This Day...

This day, ten years ago, I married the love of my life! A decade together...wow.

In ten years we have had

-joy
-sorrow
-laughter
-pain
-a child through birth
-mourned not being able to have more when we wanted
-learned God's incredible grace and timing truly is not our own
-the journey of bringing home a child through adoption
-learned again how God's timing is perfect, not ours
-more moments than I can recount here together in this amazing life of marriage

We have grown in ways I never knew we could...or would.

We have learned to bend and sway with the gusting winds life can sometimes bring into a marriage. We have learned to choose to love each other through it all.

I cannot imagine my life without this man. My partner in this journey.

I love you babe. I cannot wait to see what the next decade and beyond brings for us. Happy Ten Years Together!

Drum roll please......

OK, it's about time I draw a winner and start answering some questions!!!

First, the winner courtesy of random.org is....

Number 6! Who happens to be Denise who asked:

"I'm new to reading your blog so you may or may not have broached this subject before. My question is: what led you to choose to adopt from Russia as opposed to other foreign countries?"

Congrats and great question! Give me a holla at kinelska(at)gmail(dot)com with your contact info so I can send your goody to you!

To answer your question:

We knew we wanted to adopt from Eastern Europe somewhere (being part of my heritage is that) and through searching actually learned about the country of Kazakhstan. We knew about Russia, of course, and even know others who have adopted from there. Just never really thought, "oh hey! let's go there". We decided on an agency and through learning the different requirements and travel expected (already having a child at home to consider as well), Russia ended up being the best fit for us all around. Travel especially seemed much better, as with the first country we considered, 6-10 weeks away from home just wasn't going to work for us.
We are really happy we decided on Russia and have enjoyed learning so much more about it than we ever knew before. The culture, language....it's been a truly joyous, and at times with the delays, a frustrating experience. But! We know it will be worth it!

So, I hope that answers your question well! If not, I am always happy and willing to "talk adoption". It's my heart and we know we will adopt again in the future, whether domestically or internationally. :)


Thank you to all who entered! I will be answering the rest of the questions starting next week! And, if you missed the giveaway, but still want to ask a question go for it! I might even do another drawing for another fun little surprise!

The Turning of Thirty Two

Ya know, I don't feel like I am about to turn 32. I know it is not an old age by any means, but I just don't feel that age. The age I did love though, 27! Not sure why, but it was a pretty good year.

The past two years I have done things like 30 random things and 31 flavors or some such. This year? I am not sure. I am thinking perhaps you guys could ask me 32 questions! Not that there are necessarily 32 people even reading this here blog, but perhaps we can make it work.

So, ask me anything! It can be about adoption, how I got started sewing, who my greatest spiritual influence is....whatever!

OH! Aaannnd, for for each of you that asks a question, you will get an automatic entry into my little giveaway! What am I giving away?! Well this cute little zippy pouch! That's what.


I must say, this fabric makes me want to just live in a cute little village, or town or street just like it! Colorful houses, adorable gardens and all! How about you?

For a BONUS entry:

*tweet or facebook (or both) about this giveaway

*tell me your favorite coffee (or tea) drink

Remember to leave a separate comment for each!

**UPDATE: Extended until Monday! I will draw a random winner Tuesday!**

I will choose a random winner next Friday, May 21st! OH! and this is open too ALL, international as well. :)

Bleachy Tees!

I have a new obsession. Well, it might not be new, but it sure is fun! And it's been a good distraction from all the adoption craziness going on here lately....

So, what is this new obsession? Well, it's making t-shirt designs with a bleach pen on some plain jane tees! Sound fun?

Here is how I go about it:

Take a plain tshirt (or a print one, whatever you like really)

Get your bleach pen

Like so:

I used a tshirt form from Hobby Lobby I got a while back. You could also just put freezer paper on the other side of the shirt to prevent any bleeding from the bleach pen. Make sure you don't draw the design bigger than the paper or form or you will have some bleach action on the back of the shirt too!

Now, here is where you can do one of two things: you can trace the design you want with chalk first and then trace over that with the bleach pen. OR, you can just freehand it. I did both ways and for some reason the chalk one turned out more blotchy. Not sure why, maybe I will test it out again to see if maybe it was just a fluke. However, do what works best for you. :)


Monster Surfing

Fun Robot

Then, I let it sit for approx. an hour on the shirt. Basically make sure the color is actually changing on the shirt where the bleach pen is. Then, pop it in the wash and then dry and VOILA!

Fun new and super personalized t-shirt!!!

Now, I just need to stop finding tshirts to do this to. Before I know it all my son's t-shirts will be bleachy designed!

Today

Ahhhh.....I feel like I can breath again.

And this is a good thing compared to yesterday. Yesterday felt like a nightmare. A horrible, no good, very bad nightmare. The nightmare, unfortunately, isn't over, but I am still hopeful. And not a false sense of "everything is just gonna be great and fine and OK!", but just a peace. A peace that truly surpasses all understanding.

I went back to the fabric store (with coupon in hand!) to get the other fabric I found yesterday. Funny thing, I ended up choosing another one! I liked it better. I even texted the pic to my hubby to see what he thought. I love my iphone. And guess what? It was ON SALE! I didn't even need my coupon. Bonus. Aaand...it didn't rain buckets on me! The sky was dark, but just tiny drops and I did not get drenched walking to my car.

