Life's too busy

My goodness, I can't believe it's been this long since my last post.
All I can say is that life's been way too busy!!! In some ways it's been good busy though.
We are still working along on all the murals in the nursery. I'll make sure I'll share some pictures on here in a few days. At the same time we've also been working hard on our match letter. It's not easy, let me tell you this much. It's so difficult to tell everything you want in just a few words and then find the perfect pictures to go with it. Please pray for us as we try to finish this letter during the coming week. I feel like we can only get this done with God's grace! I pray that he may put the words on these pages and he would bless them!
And of course the Bartlett house is getting ready for Christmas. This is by far my favorite time of the year!!!!! :o) I absolutely LOVE Christmas!!!!! I already can't wait to get home from school tomorrow to keep decorating and bake some cookies. ;o)
My goal is to leave school latest by 4:30 until Christmas break. We'll see how that goes. I'll pray, that's all I can say!
Happy Holidays everyone!

Another Step Closer

We had another meeting with our case worker today. Yay! We were going through the results of our Taylor Johnson Temperament Analysis. For this test I evaluated myself and then Michael and he did the same thing for me. According to our case worker "we did great"!
Not that I was worried, but it was a relief. She informed us that typically there are some topics up for discussion with the couple, because normally they disagree in some areas - but she had non for us. WOW! Apparently that has only happened to her twice before us. According to this test we know each other very well. My ratings for myself went right along with Michael's for me and the other way around. It was really interesting to go through the results. I love analyzing people, so I had a great time!!!!  :o) I guess quite a few of you are not surprised by this.
We're also ready to keep painting this weekend. We picked out book characters today and started drawing some outlines. I can't even really express in words how exciting this is!
Our case worker is still aiming for presenting us to the rest of the staff in December, which means we could go in the match book after that. I am so excited! Please, please pray with us that nothing in her schedule gets changed this time and she can keep her appointments with us!!!! Our combined prayers will make this work.
Going into the match book before Christmas would be the best present we could be given! We pray that God would grant us this gift!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Jeremiah 29:11

I am so thankful for all the blessings God has given us! Thank you for praying for and with us!

Productive Weekend

I am so excited! Michael and I had a very productive weekend. The nursery's base paint is done and we shopped for some furniture.
Thank you all for your prayers for the match letter - they were amazingly powerful. I finished all but Michael's part last night!!!! :o) Once I started to write it went well. I still expect a lot of editing, but I'm excited to take it to our case worker this week and see what she thinks.
Thank you also very much for the wonderful reader who pointed out to me that our donations button is not working, it should be fixed now.
This is going to be the hardest part during the next few months. Adoption is unfortunately very expensive, so we will start some major fundraising. Please share any ideas you have with me! Thank you so much for all your support! We are so excited for the day when we'll bring Baby Bartlett home. :o)

Powerful Video

I came across the following video when reading some blogs, and it is incredibly powerful! It did make me cry, but not because I'm hurting now. It was simply because this video speaks the complete truth. I would love for everyone to take a few minutes and watch it.
What I'd like to mention though is that I am just so thankful that the end of the video is already a little different for Michael and I. We know God walks with us every step of the way, he has a plan, and we trust him fully. Our path is leading us toward our adoption, and we are very excited!
We are especially thankful for all the friends and family who have supported us on our path so far and who are a daily encouragement and inspiration for us!!!!!
Empty Arms

Buckle down

Tonight I'm simply praying for energy!!!! I know all my teacher friends know what I mean. I need to get stuff done around the house, but by the time I get to it, I'm just too tired to get much done.
Yet I'm so excited to get started!!!! We came up with an idea to decorate the nursery. I'll post some of the pictures I found that inspired us. We won't use all the same characters, but the general idea is to paint story book character murals. Thank goodness Michael is so talented. Now we just need to have time to get started!!!!
I love all your comments, they've been so encouraging!!!! Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and inspirations.

Inspiration

Just now I found an amazing blog written by a new adoptive mother. What an inspiration! It's amazing how many people go through the same things we are going through. I know that we are not alone.
Reading through her blog was such an encouragement and at the same time it made me realize that it is time for me to buckle down and get some business done.
I have not read a single baby book, simply because I never got pregnant. Well, obviously I won't be, so I better start reading! I also have fundraising ideas nicely in my head, but it's time to get started. And while we emptied the future nursery out for the most part during fall break, today I took a nap instead of working some more on it.
We've been waiting so long that I feel that I've got so much time - but what if I don't?
In the blog I read the new parents got a hospital call. Translated into language that people who don't know anything about adoption this means that the baby is already born when the mother chooses the adoptive parents. They found out the day before they took their son home, that they'll be parents. Thank goodness they were prepared!
I'm asking for your prayerful support, to get me ready to be a mom. It still seems so unreal, even though our paperwork is done and we are down to only a few interviews.
I've also been struggling in writing our match letter. I want it to be absolutely perfect, which of course is a very unrealistic goal.
So thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement. It means the world to us!!!!

Thank you all

I knew in my heart that writing this blog was the right thing to do. Yet, I cannot even describe in words the ways that your comments, thoughts, and responses have impacted me, as well as Michael. The different responses we received, made it crystal clear, that this was the right thing to do. Not only have so many of you impacted our lives, but it's been amazing to see how my words impact others. I feel so humbled and grateful. 
As I am listening to the rain pound on the window it reminds me of my childhood, when oftentimes I would sit in my room , listen to the rain, and write in my journal. I used to love writing my thoughts down! And then life got busy, and I stopped. This is another reason why I love this blog. It feels great to just let my thoughts flow. The only thing that changed is the language in which I am writing. When I was a teenager, I would have never dreamed that one day I would be able to write in English, without much effort.
Life is a complete mystery, and I am glad that God doesn't share his plan with me. Truthfully, I never thought I would say that either! Today I am simply grateful for every day that I get to spend with my wonderful husband and knowing God.