Zhi Zhi is still against the idea of adoption. The social worker will continue to discuss the importance of family with her but they have said that if Zhi Zhi is not agreeable by the end of August, the agency in Taiwan may terminate our adoption process. Please pray that her heart will be softened toward us. That we can hold on to our faith and never let go. That ultimately God’s will be done, both in Zhi Zhi’s life and in ours.
Goofy? Me?? No, her!
Zhi Zhi’s host family described her as “goofy.” After rereading her updates and seeing the additional photos from the host program, I’d have to agree with that description. In preparation for our Skype call, we’ve been brainstorming various ideas to break the ice.
Like my new finger puppets? There are 10 total and they are really cute! I hope she finds them goofy and that we can make her laugh on the call.
Just 18 Summers – A Book Review
Just 18 Summers is the next review book in my stack. I read this entire book while sitting in the Chicago airport, waiting for a huge storm to blow over so that I could fly home to Seattle. It definitely filled the time well and helped me to forget that my flight was delayed several hours.
From the Amazon description: After the tragic death of Butch Browning’s wife, Jenny, four families begin to realize how precious—and fleeting—their time together is. Each is at a different stage in life: Butch is facing single parenthood. The O’Reillys are expecting their first child. The Andersons are approaching an empty nest, and the Buckleys are so focused on providing their children with everything that they’ve forgotten what they truly need. With just eighteen summers before their children are grown, how do they make the most of that time when life so often gets in the way?
I laughed. I cried. I rolled my eyes. I completely blocked out all the chaos of the busy airport and soaked up a story about love and family and regret and redemption.
This book reminded me of the importance of holding my daughter close, of treasuring each day with her and loving her to the best of my abilities. I pray for her daily, that God will keep her safe until we can travel to bring her home. The parents in this book had 18 summers to love their children. I will have much less, as my future daughter is already 11 years old. But I hope to pack an incredible amount of love into the years we do have together.
Thank you so much to Tyndale Fiction for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
Shipped! Finally!
At the end of May, I ordered two comforters and two sets of sheets from Pottery Barn Kids. We received the comforters quickly but the sheets were on back order. Obviously we don’t need them right away but I have still been anxious to finish making the beds. I’ve been checking the website every week to see if they were available yet.
They shipped today!!
The tracking website didn’t yet have an estimated arrival date but it listed three day priority shipping, which would put them here Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m so excited!! I can’t wait to finish making our girl’s bed.
Busy week and a new recipe
This week was busy enough that I forgot to blog. Oops! I spent a few hours this week doing some deep spring organizing. I still have a few areas around the house where our belongings are not organized, just stacked into piles or shoved into corners. I want our house to look intentional! I’m still working through the last stack of papers and will then start sorting through our pantry.
No real adoption news this week, just some random shopping to decorate our home. I hope to post pictures once I finish the organizing.
I made a new Chinese recipe this week, Sexy Spiced ‘n ‘Ginger-ed Veg, Rice Noodles & Crispy Tofu. Whew! What a long recipe name. It was really good the first night but did not reheat well. We preferred the Lo Mein recipe from last week. However, we will definitely use the idea of including jiaozi (dumplings) in future stir-fry recipes. That was the best part!
I haven’t picked out a recipe for next week but want to find something Taiwanese. Maybe a side dish instead of an entree. I’ll have to search around and find a website with Taiwanese recipes. Happy cooking!
House –> Home
Jeff and I are slowly turning our house into a home. We’ve ordered some long overdue furniture (a kitchen table) and are still adding to Zhi Zhi’s room (a dresser is on order). We’re also adding some small touches to the house, trying to make it look more inviting and homey.
Today we installed new curtains in our living room! The window has been bare for two years.
It is bare no longer!
I love these curtains. They aren’t fancy, but I like them.
If the cats don’t destroy them, we’ll be buying the same curtains (but longer) for the patio doors in the dining room. I can’t wait!
It is here!!
Our AIT letter arrived today.
I am so excited!! This was the last piece of paper we needed in order to submit our adoption paperwork to court in Taiwan. This also allows us to schedule a Skype call with our girl! Hopefully we’ll be able to schedule that soon. We’re waiting to hear how the scheduling process works.
We’re making progress!!
Speaking my love language
My love language is overwhelmingly Gifts. I love to give and I love to receive. It’s not the cost that matters, only the thought behind the gift.
My husband loves me!
Tonight he came home with this lovely wok. Since we’re going to be cooking more Chinese and Taiwanese dishes, he thought it best for me to have the correct kitchen tools.
I’ll be using it tomorrow night to try out another new recipe!
I forgot to post the link to yesterday’s delicious dish – Pork Lo Mein. We just subbed tofu for the pork. And if anyone has any favorite recipes to share, please do! I’m always on the lookout for more.
Project: New recipes
I have a new project. Each week, I am going to learn how to cook one new Chinese or Taiwanese meal. I’m hoping that by the time Zhi Zhi comes home, we’ll have a binder of recipes to cook for her, ones that she might be familiar with and that will taste like her birth country. I know that when I am out of town, I eventually long for homecooked meals, recipes that I am familiar with and love. I’m sure Zhi Zhi will have the same challenge as she transitions into our family.
Today’s new recipe was Pork Lo Mein. Of course, since we are vegetarian, we subbed tofu for the pork. It was delicious!
We’re going to take pictures of the food so that we can send them to her in our next care package. I hope she recognizes how much we already love her!
Two hours of exercise… for chocolate?
A friend of mine is a health coach and she invited me to join a 28 day health challenge. It starts today and runs for 28 days. The goal is to lose 4% of your body weight by the end of the challenge. 4% seems like a lot to me for only 28 days. That means I have to lose just over 5.5 pounds in four weeks. Doable, yes. A stretch, definitely.
The challenge took me a bit out of my comfort zone because it had a $20 join fee that goes into a pot. If you make the goal and complete a certain percentage of the participation points, the pot is divided between those who were successful. I couldn’t decide if this counted as gambling or if it was just a good motivation to make the goal. I thought it would be ok if I used my allowance money for this month and then will hopefully get my allowance back at the end of the challenge, plus maybe a bit more.
Well, tonight I decided to earn my dessert. I told myself that I had to burn more calories than the dessert. We decided to take the long route to Trader Joe’s. After an hour of walking, we arrived at Trader Joe’s to discover that it had closed 15 minutes earlier. Oops! We spent another 40 minutes walking home. Almost two hours of walking and no dessert!
Oh well. I definitely lost weight today!