Hair cuts, Taiwan, and Alarm Clocks

I pretty much stink at posting lately. I dropped my Nikon back in the spring and it has been getting "all fixed up" in New York, so I haven't had any pics to post. I know pictures are much more interesting than my writing, so I just haven't posted. $300 later, the Nikon is fixed, so I should have lots of summer posts.

The girls had a great trip to the lake. We did nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, and it was fabulous! School has been out since Thursday, and I have just been relaxing! It always takes me about a week to get productive! Today I am taking Connor to school so I can get the house under control again. Scrubbing bathrooms and floors is a lot easier to do without a four year old's "help."

I got all of my hair cut off last week, which turned out to be a disaster. Next time you want a drastic hair cut, don't try a new stylist (duh, you might say). I was at the salon for five hours (no, I swear I'm not exaggerating). Despite me telling this stylist that you HAVE to use bleach on my hair because it will turn orange with blonde color, they used color and had to completely redo it. I loved the part when this stylist asked me if I wanted to come back another day to fix it..ummm...I'm not leaving the salon like this, sorry. The color got fixed, and is fine. The cut I am getting used to, even though it is the worst hair cut I've ever had, completely uneven, and one side is longer than the other. I think Greg could have cut it! When I fix it you can't tell, but I am hoping my wonderful mother-in-law can clean up the mess when I see her. (I should've let her do it in the first place, but I just wanted the hair gone! It was on my last nerve!) Anyways, I am in search of a new salon! I have been going to that one forever, but needless to say, I will never go back! Okay, that was way too much talk about hair....Connor did say, "Mommy you look prettier with long hair, I don't like your short hair...boys and long hair...geez!

If you read Greg's blog, you might've read that we are going to try to go to Taiwan over Christmas break. We are wanting to work in the orphanage, get to know the staff there, and experience some of the culture. We really want to be able to give back to the orphanage that will take care of our daughter while we are waiting to get her, and when we travel to get her, we won't be completely lost in a foreign country with a baby! I am really, really praying that this will come through. We both feel like this is what we're supposed to do, we just need money to buy airfare pretty soon before it starts getting more expensive. We are fixing to start ebaying like crazy and have a we're having a huge garage sale this weekend. We are watching our spending like crazy (I'm really not very good at it!), but I know it will be worth it in the end. I do miss my Starbucks beverages!

A few Sundays ago, we overslept for church, so Connor and I made muffins and coffee and had home church. We've actually done this a couple of times. I just read a bible story to him, and we make some crafts (Connor calls this "doing some gluing".) Well, Sunday I wake up about an hour late, my alarm clock turned off, and my little boy giggling. He said, "Mommy, it's time to make muffins and have home church." The little sneak turned off my alarm clock so we could have church at home. I think it's sweet that he thinks that is so fun, but we had to have a LONG talk about turning off Mommy's alarm. He is such a mess....a sweet mess.

On Sunday, Connor and my niece had a campout at my parents' house. They had so much fun! Greg and I had no idea what to do with ourselves without Connor. We ended up going to Border's, out to eat, took a walk, and came home and played Scrabble. Yes, we are an exciting couple! I can't even remember what we did before Connor. I think we must've been bored and well-rested!

Well, this week begins my summer with Connor! It's hard to believe this time next summer I will be getting ready to send him to Kindergarten. I have lots of fun stuff planned and I am so excited to spend so much time with him! But first.....I must get my house clean and under control!

Long Time, No Blogging!

I just realized it's been a couple of weeks since I posted. You can tell it's the end of the school year, because things are insanely busy. I'm slowly working towards the bottom of the paperwork pile. Hopefully I'll get there soon!

This past week has been extremely hard. I found out Friday that one of my former students took his own life. Going to his funeral on Monday was one of the saddest and hardest things that I've ever done. He was a great kid, so much fun to teach, so witty, and extremely intelligent. I spent seven hours a day with him for 180 days, I saw him more in those 180 days than my own family, so needless to say, I have been devastated. I have had such a hard time dealing with his death. First, I was just shocked and heartbroken, then I was mad, so mad that this eleven year old little boy was gone! Now, I just miss him and hope he knew how special I thought he was......it's been a hard week! I have cried and cried, I've punched some pillows, and I just might have thrown some stuff. I know this is an experience that will stay with me my entire life.

On the good news side (Thank you, God that there is some good stuff to talk about), I have five and a half days left of work! Can you hear me screaming and jumping up and down? In all my years of teaching, I've never been this over it! Get me outta there!

