I think I am addicted to......

Over the past few months we've had the chance to sample quite a bit of Ethiopian food in the area, and I think I am hooked.  It now seems that we are seemingly eating Ethiopian once a week! 

Our first experience was at Dukem in Baltimore.  We've now been there a couple of times.  Every couple months the Mid Atlantic Adoption Group has get togethers at Dukem and in September we celebrated the Ethiopian New Year here and met some wonderful people.  The food is delicious, beer is mighty tasty and the coffee or Buna is outstanding.  Dukem was just the beginning!

Our second stop was Elfegne Cafe. This quaint little 5 table restaurant is located in Pig Town in Baltimore, why is it called Pig Town you ask...well Eric informed me that way back in the day they use to march the pigs down the road to the slaughter house located in that neighborhood.  Now, as a Vegan this was not a great picture to have in my head!  On to the food....this place was so great.  We walked in and were greeted by a beautiful Ethiopian woman with the most welcoming smile.  We were the only diners in the place and sat down and opened a nice bottle of red wine (it is BYOB).  We ordered the vegetarian sampler to share (she talked us out of ordering it for two) thus at only $11 it was darn reasonable and actually more than enough food for us both.  Oh, it also tasted oh so good.  We will definitely be going back to this place!

Our third stop was Abol, located in Silver Spring.  This place had funky original artwork!  We even got the name of the artist!  Large portions and super tasty Sambussa.  On the down side dishes were served "American" style with bowls and silverware instead of the more traditional Ethiopian style.  We used our fingers anyway!!

We finally got to D.C., world renowned for it's Ethiopian cuisine.  We went to the old classic, Meskerem, with Eric's mom.  This was her first experience and a wonderful one at that!  Meskerem is located in Adam's Morgan, surrounded by other African restaurants and shops, adding to the adventure.  This was really the first stop that really served up what seems to be a more true Ethiopian style dining experience.  We were seated at woven/wicker tables with a cloth draped over and sat low on padded stools/ottomans.  The food is brought out on a large tray and set down in the middle of the wicker table so that everyone seated around simply reaches in and goes for it.  We tried great sambussas, with lentils and then with carrot and cabbage.  We also tried a wonderful beet and potato salad to whet our appetites, and ordered jalapenos stuffed with onions and spices so we could adjust the heat level of the food to our liking with a nibble.

We liked Meskerem so much (and had another Groupon to use!) that we went back with Meghan's mom last week.  Now being such seasoned diners we knew to ask for a table upstairs and also knew to order the vegetarian sampler for two, then add on an extra portion of our clear favorite--Yemisir Watt, pureed lentils in spicy Berbere sauce.

In the future we hope to get to more of what D.C. has to offer, all in preparation for being able to truly appreciate our trips to Ethiopia for the real deal!

We got "Punked" in a good way!!

This year for Christmas our family decided to pick names.  This seemed to be easiest since our family is getting larger each year!

Eric and I dutifully purchased our gifts and had them shipped to my mothers house.  We were all set to Skype in with the family during the party when we got the B-E-S-T gift ever!

When we connected with the family my darling little niece M was sitting there with mother giggling...she said, "Auntie Meghan we played a trick on you and Uncle Eric!"  "We did not buy each other presents we put all our money together and are giving it to you to help bring home your baby!"

Eric and I were in shock and awe.  They had been planning this all along and we had no idea.  We laughed because we STRESSED about what to get for our gifts, wanting them to be perfect.  I even got into it with a poor Amazon Customer Service Rep over the shipping time frame of one of the gifts! 

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family.  It makes me happy to know that they support us and want to be able to help in every little or BIG way possible.  Here are our wonderful, loving and supporting family who made our Holiday so much brighter.  We don't think we can every say Thank You enough!!! We love each and every one of you so much!



W & F



E & D



S & L

A

L & L

S & S

M

B

E

Mommy

 Thank you all again!  We love you and can't wait for the day that we bring home our little girl and introduce her to this amazing family. 

