CAR

Sunday July 9, 2017.  Our little family was back at church, and for the first time in several weeks, Tim and I were both sitting in service together.  We were so happy to be there!  Between traveling and nursery duties, it had been awhile. 

Due to the memorial service for his father that weekend, Pastor Bob was not preaching this week, and had asked a man from our community, Carter Strand, to come and speak.  Carter shared this video:

Afterward Carter spoke about the orphan crisis in Central African Republic, the work of Jonathan's House for Orphans, and some ways that we could get involved if we were interested.  I felt like I was holding on for dear life during most of his talk, thinking "what is happening?!" When we got home, Tim and I sat down to lunch, looked across the table into each other's eyes, and knew/hoped we knew what the other was thinking.

We're adopting.

As surprised as we were, and as much as the timing seemed strange, we both knew without a doubt that this was what God was asking us to do.  Not "someday."  Now.

The topic of adoption has come up casually with us in the past, and we both would say "yeah, someday we'll probably adopt," but I think we assumed we would wait until we felt we were done having biological children before pursuing adoption.  Tim pointed out that we've both heard countless sermons and talks on adoption, but we've never felt so clearly and certainly that God was telling us to do it.  Now.

A couple of weeks later, we met with Carter and spoke with him.  After a few more phone calls and a lot more waiting, we got hooked up with our adoption agency and started their processes in November.  Our first home study visit was in February, and our final home study visit was on Thursday.

 Each adoption story is different and unique, and each country does things differently.  Part of our process involves a trip to the Central African Republic (CAR) to meet the children.  Instead of being matched with an orphan, families adopting from this orphanage are allowed to meet the children and identify who they would like to adopt.  No pressure!  I think it would be so much easier to be matched!

Tim and I made the trip in March.  We traveled "alone" but were assured over and over and over that the Lord went ahead of us, with us, and behind us.  As my new friend, Rachael, prayed over us  "For the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Isaiah 52:12b

The preparations for the trip were overwhelming, but we saw God work in countless ways!  We have so many people loving us, supporting us, praying for us, and cheering for us, and we felt that big time while we were there!  Here are some examples of answered prayers:

• Connections with long-time family friends from CAR that helped us get our visas on time
• Many other mom that are adopting or have adopted from JHO that reached out to me, encouraged me, helped me, and prayed for me, particularly when I would feel most like we were doing this alone or feeling anxious
• Smooth flights with no delays, and no lost luggage
• We connected with our host, Samuel, shortly after arriving at the airport
• We did not have to pay excessive taxes on all of the supplies and gifts that were sent with us to the orphange.  A HUGE answer to prayer!
• Safety!  If you check the FBI travel site, they strongly recommend NOT travelling to CAR.  At all.  The UK says not to venture outside of Bangui, the capital.  We were 3 hours north of the capital in an area that is currently stable, but due to the nature of the rebel attacks in the country, this could change at any time.  Not only did we stay safe from rebels, but also injury and illness.  Praise the Lord!
• We prayed many prayers that the Lord would guide us in our decision to adopt.  Early in our adoption journey I was reading in Isaiah, "Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'this is the way, walk in it' whenever you turn to the right or to the left." (Isaiah 30:21)  This has been our prayer!  That we would be walking with the Lord so we can hear His clear directions in our ears when it is time to go one way or the other.  Very quickly after arriving, we realized we would not be able to-- and it would not be best to-- make a decision about who to adopt while we were there.  We needed to come home and have space from that beautiful place to think about it.  While we wanted to bring all 29 children home, we felt comfortable that we did not make a decision while we were there.
• We were worried that we would be a burden to the staff and not have anything to do and be in the way while we were there.  While we probably were a burden to the staff and were in the way, we did find ways to use our gifts to help in small ways.  Tim did wiring at the clinic that is run by the orphanage so that when they receive a generator or--even better-- solar panels, they can have power.  I was able to work with the doctor, explain some of the medicine and supplies we brought, and see potential for future medical mission trips.

