You might be adopting if...

Just for Fun:

• The notary ladies at the bank run when they see you coming with your stack of papers
•  The Fed Ex workers know you by name
• You hear a song on the radio and think, "This would be a great song to set our gotcha video to one day."
• You pass by a pretty park or building and think, "That would be a great spot for an adoption photo shoot once we bring him or her home."
• You literally watch for the mailman everyday hoping for your criminal background reports (or insert other official document here) to show up.
• When you pray over your meal, you automatically wonder what your child is having for dinner that night, and you find yourself praying over that meal as well.
• Also when having your meal, you can't help but imagine one more filled chair pulled up to the table.
• You get excited about coffee dates with your social worker!
• At-home date night = online adoption education modules!
• Literally every craft you see becomes something you think you could make and sell to raise money for the adoption.
• Donations of anything --money, time, fundraising help, auction items, whatever!-- are like soothing balm to your soul.
• You never knew what apostilles were, but now you're willing to drive 2.5 hours away to the state capitol to get them.
• You take photos of your spouse being fingerprinted at the police department. (and, no, he's not being arrested)
• Instead of singing along to pop and country music in your car, you listen to your foreign language CD reciting common phrases for kids. 
• Encouraging blog comments make you smile because you know you're not in this alone.
• You see an obvious adoptive family out in public and you have to resist the urge to grab them so you can have an adoption chat.
• You're saving your vacation days this year just in case you get travel dates.
• You're taking Bulgarian dishes to your family Easter gatherings this year.

Rila National Forest, Bulgaria

 Spring is just around the corner.  I have read the Bulgarian springs are beautiful!  Wish I was going there myself this spring.  Here's a little update on us:

1. We are wrapping up our home study.  Only one more meeting next week, and we're still waiting on those darn criminal background reports to come in.
2. We have a BIG fundraiser planned for mid-April at our church.  Excited, but fundraisers are a lot of work and can be stressful as well.
3. Dossier paperwork is the next big step.  We have quite a bit of paperwork to prepare and whole lotta money to come up with by the end of April.

Prayer Needs:

• Will you pray that our background reports come soon?
• Will you pray for an auctioneer and some folks to share testimonies at our upcoming fundraiser? 
• Will you pray for time and God's speed in getting our Dossier documents prepared?
• Will you lift up our next financial goal of $5,700? I know God can move this mountain.
• Also, will you pray for one little unspoken prayer that maybe we can share more about later?

Thanks for reading and praying,
~ Shelly