Happy Holidays!!!



Oh My Goodness---A Nursery Must Have!

It brought tears to my eyes!!

We are OFFICIALLY WAITING!!!

As of Thursday, December 2, 2010 we are officially waiting to bring home our little Ethiopian Princess!  We are both so excited and celebrated with a nice bottle of PINK Champagne! 

Eric and I both agreed that we would start planning the nursery and stuff like that once we were on the list...well, Eric better start hiding the credit cards as I am SOO ready! 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this far and continues to support us.  We are so lucky to have such amazing wonderful people in our lives!

We got our I-171H Letter and Thanksgiving

Well, I am a little over due with this post!!  We were away for Thanksgiving and I am playing catch up.

We had our final fingerprint appointment on November 16 and not even a week later, on November 22 our I-171H letter was waiting for me when I got home from work!!!!  We immediately made a copy, had a friend Notarize our statement and I raced back to the FedEx box to overnight that baby to KBS Dossier. 

Here is a pic of Eric and I happy as pie with our letter!

 Oh yeah....popped a little bubbly!

After this very exciting night we got on the road the next day to Maine.  We had a wonderful time and were so sad to leave.  It was our first Thanksgiving without eating any animal products and hopefully our last one as a twosome! 

Before I post some pics I want to say everyday I am thankful for so much but this year I am sooo very thankful for the wonderful woman who is most likely growing our little princess for us right now.  I will forever be thankful for Ethiopia and Africa and am so happy that my life has taken this path.

I am sure Mabel is thinking .......WHY Mom, WHY!!

 Turkey helper #1 - B

 Turkey helper #2 - M

 My brothers, Mom and I

 Future Turkey helper #3 - E

 B Loves Uncle Eric

M loved this slide and I think they both went down it for 45 minutes straight! 

Next post will be when we are on the list!  KBS thinks it could be by the end of the week!

Fingerprints are done

Today, Tuesday, November 16, 2010, we were summoned to The Bank of America building in Baltimore at 8AM to have our (dare I say) FINAL set of fingerprints done.  Oh what an experience it was! 

I think I woke up at 4 this morning, anxious, nervous and W-I-D-E awake.  I was so worried that we would over sleep and miss that darn appointment, that I just could not sleep.  Of course my darling husband assured me there would be no traffic and he would even (are you ready for this) park in a garage!  For those who know Eric this is quite a big deal.....Eric is the king of street parking and we often circle block after block looking for a free spot ;).  With our papers in hand we walk up to the room and then I started to feel as though we had done something wrong and were in trouble!  LOL--these people take their jobs VERY seriously!  OF course, everyone was super nice and it only took us about 20 minutes to get in and get out.

I know this is silly but I even got kind of teary eyed!  This is it!  Just one more very important letter and then it is the home stretch.  Many people feel like the wait list is the hardest...but when you have been waiting for 5 years to hold a precious child in your arms, what's another few months!   To me, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!!

I will leave you with a shot of Mabel--this picture was taken a few years ago during a trip to South Carolina.  We just entered her in the AAA Pet Contest, and I am pretty confident we will win!!!

50 Free Holdiay Cards.....YES PLEASE

I am a lady who rarely says NO to anything free! 

Shutterfly is offering bloggers 50 free Holiday Cards if you do a post in honor of them! I have been browsing Shutterfly's options and have decided that we are going to use our photo's from our recent shoot and create special cards this year!  Just think....possibly next year we will be doing our first family holiday cards with our little princess.  We have been waiting to do this for 5 years, it makes me giggle inside!

Happy Tuesday all!!!

Giving back . . one glass of water at a time . . .

