Hawaii Honeymoon Booked! (and a few other updates)

1) Thank you to everyone who prayed for our waiting families meeting at our adoption agency. I really appreciated all the encouraging comments. I apologize for not posting about it sooner - I really just haven't been up to writing these last couple of weeks. It is a combination of things - being busier because John has more time now for us to do things together, being more tired because of my half marathon training, and lastly, and I think the main reason is, I have just been a little down lately. So anyway the meeting went well. I was able to connect with one person after the meeting and exchange emails so hopefully we can stay in contact. The meeting was somewhat what I expected and somewhat not. I expected them to give us information about the recent delay in the Korea program which they did. We also got to hear from two sets of adoptive parents who recently brought home their children. Their children were the age that our children will be when we go pick them up. I think that was done intentionally by our agency to make sure we were mentally prepared for parenting an 18 month old child and not a one year old. I think they wanted to make sure our expectations were realistic. What I wasn't expecting for some reason was how angry some of the parents were regarding the delay. Overall I guess John and I are actually handling things pretty well. This delay is absolutely agonizing for parents who already had referrals who have now found out they won't be bringing their children home for a while longer. What was interesting to me though was that those of us who had a history of infertility seemed to be doing much better than those who had not. I guess we are use to things not working out the way we want them to (and I don't mean this in an entirely negative way). We realize we are not in control of any of it.

2) Our Hawaii Honeymoon is booked!!!!!!!  We are finally going on our long awaited honeymoon and I can't wait. Six and half years late, but truthfully it couldn't come at a better time for  us. We are staying at the Hale Koa Hotel on Waikiki Beach. It is an amazing hotel that is only for military members and their dependents.

3) Marathon training is going well, but this heat is no fun. I am up to 8 miles this weekend. I have definitely toned up, but unfortunately the scale hasn't budged :(

4 ) In adoption news, we filed our I600A and got fingerprint appointments. Unfortunately, John's is not at the best time, but they don't even give you a telephone number to call and reschedule. You have to send in your letter to your local office and request a new appointment. I assume they just assign you a new date and time regardless of whether it will work for you. John decided he would rather just put in extra hours on other clinical days (he will be doing obstetrics) and go to the appointment.

5) At work the other day, I got to take a private guided tour of the new National Intrepid Center of Excellence. It is truly the most amazing facility. On a beautiful marble wall when you first walk in, it states that the facility is a place to heal the invisible wounds of war and is given by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the American people. I stood there with tears in my eyes reading it and I just felt so proud that our nation is honoring our service men and women in this way. I hope that this facility will in some way help those who go there to know how much their service and sacrifice is appreciated.

6) Tomorrow I am traveling to Ft Bragg, NC for work. I am bringing my computer so hopefully I can spend some more time blogging. I miss this community when I don't write. I realize more and more how much I need this.