ONCE

Our 14-year old nephew, Jakob, gave us the great advice get out and see movies as much as we can before our children come home. I loved his advice, so we've been attempting to do that more. Here is a story of us attempting to do just that...

Last night Dave and I were attempting go see the movie Juno at the movie theater in town. I've heard great things about this movie - even on the adoption boards. However, once we realized we forgot cash (no credit cards accepted at our tiny little theater), we realized we were going to miss the movie if we had to go back home to get some cash, so we just went to the movie store. Sometimes we get in the mood to find a good "indie" flick, so we rented two indie films last night.

We ended up watching Once, which is kind of a modern-day musical (very kind of, there is no dialogue that is sung, just more music than your average movie). I LOVED IT!!! As long as you can get past the "f" word in movies (it's set in Ireland, so I maybe it's to be expected?!), then it's a great story. It's a pretty simple story actually - it's about a guy who writes music and sings on a sidewalk in Dublin who meets a girl who gives him a kick in the pants to get his music recorded and sent out. I won't give away any more than that. The harmonies are gorgeous, and the lyrics are simple. Dave and I both give it 2 thumbs up.

The next movie we rented was Chalk. We haven't watched this one yet, but I'll give you my review after we watch it :) I guess we're really into one-word movie titles lately...

Where does the time go?

Today marks 4 months since we have been ICAB approved to adopt from the Philippines. My my, how the time has flown by so far! It definitely helps that we didn't know we were approved for the first two months of the wait. With Christmas and my brother's wedding we stayed so busy that I didn't really have time to dwell on the wait.

I'm still not freaking out about the wait. This is a good thing because I can tend to dwell and obsess about these kinds of things! Instead, I've been doing a little nesting. Currently I've been very focused on getting books for our kids. I ordered the following books on Amazo.n, and I'm very excited to get them in the mail this weekend!!!

My Filipino Word Book
By: Robin Lyn Fancy
Filipino Friends
By: Liana Romulo, Corazon Dandan-albano
Filipino Children's Favorite Stories
By: Liana Elena Romulo, Joanne de Leon
My First Book of Tagalog Words: Filipino Rhymes And Verses
By: Liana Romulo, Jaime M. Laurel
The Turtle and the Monkey (Philippine Tale)
By: Joanna C. Galdone, Paul Galdone

Adoption Is a Family Affair!: What Relatives and Friends Must Know
By: Patricia Irwin Johnston
Cross Cultural Adoption: How To Answer Questions from Family, Friends & Community
By: Amy Coughlin, Caryn Abramowitz

The last two books on this list we are going to be using to conduct a family training for both Dave's and my family regarding our adoption. We want them to know what to expect through the process, as well as what to expect after we get home with our child/ren. I'm so excited for this training, I've gotten so many good ideas already, and we just keep coming up with more. Karin (from Hand in Hand) has given us great ideas, as well, and we're pretty much using everything we learned from her to do this training :) I'm still trying to figure out when I want to do the training, before or after our referral comes... I may need to get some advice from my Ya.hoo adoption group.

So here is the next question we are pondering... Dave and I want to take a vacation, but can't afford it with saving for the adoption. So we are thinking that maybe we will take a little extra time during the adoption trip and visit a resort on the ocean in the Philippines (they are typically very inexpensive). But do we do this before we pick up our child/ren or after? I can think of pros and cons of both sides. I think we've made our decision, I'm just curious to hear what other people think.

I hate winter

I get a point every winter where I just want to hibernate until March, or better yet April. Today I got to that point. I'm so tired of winter. Tired of static-y hair. Tired of wearing jackets and socks every day. Tired of forgetting my scarf and/or mittens, then paying for it when I walk outside. Tired of not having a tunnel to get to my car from my office. However, I have to count my blessings as well. Blessed to have a hubby who starts the car and picks me up at the back door of the office building when we work together. Blessed to have neighbors who live 25 steps away from our house and cook delicious winter meals for us. Blessed to have a garage. Blessed to have heat in my house AND an indoor job with my own special heater. Blessed to be able to wear layers upon layers of clothes.