There are many things that the adoption process has taught me, not the least of which is that I kind of complain....a lot!  Well, maybe not A LOT but some, I find myself saying things like, "I wish we had a bigger house", "I wish we had a softer bed", "I need new shoes", oh the list goes on and on.  Since realizing, and now admitting, this about myself I am trying to change.  I realize I am pretty darn lucky!  I have a wonderful husband, we have a beautiful house, a great dog, loving friends and family, good food on the table every night, heat that works, and water to drink whenever we want it!  

I have been thinking a lot about the people in Ethiopia, specifically the strong, courageous women like the one that will (hopefully) soon give birth to our daughter.  She will almost certainly not be as fortunate as we are in not having a house like ours, a soft bed like ours, good and varied food on the table and most importantly a nice clean fresh glass of water to drink when she wants it. If I can do something small for her and her family to thank them for the huge gift they are giving Eric and I, then I am going to do it!

Here are some startling facts:

• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
• Lack of sanitation is the world's biggest cause of infection.
• Every 20 seconds, a child dies from water-related disease.
• In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women's time is consumed for the most basic of human needs--collecting water for domestic use.
• Almost 2 in every 3 people who need safe drinking water survive on less than $2 a day and 1 in 3 on less than $1 a day.

I have spoken to Eric about my dream to to be able to, some day, sponsor a well to be built in our daughter's town in honor of her family.  Now, this dream is somewhere off in the future but there is surely something I can do now!  For only a $25 donation I can give someone in Ethiopia clean water for the rest of their lives.  IMAGINE!! 

So, that is what I plan to do this holiday season.  Eric and I are not getting each other gifts, as we are saving all we can for our adoption BUT we will be donating to a wonderful cause in honor of some of the usual gift recipients on our last this year, a gift we hope they like and don't want to return :)

I will be honest, even though we are not buying gifts I have decided we are each going to purchase one of the water bottles CUTIE PIE Matt Damon is holding below!  All the proceeds go toward a clean water project! 

You too can be as cool as us by clicking on CUTIE PIE Matt Damon below and ordering your very own limited edition water bottle :)

I encourage everyone to check out Water.org, read some facts and get inspired to change someone's life forever!

Manas family photo shoot

 Eric's mother is having a Birthday soon and we thought it would be great to give her a nice shot of our family!   As you can see when you have an 80lb Lab it is not so easy!!!

Mabel REFUSING to look at the camera!



As you can see I am trying to make her - begging...please just one shot MABEL





Mabel apparently feels she is way to important to take pics with Mom and Dad!



FINALLY - a decent shot - Mabel must be licking her lips because there is a squirrel nearby she would like to eat!

I am happy that we were able to get ONE shot - not perfect - but this is us!  Hopefully this time next year we will be a family of FOUR!

A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger

We have a date to get our FINAL (hopefully) biometrics....aka fingerprints done!  Tuesday, November 16th @ 8:00 am!!!  I was hoping it would be sooner but I realized everything happens for a reason.  There is one...or two...special little one(s) out there that are destined to be ours, so I can be patient!

Would you like to win a FREE Mission Trip to Ethiopia?????

Well, the inspirational woman behind My Crazy Adoption is offering just that!  Here is a breakdown of what you could win!

*Prize: Mission Trip to Ethiopia, February 17-26, 2011

*Prize value: $3100

*Number of winners: 1-2

*Number of Tee shirts to sell: 183 + 183

*Ending date of the giveaway: 10/28/10

*Where it can be won: My Crazy Adoption Blog

*The prize is from: http://www.mycrazyadoption.com/

*To enter this giveaway, you can: purchase a tee shirt at My Crazy Adoption Store

TODAY ONLY you can enter FREE...yup I said FREE!!!!  You would normally have to buy a T-Shirt to enter but TODAY all you have to do is spread the word and get a free entry!  I really think you should still buy a shirt but just start spreading the word for your chance to win!!!

It is official.......

WE ARE GLADNEY APPROVED! 



Our Wedding Day

Happy Thursday to all!!!!!

