Happy 8 Month Anniversary!!

Today is the 8th month anniversary of our dossier being logged in at the Chinese Center For Adoption Affairs (CCAA).
Rumors say that the CCAA may be matching as we speak, hopefully they will get through most of September 2005. That's my hope, because that would keep us on target for a 14 to 15 month referral. That would mean receiving our referral May or June and traveling this summer. Oh, how wonderful that would be!!!!

The CCAA Site Has Been Updated!

The CCAA has been pretty busy this week! First on November 2nd, the CCAA website was updated that referrals had been made up to August 25th 2005. Then 24 hours later, they updated the review section to show they've completed the review of dossiers up to January 31st, 2006!!
What does that mean...?? Well, first off congratulations to all the August 10th through 25th families who have received their referrals. Many blessings do I wish you all!!! For those August families with log in dates from the 26th through the 31st, you are in my prayers as well. I know how hard this must be for you, and now you can be as certain as possible that you will see pictures of your babies next!!!

Secondly, it means that families with January 2006 log in dates, can now breath easier as they have passed the review phase. What does this mean for John and I??? Well, since our log in date is March 22, 2006, there is a good chance that the CCAA is now reviewing February and March 2006. Which means we are finally in the review phase!! Phew!!

John and I are hesitantly optimistic. The wait is long, but getting shorter, day by day and hour by hour.

Part 5- The Trip Home

We caught some awesome pictures getting ready to drive home, and as we made our way back home. The trip home took almost 2 hours. I forget how "long" this island actually is. What an awesome day we had.

Look at the sky, isn't it miraculous looking?? The clouds suddenly came up just as we got to the point. We had a couple of quick drops of rain, some wind, but that was it.
Last but not least, this is the beautiful sunset we were able to catch as we headed back west. What a great day!!!

Part 4- Our Trip to the "Orient" Continued

I have been trying to post the rest of our pictures from our Saturday "adventure" on the north shore of Long Island, and blogger, for whatever reason has not been letting me upload the pictures. But note above, that we were only 9 miles away from Orient Point, the northern most tip of the north fork of Long Island.

Here we are, this is the northern most point of Long Island.

Here is the ferry at Orient Point that will take you to New London, Conneticut

Week In Review: Part 3- A Visit to the "Orient"

Yesterday, we decided to get into the car and head east!! We live on Long Island and what a beautiful island it is in the fall. Here we are driving (actually north by this point). We decided to visit the north shore of the island and then go as far east as you can. Which is "Orient Point". The leaves are changing in spots, there is lots of color. I think we'll peak this week coming.




Aren't the mums beautiful, what colors. We visited Lewin farms next store for fresh vegetables, oh and a couple more candy apples :-)
We also stopped at Roanoake Vineyards. There are many vineyards on the north shore. We did some wine tasting. Even John enjoyed, even thought he really isn't a wine drinker. Picked up some good wine for the holidays. Here is a picture of a vineyard (sorry if blurred, we were moving at the time).



We stopped for a late lunch (or early dinner!) in Greenport, as the sign notes below we have only 9 miles left till we reach the northeastern tip of Long Island!
PS blogger is getting "Kvetchy", I'll try to post the rest a little later.

The Week in Review: Part 2-Anniversary Dinner

Thursday night October 12th, was our 4th wedding anniversary. Yes John remembered!
Not sure where he hid it, but their was a beautiful bouquet of peach colored roses waiting for me when I woke up that morning.
Later that day, although I had been feeling rather poorly that day, we kept our tradition up and went to the Snapper Inn for dinner. We were married there under a tent in the pouring rain!!, but it was one of the happiest and most fun days of my life!!!
The picture above is what you see when you drive up to the Snapper Inn, John asked why it wasn't a Snapper?? Good question,don't know. Well we had a wonderul dinner! The Snapper has a dinner special on Thursday nights (how perfect!!) called the Shore special of lobster, mussels, clams, barbaque chicken and red potatoes. Yumm, not to mention soup or salad before and dessert after. We enjoyed the dinner so much.
And afterwards, visited the tent were we said our vows 4 years ago. The last 4 years have been awesome, filled with lots of love and many blessings. We thank the Lord for bringing us together and for blessing us with this wonderful marriage, and ask the Lord to continue to be with us as we wait for our daughter to join us.

The Week In Review: Part 1- Pumpkin Picking

Lots of fun things to share this week. Should have posted at least three times. Well here is everything today, though seperated out for easy viewing :-)

Went pumpkin picking with my sister Karen, my niece and nephew, Dana and Anthony and our friends Cheryl and her son Corey. What a beautiful day! Here's Dana on a tractor.


