Dorissa Blog

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T08:24:00.002-05:00

Nothing terribly important to say...except Happy New Year!!

2008 was an interesting year for us...But I think 2009 is going to be better!!

USCIS Petition for I-600A vs. I-800A

2008-10-09T09:05:00.002-04:00

I borrowed this post from a message that I received from our adoption agency...not only are we affected by this, but many, many, many other families are as well. I know that Matthew & I, along with all adoptive families that will be affected by this, would appreciate any help that we can get...please see the link at the end of the post to see how you can help!

USCIS Petition for I-600A vs. I-800A

While agencies and families were initially told that cases that began as I-600A cases could continue as I-600A cases, USCIS later communicated that there would be only one free renewal of the I-600 application after which a family would have to switch to the I-800 process.

The concern with this is that many families will become ineligible under the I-800A process. For example, families that were LID prior to the CCAA's New May 1, 2007 eligibility guidelines, but do not currently meet them.

Beginning in May 2008, Joint Council has been actively engaged with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of State (DOS), the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) and Members of Congress in seeking a positive resolution to the I-600A renewal issue. In spite of Joint Council's advocacy USCIS has not yet provided a feasible solution to this problem, though there are some positive steps reported. In support of this effort Joint Council is asking all member organizations and prospective adoptive parents to take the action. IF THESE ACTIONS DO NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, Joint Council will launch the Prospective Adoptive Parent 10,000 Initiative which will engage families in a more intense and targeted way.

Please visit the Joint Council on International Children's Services page for petition and information on how to sign this petition.

Blog Facelift

2008-10-07T10:39:00.002-04:00

I don't know if anyone out there even reads this blog, but I finally gave it a facelift! At one time, my husband had customized the heck out of Dorissa Blog, but we somehow lost the images along the way and we just never fixed it. I was tired of the boring look to the blog, so feeling inspired by Shana's blogs (Sophie Lu, Oliver Michael, & Sasha Lili), I decided to try to customize it all on my own. (ok...Matthew helped a little...) I found some cool digital scrapbooking stuff from Shabby Princess that I liked and used it to glam up the place! It's not perfect...but considering that I am the least technically saavy person out there (ok, not really...I do know some who are less geeky than me), I think I did a pretty good job!

I'm only just starting to figure out Photoshop Elements. I can do pretty simple stuff so far and i'm getting better by the day!

Revenge & a Theater Rant

2008-10-06T09:08:00.003-04:00

So...I call Matthew on my home from a breakfast meeting on Saturday to find out that he's itching to see the movie Religulous. I agreed to go and see it with him that afternoon. I'll admit that the movie did have its funny spots, but it's not really the kind of movie that I prefer seeing on the big screen. So, to exact my revenge...

I made him go see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist later that night! I actually really enjoyed the movie! I prefer to see a movie that doesn't make you think too much. It's my escape from reality. Some favorites so far this year have been Sex and the City and Mamma Mia. Matthew hated it...well that's what he said anyway. I think he secretly liked it...he laughed quite a bit of the movie!

Matthew and I go to the movies frequently. Might as well get it out of our system now before Dorissa comes home, right? Plus we have a really nice brand new movie theater just down the road from us. The prices are really good and the theater is really nice! It doesn't cost us much more than $20 to go and see a movie...and that includes 2 movie tickets, a bucket of popcorn (with BBQ and white cheddar seasonings sprinkled on top), and 1 large (HUGE) drink. Our theater has a deal where you can purchase this bucket (we now have two because we can never agree on what seasoning to top the popcorn with) and you can get it refilled twice per visit to the theater for free and it's good for about 6 months (depending on when you buy it). The bucket was $10. Deal of the century!! Plus they have drink stations where you can get free refills of soda/pop/whatever you choose to call it. I also get coupons via e-mail for discounted bags of popcorn with a free drink. Popcorn refills (if you buy a bag and not the bucket) are only 25 cents! On any size!

