Our "Normal" Life

Well, I guess you could say we're all settled into our "normal life." On July 2nd, we'll have been in this house for a year! Time has flown by! That also means... that on July 3rd, we'll have had Adde girl in our family for a year! She is the sweetest pup! We are in love with her!

This is the best picture I could snap of her! She barely slows down unless we're giving her some love.
She's such a sweetie!

Last week, Austin and I finished our backyard! Technically, we started on our back yard in April. But, it's all done now! We planted (get ready) two chokecherry trees, two spruces, one ash, two blueberry bushes, two raspberry bushes, one honey berry bush, one blackberry bush, eight karl forester grasses, zucchini, several types of peppers, tomatoes, peas, cantaloupe, some annual flowers, AND sod! We have grass in our entire backyard! Well, everywhere now! I'm so happy it's done. The only things we didn't get done this year are curbing around our flower beds and a fence. But, that's ok! It feels good to be done for the year :) Now, we'll just have to keep up with the weeds. 

For our anniversary, Austin built our raised garden bed. I love it! I think it looks perfect in the corner of our yard. I sure love that man! 

This is the view from our back deck. Look at that cute garden!
Don't mind all the construction in the lots behind ours ;) Soon enough, we'll have a nice fence around the yard!

Here, you can see all the trees and grasses lining the back of our yard.

This may not look like much... because it isn't ;) But, those are our berry plants! We'll cut the grass straight, get some curbing, fill the flower beds with mulch, and get a nice window well cover. BAM! It'll look like a million bucks.

I'm so happy about our yarrow! These were maybe 10 inches high last year! Now they're pushing 3 feet!

This coreopsis may be my favorite bloom so far this year. They're right in front of our front porch.
They'll get big and full soon!

Our precious front door :) I love our little wreath.

I'm so excited for the 4th of July! I'm learning to love summer more and more. I don't like being hot... and my summer wardrobe could use some work. But, the nice weather and fun things to do outdoors are so great! We haven't gone camping yet - thanks to our yard work - but, we're planning on going soon. We're lucky to live so close to such beautiful mountains and forests. We were just talking to a friend the other day about Utah "having it all." Somethings for everyone to do outside in every season. I love it!

For future/potential "expectant mother meetings," I'm making photo books. I like the idea of leaving one with an expectant mom so she can really get a better idea of who we are. My hope is that we can always portray how genuine we are. I don't think I'll ever master first impressions, so hopefully a photo book will help! ...and this blog, our parent profile, and even our adoption Facebook page.

So, other than our backyard, life has been pretty normal. Routine, I guess. But, you know what? I love it. I love having a home, our cute (crazy) dogs, friends and family we can count on, and I really love Austin! haha. He's such an amazing guy. When I say he's the best, it's because he really is the BEST.

Two whirlwind weeks!

Did I mention...

WE'RE ON ADOPTION.COM?!

(In case you didn't read my last post... I did.)

WE are SO pumped. Really. Things are feeling so real!

On another note, I thought I would just update you on what's going on in our lives.

I (Molly) visited my parents for a week. We celebrated Erin (my little sister)'s pregnancy with a baby shower, watched the superbowl, visited all the resaurants and stores I've been missing, and mostly just spent some good, quality down-time together. It was awesome. Three of the four of us siblings were there. Erin and her husband, Stefan came down. Ben (my older brother), his wife, Courtney, and their three kids came for three days. Of course, my parents were there - hosting everyone and making us all feel like royalty.

Austin stayed home - mostly due to work. But, we also didn't want to have to board our sweet dogs at the kennel for so long. Isn't my husband the best? While he was home, you know what he did?! He added shelving in our pantry and got it all painted for me!

This is how it looked when I left

Now look at that baby! So organized!

I sure love my handy man.

Since I've been back, we've spent a lot of time together! Austin took the Friday before Valentines Day off work. That day, our niece, Polly had a "rendezvous" at her school. It was a sort-of cowboy themed party where any of the students could set up booths and sell things they made, baked, or even little trinkets they bought. Austin and I joined Paige, my sister (Polly's mom) and her little girls to visit the rendezvous. It was pretty fun to see the kids using their "beaver bucks" to buy so many fun things.

Polly is getting so tall! haha. I love that she is showing off her "beaver bucks."

