Adopting Ellie - 31 Days

Thirty-one. That’s how many days I have to tell my story. Technically, I guess no one is limiting me or judging to see when or if I complete the mission. Which probably isn’t a good thing for this inconsistent blogger. I’ve stopped and started so many times I’ve lost count. I'll be the first to admit I'm not a naturally consistent person. I begin something, and soon I drop it like that computer programming class I thought would be fun my first semester of college. 

But, for the next 31 days, I'm throwing caution to the wind, diving in and going for it.

My title for this series is Adopting Ellie.  I'll share about the journey to our little girl, some reasons we adopted, and why we chose international adoption. I'll talk about how our biological children have been affected and hopefully get them on video to share adoption through their eyes.  

Ready or not, here I go!

Check back here October 1- 31 for a new link each day.

Day 1 - My Story

Day 2 - My Story - part 2

Day 3 - Top Ten

Day 4 - I've Got Answers

Day 5 - Video Link

Day 6 - no post. Oops!

Day 7 - The road to adoption

Day 8 - The process

Day 9 - Visitation

Day 10 - Throwback Thursday

Day 11 - Cleared for travel

Day 12 - no blog

Day 13 - no blog again

Day 14 - I'm busy building an ark

Day 15 - sunshine and hairbows

Day 16 - slumber party in my room

Day 17 - throwback Thursday

Day 18 - no post

Day 19 - no post

Day 20 - no post

Day 21 - Cel-le-brate good times, come on!

Day 22 - Welcome home!

Day 23 - Big Brothers

Day 24 - Good news/bad news

House update!

We knew when we bought our house that there were several things we wanted to do to make it feel like home to us. The previous owner did a great job doing some major upgrades, but we still moved in with a to-do list.

About a week after moving in, I decided to dive into one of the top things on our list - painting what was left of the brown trim and the (wainscoting, paneling, beadboard.... evidently terminology is not my thing) wood on the lower half of the walls. 

Here's what it looked like the day we moved in.

This is standing in the kitchen looking into the living room. The door in the photo separated the two rooms.

Most rooms in our house do not have overhead lighting (nor wiring for overhead lights). This brass wall lamp and its lovely mint green shade was the only source of light in the room.

So I gathered supplies, researched, and got to work.

Only my quick two day project turned into a month-long-when-will-this-ever-end remodel of the living room. I'll post more details later, but I'm so very excited about how it all turned out!