Escape from reality

Recently, Davin and I suffered a rough set-back in the adoption process- long story short, we were going to have a baby boy 3 weeks from now, and after 7 weeks of working with the birth mother and father, they decided they wanted to raise the baby. I won't go into that here, but after about a week, we needed an escape from reality, so we headed to our own heaven on earth, the north shore. We have always stayed in Two Harbors, but this time we stayed on the canal. We walked around the canal, did some shopping (even got a Christmas gift for Davin's parents!), and watched ships come and go. I haven't done that since our parents brought us as kids! It was an amazing get-away!

We wanted to watch a ship come through at night, so we parked ourselves out on the pier fifteen minutes before it was due to leave. We didn't factor in that after pushing off, the ship still had to maneuver its gigantic a** through the port in order to get out onto Lake Superior. So we waited two hours. And it was COLD. The freezing wind affected our brains a tad, and we started getting loopy. First, I looked at the lighthouse and said "Hey, I didn't know lighthouses had addresses!"

Then we read this sign that said those who vandalized the lighthouse would be fined $2500. Half of the money would be given as a reward to the person who had information on who dunnit. So...we thought, "Hey, one of us should vandalize the lighthouse and then we can collect the reward money." Never mind the fact we would be fined double what we would receive. Or that we would NEVER vandalize. ...hey, this was funny at the time.

In the end, we were able to put aside the grief we had been feeling, and just act stupid, and think we were SO funny. Plus, waiting for that ship was worth the wait!!!

The next day we took a drive. It was a bit past peak season, but beautiful none-the-less. I couldn't believe I had never been to Enger Tower or 7 Bridges Road! We will definitely make it a tradition to hit them up every time we head north.

Adoption Minnesota

www.adoption-minnesota.com

This is an awesome agency. Everyone who works here have been so nice to us. On average, this agency has about 50 placements a year- although, they hit 50 in September this year. Right now there are 48 families in "The Book". Two weeks ago, when we went back in the book, they were working with 8 birth mothers who had not yet chosen a family.

You can see our online profile under "Choose a Family" on the website. The hard copy they have at the agency has many more pictures and is more colorful- you don't have those options online.

The list goes on...

8) I have too much time on my hands to blog- have fun keeping up! Hee hee.

9) Sometimes I try to be healthy, but one thing I will never give up is Diet Coke. It is the first thing I need in the morning. Yum- Diet Coke in the morning is GOOD. I should try it in cereal...

10) I play relaxation music to help me fall asleep.

11) I wake up a million times a night- thanks for that gene, Dad. :P

12) I cannot carry a tune, but I really wish I could! I would love to take voice lessons, but I'm not convinced it would make a difference.

13) I CANNOT finish telling a joke. I just start laughing and can't talk. Just ask anyone in my family.

14) I LOVE my brothers and sisters! I love that we've all become so close as adults- I love the memories I have from childhood, and I look forward to many more memories with them!

15) Of course I love my mom and dad also!!!! Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, my mom and I have become friends. I love that.

16) I do NOT, however, love pickles.

My enemy

7) The stairs. I fall down the stairs- a lot. I would like to say it's the stairs fault, but Davin doesn't have the same problem. ...No, it is the stairs. They have it out for me. I think when I'm sleepy, they like to pull the carpet from under my feet. Yes, it's the stairs. I am not clumsy- my stairs are just evil. I'm sticking with that.

An old email

Point 1:

Friends rock. Best friends rock more. I am lucky to have best friends. I have two friends who have been there for me through thick and thin. We've all been through stuff, and we've all been there for eachother. We'll be best friends at age 100.

Point 2:

I love stars. I always said if I were to ever get a tattoo it would have to be a shooting star. To me a star is a wish, a dream, a hope. A star can make anything possible.

To the main point:

Last night I was looking for my immunization records- I need them for a health screening in order to volunteer at the hospital. I did not find them (crap), but what I did find was something wonderful. I came across a pile of emails I had printed when I was in high school. Most of them were from Davin (they brought back fond memories that made me cry), but the first email, on top of the pile, was from one of my best of best friends. We've been friends forever, and she is a total sweetheart. You know who you are, Hon. I omitted some of the message. Thanks for this email...