While our purpose in travelling was adoption, we quickly realized that adoption is only part of what God is doing in CAR and in us.  We hope to make many, many trips back to encourage the staff, teach them skills, bring supplies, help the community, and help our adopted child(ren) remain connected with their culture.  We don't know what all of this will look like, and most of it needs to wait until our adoption is finalized, but we know that God will finish the work He has started, and we are only a tiny little part of it.

So where are we right now?  As I said, our last home study visit was on Thursday.  When our home study report is finished and reviewed and approved by all required parties, we will submit our dossier.  That is actually when our adoption process starts.  At this time, in CAR, it is averaging about 1 year from when the dossier is submitted to when the child comes home, if there are no major complications (and there have been families with major complications).  When we submit our dossier and are approved by the US to adopt internationally, we can find out which of the children at the orphanage are officially adoptable, and we hope to make a decision at that time.  Until then, we prefer not to discuss "what types of kids" we are thinking about.  We will announce who we are adopting when we are allowed to.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed and supported us so far.  You have blessed us more that you will ever understand!  The Lord has made His presence known to us in the process so many times, particularly with an encouraging word from a friend-- new or old-- just when we needed it the most.

My words are inadequate to share what God is doing, but Rachael's daughter in CAR said it best...

"Only God knows the end of the story."

So... it has come to this

Here we are again, my friends.  That part of the show where I am coming back from a long absence (I think this was a new record), thanking you for being here, for not giving up on me.

Clearly, I don't even know where to start.  I think we last left off with how to get through it... and we got through it!  At least my little family did.  Barely.  By God's grace alone.  To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Let's hit the highlights since my last post, and then we can just move forward:

Last December I was honored to be part of a wedding for some very special friends.  The bride was a 5th grader in the Sunday school class we started teaching the summer after we moved here.  In the last 9 years our relationship has changed from a frustrated student and teacher to a sweet friendship and I was so blessed to be a bridesmaid and stand with her and her husband (from Tim's Sunday school class!) as they exchanged vows before the Lord.  Two lessons from this:

1) When you first meet someone, you NEVER know where that relationship will go.
2) It is amazing how God grows and changes people!

That's me on the right...a lot of people didn't recognize me!

The Peanut turned 1 in January, and we had a little bit of a party.  Her Aunt Kelly and Uncle Justin came to visit and some of her friends came over for cupcakes and hot cocoa.  We tried not to go overboard... I think we succeed. We were lucky to accomplish a party at all!

She liked the cupcakes

In March I BECAME AN AUNT!!!!  Guys, being an aunt is SO GREAT.  Honestly, when I found out about my nephew's arrival, the feeling I had was what I had expected to feel when I became a mom.  To see them and be like "Awwww' and just instantly love them.  Becoming a mom was so different, though.  Of course I loved the Peanut right away, but it was a ferocious, terrifying love.  Like "If anything happens to this child I don't know how I could even keep on breathing."  Of course I would be devastated if anything happened to my nephew, but it's just a lot different.  Probably because I'm not the one responsible for keeping him alive.  I didn't get to meet him until I was done with school in May, so it was so much fun to love him to death and explain that I'm the silly aunt (just so he knows).  That kid is the highlight of my year.

HE'S SO HANDSOME I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT!!!

Cousins!

In May I finally graduated from nursing school with my Associate Degree in Nursing!  SUCH a good feeling.  School was killer.  It really, really tried to kill me.  I was so tired, I even drank flavored coffee.  Twice!  (It was all that was available...I take my coffee black- no flavor, no cream, no sugar).  I remember being with my family for a weekend to have a baby shower for my sister, and thinking to myself (as I was sitting in a room by myself, pumping and studying) "Everyone tells me what I'm doing is crazy and they don't know how I'm doing, but at least no one has said 'Steph, I'm worried about you.  Seriously, are you ok?' So it can't really be that bad..."  The next morning I was sitting at the table eating breakfast and working on a take-home test that was due Monday when I got back.  Dad-- (Dad!)-- came in and said "Steph...I'm worried about you."  Dad doesn't say things like that.  It was that bad. But the Lord carried me through, because this is what He has called me to.

These two made so many sacrifices to get me through school. I love them!