Also, more good news....girl's weekend at the lake begins in less than 48 hours! Can you hear me screaming and jumping up and down again? Lots of reading, relaxing, sleeping, and laughing will be taking place. This trip was perfect timing!

Oh, and some more good news, the beach is only three and a half weeks away! Aaaaaaahhh....I can taste summer! Being a teacher rules...well, during June and July anyways.

Picture Post

Things have been so busy that I haven't even had a chance to download any pics from the camera. While the boys are taking their Sunday afternoon nap, I thought I'd catch up. Here's what we've been up to the past few weeks!


Connor was actually very excited for his first visit to the dentist! He looked forward to it all week!

He of course had everyone in smiles. They couldn't believe how well he did for his very first trip! They said they'd never had a four-year old take a perfect x-ray!

No cavities! I did awesome!

This is what happens when I work late....I come home and Connor has spelled his name out on the table with his dinner and left it for me to see! It was pretty much dried to the table by the time I got home...disgusting to clean, sweet that he left it for me to see!


In the gardens at Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.


Getaways are very, very good for a marriage!


So glad to be out of Knoxville for two days and staying at a beautiful hotel!

Connor's Bedtime Thoughts

Sometimes Connor isn't as tired as he should be at the end of the day, and he just lays in his bed and we talk. Most of the time, he just asks us questions, he always says, "I just want to know everything." For the past two nights he has been terrified of going to heaven. He has said, "I don't want to go to heaven. I want you to go with me. Jesus is going to make me die." Yeah, try to reason that out with a four-year old.

On a lighter note, tonight's question for us was, "When did you buy this house?" Greg said, "Right before you were born and you were still in Mommy's belly." Connor then asked, "How did you carry it home from the store?" We laughed pretty hard and tried to explain that you don't buy everything from a store. You never know what kind of questions you'll get at bed time from a curious little four-year old.

The Adkins Family Goes Green

Back around Christmas, I really started to thinking about the environment. I am far from the "tree hugger" type and my idea of "roughing it" is staying at a hotel not named the Sheraton or the Hilton. I started thinking about it after watching some environmental documentaries, and basically just really pondering what I was teaching Connor and the legacy I was leaving behind for my children. I also was horrified at the health statistics I had been reading about cancer and respiratory problems caused by enviormental factors. Then, I started learning about everything from a religious perspective. I think Christians sometimes have the mindset, "Jesus is coming back, so who cares if we use up the Earth." I have learned that this attitude is just terribly wrong! God has given us stewardship over his creation, and whether or not you think all of these statistics are a lie (if you think this, please do some research), you still need to take care of what God has given you. I've learned that everyone can do something, even if it is something you think is insignificant. I never in a million years thought Greg would jump on board. I must admit, in the beginning, everytime I recycled something he called me a hippie. I would tell him to turn off a light, and he would say, "one light doesn't matter." Even he is making a change! I'm really proud of him!

The Adkins family is a crazy busy family living on a pretty tight little budget, so I will share with you the changes we've made:

1- First and foremost, we have set up a recycling center in our garage. We have gotten some free recycling bins, but I also went to the dollar store and got some cheap trashcans as well. Connor thinks it's a game to figure out where things belong in the recycling center. He also is constantly asking about trash, "Can I recycle that?" We make trips to the recycling center in Powell when our bins get full and he loves throwing all the stuff in the giant dumpsters. If a four year old can do it......

2- We have cut our energy consumption! We haven't had our thermostat on in weeks because it has been beautiful outside. We only have lights on when absolutely necessary. We have unplugged all of those "phantom power" sources such as toasters, can openers, cell phone chargers, etc. We only have something plugged in when it is in use. We have our entertainment center and computer on a powerstrip, and turn the whole thing off when not in use. We have been trying to wash our clothes in cold water, and hang dry when possible. We are also in the process of changing over all of our bulbs to CFL's. It is an investment, but absolutely saves money over the long run! We're doing a few at a time!

3- Water- I cannot part with my long,hot showers. Call me selfish. That is my time every morning. I'll come around eventually! I'm trying to teach Connor to turn off the water when brushing teeth. I'm also trying to remember that you only need the faucet turned on enough that a pencil size flow comes from the faucet. You don't need the water full force when washing hands or brushing teeth.

