News

I don't know that I would actually consider this news at this point, and even if I did, I'm not sure whether to consider it good/bad...I guess it's kind of neutral.

We are considering switching adoption agencies. I'm kind of hesitant, as from what I understand there are some shady adoption agencies doing business over there and I have no idea who those agencies are.

We really, really like our agency. They were one of the first agencies to get relicensed in Vietnam back in January. The problem is that they have only had 4 referrals this whole year so far. Supposedly it's supposed to pick up, as they are adding more provinces, but we haven't seen it yet. Added on top of that is that there are already 40 waiting families ahead of us, and we haven't submitted our final paperwork yet. At this rate, if you do the math, it will take us 10 years! Now I am sure that things will pick up, but still it's frustrating.

We talked to a lady from another agency and she says that they have already placed 18 infants, they have 4 families in Vietnam right now, and 7 more will travel in December. She says that they have waiting children and that thier referral wait time is 4-12 weeks, with travel in an additional 4-12 weeks. So that's that....

In other news, We are having a painting party on Saturday. It should be fun and everyone is invited...although I understand if you have other things to do:). At this point, I think it might just be me and David...and Mark if he is awake. We are going to paint the dining room and kitchen. What color, I am unsure. Hopefully the edges turn out better than my other room that I attempted to paint by myself. I am optimistic that they will, as David brought me a nifty little tool that lets you neatly to edges. (Although I'm not sure they had me in mind when they made that claim.)

Fingerprinting and my second section of my exam tomorrow...

That's about it for the night....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving...we did!

So I am going to bite the bullet and try to hand at the floor sander on Saturday. I figure it can't be too hard! :)

We are also going to go by Lumber Liquidators to look at flooring again this weekend.

Then on Sunday we are going to attend a flooring workshop, then maybe try our hands at doing laminate/hardwood downstairs.

The house has been a mess for so long because we've been waiting to do organization/cleaning/etc until we get everything how we want it.

So wish us luck!!!

Week in Review

I am glad to report that this week is almost over for me--workwise that is.

Week in Review:

Friday-Reversed into Mark's car.
Saturday- Did some shopping; helped my parent's move; birthday party for my brother.
Sunday- Went and watched the game at a friends house; played ping pong for the first time EVER.
Monday- Closed on a home equity loan for upgrades to our house; gave blood (Mark was turned down :) )
Tuesday- Invited David (from work) over and the three of us went to see Borat. It was probably the funniest thing that I've ever seen in my life, although I will admit as a disclaimer probably inappropriately funny.
Wedneday- Dentist appointments for both of us... (we'll see how many cavities THIS dentist says Mark has); I will be putting in my notice at work!!!! :)
Thursday- THANKSGIVING; 4TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY~~

So as you can see, we've had/will have a pretty exciting week!

Talk to you all later!!!!

Well...Here's my answer:

Angel:

That sounds very exciting and is no problem whatsoever. I will say that we have not had this situation before and I am not too sure how that works from a maternity leave standpoint but that is something we can look into. Taking those several weeks off and more if you want is not a problem. If you want to or will need to take more than that off then some of the time might be unpaid because our maternity leave benefit is paid through our short-term disability policy and I would not think that would cover time off for adoptions.

So basically, I can take whatever time I want...and I was thinking it was going to be an issue to take two weeks.....

So officially I have accepted an offer and will start December 11th!!!!

The Search is Over!!!!

Job search that is. I have received two different offers that I've been considering. I've been waiting to announce this because I didn't officially get the second offer until today, though I knew that it was coming.

My choices are:

• A CPA firm located in the same parking lot as my current place of employment. Somewhat better benefits, but over all, I think the two jobs are interchangable. However, the new place offered me an almost 15% pay increase. But it's on the north side still. :(
• A CPA firm located on the corner of Emerson Ave and Edgewood. For those unfamilier with where I live and where this place is located, according to Yahoo!Maps, it is 1.6 miles away. You can't get any better than that! Except that the place is awesome and so are the people who work there. The offer came in a little less than what I was offered at the other place, and part of my salary is based upon us meeting quarterly firm goals, so it's variable. However, no matter what, it's more/as much than what I am making now. Plus it's 1.6 miles away! :)
• I could stay where I am at and keep looking...

