December 30, 2012
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 25,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 6 Film Festivals
October 12, 2012
We’re Active!
Scott and I received good news last week. We are FINALLY active with our adoption agency. Our profile is up online and our print profiles are being shown to birth parents. I’m anxious and excited to begin this next chapter of our adoption journey.
Lots of preparation is underway as we wait for a “match”. We started cleaning out the office and are working on converting it to a nursey. Time for a fresh coat of paint and a crib. We raised enough money in our baby bottle fundraiser to pay for a beautiful crib and we are so thankful to everyone who contributed to that fund raising effort.
If any one reading this blog knows of anyone who is considering placing a child for adoption, please have them take a look at our profile. We can’t wait to be parents!
October 9, 2012
Z-Coil Buyer Beware
A little over two years ago I invested in four pairs of Z-Coils to help relieve the chronic pain that I felt from plantar fascitis. I loved the shoes and wore them religiously to work. About 6 months ago my work shoes started hurting my feet and I stopped wearing them and went back in to tennis shoes for work.
Normally I would have taken my Z-Coils to the store to have them checked and had new coils put on but the store that I purchased them from went out of business about a year ago. There haven’t been any Z-Coil retailers near me for quite some time. A couple of months ago I did manage to find one fairly nearby but the hours were very unreasonable and didn’t fit in to my schedule at all. Today I searched again and found another retailer but she wanted to charge me a $75 fitting fee, in addition to the cost of the new coils. Um, no thank you.
One of the main reasons I purchased Z-Coils in the first place was the fact that they came with LIFETIME adjustments. Today all of a sudden those LIFETIME adjustments seem to have expired. Apparently not all Z-Coil retailers have to honor that LIFETIME adjustment, it’s up to them. Now they don’t mind telling you that when they are trying to sell you a pair of $250 shoes.
I called Z-Coil Customer Service and they were less than helpful. Not only did they tell me that they couldn’t do anything for me, they didn’t even offer to help me find a retailer that would adjust my shoes for no charge until I told them that this is what they should be doing for someone who had spent money on their product. HORRIBLE service and for that reason I will no longer be recommending these shoes to family, friends or co-workers.
So basically as I promised Z-Coil that I would, I’m blogging about my experience. Buyer BEWARE! Z-Coils are great shoes and have helped my foot pain tremendously. If you are interested in purchasing these shoes, do your homework, you won’t be getting any help from the company if you run in to problems down the line. If your retailer goes out of business you are basically stuck with a $250 pair of shoes that you will be servicing yourself unless you can find a retailer who is willing to help you out. Oh yeah, Z-Coil will be happy to sell you the replacement coils.
BUYER BEWARE!
September 23, 2012
Playing The Name Game
In the recent months I’ve spent more time studying names than I have clinical nutrition which may be a problem as I enter the last class for my Master’s Degree, but that’s a post for another day. Names…
Everyone has one. One of the most important things our parents give to us is our name. As Scott and I prepare to become parents not only are we choosing which room to make the nursery, what crib and baby monitoring system to buy, we are also choosing names. Names…
People protect them. How often do you hear about someone “stealing” someone else’s name? Expectant moms often times won’t tell what names they are considering for fear of someone “taking” their name. I used to think this was ridiculous and I never quite understood it, until I started playing the name game. I mean seriously, how many names are really made up? Names are communal, there are thousands of them, and chances are you aren’t the only ________ (insert your name here) out there.
As a Jennifer growing up in the 70’s, I was never alone. I reluctantly became a “Jeni” as a teen – and even though my number isn’t 867-5309, I have given it out a few times. Growing up I would have liked to have had a name that was a little more unique – although the alternative was Davidene so I really am grateful for my parent’s choice of Jennifer.
For my child, any name in the Social Security Most Popular Baby Names (top 50) for the past 5 years is out of the question. I don’t want something so popular, nor do I want something so off the wall that he/she is made fun of or spends a lifetime correcting spelling, pronunciation or dreading role call in class. Names…
Names have meaning. We’ve all seen them, the baby name books. We’ve all looked up our own names, names of our loved ones, etc. I’ve spent hours and hours scanning these books looking for just the right names to put on the list. I’ve always liked “an” names. Beginning or end, doesn’t matter. I definitely want a name of Irish, Celtic or Gaelic origin. The internet also has a lot of sites to help sort through the sea of names. Some favorites are Behind the Name, The Baby Name Wizard and Baby Center. Names…
People’s opinions matter. Parents want unusual, unique names for their kids but in reality the kid just wants to fit in. Scott and I recently came to agreement on a few names…thank goodness, but he was still resisting my favorite – Lorcan. Yesterday I ran down my list of favorites with a group of friends and was sad that none of them liked my favorite boy name either. How could they not like Lorcan? It’s perfect – it ends in “an”, it’s Irish, it means little fierce one, it sounds good with our last name (as an added bonus there are two Harry Potter characters with this name), so what’s not to love?
After a good night’s sleep, today I’m crossing “Lorcan” off the list, and here’s why…
Lorcan, Lorcan bo-borcan, Banana fanfana fo-forcan, mee mi mo-morcan, LORCAN.
I’d like to give a special “thank you” to Adry (for Lorcan Dorkan), and the name game for helping me to see the light.
August 5, 2012
Just Love Coffee Fundraiser
Scott and I are raising funds for our adoption with Just Love Coffee. With this fundraiser, you can buy individual bags, shirts, hats, mugs, etc or join the club and get a bag or two delivered every month! So, if you drink coffee or know someone who does, this is the perfect chance to buy. Just Love Coffee with give us a portion of every purchase to put toward our adoption. We plan to continue the fundraiser through the adoption procress, but why not visit the site and make a purchase today?
We have signed on with American Adoptions and will hopefully have our profile active by the end of the month. We are meeting with them this week to discuss our adoption situation preferences.
American Adoptions has two different adoption programs, traditional and agency assisted. We chose to enter the agency assisted program. In this program the infants will be African American or African American mixed with anything else. We don’t have any preference for gender. The hard part comes in choosing what medical conditions (in the birth mom or birthmom’s family) we will accept. Then we have to consider drug and alcohol use. Once we decide that, then we have to decide on the frequency of use. Honestly it really is all kind of overwhelming, but will be well worth it in the long run.
We can’t wait to bring “Baby Smart” home.
August 4, 2012
Adoption Update and Fundraising
Well we made it through the homestudy! It wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated. I did feel at times like my character was being questioned, and my upbringing was being critiqued…and they were, but in the end what matters is that we were approved and can now move on to the profile and match process.
Our fundraising efforts are continuing. I wanted to avoid the usual pizza, donuts, wrapping paper because quite frankly I’m tapped out on those during the school year with all the kids. In searching for unique fundraising opportunities I found a great company called Just Love Coffee Roasters. A little something different and who knows, maybe, just maybe we’ll be able to reach our next goal!
Please visit our storefront and consider placing an order. Every purchase puts us closer to becoming parents!
