Go Time

It's official.

After months of talking and thinking and praying, multiplied by a very high number, we've finally reached a decision. We've decided to adopt! 

Before I go any further, please understand me. This is not by any means at all a last resort for us. While that may be true for some people starting or continuing their families, Derek and I truly feel that this is more of a calling than anything else. Adoption has always been in our plans, always, whether we had biological children or not. (Notice, I said biological and not our own--they will all be our own!)

Now that we're both on the same page and (gasp!)even at the same time, it's full speed ahead!

Well, full speed ahead as soon as we know what we're doing. 

Here is what we know so far about the adoption process:

1. It's pricey.
2. *crickets* 

Ok, we may know a little more than that, but right now we're still trying to separate fact from fiction from myth from opinion.

After some extensive Googling, of which I still do not feel I am an expert, it appears that our next steps include: 

1. Deciding domestic v. international
2. If international, what countries do we qualify for?
3. Picking an agency

That sounds pretty simple, but you try Googling it and see what you come up with! Different costs, wait times, requirements for certain states, etc. 

The shortest lists are often the hardest. I personally like lists that have 29 things on them, and every item on it is a one step process. Unfortunately...we don't know any of the one step processes for this, so we'll have to wing it!

I don't do well with winging it.

Regardless, this is what we feel led to do and what we feel is right, so it's still full speed ahead!

Just...blindfolded. 

Sunday Monday

Hel-lo migraine.

The worst part: it was my own fault.

I haven't had a migraine this bad in three-ish months, and in this house that's amazing. I will even go so far as to say I haven't really had one at all for 2-3 months. We went processed foods/sugars/gluten free awhile back and lo and behold, the migraines disappeared! Side note, so did that pesky ten pounds. We tried the dairy free thing too, but since the other person that lives in this house would drink two gallons of milk a week by himself if allowed it proved to be impossible.

Sadly, the past few weeks (since D came home from China) was the start up of the fall semester of stuff at church and school for Derek, as well as more hours/longer days for both of us and a new work schedule for me. Needless to say, it's been a slow moving train wreck that finally crashed and burned this week. Say what you want about processed foods, but they definitely are faster and easier to make (or, in some cases, order). 

So...the majority of yesterday and today I spent in bed, with the exception of a wedding we had to go to last night. Wedding receptions and migraines are not a good mix, in case you were wondering. If anything this a) reinforces the fact that you are what you eat and b) makes me want to start from scratch to feel better again! 

Adorbs

For those of you who suffer from migraines, you probably can relate that when it finally leaves your system, you want to make up for all the lost time you spent waiting in bed for the meds to (never) kick in by running around like a crazy person accomplishing 24 hours of stuff in 2.

Which brings me to now. No worries, the woe is me part of this post is over. I think. 

In keeping with the fact that we are going to be starting up our healthy eating habits again, I decided that tonight would be The Last Meal of Goodness. Nothing says anti-diet like Italian food! It was a veritable feast. 

Thanks Pioneer Woman

Then since I was on a roll, I decided to make S'mores bars for D's work crew. Mondays are the monkey butt of the week, and who doesn't need a pick-me-up on Monday? 

By the way, many of his team were at the wedding last night. Random poll-does anyone have any idea what it is like to be the only non-engineer at a table of eight? I will give you a hint: at least it was an open bar. Just kidding Drod. It was fun! Especially when you all tried to figure out the btus involved in melting frosting over the flame from the centerpiece. 

Which brings me to the s'mores bars. Burning frosting smells like toasted marshmallows apparently, or at least this kind did. Plus I had all the ingredients so I thought I'd give it a try!

mmmm s'mores

I'm happy with them. Anytime a dessert turns out edible if not pretty, I am happy.  

To summarize, eating plan is back on, and we are running on a sugar and carb high right now. Here's hoping things will be back on track again soon! 

Post Grad Plans

Just a short little entry because it's a busy week.

Drod starts his last semester of grad school this week! He is spending the week in Madison at UW before jetting off to China for work for three weeks. We really never do anything halfway, do we?

It's been a long three years, but I'm so ridiculously proud of him! He's worked really hard at it, and we're both looking forward to neither of us being in school starting in January. Since we've been married, one or the other of us has been in school for the most part. It will be so weird to do things during the school year!

Except...the original plan was for me to finish up my Bachelor's once he was done with school--not right away, but maybe next year. Suddenly though, that just doesn't seem like it's something I want to do. D has been super supportive and is truly fine with whatever I want to do. What I need to figure out is...am I just being lazy and should still go or do I really just not want it? We would definitely appreciate prayers for guidance for that. It definitely keeps me up at night.

FYI, graduation weekend at UW Madison is May 15-17. Hopefully, I will get the details from the powers that be about hotels, arrangements, etc. in an appropriate amount of time! I don't care if people don't really do parties for grad school graduations, we are having one!

Family Vacation

Show of hands: how many of you take a family vacation every year? By family vacation, I mean extended family, not just the people who live in your house.