We had all weekend to hang out and get things done around the house. We went shopping, got a *Costco membership, and Austin cooked us and amazing steak dinner for Valentines Day! Monday was Presidents Day so we were both home again! We spent the morning tending our nieces and nephew, came home and played with our dogs, relaxed, and watched our favorite show. Presidents Day night, I went out for a girls night Paige and Polly. We went to dinner and shopped around the Outlet Mall so Polly could spend her birthday money. Too much fun! Austin and Lorin, Paige's husband, stayed home with the younger kids and had a guys night.

*We're real adults now!

That's about it! I'm starting to get back into the swing of things now that I'm home from my trip and our long weekend is over. Austin said he was not ready to go back to work yesterday so I forced to him to get extra sleep last night. haha!

We are so excited to be getting our lives and our home ready for a little addition. We've been pray hard and, since you're here reading this, we ask for your help too! Whether that means including us in your prayers, helping us spread the word, or just offering kind words... we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading! Check out the other tabs under our cover photo above!

Another huge success!

Oh my gosh. Life has been such a whirlwind lately! I can't even believe all the amazing things that are happening.

Today, I started crying - because of chaos, stress, but mostly happiness. We are making such headway in our biggest dream! It's incredible to look back and see how rich our life is because of the wonderful people in it.

We spent the weekend at an adoption training in Salt Lake. We signed up for it about a month ago and (thank goodness) remembered it on Wednesday - three days before! I'm so glad we didn't forget and miss out. It was AMAZING. We were thinking about not going. It was a big time commitment and I'm going to be gone all next week... so, we were back and forth. But, like I said - AMAZING.


We arrived on Friday, ready to learn but kinda "meh" about the whole thing. Like, what could we really learn? Find a birth mom, get a lawyer, pay the money, and boom - we get a baby. Right?

Nope.

This whole training featured me laughing, crying, freaking out, and feeling so pumped and ready. I was a mess. But, what's new?

We heard from maybe 15 or 20 different people. Case workers, adoptive parents, adoptees, birth moms, biological moms, lawyers, people who have been spammed (spammed?!), everyone! Anyone! We learned about profiles and etiquette in the adoption world. We learned from some peoples' mistakes. We learned what to say and what not to say.

Thank goodness we learned about all different resources and people to go to for help. The best, most comforting thing we took away from it all is that we have so many people rooting for us. We feel like we're part of this new "adoption" world. The best part is that anyone can be part of it! Some people there hadn't ever adopted, they weren't adopted themselves... they were just passionate about it all.

We learned that adoption isn't just an event. It's an on-going, life-changing, constant, forever thing. Birth moms don't just fade away. Kids don't just "forget" they were ever adopted. It's not how it used to be. Adoption lasts forever. No one keeps it a secret. It's something to be proud of. It's a wonderful thing!

More often than not (well, almost always), people have "open adoptions." The birth mom is part of these children's lives. And, just as important, she's part of the adoptive parents' lives. Birth moms are family. Now, there are different versions of open adoptions. But, I love that it's the norm.

Being adopted isn't something to be ashamed of. Its not something to keep secret. In face, its not healthy for children who were adopted to not know where they come from - or WHO they come from. Its ok to talk about it! Pregnancy isn't in every mother's plan. Motherhood isn't always in ever woman's plan - at least not at certain times.

Placing a child for adoption is a brave, selfless thing. I can't believe the love and selflessness these expectant mothers and birth mothers have. I'll tell ya though... I'm grateful for it.

So, if you're interested in knowing more - of if you're at all tied to the adoption world, get educated. There is so much good in the world of adoption.


Want to know what I'm most excited about after this weekend?

WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON ADOPTION.COM!!

Go look! <<< Click riiiight there!

Share our profile! Help us get the word out! We are ready to meet our expectant mother and get the ball rolling!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

One Step at a Time

We've done it!

Our homestudy is COMPLETE! Can you believe it?! We've had so much help, love, and support throughout the past year. I can't thank all our loved ones enough! Now that our homestudy is done, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders.

We started this entire adoption process at the craziest time. We were getting ready to build our house - which ended up consuming our lives completely! I'm so happy & insanely grateful for where we are now. We have such amazing momentum - I don't want things to slow down quite yet!

Our completed house - as of October

We completed our house in mid-June and moved in on July 2nd. The next day, we adopted our sweet new girl, Adde. She is the sweetest thing and loves to snuggle. Having two dogs has been a little crazy at times - but, definitely worth it. I love that Doug and Adde have each other now!