Here is Dana, Anthony and Corey as we enjoy a hay ride.



Dana and I were the "brave" ones, we took on the corn maze while the rest of the group picked out pumpkins.

See why we were brave?? "Welcome all you yummy boys and girls", what exactly is in that corn field?
Whew!!!
We found the exit!!


Here is Dana eating her "First" candy apple. Her Aunt Suzi had one too :-). We had a blast and really enjoyed the day.

Renee's Room Update

Sorry for not posting sooner. Gosh where does the time go!!
Saturday my sister Karen, my niece Dana and I went to the annual "Autumn Moon" picnic for the FCC-Families with Children From China) of Long Island Waiting group. It's actually for both waiting families and families who have already returned with their children. It was held at Belmont Lake State Park. It was chilly under the trees! Dana made a monkey puppet, personalized little bags for her and Renee, and we both made a daisy lady bug catcher. Oh, and we ate "moon cake cookies", yum.
My sister kept noting how adorable all the children were. I can't wait till we bring home "our own adorable" little girl.
Now on to the "Renee Room Update".
If you remember the last pictures, we were just taking down the furniture, spackling the walls...essentially the prep work. Well, John has made a lot of progress...

The room is painted but the new carpet has not yet been put down.

New padding in place for the new carpet.

New carpet in place, changing table and rocking chair in position!

John putting the crib together.


Voila, crib now put together and the border is up!!!
I realize it may be months and months till we receive Renee's referral and ultimately travel to China, but I can't express what joy there is to just sit in the room (and rock!)and pray for our daughter whom ever and where ever she is. It's a peaceful feeling that I hope stays with me for the rest of our waiting time.

Happy Anniversary!

Boy did I scare John yesterday morning! I woke him up by saying "Happy Anniversary".
He bolted up in bed and said "Oh no!" (our wedding anniversary is October 12th and for some unknown reason he remembers it as September 12th so he thought he had missed it!). I quickly calmed his fears and reminded him that it was our "6" month anniversary for our dossier being logged in, in China.
Visably calmed, he layed back down for a couple more minutes of snooze time and I got ready for work :).
But yes, it's been 6 whole months since our dossier left and was logged in to China. Rumours on the web say that the CCAA may be reviewing March dossiers as we speak, and they have completed December 2005. Only place to go from there is 2006, Hip Hip Hooray!!
I wish Happy Anniversary as well to all my friends on the Marching Panda Yahoo group, as day by day we all are reaching that 6 month landmark!!
We are still at least 6-8 months away from receiving our referral for Renee, but, inevitably time is moving forward, however slow it feels, it still moves along.
On Renee's room:
John has completed painting, and I think we've picked out the carpet color.
I'll post later with photo's and the details!
Till then... Happy Saturday!

We've Started Working on Renee's Room!

The rumors on the web have been depressing me (increasing wait times till referral), so I said to John that what I thought would cheer me up, would be to start on Renee's room. Well...this weekend we started by clearing out all the office furniture and bringing it down to the new office in our finished basement. The house looked like a bomb went off, with books, journals, papers, furniture all over as it was all brought down stairs. Now I have to organize the office, I'll get that done, soon...
So, I took a couple of pics of the "before" of Renee's room so you can see where we began. We have lot's of work to do. John started by taking down shelving and spackling. I'm actually leaning on Renee's bedroom furniture!!
Oh, we chose the paint color for Renee's room, it's so beautiful. It's called "Cascading Water". No it's not blue but a very pale green. When I placed the bedding set on top, the pink just "popped". Trust me this room will be gorgeous when we are all done!!!!
Well, I'm sitting on the floor of this room cause that's where the computer is right now. I've gotten the PCI card so we can move the computer downstairs and still be connected to the internet. Just have to install it. Ugh. Will get that done too!
15 more days till our 6 month LID anniversary!! Woweeeee!!

