Happy Birthday ... Ouch

So, my birthday was this last Saturday, and I don't know if its because we're adopting or what, but I partied like I was 21. And I am sore today still. And I really blame Jenny for that.

Jenny knows that I am a clumsy person. I ALWAYS have bruises on me. A lot of them come from going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, tripping over the dogs, getting a snack out of the cupboard. I have problems. Well, knowing this for x number of years, she still bought the house that she did. It is a house with five levels, and a million stairs. For someone like me it is basically a house of horrors. So of course I am sure that everyone can tell where this is going. YUP, I broke my ass. I didn't have x-rays taken or anything but I am walking around like I'm 82 instead of 32. That's okay, her birthday, we'll be in Prague..... We'll just see what happens. ;)

Two Posts in One Day

Talking about vacation made me start to think about today, and that, plus all of the pictures that Jenny already has on her new blog made me look up a few from an old vacation and so...



On Papeete looking at Moorea - wish I was there!!!




Look at those little urchins. The little snots would move out from under our deck every night and then go back under during the day. You had to be very careful when you got in the water!

Just a couple of pictures of my favorite beach vacation ever! I loved having the over water bungalow and the lack of sand that came with that. That is the one thing that I don't really like about going to the beach. Sand everyone. Sand in places your not even aware of. Definitely won't have to worry about that in Prague!



This is me on the South Island in New Zealand getting up close in person with a cute sea lion. Right after Cory snapped this one the seal showed me what big teeth he has, oh my, and let me know that I was definitely getting into his personal space. That is when I realized that I was one of those dumbasses at Yellow Stone trying to get an up close picture of a buffalo, moose..take your pick.



For those of you who like New Zealand wine, this is what it looks like before. =) For those of you who haven't had it, I highly recommend it. They have great Sauvignon Blancs and good Pinots too. Actually, I have not really had a bad wine from there. It is just so clean too. The air is clean and the produce is insane. We picked up sandwiches from a mall sandwich shop one day and at first I thought that there was a special sauce on mine, it was just soooo good. It was the tomatoes!!! OMG! So good. Well, I think that's enough pictures for one day. I just realized my blog was getting a little boring.

I lied, one more!!!!




Cory and I out in the rain, fishing for fresh water shrimp. We didn't catch any, too cold for them apparently, but lucky for us the restaurant right behind us had plenty!
Two more....



Yummy New Zealand Elk... I also have pictures from the elk farm right down the road. Kind of an unintentional before and after. That's it. I don't share pictures all that often though so I'm growing!

Vacation

Jenny pointed out that I have not talked about our upcoming vacation. I think that is because I usually don't get too excited about it until we're at the airport about to get on the plane. But, we're leaving in about two weeks to go to Prague. We'll be there for a week and Jenny and Troy are coming a day after us to hang out before they go to Ireland and then Scotland. It's a tough life in the Routh household.

Anyway, if anyone else has ever been to Prague, please let us know if there is anything that we should not miss. Personally I'm looking forward to a relaxed week hanging out in a lot pubs. Although I want to take a train or something out one day to check out the vineyards. Apparently the Monrovian wines are supposed to be pretty good. And the buildings will be fun to see too. It is the only major city in Europe that was not attacked during any of the world wars, which is crazy, considering that Hitler was storing all of his ammunitions in a network of caves about an hour North (my mom was watching the History Channel).

So, if you or anyone you know has any suggestions, pass them along!!!

Hello Immigration....???

So, as you might be able to tell from the title of this post, still no word from immigration. Its only been 5 weeks and I've heard of some people waiting up to 4 months, so I knew it would take a while, but when I'm waiting on paperwork, I get anxious. I can't help it. It's just so bureaucratic, you know? Pointless, like the IRS.

On the bright side though, Stephanie, our homestudy case worker already finished up our addendum and has that off in the mail to us. She is so easy to work with. I had some trouble getting started with the agency itself, but seriously, if you can guarantee that you'd work with her, I recommend them highly to anyone in Utah!! I mean seriously, I just asked her on Monday if she would do the addendum and the copy and 3 notarized originals are already off in the mail to us. I even told her there was no big rush since we were waiting on the I171, but she still got it done. Wow, just think, someone who actually cares about doing their job, and is on top of it. Will wonders never cease.

Also, realized the other day that because raising the age means that we will be shaving some time off, I won't have quite as much time as I'd originally thought to work on his room. Not that it needs to be done now or even in the next six months, but people averaging a 7-9 month waiting time as opposed to 18 months, definitely raises the bar a bit. Oh well!

