USCIS Petition for I-600A vs. I-800A

I borrowed this post from a message that I received from our adoption agency...not only are we affected by this, but many, many, many other families are as well. I know that Matthew & I, along with all adoptive families that will be affected by this, would appreciate any help that we can get...please see the link at the end of the post to see how you can help!

USCIS Petition for I-600A vs. I-800A

While agencies and families were initially told that cases that began as I-600A cases could continue as I-600A cases, USCIS later communicated that there would be only one free renewal of the I-600 application after which a family would have to switch to the I-800 process.

The concern with this is that many families will become ineligible under the I-800A process. For example, families that were LID prior to the CCAA's New May 1, 2007 eligibility guidelines, but do not currently meet them.

Beginning in May 2008, Joint Council has been actively engaged with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of State (DOS), the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) and Members of Congress in seeking a positive resolution to the I-600A renewal issue. In spite of Joint Council's advocacy USCIS has not yet provided a feasible solution to this problem, though there are some positive steps reported. In support of this effort Joint Council is asking all member organizations and prospective adoptive parents to take the action. IF THESE ACTIONS DO NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, Joint Council will launch the Prospective Adoptive Parent 10,000 Initiative which will engage families in a more intense and targeted way.

Please visit the Joint Council on International Children's Services page for petition and information on how to sign this petition.

Blog Facelift

I don't know if anyone out there even reads this blog, but I finally gave it a facelift! At one time, my husband had customized the heck out of Dorissa Blog, but we somehow lost the images along the way and we just never fixed it. I was tired of the boring look to the blog, so feeling inspired by Shana's blogs (Sophie Lu, Oliver Michael, & Sasha Lili), I decided to try to customize it all on my own. (ok...Matthew helped a little...) I found some cool digital scrapbooking stuff from Shabby Princess that I liked and used it to glam up the place! It's not perfect...but considering that I am the least technically saavy person out there (ok, not really...I do know some who are less geeky than me), I think I did a pretty good job!

I'm only just starting to figure out Photoshop Elements. I can do pretty simple stuff so far and i'm getting better by the day!

Revenge & a Theater Rant

So...I call Matthew on my home from a breakfast meeting on Saturday to find out that he's itching to see the movie Religulous. I agreed to go and see it with him that afternoon. I'll admit that the movie did have its funny spots, but it's not really the kind of movie that I prefer seeing on the big screen. So, to exact my revenge...

I made him go see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist later that night! I actually really enjoyed the movie! I prefer to see a movie that doesn't make you think too much. It's my escape from reality. Some favorites so far this year have been Sex and the City and Mamma Mia. Matthew hated it...well that's what he said anyway. I think he secretly liked it...he laughed quite a bit of the movie!

Matthew and I go to the movies frequently. Might as well get it out of our system now before Dorissa comes home, right? Plus we have a really nice brand new movie theater just down the road from us. The prices are really good and the theater is really nice! It doesn't cost us much more than $20 to go and see a movie...and that includes 2 movie tickets, a bucket of popcorn (with BBQ and white cheddar seasonings sprinkled on top), and 1 large (HUGE) drink. Our theater has a deal where you can purchase this bucket (we now have two because we can never agree on what seasoning to top the popcorn with) and you can get it refilled twice per visit to the theater for free and it's good for about 6 months (depending on when you buy it). The bucket was $10. Deal of the century!! Plus they have drink stations where you can get free refills of soda/pop/whatever you choose to call it. I also get coupons via e-mail for discounted bags of popcorn with a free drink. Popcorn refills (if you buy a bag and not the bucket) are only 25 cents! On any size!

We didn't see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist at our theater. I had received a gift card for an AMC theater...so we went down to Castleton to check out the new theater at the mall. Eh. It was alright. My gift card was for $35. I STILL had to pay 25 cents towards our goodies! I'm not complaining, of course, but it was really expensive. We had 2 movie tickets, 2 hot dogs (popcorned out from the earlier movie adventure), 1 large (HUGE) drink, and a box of chocolate covered raisins. Oh and a package of Oreo Cakesters. They were $1. Our movie night totalled $35.25. How on earth do people afford this on a regular basis?

I think we'll stick with our theater. I love our theater. It's got an IMAX screen (nothing quite like seeing the Joker from The Dark Knight larger than life....eeek!). It's quiet...not many know about it's existence yet...the seats are really nice and cushy and comfy...the goodies are reasonably priced...and they have deals on movie tickets, depending on the time of day. They have matinee, twilight, and late movie ticket deals. I've even gone to the movies twice by myself! I NEVER do that!

Plus it's 5 minutes from my house...:)

Happiness...

I had a friend ask me last night "how do you know if you're truly happy?" How do you answer that? I can only answer based on my experience.

I know that I am truly happy because I look forward to each day that I get to spend with my husband. I still get butterflies when I see him after a long day apart. I can't wait to see him at the end of the day. He knows what I need to hear, even if I say nothing at all.

He pushes me to be the person that he knows that I can be every day. He knows me better than I know myself...and knows exactly when he needs to back off or when I need a little push in the right direction. He's my rock...

I guess I don't really have an answer about how to know if you're truly happy...I just know that I am :)

Back in the saddle again

Well, after a slight hiatus from the adoption world, we're back! Kind of...

With the wait for China becoming longer and longer with every day that passes, I was becoming incredibly discouraged. I was beginning to get that feeling of dread...that this will never happen. When I started feeling that way, I decided that it was time to take a break. I still read all of the rumors online and read the updates from the various adoption-related groups that I've joined. But things kind of changed for me yesterday...

We attended our agency's China meeting. It's really a support group, more or less, for those of us still waiting. My husband and I had decided that since there have been so many changes both with our agency and the China program in general, that we should probably go ahead and attend the meeting. While there, we got to meet three families who have adopted children from China...two families having returned with their daughters just this year. Little Amelia stole my heart! She was so animated throughout the meeting and her parents took the time to chat with us a bit after the meeting. They offered encouragement to us for our wait while Amelia was smiling and flirting away! She was sitting on her daddy's shoulders and when she'd catch my eye, she'd squish her little face up into this adorable smile and cock her head to the side. Completely melted my heart...

My husband and I have made the decision to submit our paperwork for the SN program through our agency. We're nearing the review room with our file (which makes me incredibly nervous) but once we're through the review room, we'll begin looking at the children in the SN program. The thought that we could potentially have our Dorissa with us before Christmas 2009 just re-energized me! I realize that there is no guarantee, of course, that we'll be matched by then, but the thought that there's a chance just makes me smile!

In other news...

School's started back up for me. I'm now enrolled in the Business Administration program at a local university. I go one night a week to class and with a bit of luck, I'll have my bachelor's degree (finally!) at some point in 2010.

My husband and I have joined a gym too! I've been slacking off the last couple of weeks, but will be getting back into it this week. I've discovered a new class that I just LOVE...Zumba! This class is a HIGH energy aerobics class. Very high energy...it uses Latin-dance inspired choreography, as well as hip hop type steps. My body doesn't quite move in the same way that the instructor's does, but it's still a lot of fun. I've lost 6 lbs so far! My goal is to get to a healthy weight before we go to China. I want to have the energy to keep up with a toddler when we get home!