Adoptions from Ethiopia rise, bucking global trend

We were forwarded this article from msnbc.com the other day and found it interesting enough to reproduce it hear in its entirety. It was nice to see our agency, Gladney, get some recognition as well.

The African country is sending record numbers of children to the U.S.

By DAVID CRARY
The Associated Press
updated 10/12/2010 3:31:43 PM ET

NEW YORK — As the overall number of international adoptions by Americans plummets, one country — Ethiopia — is emphatically bucking the trend, sending record numbers of children to the U.S. while winning praise for improving orphans' prospects at home.

It's a remarkable, little-publicized trend, unfolding in an impoverished African country with an estimated 5 million orphans and homeless children, on a continent that has been wary of international adoption.

Just six years ago, at the peak of international adoption, there were 284 Ethiopian children among the 22,990 foreign kids adopted by Americans. For the 2010 fiscal year, the State Department projects there will be about 2,500 adoptions from Ethiopia out of fewer than 11,000 overall — and Ethiopia is on the verge of overtaking China as the top source country.

The needs are enormous; many of Ethiopia's orphans live on the streets or in crowded institutions. There's constant wariness, as in many developing countries, that unscrupulous baby-sellers will infiltrate the adoption process.

However, a high-level U.S. delegation — led by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Susan Jacobs, the State Department's special adviser on children's issues — came back impressed from a visit to Ethiopia last month in which they met President Girma Wolde-Giorgis.

"What's encouraging is they want to work with us, they want to do it right," Jacobs said in a telephone interview. "Other countries should look at what Ethiopia is trying to do."

The global adoption landscape has changed dramatically since 2004. China, Russia and South Korea have reduced the once large numbers of children made available to foreigners while trying to encourage domestic alternatives. There have been suspensions of adoptions from Guatemala, Vietnam and Nepal due to fraud and corruption.

In contrast, Ethiopia has emerged as a land of opportunity for U.S. adoption agencies and faith-based groups. Several have been very active there in the past few years, arranging adoptions for U.S. families while helping Ethiopian authorities and charitable groups find ways to place more orphans with local families.

Buckner International, a Dallas-based Christian ministry, has about three dozen Ethiopian children lined up for adoption by U.S. parents, but it's also engaged in numerous programs to help Ethiopia build a domestic foster care system.

In one village visited by Jacobs and Landrieu, Buckner has built a school and housing for teachers while beginning a slow assessment of the orphan population to determine which children can be cared for locally and which might benefit from U.S. adoption.

Randy Daniels, Buckner's vice president of international operations, said the children who do head to adoptive families in the United States generally seem to flourish.

"They're some of the warmest, most loving kids of any I've worked with in the world," he said. "It's amazing to how quickly they adjust to the families stateside, to the language, the culture."

Buckner's clients include David McDurham and his wife, Amy, of Mansfield, Texas, who adopted their daughter, Ella, from Ethiopia in 2008 and are preparing to pursue a second Ethiopian adoption. Unable to have a biological child, the McDurhams had been considering adopting from China. But that can now be a four-year process, and they became increasingly intrigued by Africa.

"They were just opening up the Ethiopia program," said McDurham, a Baptist minister. "We were thinking, where did the needs of children and our needs coincide?"

McDurham said Ella, who just turned 3, is thriving in their Dallas suburb. They've become popular customers at a local Ethiopian restaurant and have forged ties with several other families who adopted from Ethiopia.

"We want her to see other families like hers — to know other people who have that same story," McDurham said,

Other agencies active in Ethiopia — both with adoptions and developing local alternatives for orphans — include Bethany Christian Services and the Gladney Center for Adoption.

Gladney only registered with Ethiopian authorities in 2005 and since then has completed nearly 500 adoptions by U.S. families. J. Scott Brown, Gladney’s managing director of African programs, said the agency also is working with government-run orphanages in Ethiopia, trying to improve living conditions and develop job-training programs to benefit youths who won't move to homes abroad.