I also love that I feel mostly me again! I know that might sound completely odd to some, but if you know me in real life, you know I am a pretty positive person who is typically pretty happy and excited for others and their good news. Yesterday though? That me was buried under potential grief and pain that was just so dark. I did not like being there in that dark place. It's just not me.

But sometimes I think we all need to just be let to be mad. To be angry and hurt and let it come out. To be able to express it and be OK with not wanting to talk or be reminded of the pain that was bearing down so hard on me yesterday. The fear and pain are still there, but I am able to let it go and let a peace wash over me. I am able to breath today.

I was also able to see cute little girl stuff and not burst into a mess of tears. That is a super improvement over yesterday! I cannot promise I won't tear up on occasion, but ahhh. Breathing feels good.

It feels good to feel more like me again.

I hope no matter what your day is like, that you are able to breath and have a peace too.

Happy Weekend and many Blessings to you!

My Day

Wow. What.a.day it's been today.

I awoke to an email from a well meaning friend saying how sorry she was about what she had heard on the news about Russia and adoptions to the US. Wha?!

I thought I was gonna faint when I only was able to get a tidbit of info from the media at that time, which did say indeed Russia suspended things. I thought my heart was going to break into millions of pieces.

Then I decided I needed to distract myself and was not going to think about it (ha!) until I had heard from our agency. We did and there were no confirmed reports saying there was a suspension, but obviously things are still a little shaky.

Basically we are still in limbo. Not so fun.

I decided I would head out and go to the fabric store to find a specific fabric I was looking for to make a dress. For me. I cannot remember the last time I actually made me something. Hmmm.

So to Starbucks I went and then the fabric store. Priorities ya know. Can't think right without a little caffeine!

So, I found what I was looking for. Two things actually.

Aaaand I had forgotten my coupon!!! Ugh.

So I chose one and decided to go back for the other one later... WITH my coupon.

Then I decided to browse about at some patterns, minding NOT to happen upon cute little girl clothes lest I burst into tears...

SO, the lady next to me starts up a conversation about how her daughter is having a baby and is looking at lots of little bitty things and telling me all about her plans.

Now, I am usually quite a pleasant and nice person and am happy for others and their happy news. But today? Today I just wanted to NOT think about itty bitty cute things. I just wanted to be and look at patterns and get my fabric and not talk about cute little itty bitty things.

Then, the other two ladies on the other side of me were talking and chatting about what? Cute little girl things and looking at cute little girl patterns....right.next.to.me.

Again, I am all for it, but really?! Seriously?! I had to get outta there...I was surrounded and trying to not burst into an emotional mess of tears.

So, off I went to pay for things and get to the car, so I could make it home in time to meet the bus for my little monkey boy.

And what happens when I leave? It starts pouring rain on me as I started walking to my car.....poured. I got wet.

But ya know what? Starbucks got my coffee right. Yay! I found the fabric I was looking for. Double Yay! Then, I got to come home and get a hug from my boy as he came off the bus. And that is wonderfulness.

So, my world is a little emotional right now and it kinda really sucks. A lot. But, the sky is not falling and there is still hope that the US and Russia will work things out to where we, and many others, can go and meet and bring home our children.

I miss our daughter. I hate the thought of her being left in an orphanage to grow up. It's unbearable to think of what might happen if she is. I already love this little girl so, so much. I don't know what will happen, but I know I will not stop praying.

Blessings and I hope I have better news in the adoption world next week! Meanwhile, I will try to get some fun crafty posts ready to post next week. It's a good distraction for me....

Toodles!

Don't Sneeze!!!

See these those little brownish green squiggly things up in this tree with the new brighter green leaves growing?


Those little things and the stuff it brings causes quite a bit of craziness with allergies around here. Pollen. Oak pollen. Ick.


It leaves a film of green and yellow all over everything. Kinda like this. See the coating of the stuff? That is not a dirty grill, it's just been coated with green ick from the trees. You could sweep and clean all day and it's just gonna be there again the next day.

And those squiggly things fall off the trees and all over EVERYTHING too, like the patio, the car, in the pool. Oh, and ones hair.

Yes, it is ever so lovely to be sitting at Starbucks with some girlfriends and one of them point out that there is something in your hair. And it's not your new hairband or anything relatively pretty. Nope, it's the oak stuff.

What's worse, my sister and I were out cycling the other day and as we were loading the bikes back on the bike rack, we turned to see a cloud of green ick blowing off the tops of the trees. For fellow LOST fans, I am serious when I say it looked like smokie, just green.

I am not sure why it has caught my attention so much this year. We have it every year, but this year just seems to be worse somehow. When I was pregnant, it was awful. I certainly noticed it then because I could not go outside without sneezing.

This year, it is not causing so much sneezing, but the allergies are causing some headache issues it seems with my boy. Makes me sad.

I love Spring and all, but I could sure do without the green smokie and brown squiggly things. Yuck.

Anything in your neck of the woods that causes major allergies? If not, where do you live, I want to come visit!