Another post on adoption

Using my quasi-stalking post as a jumping off point, I was going through my Google Reader some few minutes or so ago and read the most recent post of a birth mom I blog stalk. Maybe I'll comment on one of her posts sometime so I'll go from stalking to following.

Anyway.

In her most recent post, she referred to the post of a friend of hers, who referred to a post from September 2008 on the Families Supporting Adoption: American Fork blog. Apparently Glenn Beck and his wife, Tania, were the keynote speakers a the 2008 FSA conference, and the post is the transcript of their talks. [Speeches? Addresses? What should I be calling it? I just don't know.]

So anyway, whether you love Glenn Beck or hate him [I, personally, am rather indifferent], you should read the story he and his wife shared. It is so beautiful. I was very touched. These were the parts that were particularly meaningful to me:

"The great thing about the Lord is, He’s predictable. I mean, all you have to do is read the scriptures and it’s the same story over and over again. . . . Before blessings, before real blessings, the Lord just pounds you into the ground. . . . He takes you and puts you out in the desert, and He just pounds you into the ground. . . . And in that trial, you can be saying one of two things: “Water, water! Help me! Why me? Why me? Help me, help me! Water!” Or you can be saying, “What is it You want me to do? I will do, I will give. I give! Just point me there. The water may be a long way away, but just show me, Lord, which way to walk.” And when you get there, eventually He’ll give you the answer, and then He will so richly bless your life."

and:

"I know with everything in me that our children selected us in the premortal existence. I know that we stood around and we were honored when that soul looked at us and said, 'I want you as my dad, and I want you as my mom. Somehow or another we’ll find each other.' It’s not just getting any child. It’s sometimes waiting for that soul who is trying desperately to fulfill their side of the bargain and to fulfill what you guys set out to do in the first place and to be reunited with his family for time and all eternity. But getting there sometimes, you have to walk through the desert. But once you get out of the desert, water has never tasted sweeter."

and about his son's birth mom:

"This little girl was a hero. She was a remarkable superhero. Raphe doesn’t need Spiderman or Superman; he’s got his natural mother as an example of what real superheroes do. Real superheroes don’t think about themselves. Real superheroes don’t make their life all about them. Real superheroes do the hard thing, and I can’t imagine anything tougher than giving birth to a child and giving that child away and then wondering your whole life what’s happening in his day." 

I love his words and how he told his story and expressed his feelings on adoption. I hope you guys have the chance to read the entire transcript, because it is really touching.

Something else that really touched me today was this:

 

One of the things that touched me so much was how many countries were celebrating this temple. Sam and I have been so blessed here in Utah to have a church just down the street and a temple 10 minutes away. It makes me shiver [in an excited, thrilled kind of way] to think that in just a few months we could be in an area like this--where the church is so small and temples are so rare. I just think of the incredible work we have ahead of us, and all the things Heavenly Father has ready for us on our path, and I can barely stand waiting. I'm so beyond excited.

xoxo

We've been approved for adoption! Check out our incredibly awesome adoption profile at https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24950903/ourMessage.jsf.

Thoughts about blogs, stalking, and comments . . . sort of

So I was reading my friend Lanette's blog [and I might as well put in a shameless plug for her--she and her husband are hoping to adopt, too, so you should check out her blog and spread the word, since they're awesome], and she mentioned reading this article: "Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs"

To me, the title says it all. The article itself is pretty funny as well as thought provoking.

For example, it is startling to me that these kinds of blogs have large followings of non-Mormon non-housewives when I am a Mormon housewife [or I am very soon to be a housewife, as much as that is possible while writing full time, though at the moment I'm still a professional in-the-world working woman] and can't really stand them. Or, rather, I have no time/patience for them. This may be because I have no baby to show off on my blog [which seems a strange reason since I usually only begrudge other people's easy fertility during a rare meltdown], do not like wasting time on crafts [any free time I have that is not spent writing is, in my definition, wasted], or I already know tons of women like this whose blogs I follow already from friendship and and don't particularly feel the need to read about complete strangers' adventures. [Note: I make an exception if the blog is witty, clever, and funny. Just wanted to get that out there.]

I was talking to a friend about it, who is also a Mormon but also not currently a housewife, and we determined that maybe these blogs are so appealing to these non-housewives because they are the metaphorical patrons at a zoo, and these blogs are the metaphorical animals inside. The blogs are fascinating and intriguing for the simple reason of being so different from what these women know and have come to expect.  Eh? You should read the article and let me know what you think. Just sayin'.

And to continue on the blog theme . . . blog stalking. I recently had to identify myself as a blog stalker to a girl I've never met who just happens to be hilarious and is moving her blog elsewhere, meaning if I wanted the new address I had to come clean. This is always a somewhat embarrassing experience [e.g., when a blog you read faithfully goes private, so you either have to suffer the sheepishness of identifying yourself or do without], even though it's not like I'm doing anything wrong. You know what I mean? But even though I know everyone blog stalks to some extent [and, let's be optimistic, I could even be lucky enough to have a few blog stalkers myself, which is a very flattering notion], I still worry that when I identify myself as a complete stranger following another complete stranger's life, I worry about being a creeper. While doing the reading I don't feel like a creeper; it's just in the identifying. Anyone else ever feel this way?

Anyway, blogs are interesting. Are there any blogs you all are fascinated with? Besides mine, of course. They can be of the stalking our out-in-the-open variety. I'd like to know. I'm always up for something new to read.