Just wanted you all to have a taste of how cold it is right now (in case you live somewhere warm). Please note the "feels like" temperature. I just checked weather.com again, and the temp just went down by 1 degree, which made the "feels like" temperature go down to -34 degrees. ugh.

7 Years ago today...

I met the most handsome man I've ever laid eyes on. I'm a lucky lucky lady (okay, more blessed is more like it) to have Dave as my longest boyfriend, as well as my perfect-for-me husband.

Dave and I met 7 years ago today at Grandma's Sports Garden in Duluth while we were both visiting friends. I was visiting my friend Robin for her birthday weekend (happy b-day Jan 25 Rob-bobs!!), and Dave was celebrating with a group of his friends the fact that he finished a challenging J-term interning with United Hospital as a social worker.

So here's how the story goes... Robin and I walked into Grandma's, and she saw some friends she wanted to go chat with. Instead of dragging me across the bar, she sat me at a table with this group of people, introduced them to me and said, "These people are from Le Sueur, we can sit with them tonight and I'm sure you'll find things in common with them". Le Sueur was the "rival" high school of Saint Peter (where I grew up). Then she went to go chat with her friends and I stayed at the table. I was a little intimidated, but she was right - I had a great time talking with this group of people.

So at the table were 3 couples and Dave. The couples were Brad and Regan, Brent and Amy, & Mike and Kylie. Dave was the only other single person sitting at the table. We had a good time drinking cocktails and joking around. Later during the night, Brent (Dave's best friend from high school) pulled me aside and said, "You know that guy, Dave, who's at our table? He's an AWESOME guy. He's putting himself through school, works full-time, interned at a hospital, is going to be a social worker, LOVES his mom, AND he sings and dances!! You should go for him". I laughed when he said it, but later Dave asked me to dance with him on the dance floor. We danced the entire night away.

Dave asked for my phone number, and he called me the very next day, after receiving some very good advice from a female friend. His guy friends told him he had to wait 3 days because they didn't want him to look "desperate". His female friend said, "That's stupid, if you like this girl, then just call her". So he took that advice and called me the next day, which was a very good thing because I had decided that if he didn't call me quick enough I wasn't going to give him a chance :)

Dave came down from Saint Paul that Thursday night and took me to dinner in Mankato (where I was living). He stayed to watch some tv with me, and then drove all the way back up to Saint Paul that night. Dave and I clicked right away, and my dad will tell you that there was something in the way I talked about him the very next day after I met him that made him realize that he was "the one".

I've never questioned that Dave and I belong together. God created us for one another and I've never had to wonder about that. There were so many times that our paths should have crossed in our lives (mutual friends we had as children - we were probably at the same birthday parties a couple of times!!). Dave and I were also at similar places in struggling with and questioning our Christian walks at the time we met. I truly believe that God used us to bring each other closer to Him.

Dave drives me crazy in a way that I never want anyone else to drive me crazy. When we argue or fight, it makes me realize that I never want to argue or fight with anyone else. Dave GETS me. He loves me for me, and I always feel special and beautiful when I am with him. Dave makes me laugh in a way that no one else possibly can - his voices (especially Old Man Maine) are my favorite voices, and I love the way his eyeballs look like they're going to pop out of his head when he's really trying to be funny. The one thing that will make me hyperventilate with laughter every single time he does it is when he copies me. I know - copying people is so simple and stupid, but the way he does it makes me cry because I laugh so hard. Dave is a man of integrity, and is growing to be a Christian leader that I am amazed by. I thank God for Dave every time I pray because I know Dave and I being together is totally a God thing.

I can't wait to see what kind of leader Dave will be for our children. He's going to be a great father, and already has so much love for our children. Dave, I can't wait to see what the next 70 years have in store for us!!!

So many fun gifts...

