Welcome Distractions

Spring has officially sprung. While I do love snow and festive winter holidays, I am glad the grey haze of winter has left us, leaving sunshine and the occasional thunderstorm in its place. The peonies and rhubarb plants are starting to break ground in our back yard now, and I have a vase full of daffodils on my kitchen table. The windows are open. The furnace is off. After a winter of being poked and prodded by doctors, and feeling sorry for myself as I watched my girlfriends' bellies grow, my life is starting to feel refreshed, renewed. I feel like a bear finally emerging from its den. I'm shaking off the hurts and failures like a bear would shake off dirt and twigs from its fur. I'm stretching my legs. I'm running again.

It also helps that we've had a plethora of distractions this spring to take our minds off the baby business. As you know from a couple posts ago, we sold our house and will be closing on May 28th. We've been searching for a new home ever since. I actually enjoy the search. I enjoy walking into a home and dreaming with Joel on ways we could improve it and make it ours. Some are total doozies...like a house full of cats...and others we have loved and lost in what we're realizing is a very competitive market. But we're still finding joy in the process. And now that Easter is over, we are picking up momentum in our adoption journey. On Thursday, we'll be traveling to Milwaukee for an informational meeting. I have so many questions for the adoption agency...I'm afraid I might become "that girl" to everyone else in the meeting. But what can I say? I'm just really eager to learn! Plus, we're both looking forward to moving on, and not being chewed up and spit out by my monthly cycle anymore.

Another hilariously cute distraction is the 2010 Doggy Daze contest. Our dog, Taylor, was one of 25 dogs to get their own photo shoot as part of this annual fundraiser for the Dane County Humane Society. Her photo made it to the top twelve (the Doggy Dozen) and now she is a finalist in the top 8. The winner will be on the cover of the 2011 Doggy Daze calendar. Totally silly...completely indulgent...incredibly amusing. We're proud parents. [And here comes the shameless plug...] If you'd like to vote for her, just follow this link! 2010 Doggy Daze Voting. She may not be your personal favorite, but she does have the best life story (in our humble opinion), and would make an excellent representative of what Humane Societies around the nation are all about.

Well, that's all from me...for now! I hope you are all enjoying the warmth of spring temperatures and all the pizazz severe weather season brings. I like that word, "pizazz"...I need to use it more often.

"I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs."
-Isaiah 41:18