5 for 5...$5000 for a 5K

I'm sure some of you are tired of reading about fundraising, but it's a part of this process.  My Josie needs to come home, international adoption is expensive, I've run out of things to sell, so, fundraising is how things will get done.  (Unless someone wants to just donate about $16,000...then the fundraising could end...hint hint.)

In the last post, 'New Year, New Aspirations', I mentioned that I was preparing to run in an upcoming 5K on February 15. The Bridge Run is completed on a local bridge called the Sidney Lanier Bridge.  It has been certified by the U.S. Track and Field Association as the 'toughest 5K in Georgia'.  It is held entirely on the 7,780ft bridge, which spans across Brunswick River and is 480 feet high.  The tallest span in Georgia.

 

I've walked it before. 

 A few different times,  just for fun. 

 And it's not too bad really,  just to walk. 

The view is pretty amazing.  The port is on one side and the river leads out to the ocean on the other side.  It's really neat when there are boats or large ships traveling the waters while you're crossing.  

You can see every thing from the top of the bridge. When it's dark, you can see the lighthouse shining. The moon over the bridge is pretty amazing as well.  The sunshine on the water looks so lovely. The sun everywhere is pretty amazing.  It reflects off of the cables on the bridge and creates some pretty neat shadows.

I will probably be so distracted by the amazing views as I run
that I won't even notice being tired from the run.   
That's my hope anyway!!

Here's the catch to this fun event.  It's also a fundraiser!  The event itself is held by the local health system and all of the proceeds from the event benefit the Southeast Georgia Health Systems Cancer programs.  BUT... teams (and individuals) can run for their own cause as well.   

This is where you all come in.  In two and a half (short) weeks, our team, Josie's Joggers, will be running (and walking) over the bridge and back to help bring J home.  Every step along this process has been made to bring a tiny orphan home to her family.  And every step of this 5K will be run (or walked) to raise funds and help with the costs of Josie's adoption.

If you would like to be a part of Josie's Joggers, you can register here...

http://www.sghs.org/bridgerun

Be sure you register as a team member, NOT as an individual.  You will see 'Josie's Joggers' in the pull down menu.  If you are not local and would simply like to raise sponsors and run in your own town, that would be awesome too!  If you do, please let me know and send pics.
It would be great to have pictures of others running in the results blog post!!

As a team member, you can also get sponsors to donate.  When you join the team, I can send you a sponsorship form with information on how individuals can donate and you can of course refer them here to the blog!

If you would like to be a sponsor, you can donate here.  

http://www.gofundme.com/josiesadoption

You can either donate a flat amount. 

Or if you'd like to donate per kilometer (there are 5) or meter (there are 5000) 

or mile (there are 3.1) you can do that as well. 

 (example, $.01 per meter would equal $50, $5 per kilometer would equal $25, 

or $5 per mile would equal $15)

I will let you know what my official race time is!
And will of course post pics of the race and fun walk!
It's sure to be a great morning...why not join in?!?

New Year, New Aspirations

It's been awhile since my last post, over a month...I know!!  But, what a month it has been!  Quite a few things have happened in the past month, including a certain approval, a big move, and a couple of holidays!

We are now 28 days into 2014.  The start of a new year and so many new resolutions, goals, aspirations, or whatever word you have for them, to make.  I have a few for the year...

My first and most important goal this year, get my girl home!  And most of the 'happenings' over the past month (really months, no really years) have revolved around that goal.  Surprise, surprise that my life is revolving around adoption..haha!  (You can read more about those happenings here...Catching up, a month behind!) If only accomplish bringing J home, it will be enough for me. But I might also try for a few more. (Resolutions that is!)

I have resolved to read Les Mis cover to cover. It is one of my favorite musicals and was given to me for my birthday last year. I started it, but starting was as far as I got.  This year, it will get finished.

I've wanted to start running again.  I've been researching 'How to run with a sore hip/knee' or 'How to run pain free' and have found a few different programs that help with strengthening hips and how to decrease stress on knees.  It's been freezing cold unusually chilly here, for this little island anyway.  I really can't complain, coming from NW Indiana, it's really not been that cold here at all.  I did have to pull out my winter coat on a couple of days, with temps in the upper 20s and 30s going to and coming from work.  Sure, it may have gotten into the 40s and 50s in the warmest part of the day, BUT during the time when I could/should be running, it's been cold.  I'll admit I've not done as well as I should be with this resolution, because I've been working, a lot, and have not really wanted to bundle up to go out and run.  I already have a very short term goal coming up though, so I'm gonna have to kick it up a notch on this one, and quick.

I've signed up to run a local 5K bridge run.  It's a pretty awesome bridge, I've walked it before. It's tall.

 This year, I'm running it.  In three weeks.
 (stay tuned for some fundraising here...)

