Things are coming together!

I talked to Tien at JOH yesterday afternoon and got quite a few things clarified for our travel. We will definitely be able to go pick Holly up on Monday morning (Nov. 12)!!

After my frustrations with trying to find reasonable hotel accommodations, I finally decided to just have Tien book our room for us. Rooms with 2 queen beds are apparently not as popular in Taiwan as they are here and that is what I was looking for. She booked us a room at the Golden China. The hotel has had mixed reviews from different adoptive parents who have stayed there, but I honestly don't care as much about the room as I do getting my baby! Also, it won't cost a small fortune, like some of the other hotels in Taipei. Once we are there, I will give a full report of my impressions of the hotel for all of the other JOHers out there who haven't traveled yet.

Please pray that the birth mother will choose to meet me when I am there. She is still undecided at this point, which is totally understandable. I think that meeting her and getting a chance to talk with her about her hopes and dreams for Holly is important. Also, later on, when Holly has questions about her birth mother, I will be able to provide more information, tell her all about getting to meet, and show her pictures and video of that day. I really, really want this to happen for Holly's benefit, so please keep the birth mother in your thoughts and prayers.

Planning Travel

After getting the news Monday evening that its finally time to travel, I spent most of my free time Tuesday booking out flights and trying to figure out where to stay. I thought I had the whole hotel thing decided and it would be easy to get those arrangements made. Wrong!

When I called the hotel where I had been planning to stay, the lady must have either a) been doing the exchange rate incorrectly or b) seriously overcharging me for a room. For a suite with two queen beds, she quoted me 15,000 NTD, which is almost $8500! When I asked her if this was for the entire time we would be there, she said no, that it was for each night! Yeah, right! Like that's ever going to happen! Obviously, I think there was something amiss, but we won't be staying there.

We will be leaving on Wednesday, Nov. 7 in the evening and arrive in Seattle. There, we will sit around the airport for about 6 hours and leave for Taiwan at 1:30 am on the 8th. We will arrive at 5:30 am on Friday, Nov. 9. I wanted to be able to pick Holly up that day, but we will have to wait until Monday or maybe even Tuesday. The AIT appointment will be Wednesday, Nov. 14 and we will fly out of Taipei on Friday, Nov. 16 at 11:00 pm. We will arrive in Seattle at 5:30 pm on Friday and catch our final flight home at about 8:00 and land in Spokane a little after 9:00 pm. We should get to the house about 11:00 pm.

Having the extra days in Taiwan will at least give us some additional time to sight see and enjoy Taipei. I am guessing that sight seeing with a baby isn't nearly as easy, fun, or practical as without one, so learning more about Holly's birth country and culture will be a good thing to do until we can go pick her up.

I am glad to have the arrangements made and can now focus on getting everything together and organized before we leave. I'm guessing it could be the last time my life is organized for a very long time!

Final Ruling!!!

For the last week or so, I have been checking my email constantly at work, sometimes 10-20 times a day, waiting for news of my final ruling. Following this pattern, I did the same today, but stopped checking after about noon, because I knew it was 3:00 am in Taiwan and that if I hadn't gotten any news of a final ruling by then, I wouldn't be getting the news today.

After volleyball practice, I got home and checked my phone messages. The first one was from the adoption agency asking me if I had gotten the email about my final ruling and the AIT (American Institute in Taiwan; like an embassy where you go to get a visa to come to the U.S.) appointment scheduled for November 14th! The agency said that their server hasn't been working correctly and that some people are having problems with their email because of it.

Needless to say, I am VERY excited and can hardly contain myself!!! I tried to call the airline to make reservations, but it was after business hours, so I will have to call back tomorrow.

Happy, happy day! It is a relief to know that Holly is legally mine now and all I have to do is go and get her! God really does answer prayers.

To Iraq Again?

I got an email from my niece yesterday saying that her National Guard unit will most likely get called up next summer and have to go back to Iraq. This news is certainly a bummer. She has been there once and, like everyone else in the country, really struggled with the question "Should we be there?" especially once she returned home. My cousin also returned from Iraq earlier this year, and a long-time friend just came home this month. Nobody I know who has been to Iraq has been physically injured and I am very grateful and thankful for that. It is frustrating to know that my niece may return for a second tour. Hopefully, her orders will get rescinded and she will not have to go back and be placed in harm's way again.

The Joy of Friends!

Wow! Just when I was feeling a little down and blue that I haven't received my final ruling yet, something great happens to cheer me up! How do friends know when you need something even before you do? Amazing!

I went to play bunco with my friends tonight. Halfway through the game, they say "Ok, we are done playing!" and proceeded to throw a surprise baby shower for me! I apparently walked right by all the gifts twice and didn't even notice them. Fortunately, they all have children, so they know more than a first time mom what someone needs for a baby. Here are some pictures of the beautiful gifts for Holly.

Here are two crocheted blankets, one of them made by the lady who will be Holly's babysitter. Also, a soft, fuzzy blankie with satin binding, and a floral cotton receiving blanket.

Here are some of the other thoughtful gifts that I received. Everything from sippy cups, bath toys, a piggy bank, board books, food suckers, washclothes and bath lotion. Also, clothes, clothes, clothes! If this girl doesn't like pink, she's not going to have a choice until she is at least 2 years old! Among other things, there are jammies, a Nike skort and shirt, overalls, and the most adorable pink tennis shoes I have ever seen.

The last gift of the night was from several very close friends and brought tears to my eyes. I was speechless, which is sometimes hard to do, if you know me very well. They went together and had the most beautiful silver necklace made with Holly's birthstone and mine in it. I can't even describe what a wonderful gift this is!

Needless to say, I am overwhelmed by my friends' generosity! What a great feeling to have such thoughtful people in my life. I had a wonderful time and want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all the beautiful gifts.

All About Taiwan...Well, not ALL

For those of you who know absolutely nothing about Taiwan, I thought I would give you a little info. Starting with "Where is Taiwan, anyway?" On the map above, it is the little blue country just to the east of China. And just in case you were wondering, they speak Mandarin Chinese there.

There is a lot to learn about Taiwan. If you want to know about its history, there's a great book called "A Short History of Taiwan: The Case for Independence" written by Gary Marvin Davison. It is short - only 129 pages! However, this guy says a lot in a short amount of space. It basically takes the reader through different time periods and rulers. It begins with the aboriginal inhabitants, then describes Dutch occupation, the Zheng Family and Qing Dynasty rule, Japanese occupation, Guomingdang rule, and finally self-rule by Taiwan. This isn't "history for dummies" its "history for smarties." But most of my friends are smart, right?

If you don't want to read a whole book, then check out the new link about Taiwan or read a little news in the Taipei Times. Gotta learn something new every day, right?

There's a First Time for Everything

I have debated for a long time as to whether or not this blog thing is a good idea. I don't want to be trapped into having to update it all the time. I am a busy person, you know!

Anyway, I figured since I finally decided to take the blogging plunge, I better get a handle on how to do this whole thing before I go to Taiwan and find it all in Chinese! How am I going to navigate the pages then?

For those of you who haven't been diligently following the adoption process, you can look below to see my timeline and you will be caught up. You can also oooh and aaah over all the beautiful pictures of my little girl!