We didn't see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist at our theater. I had received a gift card for an AMC theater...so we went down to Castleton to check out the new theater at the mall. Eh. It was alright. My gift card was for $35. I STILL had to pay 25 cents towards our goodies! I'm not complaining, of course, but it was really expensive. We had 2 movie tickets, 2 hot dogs (popcorned out from the earlier movie adventure), 1 large (HUGE) drink, and a box of chocolate covered raisins. Oh and a package of Oreo Cakesters. They were $1. Our movie night totalled $35.25. How on earth do people afford this on a regular basis?

I think we'll stick with our theater. I love our theater. It's got an IMAX screen (nothing quite like seeing the Joker from The Dark Knight larger than life....eeek!). It's quiet...not many know about it's existence yet...the seats are really nice and cushy and comfy...the goodies are reasonably priced...and they have deals on movie tickets, depending on the time of day. They have matinee, twilight, and late movie ticket deals. I've even gone to the movies twice by myself! I NEVER do that!

Plus it's 5 minutes from my house...:)

Happiness...

2008-10-03T09:26:00.002-04:00

I had a friend ask me last night "how do you know if you're truly happy?" How do you answer that? I can only answer based on my experience.

I know that I am truly happy because I look forward to each day that I get to spend with my husband. I still get butterflies when I see him after a long day apart. I can't wait to see him at the end of the day. He knows what I need to hear, even if I say nothing at all.

He pushes me to be the person that he knows that I can be every day. He knows me better than I know myself...and knows exactly when he needs to back off or when I need a little push in the right direction. He's my rock...

I guess I don't really have an answer about how to know if you're truly happy...I just know that I am :)

Back in the saddle again

2008-09-28T12:32:00.003-04:00

Well, after a slight hiatus from the adoption world, we're back! Kind of...

With the wait for China becoming longer and longer with every day that passes, I was becoming incredibly discouraged. I was beginning to get that feeling of dread...that this will never happen. When I started feeling that way, I decided that it was time to take a break. I still read all of the rumors online and read the updates from the various adoption-related groups that I've joined. But things kind of changed for me yesterday...

We attended our agency's China meeting. It's really a support group, more or less, for those of us still waiting. My husband and I had decided that since there have been so many changes both with our agency and the China program in general, that we should probably go ahead and attend the meeting. While there, we got to meet three families who have adopted children from China...two families having returned with their daughters just this year. Little Amelia stole my heart! She was so animated throughout the meeting and her parents took the time to chat with us a bit after the meeting. They offered encouragement to us for our wait while Amelia was smiling and flirting away! She was sitting on her daddy's shoulders and when she'd catch my eye, she'd squish her little face up into this adorable smile and cock her head to the side. Completely melted my heart...

My husband and I have made the decision to submit our paperwork for the SN program through our agency. We're nearing the review room with our file (which makes me incredibly nervous) but once we're through the review room, we'll begin looking at the children in the SN program. The thought that we could potentially have our Dorissa with us before Christmas 2009 just re-energized me! I realize that there is no guarantee, of course, that we'll be matched by then, but the thought that there's a chance just makes me smile!

In other news...

School's started back up for me. I'm now enrolled in the Business Administration program at a local university. I go one night a week to class and with a bit of luck, I'll have my bachelor's degree (finally!) at some point in 2010.

My husband and I have joined a gym too! I've been slacking off the last couple of weeks, but will be getting back into it this week. I've discovered a new class that I just LOVE...Zumba! This class is a HIGH energy aerobics class. Very high energy...it uses Latin-dance inspired choreography, as well as hip hop type steps. My body doesn't quite move in the same way that the instructor's does, but it's still a lot of fun. I've lost 6 lbs so far! My goal is to get to a healthy weight before we go to China. I want to have the energy to keep up with a toddler when we get home!

20 years ago today...

2008-04-29T11:35:00.002-04:00

It's hard for me to grasp the fact that I have officially known my husband for 20 years. Twenty years. How is it possible that all that time has gone by?

