and home study agency are completely independent from each other.

Drum roll please...Celebrate Children International!!  (http://www.celebratechildren.org/) Let me tell you, this was a super stressful decision. I literally toiled over this for the past 3 months.  There are a lot of agencies but ultimately I kept coming back to this one.  Mostly because they have two options (Ethiopia and Congo).  A lot of the other agencies, although bigger or more reputable, didn't have a back up plan.  Adoption can be unpredictable and scary and if for whatever reason Ethiopia were to suddenly have problems or stop their programs all together I wanted another program to transfer to within my agency.  A lot of other agencies only had one other program that we would be eligible for and that is China, which has a SUUUUPER long wait.

The home study paperwork and the adoption paper work (also known as a dossier) is very similiar so it's commonly recommended that you do the pape work for  both at the same time because it saves a lot of effort.  We are talking about getting copies of our birth certificates, marriage certificate, back ground checks, finger prints, doctors evaluations, etc.

So that's where we are right now.  Our adoption application went in the mail today along with our application fee, a family photo (the new photo I just posted to the right!) and 5 reference letters.  I will wait to hear back from the agency on whether we were accepted as clients and they will then send me the paper work to complete.  It could take anywhere from 2-4 months to complete all of this so stay tuned folks...

Home Study App mailed

Well, as you can see we've exceeded the $10,000 mark!  I had plans of posting a video of us doing a happy dance but we have been so busy lately now that football camp is in full swing.  Tommy has been sleeping at the school this whole last week with all the boys for their "lock in" football camp.  They've got a scrimmage tonight and tomorrow and all day events on Saturday.

I had a yard sale last weekend at a friend's house.  They donated a BUNCH of stuff for me to sell because they have moved.  I made about $600 but it got rained out around 11am so I'm going to try my luck again this next Saturday.  I've still got a really nice Bowflex, a couch and several tv's for sale.

But I'm SOOO excited to report that I mailed off our home study application on Monday to Adoption Assistance Inc.  They were recommended by an aquaintance and were several hundred dollars cheaper than other places I called.  It takes approximately 2-4 months to complete based on how long it takes you to complete the paper work and gather all the documents that you need to gather for the report.

Sometimes I feel like it's such a "taboo" subject to talk about money but I feel like most people aren't even open to the idea of adoption because they feel like they can't afford it.  When we decided we wanted to adopt we had several people say that it's so expensive and how could we ever afford it.  And honestly I can't believe we are sitting here with over $10,000 in the bank after 4 short months of fundraising.  The only way to really explain it is that God has opened so many doors for us and presented us with opportunities to raise this money and for others to give to us freely. 

I saw a blog the other day that broke down where they were able to raise their money (i.e. $2000 from yard sales, $3500 from donations, $500 from tshirt sales, etc.) so that people can really see.  Then I'd like to keep a log of where the money is spent.  I asked so many adoptive families how they raised the money because that was always our biggest concern and they couldn't give me specifics - and I'm a specifics kind of gal! 

So look for that in a post to come...

More Supporters

When I think about how we've sold 389 t-shirts it's REALLY hard to believe.  When I think about how we've raised almost $10,000 in just 4 short months it's even harder to believe!!  I received a few more pictures that I thought I would post too.

I've got a few events coming up that I'm super excited about.  My sister-in-law, Jessica, is having a jewelry party at my mom's house so I've invited all my Iowa friends to the party.  Even though I'm not able to go, I'm hoping a lot of people show up because Jess has offered to donate half the proceeds from the show to our adoption.

I was also contacted by a lady here in town who has recently moved and has a shed full of really great stuff to sell.  She told me that I can have a yard sale there and keep all the money that I'm able to raise.  The great part is that everything is inside so I don't have to worry about rain, I can go price things and organize things indoors.  And we aren't talking about small things, we're talking about a blowflex, exercise equipment, furniture, tv's, etc!!  She has already sold a couch for $100 and said she'd just give me the money for it since the sold couch is still in the shed. LOL

And just so everyone knows, I'll be doing the HAPPY DANCE when we hit $10,000!!!!  Don't worry, I'm sure it will be fully documented.  ha ha

Our friend Adam

This might be the best pic ever!  Thanks Carol :)

My Mom's co-worker, Connie

My Dad and Mom!!!!

Mom and her co-workers at the post office in Iowa

T-Shirts anyone??

