Love This

I love this post from another adoptive mom's blog. The title is "Should A Single Woman Adopt" and really hits on a lot of the issues I struggled with. Great Read!

http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2009/08/should-single-woman-adopt.html

In Translation

My paperwork is officially in Russia being translated! I probably will not hear anything about a referral or travel dates until the middle of September at the earliest. A lot of the Russian officials take vacations during July and August so things don't really start moving until September. There are so many things I want to get done before then so I better get moving! September is not that far away!!

Dossier Submitted!!

I finally sent my dossier in!! Yay! I was waiting on 2 forms this week and I got the last one in the mail today. Luckily I had the day off so I was able to run down to the Secretary of State office and get them apostilled, ran home to make copies, and then sent everything off to my agency.

I also had to take the "paperwork picture." I was so excited to be able to take this. These are all the forms (minus the two I got today) I had to get someone to sign or needed my signature, notarized, and the Secretary of State seal (apostille).

I even received my I171-H back from USCIS. This is the approval form from Homeland Security/Immigration that allows you to bring an orphan into the US - so it's a really important one that usually takes a while to get. I was very surprised to see it. I got my fingerprints last Monday and the approval was in my mailbox on Saturday - way to go Iowa!

Sending that packet off was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Now I just hope everything is correct and I don't have to redo a bunch of it. My agency said it will be sent to Russia next week!

Dossier

So.... I didn't send my dossier off last month. I just got way too busy and for some reason getting someone to notarize my medical form was a nightmare! By the way, reception lady at Lutheran - not nice!

Luckily my doctor is awesome and went out of her way to get it done for me. So it is finally coming together! I just sent off my notarized docs to my agency to look them over before I get them apostilled. I only have a few minor things to take care of, get everything apostilled, and I should ready to send it off. I'm not going to give myself a deadline though because knowing me, it will be late!

At The Lake

The last two weekends I've been at Lake of the Ozarks with friends and family. I love the water and go quite a bit during the summer. Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Homestudy Done!

Yay! I just found out my FBI clearances came back (with no record if anyone was wondering). That means I should have my homestudy in my hands by the end of the week! Which means that I almost have my dossier done. Which makes me a little nervous and excited because it's becoming more real and getting closer to actually happening! I only have 2 things left - I need to find a notary that will go to my doctor's office (which I think I might have figured out) and the pictures of me and my house which will be done tomorrow. I might actually be able to send my dossier off next week!

Plugging Along...

Wow, I can't belive it's almost been a month since I wrote! I've been slowly plugging along with all my paperwork. I finished both homestudy meetings and just waiting for my homestudy to be finished so I can send it off to USCIS.
I've been trying to get some paperwork done and I actually have most it completed which worries me a little. So far all the paperwork has been fairly easy and I've heard such horror stories about it that I feel like I must be missing something! I'm sure I'll look back on this post and laugh and say, "oh, if I only knew," but for right now I haven't had any trouble. It could be that I live 5 minutes from any of the state offices that I need to go to (which is very nice). I know there will be a ton of last minute paperwork to do so I guess it's good that it's fairly easy right now.

My Church had a women's breakfast and I was one of the speakers. I talked about the adoption process and how I came to choose adoption. I, of course, cried through the entire thing! I'm not really all that emotional but for some reason when I speak like that I always end up crying - it must be my nerves. Anyway, my Church family has been so supportive of me and even donated the proceeds from the breakfast to my adoption fund! How awesome is that! They are also helping me plan a couple of fundraisers. I'm so thankful to be a part of such an awesome community that is so supportive!