Feedback requested

As part of our online profile for adoption there is a section of questions
like:

If your house were burning down, what three
things would you grab?

Favorite meal?

Favorite music, quote, color, etc.

There are spaces for five questions of our own contriving. If you were wanting to
know fun random things about a couple you might place your baby with, what would you want to
know? What questions would give insight to personality?

Any suggestions, by ANYONE - whether I know you or not - would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks a bunch!!

Tuesday's Tidbit!

On time.

Expanding your knowledge.
Push your Brain further than you did yesterday. Buy a dictionary.

Last night Daniel was reading from the works of John Taylor. Our
first Christmas married my grandparents gave us a set of the Teachings of the Prophets. It has
a volume for every prophet through President Hinckley and an index an inch wide to all of
them. Daniel has been reading random sections here and there to learn more of what the
Prophets say. He read me a sentence that had there three words in succession: multitudinous
latitudinarian
principles. Can you pronounce them? I have a hard time, as does Daniel.
They make sense to me because I just look at the original words, multitude=lots,
latitude=line, principles. Lots of straight lined principles. But that takes translation. In
order to minimize translation, we need to expand vocabulary.

My little sister (17) is a pruduct of this. She is the youngest in a family that
likes to learn. We all have a decent vocabulary. My dad teaches at the U, my mom reads
prolifically, as well as having to keep up on her job knowledge for certification, I lived at
home all five years of college, Taylor's hobbies include looking things up for fun. I mean
really. She says she uses words that many of her friends don't understand and then they ask
her to use smaller words. At girls camp one year she was given the title "Grammar Queen." I
have a grandmother who taught English before having a family.

I remember when some of Taylor's friends were over and we said something that they
did not know the definition of. So we pulled out our well used dictionary and looked it up. He
thought we were crazy for doing that. My grandparents also have their dictionary easily
accessible. It's great.

Now I'm just rambling. Buy a dictionary that you
can have on hand. Actually look things up when you don't know exactly what they mean. Make the
next book you read just a bit more difficult, deep, or extensive than the last one you
read.

I told Daniel that a friend of ours was going to
incorporate the study of physiognomy in Victorian England in her senior paper this year. He
didn't think it was a word. We pulled out our dictionary and I proved to him it was and then
read him the definition. I love learning. I challenge you all to do the same.
p.s. Can I confess that I really want a hard copy
of the complete Oxford English Dictionary? It's on Amazon.
It's 20 volumes and includes the etymology of
each word.

Spring

I know it feels like spring will never come. It's my favorite season. New
life, flowers, my birthday and my anniversary. Could it get better? Well as part of my
avoiding depression the last few weeks of the cold, I planted Crocuses. (I do love snow and
how peaceful and beautiful it is - I like to enjoy each season as it's here - but Spring is
AMAZING!).

For the last two weeks my crocuses have been
pushing up through the bark and snow. This morning they achieved full spring glory. They
are small flowers but so happy. The yellow always come up first, then the white, and next I
should have some purple ones. So for those of you who are spring lovers, I suggest planting to
snow crocus. They come up in early February and are guaranteed to bring hope of spring. There
are also other early bloomers, in bulb form. Look in the fall at places that sell plants. It's
great! You plant them once in late October and then they come up every year with no more
effort on your part but to keep them weeded. Yay flowers!!

Tidbit #6

Although belated, I hope
it's a good one.

Pickles.I absolutely adore pickles.

Especially Dill Spears.

In fact we like them so much at our house we buy them by the gallon.

We were watching "Good Eats," a great show on the Food
Network. When Alton Brown covers recipes, he covers the history and the chemical reasons
behind the food. Great show. That's the show that taught me about Macaroni and
Cheese.

Anyway, the history of pickles is fascinating. Who likes pickles? Every
generation since 4400 BC has had something to do with pickles. The highlights are:

-Julius Caesar's troops were fed pickled cucumbers as nutritional
supplements while on duty. As were Napoleon's troops, and US soldiers during WWII. Cool
huh?

