Adopting in Ashburn

We drove past OneLoudoun today and the carnival was all set up again. This week in our adoption journey feels like riding the Zipper. If you've never been on this most fabulous of carnival rides, each car goes around a central point (like a Ferris wheel, but elliptical), and the central point mechanism rotates, and each car is on its own axle so it can flip forwards and backwards as well. It's basically awesome, except when using it as a metaphor for a journey. We put an inquiry in for a pair of siblings. They accepted the initial application and said they'd be back in touch within 15 business days. Three weeks doesn't seem like that long when you are waiting for your children - if you actually get selected. If not, then you just lost a month of summer waiting to be rejected; stealing time away from us actually getting matched. Now, before you go all crazy telling me to trust in God's time, thanks. The thing is, that sometimes you are waiting 15 days and nothing...

I am such a fan of Netflix original series. The number one reason is, of course, strong content. The second reason is that when the new seasons come out, they come out all at once and I can watch as much of them as I please. When I saw they were re-making the Anne series, I knew I found a treat. Seeing the movie Annie  (the good one, with Carol Burnett) is what first made me want to adopt kids (at some ripe, single-digit age). It just seemed terrible to grow up in an orphanage. Reading the Anne of Green Gables  books and seeing the Canadian television series as a kid made me convinced it was a good idea. I loved the Avonlea stories so much, that for years we watched the Disney (?) series and my parents got me lots of Avonlea-themed books. Anyway. I was watching Anne with an "E" on  Netflix tonight and it made me "longful." The hardest part about this part of the process so far (because at two weeks into the matching phase, I'm sure there are plenty more pa...

We are still waiting to be approved, but with all of the paperwork finished, my mind has moved on to getting our home ready for future children. Number one on the list is working with our dog, Beckett, so he won't be aggressive to people who try to come in the door. He is a lover, but we really want him to get along with our future children (and any guests they try to bring over). Number two is a massive garage sale. There is so much stuff stored in the playroom and guest room closets that absolutely cannot stay there should we bring a child home. Part of the process is just packing up things we don't need and organizing them so I can find them again if they go into a crate (like all of my crafting supplies, sheet music, quilting fabric, VHS tapes I still haven't converted to digital, and a small library worth of books). It isn't that the games and age-appropriate books can't stay in their rooms, but all of the training says things will be destroyed or broken. If ...

I recently got to meet with our case-worker for the next step in our home study; the individual interview. Step 1: Write an auto-biography. This part came a bit more naturally to me as I (obviously) have some experience writing about my life for others. It was a bit weird though because I was supposed to frame the piece around 13 questions my case-worker was particularly interested in. My tip for those going through the process : be as thorough as possible and don't worry about anyone besides your case manager seeing it. This is just a tool to help them know what to ask you. Step 2: Try not to freak out as the date approaches. Wildly, epic-ly failed at this. My advice:  Find someone else to tell you how to not get nervous for things that have a big impact but are seriously not that big of a deal, because my husband will confirm that I suck at this. :) Step 3: Arrive freakishly early. Stopping for lunch included, there will potentially be absolutely NO  traffic the day...

There are a LOT of scary things happening in the world right now (particularly if your world is America and you appreciate science and using facts as a method of logical argument). I could focus on that. I am focused on that. But at some point, to have a life I enjoy, I have to talk about the good things happening in my world too. The best thing happening in OUR world right now is that our family is about to get larger by at least one small person. That's right, we are planning g to adopt through U. S. foster care. We're hoping to adopt a child between four and eleven years old. So far we have taken classes through Northern Virginia Family Services about how to be a good parent to children coming from the foster system. We gave a large check to Catholic Charities to begin our home study, and we filled out piles of paperwork. The home study is going to a new level this week as I have my first one-on-one interview. I'm anxious and excited to get started. My motivation f...

I often come across posts on books you should absolutely read before some set age. Well, I am here to tell you that I have never read all the books on those lists. However, I have read my fair share of literature and am h appy to offer you suggestions of life-changing books for someone who has come of age.  The Sparrow The Moon is Down Atlas Shrugged Okay for Now Identical

I am amped up and unmotivated simultaneously. I'm hungry, but too lazy to fix myself dinner. There is a strong chance I will eat cake tonight and an equally weak chance I will meet my fitness goal for the day.  I am looking forward to summer. Theoretically, I will stop sabotaging myself and eat, sleep, and intellectually stimulate myself just as soon as my pool of responsibilities drops from 145 students plus my personal life to just my personal life.  Perhaps this is less sabotage and more procrastination. Either way, bring on summer.  Always, Heather

The things about living in suburbia, or being in your thirties married without kids, or just being me is this: you know how lucky you are to be who you are and have the experiences you have, and you love your life; but keep hoping that one day you'll fit in.  It's been a struggle this week, being happy with my social life. It's gorgeous this afternoon. 16 straight days of rain - including this morning - and then the sun was out. The weather clear and the sky a stunning robin's egg blue. If RJ hadn't told me to leave school and get outside and enjoy it, I might still be in the copy room, taking care of business. Instead I'm on the balcony with my pooches enjoying the reprieve from the clouds of gloom.  Still, my first thought was: what would I even do in the sun? There are no kids to play kickball with or ride bikes. No friends who live close enough to meet for a walk in the park before it gets dark. No buddy to sit in a cafe or at an outdoor table with to enjoy ...