Cooling off in the river on the 4th of July
(my cute niece is in the background)

Austin woke up early and send these two to wake me up! They were so snuggly this day.

During the rest of our summer, we worked on our yard, organizing and decorating the house, and just settling in. It's been so fun living in our very own home!

I'll be back for more fun posts and updates. I just had to share the good news!

Here's what's new with us!

It's been a while! Want to know what we've been up to? Well, you're in luck! I'm going to tell you.

We've been... (drum roll, please) ...building our house!

Can you believe it?? I hardly can. I want to share our progress with you. But, first... I should point out that we are actually building this house - with our own hands. It's not just our house, either. We're helping build ten houses, total. 

We qualified for a housing program set up by the USDA & Rural Housing Development Corporation. Basically, we put in our own sweat equity for over half the work that needs to be done. Each family in the group (ours is made up of ten) puts in a required number of work hours each week. We normally work on Saturdays and evenings during the week.

We're all trained on several different tasks and work together to complete each phase of the building process. Our supervisor is on site almost every day. There are a few tasks we need subcontractors for, like all the concrete work, plumbing, electrical, duct work, and some finish work inside.

It's been so much fun! We all definitely put in a ton of hard work. But, it's safe to say I'll all pay off.

So, let's start from the beginning... August. 

We decided on a house and a lot to build on. Woohoo!

In late August/early September, they broke ground! It was so exciting to drive by and see the progress they'd made.

In early September, we got our footings & foundation poured. It was fun to let Doug run around in the big hole in the ground! He needed to sniff around and check the place out, after all.

Paige, my older sister, has been so awesome to take pictures of us in front of the house periodically. I don't know exactly what I'll do with all of them, but it will be cool to look back and see how far we've come!

By the middle/end of October, we had our driveway in! We hoped it would be in by the time winter came. Luckily, snow wasn't a problem at all!

By the time we made it back, the concrete had dried. We thought it would be fun to add our names to the driveway or pack patio - or even Doug's paw print! But, we'll just have to remember that next time we pour concrete. Ha!

Once the walls went up, it really started feeling real! I've been planning where furniture will go and how we'll set up our decorations. Of course, though, I've changed my mind a million times.

What you haven't seen yet from all the pictures so far is the actual work we've put in. Honestly, I'd barely used a hammer before we started this program! Now, I've used several power tools, taken far too many measurements to ever count, and Austin and I have invested in more thermal clothing than I thought we would ever need.

I was put on a team of ladies assigned to build stairs. As of today, Amy, Jenna, Brianna, and I have worked together to build the stairs in all but one of the houses! In this picture, I'm sitting on the first set of stairs we completed. 

I never thought I would be in any sort of picture like this... but, it's become such a normal occurrence for me to carry lumber while wearing a tool belt. This was in early December! Up until Christmas Day, we were fortunate to have such mild weather!

I'll be honest, when I have the option, I usually ask Austin to carry big boards for me. How else would I have a chance to stop and take pictures?

Like I mentioned, we work from late afternoon until 9:00 or 10:00pm during the week. I should get some more current candids. Lately, no one has been showing up with just a t-shirt on. Now, it's layers upon layers to work in the dark in the snow!

I've never had a fear of heights at all, but this work has definitely tested my confidence a handful of times - especially with keeping my balance!

Some of us have joked that this program would make a great reality TV show - testing the strength of marriages and friendships. We really have been so blessed with great (future) neighbors! Austin has been so patient with me while I'm learning.

In mid-December, we started getting rain. It wasn't quite cold enough for snow yet. But, because not many of us had our roofs up yet, everything got wet. I mean EVERYTHING. We had to clean up every piece of wood we saw to keep our yards and basements from becoming a swamp of sawdust and scraps. It's also important to keep power tools out of puddles. It's harder than you'd think to control all the cords - but, definitely worth it to keep from potential electrocution!

I can't get over how cool this pictureis. This cute lady has a sweet husband and 3 kids at home. She's a marathon runner and works part-time, too! I've had so much fun working with her. She's motivating to all of us. I couldn't think of a better picture to portray how incredible she really is.

I'll have to follow-up soon with updates on the house. This was taken just before Christmas break. We were so excited to get our roof trusses up!

I can't tell you how excited I am to have a home, share it with this man, and raise a family within the walls of the house we built together. 

When we're out working, I just think about the future we'll have inside. We're so excited to have the chance to grow our family. We have so many dreams for our family. Austin and I make new plans every time we walk through the house. We couldn't be more excited. 