Sven surprised me and came for graduation!

In June we went on our long-awaited vacation to my FAVORITE vacation spot, my happy place...Hilton Head!  We went with Tim's extended family to celebrate his grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.  The house we stayed at was AMAZING, and we had a great time, but let me tell you...Hilton Head is a very different experience with a toddler.  She had a great time and was such a trooper though. We are so thankful for the fun-loving, happy, laid-back kid we have.  And we're so thankful for Grandmom and PopPop and their generosity in taking us all to Hilton Head and their example of 60 years of love and commitment to each other and the Lord.

This summer I also starting working full-time nights as an RN at the hospital where I had been working as an aide.  It has been challenging, rewarding, exhausting and a HUGE adjustment for our family.  But that's pretty much a whole post in itself, so we'll talk about that later (probably).

As usual, we snuck away for a weekend at the lake with Sapphire and the Peanut did much better this year than she did last year.  It was a fun and relaxing weekend, but maybe next time we'll leave the toddler home with some friends to help with the laid-back lake weekend vibe.

Late July and August have been filled with travels, since my sister Kelly is getting married in September!  The Peanut and I flew back to Ohio for the bridal shower, then a few weeks later I left the Peanut here with her dad and flew to Albuquerque.  Both weekends were very full but a lot of fun.

The beautiful bride!

And that pretty much brings us up to the present.  While these were all big moments that were pretty exciting, this summer I've been remembering that it's really the little moments that make life so great.  Having a slow breakfast with the Peanut while we watch Instagram stories, spending time outside watering my plants in the evening, Skype calls with grandparents, and Bible study with friends.  I'm so glad to be free from school to enjoy these moments!! We continue to adjust to my new job and work schedule, but overall we're doing great.

Hopefully I will be checking in here more often now that I've cleared the hurdle of Breaking The Silence.  Blogging helps me get things out of my head, and helps me look back and remember where we've been and where we're going.  Maybe I'll do some kind of regular posting "Bake of the Week", more episodes of "Real Life with the Taylors" or I could even finish up my "London Travel Tips" series.  Or maybe I won't post again for another year :)  One never knows.

For an explanation of the title, check out (the always-informative) xkcd 1022.  If you didn't need an explanation, then I'm glad we're friends.

London Travel Tips: Eating Out

Some family friends are going to London soon, so I was going to send them a list of tips and ideas.  I figured it would make a good blog post, so here it is!  Disclaimer: I don't live in London, I only spent 3 months "living" in a hotel outside of London, then went back for another 2 weeks a year later.  There is so much I did not do/experience/learn, so I am by no means an authority.

Food

Obviously, there are TONS of places to eat in London, and things are ever changing.  What I found helpful was to figure out which chain restaurants are good, especially when you're out and about and starving and don't want to read 100 restaurant reviews, then arrive at a place and not be able to get in because you had no reservation.  When you're near attractions, you will probably see at least one of these chains, and I felt that they had good options.

Cafe Rouge- I ate here once, and I really, really liked it.  They have French food at a reasonable (for London) price.  I think I got the house salad (not pictured), and chicken (above).  Maybe it's because I was exhausted and starving, but it really hit the spot. When we went back to London the second time, I saw fewer of these around, so it might be a dying chain.  Bummer.

Pizza Express- If you're used to American portion sizes, the reasonable portions in London take some getting used to.  However, I found these brick-oven pizzas to be plenty to fill me up.

Zizzi was probably my favorite Italian chain that we tried.  They have a pizza (pictured above) that is "cool" (creamy sauce, potatoes, etc) on one side and "hot" (spicy sausage and peppers) on the other side.  The server (who was extremely helpful, and also one of the thinnest men I've ever seen) recommended eating from one side then the other to balance the flavors.  They also have a hanging kebab thing that I LOVED.

Strada was my favorite Italian place the first time we went, but they are always changing their menu, and I didn't like it as much when we went back a year later.  It was still very good, though!  Before I ate at Strada, I always thought pasta was just pasta. No.  This is not true. There is good pasta, and there is REALLY good pasta.  Strada has the REALLY variety.  They also have amazing tiramisu.