Last year at this time I was taking my husband to urgent care, where he promptly got diagnosed with pneumonia. Then we were in and out of hospitals and doctors appointments for the next three months as he got diagnosed with NMO. His recovery to get back to work full time took almost another three months. And then I finally took a few minutes to feel the anxiety, worry, and stress from those 7 months (because there was still December 2014's month of husband illness which led to the emergency gallbladder removal which led to the horizontalness which led to the pneumonia). Of course, that wasn't the only thing in my life last year. Life ardently insists upon going on, whether I'm ready or not. All of this to say, I put me on the back burner last year. This year, I am dedicated to recovering myself. Our new normal is just that - new. While there are huge chunks of me that are exactly the same as last year or any of the years before, it's like 2014 and 2015 made a huge c...

Breakfast this morning was at Duck Donuts in Herndon. RJ claims it was to help give me some inspiration for making my own cake doughnuts at home, but I think he just wanted to see if they were as good as Krispy Kreme (ruling: different kind of doughnut, but definitely closer!). Today's home adventure: framing all the paintings we rescued from Grandmother's house.  Don't they look lovely? Two more needed custom mats/frames and should be ready in 3 weeks. It is going to be so challenging to wait to pick a few to hang up until we see them all together! Then, because that wasn't enough of an adventurous day, we went to go see Inside Out . It was quite good. I tend to think it is more of an older kid to adult appeal, but RJ says it appeals to both differently.  Now, I have to somehow get in about 6000 steps and make my new FitBit vibrate. Yes, I know it is arbitrary, but totally motivating anyway.  Off to get my steps! Love always, Heather

This is my first real "teacher's summer". After four years in the classroom, I will finally have almost six weeks of time without required work/classes/surgical recovery or anything else mandatory. Of course, I already signed up to help with volleyball, but I love that and would go through withdrawal without at least some teenager interaction. :) So, I decided to make a list of all the things I want to do in this seemingly endless amount of time. Then, I went to yoga this morning and after an hour realized that not going to the gym for almost 6 months gets you super out of shape. Therefore, I am limiting myself to the following things I don't have time for during the school year: 1. Going to the bathroom whenever I want.  2. Sleeping in until 7 a.m. 3. Wearing jeans or shorts without a sticker that says I "earned" them.  4. Eating breakfast and lunch over more than 20 minutes.  5. Using curse words, talking about religion or politics, making adult jokes, and...

As it is officially 2015, and this blog got it's start in 2005, it will be turning ten this year. When I think about the last ten years and how tumultuously, terrifically, different now is than then, it makes me curious about what I'll be writing about ten years from now. However, we can't live in the past and the future is a ways off, so I'm sticking right here.  Right now, I am getting sweet kisses from Raleigh.  Upstairs, RJ is taking a nap with HGTV on in the background (recovering from gallbladder surgery and pneumonia).  I'm thinking about resolutions while I type my first blogpost from my phone (both odd and behind the times?).  My only goal this year is to end the year grateful and happy for the year that passed. Of course, any good goal should have some sub goals; so let's call those my resolutions.  1. Focus on saving more so we can travel more.  The cruise last summer was relaxing - as were visits to family. But we have a lot more family, friends...

As I sit here on this gorgeous Saturday avoiding the sun (details on that in a moment), it occurs to me that summer is quickly slipping through my fingers and I have only accomplished one of my big ticket items for the summer! To prioritize my time, I thought I'd make a list of the remaining things I'd like to accomplish. Clean out the two spare room closets to get everything into one closet (with room to spare). Goodness knows I do not need probably more than a quarter of the items in there. Sell the random items that are actually still worth something at a garage sale or online to earn $1750. That's a random numeric goal, but I think it is fairly attainable. Finish putting pictures in all the frames on the stairwell. Clean out my bedroom closet so as to no longer have a wide assortment of clothing that doesn't fit or I don't wear clogging it up. Use the VHS to DVD converter to complete the transition to DVD home videos. Donate as much of the clothing, old...

Dear Future Self, Hello there! Do you still remember when you had crazy curly hair, drove an adorable Focus, and were making an inordinate amount of rice noodle dinners? Anyway, that's the time frame we're talking about from here. This is also roughly the end of your third year teaching in the States. You just got your SOL test results back and they were pretty good. Some of the classes even earned fun prizes! Here's where I want you to take note.... If you ever feel like, as a parent, you have the right to undermine a teacher and the overall school test results by having your sweet, little spawn not take the SOL then you darn well better be ready to deal with the consequences. Especially if your child is sort of prickish (which, if a teacher or series of other adults tell you, you'd do well to believe) and has been boasting about how he doesn't have to take the tests to anyone and everyone who will listen. When the teacher says they don't get to enjoy the...