Our One Year Anniversary and Time Line

I was thinking back to last year this time, and I realized that as of today, it's a year since we began our journey. Wow!
Last year on this date, I believe we were traveling home from "Camp Hope", actually Camp Taconic in upstate NY. We had just spent a blessed week with our church Calvary Chapel of Hope and it was Friday and John and I were driving back home.
Let me back up a little bit. I had received a packet of information from La Vida International (our adoption agency), in January of that year (2005), about adopting from China. Looked it over briefly, but new in my heart that John and I weren't ready. So I prayed that the Lord would reveal to me what I, and John should do. Well, while at camp, I felt the Lord urging me that "it was time", so on the way home from camp (it's about a 2-3 hour drive) I decided to talk to John about adopting from China, and specifically I asked him if he would watch the video with me that La Vida had sent me. John just said "sure". How one little word changed our lives!!
We both were never the same after watching the video. That Monday, I called La Vida and the wheels went into motion.
We were officially accepted by La Vida on September 6th, 2005 just after Labor Day, and that was when our official "paper chase" began.
Our home study began in October 2005 and was finally completed in December 2005.
We were fingerprinted on January 21, 2006 for our immigration approval and received that approval about 4 weeks later. That official form once authenticated and sealed completed our dossier, and our dossier left for China on March 6, 2006.
We were logged in on March 22, 2006 and just celebrated the 5 month mark.
Currently the wait till referral has been slowly increasing and is now to 13-14 months.
That means that as of now, it looks like we won't receive any news about Renee till at least April or May 2007, or later.
Well, that's where we are up to as of today. We are now 1 year into what may be a much longer journey then originally thought. As always, we give thanks and praise to our Lord, and look to Him for all we need during this wait.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy. Proverbs 13:12

Yesterday Was Our 5 Month Anniversary!!

August 22, 2006 was our 5 month LID anniversary!! Our dossier was logged in to the CCAA on March 22, 2006. Wow, 5 months to go on what looks like to be a 12-13 month wait till we receive our referral. So, we have at least another 7-8 months left to wait. I don't know where in processing our dossier is, but I know for sure we won't be in the "matching room" for a while longer. That's OK, we are 5 months closer to meeting our daughter Renee!!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you To Our Secret Pal!

Several months ago I joined a Yahoo group for all of us who had a dossier sent to or logged in to China in March of 06. We are the "Marching Pandas". I have been involved in not only the 100 Wishes Quilt Swap, but also the Secret Pal Gift Exchange as well.
I'll post on the quilt swap shortly, but in regards to the secret pal swap. I have a secret pal that sends me awesome gifts each month, and I have a secret pal that I send gifts to each month.

Every month has a theme, August being "Animals". Previous months themes have been: baby bath time, nursery theme & colors, pamper the parents, and meal time accessories. I have in the last 4 month received just beautiful gifts for Renee (and John and I as well!) from our secret pal. We are supposed to reveal our identities in January during our "cyber baby shower"!
What good memories I will have of the time I spent waiting and preparing for Renee's arrival. It helps to make the loooong wait that much more bearable. Not only that, but I'll be able to share these memories with Renee as she grows.

So concerning the animals theme this month, my secret pal sent me socks with little animals on them and two gorgeous outfits. I hope the picture I took above helps you to see how lucky I am!! Thank you secret pal you are the greatest (whoever you are!!).

It's Been a Rough Month

I know I promised to post more frequently, but the last month has been rather rough emotionally with family issues related to illness. Although I didn't post, reading everyone else's blogs helped me so much, thank you to you all.

Happy Birthday To Me!! and Catch-Up Time!

Here I sit with so much to say, I'm not sure where to start. This wouldn't happen if I'd post more often. I will make a concerted effort to do just that. I am also going to start to carry my camera with me at all times, just in case something exciting or interesting happens. I feel kinda dopey to say I've been here or there, or done this or that, and then can't show you any photographic evidence. I don't know about you, but I'm a very visual person and a picture "speaks a thousand words".

So...let me start with the picture above. Tomorrow is my birthday!! The flowers on the left were delivered yesterday from my wonderful husband, gosh I love ya honey!!
I have to work tomorrow, but on Saturday night we're going to my favorite Sushi restaurant, yummo!!! No I didn't forget to tell you how old I'll be, I just forgot myself :-)!


This past Saturday was our 4 month!!! LID anniversary. Our "dossier" has been logged in with the CCAA for 4 whole months!!!! Let's not talk about how long this is taking, I'm trying not to think about that.

Last Friday was my last day at my old job. The flowers above on the right are from my colleagues. They also gave me a gift certificate to Toys R US Baby, how cool! I finished off my traveling for the job last week in Maryland. I brought my niece and nephew with me so they could visit with my Dad and Colleen. We all had a great time. The kids were great for both 4 hour drives to and from.

Today I started my new job! No rest for the weary this summer, I need to accrue all the time off I can for the trip to China.

It looks like some July O5 LID's are just about to receive their referrals, I wish them much congratulations and pray they see the pictures of their precious little ones very soon.

Birthday photos to follow, I promise :-).

