It's Official...

...we are now licensed to foster in the State of Utah!

We received our license in the mail last Thursday and and our home study will be approved today.
Almost six months to the day of first making our decision to become foster parents. {Blast you, background check, for taking so long.} I've never felt so relieved and haven't felt more ready than I do right now. Even if I can hardly remember a thing that I learned in training. I'm so glad I chose to write about each of the eight classes. I've gone back and read those post's several times to remind myself that I actually did sit in those training's. It really did happen. I really did watch those videos, and hear those stories. I really have been prepared {as much as possible} to become a foster parent. And I've got a big manual to prove it. So let's get this thing going. The best kind of teaching is hands on experience, right?

I recently just finished reading "Little Men" by Louisa May Alcott, a beautifully written book that was recommended by another foster care blogger. My favorite excerpt is as follows,

"I only want to give these children a home in which they can be taught a few simple things which will help to make life less hard to them when they go out to fight their battles in the world. Honesty, courage, industry, faith in god, their fellow preachers and themselves. That is all I try for."

"That is everything. Give them these helps, then let them go to work out their life as men and women and whatever their success or failure is, I think they will remember and bless your efforts..."

And now we wait.

{If you missed the posts on the training classes, you can read them here: one two three four five six seven eight}

Foster Care from the Child's Point of View

I am constantly overwhelmed by the articles, and blogs and videos that are found on the internet about foster care. And we've had so many of our loved ones share them with us when they come across them.

The video below was sent to us on Facebook from Mike's aunt. This is one of the most beautiful accounts of foster care from a child's point of view that I have ever seen. It's not a specific story from any specific child, yet it seems its every child's story that ends up in the foster care system.

Home Study? Check.

And talk about simple! I wouldn’t say I was worried about it. I knew that we had checked, and double checked the list to make sure our house was in ship shape before the licensor came out. But I was anxious. I didn’t really know what to expect. It didn’t help that she was about 30 minutes late. Mike and I wandered around the kitchen in effort to keep the freshly vacuumed floors looking freshly vacuumed. The TV was off. And there we paced. In our own anxious minds. Making random comments back and forth. I asked Mike if he was excited. He replied ‘Yes’ with the most adorable smile. We were kids on Christmas, I tell you. Then Mike remarked on how he felt like a dog in a cage being confined to the kitchen floor only.

When she finally came, we did the home tour first. She didn’t seem very concerned with most things. I felt so proud that I had all my first aid kits, and fire extinguishers, and was sure that she would want to see the inside of the fridge or pantry or something. But she took our word on the first aid kits, and fire extinguishers, and basically just wanted to make sure our hazardous liquids were locked up. {And I got a little clarification on what needed to be locked up outside of the obvious. Any chemical that a child could drink. If you were wondering…} I shouldn’t say I was disappointed. I mean the less she wanted to see, the more likely we were to pass, right? But at least I felt good on the inside knowing that I took care of everything whether or not she wanted to see it.

First she interviewed Mike and I together. She wanted to know our history and what our relationship is like. Then Mike had to leave the room and I was interviewed alone. She asked for a chronological history of my life. Where was I born. Where have I lived. Where did I go to school. When did I graduate. The obvious. Then she asked about my childhood, my relationships with my siblings and my parents. Throughout the interview she continually asked me if I had any traumatic or significant events in my childhood, my youth, my adulthood. It felt so good to know that I didn’t have anything to tell her. Even though she continued to fish for something, anything. She asked about my relationship with Mike. She had me describe him. She asked me what we fight about. She asked about my hobbies and interests.

Then it was Mike’s turn. And I’m sure he went on and on about how awesome his wife is.

When we came back together, she asked us about what kind of parents we will be. What our idea of discipline is. What our history is of being around children. And then somehow we went from our original 2 kids to saying that we’ll now take 3.

Three!

I have no idea how that happened. Later that night, Mike said, ‘I can’t believe we said we’d take three kids’. Yeah babe, me either. But you know, we can always turn it down. And going from zero to three is a lot really fast. But I think once you get involved in this situation, saying no just doesn’t really come easy. Who can say no to an adorable child in need?

And the event in which we have been waiting five months for was over in an hour.

We should hear from our resource family consultant (RFC) in no more than three weeks. Hopefully presenting us with our official license to foster.

When I Have The Time To Sit Down And Write,

Foster care is obviously the thing that comes out. It is constantly on my mind and when I’m not actively preparing for it, I’m thinking about it. Which makes all other activities, journal worthy or not, fall to the wayside.