The day that Dave and I found out we were approved by the Philippines (ICAB) - November 29, we immediately went to Home Depot. Dave was certain that we had to fix the closet in our kids' room RIGHT THEN. As we were browsing the aisles of the store, I was on the phone floating along on cloud nine calling all of the people I could think of to chatter about our good news. So that next weekend here was the result of all of Dave's hard work:

Dave snuggling with the beautiful blanket Auntie Amanda crocheted for our child/ren
The furry nativity scene Grandpa Gale and Grandma Jeanne gave us for Christmas for our child/ren. We also got a book of Bible stories from them.
The super cute miniature Tupperware toys we got from my mom's best friend, Stephanie. I love these! You can also see the cake holder behind it.

I've been tagged!!

My friend, Julie, tagged me! I've always secretly wanted to be tagged, so thanks Julie!!!

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Nanny
2. Receptionist at a pig farm
3. Human Resources at an assisted living community
4. Sarbanes-Oxley business consultant

Movies I have watched more than once
1. Christmas Vacation
2. Cinderella
3. Dazed and Confused
4. Oklahoma

Four Places I have lived
1. Linn Grove, Iowa
2. Saint Peter, Minnesota
3. Dalton, Georgia
4. Waconia, Minnesota

Four T.V. Shows that I watch
1. Heroes
2. Amazing Race
3. America's Next Top Model
4. Ugly Betty

Four places I have been
1. Oregon
2. France
3. New York
4. California

Four People who e-mail me (regularly)
1. My dad - Torrey
2. Nikki
3. Nicole R.
4. Philippines Adoption Group (that counts, right?)

Four favorite foods
1. Burrito from Chipotle
2. Turkey, potatoes and gravy, corn and peach pie (okay, that’s a meal…)
3. Turkey burgers on the grill
4. Sushi

Four Favorite Beverages
1. Cherry Coke Zero
2. Milk
3. Seabreeze
4. Sparkling water

Four Places I would like to visit
1. Hawaii
2. The Philippines (this year, I hope!!)
3. Any cruise ship in a warm destination
4. Italy

Four friends I am tagging to do this
1. Nikki
2. Joanne
3. Dana
4. Todd & Lara

Things you may not know about me
1. I love heating blankets (even in the summer).
2. I’m a vivid dreamer, and I almost always remember what I dreamed about the night before.
3. I’m allergic to fish, yet sushi is one of my favorites.
4. I love tax time.

Things I am looking forward to in the coming month & Year
1. Adopting our children.
2. Finishing my second sign language class.
3. Seeing my friends, Jon and Suze, get married.
4. Celebrating Dave’s 30th birthday!

A wedding kind of weekend

This weekend my brother married my new sister-in-law, Amanda. YAY! It was a super fun weekend, and the wedding was so totally "Nate and Amanda". I've never been to a wedding quite like it. Here are some pictures below:

The ultra-beautiful bride

Nate was SUPER excited to be married

Brangelina's got NOTHING on NATANDA... NATANDA 4-EVA!! Leisha and Branty, aisle-walking partners
My aisle-walking partner, Towner, and me

Momma with 2 of her girls (with weirdo smiles)

The new and improved Carlblom siblings 2008 (I guess I thought it was a leaning in kind of shot)

The triplet cousins (see this post also) - backstory, we were all born within 1 month of each other, so since we were 6 months old we've taken pictures like this. We used to run away from picture time, and now we can't get enough of posing for the camera

Dave's and my failed attempt at a kissy self-portrait

Uncle Dave and Maddie (the most beautiful ring girl EVER!)

Auntie Leisha with Gracie (the most beautiful flower girl to ever eat the flower petals from the basket)

Maddie and her momma dancing the night away

Brothers Sisters (minus Amanda and me)

My fave 2 pictures from the weekend: Gracie getting scolded by momma for pushing MaddieGracie putting herself in timeout

The only time I've ever had curly hair (this was after taking the bobby pins out). I wish I could get my hair to do this. Hairstylists are magical people.

