Bad news. Frank and I have to stay here longer than expected.

We were planning to be done here in April of next year, move to the states and officially start the adoption. Things have changed. I have the option of going to Miami to study for my boards and begin pre-clinical rotations or to stay here. Because Frank has given up so much for me to go to medical school, I always bring these type of decisions to him. His choice was to stay here instead of moving. Financially this makes sense for us - he can keep his job longer which pays him well and is tax free. This also means we won’t have to pay to relocate to Miami temporarily and then to another city shortly thereafter. For him it is also a better choice because he won’t have to switch jobs again and again. A stressful thing to deal with on his part. We are settled in here and we know the area, too. I was hoping he’d say, “let’s go to Miami” - because all the points lead towards me staying here from my perspective, too. The program to review for my boards has higher pass rates here than in Miami and the hospital is known for great exposure. In Miami, students have had problems because they don’t speak spanish. For these reasons, we’ve decided to stay here longer. It’s the right thing to do, but it’s still bad news.

Why is this bad news if all those reasons seem positive? My Mom would say because we have to live far away longer, but for me it’s bad for a more important reason. Because it puts off our adoption. I am sad about this. I actually broke down and cried. I so look forward to the day we move back and put in that paperwork and I thought it was less than a year away. Now, we will not be able to officially begin until January of 2009. That is SO far away!!! It’s strange because I always say I am thankful we chose to adopt and not try all the infertility treatments…. thankful to not have to go through that emotional rollercoaster. Yet, here I am - waiting and waiting. In a way, I feel like I’m going through my own kind of treatments. I’ll get over it. I have to. I chose to be here and go to medical school. That is my dream. But, I dream of a family, too. So, I hope I don’t lose my readers and bloggy friends over this. Stick around. I promise I’ll still be discussing adoption and baby things on a regular basis. It will just be awhile before I’m whining about the real wait or ecstatic about a referral.

On a positive note…. Frank and I have a secret. I will share it with you all in the next few weeks. For now, here is a hint.

This is the sound that woke us at about 3 am. And when I say BOOM, I mean like the loudest explosion you have ever heard. The kind that makes your ears ring and the windows shake. The kind that automatically knocks out the power.

Last night we were awake for over an hour with no air or electric, while a storm blew through. The lightning was so close by that when it struck, our entire room lit up like the lights were on. Shortly after, when the thunder crashed, it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever heard. It was like a canon exploding. I seriously thought it must have been striking the water right in front of our condo, or the palm tree outside our window. I can’t even begin to describe how loud it was. Like front row at a heavy metal concert with your ear right next to the speakers loud. Crazy. I mean everyone has heard loud thunder, but I think being that we’re directly on the ocean it is amplified and echoes or something.

Needless to say, we’re both dragging this morning.

Olive?  Did you think I was going to say Carmen Santiago?
(if you don’t get the joke, don’t ask - it wasn’t a good one anyway…)

What region did you go with?  Why?

This post is as simple as that.  I know that some agencies limit your regions, some select them for you….
but, still I’d like to learn as much as I can. The agency we’re going to be working with works in the following regions:
Astrakhan
Kazan
Moscow City
Moscow District
Nishniy Novgorod
Omsk
Perm
St. Petersburg

I hear so many different positives and negatives about all of them. It’s very overwhelming. I know it’s really early for me to even be concerned, but I’d like to start getting some research done now. We’d like to go with a region that often waives the 10 day waiting period. We’d prefer a city to the country, although it’s not crucial. We’d like our child to be caucasian, fair skinned - like us. So a region that’s children are typically of that appearance. We don’t mind the 8 doctor medical, although of course we’d prefer not to have to deal with it. We’d like a region with a short time period between the time you meet your child and go back to court. We’d also like the region to give referrals at 8 months. We don’t mind waiting longer, we just know that we want a young, infant.

I don’t mean to offend anyone who disagrees with our preferences. This is the type of child we feel we can be parents to - This is what we feel is best for us. Not necessarily what is best for everyone. So, any experiences or knowledge about regions that would work with our preferences?

