Family Pictures (Finally)

After nearly 2 years without family pictures (seriously, my MBA interrupted everything!), we finally got some new family shots.  After months and months of severe drought in Indiana, all it took was the Long family headed outdoors for some family pictures to bring the rain. 

A graduation present: my new necklace! From The Vintage Pearl

Heather's muffintop, also courtesy of grad school.

Love this picture. Hate Maddie's facial expression!

Someone at work commented "It looks like you're missing someone.." We are!

And immediately after this shot, the house we were in was struck by lightening.  Awesome.

Photos from Broad Photography, recently relocated from Cincinnati to Fishers.

DONE.

As in done with school.

 Finished.

 Complete.

 Graduated. 

Master's Degree in hand.

Holy Cow.

Welcome New Readers!

We had the opportunity to spread the word on our blog and Amazon deal to several hundred people over the last few weeks, which is ridiculously awesome! 

 So if you're new to our site, welcome.

 Feel free to shop Amazon by clicking the link in the upper right hand corner. (Make sure to empty your cart ahead of time!) 

 I will be posting updates about last week's exciting fundraising opportunities soon, but for now I have a paper to write -the LAST one of my MBA!

Exciting and Urgent Update!

As you might know, the Long family spends most of our Saturday mornings enjoying breakfast at Chick-Fil-A.  Let’s just say they know us well there.  We are so excited to partner with our local Chick-Fil-A for our first (and probably not our last) big fundraiser.  If you are in the Hamilton County area on Thursday, May 17, please join us at the Chick-Fil-A in Noblesville for a fundraiser to support our adoption! This promotion is available ALL day from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. for dine-in, drive-thru, or pick-up catering.  All you have to do is show up, give them our flyer, and enjoy.  In return, Chick-Fil-A will donate a portion of your sale to our adoption fund.  Everybody wins! If you’d like to attend and I haven’t already thrown myself in front of you, which is very unlikely at this point J, e-mail me or leave a comment and I will make sure you get a flyer.

Praying for a great turnout and the chance to see a lot of our friends in one place!    

Back from the Dead

If you have seen or talked to me in the last two months, then you probably know why I have been negligent in my blogging as of late.   The grand finale of my MBA program literally sucked every waking moment out of me (and most of the sleeping ones as well).  I did have to take a brief hiatus from adoption paperwork just to manage my job, family and school commitments, but we’re getting back on track.  I’ll post some pictures and updates about a few things that have happened this spring, but I mainly wanted to say that we’re still alive – and expecting an influx of new blog readers! This week we mailed 150 letters to our Indiana friends letting them know about a few upcoming fundraisers.  My very good friend Janice created beautiful little cards to let people know to shop our Amazon link, which we were able to include in the mailing.   So if you’re new to the blog, Welcome. If you’re not, thanks for hanging around.

Just what I needed to hear

I have often said that I want to open my mailbox and find a letter from God with what I'm supposed to do in life. I promise, I would jump right in and just do it! Turns out that life doesn't work that way. Today I was reading a blog that I follow regularly called Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff. It's very funny and makes me think a lot about my life. You should read it too. You should also read his book called Quitter because it's awesome. Anyway, what I read today really summed up what I need to hear right now.

"Good, you’re right to fear that xx will go away. Because that will happen. It will vanish and evaporate one day. That’s why I don’t want you to give your all to xx . I want you to give your all to me. I want all your hopes and all your dreams.
Because I am unchanging. I will not go away. I will not fade, I will not vanish. I am the great I am. I and I alone can make that statement. You can’t see it right now. Your eyes are blind to the things I’m doing, but know that in the mosaic of my mind, the only mind that spans generations, I am preparing you for something. I am tilling your heart and your soul right now. I am stirring up everything you think you know about you and me because I am preparing you for something. And what that is, I will not say, but know that it is mine, and things that are mine begin in love and end in love and they never make sense to the human mind because my designs are too wonderful to fathom.”

You can read the rest of this post here http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/2012/03/the-map-the-plan/

I have a handful of close friends that are really struggling with the fact that their "plan" didn't work out as expected. I'm right there. Hang in there - I think some big, awesome things are in the works if we just give up a teeny bit of control.

Step by Step

The last few weeks have been very uplifting.  We are seeing some awesome Amazon purchases! (Whoever decided they needed a new tv and accessories...I love you. Just saying.) Our garage is quickly filling up with goodies for our yard sale and just last week a coworker of mine offered some furniture for the sale.  We are officially set for a fundraiser at Chick-Fil-A (details to follow in a later post) and so many have already RSVPd via Facebook. What's even more impressive is my out of town friends who have asked "How can I help?"  I have a very good friend who is close to pulling the trigger on starting down this same path, and it's awesome to have someone to babble about all the details with who actually cares.  I can't share who it is right now, but I'm really excited.  Last but not least, I made a new connection who just brought home two little ones from the same area we are adopting from. It's awesome to have somebody who has been there, done that.  I am constantly amazed at how open and encouraging the adoption community is.


Two weeks ago, while sitting in the waiting room of the pediatrician's office, Madeline turned to a complete stranger and said the following very matter of factly: "I'm growing a baby sister in Africa."  You can imagine the look. I just nodded with the knowing look that kids will say anything. I was super proud of her, especially as she's not much for talking with strangers.  She insists on praying for baby sister and our sponsored Compassion child at all meals and before any form of sleep.


I'm headed into the home stretch of this semester and quite honestly, I don't want to write papers, I want to finish my paperwork! Praying for focus right now.  I'm trying to pace myself by allowing one adoption To Do per day. I've sent away for a lot of official documents that we need and am already seeing them come back.  Hopefully in the next week I will be mailing a letter with some great information to all of our friends and family.


Just for the record, I have be fairly vague on her about our process, including which country specifically we are adopting from.  I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the process for our family or others, nor do I want anything I write to be misinterpreted.  But if you have questions, definitely e-mail me or catch me in person. Brad and I are so excited about this journey and our prayer is that others will choose adoption for their families as well.