Matthew and I met when I was 14. We met at a church function...I was dragged by my best friend to participate in some movie night with the youth group that she was involved in. Matthew was there with another mutual friend of ours. I don't remember much about that night, but I do remember making popcorn in the kitchen with him and a popcorn fight soon began. I do remember thinking that he was kind of cute though!

Our mutual friend was in my english class the next day and she sat in front of me. She told me that she knew that someone liked me...as a freshman who wasn't very popular and felt I wasn't cute enough, I didn't believe her. I did ask her if it was him, but she wouldn't say anything more.

A little while passed before I encountered Matthew again. This time he was working in his mom's cinnamon roll shop in the mall. My mom and I were there picking up last minute items for a sudden trip to Arizona. We were flying out the next day to see my grandma who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. She was set to go into surgery to have it removed the next day and we wanted to be there. (grandma and I were very close) Mom and I stop off at the cinnamon roll shop and I realize that he worked there. I was trying to be coy and ordered a diet coke, which I hated at the time, just to impress him I guess. He, not knowing what was happening with my grandma, managed to make me smile. And he talked me into a cinnamon roll. So much for the diet coke...

A little while later, I discover that he's working in the taco place in the mall food court in addition to helping his mom out at the cinnamon roll shop. My best friend and I were in the mall one day and decided to approach him. What a big flirt...lol...after a few minutes, my best friend and I order our drinks and go and sit down. I took a big gulp of my Dr. Pepper...only to discover that my Dr. Pepper had been enhanced. There was taco sauce in it! So I went back up to the counter to get a new one, this time without my friend. Turns out that he had intentionally squirted taco sauce into my drink so that I would come back up to the counter without my friend! He said that he had to do something to get me by myself so that he could with me properly and ask for my phone number. Of course I gave it to him...duh...he was a hottie! ;)

So for the next week or so, we talked on the phone and eventually, he got around to asking me out, although to this day, he maintains that he never did and that he was blindsided with our date. I remember everything about that conversation. We were supposed to go out on a double date with my best friend and her boyfriend. Well she had gotten herself grounded for some reason and wasn't sure if she'd be able to go. I distinctly remember Matthew saying "well maybe we could still go without her." I freaked out because there was no way that my dad would let me go out on a date without anyone else. I was only 14!

Not sure what happened, but my friend managed to tal her parents into letting her go out on this double date. So i'm getting ready, with the assistance of my mom, for my very first date. He comes to the door, has the talk with my dad, and we leave. I can't really remember what we did...I know we went to a movie (Beetlejuice, I think) and then we drove around. We probably ended up at the blue lights (local make-out spot). He and I sat in the backseat while my friend and her boyfriend were making out...we weren't entirely sure what to do. Well, we knew what to do, but I wasn't at that point quite yet. I'm pretty sure he was...after all, he was a teenaged boy...

When my friends had had enough, it was time to go home. Since I was staying at my friend's house that night, we dropped Matthew off first. He pulled me out of the car and while i'm sure there was conversation, I don't remember it. But I do remember our first kiss. It was gentle and sweet. I still get butterflies when I think about that moment!

I know that we saw each other off and on again over the next few days...and I was shocked when I came home from school that following Friday to find a single long-stemmed red rose addressed to me. The card was signed "guess who" and that was it. I knew who it was immediately...

I called him and thanked him for my rose. I think that he had maybe wanted to go out that night or something, but I had an orchestra function to attend. It was state time...so I took a chance and invited him. I fell for him hard that night...he willingly attended a boring orchestra performance and hung out with my family that night.

Our first date was April 29th, 1988. We dated for about another year and a half before we broke up and went our separate ways. Although we were apart, I've always held April 29th close to my heart. We have obviously found our way back together and I couldn't be happier! We've been married now for 5 1/2 years!

So honey, thank you for e-mailing me...

And it was too a date... :)

New car!

