hi readers!

is anyone still out there? i am so sad that my blog fell by the wayside a few years back, but i'm back with news! i'm excited to launch a new site HERE with my husband (yep!) and fellow KAD. i think you're going to
enjoy it and i know you're going to love him! follow us over and let's catch up.

xoxo.

i'm proud to feature a guest blogger this mother's day weekend. my dear friend heidi & her husband josh are currently going through the process to adopt a child from ethiopia. heidi and i first met in college, and since that time, i've been ever-aware that she undoubtedly has the biggest heart and kindest spirit of anyone i've ever met. i'm happy to be able to share that sweet spirit with you here today...
*****

An odd bond is building in my heart.
Surprisingly it's not with who I thought it would be with.
I thought that at this point I would be daydreaming of my child and what they might be like. While I obviously think of them, the person that these days I cannot seem to get out of my head is their mother. Somewhere halfway around the world there is a woman that I do not know anything about and I will most likely never meet or even know her name, but somehow we are bonded together in a way that few other humans ever are. Somewhere there is a woman who is the mother of our baby. I didn’t know how I would feel about the birth mother. Honestly, before we started the process, other than what I might say to my child when they asked, I had given little thought to her. Now, she seems to be all I can think of. I hope with all my heart that she is still alive, loving our baby.

It is very hard to describe and even harder to understand, but I often think of her and try to imagine what she might be doing. I wonder who she is, what she looks like, what her life is like. Mostly though I pray for her. Whatever reason there will be for my child to become adoptable will mean heartache, devastation and possibly even death for her. It's strange to realize that there is a point coming soon where, though we will never meet, our lives will combine in an incredible way. I think this is where the hard part starts. I want our baby to be with us, for this process to speed up and to get them quickly. But I know that for this to happen first there must be heartache. What is coming towards them that will rip their family apart? What tragedy is about to take this mother away from her baby forever? These are the thoughts that consume my mind and keep me up at night. Out of all the stresses and struggles of this process it is this one piece that I continually feel I need to cover with prayer 100 times a day. I am truly feeling the grief and loss of this family along with them and at times it is overwhelming.

So what does this mean for me? For today? Well, for today all those thoughts and feelings bring me to this… somewhere halfway around the world is my sweet precious baby…. and with all my heart I hope that right now, they are with their mother. I know that this cannot be the case for much longer or we would never adopt them, but today, I truly pray that they are together.

if i was posting a status update right now, it would read as follows...
current mood: thankful :)

i recently began grad school and our first assignment was to write an autobiography. i groaned and rolled my eyes with the rest of my classmates when the professor gave us our homework. i approached the assignment with a "complete as quickly as possible" mentality, but was surprised when i started typing and didn't stop until i had practically written a book. i've included a few excerpts below:

I was born in a suburb of Seoul, South Korea to a struggling young family and adopted to the United States at the age of six months.  Raised in the Nazarene church, my parents instilled in me early on the values and beliefs that I hold to today.  I grew up in Connecticut and Ohio and moved to Tennessee in 2005 to begin my undergraduate work.  After earning my Bachelor’s degree in 2009, I spent all of 2010 in South Korea teaching conversational English to elementary school students.  That year provided me many opportunities for personal growth and development; I will always remember 2010 as one of the single most formative years of my life.  During the course of the year, I was also given the rare and unique opportunity to reconnect with my birth family.

After returning to the U.S. in 2011, I came back to {my alma mater} to work as the administrative assistant in the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of the Provost.  I absolutely love my job because it is a new adventure daily.  When I come in every morning, I have no idea what new challenges that particular day will present.  My biggest projects currently include planning next month’s Commencement ceremonies and assisting my boss in the reaccreditation process that is required of the university every ten years.  Both are extremely challenging and time-consuming, but I am thankful for the invaluable knowledge I am currently gaining from these experiences.  When I was first hired, my boss told me, “You know {this} is a great place to be a student, but it also a wonderful place to work.”  I could not agree more.  I am very thankful for a job that I sincerely enjoy waking up for every morning.

On the rare occasion that I find some spare time, I enjoy knitting, baking...traveling, reading, catching up with friends, or watching the Food Network.  I also love eating – I am a major “foodie."  Whenever possible, I enjoy meeting up with my sister or three brothers.  Unfortunately, we are spread out across the country, so we rarely have that opportunity.  One of my two Korean brothers is also currently in the U.S., studying English in New England.

I am currently working to become more actively involved in the adoption community - writing articles, attending conferences, conducting interviews, recording podcasts, etc.  In addition to traveling as much as possible, my future plans include working in some sort of position that will utilize both my mind for business and my passion for helping adoptees and their families.  

I am very humbled by and grateful for all of the opportunities that have been presented to me in my short 25 years of life.

i've been able to see a lot in my first 25 years and am so eager to see what the next 50 will hold! :)