Reading my descriptions of the above places, you would think that I have my decision made, but you would be wrong in that assumption. I have one more hurdle...

As most of you already know (I am assuming), we will have to travel to Vietnam to pick up baby Chloe sometime next year. And it's a 2-3 week trip, so I will have to take that time off from work, possibly longer.

I have just sent an email out to the second place informing them of this so that they know about it beforehand. If it is fine with them, then that is the offer I will accept. If not, I will have to decide whether to stick out where I am at until I find something better, or going ahead and accepting the other offer that pays better but is still up North. The problem is that that place up North is a big firm, therefore my absence might not even be noticed. However, the place down south is a very small firm (10 people) so me being gone that long might cause some problems. Hopefully not, I'm just waiting to hear back from them about it...

Until next post....

Progress

We received our appointment to get fingerprinted yesterday. We go on the 29th. Which now that I think about it, might be no good. When I first looked at it, I was thinking next Wednesday, but next Wednesday is the 22nd. The 29th is when I have to take the next portion of my CPA exam. That sucks. So hold on a second, I need to go check the time of my exam............. My exam is at noon and lasts 3 hours, by fingerprinting appt is at 2:15.... hmm.

I think what I am going to do is show up at 10 to try and take my exam see how early I can get in and hope that I am able to make it downtown by 2:15. Wish me luck!!!!!

Introducing...

*****Chloe Alexandra Hunter*****

That is the name we have chosen. For now. Although I don't really see it changing.

We are still waiting on our fingerprinting appointment so that we can get our final document processed, then all we will have to do is wait.

We had a pretty baby-filled weekend. Saturday we went down to Edinburgh to do some outlet shopping. We did A LOT of shopping. We picked out some cute outfits for Chloe. We got 12 month sizes since we don't know how big she'll be when we get her. We probably won't do much more clothing shopping until we get the referral picture so we can better see her size. As a side note, I saw these super-cute pair of tennis shoes at Kohl's that I wanted to get her, but we absolutely have no idea what size her feet would be!

We also got her started on a pretty good book collection. We figure we'll be reading to her a lot, so might as well have a variety!!!!

Also, today we started putting together the armoire that we got for her. As soon as we started, we noticed that there was a crack up one side piece. So we had to take it back and replace it. Other than that, it turned out really well. It's almost completely finished...Mark will probably finish it tomorrow.

Soon we'll have to finish the floor, then her room will almost be done!!!

Well, that's all for now! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Tomorrow's the Big Day...

Although I'm sure it will be tomorrow before you read this, so really it should probably say that today's the big day. But anyway.

I am finally going to sit for the first section of the CPA exam. At noon. I'm SO excited...I can't wait!!!!

Actually that was a lie. I think I would prefer to cut my head off or poke my eye out or something. But it could be worse I suppose.

I'm just praying that I pass and get it over with. It seems like everyone around me is failing it left and right, which has me on edge. But we'll see. I'll report back tomorrow with how I think I did........

Have a great night!!! And good day!!!

Can't Think of a Title...

I'm glad that people are figuring out how to post (although some use the skill more than others :) ) I am sure some of you might be wondering why the process is so complicated. But really it's not. If you choose "other" as your identity, all you have to do is put your name. The only real complicated part is doing the letter input thing at the end.

This is an option that I have added in order for people to post. The reason is that "people" have come up with a way to post spam on your blog. If you have to enter these numbers each time you post, it lessens the likelihood that someone will take the time to post spam and is makes it impossible for the automated responses. I think it really works...the problem is that I've been known to have to enter five sets of numbers until I've actually entered them correctly.

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So I am thinking about getting a digital camcorder. I think that it would be neat to be able to take video while we are over in Vietnam for all you to see.

