Final Inspiration, Fundraising, and Biding Our Time

Vince and I want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the generous outpouring of support after we announced our intentions to adopt from Japan. Our family and friends have been reaching out with kind words, prayers, and even donations to help us bring our son or daughter home. For those of you asking, we have a link at the bottom of our blog site where donations can be given. We also have a GoFund Me page, and the link is in the info section of our Facebook page. We have been blown away by those who have asked how they could donate...words cannot express our gratitude. We are also working diligently to come up with ideas for fundraisers. We will have another post soon listing and explaining several fundraising ideas we have brainstormed. As of now, we are considering a golf outing, hosting an adult prom, Scentsy, Premier, or Norwex parties, a 5K or walk-a-thon, mini-sessions through Slone Photography (the photography business my mom and I have) for donations, a tee-shirt sale, and a "Piece of the Puzzle" fundraiser (people can buy a puzzle piece for $5...their name goes on the back...once the pieces are all sold, we put the puzzle together, glue it down, and hang it in our baby's room). More details and dates will be coming soon!

Many people have asked what inspired us to adopt or what the final piece of inspiration was that helped us make the final decision. I've explained our thought process in the last two posts, but the final inspiration for us was a picture I saw on Instagram (yes, I know you were expecting it to come from a more inspirational place...well, Instagram has it's moments!). Vince and I had filled out the application and were ready to send it in, but as with any life-changing decision, or in my anxious mind, even deciding where to eat dinner, we waited to send that email. Vince left to go meet his golf team for practice, and I decided to pray, and pray hard. I asked for one final sign, a sign that could not be misconstrued. I even thought to myself, "I wonder what Tim (Vince's late father) would think about this decision?" I even thought it would be great to get a sign from him. I chuckled to myself and opened Instagram to get my mind off of the decision for a minute and the very first post was a sign with an incredible message. I got goosebumps, I teared up, and said aloud, "Got it...loud and clear." When Vince came home, I told him I was ready, and he said he was just waiting on me. We pushed "send" the very next morning. The picture is below...I took a screenshot that day.

As we are waiting to set up our homestudy, we are biding our time. Since we are unsure of whether we will be bringing home a baby boy or a baby girl, we are buying a few small items that are kind of gender neutral...boy that is hard to do! :) I'm drawn to giraffes, elephants, zebras, and lions, so we have bought a few things. Enjoy the pictures below of the few items we have bought while they were on sale...saving money is key to saving for an adoption! Until next time...