For instance, we are lucky enough here in Utah to have Olympic venues that still host the Olympic trials. We decided at eight bucks a ticket, that’s some pretty cheap Friday night entertainment. Plus I’d get to gawk at Apolo all night. Win, win. Unfortunately, our dear short track speed skaters didn’t do nearly as well in Sochi as we Americans had hoped, but I got to see them skate in person. Before the Olympics. Which basically means we’re best friends.

 

At the end of January, my ward went to Youth Conference. Yeah, I know, my ward does things different. I like it. Except I don’t really like winter. So Youth Conference in the mountains in the dead of winter was just down right awweeeesssooommmmeee. But it’s okay. While cross country skiing, I was filmed taking every single hill on my rear and/or back. But it’s easier that way. So yeah. They only played the videos at a fireside a couple weeks later. So glad I was not in attendance.  I love these sweet ladies that I get to serve with in the YW presidency.

And Valentine’s Day! Oh the day of love. I’ve written about past Valentines Days here and here. This one was just awesome {but maybe not quite as dramatic} as those that came before. Plus who doesn’t want to see Les Miserables on opening night at Hale Centre Theatre? Amazing. Love the power of that show. And the talent that the community theater always seems to bring together.
 

It's been a mad rush to get the room done in our basement for Mike’s cushy work-from-home office. We’ve busted our tails getting it done before our home study tomorrow. And it seems our late nights of painting baseboards paid off. We moved his desk and computer in last night. We don’t have closet doors or the office door installed yet, but it’s a fully functioning room so he can begin working down there tomorrow.

 

Our home study is tomorrow morning and man do I have a list I’ve got to get working on. All I have to do is get the entire house scrubbed in one evening, while still managing to watch The Bachelor (which really isn’t that important, Juan Pablo is a loser). But I’ve already dusted and scrubbed all my baseboards, so I’ve made a small dent. Can’t even believe that our final step in getting licensed is tomorrow. Please pass, please pass……

It’s This Little Secret I Have

Not a person at work (except my boss) knows about the secret that I keep. No one at work is on my Instagram. No one at work reads my blog. Not that they don’t have access to it if they knew about it. They could find the links through Facebook. But they don’t. To be honest, I think most of my coworkers wouldn’t know the first thing about Instagram. And a blog? What’s a blog? This chapstick sits on my desk, staring at me, reminding me of my secret. Anyone that would come to my desk would see it if they were looking. But they wouldn’t ask. They probably wouldn’t even speculate. And when I finally get licensed, and announce it at the monthly accounting department meeting, fingers crossed that I shock every last one of them. Because who would have thought?

Why have I kept it a secret at work when I’ve been so vocal about it in other areas of my life? Other than avoiding the dramatics of them thinking all of my work will fall into their laps when I walk out the door on that life changing day, and therefore secretly hating me just a little bit, I really just didn’t want them to know. They are nothing but sweet to my face and great when it comes to coworkers but sometimes isn’t it nice to just keep something to yourself every once in a while? It is weird to have such a big part of my life have nothing to do with the other big part of my life. Guaranteed the second that I tell them I have something to tell them they will all think I’m pregnant. Oh man, are you in for a surprise.

 

My lips smell of Pina Colada. Reminding me that I hold one of the sweetest of secrets. I’m going to be a foster mom.

 

(Yeah I know, I should really dust my desk.)

We Are Not Criminals!

Great news! We knew that, yes, but it took the government two very, very long months to figure that out. I still can't figure out how hard it is to type in a social security number or two and send off the information to the State of Utah, but apparently.

 

We finally were able to schedule our home study! {Which I still don't know if that's one word or two...} The down side is they are almost an entire month out! So we have until February 25th to get our home in ship shape. Which I tell you what, we have the safest house on the block. Every single everything is behind lock and key. We've got a crib, a car seat, a full size bed, toys, a baby gate....everything we need to get us through at least the first few hours of parenthood. Except diapers. We aren't jumping on that wagon until we know we need to.

 

My goal is to pass on the first round. Which means we've got checklists that needed to be checked and double checked and an entire house to scrub to perfection. Now we just keep our fingers crossed that the write-up doesn't take another four weeks after the home study. This process feels like its taken forever. The training classes seem a millennia ago. I'm beyond ready to jump in, head first. Here's to praying that our first placement doesn't take 6 months!

