We Are Officially Fabulous.......

......or at least someone thinks our blog is! I can't even tell you how honored I am, especially considering who it is that gave us this "highly coveted" status -- only my favorite blog writer ever, Laura, at Our Valentine's Day Treat. Laura's humor is beyond hilarious. And she has a true gift for writing. And she's so real and honest about their adoption experience -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Through Laura's blog and her son Mattix's experiences, my eyes have been opened even further to what challenges our baby may face from the moment they are placed in our arms into the days, weeks and even months after arriving home, and that to me is priceless. Laura, we cannot even compete with your fabulousness, seriously. I feel honored. Roger and I are pretty new to the blog world -- and probably don't post as often as we should -- so we think it's awesome that someone thinks our blog is worthy of even being mentioned!

Rules:
1. Pass it on to 5 fabulous blogs, and include the one that gave it to you (and link them).
2. List 5 of your fabulous addictions…..

5 FABULOUS BLOGS

1) Amy at Ethiopia or Bust. This was the first Ethiopian adoption blog Roger found shortly after we started our adoption process last fall. First of all, Amy is an Iowa girl like me, so that fact alone qualifies her as being VERY fabulous. Along with her blog being pretty amazing, Amy and Josh wrote a book, "From Ashes to Africa," about adopting their son Silas from Ethiopia and their difficult journey they endured to get there. Their story is so similar to mine and Roger's that reading their book was like reading a dialogue of my own thoughts over the past two years. Needless to say, I highly recommend reading it if you're adopting from Ethiopia (or anywhere else, for that matter), if you've experienced the heartbreak of infertility, or if you just want to read about the miracles and transformations God works in people's lives.

2) Meredith at Time Well Spent. I actually have the privilege and pleasure of knowing Meredith and her husband Matt (Roger affectionately termed them "The Today Show" for obvious reasons) personally since we both live in Springfield, and oh, my gosh, after knowing them for five months now we are still beyond excited to have met such a fun, young, hip couple (like us) who are becoming first-time parents (like us) by adopting a beautiful baby from Ethiopia (like us). Anyway, getting back to the blog, Meredith has what I call a beautiful blog. She is an eloquent writer with beautiful photographs. I highly suggest you take a look and see for yourself.

3) Ty at The Buz and The Queen Bee. This is not an Ethiopian adoption blog, but it is a blog featuring our friends Ty and Amy Buzbee's over-the-top cute kids and the first blog Roger and I ever followed. Be prepared for some seriously cute photos and witty captions. Unfortunately, Ty does not stay very current with their blog, but still so much fun to look at.

4) Heather at Dooce. Does anyone else know about this phenomenon? Because I just found out about it. This lady GETS PAID to blog. So much so, in fact, her husband quit his job because she makes so much money. Need I say more? How much more fabulous can you be? Oh, yeah, and she's really funny too. And swears a lot. Like Laura.

5) Julie at Ethiopia....Part of Our World. I think Julie is fabulous (and Rob) because they are wonderful friends of ours and a huge source of support and advice to me and Roger. We have gained so much insight from their adoption experiences. And they're fabulous because they drive us to Branson once a month for our monthly Branson adoptive families get-together. Not because they have to, obviously, but just so we can have time to talk and catch up. I feel so blessed to have Rob and Julie in our life as we go through this crazy adoption experience. I just know Julie will someday be a great source of comfort to me when I'm overcome with worries and questions and doubts.

MY 5 FABULOUS ADDICTIONS

1) Jon & Kate Plus 8. Have seen every single episode. Every. Single. One. And for all you Kate-haters out there, you might get impatient with things a time or two if you were raising eight kids too. I'm just saying. Not only does this show make me laugh and cry, it gives me hope that if Kate and Jon can be great parents to eight kids, Roger and I can surely be great parents to just one.

2) AG Jeans -- as mentioned in my Vegas in Review blog post. Love them. A little spendy but well worth the money. Fit like a glove, hold their shape and color for years (yes, I said years), and are particularly good for tall girls who like to wear high heels.

3) My two dogs Jack and Jill and my cat Janie. My pets are beyond fabulous. I could go on and on and on, but it really doesn't do their cuteness or smartness any justice. You just have to meet them for yourself.

4) 70s music. I have always loved 70s music and always will. I know, I'm like a 60-year-old trapped in a 28-year-old body when it comes to music. I sort of have a low tolerance for rap/hip hop. It kind of stresses me out. And current pop music bores me after hearing the same songs over and over and over again. When Roger and I are in the car traveling through horrific city traffic at rush hour with lots of construction and I'm gripping the oh-sh$t handle, sweating, yelling random words at Roger like "brakes!" and "stopping!" and "whoa!" (PTSD, anyone?) Roger will turn on a 70s music station on XM and it helps to put me in my happy place. He's a very smart and patient man.

5) Ethiopian adoption blogs. Let me explain to you how much we love our blogs. We love them so much that Roger and I are bucking the system and refusing to join Facebook because we'd rather read blogs than join the Facebook phenomenon. When people look at us incredulously with wonder when they learn we don't partake in Facebook, we just simply explain we don't have time for it; we are blog junkies. And, also, I don't think everyone needs to know what I'm doing every second of every day. I'm not even interested in what I'm doing every second of every day. Our friend Josh this weekend told us he calls Facebook "MyFace," and I'm totally going to steal it from him because I think it's a more appropriate name. But, anyway, oh, how we love our "Blog" friends and keeping up with everyone in the Ethiopian adoption world. There's so many of you out there where I just wish I could reach my arms through cyberspace and hug you because you make me laugh and cry and I relate to you on such an intimate level, even though you probably don't know me. Sometimes I can literally feel my heart swell with happiness to know there are really great people out there who are going through the same wonderful, scary things we are, who share the same hopes and concerns, joys and excitement that we do.