2007-10-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

Well, it was time to trade in our PT Cruiser. I wanted something about the same size but more fuel efficient, considering the driving that I do. I live about 15 miles from work and all of my errands and visiting friends and family requires lots of driving. So we looked at a 2008 Nissan Versa last night. I swore up and down that I would take my time with this car purchase...yeah...didn't happen. We test drove it, signed the papers, and drove it home last night! It gets between 28-33 mpg!! And it has an auxillary jack for my iPod!!

2007-10-05T22:38:00.000-04:00

I guess it's about time for another update!

Adoption - nothing yet, of course. It'll be a pretty long wait at this point. The CCAA has recently referred through Nov 30, 2005. Our LID is April 15, 2007. Yeah....it's gonna be awhile...sigh...

I enjoyed taking my summer off from school! I truly needed the time to just chill. School, work, and the adoption had me completely worn down. We did take advantage of our summer break and went on a cruise! I'll post more about our cruise in another post!

School's back in session now. I'm taking Purchasing & Cost Control, Sociology, and Physical Science. It's going to get pretty hairy with all of the bookwork this semester! I guess that's what I get for taking all of my fun cooking classes before I finished my general education classes!

And my latest obsession...digital scrapbooking! I've always wanted to do scrapbooking, but I just never really had the time nor the space to do it. I found a great program for my mac...it's a tad overwhelming, but i'm just beginning! I'll figure it all out eventually...lol

Here's my most favorite page that i've created so far. I used two pictures that were taken by the ship's photographers. What do you think?

I Would Die For That

2007-07-17T09:40:00.001-04:00

I discovered this video today and wanted to share it with my fellow adoptive mothers who have dealt with infertility. It's a pretty powerful video...have a kleenex handy!

Gosh...it's been awhile!

2007-07-10T16:21:00.000-04:00

For all two of you who read this blog, I didn't realize that it's been two months since I last posted!! I was politely scolded by my husband (one of the two readers) that it's been a long time since I posted anything here...

Nothing much happening...still waiting in line on the adoption front!

Our five year wedding anniversary is coming up! It's hard to believe that it's been five years...time has just flown by! In honor of our anniversary, birthdays, and just because we're plain tired, we're taking a cruise! We're going to visit St Thomas and St Maarten and we'll have plenty of down time with 3 full days at sea. We'll also have a stop at the cruise line's private island for a day. We leave in about a month! Wooo!

Wooo Hooo!!!

2007-05-01T20:49:00.000-04:00

We beat the May 1st deadline!! China has logged us in!!! Our LID is 4/15/07!

And now the wait begins...

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

2007-04-23T13:48:00.000-04:00

I just read that a family who was DTC exactly two weeks before us have received their LID! Here's hoping that our LID comes soon!!

It's the end of the spring semester and I am soooooooo ready for my break. In trying to complete my degree before we go to China, I had planned to continue on, full steam ahead in my program. Uh, yeah...I'm nearing burn out. So i'm taking the summer off to relax and regroup and since it will be an eternity before we go to China, i'm quite certain that I will have my degree completed long before we get the call!

We had no plans to take a vacation anywhere until China, but an opportunity came up and my husband is sending me to Disney World with my sister for a few days! Her husband is attending a conference being held at one of the Disney resorts. My sister and niece, who is going on 17 months old, will need company during the day at the parks, so I'm going! We'll be staying on-site in one of the deluxe resorts, which is a first for me! I am so excited...we leave two weeks from tomorrow!!

DTC!!

2007-03-27T16:16:00.001-04:00

We have an official DTC date....TODAY!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Distractions

2007-03-26T09:23:00.000-04:00

Still waiting for our dossier to be sent off to China...so while we wait, I'm trying to find as many distractions as possible!

Distraction #1 - School - I do have papers to write and projects to complete, but where's the fun in that?

Distraction #2 - Grease...You're the One That I Want - I was so happy that my two picks won last night! I would love, love, love to be able to see them actually perform the roles on Broadway, but I doubt that'll happen...