Once again I'd like to recognize our awesome friends, The Paz's.  I can't say enough about this family in the support they have given us!  Their oldest daughter, Jesse, is away at college in Chicago and has been selling t-shirts like crazy for me.  The picture shown here is one of the first orders that I mailed to her - I hope she's majoring in sales at school because she's working it for me! ha ha

Needless to say, I got another order from her for 6 more shirts.  The only problem is that I can only order 24 shirts at a time.  So I'm  putting it out there that if there is anyone who was thinking about getting a shirt NOW is your time! 

I plan to order some extra shirts but am hoping I won't have to order the whole 18 on my own.  The shirts are only $10 each ($12 for a 2XL, $13 for a 3XL, $14 for a 4XL) plus $3 if the shirt needs to be shipped.  They come in multiple colors and are a great quality shirt!!  They also come in  youth size in small, medium and large. (The youth small is approx equivalent to a 5T shirt).

If you are interested you can order by sending me a message on facebook, emailing me at monica452@hotmail.com or by making a donation through my paypal acct for the correct amount of the shirt and put the size and color that you want in the comment line.

More Stuff For Sale

I've had several great suprises today.  First off, a customer at my job who I have never met came in today to add a vehicle to his policy and ended up giving me a $100 donation towards our adoption!!  Then I decided to check my paypal account today after not checking it for several weeks and found 2 donations totalling $150!!  I'm so thankful that people are supportive and want to be a part of what we are doing.  So THANK YOU SO MUCH!

On another note, I've been working on a few small projects over the past few weeks and here's what I've got.  I made some homemade earrings that I'm selling for $5.00 each plus some shipping (I haven't mailed any yet so I'm not sure how much shipping will be)   I also thought I would post some of my cards.  I'm selling them for $2.50 each, which is still cheaper than buying a nice one in the store!  I'm not sure how much shipping on these will be either but if you are interested let me know and I'll figure it out.

**UPDATE** I removed the pictures because I left all the cards and earrings with my sister in law in Florida! ha ha  I think she will have good luck selling them down there and I've got so many supplies to make more cards.  I'm going to be working on starting an ETSY page soon and will post my new creations on there.

HOLY YARD SALE!!!  We had an adoption benefit yard sale this past weekend and it was a LOT of work but a great success.  We made almost $1400!! I almost had anxiety (but probably more excitement) on how much stuff I had at my house.  My garage was full and my basement was pretty full.  The donations came  pouring in and the best part is most of it was priced already because it was stuff from other yard sales! That saved me so much time.

The best part of all is that my mom and dad were able to come down mid last week and help me.  Honestly, my mom did a lot of work on Thursday sorting through things.  People were stopping on Thursday while she was organizing things and she ended up making about $240 that day! lol
Thank you so much to everyone who helped whether they donated stuff, brought tables and wracks or volunteered their time to stop by and help us out.  We wouldn't have been able to raise as much money as we did without you!! :)

The sign I made for our front porch!

My little helpers, Caylie and Wesley

Their crazy Mom, Carrie :)

Coach Cotten (McMinnville's Most Eligible Bachelor!!) striking a pose

380 shirts sold!!

I just turned in my 4th t-shirt order this morning and as I was looking back I am completely amazed that we have sold 380 t-shirts to date!!  That is so amazing and I'm so grateful for the support.  I went to the grocery store the other day and the boy who was bagging my groceries had on one of our "support adoption" bracelets.  It made me smile :)  I'm still taking orders for t-shirts but I can only turn them in with quantities of 24 now so if you'd like a t-shirt I do have a few extra at the house but otherwise you might want to drum up 23 friends to get shirts too! ha ha

So as a special thank you to all the people who have bought t-shirts from me, I'd like to post some of the photos they have sent me!  If you've purchased a shirt and would like to send me a photo to post you can send it to monica452@hotmail.com or you can tag me on facebook.

Support from Carrie and Mike (St. Louis, MO)

Thanks Elizabeth!! (Houston, Texas)

Support from Joelle and her little man! (Kansas City, MO)

Thanks Kristen! (Huntersville, North Carolina)

Showing love all the way from Argentina! Thanks Tiff :)

Support from Lara Kate! (McMinnville, TN)

All smiles and support from Beth! (Louisville, KY)

Tommy and his brother, Chris (our Pastor) in Murfreesboro, TN

Love from my brother and sister in law!! (Blue Grass, IA)