Sniffle, Sniffle...

Well, I did it. I caught John's "summer cold". Sorry honey it's not your fault. Not your fault that you brought the germs home to begin with. Only kidding. Only problem is that I'm not home. I'm now in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Before that I was in Charleston, West Virginia. Both areas are very green, very beautiful and actually mountainous. This from a girl who is not even used to small hills, living as close as we do to the south shore of Long Island. One thing about West Virginia that I noticed was that people are allowed to smoke in restaurants/bars. In NY, you are not allowed to smoke in restaurants and even bars as well. A lot of people complained initially, but now it's just generally accepted. I'm not a smoker, never have been, so cigarette smoke bothers me a lot, and with a cold to boot...yuck.
What I noticed about northeast Pennsylvania, is that people drive really fast on the interstate, faster than I do at any rate. And I'm doing 65, wow, not to mention the constant big rigs passing me by too. I'm driving a Chrysler Sebring convertible (my rental car). It's really nice, only it's been cloudy and stormy since I've been here, so no taking the top down :-(. I'm flying home today, just hope I can stop sneezing long enough to get on the plane. I feel sorry for the poor people around me. I hope I don't spread my cold to them.
Been reading the many rumors on the web concerning how the referrals with go for July and how that will carry over for future months. It's like riding a roller coaster actually. One minute you're up thinking things will speed up, only to read something else that says things will remain slow and possibly slow further. It's enough to drive you nuts. John and I just pray everyday that this journey progress as the Lord directs. We know this journey is in His hands.
Got to get going, got to get ready and get back to the airport.

You Lord are all I have and you give me all I need,
my future is in your hand.
How wonderful are your gifts to me;
how good they are. Psalm 16:5-6

Trying to Perfect My Blogging Technique

I hope you can view the video it was my first attempt. I'm learning how to "blog" as I go along. I'm still trying to figure out how to do a couple of things that I have seen other bloggers do. I wonder if there is a course on blogging?? :-).
I'd love to take it, it gets frustrating sometimes when things to come out like I'd like them to.

Happy Belated July 4th

Tuesday was a great fun filled day. I spent the morning "boating" with Anthony, Karen and the kids, as well as Corey and his parents. We set the anchor and just "lounged" for a couple of hours, enjoying the scenery and the weather (warm and hazy). I didn't realize how strong the sun actually was, with sunscreen, I got a nice burn on my back that I didn't feel till well into the evening :-(.
John went to see Amanda march in the annual Massapequa Fourth of July Parade and joined me later on.
Here is Karen, Cheryl and I.

Dana taking a snooze!

Here's Anthony Sr, Jr and Corey


Later that afternoon we went to Karen and Anthony's house for a BBQ, with lots of good food, yum (oops I enjoyed and started my diet again on the 5th :-))

Later in the evening we saw some great fireworks, not only on TV (the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display was awesome), but also in our neighborhood. New Yorkers love this holiday and set off a lot of colorful fireworks to celebrate.

A Big Decision Made This Week

Two posts today. Last post was about a fun trip to Las Vegas with my company. This post is to tell you of a big decision I made (with John's help) this week. I've decided to take a new job and leave this wonderful company that I've been working for, for almost the past 2 years.
Why would I leave a job that I love?? Well if you notice I'm always talking about trips to other states, and freqent trips at that. When John and I decided to start this adoption process, many people asked me how I was going to be able to travel once we brought Renee home. Well, we both hadn't thought that far.
I came to realize that I would need to work close to home. Renee would have enough issues with bonding after leaving China, my frequent trips away would not help the process, but could cause more harm as well.
So, I was told of a position in my nurse speciality (I'm a clinical nurse specialist) at a hospital in the area. I decided to take it, especially when I researched that they had on site day care available. So I'll start my new job at the end of July.
On a happy note...the June referrals went out the beginning of this week.
Visit www.salsainchina.blogspot.com to see the blogs of families who received the gift of a life time this week.

The Red Rock Inn In Las Vegas

This is where I went for my "mid-year" meeting with my company. I know I'm a bit late, I was there over 2 weeks ago, but wanted to show the pictures of my room because I didn't think I could describe how wonderful it was. The only problem was that John wasn't there to enjoy it with me :-(. Don't know if you can make it out, but the Vegas strip is in the distance.


Now that's what I call a bed!!


How about that bathroom!!


How about the tub??


By the way, note the flat screen TV above the tub, I was in TV heaven!! John knows, I'd put a TV in every room if I could!!
I was there for 4 days, working hard, but had a great time!!!