Distraction #3 - The Amazing Race - I really wish that Charla and Mirna as well as Team Guido would be eliminated! Those are two teams that I didn't even like the first time around, let alone the second. My picks for the win are either Uchenna and Joyce or The Beauty Queens.

Distraction #4 - American Idol - Well, duh...I mean who doesn't watch the train wreck? :) Just PLEASE make Sanjaya go home!

Distraction #5 - The Search for the next Pussycat Doll - Did I really just type that? Oh well...it's entertaining!

Distraction #6 - The Girls Next Door - I LOVE this show! The girls just crack me up!!

Distraction #7 - Spring Cleaning - Um, do you know me? I don't clean...voluntarily anyway!

Distraction #8 - Cupcakes!! Trying my best to perfect the art of the cupcake. I don't know if I'm succeeding, but I've never eaten so many cupcakes before in my entire life!

Distraction #9 - Stalking blogs - well, ok...not really stalking per se, but I have my few that I follow religiously...

Distraction #10 - Planning something fun for our five year wedding anniversary this September! I'm currently obsessed with trying to go to Vegas or NYC. Um...yeah...won't happen...I am reminded that we are saving our pennies for this thing called an adoption. Which then reminds me that we are still waiting for our dossier to go to China...

See...it's a neverending cycle!

And we're off!

2007-03-16T08:55:00.000-04:00

Well...our paperwork has been sent for review and, hopefully, sent for authenticating! We received a message from our social worker that our file "looks good"!

According to our agency, authentication typically takes 2-4 weeks for authentication. Once authenticated, our dossier will be sent to China (affectionately known as DTC...dossier to China...clever, huh?). China will then log us in and give us our LID (log in date). Our agency says that could take 3-5 weeks. Your LID date basically represents your place in line with the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). The CCAA are the ones who take over for the next part of our adoption...they will review our file and then, when it's our turn, they will match us with our daughter!

The wait time right now is painfully long. But I am hopeful for a speed up...guess we'll have to be patient and know that when the time is right, we will be matched to our daughter...

Life is good...

2007-03-10T17:30:00.000-05:00

We finally received our 171H in today's mail! I have been on edge every day this week just waiting for that danged piece of paper to arrive. Some new friends who were printed the day before we were received their 171H back on Wednesday. I truly expected ours to arrive on Thursday. It didn't..I even checked the mail twice! Cuz you never know if it was mistakenly put into someone else's mailbox and they put it in the right mailbox later. (Yes...my husband made fun of me for it too) And then it didn't on Friday. I was truly feeling like this dossier would never make it to China. Until today...I went to the mailbox and stood in front of it silently praying that it would be in there. If it wouldn't have been...well, it would have sucked. So I slowly opened the mailbox...pulled out the stack of envelopes...and saw the one from Homeland Security. I squealed and ran back to the house, promptly throwing the rest of the mail onto the floor...

This is real...after I state seal the last few pieces, our dossier will be complete. It will be turned into our agency for authentication and then it's off to China. Let's just hope we make the May 1st deadline...

And then we wait...and wait...and wait some more...

Fingerprints...

2007-02-21T11:13:00.000-05:00

I can see the beginnings of a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel!!

We had our fingerprinting appointment this morning...and we have just a few more pieces of paper to gather and our dossier should be off to China!

Another one down...

2007-02-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

Our homestudy was approved! It should be on its way to USCIS!! Now to wait for our fingerprinting appointment...hope it's soon!!!

My Mom gave me a belated Christmas gift yesterday. She finished a cross stitch project that she had been working on for us. It's really quite beautiful!! It's the Red Thread Legend...I'll post a picture of it once we get it framed...

So THAT'S why they call it the paperchase...

2007-02-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

I received an e-mail today that our homestudy has been submitted for approval! Keep your fingers crossed!!

At this point, we're collecting MORE paperwork for our dossier. I have never seen so much paperwork required for something! Birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, medical forms, financial forms, police clearance, employment verifications...it's a mountain of paperwork that we are collecting...just so that we can bring Dorissa home!