LEON is a healthy, fast-food place.  I really like their hummus and flatbread (above).  Tim likes their hot-boxes.  He does not recommend the dairy-free milkshake.  If you're a meat and potatoes kind of person, this place probably isn't for you...

Bacon roll on left, pasty on the right.

West Cornwall Pasty Co.  It took me WAY too long to discover this.  I mean, I knew it was there-- I walked past it multiple times daily in Richmond and Waterloo stations.  But I guess I thought that something that was so... right there couldn't really be good.  Then Sapphire and I tried it last summer.  Life.  Changing.  The pasties are FANTASTIC, and so is the bacon roll.  Pasties are quintessentially British, and West Cornwall pasties are so good! I cannot emphasize this enough!

Benugo is a chain of restaurants, but they also run the cafes in the museums and parks.  They have a wide variety of delicious options, but of utmost importance is the scones.  This is DEFINITELY the best place to get a scone (a fact that was confirmed for us by a local).  After walking around a park or museum all afternoon, it is so, so good to go to the cafe and order a cream tea (pictured above): tea, scone, clotted cream, and jam.  I recommend raspberry jam, and use ALL of the clotted cream and ALL of the jam.  Because you just did all that walking, didn't you?  You must keep your energy up!

JD Weatherspoons is a brand of pubs that you can find all over the place.  Some of the food is a little mediocre, but I love the broccoli soup!  It comes with warm bread and butter.  If you're really hungry, order two servings. Since we're talking about pubs, here is the seating arrangement for most of them.  

• Walk in and find yourself a table.  There will be a number on the table.  Reserve the table in some way, probably by having a member of your party sit there.
• Go up to the bar to place your order.  They will ask for your table number.When you pay, do not tip.
• Your drink will be handed to you at the bar, and your food will be brought to your table.

If you're ever not really sure the system at a restaurant, start by looking for table numbers.  If they have numbers, you probably order at the bar.

In the world of non-chain restaurants, I have a few things to say as well.

Brasserie Zedel- This is located just off of Piccadilly Circus.  A reservation might make your life a little easier.  I don't think there's a dress code, but try to look nice.  The atmosphere is a little swanky, yet relaxing, and the food is good.  It's not cheap, but it's not as expensive as I thought it would be either.  We ate here a couple of times, and I don't know if anyone had anything they didn't like.

Tae Won Mein- This is a Chinese place on a corner in Greenwich.  When you go out to see the Prime Meridian and the Maritime Museum, plan on stopping here.  The food is amazing and the portions are generous.  You should probably get noodles (above) instead of rice.  

While we're here, let's talk about community seating you often find in the London area.  Tae Won Mein has very large tables that seat about 8-10 people.  You will be seated with your group, and another group, and maybe another to fill the table.  You're served and waited on as groups, not tables, so no worries.  Being a pretty reserved person, I was surprised at how much I like this arrangement.  You eat your meal shoulder-to-shoulder with a total stranger, and it's totally fine!

The Pig's Ear (Richmond)-  This pub can be a little hard to find, but if you think you're in the right place (it's right by Wagamama) look for stairs going down, and they will take you right to this magical gem.  The highlight (for me) is Tuesday night because that is the only night they have fish and chips- and they are the best fish and chips I've ever had!  Also delicious is the Triple Pig Burger, the sticky toffee pudding, and I've heard the mussels are really good as well.  The top level is just a pub for drinks, but if you go back to where the stairs are, you can ask for a seat for dinner.

The Slug and Lettuce (Richmond)- This is right on the river, with beautiful views and a nice atmosphere.  I'm pretty sure we went on a Monday, because food was half price!  I got the mac and cheese (above), and definitely won the prize for tastiest choice.  So good.

I had intended to write just one post with all of my London travel tips, but... I guess I got a little carried away.  I get kind of passionate when it comes to food.  We'll call it quits for now, and next time we'll talk about museums or something.

I'm still alive and Baby's still kickin'

Hi Friends!  It's been over two months since I last checked in, but I wanted to stop by and let you know we're still here.  It feels like life might start to slow down a bit, but then... we're having a baby.  So maybe not.