Thank you a thousand times!

I've been having the hardest time finding the right words to express how incredible the past few days have been. Austin and I were so nervous to let people know we're beginning the adoption process. It's hard to put yourself out there! I don't know why it matters. But, it makes me feel so vulnerable. Our hearts are just so wide open - ready for whatever comes our way.

I can't tell you how much your kind words mean to us. Our friends and family have been so supportive in sharing our story (like this, right here... our blog) and even donating to our adoption fund!! I just can't believe how blessed we are. Some days, when I lie down to go to bed, I feel like my heart is as full as it can possibly get. Then, we're flooded with love and support! Somehow, my heart hasn't burst!

My mom, mother-in-law, sisters, and close friends have been essential sounding boards these past few months. I have ideas and dreams and goals that I need to get out of my mind and into motion. I could never live a day without knowing these wonderful people will always be there for me.

Austin's heart beats in time with mine. I love when we can spend calm, quiet, quality time together, spill our guts, and share our dreams. Sometimes, I feel like our stars are aligning as we make future plans. We realize that the dreams we came up with years ago are actually becoming a reality. Austin is the best partner I could ever find. I love that man. I love that he loves me. It's so fun being in love with Austin... I want to love him more! Does that make sense?

During Thanksgiving dinner this year, my sister, Paige, talked about how she wants to take more action in showing her gratitude for what she has. She mentioned how, so often, people take for granted what they love most. I've been thinking so much about that. She talked about how grateful she is for her family and for the time she has to spend with them. To show her gratitude, she said she'll pay more attention to how she spends her time and make an effort to be less selfish. (Personally, I've never seen her as a selfish person AT ALL... but that's just my opinion.)

I am SO thankful for all of you. I'm thankful for those we know well, those we've just met, and those we'll soon meet. I'm grateful for our blog readers and anyone who shares our blog! I'm so thankful for the adoption process. I've seen it bless so many lives - birth mothers and adoptive families. I really look forward to the day we can welcome more family members.

I know a blog post is somewhat menial. But, I want to DO something to show my gratitude for all the love and support we've received this week. This is for everyone who has been (and continually is) there for us. This post is for you - if you're here, reading it. This is a public thank-you. I am amazed at the kindness of others. We have such an incredible community of loving people. I couldn't be luckier.

So, to sum this all up... Thank you!

Fresh Start

All my life, I've tried to keep a journal, diary, blog, and random records of my daily life. I love to look back at what I've been through. After all, our past - and what we've come away with - is what helps makes us who we are today. I have such vivid memories of reading through my mom's middle school diary. As hilarious as my mother was at 13 years old, she was also a good sister, a loyal friend, and a total romantic. I love that I had that chance to learn so much about memories even she'd forgotten. So, however you choose to view this blog, a journey, a story, even a "family biography," I hope you enjoy it. I'll keep it as raw and real as I can.

My purpose in blogging here isn't to sugar-coat our life. I can't fool anyone into thinking our lives are perfect. But, between all the good days, bad days, lessons learned, accomplishments, laughs, and cries, there is this gooey goodness that fills every crack. Those cracks are sealed up with love from our friends and family, memories we share, the sun shining through our windows, cozy blankets we snuggle on cold evenings, and even the way our puppy looks at us and stretches when he first wakes up. On this blog, I will document our gratitude for the high times. I want to share all the goodness we get from our lives each day.

Austin and I have been making plans for our family for almost four years! It's hard to believe it's been so long... but, I also feel like I've been with Austin my entire life. We've talked about everything from family vacations to names for our future children. When we set goals and talk about the roads ahead, we always base our decisions on the central idea of Our Family. We feel so ready to make some changes - I'm talking about BIG changes. You know what, let's just say we're ready for the biggest changes of our life. We couldn't be more thrilled.

I've started SO many "rough drafts" for this blog. I want to start on the best note I can... as if there is one certain way to start a blog. So, after days (weeks, really) of trying to come up with something completely perfect, here I am. I'm just going to be me. I can be myself. I can tell you all about Austin and me. I can introduce you to our sweet dog, Dougie. I can welcome you into our life! Hopefully, each time you read a new blog post, you can come away with another glimpse into our world.

So, welcome! We're so glad you're here! Please stay a while. Come back again and again! If you have any questions or comments - or just want to say hi, please don't hesitate! I'd really love to hear from you!!

Until next time,
Molly