Something to Update

Okay, so still no sign of the I171, not that I checked the mail on Saturday, but still... So given how long that is taking and for several other reasons, not least of which is the "Operation Ethiopia" blog to the right, we have decided to change the age that we are requesting on our referral. We are just raising the age a bit, to 0-24 months, but this should reduce our wait time a bit. We just have to get an addendum to our home study, which hopefully will not be an issue.

So who thinks that I'm crazy? ;)

Nothing New

I know, I'm a bad blogger, but I really don't have much to say. Nothing new on the adoption, still waiting on the I171H form to come. And then once we get that we'll have another year or so of waiting. ;) Woo hoo!!!

So for now, new job is going well, and that's about it. So boring!!!

Tagged Again .... by Amber

You're killing me here!!! I should just send everyone to your blog to see your new hair cut! ;) Just kidding. It doesn't look that bad, at least in the pictures. I would have to see it in person though.

So, here it goes. Sorry, I don't have any additional pictures to share on this one, but just look to the right. You'll get the idea.

My Husband....

What is his name? Cory John Nannemann

How long have you been married? It will be 5 years this September, but 11 years that we've been together in August. Don't ask me the specific date. A couple of days before the anniversary of Princess Diana dying. Romantic, huh?

How long did you date? I don't know that you would call it dating. The home study lady did though, so 6 years (living together though, I mean really??)

How old is he? 31 years old, 10 months and 4 days.

Who eats more? I'd like to say him, but who are we kidding. I'm the pig!!

Who said I love you first? That was a VERY long time ago and I am old.

Who is taller? Cory

Who can sing better? I don't think I've ever heard him try, so I guess that I win by default, but that is very slim margin, let me tell you. Maybe I should give him to him on second thought.

Who is smarter? I would say me at English, remembering things etc... Definitely him at anything spatial or mechanical. If there is measuring of any kind involved I don't even try!!!

Who does the laundry? Me! Unless it is towels or something else that would be difficult to mess up. I don't think that he is complaining though. He does fold well though. Just like Victoria's Secret.

Who pays the bills? Me.

Who sleeps on the right side? Me

Who mows the lawn? Cory, although I am a hell of a weed puller and mulcher.

Who cooks dinner? Depends. More often than not, what I am sure is an underpaid cook at any one of a number of local restaurants. At home, no one in particular, but usually me, by default of actually having the time.

Who drives? Me most of the time. I get car sick as a passenger!

Who is more stubborn? Me. Let's just leave it at that.

Who kissed who first? That I think he made the first move on.

Who asked who out first? I hit on Cory, in a bar.


Who proposed? There was no proposal. I just decided I wanted gifts, Cory told me to find a ring, I did, some diamond broker in NY, and when the FedEx came, I ripped into and opened the ring box myself. I think that I said something like Will You Marry Me, to the ring. It was shiny!!!


Who is more sensitive? Neither of us.

Who has more siblings? Cory definitely, but we really only see mine.

Who wears the pants? I have some on today, and I would imagine that Cory does as well, or else Heather is in for quite a surprise when he shows up to get his hair cut.


I tag Jessica, Stacie, Jamie... and whoever else would like to participate. Let me know if you actually do though, I forget to follow up on it sometimes.

Tagged

Thanks a lot Amber! She tagged me and it is one of those tags that don't ask you specific questions that you can give one word answers to, but you actually have to think on your own for. Hard!

The rules are, each player must post 6 facts/habits about themselves. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here goes nothing....

1.) First of all let's cover the guilty pleasures. I watch soap operas. Two to be exact, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives. I Tivo them and watch them when there is nothing on the Food Network. Not exactly something that you can discuss at parties.

2.) I love Prince! Almost any Prince song will work, and I know the words to most of them too. Pop in a CD, except for his new one and I can sing along, badly as far as carrying a tune, but well as far as repeating the words is concerned.

3.) I am a bloggin voyeur. The truth is that most of the blogs I read, are people who I do not know, never have known and they do not know me. I have been following some for a year or more, but they don't know it. Its almost like I'm a stalker, just peaking in through the window without them knowing. It's going to be tough for me to tag six more people.

4.) I count things in 3's. Meaning if I read a sentence I try to add up the letters or numbers into a multiple of three. I try to find a way to do that with straight numbers too, prices, phone numbers, etc... No OCD here! I also split up my candy into the same colors, like with skittles, and then eat from each group until they are all even numbers then one from each different color. I don't like the greens so that is very tough for me.

5.) I like to shop. I know most people do, but for me it is almost like a competetive sport. My favorite is clothes. I don't really care so much about household items, I want something that I can use during the day. And I find it easier to buy something new than do laundry or send out the dry cleaning. I love wearing new clothes, and with most of them, a time or two into it and I'm not that crazy about them any more. I have a problem. Not a big secret to most people who know me though.