More for me than all of you, I am drawn to share my most recent reading list. Identical  by Ellen Hopkins - Written entirely in free verse poetry, this book wins the award for thoroughly surprising me at the climax. I haven't been blown away by a book on both an emotional and intellectual level in a long time; it makes me really respect the author and how she approached this book. Looking for Alaska  by John Green - I wasn't surprised by this book as much as I was entranced. Having previously read An Abundance of Katherines , I was expecting it to be much funnier; but I enjoyed it anyway. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead - I will be the first to admit this isn't classic literature, but for reasons beyond me I find one or two of the characters captivating enough to keep me reading into book four of this six part series. It is definitely teenage melodrama, but fun and fast to read with some interesting twists. Speaker of the Dead  by Orson Scott Card - I rare...

2013 was a pretty big year for us. January.  We packed up what seemed like 90% of our stuff (but later we realized was only about 70%) and staged our house in Landsdowne to sell. Yeah, we have WAY too much stuff.   February.  Lorien and Steve got married in Hawaii! In addition to exploring Oahu we took a side-trip to the Big Island and visited Volcano National Park, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Our house sold (for more than asking price!) and the builders broke ground on this house in Ashburn. Dinner cruise! We saw a whale and fireworks over Honolulu. Overlook on our first morning. Sunset on the Big Island. Who knows where? It's all a windblown paradise! Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. This was also pretty much everywhere. Plane ride home, very relaxed. March.  Spring break found us driving to south Florida to visit our grandparents; and then rushing back because my commitment to coaching club volleyball insanely involv...

For all of the holidays Richard and I have spent together, this past Thanksgiving (and now Christmas) have really seemed like the first.* I think a huge part of it is finally being in our own home and getting to prepare together. However, I think the larger part is that we are starting to make our own traditions. This year, I loved opening presents a little each week of advent and just saving Christmas day to relax and enjoy each others' company. I loved hosting neighbors for our prime rib feast on Christmas day, connecting with the family on video chat, and going to candlelight services on Christmas Eve. But most of all, I loved how Christmas felt  like Christmas again. In the hustle and bustle of moving or coordinating sharing a kitchen with roommates or making plans to split time between "mine" and "his" traditions, it stopped feeling like Christmas. That feeling in your heart like you want to laugh or cry - and maybe you do - because you are just so happ...

As I sit here in my fabulously messy house, I can only think of how exorbitantly lucky I am to have it and all the random bits making the mess. The busted volleyball on the floor is evidence of a wonderful season with the Freedom Eagles and my utter fail at making a ball soft enough for our new dog, Raleigh, to play with. The volleyball bladder is in fact soft enough, but he wants nothing to do with any toys that don't have food in them. The random kitchen tools on the coffee table are from my recent trip to the store to get supplies for Thanksgiving. We're hosting our first real holiday and didn't really need a carving fork, potato masher or pie slicer (honestly, won't most of the stuff in my kitchen double in those roles?) but for some reason, it felt like this Thanksgiving needed appropriate tools for big jobs; like turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie! The fabric scraps on the kitchen table will soon be placemats and table runners and things to put under hot dishe...

(in blog time) I know it has been ages since I posted. Basically, coaching volleyball this fall, teaching 8th grade science, and planning a wedding have really been a time suck. Luckily, I haven't felt entirely disconnected because I occasionally get a chance to check out my Google reader and I've also been working on some other blogging projects. There was the quick ditch effort to put together a page for the JV volleyball team I was coaching and more recently, the blog I created for our wedding. It occurred to me the other day I could have kept it all in the same place and just renamed this space Adventures in Wedding Planning. But, that doesn't really seem fair to Richard and I'm not sure I want the whole family reading 6 years of my ramblings when they stop by to see where we are registered. So if you're interested in checking out what is going on with the wedding planning, visit whenheathermetrichard.blogspot.com . It's where the writing will probably...

There is a mountain of boxes in the garage. Sure, it is more like the Appalachians than the Rockies, but that does not make it less intimidating. The thing about mountains, is that it takes a LOT of work (and more often time) to overcome them. This week, however, I have little to no time to spare. Up at 5:15, out by 6:15, at my desk by 7, on the road by 3:15, dressed and on the court by 4:15, home by 8:30, dinner done by 9, bed by 10. For those of you not super good at math, that is exactly one awake hour a day not allocated to something. Last night, I spent it going to Target to get appropriate shorts for coaching and groceries. At practice yesterday, I found out that my coaching duties extend to weekends for all of August. Which means no Saturday recoveries (7 a.m. practice start times are not conducive to sleeping in). I'm not too down about that, and I'm hoping the early start means that I'll have the afternoons to delve into the unpacking of things and general house o...