Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas Eve



Merry Christmas!


John and I wish everyone a very blessed and peaceful Christmas.
It is our prayer (which I am sure is joined with everyone who is waiting for their child as well), that next year at this time, we are all home with our little ones.
As I've noted with many of my blogger friends, today is a happy day although bittersweet, as many of us had felt that we'd be to China and back already.
Regardless, John and I are so thankful for all we have been blessed with, and we wish you all God's perfect peace and blessings for 2007.
Enjoy your day!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Christmas Day Is Almost Here!

Where has December gone? The last time I checked it was still the day after Thanksgiving, and now Christmas Eve is only 3 days away!! Oh, I know.... I've spent it working, shopping, wrapping, working, shopping, wrapping...get the idea??
In all this hustle and bustle though, I stop and remember "the reason for the season"!, we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Peace and good will toward men is something we all need to practice every day, not just from Thanksgiving to New Years.
Along with the above busy activities, decorating the house and our Christmas tree, also took considerable time this year. I felt like we would never get finished. We're still "tweaking" here and there.

This is when the tree was just about done, and before our Christmas present to each other. See if you can guess what that is??
If you said the curtains and new valance, then you are right!! We decided to pool our resources and do what needs to be done in and outside the house, so things are ready for when we finally bring Renee home. Yes the draperies need to be ironed a bit, but we were so anxious to get them up to see how they'd look!!
Also, note below the 3 light blue wrapped packages. They are my December Secret Pal gifts, and will be opened Christmas morning!!!
Lastly, here is a picture of the Christmas lights John put up this year. He is just a kid at heart and loves all holidays, especially Christmas.

Hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful, joy filled and happy holiday!









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Saturday, December 09, 2006

Look What I Made!


My partner at work, Karen, belongs to a group called "Homemakers" and they meet every Wednesday evening and "craft". I've looked into it and there are groups closer to where I live. I'm thinking of joining as I love to "craft" too.
Karen showed me pictures of a wreath she had made out of fabric and it was awesome! So she told me how to make one and so I gave it a try. The results are above and below.

The view above shows where I've placed the wreath. It's on my dining room wall just off the kitchen. My plans are to create a "Tuscany" feeling in the kitchen and dining room, so I chose to do the wreath in rich colors, like deep green, burgundy, purple. It's really easy to make. Hope you like it!!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Gone Fishin'


Any one who knows my husband John,knows that he is an avid fisherman. It is his hobby and his passion. He truly believes the saying "A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work!!".
John was informed by a good friend of his, that there was a "blitz" (that means lots of fish :-)), of striped bass off the south shore of Long Island where we live.
John is what is known as a "surf caster", which means he fishes right off the beach. He has a special "4 wheel drive pass", that allows him to drive directly onto the beach with his truck.
Well, to make a long story short. Last night (yes I said night), John went fishing and caught the above pair of striped bass. He came home extremely cold, but extremely happy!!
I'm not a big fan of striped bass, to me it tastes really "gamey and fishy :-)", I like fluke and flounder. So...since our freezer is already overflowing with frozen fish he has already caught, John provided the neighborhood with fresh fish last night!!

Holiday Party with the FCC- Long Island!



On Sunday, John and I attended the annual FCC "Families With Children From China" Long Island Chapter, annual holiday party at the Dominican Village in North Amityville. We really enjoyed ourselves. My favorite part was watching all the little ones in their beautiful holiday clothes, dancing to the DJ.
It was a "Brunch" menu, and was delicious.
John got to meet "Maya", our friend Tina's 11 month old daughter. They have just been home about 2 months. It warmed my heart to see how Maya took to John. They looked adorable together. We hope that our Renee will be with us by for the next holiday party.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

The CCAA Site Has Been Updated!


The CCAA updated their site on November 30th!! Congratulations to all who received their referrals!, including our friends Barbara and Dave, who have finally after 15 months (from LID) seen their daughter Maya! John and I are just ecstatic for them!!!
I'm now waiting to see the CCAA update the review date at the top. It now reads, January 31st, 2006. John and I will breath a sigh of relief when it reads "March 31st, 2006", as that would mean that our dossier has made it through the "review room". The next step would be matching us with our daughter. Oh my, just the thought makes me weak with excitement.
How much longer do we have to wait???? Well, that all depends on the CCAA, and how many children they assign each month. The wait from LID to referral has increased to approximately 15.5 months. So, based on that, we might receive our referral in June 2007. If the CCAA should suddenly speed up, than we could see the referral sooner (but I really doubt that), but if they continue to slow down, it could take longer.
Part of the reason that I haven't posted that much (I think), is I've just been a "ball" of emotions. Not sure how else to describe it. Although I'm not emotional outwardly; I don't cry at the drop of a hat, and I'm surely not depressed either, I just haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like (or see other's do).
I think I know some ways to make that easier on myself. I intend to get a new cell phone that can take pictures as I hate it when I forget my camera (and that happens way to often!). I always have my cell phone with me, so since our contract year is up, John and I are going to get new phones !! (as soon as I can get him to the store :-)!!)
Also I have a new lap top!!!! When I left my last job I had to give back my work lap top, and I've missed it ever since. Our home computer is a Dell, and Dell (great advertising on their part)kept snail mailing and emailing us sales circulars. Early November (I spent almost all of Election Day waiting for UPS!) we finally decided to purchase a lap top. I am now blogging on my Inspiron E1505 and I love it!! It's sure easier to blog from here at my dining room table then go downstairs to the office. I'm also thinking about how great it will be to blog from China on it, when we finally travel to get Renee. I just need to load my digital camera software, so that I can load pictures on it as well as on our home computer.
So, I WILL blog more often. For me, for whomever may read it... for Renee... bottom line is I just will.

"God is greater than man. Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words? For God does speak-now one way, now another-though man may not percieve it."
-Job 33:12-14
 

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