"There are still some bad players in Ethiopia who need to be removed," he said. "But if we can work closely with the government, this can be a leader for other countries to follow."

Some Ethiopian officials remain skeptical of international adoption, but Brown said he's seen doubters won over after visiting the United States to view firsthand how Ethiopian children are thriving in adoptive homes.

Landrieu, one of the leading adoption advocates in Congress, said Ethiopia deserves praise — compared with many developing countries — for recognizing that its orphans would be better off in a family environment such as foster care or an adoptive home rather than in an institution.

But resources are limited. She said there was only one judge assigned to process adoption cases and make sure that children are indeed legitimate candidates.

Heather Paul of SOS Villages-USA, which runs overseas programs supporting orphans and abandoned children, said it's critical that potential adoptions be closely scrutinized.

"Having better regulations protects American adoptive parents too," she said. "There's no worse heartbreak than finding a child had been sold away."

In contrast to Ethiopia, there's uncertainty and frustration over adoption developments in two other countries.

In Kyrgyzstan, the government suspended adoptions in 2008 because of suspected corruption, leaving more than 60 U.S. families with pending adoptions in limbo. Plans to resume the process have been disrupted by recent political upheaval, though Jacobs said she remains hopeful that a new adoption law could be passed whenever a newly elected parliament is able to convene.

Adoptions of abandoned children from Nepal have been suspended by the U.S. government until Nepalese authorities implement procedures to curtail corruption and mismanagement. Jacobs said 80 pending U.S. adoptions are under review by the State Department.

The suspension has been criticized by some U.S. adoption advocates.

"When you close a country, you end up causing more problems than you prevented," said Chuck Johnson, CEO of the National Council for Adoption. "What happens to the kids who aren't adopted in Nepal? Some will end up as prostitutes and slaves."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



A few comments on the article itself:


We especially enjoyed having some of our own impressions endorsed, in that the article quotes an adoption agency employee as saying the Ethiopian children he places are some of the warmest, most loving kids of any in the world, and that they seem to adjust very quickly to their new language and culture. Despite our perhaps limited experiences we feel the exact same way.


As Ethiopia gets more publicity and becomes more popular for international adoptions it does become a greater worry that the opportunistic and unscrupulous actors come out ruining a good thing for everyone. It is encouraging though that U.S. officials have traveled there and came away feeling positive about Ethiopia’s commitment to doing things right, currently and into the future. As there are no guarantees there is always the worry that circumstances in Ethiopia will change and that we would not be able to adopt due to either a temporary or even permanent ban on these adoptions. This article eases those worries a bit.


And then on a more disturbing note, reading through the comments left at the end of the article (link to it to read if you like) only confirmed some of the things that strangers, and even people closer to us, have actually said. Specifically that it is somehow wrong to adopt an Ethiopian child where there are so many needy American children. Related to that we have had people say to us that because our child will be Ethiopian, we as parents are going to be totally unequipped to understand or deal with the issues that she will face due to the color of her skin (implying that it would be better to simply adopt a white child from this country).


While other commenters adequately argued against such ignorant views, people of course will have their own opinions no matter what they hear, or from whom they hear it. While it is at least helpful to be aware of the prejudices our family will face I am most taken aback by people’s willingness to share their opinions, unsolicited, with you. These prejudices, that American children should take precedence over foreign children, take an outrageously simplistic view of a sometimes complicated but always very personal issue. We have touched on our thought process a bit in coming to decide on Ethiopia and it would be utterly absurd to suggest(as many commenters to this article have) that it has anything to do with the “coolness” factor. We have struggled for years in pursuit of one simple goal—to have, raise and love a child of our own. After exploring all the options available to us we were never completely comfortable with the overall process, risks, and costs associated with domestic adoption. For us, again with just one goal in mind, our needs and the needs of these children seemed to come together perfectly. We didn’t look any further and, at the very least, this article makes us feel just a little bit better about our decision.

