Crunch Time

So I haven't been blogging much lately for several reasons:
1. No new adoption news to share, although we should be getting our five-month waiting list numbers anyday now.
2. I've been trying to stay on top of my work so that I will be ahead when my school starts next week.
3. I've been cooking large casseroles and soups and freezing them so I don't have to cook as much for the next 10 weeks of school. What a dork I am!
4. I've been working on fundraising projects for our adoption! So far we have raised $106 from our coffee store! And it's only been a week! We have such amazing family and friends. I feel so blessed. I have also been working on my first African-style batik quilt. Here are a couple pictures:

Here's the other side:

The photos don't do the fabric justice. It really is quite beautiful in real life. I've also started knitting again! Here's a half of one sock which I intend to keep all for myself:

I've also been spending lots of quality time with my dogs. I'll be spending nights at school, so I won't see them as much for the next couple years.

This photo was taken about 1.5 seconds before they nearly ripped each other's heads off because Chica shifted her weight in a way that upset Max.

Here's a photo of the enchiladas that I made tonight. One batch for dinner, another batch to freeze. Yum!!! I used my mom's recipe. Sooooo delicious. That's all for now! More updates soon.

Another Saturday Night, and I Ain't Got Nobody!

Yeah!!! I love Cat Stevens! Great song. Anyway, another Saturday night, and I ain't got no children, but I do have an amazing hubby and two of the most adorable dogs in the world. And a pretty cute kitty, too. We just got back from Vespers and had a quiet dinner at home. Now we're drinking Margaritas and getting ready to watch Harry Potter.

The past few weeks have been pretty uneventful. We finally decided to take our house off the market after receiving no offers. What an unfortunate time to list a house for sale. Within a week of our listing on the MLS, Obama made his speech about the Federal Government defaulting on its debt, the stock market plunged 2000 points, and the jumbo loan limit dropped 100k. Not good for us. No, no, no!

So now we are trying our best to scrimp and save for our adoption and upcoming Master's program. We need to start fundraising for our adoption, since it will probably cost about $8,000 for us to fly to Ethiopia twice, and our referral fee will be due next year sometime. On top of that, what if we are lucky enough to be referred siblings?!? Then we need to come up with another $6,000.

What is our plan, you might be asking? Well, everybody loves coffee, so we are working on setting up our own online coffee store to help fundraise. I also happen to be pretty good on a sewing machine, so I plan on making handmade African-themed batik quilts and hope I get some takers. I'm starting to feel excited about our adoption! I think I just needed to pick myself out of the dumps of infertility blues and get an attitude adjustment. Also, being 27 on the siblings wait list is good, right??

In the meantime, I've been working on my mommy skills by knitting socks and making these cute little watermelon cookies:

And check out the veggies from our garden!