Originally, we were going to go to Wisconsin with my side of the family but unfortunately that fell through. Instead, we ended up going to Canada again with D's family. We say Canada like it's a small place; what I really mean is Minaki, Ontario.

If you've never been to Canada, it's beautiful.

 

 

 

See?

 

 

Plus, it's just so peaceful.

 



 

Seriously amazing, right? You really feel like the clouds are close enough to touch. It's definitely one of those places you have no choice but to acknowledge a Creator.

 

In light of all of this, one thing we struggle with is do we continue to go every year? It's okay for now and we are definitely all for tradition, but when we start a family of our own a budget can only accommodate so much of a vacation. D has been here almost every year of his life (which is 28 years)! The last thing we want to do is offend anyone, but this is definitely a sticky subject for us. Obviously, we don't have to worry about it now, right?

 

However, if anyone has any suggestions and/or compromises, let us know!

We've Been Busy

And by we, I do mean the royal we. Derek did most of the work.

Since we bought this house, we have wanted to put a deck in our pitiful yard.

Finally, we can say we did it!

If I knew what I was doing, I would put these in a little photo video spiel with inspirational "we can build it" music. Maybe next time, because I'm sorry--I can't do that for you.

Groundbreaking

We started the first week of April once we recovered from our California trip! Believe it or not, there was still snow on the ground in places although not in this photo.

This is how I help.

The above two photos were taken Easter Sunday. That was also the first time we "dined" out on the deck. We ordered McAllisters, and they were closed...because it was Easter Sunday, as previously mentioned. So, we settled for Steak n' Shake.

Odd how one remembers weird things like that.

Pretty much done at this point. Just waiting on furniture!

Casey's pool fits!

Where you can find me most nights

Most of our furniture is in, and hopefully at some point I will remember to take a full on photo of how nice it all looks! D did an awesome job, and we are out here almost every night!

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Enjoy the nice weather.

Rules of the Road

You've heard of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist? This is Derek and Mary's Road Trip Rules. I know, completely what you've always wanted. Why is this not in book form yet?

1. When you wake up in the morning and/or are finally coherent in the morning, say to yourself "I'm in _______!" Remind yourself that you are on vacation. Don't sweat the little things. Take a moment to thank God you're able to travel. Remember that it's a new day, new things to see, etc. I actually can't claim ownership of this particular trick. When I was in high school I went to Europe with my German class, and when we were getting ready to board the bus to the airport Frau (the teacher) told us to do that every morning. It's something that's always stuck with me and we do try to do that one every vacation that we go on, big or little.
2. Under pack. Seriously. Or another helpful hint--pack clothes you don't mind donating to Goodwill or the like if you don't have room in your luggage on the way home.
3. Going along with #2 under packing...you can always buy something if you forgot/didn't pack it/didn't think you needed it. Remember, you might pay more for it but it's not like it's the end of the world if you didn't pack his razor. (Sorry Derek.)
4. Chill your freak out! If your schedule changes, it is totally fine. You're on vacation. (See #1) This probably would have saved me exactly one break down in Santa Barbara. Oh well.
5. Research, and research some more. For example, we could have avoided the whole "Savoy Debacle" if I had googled things correctly.
6. Trust the driver. It really does avoid a lot of fights. Of course, we never fight. If we would though, it would be while driving.
7. Get advice. Thank you Abby, Pam, Alice, and Joel for all your advice on where to go and what to do or not do.
8. Ultimately, do what you want. One of our favorite things we did we were told to skip it. Another thing we were told not to miss we really didn't enjoy so skipped out early. It's your vacation!
9. Car size--bigger is better! The Charger was not small. Sure, it wasn't exactly fun weaving through Big Sur with the ocean on one side and a rock wall on the other. However, it did fit all of our stuff plus we had enough space to spread out. Yet, we could also go down narrow city streets without worrying (too much) about not fitting.
10. You snooze, you lose. This means, for example, not getting the Cayucos shot glass that Derek saw but didn't buy...then when we went back the next day the store didn't open until a long time after we were due to leave. Another fun tip--most places will ship things or have online stores. Make a list and order/buy when you get home. Yes, you may have to pay for shipping but it really beats paying for a checked bag! We did this with these awesome cookies, wine, and Holy Granola.

You can't make this stuff up.

Part Two

The second half of our trip has been less relaxing than we thought...but still less busy than the first half. Meaning...Santa Barbara is busier than we assumed it would be (did NOT realize it's a port-of-call for different cruise lines) but we aren't driving all day long with multiple stops either so that was nice.

We're staying at the Spanish Garden Inn for two nights and got a junior suite so that we can spread out and have our personal space. (There's just been a lot of togetherness, ok? Don't judge.) Really, all of our hotels/lodging/inns/whatever you want to call them have been really nice. Trip Advisor really does work! Amazing. We just have been in the car together a lot!

So far, we've hit up some shops, different beaches, some awesome restaurants, and the  Urban Wine Trail. You can't go to California without going to wineries/tasting rooms. You just can't.

Here's a few pictures for your entertainment. (Just humor me.)