-Pickles in America were a favorite of guess who? THOMAS JEFFERSON!! Cold
crisp tart pickles on a hot Virginia day. He just keeps proving to be my favorite historical
figure. Many of other prominent men of the time also liked pickles. Yummy.

There are many recipes on Food
Network.

When I return to Virginia I
might have to buy a cookbook at Thomas Jefferson's Home, Monticello.

This is a link to a
more fleshed out history of pickles.
Pickle Time
Line

Two quilts...

When we went to the birth mother panel they all talked about gifts that the
adoptive couple gave them. They each got something that really meant a lot to them. A couple
got jewelry and some got quilts. My mother in law was there and liked the idea of quilts. She
sews and my family sews - between the two families there have been many quilts made for
others. So I went to the fabric store and looked through some quilt books with my mother in
law. We came to this conclusion:

This pattern
-
With
these colors.
We
tried to keep it gender neutral because we don't know what we will get first. We could prefer,
but isn't the surprise part of the fun? It maybe is early but in the event that we have little
warning about placement, we will have a gift ready. The best part is how we are going to
involve everyone. I will be doing the applique for all the hearts (yes, I will sew 55 hearts
on by hand, but it's about love, right?). My mother in law will piece the top of the baby
quilt. My mother will piece the top of the birth-mother quilt. My grandma Budge will bind them
both (because she does a wonderful job) and I am enlisting the help of my grandma Arave for
help with the embroidered flowers that come out of the tops of the hearts. They will
essentially be the same quilt, with more borders on the birth-mother's, and only one small one
on the babies. It's a good way to pass the time. I'm quite excited.

This brings me to another point. A question I'd like to put to
you all. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but I'd rather be over prepared than under. What sort of
preparations would be appropriate? What am I justified in purchasing and when? Daniel says I
can shop furniture sales after we get approved. What do I do to keep from getting my hopes up
too high for a baby so soon? We aren't thinking there's a chance until probably next summer.
If it happens sooner it's a surprise. Once we reach a year and a half, I might start to worry.
What are the ways in which you prepared for your baby, knowing or hoping for one?

Thanks for any input.

My Valentine's Day

My cute husband made me breakfast Saturday morning. I was headed out to
meet my mother in law and was running late. So he made me breakfast - Valentine's style. He
made "Toad in a hole."It's a
fried egg in the center of a piece of toast. He used my heart cookie cutter for it. Our day
was low key and very restful. We watched TV, napped, watched a movie and cuddled like we did
when we were dating. It was nice. I fixed one of his favorite dinners. It was the best kind of
day. (Drastically different from last year when we ate at the Moroccan restaurant at Epcot in
Orlando! I think I liked this year better. Quiet and inexpensive with the same wonderful man!)

I love to Travel!!!

The other morning I woke up after having a dream about a fabric store in
Virginia. This spurred an idea. How cheap are tickets? Cheap. Last night I bought a roundtrip
ticket to Washington D.C. for $180. I was amazed. So I am going to visit my grandma and
cousins at the end of April. I am so excited. I love Virginia. It's like therapy for me. I'll
be there while the dogwoods are in their peak. And Monticello will be opening their new
visitor's center the week before I get there. It will be so beautiful and so much fun. I love
hangin' with grandma and my girls. See you soon Charlottesville!!

My Husband is the BEST!

Last week I had a really bad week, a break down and a complain fest. Am I
the only one that has those? I know mine was specifically connected to medication I have to
take every once in a while. Messes me up good for a few days. This time it lasted longer.
grumph. Well, my sweet husband sent me tulips two days later. I didn't take a picture. Which
is too bad, because they were beautiful and tulips are my favorite. They are the reason we got
married in April at the Salt Lake Temple. I thought that'd cover my Valentine's flowers. I was
wrong. Just this morning these were delivered. I love
PRO FLOWERS and that my husband does too. Aren't they beautiful? I love getting pro-flowers
because I then get to arrange them in the vase they send with the flowers. Yay. Happy and
still in Love as much as ever. Love you husband!

Sort of a Tuesday Tidbit

This week I have nothing as
fun as macaroni and cheese. It's about sacrifice. How much are we willing to sacrifice? How much
have we sacrificed? How much has it hurt us to sacrifice? Were they heartfelt
sacrifices?
Have we willingly given up something dear to us?