Oh, and one other thing. Goodreads. Recently I started getting friend requests from people I don't know [presumably because my reviews are so stellar?]. I'm not sure how I feel about this, because it's a bit different from blog stalking. It's like out-in-the-open I've-never-met-you-but-think-you're-cool non-stalking. It perplexes me. Especially when these non-stalkers comment on my reviews, like we know each other and are friends. It's disconcerting, since we don't know each other, but not unwanted. Anyway. That's that.


P.S., Are we friends on Goodreads? If not, we should be. I love seeing what other people are reading.


xoxo

We've been approved for adoption! Check out our incredibly awesome adoption profile at https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24950903/ourMessage.jsf.

Holly + Sam + puppy = a very merry Christmas

So, some of you may remember that for Christmas last year, Sam bought me a dog collar as a way of saying he was ready to buy a dog. And, also as some of you may remember, I sort of freaked out when we actually went looking at dogs [some might say I discovered I have commitment issues], and we ended up going home just the two of us.

Well, a month or two ago we started feeling like maybe now we [and by "we" I mean "I"] were ready for a dog now. We started looking at KSL ads and everything, and then I started getting the panicky feeling I got last year. So I told Sam, "If you feel like now is a good time for us to get a dog, you're going to have to get one and surprise me." This is because I can handle the commitment if the commitment's already been made, but to choose the commitment . . . that's much more risky.

Well, it's no longer just the two of us. We've become a family of three! Meet Glorfindel ("Fin" for short--and 20 points to anyone who correctly identifies the origin of his name):

Isn't he absolutely the cutest thing you've ever seen? Sam surprised me with him for Christmas. He was so sneaky about it--I had no idea he'd done it until last night as we were going to bed and we heard whimpering upstairs. Considering our landlady is a firm cat person, I knew the whimpering was for me. Sam tried to ignore it and I tried to pretend not to hear it, but after it'd gone on for a while and gotten progressively louder, he turned to me and said, "Do you want one of your Christmas presents early?"

Fin is such a good little dog already. He's 1/2 golden retriever, 1/2 poodle (meaning he'll get quite big, we think) and is 10 weeks old. We started him potty training right away, and he's already got the idea that when we take him outside, it means it's time to empty his bowels. Also, he's learned what "no" means and learned that shoes always provoke a stern "no," as does chewing on clothes, toes, chair legs, etc. We went to Walgreen's [the only store open today, I think] and got him a tug-of-war rope and a little rabbit that squeaks, and he fell in love with both. Pretty much they're his new best friends.

Speaking of Fin's best friends, Sam's his #1 best friend. If Sam's laying on the floor, Fin will go lay on top of him, practically, every time. He makes a very good little shadow, too. We're watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi currently, and he's been so funny during it. Despite being dead tired [We wore him out, so hopefully he'll sleep as well tonight as he did last night.], he'll sit straight up every once in a while and just watch the TV with this perplexed look on his face, like he just doesn't know what to make of it and the sounds coming out of it. I wish I had a picture of it. And he's soooo soft. I love to pet and cuddle him, and he loves to be petted and cuddled. We think he'll be a really good dog, especially if we're consistent with him.

So, welcome to the family, Fin! We're so excited to have you. Pretty much all we need now is a baby for you to grow up with. Family of four, anyone?

We've been approved for adoption! Check out our incredibly awesome adoption profile at https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24950903/ourMessage.jsf.

Why adoption?

On the Provo Families Supporting Adoption blog this morning was a really good link about the Church's viewpoint on adoption. You can read the article here.

While the adoptive-couple-birth-mother setup was a little cheesy, I thought the actual article was really nice, on the whole. I especially liked how much they brought up that placing for adoption is the most selfless, supreme act of love an unmarried woman can do for her child.

I feel like all over the place people look down on birth mothers for taking the "easy way out" or for "abandoning" their child, when really she's broken her heart to give her baby the best possible life she can give him or her--which just happens to be with other parents. I've met several birth mothers since we joined the adoption community and have sort of blog stalked others, and they're among the strongest, bravest, most loving women I've ever met. Like the article says, placing their baby into the arms of another, forever, is the hardest, most wrenching decision they'll ever have to make. I have so much respect and admiration for them, and I was glad the article brought that up.

So . . . feel free to share the link and spread some adoption and birth mother love. Or at least read the article, since it really is well written and may or may not be misty-eye inducing.

Peace.

We've been approved for adoption! Check out our incredibly awesome adoption profile at https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24950903/ourMessage.jsf.

Accomplishment

After many failed attempts, I have finally managed to make a button linking to our adoption profile. [This was made possible by a very helpful tutorial at Oikology 101.]

Please take a minute to look at my beautiful button, test it, and tell me how awesome it looks and how wonderful it is. As you can see, it's past 12:30am here, so I'm using my sleep for this, meaning your praise should be on the gushing side.

Also, I included the HTML for our button in case you happen to want to add it to your blog so everyone can see it. The best way to get the word out about adoption is, after all, to get the word out all over the place. [We wouldn't cry, either, if you happened to mention us directly in a blog post, too, with links to our blog and/or our profile. Just sayin'.] Yes, this is me rather shamelessly asking you to promote us and our awesomeness. Please, please, please? If you don't mind.

You guys are all awesome and I love you. And . . . I'm going to bed. Coworkers: Don't judge if I'm a little slow on the uptake tomorrow, K? Or is it today? Hmm . . .