Here are some updates, if you're interested,

Nursing School

School is winding down!  I just have 45 hours of clinical scheduled (no more classes) before I'm done on December 11th!  Done with the LPN program, that is.  I'm not really letting myself feel like I'm "done" because I still need to take boards, then start the RN program in June.  But the break will be much appreciated!  Two weeks ago it felt like school was trying to kill me, but I've slept some sleep since then, and I'm feeling better about life.

I'm continuing to work as an nurse aide at the hospital, scheduled for 1 or 2 12 hour shifts per week, so that is good experience and reminds me of why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I work with some really great nurses.  Also, I super-appreciate how flexible they are with my school schedule.

In other news, God unexpectedly blessed me with two scholarships!  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

House

Egress window installation

"How's the basement coming?"  Well kids, it's coming!  We removed another wall, and had an egress window installed.  Tim is steadily working on re-arranging/ re-plumbing the maze of various ducts and pipes that are hanging from the joists.

My family, all in one place!

My whole family came a couple of weekends ago, and Dad and Tim took down two dead trees on the west side of our house, while my mom and sisters (and Sapphire) had a lovely baby shower for me.  We now have a lot more firewood...and sunlight streaming through our windows. :)  Thanks, Dad (and everybody else).

We had our hardwood floors refinished as well.  No, we did not do this ourselves!  We're not that crazy.  We're happy with the results, and preparing for the procedure to be done involved a LOT of cleaning, pitching, and re-arranging, that we're still recovering from.

Tico guarding All The Things we stored on the porch while the floors were refinished

Baby

"How are you feeling?" Pregnant.  Most of the time good, but sometimes baby likes to roll over and kick me in the diaphragm, which is not so pleasant.  Tying my shoes is quite a chore, but one I'm still able to accomplish.  

"Are you ready?" HECK NO, Techno!  Is anyone every really ready to have a baby?  But besides that, I have no bags packed for the hospital, no clothes washed for baby, and the nursery hasn't even been started.  Am I stressed about this?  It depends on the moment, but my stress is exacerbated by innocent questions from well-meaning people.  I can tell myself that everything is going to get done and be ok, but when someone asks me "so do you have the nursery all ready" and then gives me That Look when I say "Nope, we haven't even started it yet..." I tend to become filled with self-doubt and feel like I'm a mess that will never have my act together.  Which I am, but I'm ok with that... most of the time.

"Boy" votes won at the baby shower

As I said, I had an adorable baby shower in early November, and I have another one coming up in a couple of weeks, so we do have some baby essentials... they're just all stacked neatly, still in their packaging, in the dining room.

So many baby things...

Dogs

Toby has officially gone to live with Sapphire, and for the most part, things are going well.  We've been to visit him, and he's come to visit us, and we're all happy to see each other when we do.  I think Jynx misses him the most.  It looks like he's going to spend Christmas Eve with us, so that will be nice!

I think Jynx and Tico have figured out that something's going to be happening, and they're not quite sure how they feel about it.  I hope everyone gets along once Baby shows up...

Thanksgiving

Due to my work schedule, we were unable to travel for Thanksgiving, which was kind of a bummer, since we can't travel for Christmas either.  However, we were blessed to be able to celebrate with close friends, and we're still working through the piles of leftovers. It actually wound up being the most relaxing Thanksgiving weekend I can remember.  Since I was going to be working, I allowed myself to just sit and rest the day before and after my shift.  Thanks to leftovers, cooking was unnecessary.  Plus, I was way behind on sleeping, so I let myself sleep when I wanted to.

Other Happenings

Me & Lisa, after our excursion to The Moving Target

At the end of October we got away for a weekend to Chicagoland for Tim's cousin's wedding.  On the way I got to visit with Lisa, which (as always) was a much-needed, therapeutic laugh-fest.  We had a great time visiting with Tim's family as well, who were kind enough to shower us with baby gifts.

