New England in the Fall

My wonderful husband was bumped from a flight a few months back. The airline gave him a voucher to use at a later date. He gave that voucher to me to use for a girls weekend to go visit my friend Jill. What a treat this trip was. It was a much, MUCH, needed girls weekend away with an awesome friend. We had so much fun, a short weekend but packed with fun all the same.

We started with some sightseeing and shopping in Boston on Friday afternoon/evening. Saturday we had a lazy start to the morning, much needed i might add, and then jumped int he car and started driving. We went to Vermont to see all the beautiful fall colors and walked around some cute little, old, towns along the way. We just spent the day gabbing, walking, eating and taking pictures. it was GREAT. On Sunday we again took our time getting ready and then Jill, her husband Steve and I all went to brunch. it was TASTY. Then Jill and I did a little more shopping before we headed for the airport. A whirlwind of a good weekend. Thanks Rich!!

After picking me up at the airport, Jill and I headed to down town Boston to see what trouble we could find. We were able to find and get tickets for the evenings last harbor cruise. We set sail and started sucking in the exhaust from the boat, we didn't keep these seats for long. There is only so much a girl can handle before she needs clean air!

I loved how the sun was setting as we toured. So pretty with all the sail boats and the skyline of Boston.

Pretty nifty shot, if I do say so myself!

Ready to hit Quincy Market

but first, we had to take this opportunity for a picture

APPLES, what are apples doing growing wild on the side of the mountain? My guess is someone threw their apple core out there and it sprouted a big healthy tree!? it was pretty all the same.

Yup, gotta take the "classic pose" picture! :)

FALL, BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL FALL. OH HOW I MISS THEE!!!!!

We stopped to take a picture of this cute little church. It turned out to be a pretty cool stop and lead us to some pretty cool things...

Revolutionary soldiers. Some of the tombstones in this cemetery dated all the way back to the early 1700's. What an interesting find, it was neat to walk around and see the dates and the way family plots were done way back when. Interesting history we just happened to stumble across.

Robert Frost's grave.

LOVE all the different fall colors in that tree...I couldn't take enough pictures of FALL!

We ended the day at a cute little place called The Peppermill. We were a little chilly after the sun set but were happy to have a table outside and near the water. Great food, a great friend and a great weekend!!

I was sad to leave, but as they say all good things must come to an end. Until the next girls weekend!!

Balloon Fiesta

We started our morning before the sun came up. We went high up on a hill in Rio Rancho that was over looking the launch site of the Balloon Fiesta. This is the 40th year of the annual event and I wanted to see a mass ascension. WOW was it worth it. Even though it was COLD, it was well worth getting up and going to see.

Sun rise, what a beautiful backdrop to such a great event.

on Saturday, the first day of the event, there was reported to be over 555 balloons that launched. Rich and I counted over 100 on Sunday morning. We were a WEEEE bit off, the radio later reported that there were over 500 that launched on Sunday. ABSOLUTELY a must see event!

After we saw all the balloons launch, and after I took tons of pictures, Rich and I decided to go get breakfast at a near by IHOP. What a great idea. We we able to see all the balloons fly over head and do the basket skips in the river. We were even able to catch this balloon land as we left.

We wanted, and by "we" i mean ME, to catch the color of the Sandia Mountains at sunset. It turns a watermelon color at sunset, which is where it got the name "Sandia".

We are waiting, at the balloon grounds, for the night glow to begin.

Seeing all of these balloons lit up was A-MA-ZING!! Something everyone should see at least once!

The balloon behind us we were able to watch from start to finish. It started as a heap of balloon carnage and came to life before our very eyes. It was spectacular.

We were able to walk around between all the balloons and get up close and personal with them. was so very neat to see.

SO PRETTY! This is one of my favorite pictures from the night.

We were even able to see some of the silly shapes go up. This is Spidey Pig. There was also a butterfly and two bumble bees, a few aliens, a beer bottle, a strawberry and some weird looking thing we were never able to decide what it was, but we did know it was wearing a halo.

Hotel Rupanovic will be open next year, make your reservations early as we tend to fill up fast! :D

Below is a short video of the balloons lit up at the same time. The announcers would count down for all the balloons to lit up at the same time. I cant tell you enough how awesome this was. I am so very thankful that we were able to experience this!!

Paradise for a week

For our first anniversary Rich and I were able to go to Aruba for the week and stay at a golf resort right off the beach. It was absolute paradise! We actually won, yes that's right I said WON, this trip while on our honeymoon. That's the way to do it! :)

These "little" guys were all over the place. We were told they are a delicacy in Aruba. I had NO desire to even entertain the possibility of trying it. NO THANK YOU.

On our last full day in Aruba Rich and I went to the butterfly farm. If you know me, you know I took a gazillion pictures. It was SO beautiful and I didn't want to leave.

Our last full day in Aruba. It was a beautiful day and an absolutely breathtaking sunset. It was such a nice week away. We didn't talk about work or adoption or anything that could possible bring on stress. It was nice to get away for the week and just enjoy each other and celebrate the first year of our marriage.

It was July 4th and Aruba "knows who their sugar daddy is" (according to Rich). The put on a great fireworks show. What a great way to end our week. We are truly blessed!