6.) As much of a girly girl as I am with shopping, nails, facials etc, I also love camping and fishing just as much. If I could talk Cory into it I would love to do more outdoor activities, like snow shoeing. Of course, followed by a long leisurely dinner, with a good bottle of wine and an appetizer with goat cheese, maybe some fois gras... I know, I'm strange.

Okay, for tagging... This one is tough because I don't know where I put Jessica's blog address. Just consider yourself tagged, okay. The other 5, the Dalai Mama, Battle Station, Habesha Child, Stacie, and Axum..... And I want to apologize to them here now as well, since, as I mentioned, only a couple of them have any clue whatsoever as to who I am.

Checking In

I just realized today how long it has been since I posted.

On the Adoption front, still waiting to get our 171H, but we just had our fingerprints done last week so I'm not really too impatient on that. Its really just nice to know that at this point there is nothing more that I can do. I like that, it feels like I've accomplished something.

So we went to Cabo for a few days and that was great. I think that it is definitely my favorite place in Mexico now. Not that we ever left the resort... But anywhere that I can lay by the pool in 78 degree weather, have drinks brought to me regularly and look up from my book to see whales coming up out of the ocean all day, is just fine with me. Everyone was VERY friendly too. We stayed at an all inclusive, which I am not usually a big fan of, but I thought that this one was great, and the people there were soooo nice and helpful.

Then of course, we come home and after I take Tigger for his check up yesterday, I go to pick the dogs up from the other hospital, where the techs took them all out at once, and Shelby and Sake of course get into a fight. Sake's head looks like the puppy of Frankenstein and Shelby busted her left canine and had to have emergency surgery yesterday.. Nice huh?

On the brighter side I booked our trip to Prague today!!! So nice that I will start work on Monday and then take off in April...

Unemployment

So I'm just sitting here today, the fourth day of being umemployed, listening to the Stanley Steemer guys vainly try to clean the urine out of the carpet, at $700!, and the urine causers whine and cry from their kennels, because it is just so difficult to stay in there for a couple of hours with people in the house. Oh, the inhumanity!!!!

We're leaving for Cabo on Sunday, which will be kind of nice. Even though I really like the snow, that last storm was a little annoying. Wednesday night, the road to our house was closed, so I guess that it is a good thing we already had plans that night!!! It was opened by the time we came back, but we were both scraping the bottoms of our vehicles along the snow coming down our street (my Jeep and the half ton Dodge Cory was driving) so he had to snow blow before we could get in the driveway. Of the 3 winters we've been up here, this has definitely been the heaviest snow we've had.

Oh, I also entered Shelby into a photo contest on the Humane Society website, so if anyone has not already gotten my email, go here to vote for her. http://www.spaydayusa.org/bin/Rate?image_id=1003113179

Wednesday morning we went to get our fingerprints done, and other than my sore wrist getting jerked around, it was fairly painless. We also needed to re write our statement of reason for our dossier, did that and it is okay now, just need to get it notarized and sent back in. Other than that though, everything is going pretty smoothly.

Oh, and I bought a crib. I know, way to jump the gun, but we figured if for any reason at all we don't need it or change our minds, an unused crib should go pretty quickly on KSL.com.

Fingerprints

Yay! We got the letters in the mail yesterday saying that our fingerprinting appointments are next Wednesday at 8:00 am. Cory has a class that day so he might have to reschedule but that was a fairly quick turn around. Then, once those are done, just waiting for the 171H form, send that in and we should officially be on the wait list for a referral.

If anyone has any questions about what any of this is, just let me know.

USCIS

I know that I am probably losing most people, but just in case...

Today we went to our local USCIS office to put in our I600-A, and I won't bore you with all of the details on why something that should have been quick and easy took two hours, but.. We didn't luck out and have them say something along the lines of, "Come right over here and get your fingerprints done while you're here.." like I'd hoped, but the nice man at the window did push the application back to me and say, "They don't ask for it, but if they have your ss#'s, they do find your information faster". Well let me right those down for you.

Now we have to wait for the letter giving us our fingerprinting appointment. He said that they are out to around the second week of February right now. Someone pointed out the possibility of our appointment being the days that we are out of town next month. I had never even thought of that!!! Wouldn't that just be my luck.

Here It Goes

So I got one of these tagged things....

8 Things I’m Passionate About...


1. Food
2. Traveling
3. My kids - in the right hand column!
4. My friends.
5. Going after what I want.
6. Being fair and treating others how you want to be treated.
7. Cupcakes!!!
8. This is a tough one...