As far as my personal experience goes,
I am pathetic. As you all know we are in the adoption process. Tonight we had a panel of birth
mothers come and talk to us about their side of the story. On the way home I realized how
selfishly I have been
viewing this whole situation. There are some things I need to think about for myself. But this
process has two sides, ours the smaller half.
The birth mothers tonight touched my heart
in ways that only those who have truly sacrificed could. These women are amazing.

We have the child for eternity. The child
becomes ours when sealed to us. But what is that compared to getting the child here, a part of
us, and then placing that child into the arms of another who will then have your baby for
eternity? Sacrifice.

These women find out they are pregnant in
situations they don't want to be pregnant in. There were four. One was in a bad marriage. One
had been in a short, unhealthy relationship. One had been dating the guy for 2 years. One was
engaged. They ranged in age from 18 to 31. Each had a very different experience. Chose their
adoptive couples for different reasons. Had different placement stories. Each had different
needs to heal. They placed 6 years ago, 2 years ago, 6 months ago, 4 months ago. They were
each in a different place in their healing process.

They all said it was the hardest thing
they have ever done.
They all cried at the pain and
smiled at the peace. They sacrificed something I will never understand.
They were all at peace knowing what they did was the right thing. They all knew the Lord and
our Heavenly Father love them and supported them through the whole thing, as they do still.
One woman specifically said she has no idea how Heavenly Father gave his only begotten son to
this world to save us because placing her baby in the arms of another just about killed her.
She has my respect. They all have my respect. They have helped me in ways I didn't know I
needed help. Their whole experience was shared with love. Remembered with pain and peace
co-mingled.

I wish I could convey to you the spirit I
felt tonight.
For the first time I realized what some yet unknown woman
will be giving me when she places her baby in our home. I will probably cry about it
regularly. These women have earned a place in our Heavenly Father's kingdom. I only hope I can
to the same and show my love for the Savior in some special way.

May our Heavenly Father continue to bless birth mothers who make the hardest choice
of their life.

To give life.

Something to Read

If you want to. On the blog, The R
House, she has posted an article about infertility and the etiquette
involved. Not that many people have been insensitive, nobody knowingly has said hurtful
things. But the article
she posts is very good. It explains some of the feelings that I have felt over the last 5 and
half years since I found out. I know Daniel's biggest pet peeve is when people at Church start
bugging us about children. Back off old lady, none of your business. When we show up with a
baby, then it's the time for us to have kids.

I will
state that 90% of the time I am OKAY. Don't feel bad for me. I have had time to understand and
come to grips with how things are for me. But the pain is still there, sometimes stronger than
at other times. Maybe this article will help with other people in your life. It helps me
describe the feelings I have had. Maybe you will enjoy it. Don't be offended.

Here
is the article if you are interested. Just a few things to think about when you are around
people with fertility problems.

Adoption Class #2

We just attended our second of five classes Tuesday evening. It was
wonderful. Daniel may feel a bit differently than I do, but I really enjoyed it. We opened up
a bit more, asked more questions and connected. We all made some comments about the stupid
things unthinking people have said to us regarding infertility and "when we are going to have
kids." We talked about the amazing experience that is placement and sealing of that baby. We
talked about birth mothers and how strong they have to be to give of their flesh so we can
have a baby. I felt connected. I felt part of a group. I'm feeling more and more that this is
what we are supposed to do. It's wonderful.

I am really
excited about next week. We are having a birth mother panel. Our teacher has said that after
hearing the testimonies of these birth mothers, they had it confirmed that adoption is a
blessing. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Tidbit Tuesday

American Cheese!

Last week I got a
comment about making macaroni and cheese and using American Cheese. What is American Cheese?
According to Wikipedia, it's
processed cheese. That's all I got. You can read further on Wikipedia. It's that yummy runny
stuff you put on nachos, it's those perfect little squares you make cheese sandwiches with,
it's that mild flavored ooze that comes in a can. It's wonderful. It's anything not directly
tied to the milk produce from an animal. It's my favorite.