Good Things Happen

Happy Friday! This week has been long. I do recall at least one morning this week that I nearly screamed when Mike made me get out of bed to go to work. So thank goodness this weekend will provide me with two days to do things my way.

Our weekend plans consist of a celebratory meal at Texas Roadhouse tonight because Mike has gone and gotten himself a fantastic new job! This has been such an answer to our prayers and we are so excited that he will be able to have a bit more freedom and really be able to flex his smart muscles. The lucky duck will be working from home so now we embark upon construction in our basement to finish him an office. {Gotta keep those upstairs rooms available for some kids!} I admit, I thoroughly enjoyed every single pounding of the hammer that I got to listen to last night while Mike and his dad worked. Because every single pound meant that things are finally coming together for us. That if you wait, and you pray, and you put in effort, God will bless you. And sometimes it seems like it takes forever, but most the time it's worth the wait. And with that being said, I'm off to finish my Quest bar and enjoy myself a lovely weekend doing whatever I feel like with everything that I hold dear.

If You Really Knew Me: {3rd Edition}

Unless I'm married to you, or related to you, I'll probably withdraw if you try to get to close to me. {All of my friends are nodding right now....}

 

The only good thing about winter is that gloves are more socially acceptable which keeps me from having to touch germy door handles.

 

If I could do it all over again, I'd come back as a non-eating disorder ballerina.

 

I'm a secret keeper. There isn't a person in the world that knows everything about me.

 

I don't really care about offending people.

 

I'm what I call an over-sharer. If you can get me talking, you'll find out way more about me than I ever wanted you to and than you ever cared to know.

 

I'm pretty much a walking contradiction. {See paragraphs 4 and 6}

 

I don't wear 80 percent of the clothes hanging in my overcrowded closet. Of the 20 percent that I do wear, most are gray.

 

I'm a classical {in terms of classification} music junkie. All hail the Baroque period.

 

I enjoy doing math in my head.
 

 

2013

What to say.

Well frankly, 2013 felt like a nice slap in the face. Like the lingering tingly red hand print kind. And I’m glad to see it go. To be honest, I was ready to have it gone by February. We had to make decisions that I never thought we would have to make and we faced trials that I never thought we’d face. And it nearly drained the life out of me.

But in between all the bad, we had some really great things that helped us along the way.

With all Mike’s schooling done, we finally got to settle down and became first time homeowners in May! We love our house. We love our neighborhood. And we love having a place to officially call our own.

We went to Disneyland. And that’s the happiest place on earth, so how could I not add that into the list of awesome things for the year?

We got to welcome another niece into the family! And aren’t babies the best?

We made the decision to become foster parents! And talk about a whirlwind. Never having thought of doing foster care, it’s like God himself took control of our computer on that random Sunday back in September to guide us to this decision. {You can read about it here.} Still counting down the days of our first placement.

Now this is when I go on to say, “We got this, 2014!” or “2014 will be our year!”. But I guess the pessimistic side just got the best of me this year. So I guess I end with, “Just be better than 2013, okay?”

But really, let’s knock 2014 out of the park, yeah?

Clearance Racks Are Our Forte

And Mike was perusing through such racks on his lunch break today when he came across an incredibly beautiful, wooden hand-carved piece of art. And it was cracked right down the center. He immediately texted me a picture of it. He tells me that it's regular priced $130.00 and on clearance for $11.00 because of the crack. He loved it. I felt more of a need to see it in person. The thing was huge and I had no idea what we were going to do with it if we bought it. So once I got off work for the day, I headed straight to said clearance rack to do my own perusing. Of which I found a massive hand-painted clay pot that was 80% off. And I had just the place for it. Mike met me at the store to which we proceeded to buy both massive hand-painted clay pot and huge wooden hand-carved piece of art. Side note: Instead of bringing the car, Mike walked to meet me. Which means we had to walk back carrying a good 30+lbs each of art. Felt the burn.

 

So when we finally make it home, we flip over the stand that this large wooden ball is sitting on and there is a label explaining the origin of the art.

 

 

The last line says "Originally this decorative ball was made as a gift from the groom's family to the bride's family at the proposal ceremony."

Did I mention that exactly 7 years ago today, Mike proposed?

Isn't that awesome?

We had no idea that that label was even there, and it was taped upside down so we couldn't read it even if we had seen it. Amazing. And now some random, cracked, very large, very heavy, beautiful hand-carved ball of wood actually holds quite the place in my heart. Happy Engage-iversary Michael!