Sunset at Butterfly Beach

Santa Barbara Mission

Arroyo Burro/Hendry's Beach

Stearns Wharf

We also ate at some really awesome restaurants: Brophy Bros., the Boathouse at Hendry's Beach, and the Savoy Cafe and Deli (which was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). By the way, the Savoy Café and Deli is not to be confused with just The Savoy, which is a burlesque club...which we discovered when we walked to the wrong one. Google maps, you failed me. More accurately...the problem was the one who was Googling (which was me), not Google itself. My bad.

All good things must come to an end though. Tomorrow, we drive back to Phoenix and fly home at the BC of D the day after. Yuck. Going to enjoy our bottle of Carr Vineyards wine and watch Despicable Me. Good night!

First Half

We officially want to move here. Seriously.

The trip started off great--I won't bore you with (lots of) words, just a barrage of photos!

Day One/Two: Phoenix & Prescott, AZ; Paso Robles, CA

At the airport, being thankful for "flying meds" otherwise Derek would have been going all by his lonesome.

Cacti! And the Schippers! At In-n-Out

 Day Three: Monterey, Carmel/Carmel Mission, 17 Mile Drive, Big Sur

17 Mile Drive, Carmel/Monterey

They don't have these back home...and by the way, we 100% slept through the St. Patrick's Day earthquake in LA. Oops.

Mission at Carmel

Again, the mission.

Our sweet ride...2014 Dodge Charger. Infer whatever level of sarcasm you want. You'd probably be right.

Awesome cabin in Big Sur

 Stayed here, by the way. All different size rooms and cabins and definitely recommend!

McWay Falls, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

The only time we asked a stranger to take our picture...

Day Four: Hwy 1 through Big Sur, Jade Cove Beach, San Simeon, Hearst Castle, Piedras Blancas Seal Rookery, and Cayucos. Whew!

On the road through Big Sur

Baby seals...awwww. (They really are alive, even though they don't look it.)

Hearst Castle

Sunset at Cayucos Beach and Pier

Pierview Suites in Cayucos





California, Here We Come!

In part of our efforts for the "new, improved Tanii" (hard to improve on perfection though, right?), we decided to do a different sort of vacation than what we typically choose. Our vacations in the past has been to go somewhere with a beach or a nice pool or a nice shopping area nearby. Very scenic. We knew we wanted to go when Derek was on Spring Break and were looking into renting a place in St. Thomas or the like...when we decided to actually do a road trip down Highway 1 in California. It's something we've always talked about and wanted to do, but never really committed.

Criteria for our trip:

• No chains (hotels, restaurants, etc.)
• No big souvenirs (no need to come home with tons of stuff we won't use or don't need...or can buy here)
• Pack light (one carryon and one personal item each)

Not too difficult, right? We'll leave tomorrow and fly out of Peoria to Phoenix, so that we can see our friends, the Schippers before heading the rest of the way to the coast! We'll be gone for a whole week, with the trip split into two parts more or less. The first half will be more scenic, and the second half will be more touristy. Pretty excited...and oddly not nervous. Ask me tomorrow, and I'll give you a different story! I will try to update...more or less. See you!

Welcome to Our World

This is our blog. I know, this is so 2006. Whatevs, man! If you're wondering why the name is different, just know it is really hard to say "Tanis's." It's Tanii. Like Octopi. Trust me, it's just better. I hope this will keep you entertained, or at least updated, on our life together and things we've learned and accomplished along the way.

The Tanii, est. 11/2007.

This past week, for some crazy reason, it is hitting me that I am 28. And a half. (But who's counting?) For those of you that know me, you know that I joke and/or freak out about my age periodically and I will definitely be one of those people who has to be dragged out of bed on my 30th, 40th, etc. birthdays. (Fair warning, my friends, fair warning.) As I said though, I am 28. Why is that hitting me now?

Because I planned to have a four year degree by now. Because I planned to have moved out of this state by now. Because Derek was going to be done with school by now. Because we planned to have fixed up this house and sold it by now. Because we planned to have four kids with the soccer mom SUV because I don't want to drive a minivan by now.

Ambitious.

Because I feel like everything we planned on accomplishing hasn't happened in the time frame that WE wanted it.

What's wrong with this picture?

James 4:13-16 says this:
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"--yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance."

Ambitious? Try arrogant. Our life has not gone the way we planned, clearly. We have no kids, Derek is still in school, I am not in school, we still live in this house in all its 1930s glory, etc. Is it wrong to have hopes and dreams? I don't think so. Do we still want those things to happen? Most definitely. We are needing to remember and are working on waiting for God's timing, not ours. If we are only on Earth for that brief of a period of time (think: exhaling outside in freezing weather), then we need to adjust our perspectives on the life together that God has given us.

Our new goals? Here's a list--and this time there's no "age limit":

• Use our time and resources wisely
• Enjoy the world God has given us
• Live with as few regrets as possible
• Reflect Christ in our lives

What does that all entail? How cheesy would it be for me to say "Stay tuned!"? Too bad!

Stay tuned! Peace out, my friends!