Our homestudy, when approved, will be sent to USCIS (US Customs & Immigration). As soon as they receive our homestudy, then they will call us for our fingerprinting appointment. After that, we wait for them to do background checks. When that is completed, we will receive the coveted I-171H. Once that is in our hot little hands, then this mountain of paperwork will be sent to our agency, who will then authenticate, translate (I think), and approve our dossier. After that's done, our dossier will be sent off to China! Wooooooo!!!!

A Colts Fan

2007-01-26T14:29:00.000-05:00

Tom Brady in Heaven

Tom Brady, after living a full life, died. When he got to heaven, God was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Patriots flag in the window. “This house is yours for eternity, Tom,” said God.

“This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here.” Tom felt special, indeed, and walked up to his house.

On his way up the porch, he noticed another house just around the corner. It was a 3-story mansion with a blue and white sidewalk, a 50-foot tall flagpole with an enormous Colts logo flag, and in every window, a Colts towel.

Tom looked at God and said, “God, I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but I have a question. I was an all-pro QB, I hold many NFL records, and I even won a few Super bowls.”

God said, “So what's your point Tom?”

“Well, why does Peyton get a better house than me?”

God chuckled, and said, “Tom, that's not Peyton's house, it's mine.”

GO COLTS!

Almost there!

2007-01-16T13:44:00.000-05:00

Well...we are 75% done with our homestudy! We had meeting #3 last night. Our official home visit in next Tuesday! EEK!!!!

Our new bed will be delivered on Thursday! We have had the same queen size not so comfortable bed for 5 1/2 years now. It was the best mattress that we could possibly afford at the time that we bought it. It sucks...lol...we're done everything we can to make it a bit more comfy, but the memory foam mattress pad appearantly has alzheimer's! It is just not comfortable anymore! We finally bit the bullet and bought a new mattress and bed for our room! Isn't it pretty? :)

So...now to get our house in order...finish this week's homework...oh...and we can't forget to stop for our TB tests in the morning (more needles!)...and be ready for our home visit on Tuesday...ugh...it's going to be a loooooooooooooooooooong week!

Survival of the fittest

2007-01-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

Well, we, ok, I survived the needle poke!! This was the first time ever meeting with this doctor and I have to say that she was great! We went right through the required medical forms and received a clean bill of health from her! I'm happy that we finally have a family doctor! The gal who had to do the blood draw was super-quick and efficient. I didn't feel a thing! I was pretty shocked when she said "all done!" and I had felt nothing...no pinch...nothing! We still have to go back for the TB test as they were unable to administer that but with a little luck, she'll be the one to do it for us! We have to wait for the blood work to come back, but we should be good to go as far as the medical side of things.

Our I-600A is officially in the mail!! Hopefully everything goes according to plan and we'll have everything ready to go when the time comes...

Still Truckin'...

2007-01-11T12:47:00.000-05:00

Well...things are still moving along! I've got our birth certificates and marriage certificate on their way to be State Sealed. The I-600A is ready to go. And the dreaded Doctor appointments are in a few hours. Blech...I know that there is blood work required and it's going to make me crazy knowing that I have to get poked. I hate needles...

But it's all for Dorissa...

It's all for Dorissa...

It's all for Dorissa...

A day of firsts

2007-01-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

Well, we had our first meeting with our social worker yesterday! She is such a lovely person and really made us both feel very comfortable. It was awesome to talk with someone who understands what we are feeling right now and how we got to this point. She was also able to explain the actual process for this adoption. China requires that we have four meetings with our social worker/agency. Technically, meeting #1 was the informational meeting that we attended in November. Meeting #2 was yesterday! (Halfway there!!) Meeting #3 is next Monday and then our last meeting will be in our home. She's already given us an idea of what that will be like so I'm not too worried. Our house still needs to be picked up and stuff, but we'll be ready!! :)

My other first from yesterday was the first day of the Spring semester for me. Ought to be an interesting term...lots and lots of busy work for all three of my classes!!