Family time! #BTTJDNMA

When we got home, my cousin Ariel and her husband Jan came to visit for a few days. (Remember when Kelly and I went to visit them in Germany?  Yeah, good times.)  They've moved to the states for now, and were finishing up a Grand Tour of the western part of the nation before settling down to real life and adulting.  Their visit was a lot of fun, and a huge blessing.  

Ariel & Jan (when they lived in Germany-- I forgot to get a picture this time around)

So now we just need to get a Christmas tree, do our Christmas shopping, send Christmas gifts, get ready for a baby (how do you even do that?!), and see when Baby decides to show up.  I'll probably do a fair amount of Christmas baking in there, too.

How are you doing?  Are you ready for what's around the corner?  Two years ago, going to England was just around the corner for me.  Last year, nursing school was just around the corner.  Now, parenthood (aka Permanent Life Change) is peeking at me from the new year.  I can't imagine what I'll be anticipating this time next year, but whatever it is, I'm sure it's God's best for me.

So...that happened

Well friends, summer has come and gone.  I started back to school this week, there is a distinct coolness in the air, and I'm ready for apples and all things pumpkin.  It's been a good summer, but it's been a whirlwind.  I didn't mean to take the summer off from blogging, but... things happen.  Let's catch up a bit, shall we?

Summer "started" the last week of May with a trip to Hilton Head with my family.  We stayed in a house in Sea Pines, rode bikes, went to the beach, enjoyed our private pool, played games, got sunburned, read books, and cooked and ate and cooked and ate and cooked at ate.  So. Much. Food.  Long story short: it was good times, and I want to go back.

We also took some breezy family photos on the beach in which we aren't sure when to smile because the camera was on a timer so we look fake and posed.  So that happened.

Happenings

Hey Kids!  I figured I would stop in for a little, hello-how-you-doing-I-can't-hear-you-cause-this-is-a-blog-so-I'll-only-talk-about-me. (NOTE: I actually could hear you, if you would leave a comment.  Then this conversation wouldn't be so one-sided and therefore boring.  Just sayin'...)

There are lots of things going on!  I finished my first semester of nursing school, and I passed all my classes.  This means I'm MOVING ON!  Yay!  One semester down, 5 to go...  My clinicals for this semester were at a nursing home.  We were each assigned a patient to do the nursing cares for during the week we were there, and I got THE BEST patient.  And no, I'm no biased. Everyone in my group told me that, even my instructor.  It was all a very positive experience and I loved it!  Yay nursing!

I am now working as many hours as possible which feels like a lot, but is still considerably less than 40.  However, shortly I will be working NONE of the hours because I will be out of town.  Where am I going?  I'm so glad you asked.

First, we're meeting up with my siblings and parents in Hilton Head Island, SC.  The vacation destination of my childhood.  Also... my happy place.  It will be beyond fantastic.  There will be swimming and beaching and game winning playing and ALL the good food.  I heard a rumor it might even rain tacos one night we're there.  If that's not exciting, I don't know what it.

I DON'T miss...

Hello Friends!  I'm on spring break this week, so life's a little slower and I have more time to drink tea and think.  Not surprisingly, thinking causes England to be on my mind quite a bit.  One year ago I was there. 

In fact, I have some very specific memories of this day one year ago that I could share, but I would be boring you with detail and telling a story that's not really that funny, and scaring you with how much I remember.  I remember a lot, guys.  A lot.

14 Things I Learned in 2014

About a year ago, I was hosting January Bunco club.  The girls were asking how I was adjusting to the change of leaving my job for 6 years.  I think I was saying something about how it still hadn't really sunk in yet, and my (always wise) friend, Kari, said "Yes, well you are going to be having a lot of changes this year."  Yep.  I remembered her words many, many times in the next 12 months.  It was rough.  There were a lot of changes.  And I don't like changes.  Also worth noting: it was awesome. 

Still straining toward what is ahead...

This is supposed to by my way-overdue blog post about how to making hosting a holiday gathering a cinch.  Or I should be telling you all about the great time I had at Christmas, or about how excited I am to be starting nursing school in January.  And all of those things would be good and true.  But if we're honest, that's not what I spend the majority of my time thinking about lately.

This is.

Wordless Wednesday: What London is Like