4- Food- I'm trying to buy as many organic products as our grocery budget can afford. Yes, they can be pricey, but I am willing to cut other areas of our lives to not put chemicals in my family's bodies. Yesterday, I bought a gallon of organic milk on sale at Ingles for only $4.69. I would highly recommend, if you do nothing else, replace your meat, eggs, milk, and produce with organic products. Also, now that Spring is here, we will begin to buy products that are locally grown.

5- Coffee- I am addicted to coffee....very addicted. I have started to only buy "Fair Trade", "Triple Certified" coffee. Starbucks does not brew this kind of coffee unless you ask. Bad for me, good for Greg's wallet as I try to break my Starbucks addiction.

6- Driving- We have have tried to combine our trips, so we're not driving so much. I'm in West Knoxville every Sunday for church, so I try to save my errands out there for Sundays. Greg and I have done a lot better about riding together to places, and enduring each other's errands while we're out instead of running them seperately. It has definitely taken more patience on his part! We will still work on decreasing our driving, but it's hard to take alternative transportation with kids. You will never see me with my child on one of those seats that attach to the back of your bike. So dangerous!

Our future goals- We hope to begin composting eventually. I will also try to increase my purchasing of organic products as I run out of the ones I have. My next goal is to replace all of our cleaning products and toiletries with safer, more natural products. We are also planning to buy a water filter after payday, so I can cut out the bottled water. More than anything, we will just try to buy less and consume less, simplify our lives a little. That means saving more money, which equals more to give away.

So, that's how our family has gone green! Are you up for the challenge?

Connor Quote of the Week

This is the conversation that took place tonight as we were pulling into the garage:

Connor: "I love you, Momma!"
Mommy: "I love you, Connor Andrew Adkins!"
Connor: "No, Momma! Don't call me by all those names....that means I'm in BIG FAT TROUBLE!"

A Year of Change

This weekend will be the one year mark of what I call my "Year of Change." One year ago, I had the closest, most real encounter with God than I ever have in my life. One year ago this weekend is when I felt the calling to adopt, and basically everywhere I turned for an entire week, I was shown God's presence. I have not been the same since. In the past year, my entire relationship with God has changed so much. I don't even know how to describe what I've been through.

A few weeks ago, Mark asked our small group to come with six words that described our life so far. My six words were: "Trying too hard to impress others." My whole life has been wrapped up in myself, the car I drive, the house I live in, and the clothes I wear. I was always trying to impress my teachers, parents, friends, students, and bosses. As a naturally competitive person, most of my adult life has felt empty and filled with discontent, always striving to keep up with "The Joneses." The past year, I have finally found peace and contentment, honestly because I finally feel like I am trying my hardest to live out God's purpose and plan in my life. I am less concerned with myself and what others think, and more concerned with showing people God in my life, and trying to be faithful in doing what I'm called to do. In the past year I have tried so hard to cut out the negativity in my life and everyday conversations. I've prayed for God to bring the right people in and take those who will bring me down out, until I am strong enough be a better example to them. I drive to and from work everyday in silence, spending time in prayer, praying for my family, my day, my actions, and my students. I am learning to take care of God's creation and trying to teach my son the same, not because it's the cool "Hollywood" thing right now, but because it is what He made for us, and we have destroyed so much of it in our selfishness. I am learning that I don't matter, but what I can do with my life does. I am learning how to be a much better wife, even though I am still far from perfect. I still haven't figured out how not to be tired, I'm still working on that!

I think what I have realized more than anything is that I feel like I finally have a purpose that is bigger than the money I make or fitting in, but I know that I will always struggle to overcome the mindset that our culture has imprinted on my mind. I have been overwhelmed with the realization of the temporariness of our time here on Earth and feel such a strong push to use every moment of my life for a bigger purpose. I know God has put me in my job for a reason. Everyday I get to work with underprivileged children, and I feel like I do a really good job of connecting with them, teaching them, and loving them. I know that not everyone was created to be an inner city teacher, so every day I kind of feel special that I was chosen to do this. I am so excited to adopt a little girl who needs a home (maybe a little boy someday too, shhhh....don't tell Greg). I don't understand why I was chosen to do this, sometimes I feel a little unworthy of such a huge calling. Everyday I find some new reason to be terrified, and everyday I hear, "I know what I'm doing, just relax." All these things in the past year I have discovered in humbleness, and my prayer is that people see that it is genuine, and in no way a platform to raise me up higher than themselves.