Subject: LONG Mail

Message: Laura-

...

Once I did one of those lame email quizzzes, and for one of the answers, you were my shining star. How cute, hey? I just remembered that because sometimes when I'm on a walk at night...I'll be bored and start thinking about things. ...Then I'll see a shooting star go right over your house. It actually happened three times, and each time I get to thinking about what an awesome person you are- how you've made me feel good about so much, how you've given Davin all you have to offer, and I realize what a truly shining star you are. Really, it probably sounds lame coming from me- I'm not good with words- but never forget how beautiful you are. I see it, and so many others do also, and I hope that someday you do to. Because it's the truth! And I'm not a frickin' liar! So keep smiling your gorgeous smile, and have a wonderful day!

Love you

I love you too, Hon!

Adoption- the Why

I have to break down all my adoption blogging- there's a lot to say. I'll start with the Why:

Davin and I are trying to start a family through the adoption process. It's been a heck (hey, I didn't swear) of a roller-coaster. I'll try start at the beginning:

Why are we adopting? It amazes me how many people ask why. They ask if we are unable to get pregnant- really, is that anyone's business??? Seriously, people have no tact. But since I'm blogging and sharing everything, I'll give you the honest and (kind of) long answer:

Davin and I have been married for over 8 years. Those of you close to us know the first few years were hell, as I dealt with severe mental problems (Maybe I'll cover that in another post). With Davin by my side, and God looking over us, we got through it. For our fifth wedding anniversary we went to Jamaica. I see that anniversary as a new beginning to our marriage. It was the first time I felt "normal". I felt healthy. Not only that, Davin and I came out with a stronger and happier relationship than anyone could ever ask for.

We always knew we wanted children- we even tried right when we got married- we now know it is blessing that we didn't have children through the rough years. We don't know that I cannot get pregnant. We don't know that I can. Doesn't matter. I am on medications that, if I were to get pregnant, I would have to go off of. We spent years stabalizing my health, and we are not willing to compromise how far I've come. Five years ago, I would have made a terrible mom. Today, I can be a good mom. I am healthy and happy, and we plan on keeping it that way. Therefore, adoption became a natural decision. It was easy. It feels right for us. I know some people see our decision of me staying on medication as selfish. There are babies born every day who need a mom and dad to love them. We will be lucky to raise one of those babies as our own.

That's the Why.

Vote November 4th!

....I've been sitting here wondering what I could write about the election, and I came to the conclusion that, like everyone else, I am sick of politics. So all I'll say is:

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

FYI: I am one of the ka-zillion people who is still an undecided voter- it's a tough one!

Hey, that's a start!

-sigh- I have a feeling it's gonna take me a while to get this blog going.

I'm taking an idea from Mindi (hope you don't mind!). I am going to tell you 100 things about me. However, it won't be all at one time. It will take me some time. You can call it lazy, but I'd rather you look at it as an on-going story of my life. How about that?

1) My name is Laura Jean. I do not believe I was named after anyone, but what a great name! Rolls off the tongue, unlike...

2) Davin Eli. Still a great name though. :) He's my husband- been married 8 1/2 years. Love him more than anything in this world. He is my rock.

3) I turned 26 in July. On my birthday people asked me the great question- "So, do you feel older now?" No, I didn't. However, a week or so later it hit me. 26 seems A LOT older than 25. Why is that? Not that I mind being 26. It means I'm more mature, that's for sure.

4) I'm sarcastic- OFTEN. This is big one. It is easy to get myself in trouble online. You can't see my sarcasm in print. Here's a good rule of thumb: if you read something I wrote that sounds odd, corny, or even offensive, chances are I'm kidding. Especially if it sounds means- I'm a nice person...

5) Make that number 5- I'm a nice person. I do my absolute best not to judge people. I take you for who you are. I generally like everyone- there is too much crap in this world for us not to like one another...which brings me to....

6) I have a bad habit of swearing. Yes, to most people, 'crap' isn't a swear word, but it is to my mom, and that stands for something! It's easy to edit myself on computer, but if I can't find a good enough substitute, you might see a** or sh**. I apologize in advance.

...hey, that's a start!

Newbie

Give me time- it's gonna take time to figure out this blogging thing!