I600A is off

 For a brief understanding of the I600A form go here:

 Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition

This is one of the final steps to complete.  This is sent off and we will receive a I-171H letter, we will then submit this letter to Gladney as well as KBS Dossier Services for authenticating.  The I-171H letter is the last little piece of information we need to finalized our Dossier.....then it will be onto the wait list!

Happy Friday to all!!

Calling all New Jersey Folks!

COME SUPPORT OUR

FUNDRAISER

**YARD SALE**

LOTS OF GREAT BABY CLOTHES, GEAR, HOME GOODS, and MUCH MUCH MORE

Where: Rachel and Brett’s House

              20 Sheridan Road

              Summit, New Jersey 07901

When: Saturday October 9th 8am-2pm (Rain Date: 10/10)

Stop by to say HI and enjoy a baked goods and some lemonade from Jackson’s Lemonade Stand or come to find that special treasure!

IT'S DONE - FINISHED - COMPLETED!!

Oh my!! I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!!! We just got an email from Gladney that with just 2 little tiny corrections to our Home Study it is accepted and can be notarized!

So, Eric and I just have to wait to get the call from World Child, Inc. (who did our HS) and we can get our hands on our copies! Which means we can send (1) to Kate at KBS Dossier for authentication and (1) with our I600A Application.

If you live in Maryland, you know what a crappy day today is! Flash Flood Warnings...Tornado Warnings and lots and lots of RAIN! Well to me, today is a BRIGHT BRIGHT Sunshiny day!

A $10 donation can help so much!!!

I have to admit, I am OBSESSED with reading all the blogs about Ethiopian Adoption out in blog ville. I follow a few and basically stalk about 100 more! I don't want to overwhelm my husband by following too many ;).

I love to get fundraising Ideas, inspiration and encouragement from them all. Right now, this wonderful, inspiring family is coming to the final days of a really great fundraiser! It is such a great idea and we might have to try out something similar.

Please help this family bring home their little miracle from Ethiopia! Just think, you will spend $10 this weekend, why not spend it on something so wonderful and important!

ETHIOPIAN NEW YEAR—Fundraising and Fun Times

The Ethiopian calendar was taken from the Coptic (or Alexandrian) calendar, which was itself based upon the Egyptian calendar. There are 12 months of thirty days and a 13^th month for the leftover 5 (or 6 days in a leap year). It all seems to work out I suppose except its only 2003 in Ethiopia. Everyone seems to have their requisite time travel joke (“Wow, I’ll still be in my 20’s when I travel there!”) for this odd anomaly. In fact this discrepancy is not due to some unexplained suspension of the space-time continuum in that area of the world but rather to the alternate calculations used to mark the Annunciation of Jesus.

For those of you who would like to convert any date on our calendar to the date used on the Ethiopian calendar here is a link for you. http://members.shaw.ca/ethiocal/

Phew. What a long-winded way of getting to the point that it was recently Ethiopian New Year. The date is usually September 11, 2010 as it was this year, or in a leap year it would be on September 12^th. We commemorated this date with not one but, yes, two events.

First we held the second, of what may be come our attempt at a Guinness World Record, Fund-raising Yard Sale Day! Following on the heels of our first (and very successful) event in Richmond, Maine we are now practically professionals. So, the preparations were made, materials were gathered, signs were produced, Craigslist ads were posted and then . . .we prayed that people actually came and bought our stuff! In the end we were not forcibly removed from the common area within our community (and thus far neighborhood property values have not decreased as a direct result of this covert reproduction of Sanford and Son). We would be remiss if we didn’t give a big shout out and thank you to the whole Berne family for allowing us to help them de-clutter their basement in anticipation of an upcoming renovation. Thanks for the donations.

As you’ll see by these pictures a good time was had by all and as suspected the general public (eventually) recognized the inherent value in our soon-to-be second hand treasures, helping us raise some travel funds. We were left with a few items, some of which certain members of our small family (not Mabel) now actually don’t want to part with. Oh, well there is always the next yard sale.

