Firefighting & Ballet

I went from climbing aerial ladders in full bunker gear and hauling axes and roof ladders on top of a high school roof last night to practicing plies and pointing my non-ballerina toes tonight. From firefighting to ballet, it's all in the life of me.

I decided to relive some of my stress from this adoption process by taking an adult ballet class. Mind you, I have never taken a ballet class in my life. A friend of mine from church, who is an experienced dancer, convinced me to go with her. Figuring I could use some good exercising...I can only peddle around the block on bike so many times before I get bored...I decided to take her up on her offer. I mean really, how hard could it be? Remember the paragraph above about hauling axes and ladders up an inclined ladder? Well I am now biting my tongue and trying not to say bad words. My first class basically killed me. First of all I don't know French, so who knows what in the world some of these moves are. Second, I didn't know knees could bend that way. And third, I didn't know I could bend that way. Needless to say, while I am walking around tonight with jello legs and I probably won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow, I am standing a little straighter and I find myself pointing my toes. I will probably continue taking this class until we get our daughter, and then she can take my place and I will happily resume hauling heavy metal items onto rooftops.

A Journey Into Adoption

John and I have decided to start the journey into adoption. How did we come to this decision? It actually is more complicated than I thought it would be. To tell you the truth, I kind of just thought that working in ministry would be enough to complete me and fullfill me for the rest of my life. Firefighter Ministries, the fire department, and all of my political work keeps both John and I busy. We have had a great life together these past 10 years. We have been able to do so much and travel to so many places.

On Mother's Day of this year (2005), our pastor announced that a couple from our church would be hosting children from Russia for a three week camp. These would be older children, 7-12, that were looking for 'forever families.' We were both so moved by this, that we decided right away that we wanted to participate. This hosting possibility opened the door to adoption. Well, we had a lot of problems with the agency that was sponsering the hosting program and decided to not participate. It was such a tough decision because we didn't want to let a child down. But, we didn't want to fall in love with a child and have a difficult adoption process with the a good possibility of not ending up with that child.

My sister Elizabeth and I were doing a lot of research into international adoption. She eventually wants to adopt too. Well during my research I found another local agency and I called them right away. They were so wonderful and so professional. I went and picked up their packet. After discussing it with John we decided we would go through this agency. We also decided to adopt from China.

China........so why China? My father and his family is from China, so I grew up with that heritage. I love the culture and I think it would be so neat to bring an Asian child into a home that has Asian ties. John and I would also already have our cultural experience that is required during our home study. We have talked to many friends, family members, and mentors and everyone agrees an Asian baby would be perfect for us.

So