November ICLW

Welcome to my little piece of the blogosphere. 

We are officially a "waiting family" in our journey to become parents through domestic adoption.  We've been on this long winding path to parenthood for more than a decade.  We've had some serious heartbreak and can't even begin to tell you our entire bumpy road here in a single post.  If you are new here, you can see our timeline above and get the down and dirty 411. 

We are hopeful once again that we WILL become parents through the gift of adoption.  The upcoming holidays are tough ones for us as they are loaded with loss anniversaries as well as the burden of yet another year passing us by. 

I am a teacher by day, and have an especially challenging student this year.  It's made for some added stress this fall that I am not really happy about.  My husband is a swim coach and we are very close to several of our swim families.  They are more like family to us than those who we are actually blood related to. 

I have a creative side that feeds my soul, and also is helping support our adoption fund.  You can check out my etsy shop at www.virtue75.etsy.com.  It makes me happy to create, and hopefully we can help offset the high cost of adoption as well.  We depleted all of our savings with a last ditch IVF that was *almost* a success. 

I have only a two day work week- so hopefully I will be able to post more this week and get to know some new bloggers too.  I am forever grateful for Mel and the entire ALI blogging community for the support over the past several years.  I don't think I would have kept my sanity if I didn't have this amazing outlet and kind words from those who read my rambilings.

Hoping you all have a wonderful day!

Back to School

I promise to share photos of our time in California.  I left the camera at school this weekend, otherwise that is just what this post would have been all about.  For now, you'll have to read my rambles about the first week of school.

I always seem to forget how truly exhausting the week is.  As I get older, it takes longer and longer to adjust back to the routines and being on my feet all day.  My feet are killing me.  First investment this school year will be on a few new pairs of shoes that are designed for "older teachers" to stand all day.  Sadly I feel that the days of really cute shoes for school are coming to an end.  I am looking at some options that are still somewhat cute as I just can't bear ugly shoes even for comfort!  :)  Some of the teachers swear by Dansko, and I love my Keen sandals.  I've also heard good things about Merrill too.  Anyone have any suggestions for cute and comfortable shoes?

The stress is high all around at school.  Let's just say it is going to be a constant power struggle between the district administration and the teachers all year long.  Over silly things that really shouldn't be issues.  And my poor principal is stuck in the middle.  Silly things like having a working copier and using personal days on inservice days.  And every single teacher is being asked to do more with less.  Oh, and we're all going to be evaluated based on how our kids do on a single test this year.   It's just frustrating that the KIDS are the ones that are losing here.  Teachers aren't able to focus on students' needs and well being with all of this nonsense going on.  But that's what I intend to do.  Focus on the kids and just push forward.  (And it helps that it is not an evaluation year for me this year!)

I really intended to stop all technology assistance after the way the whole position went down this summer.  But I can't.  It's just not my nature.  So I've been troubleshooting IWBs, answering questions, and suggested that I hold a little training session for the new teachers on the IWBs on Monday.  I just can't say NO when I teacher WANTS to use the technology and there is no support for them.  I won't leave my colleagues hanging when they need support.  I am however going to be sure that I keep a log of all of the things I am doing so that the powers that be know that there is a NEED at our school that is NOT BEING FILLED by the woman they hired for the position.

I have lots of orders to work on for my little PB Creations business.  I need to work on scheduling time that is dedicated to continuing to grow that little endeavor.  I think I need to treat it like a part time job and really schedule hours so that I am forced to make time.  Not only is it good for business, I NEED the creative outlet.  It is a stress relief and makes me happy.  I spend my days nurturing others.  I need to make time for nurturing my own creative soul!

I will leave you with a photo of the flowers Chris sent me on the first day of school.  This is a tradition he started years ago.  I REALLY needed the pick me up this year.  He is a keeper for sure!  :)

Each year the card says,  "Have a Great School Year.  You are an Awesome Teacher."

Etsy Store

There's nothing much new to report on the miscarriage front.  Although I do seem to have a killer back ache, which is usually indicative of AF is coming.  That would be VERY welcome at this point, as it would mean that I am finally at the end of the miscarriage marathon.  But we'll see.  I don't go back to the RE until July 6th, but if AF shows I'll call to get an earlier appointment.

In other news, I set up a shop on etsy and thought I would share the link here.  I am adding things to it slowly, but I've already had a few sales!  I am hoping to create a little nest egg for our adoption costs.  You can find my shop here.

Just starting to really enjoy summer and take a few deep breaths after the crazy spring we had. Looking forward to having some friends visit in a few weeks so I am busy making plans for that. 

One final shout out to the lovely MTL who is in Ethiopia with her sweet babies hoping to bring them home very soon.  Please send some good thoughts her way that everything goes as planned and they are back on US soil with their sweet angels soon.

A few creations...

I had some limited supplies that I could access. I am in love with stamps from UNITY and recently recieved a package in the mail with new stamps. As the day went on, I took a few more things out with each card. There is quite the mess on my table now. :)



This card was made using the Just Be stamp from Unity, papers from Hobby Lobby, flowers from Prima and Creative Memories. The paper lace was given to me from a friend and I have no idea where it is from.

This one is probably my favorite of all the cards i made this weekend. The stamp is from the July Kit of the Month at Unity. I stamped it on white and also on the patterned paper. I cut the cake out from the patterned paper and attached it to the white version. Added a little pen and it was perfect. The stamp is a little larger than my circle punch, but I am happy with how the words frame the stamp. The sentiment is also from the KOM.
This was actually the last card I made. I like to use up ALL of a paper when I am making cards. I usually stamp a bunch of quotes/sentiments and keep them in a box for this purpose. I literally threw this together with scraps. Love the funkiness of it. Love the sentiment even more!



I started with a Basic Grey Card Kit that I bought when we were in Denver in October. Of course I couldn't just follow the directions. The card base is from the kit, but I added the stamped birthday cake and flower. Image was created the same as the card above.

My card basket is now full again. I need to make some Thank You cards, as those are the ones I seem to need the most. I am also thinking about getting some card together to send off to Operation Write Home. I have not done this is the past, but I think it is a great organization. I am thinking this would be a great distraction for me and a way to share my talent for some good.

I need to go clean up a little of the mess I made over the weekend!

Feeling Creative...

This is what my dining room looks like:

I am still NOT back in my studio because the roof has still not been repaired. We are STILL waiting on the mortgage company to send us the first check for the contractor. It has been a JOKE dealing with them, but I am not going to go into that. I have missed being creative. I need to be creative. It is such a stress reliever for me. Summer is over in two short weeks. I needed to do something. So you see the big mess here. We live in a cottage, so this is in our main living space. It is so worth it. I wish I had done this sooner! We'll see what DH says when it comes home. :)

I've created more than 20 cards and will share a few once I take some photos. There are a few of them that I am really happy with. :) Stay tuned!