We're Getting Closer

We had another yard sale/bake sale this past Saturday. It was good to see more money coming in along with a whole bunch of stuff moving out. An added bonus is that I am now able to reclaim my house and say goodbye to our Sanford and Son days... and Brian is thrilled.

We contacted the mortgage company and they are looking for a different notary in-house whose expiration date will not expire in the extremely near future. Hopefully by the time our social worker has our homestudy report completed we will also have all of our documents for our dossier finished as well!

Good News and Bad News

I called our doctor's office on Friday to see if they had received her new medical license... and they did! Luckily I was able to get our notary there on the same day, so that is checked off our list.

Also, we received an email from our mortgage company asking us for our address (wouldn't they have that already?) so that they can mail us the letter we've been trying to get for months. YAY! I looked at the copy of the letter she attached in her email and the notary expires on Aug. 5, 2010. BUMMER! We informed her the notary could not expire within 12 months. So close... we will try again.

On Monday we had our home visit, so now we wait while our social worker writes up our homestudy report so that we can send it in with our I-600A application to USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services).

The mortgage letter with a new notary and a different letter from the assessor's office and I believe our paper chase will be complete.

Being Real

Our home visit is on Monday and I am so excited it is finally here. I just don't know what I was thinking having a yard sale right before. To be quite honest I would prefer our home to look like something out of Better Homes and Gardens, not Sanford and Son. Unfortunately, with all of the left over items that did not get sold at the yard sale (and there is a lot) I feel like our house is beginning to look like a junk yard. There are boxes of stuff everywhere. We are still debating whether to have another yard sale or not, so I haven't gotten rid of anything. Also, my dear friends have been contacting me to see if they can bring over more items for us to sell. I'm leaning on doing it again, but they can not bring anything over until AFTER the home visit. And yes, I already gave our social worker a warning so she doesn't think we always live like this.

Now That's What I Call an Office!

We met with our social worker today for our individual interviews. She gave us the option of meeting at their office or on her family's small boat they have docked in Dana Point Harbor. Let me see, sitting in an office or go to Dana Point, which is much to closer to both of us... hmmmm... Dana Point Harbor, final answer. I was a little nervous about the interview, not knowing what to expect and all, but with the gentle rocking of the boat tied to the dock and the fact that our social worker is so incredibly sweet and has adopted from Russia herself put me at ease immediately.

A Huge Success

We had our yard sale today and we brought in $525! Now that is what I call a huge success. My hubby made great signs to lead the masses to our door. They were big, and red, and real attention getters... thanks honey! Also, a big thanks to my mom and my friend Sally for helping out. It would not have been nearly as successful without them. Sally had a yard sale two weeks ago to raise funds for her mission trip to Kenya (she is leaving in 12 days) and she donated her leftover yard sale items. I never knew it but my mom is a total yard sale pro. She was working it and showing us how it was done. We put up a poster with RR info and Alyona's photo. My mom was talking to everybody, telling them all about RR, letting them know that these beautiful children will be transferred to an institution, and that we were raising money to bring her grandbaby home!

Let the Fundraising Begin!

I spent the day with my mom in Los Angeles in the LA Fashion District looking for material to make blankets for one of our fundraisers. We found a lot of cute material and I can't wait to see how they turn out. My mom had knee surgery two weeks ago, which means she currently has more free time at the moment to work on the blankets (thanks Mom!). I will take pictures and post them here when they are finished.

Our yard sale is set for this Saturday. My dear friend had her yard sale two weeks ago to raise money for her mission trip to Kenya and offered everything that she didn't sell (thanks Sally!).

Does anyone have any other suggestions for fundraising?

Prayer Request, Part 2

Our doctor's medical license expired on May 31, which means we need to get a new copy of her new license notarized. I called their office again today and they still have not received her new license. Wait for it... Grrrrr! I want to FREAK OUT, but I know that God is in control. I will wait patiently (oh, how hard that is for me). The doctor's office said I could call every week to see if it has arrived. It will take every ounce I have not to call every day!

Prayer Request

We have been getting the run around from our mortgage company regarding a letter we need for our adoption. It's really simple actually, just a proof of home mortgage. It needs our name, address, monthly payment, loan balance, and be notarized. Easy. On Friday they actually told us "No, we don't do that.". Grrrrr! So, we're asking for your help in praying that this will get resolved.