"What a long strange trip it's been"

Ahhhh... the Grateful Dead phrased it so well with that song. I was thinking back on how far Dave and I have come in this crazy journey - infertility and then adoption. I decided I wanted to write out a timeline going that far back, so that I could have it to remind myself. I wanted to remind myself of the kinds of despair and sunshine we have felt. It's weird, but I wouldn't have this any other way. Dave and I have grown together so closely, feeling like we are already our own little family. We've discovered things about ourselves and each other that I know we probably wouldn't have if we hadn't gone through these ups and downs.

*September 2003 - Decided to start TTC (trying to conceive) and went off of birth control.

*November 2003 - Bought a book on charting (I can't remember the name because I gave the book away when it was obvious we would need more than that to conceive).

*May 2005 - Went to see a doctor at Lakeview Clinic in Waconia and mentioned to her that we were having trouble TTC. It is discovered that Rachel does not ovulate on her own, and needs drugs to help with that.

*May 2005-November 2005- Went on 5 rounds of Clomid with blood tests each month.

*January 4 2006 - Dave goes to see a specialist to see if there is a MF (male factor).

*January 19 2006 - Both of us go to Western Ob-Gyn to discuss infertility options with the doctors there. She recommends more extensive testing for Dave at his specialist, and decides to schedule a HSG (hysterosalpingogram) for Rachel to see if there is any blockage in her f. tubes. We also plan to do Clomid (for Rachel), and IUIs (Intrauterine Inseminations).

*February 1 2006 - We discover Dave needs to be on Prednisone due to MFI (male factor infertility). Rachel has a meltdown in the doctor's office because the doctor is so mean (but now can't remember what was said).

*February 22 2006 - A (painful) HSG shows that Rachel has no blockage of her f. tubes.

*February 28 2006 - The first round of Clomid and IUIs, and a BFN (Big Fat Negative).

*March 29 2006 - The second round of Clomid and IUIs, and a BFN.

*April 2006 - We would be going to be out of town during the time I would need to do IUIs, so we forgo them for that month.

*May 23 2006 - None of the eggs the Clomid stimulated grew large enough to do the IUIs for that month. Rachel has a huge meltdown and stays home from work that day.

*June 2006 - Once again, we would be out of town during the time I would need to do IUIs, so we forgo them for that month.

*July 9 2006 - The last round of Clomid and IUIs, and the final (heart wrenching) BFN.

*July 20 2006 - We meet with a RE (Reproductive Endocronologist) who gives us our options. We make an appointment for an IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) psych appointment (they have to decide that you are mentally stable enough to go through the process).

*August 9 2006 - Dave and I both felt that God is leading us away from IVF and toward adoption, we admit it to each other and laugh giddily when we discover we feel the exact same way. I call to cancel our IVF orientation appointments that week.

*August 2006 - We decide we want to go with internation adoption - the Philippines to be exact. And we find an agency in Minnesota who works with the Philippines - Hand in Hand International Adoptions.

*September 13 2006 - We attend the Hand in Hand "Orientation Night" and discover just how well the Philippines matches up with both of our values. We also find out that I need to turn 27 before we can send in our paperwork to the Philippines. Karin recommends that we wait until January 2007 before we start the process.

*January 12 2007 - We send in our Hand in Hand application and application fee to begin the process.

*February 7 2007 - We meet with Karin to begin filling out our paperwork for the dossier, and put down more money for our USCIS fingerprints/application for visa for our children. She gave us a large binder to take home filled with the requirements we needed to meet in order to finish our dossier.

*February 17 2007 - We attend our first all-day training session with Hand in Hand, and discover that Karin is an AWESOME teacher.

*March 17 2007 - We attend our second all-day training with Hand in Hand.

*April 11 2007 - We both get our physical exams showing that we are healthy enough to adopt children.

*April 17 2007 - Our first dog, Marley dies :(

*April 21 2007 - We attend our third all-day training with Hand in Hand.

*May 16 and 23 2007 - We both have psych evals that include MMPIs.

*June 3 2007 - We get the results of our MMPIs that show Rachel is a fearful person, and Dave avoids confrontation, but otherwise we are psychologically able to adopt children.