My other big resolution, is an odd one.  I actually want to be more connected in social media.  Yep, you read that right, I said 'more'.  I want to be more connected to my friends that I moved away from a couple of years ago.  I want to reconnect with people that I've lost touch with.  I want to acknowledge the fun things, the sad things, the crazy things that are happening in the community around me.  I want to be more involved in the couple of adoption groups that I 'belong' too.  I want to be more connected.  The funny part of this resolution, besides the fact that most people are wanting to be less connected....I've been without internet for over three weeks now.  Ha. Let me tell you, it is very difficult to email, skype, facebook, blog or use any other type of social media, without internet access!!  But, I'm now live and so, let the resolution completing begin.

And my last aspiration- to get my etsy shop full and successful.  In my spare time (ha ha ha!!!)  I've been crafting, sewing, painting and creating.  I have been collecting supplies and am ready to make some final inventory items to photograph and list.  Of course, my 'craft closet' is now all in boxes, still unpacked after a move, but soon, it will get unboxed, reorganized and put away.  And listed to be sold.  We'll see how it goes!

 There you have it.  My aspirations for the new year.  I'm sure there will be more as the year goes on and a couple may change slightly especially once the bunny is home.  I am a little excited to get through this year and see what my resolutions will be like next year, with a toddler in tow...but for now, here's to 2014!!

Catching up...a month behind!

My last post, over a month ago, declared the winner to the latest fundraiser.  And...Wow...there has been so much going on since then.  I really should have posted before this. (I did draft a post but decided to just let it sit for awhile, it may get published down the road, we'll see.)
Christmas came and kind of took over for a bit, moving happened and then I was without internet for over three weeks!  All just excuses, but it's what I've got.  My inernet is live and working now, so I'm working to try to catch you all up on the very busy last 30 days.

The best part of the last month was this exciting piece of mail...

I checked the mail Christmas morning while walking my dog before heading to my family's to celebrate.  As soon as I opened the box and saw the return address on the envelope, my heart started to race.  It wasn't pink...that's good.  And it was thin...also good.  I couldn't wait to walk back to the condo so I stood at the mailboxes and opened it up to see the words 'APPROVAL'.  I then cried the entire walk back.  I'm sure my neighbors thought I'd lost it.  (if they hadn't thought that already!!)  What a great present to get on Christmas morning.  One step closer baby girl!

Getting that piece of paper made Christmas much easier.  I'll admit, even though I love Christmas (it IS my favorite holiday!) this year I'd had some mixed emotions.  The anniversary of the Russian adoption ban was just days away.  Last year, I celebrated Christmas with the anticipation of Lizzy being home this year, and she's not.  But this little sign of approval, this reminder that my Josie bunny WILL be home next Christmas, made the happiest of the emotions rise back to the surface.  I enjoyed Christmas, yes missing my Little Bear, but enjoying the new path that I'm on in this adoption world and 

anxiously waiting to celebrate next Christmas.

Immediately after Christmas, I moved.  As in immediately after the celebrating was done! I was out of the old place by the weekend and into the new place starting January 1!!  It was a busy few days, moving load after load, getting the old place cleaned out and settling in to the new place.  I now have a fenced in back yard!!  HOORAY!!  It will be so great for Josie to play in (and for the dog!)  I was slightly dreading the idea of having to walk the dog when J got home.  Lugging the dog and the kid up and down the stairs in the rain did not sound fun.  And no more outside stairs! Another Hooray!  Again, the idea of lugging the kid and all of our stuff up and down the stairs in the rain (or even not in the rain!) was not making me happy.  And my new landlord repainted and recarpeted for me before moving in.  When talking about paint, they made the comment. "And if you want, we can paint Josie's room pink?"  Uhm, YES!!!  So the bunny girl has a perfect shade of pink on her bedroom walls.  All done before I even moved in!  I was at first concerned that a move in the middle of the adoption process would cause lots of problems.  But, I checked it all out first and nope.  It was PERFECT timing.  Had I wanted to move three months ago, yes...delay.  Had I wanted to move in the next three months, yes...delay.  But this was the perfect time to add a simple update to the dossier paperwork, while waiting for the approval form, and it's good to go.  We actually did the update at the beginning of Dec, before I'd even moved and timing was great!  Whew, who would have thought that moving in the middle of an adoption would actually be the easiest thing to get accomplished!!!

The USCIS approval was the last piece needed to complete my dossier.  So Hooray. We've moved one more step! A big stack of paperwork that I've spent the past months completing, is now being translated and will then be sent to the ICBF (Instituo Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar - which is the Colombian Family Welfare).  They might possibly ask for something else, more information, more details on any forms or hopefully they will just approve it all and forward we will move again!!  

It really is, Hurry up and wait, Hurry up and wait!!!

So, here's to more waiting...  

In the mean time, I will be holding another fundraiser. (You can read more about that in a different post) 

And am working to put the bunny's room together.  

Her adorable new pink room!  

I'll be sure to post pictures once it's not stacked full of boxes!