Thankfulness

It is easy to forget how truly blessed we are - life is so busy all the time, and life events occur that temporarily obscure our vision. I want to take this moment and space to reflect on what I am thankful for.

Billy- My love, my heart, my balance. :) The fact that we are about to have our home study, which puts us one step closer to our adoption. Our lives together, our crazy pets, our times with money and even our times without money, for we always manage and get by.

My mom, dad, Devin, Chrissy, Jerry, Shellie and my steps.

Brayden's smiling face, Brayden walking and running- something that they said would never happen, but with lots of hard work and love, that kid is doing it.

Sunday nights with Devin and Chrissy, cooking dinner together, laughing and talking.

Having great parents who still support and encourage me, even when other people think I am crazy.

My little second cousins- Melissa's children Madison, Nicholas, and Brian's daughter Chloe.

My friends old and new- from high school, from college, from the shelter and PAWS, from work, from Billy's work, who make me laugh and listen to me cry and support me as much as I support them.

I am thankful that Janel had a healthy, happy, baby girl named Lila. For book club. Lunches with my grandma every Wednesday. For coffee. For nights like the night of the Owl Prowl, where Billy and I were able to stand under the moon in the woods on a beautiful night waiting for owls, with no one around for acres and acres except for the two rangers. For teachers that go above and beyond. For the forgiveness of others for my faults. And for many more things, large and small, that are too numerous to list.

What are you thankful for?

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day today, spent with those they love. Happy Thanksgiving!

Moving forward, slowly and deliberately

It seems my life is suddenly in fast forward; how is it already the middle of July? I feel like I have let so many days this year blur by, with my constantly busy schedule. The funny thing is, I had tried to scale back, to make more time in my life for other things. Plans are sometimes like a hydra- you finish one duty, and two more spring to life. Starting today, starting maybe right this very second, I resolve to stick to my and spend more time on the things I told myself I was going to- my writing, my photography, my home.

This is especially important to me now, as Billy and I have made the life changing, monumental, rewarding decision to adopt a child. This is the time we need to make small in our lives, to get ready to accommodate another member into our family. We are so excited and hopeful for our future, and I will definitely be writing about our journey toward our child. Tonight we are going to a meeting with the agency we selected for our home study, to learn more about the process. I feel I have learned so much already about international adoption, in some instances it even feels I have learned a new language! For all the research and conversations we have had, with countless agencies, today feels like the first step in the journey.

Spending yesterday with my friend Jennifer and her three year old son was fabulous. We went blueberry and peach picking together, and then had a quick lunch in a nearby farm town. I had such a great time, and it was nice to be out in the blueberry bushes, on a beautiful day with a cool breeze and birds singing in the trees around us. I had a "Steinbeck moment" - not sure why I refer to these moments as such, but I do- I picked a peach, warmed from the sun, straight from the tree and enjoyed the juicy taste as I sat among the rows, becoming warm from the sun myself. Small moments like this make long time memories, and I can't wait to go again next year.

Appley Days of Fall

Warm, windy days, chilly crisp nights…fall has finally fallen on Michigan. Or close enough. We are still having some unseasonably warm days here in the mitten, but for the most part, it is the autumn I know and love.

Today was the perfect fall day to go pumpkin hunting. My brother and I have been going to the same apple orchard/pumpkin patch since we were born, basically about 30 years, give or take a few. That is amazing when you think about it! The past ten years or so, the group has lost members and gained a few, such as my husband and his girlfriend, but Devin and I are the constants. The orchard we visit is Erie Orchards, located in, you guessed it, Erie, MI.

Like I said, it was the perfect day, or nearly so anyway. It was a little warmer than I would have liked. I would have loved to wear long sleeves, but then I am that kind of girl, the fall and winter clothes loving one.

Our first order of business was to eat the enormous apple fritters they make there! They are huge gooey doughy wonders. The only thing I didn’t enjoy were the bees that kept landing on my hands and my fritter! After fortifying ourselves with appley goodness, we were ready for the trek back to the pick your own pumpkin patch. As people from the suburbs, this is country living for us.
It was a beautiful walk however. We reveled in the apple trees, my dad and I living up to our shutterbug nicknames and photographing everything we could! Apples, people, dirt even.

Unfortunately, it was a bad pumpkin year this year in Michigan. The patch pumpkins were kind of picked over, the best ones being picked already and taken to the pumpkin barn up front. It was still a nice stroll, so all was not wasted.

So we all trooped back to the front, with thoughts of cider and doughnuts foremost in our thoughts. Sure, we had just eaten that gynourmous fritter, but hey, didn’t we just take a long walk? I am sure we burned off at least a little of that delicous goodness. Billy and I chose our pumpkins, Shellie picked out a few cute tiny ones, and Dad posed for a silly picture. I can always count on him to be the one to pose in the funny cut-outs. By this point it was starting to really get really crowded, so we were ready to buy our stuff and take off. The best time to go is in the morning, around 11 or so, and on a Sunday. By 1 o’clock the place really begins to hop!The store was packed, but we prevailed. This year I only bought a few things, I usually go crazy in the store. Today our purchases (beside the pumpkins) were doughnuts and cider, which I am looking forward to enjoying this evening.

All in all, it was a fantastic day! Pumpkins, doughnuts, cider, a beautiful walk on a gorgeous fall day- what more could anyone ask for? We are going to carve our pumpkins into jack o’lanterns later this week, I can’t wait!