*June 18 2007 - We finish our autobiographies, make our next payment to Hand in Hand and send in all of the paperwork needed to schedule our home study.

*July 11 2007 - I turn 27, and we are both finally old enough to adopt from the Philippines.

*July 13 2007 - We have our homestudy with Diane the social worker. The home study lasts longer than it should because we keep going off track with Diane and chatting about fun stuff. We heart Diane, just like Karin.

*July 18 2007 - We get fingerprinted for the USCIS application to adopt an orphan/s (and get their visa(s) after we get a referral).

*August 1 2007 - We send in our remaining paperwork and next payment to Hand in Hand. At last - it is all out of our hands!!

*August 3 2007 - Rachel's mom's birthday, and the day our dossier paperwork is sent around for the signatures needed from Hand in Hand.

*August 17 2007 - Our dossier is sent over to the Philippines.

*September 20 2007 - We are approved by the USCIS (the U.S. side) to adopt an orphan

*September 30 2007 - Dave's mom's birthday, and the day we are approved as PAPs (Prospective Adoptive Parents) with ICAB in the Philippines, and our names are put on the waiting list!! This notification gets lost somewhere between the Philippines and Hand in Hand, however, and we don't get this information for 2 months.

*October 9 2007 - I e-mail Karin to let her know I have an irrational fear that our dossier fell out of the airplane and is floating in the ocean. She assures me that it is not, and is at the ICAB office.

*November 9 2007 - I e-mail Karin yet again to ask if she's heard any news. She assures me that no news is good news - it means that haven't found any issues with our dossier. She also tells me the exciting news that referral wait times are going down significantly, and our wait time could be as short as 11 months to get a referral after we get approved!!

*November 29 2007 - Karin calls to tell me the VERY exciting news that we have received our approval, and have in fact been "officially" waiting for 2 months without even knowing it!! Now that we are on the PAP list, it is illegal for the Philippines NOT to match us with a child. Woot!

*Currently - I am NESTING. We are trying to learn as much as we can about the Philippines, and getting more and more excited as our referral gets closer and closer. So far, I am not stressing about this wait. I feel peaceful reassurance that I know can only come from God that we will be matched and united with our child/ren in His perfect timing.

As I look back at this timeline, I remember the insanely deep sadness I felt through infertility, and waiting for our approval. I know that through these dark times, God built me up as a woman of Christ. I feel as though my character is changing for the good, and that makes me happy. I can't wait to see the children God has planned for our family, and to watch Dave grow into the awesome dad that I know he is going to be. Yay :)

And thanks for reading my crazy long posts... More pics in the next post - I promise!!

NNPI (No Nonsense Personality Inventory)

One of my blogging/Philippines adoption group friends, Julie, posted this today and I thought it was so funny I nearly wet myself. It may not be as funny to you if you never had to take the MMPI, but one of the requirements for our adoption was that we had to see a psychologist and take this test. There are over 500 questions on the test and they are all true and false. Some of the questions on this test are just as ridiculous as these (I especially loved #4 and #9). Enjoy!!

NNPI (No Nonsense Personality Inventory)

1. At times I am afraid my toes will fall off.

2. As an infant, I had very few hobbies.

3. Some people look at me.

4. Spinach makes me feel alone.

5. Sometimes I think someone is trying to take over my stomach.

6. My teeth sometimes leave my body.

7. I think I would like the work of a hummingbird.

8. I have always been disturbed by the size of Lincoln's ears.

9. It makes me angry to have people bury me.

10. I believe I smell as good as most people.

11. Most people vomit out of spite.

12. Constantly losing my underwear doesn't bother me.

13. It is hard for me to find the right thing to say when I am in a room full of cockroaches.

14. I believe that halitosis is better than no breath at all.

15. Weeping brings tears to my eyes.

16. I believe in life after birth.

17. Some songs make me burp.

18. I never seem to finish whatever I

Tattoos

The weekend before last we had a shower for my brother and his fiancee - Nate and Amanda. It was an international themed shower - everyone had to dress in their ideal vacation destination outfit, and we made food from all over the world. It was a very good time, but I forgot to take pictures during the shower. However, when I looked through my camera later that day, I realized that a certain 4-year-old niece of mine got ahold of my camera and took pictures of the party. There are some really good ones in there, as well as lots of self portraits of herself.