So much has changed in a year, and I am so excited to see what this next year will bring. I am open to whatever I am called to do, even though that scares me a little. I am hoping to continue to grow and looking forward to see what I can write next year! This year, I have spent a lot of time working on myself, so I am hoping that this next year, I can work on building more meaningful relationships and spending more time with people I love. Mark asked me what my new six words were, and I told him I didn't know yet. The more I've thought about it, the more I hope the six words for the next part of my life are "Always seeking His plan in humbleness."

Now That's Fast!

We got word today that our dossier has arrived in Taiwan. It was A LOT faster than we expected! They are hoping that the orphanage will have it by Monday. When you are so used to waiting forever for everything in adoption world, that kind of turnaround is amazing!

Still..... a lot of waiting to do!

On Our Way to Taiwan!

From: Angela Beemer
Date: April 8, 2008 11:17:19 AM EDT
To: Greg Adkins
Cc: Stephanie Carpenter
Subject: Dossier

Greg and Jessica,

We are pleased to announce that as of today your dossier is on it's way! We are excited and praying for you and your family!!

Thanks,
Angela

Angela Beemer
Administrative Assistant
Shiloh Adoptions

One Year Later

Last April, we made the decision to adopt. At that time, we planned to adopt from China. Today, almost one year later, we have changed our course a little, but we mailed off the last of our documents to our agency. We mailed off the copy of our I-71H, a letter we wrote to Claire's birthmother, a photo album, and of course, a very nice little check to pay for our program fee.

Making the photo album this week is one of the hardest things that I've ever done. I was up so late every night trying to portray our family as accurately as possible. People are so visual, and I knew that if it was me making this painstaking decsion on picking the perfect family for my child, the pictures would be so important to me. I know what a wonderful home we can provide and how much love that we have to give. I know how much we laugh and how much we all love each other. I know that we value happiness, our closeness as a family, and our relationship and faithfulness to God above all else, but how do I show this in pictures? I prayed so much that God would lead me to create an album that would be everything that Claire's birthmother needed to see, so I feel at peace that God will take care of the rest.

So, it's done. It's out of our hands. Our paperwork will be on it's way to Taiwan to begin translation soon. The long, long wait begins. Thank God we have a four-year old, who is so sweet and goofy to keep us entertained through this wait of 18-24 months. He is currently, as I type this, showing me his mad "jumproping skills." They still need some work!

The Day We've Been Waiting For!

Today was a great day!

We got up early and went to breakfast. IHOP has a special Dr. Seuss breakfast right now. They have "Whooville Pancakes" and "Green Eggs and Ham". Connor was pretty excited about it. He took in his Horton toy and his Green Eggs and Ham book and was ready to eat!

After breakfast we headed to Cades Cove for the day. We had so much fun exploring and looking for deer and bears. Connor had fun collecting "nature stuff" like rocks, leaves, and tree bark (yes, he's all boy!). Everytime I go up there, I am amazed at how beautiful and peaceful everything is, and so thankful that there is still some of God's creation that has escaped being bulldozed for a shopping mall.

We had to run around a bit after the mountains, so we didn't get home until 9. I thought we'd already had a good day until Greg came up the driveway with the mail as I was getting Connor out of the car in the garage. After almost 4 months of waiting, we received pretty much the most important piece of our adoption (other than our referral of course), our I-71H. For those of you who do not know what that is, here is a quote from an international adoption site:

"The I-71H is officially called the, “Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Procession of an Orphan Petition”. When prospective parents are waiting for any bit of news about how their adoption is moving forward, there are few things better than the I-71H. In a process that at times can seems as though it is grinding to a hault, the I71H is welcome news."

I screamed very loud and possibly woke the entire neighborhood up! This means we're approved by the U.S. to bring Claire home and our dossier can go to Taiwan! God is good!

Easter

I made an egg!


It's way too early for this!


The shirt did not stay tucked in the entire day! Just give it up, Mom!



The three of us at Nana and Granddaddy's.


Connor and his cousin Marion freezing their booties off on their egg hunt.




We had a great Easter weekend. On Saturday afternoon, we dyed Easter Eggs. Connor thought it was a lot of fun. He loved putting the stickers all over them! He kept taking out the eggs all day long, just to look at them. On Sunday, Connor and I got up really early! He rushed downstairs to see his treats the Easter Bunny left. He saw his bat and ball and told me, "It's what I always wanted!" We rushed to early services at Powell and then went to Crossings with my whole family. After church we headed to Nana and Granddaddy's for a yummy lunch and a VERY COLD Easter egg hunt with cousin Marion. The kids had a lot of fun, and Connor stayed the night so Mom and Dad could have a date. It was a good Easter, our best yet (I know, I said that last year!)