8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...

1. See the Seychelles
2. Play with the pandas in China
3. Live in another country, preferably Italy.
4. Own horses.
5. Visit India
6. Visit Bali
7. Visit Australia
8. Do we notice a trend here?

8 Things I Say Often...

1. Who peed here???!!!!!!
2. And how does this effect me?
3. Sake No!!!!
4. I have a bruise?
5. Where?
6. I don't know (In reply to Cory's question of where my bruise came from)
7. Honey, you wouldn't want to help me out and do __________ would you?
8. Why?


8 TV Shows I’ve Recently Watched...

1. Cashmere Mafia
2. Notes From the Underbelly
3. Iron Chef
4. Bobby Flay's Throwdown
5. Rachel Ray's Travels
6. Boston Legal
7. 30 Rock
8. Some random Secrets of... on the History Channel

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over...

1. Personal Jesus - Marilyn Manson
2. Into the Night
3. I am so bad with the names of songs, but the one that they always play outside of the Bellagio, and in movies, and I heard it quite a few times in Italy too.
4. The Way That You Use It
5. Little Red Corvette - Most any Prince
6. Once again, I am just BAD with names.
7.
8.


8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends...


1. Trust
2. Loyalty
3. Sense of Humor
4. Shopping ;)
5. History
6. Adventurous
7. Love to eat as much as me!! Even if they're a little picky!!
8. Supportive


8 Things I’ve Learned (or been reminded of) This Past Year...

1. That I really am VERY lucky
2. I love my life, but change is good
3. I don't do well working for a large corporation
4. Heated handles or not, snowblowing sucks
5. A perfectly clean house is overrated
6. Life is short, have fun.
7. Try not to sweat the small stuff
8. Let it go

Quick Update

So, Saturday I sent off our dossier. Now I am a little concerned, and am hoping that someone else who has gone through WHFC can tell me if I should be.

Our packet from WHFC said that "documents must be submitted to them within 3 months of being completed, ie, if it is dated November 7, it has to be to them prior to February 7..." however, the I171 could be sent in at a later date. I take that to mean that everything else just has to be in before it is three months old regardless of the date on the 171. I'm trying to explain this but realize that it is sounding very confusing. As you might be able to guess, some of our documents, namely our medical exams, will be 3 months old on February 7, so I wanted to get everything submitted before we had to bother Tom (our internist) again, and hunt down the notary at the hospital... But, our 171 is not done yet. If that makes any sense to anyone other than me let me know.,

This is so typical of me, instead of being happy that I got all that info Fedex'd off yesterday, I wake up at 5 in the morning today and come downstairs to read through all the info again. Wake Cory up and start buggin him about what it all means... Where he promptly yells at me and tells me to knock it off because I am going to drive myself nuts and him in the process. Go back to sleep!!! It's Sunday!! Hey Christie, does that sound familiar??? ;)

So, I thought that I would share the outside pictures of the house I took to send in with the dossier.. What do you think people in Ethiopia will think of these??? I can't help it, it is winter!!!!




Back of the house.. I was standing in a snow drift up past my butt for this one. I was pretty much laying back in the snow to take it.





Obviously front of house. I would like to point out that I did the snowblowing on this day!!!! Pat came over because I apparently looked so funny, my hair was plastered with snow, and took pictures. So I am sure that they will be circulating. Seriously though, when I came in I had to sit in front of the fireplace to let my hair unthaw enough to get my little ear muff/head band thing off.

Feeling so much better about myself..

So in my cruising of blogs, I found this one, http://journey2babybaker.blogspot.com/ They are of course adopting from Ethiopia as well, but the thing that really caught me was that they have 3 dogs..... Not only that, their house is complete anarchy, she was talking about the destruction, not to mention pee stains around the house, and I don't know, its just nice to know that I'm not the only one. At this point in time, the dogs have basically destroyed the carpet. Even though we have the lovely little automatic doggy door, ever since Sake showed up, regularly going outside has ended. Its so frustrating to see all of the stains on the carpet and at this point in time, there really isn't much that Stanley Steemer can do to help. It is nice to know that I am not the only one though!!!!!!

It really is my own fault though. Chivas had some issues with peeing in the house long before we built this house, and I should have known better than to put carpet in here. Stupid, stupid me. I can still see myself, sitting there in the flooring store, deceiving myself into believing that it would be okay and that this lovely new pad that they spoke of was actually going to somehow repel the stains. SUCKERS!!!!!! Hopefully we can get some more of this carpet replaced before we have a little one crawling around!!!