Speaking of the next yard sale, we will be heading to lovely Summit, New Jersey for Fund-raising Yard Sale Day #3. This historic event is now set for Saturday, October 9, 2010, at the Levine’s place.

Brett, Rachel & Ryder Levine

Mr. Jackson Levine :)

After breaking down the display of goods and making the all important offerings to the refuse Gods we were tanned (yes!), rested (not!) and ready for our second event that day. This one was more specifically related to celebrating the Ethiopian New Year and decidedly much less work. The Mid-Atlantic Group of Ethiopian Adoptive families was having a get-together at Dukem in Baltimore. We headed up with our friends, excited for our first real opportunity to meet and socialize with other families who had already adopted, or soon would be adopting, from Ethiopia. It was really great to see the kids decked out in cool embroidered shirts and cute traditional dresses to commemorate the holiday. It was our first coffee ceremony as well. The kids all sat around and watched the staff prepare the beans as we breathed in the heady aromas, vaguely reminiscent of the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show. The kids (and adults) listened to stories, sang a few songs and learned a few traditional dance moves. All in all a good time was had by all, all the children were absolutely adorable, and it was really special for us to be able to envision what our family will look like, hopefully, very soon.

Not that I was worried but......

We passed the Sanitation Inspection and Fire Inspection!!! You probably think, "you were worried?!" Well, you hear all kinds of crazy stories so I got nervous!

We are just one step closer to being on the wait list! All that is left is the Finalized Home-Study Report and the CIS Letter!!! So, if you sending out vibes send some this way for a speedy speedy turn-around on these last couple things!!

Sorry ma'am don't have it...

Why do I seem to keep hearing this phrase and on top of that I do not feel old enough to be called Ma'am!! With all the paper chasing we were bound to have a few hiccups but I was hoping that would be early on not now :)

Most people know that Eric and I live in Ellicott City, MD. Recently rated the #2 best place to live in the United States! It is definitely a wonderful place to live....until you need paperwork and have to get someone on the phone or in person. I am probably making it sound worse than it was but when it comes down to one last piece of information it can seem like a disaster. This one last piece was originally submitted to the County in JULY by our Social Worker...well wouldn't ya know they claim they never got it. SO - the only way to get this done was for Eric and I to both go to the Social Services Offices with papers in hand and stand there while they notarized the forms and we very very carefully handed them to the lady who is process our request. That seems easy right...well when you both work full time and this lady takes breaks and lunches and refuses to answer her line, it was not so easy! At least it is done and she promises she will do it TODAY! Hmmm....let's see what happens after I call on Tuesday :)

Other than that things are going great! We are so close to everything being done that it makes me giddy inside! Here's to our Social Worker being able to quickly write up our report and to KBS Dossier Service being able to get that thing authenticated!

Buy a bag: Save the planet: Help the Manas'

Here it is!

The I H-E-A-R-T Ethiopia Grocery Tote! Handcrafted to order by a team of artisans (Meghan's Mom!) in the wilds of Maine. I've been wearing and using the prototype for weeks now and have gotten lots of envious looks while out and about.

So in response to the obviously overwhelming public demand we have commissioned the production of a limited number of these bags; only 25 to be exact. You won't have to worry about that awkward moment when you realize the lovely shopper ahead of you at the local Farmer's Market has the exact same one-of-a-kind bag that you do. Doh!

Then without any further ado check out these pictures of my adorable husband modeling mine. If you'd like one email me directly at mmanas@verizon.net and we'll make arrangements. By the way they are only $25 (and come with a 5 day/1st 50lbs of groceries, shoulder to shoulder GUAR$ANTEE). Better than anything you could get on those late night TV infomercials.



Oh, and of course the money we raise will be used to help pay for our travel expenses to, from and within Ethiopia. So, now that you now its for a really good cause get yours, then tell everyone you know!