Lauri recently posted about aging on her blog. This got me thinking…. When did you notice your first age spot or wrinkle? How did you handle it?

I recently noticed my first wrinkle. It is a thin line across my forehead. It is there when I raise my eyebrows or when I am deep in thought. Frank says it’s my wisdom line or thinkers line. I like to think of it that way. It makes it less painful. I don’t feel old enough to have a wrinkle. I’m not old enough to have a wrinkle. This whole thing got me thinking about plastic surgery. In fact, my thought process went something like this… OMG is that a wrinkle? No way, it can’t be. It is! OMG a wrinkle! I then pulled my forehead skin upwards towards my hair line. Hmm, maybe I will need a shot of botox…. if I could just pull this skin back it would go away. Maybe a face lift. Suddenly I came to my senses. WTH am I doing? I don’t like plastic surgery at all. Why would I need a facelift at this age? I am losing my mind. It’s just a line. I’ve earned it. Med school is difficult. I’m lucky my hair hasn’t gone completely grey.

So, as you can read, I have come to terms with it. Sort of. Okay I still stare at it in the mirror and wonder where it came from, but I’m getting over it. That’s life. We age. And there is no way I am shooting myself with Botulism. Well, not yet.

I was tagged by Lauri. I tag Ally and Marie.

4 new things I did in the last 4 years:
(1) Got engaged <3
(2) Graduated from Michigan State with my Bachelors degree.
(3) Married my best friend - Frank.
(4) Got accepted into Medical School.

4 new things I hope to do in the next 4 years:
(1) Pass my United States Medical Licensing Exam (board exams)
(2) Move back to the United States
(3) Adopt Olive
(4) Graduate from Med School, Get into Residency

Reading this over, I seem kind of boring. It’s funny because in some ways my life has been an adventure I didn’t expect and in other ways, my life is right on track. I’m doing the things I planned to do for years. Maybe that’s not boring. Maybe that’s just my dreams coming true….

Recently, my family visited us from Michigan. Since several people have asked that I talk about island life more, I thought I would include some pictures of fun stuff with the family. Also, I never have cute kid pics like all you other Moms…. this is as close as I’ll get for awhile. I should explain my parents divorced years ago and my Mom remarried my step- Dad. I now have two sisters, Sam (short for Samantha, 14) and Taylor (11). We had a blast together! Here’s some proof.

SAILING TO STINGRAY CITY (Frank, Me and Sam)

THE FAMILY WITH STARFISH (Sam, me, Taylor, Frank, Dad)

LIZARD

TURTLES AT THE TURTLE FARM

PIRATE CAVES (Taylor, Mom, Frank, Me and Sam)

FRANK & I WITH STARFISH

SAM, TAYLOR AND I - CAKE WE MADE ONE NIGHT - please excuse the no-makeup sunburn look

Yeah, we live here. Everyday.

(I’m going to start posting more about island life, per some of your requests. But I also want to make sure I keep this an “adoption blog.”)

So the whole “end of Russian adoptions” was all over the news. Where are the stories about the reaccreditation? Why is it that American news just loves to report the tragedy and drama?

Congrats to all the families waiting!! I will be following along on many of your journeys, wishing you luck and hoping for the best! It keeps me motivated that our own adoption process is coming sooner or later…. though, it often feels like it is much, much later. Until then, I enjoy your stories.

A conversation Frank and I had the other day:

Me: Do you think there will be fireworks Wednesday night?

Frank: I doubt it.

Me: (Annoyed.) Why not? This island shoots off fireworks for any possible reason. It’s free entertainment. People come running out of the woodworks for the fireworks…. streets shut down. Of course there will be fireworks, why wouldn’t there be?

Frank: Um, we’re on a British Island. I highly doubt they are going to celebrate the US’s victory over the British and our independence.

Me: Oh yeah. Good point.

Frank: (snickering at my blonde moment)

Happy 4th of July to you all! I hope you all enjoy the BBQs, family time, red, white and blue decor - but, most of all - enjoy those fireworks! haha!

ANN MARIE AND ZACH ARE PROUD PARENTS TO ALEXANDER!!!

Head over and congratulate them on their beautiful baby boy!

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