The problem is that they are somewhat expensive (unless you compare it to the cost of my tires. Which is a prime example of why tires irritate me so much. I would much rather have a digital camcorder than new tires). Plus, we have a regular camcorder right now. Although I'm unsure as to the condition since it was Mark's and I don't think it's been used since I met him. Actually, we may have used it when Sammi was a puppy, I'm not sure.

I'm sure that once we have the baby that we will use the camera more frequently. I've currently got a pro's and con's list going. So I would like to hear your guy's thoughts. Do you think it would be worth upgrading? Would you guys actually watch the videos? Or would you be fine with waiting until we got back?

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I have a little more news, but I think I will wait until next Monday to post about it....

Priceless Moments

Three new (cheapest that I could possibly get plus with coupon) tires for my car....... $350

Supplies and supplements from Natures Cupboard...........................................................$65

Vitamin supplements for the dogs.........................................................................................$20

Supplies purchased to fix the toilet.......................................................................................$35


Watching Mark fix the toilet only to have new leaks pop up...........................................Priceless!

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So today was a pretty expensive day for us. Most of you know how I feel about having to spend money on tires. Unfortunately you have to do what you have to do.

Our downstairs toilet has been messed up for awhile now. We bought a part for it, but Mark (nor anybody else) has made the time to fix it until now. So Mark decides to go for it this weekend. And he did a great job replacing the piece...only to have broken another piece. So we go out last night and get some neww parts that Mark sets out to install. He did a great job with this as well....only to have another part start leaking. So while we were out today, we stop and get another part...which doesn't work. So now Mark is out trying to find yet another part.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not giving Mark a hard time at all...I think he's doing a great job. And really, I don't care how long it takes, as long as it gets fixed eventually. Mark's just going to end up a certified plumber before we actually get it fixed! :):):)

As I'm reading this getting ready to post it, I have a feeling that it doesn't come across as funny as it really is. But trust me...it's hilarious~

Crises Diverted...I Hope.

Well, I (or rather my mom) found a social security card of mine. It has my maiden name on it, but I think it should be ok.

Between the adoption paperwork, my move up north for work, new job search, cramming for the CPA exam, sorting out bills, trying to get the bathroom fixed, all on top of everyday "life" stuff, I think my hormones are way out of wack. Everything seemed to be going ok until I couldn't find my social security card today...that seemed to be the straw that broke something's back (I can't remember how the saying goes).

In some unrelated news, I burnt the crap out of my hand tonight. A boiling hot water burn on top of a steam burn. Four hours later and I am wishing I could chop my hand off....

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I have a website that you guys might find interesting. It is by a family who is in Vietnam right now picking up their baby. There's a lot of information, but what you guys might find especially interesting are the dates on the side of the page. The are basically chronicaling thier time in vietnam. Basically it will give you an idea of what happens once you (we) are in Vietnam to pick up the baby.

www.welcomehomeava.com

Aside from giving you guys information, I sort of have an ulterior motive. I would like to do this same thing. That way we can keep you guys up to date on what's happening with us over there when we go. So if any of you technology savvy people out there can help me with this, I would absolutely apppreciate it!

Stress Test

I've been waiting ever so patiently to get our appointment in the mail to go get fingerprinted by the immigration office in order to get our last form processed. So yesterday I get the letter in the mail and proceed to open it...

Only it's not our appointment letter. It's a letter stating that they need copies of both of our Social Security card's in order to process our paperwork and get an appointment. Which leads to today...

I have spent a great deal of today frantically searching our house and my mom's house for my social security card. I know that I had it at one point, but it seems it's nowhere to be found. I don't understand where it could be. I know that certain people may think that I am disorganized, but in reality, contrary to perception, I can usually find the things that I am looking for.

My level of frustration at this point is currently indescribable. Hopefully I will be able to post later with better news...

I've got a Secret...

I know that we still have awhile yet, but I think we've got a name picked out!!! (Some of the name at least, as we are hoping to be able to use part of her Vietnamese name)