Connor can Google!

In all seriousness, I just walked into the playroom to get Connor off the computer and upstairs in bed. He was singing the tune to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, only he was concentrating really hard on the letters. M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. He kept saying it over and over again, as he searched for the letters on the keyboard and I said, "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm spelling Mickey Mouse so I can look it up on the computer." Welcome to 2008.....even four-year olds can use Google!

A Ski Trip to Celebrate Eight Years!

The very first post on this blog was a picture from our seventh anniversary trip to Hilton Head last March. I absolutely cannot believe how quickly this year has passed. Greg and I now have been married eight years, officially half with and half without our Connor. We were talking this week how slowly the first four years went by, and how quickly these last four went by. He is getting so big and we love him so much. It is so amazing how much better life is with him around.

Greg and I got married over Spring Break when I was still in college. It's so cool that our anniversary always falls on Spring Break, so we try to do a little get away. While we were away, we talked about the past eight years. We agreed the hardest was the first year, trying to figure out how to live with each other, and even after 5 years of dating, learning new things that we didn't know about the other. The easiest was our third year, we found out we were pregnant, took our trip out west which was a trip of a lifetime, started getting ready for Connor,bought our house, and two months before our 4th anniversary, we celebrated the arrival of our little man. It was a good year. Year five was REALLY hard! Trying to adjust our lives to us both working with a small child was stressful and extremely hard. It was a whole new world neither of us were ready for! It would have been easy to give up when things got hard, especially in this day in time. Thankfully God has put family and friends in our lives to encourage us and to help us through.

If you know us, you know we love to travel and we have seen A LOT in eight years. One thing we hadn't done in a LONG time was snow skiing, so we headed up to Winterplace Ski Resort in West Virginia for our anniversary. This is where I skied growing up, so it was so much fun to go back. We had a great time and came home in one piece, and with the Adkins family, that is a good, good thing! We never know what is going to happen with us!

Greg joked that he rented out the whole resort for our anniversary because there was absolutely no one there. It was warm, no one was around, and it was perfect! Each time we go away, I remember how much I love my husband, and how thankful I am that I married my best friend in the whole world.

Update

Well, as far as Claire goes, our I-600A application is still sitting on someone's desk in Memphis. They are processing extremely slow, so it looks like we will not recieve our approval until May, possibly even June if their website is accurate. According to them, they just processed September applications, and ours was sent in December, but our fingerprints and homestudy didn't arrive until late January. Waiting on Memphis has been beyond frustrating. We have now had our I-600A in for 14 weeks on Thursday. It just seems ridiculous! Three and half months with another expected two months! Give me a break! We are completely ready with our agency, we're just waiting on Memphis, extremely slow Memphis.

Things here have been good. Greg had a great trip to Chicago with the boys and Connor and I spent some time with Nancy and the kids in Nashville. I have managed to come down with bronchitis (as far as I can tell from self-diagnosis, but I get it every Spring). I can barely talk and today one of my kids said, "You sound like a man." If you've ever heard my voice, you know that it's anything but masculine, so it's kind of funny having this deep, hoarse voice.

Connor is doing great! He is looking forward to the Easter Bunny. He's also looking forward to a visit from Mimi this weekend. Greg and I are going away for a few days to celebrate our eighth anniversary. Most people head somewhere warm for Spring Break and where are we heading.....to a ski resort. It seemed like a good idea at the time, to spend your anniversary all cuddled by the fire. Acutally, we're both really excited to get away and stay in a nice resort.

Connor and I have been looking for Easter outfits all week. On Sunday he said to me, "Okay Mom, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I really want a yellow shirt and a yellow tie." What boy thinks about these things? I guess the same child that frequently says to me now, "Is this stylish?" He did not get a yellow shirt and tie, but we compromised on an adorable little outfit. I can't wait to take pics on Easter morning.

While I'm talking about my little man, I have to say what an incredible eater he's been lately. He has been driving us crazy for a year now, only eating chicken, corn, and peas, and PB&J. He's gone to bed hungry, he's turned meal time into torture, but he has FINALLY turned the corner! He's eating broccoli, peaches, mashed potatoes, beans, mexican casserole, enchiladas, and basically anything I have given him in the past few weeks. I am so proud of him. His doctor told me not to give up, keep putting it in front of him, and though some nights I wanted to lock myself away, it looks like we have finally turned the corner!

Stay tuned for vacation and Easter pics.