Gran and Maddie (the photographer and tattoo artist herself)

Me and Carissa as the hostesses of the party (you missed my initial outfit - it was a dandy!)

Gift opening (this is one Maddie took) - on the far left you'll see Dave's winner of an outfit, sans the fanny pack and white sun visor. My initial one was in a similar vein.

A self portrait

Gus being naughty at the party - but in his festive lei

As if I didn't already have enough tattoos (according to my mom - 2 small ones are 2 too many), that weekend we got tattoos from our niece Maddie. Okay, so they weren't real tattoos, but they were a little hard to scrub off! I didn't get any pictures of Dave's and my tattoos, but I got pictures of Maddie (aka Snow White) giving her sister, Grace, a few tattoos. You will notice in the pictures that Grace would touch the tattoo, then put her finger in her mouth. She had some nice purple lipstick! Mine was a circle on my face, a flower on one leg and a square on the other leg. Dave got a building on one leg, and a flower on the other leg. Even Gran got a tattoo on her leg! It was a pretty fun night. We have one talented tattoo artist in our family, let me tell you!

Poor Gus

**Okay, I know the title of this blog is "Ribar ADOPTION Adventure", but when all we are doing is waiting, I find myself blogging about the rest of our life. You don't have to read if you don't want to, but this is like my journal. It's therapeutic for me to write this all down, and to look back to see what our life has held for the past year. No one's been complaining, but I figured I'd put that disclaimer out there!**

This week we are dogsitting for a family who we've dogsat for many times in the past 3 years. Marley always came with us when we dogsat, and the dogs got along great. I guess the same doesn't go for Gus - or rather the other dog's opinion of Gus.

On Wednesday morning, the dog bit Gus on his mouth and shook him. Gus had just been sitting on the floor next to Dave hoping for some pets when this happened. I came running down when I heard the yelping. I saw blood drops, and Gus was hiding in their laundry room. I walked over to Gus just as he spit out a chunk of something. We later discovered that this was a baby molar, with the adult molar and part of his upper left jaw attached to it. GROSS, I know - sorry! Just be glad you didn't see it.

We took Gus to the vet right away, and they kept him there all day. When the vet and his vet techs where examining Gus, they weren't sure how bad the injuries were. Once they discovered how extensive the injuries were, the vet said, "This dog should be biting me right now, his injuries are so bad, but here he is wagging his tail at me!" That's our Gus - crazy and happy.

When we came to the vet to pick him up he told us that Gus had lost a small part of his jaw bone, and 4 teeth - 1 of these was a baby molar with the adult tooth attached. That means that tooth will never come in. Right now there is just a large hole where that tooth goes, and they sutured that. The vet is hoping that the small part of the jaw bone that is missing will grow enough marrow, or whatever that is to protect the nerves up there. There are also puncture wounds on his face that go all the way through to the inside of his mouth. Last night the vet called to tell us that the x-rays also show that Gus has a fracture in his upper jaw where the bone was pulled out. OUCH!!

So Gus is not allowed to chew ANYthing for the next 2 weeks. He's on soft food and everything. However, you would never know that this puppy is so hurt by looking at him. The injuries are hard to see (since they are mostly inside his mouth), and he is running around like the happy little Gus he's always been. He barked at his toys when he spotted where I had put them out of his reach yesterday, and even snuck crunchy treats when he thought he could get away with it today.

We're both so sad that this happened. Sad that Gus is hurt, but also really sad about this other dog. We really like this family, and have loved knowing this dog for the past 3 years. We feel like we let them down somehow, or didn't do enough to ensure their dogs were comfortable around us and Gus. I know we can't look back and say "what if?", because it doesn't change anything, but I still find myself doing just that.

So that's our life this week. I hope everyone else is doing well this first week of the new year!!!