A week in Texas

In June I was able to go to Austin and visit my family for a few days before heading on to Corpus Christi for the Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf conference.

Mom playing baseball with the kids, Michael was playing catcher and David was pitching. Blythe and I were the cheerleaders.

I was showing Blythe and David the "draw" feature on our new camera, they thought this was cool (and so do I) :)

Blythe and Michael with Aunt Chelle. I had a great time at home, it was good to see the kids and have a little time with my mom and family. Though it was a short trip, I was glad I was able to make it!

When I was in DC in May, I was able to sweet talk Missie into going to Texas with me for the TSID conference. There is nothing like some good M&M time!! It was a great conference and it was awesome getting more time with Missie!!!

Adoption Update:

So its been a while since I have posted anything, its time to get caught up:

After traveling to DC this past May I came back home for a few weeks and worked worked worked. Rich and I were able to discuss and decide that we were going to jump back into the adoption process, this time using a domestic agency that specializes in new born babies. After calling and asking some questions of the agency, we decided to go with Heart to Heart Adoptions. They are based out of Utah but have mothers from all over the country.

We filled out the application, got our home study amended, had supporting documents (back ground checks, finger prints etc) sent and reference letters written and sent to the new agency. We also had to do a profile of who we are, basically our life story in a cute little presentation. Thanks to my mom and her smarts, we were able to do this fairly painlessly by creating a photo book. I worked on this book non-stop for 3 days. The first day alone I worked on it for 11 hours. With the help of Missie, Sheila, Mandy and a few others this was created, edited and printed all within one week. We received the books in short order, signed them and then put them back in the mail to the agency so that they had everything they needed for us to work with them. Then the waiting began...

(this is the link to our book if you are interested in taking a look):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=724382913606%3A2141145167&type=product&sourceld=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Project-_-Sharee

Las Vegas Anyone? YES PLEASE!

Over Memorial Day weekend Rich and I went to Las Vegas with some friends to celebrate Tom's birthday. This was my first time in Vegas and it was a great weekend. We were able to get away fromt he reality of the adoption upset that was handed to us the week before and just enjoy ourselves with some good friends and good laughs!

While in Vegas, Rich and I went to the Cirque Du Soleil Mystere show at Treasure Island. This was an amazing show. If you find yourself in Vegas, you should go!!!

Jenn and Stephanie with the days public service announcement: "Spooning leads to forking"

Rich and I also went to Madame Tussauds while we were there. I think I had more fun than Rich did posing with the figures!

See, we could join the Blue Man Group!!

After we left Vegass Rich and I made a stop at Hoover Dam on our way home.

We even took a tour of the power plant. This was pretty cool!!

It was a great weekend and I am glad we made the trip! Can't wait for the next trip!

Not very comforting!

This post is straight from my heart and very real. This is not meant to make anyone mad or feel anything more than a better understanding of what I am feeling right now!!!

As I began to tell friends and family about the loss of Katia, a common thread began to appear. Many people said the same thing to me, while meant to be comforting it wasn't. Most of the loved ones and friends I decided to share this information with, via Facebook, text and phone calls, said virtually the same thing "It just wasn't meant to be" or some variation of this statement. Despite all efforts, this was not comforting and this did not dull the pain any.

While most of you know me and know that I am a "glass half full" kind of person and that I am a firm believer in "If its meant to be it will be", I am not in the right frame of mind for those comments. These statements did not make me feel any better. This is not something I am capable of telling myself and believing right now.

This loss is essentially my miscarriage. For the last 7 months of my life this little girl has been mine, she has been at the center of my thoughts and conversations and excitement since October, and now she is gone. Women who are pregnant and have a miscarriage these types of statements, "It wasn't meant to be", are not said to them. This is not something that you would say because it doesn't make sense and it doesn't offer any comfort. So why say it to an adoptive parent who loses their child? Its the same thing, and it does not provide the comfort you were hoping for! In fact, it hurts more. These statements (again, I realize they are meant to show support and comfort) make it all the more clear that FEW people realize what this feels like and what I am going through and feeling at this moment. It makes me feel even more alone in this situation because there is no feeling of understanding or empathy that I so dearly need right now.

While the logical and rational side of me is happy for Katia and happy that she will have a family to call her own, this doesn't make my pain any less real or the loss any less tangible. I know that this process is completely out of my hands and that there is a child out there that needs us just as much as we need them, that doesn't make this loss any less painful. I know that we will be parents when it is our time and I know that God has a plan for us, but right now I need time to grieve. I need time to grieve the loss of my daughter, the one who I have dreamt about and loved for the past 7 months. I had no idea that my heart could love, and be broken, so much by a little girl that I have never met. My heart and I need time to heal from this.

I do not know when Rich and I will pick back up and begin the adoption process again and if we will do domestic or international adoption. Right now, Rich and I need to be together and process this hurt and loss as a couple and decide what our next step will be. It has been a long, emotional week and with Rich and I STILL not being in the same state we have not had the time to sort through our feelings as husband and wife. I am hoping that he makes it home tomorrow (all flights were cancelled today) and that we can just be together and grieve as a family before we pick up and decide what to do next.