short and sweet

1.  Today I've been overly anxious to meet Gia.  Not sure why, but I'm ok with it!

2.  While doing some house chores today, God gave me a really huge peace about this last bit of the journey.  Again, not sure what "bit" we're talking about here, but I feel very chill about all this crazy preparation stuff coming our way in the next weeks.

3.  I love my husband.  As we were cleaning the other day I found the latest RoF record and I started re-reading the thank you lines.  Kevin is a brilliant songwriter, and his thank you's don't disappoint.  Ever.  The We Once Were record was extra special because he thanked Gia.  I wish I could take a picture of it to show you, but the size and font are crazy.  Instead, I'll try to rewrite it from memory...

I also want to thank our Korean daughter who God is sending us.  I cannot wait to meet you and be the best Daddy I can.

Melt my heart.  I'll have to find the album cover soon to make sure I'm quoting him correctly.

Sending Hugs

story time

I have two funny Gia stories to share today, both are fictional though.


Story #1--I'm sharing without permission from Grace so I hope she doesn't care!!

I got a text from Grace yesterday.  Here's what it said:

Last night I dreamt that we took E (her daughter) and Gia to Abby Lee (dance company...Do you watch TLC??) and she made them do Asian style dance.  You said, "Uh, no, FALSE. Gia and E are AMERICAN CITIZENS!"
You also yelled, "Discrimination!" and we stomped out with the girls.  


Hilarious!  If I ever did go to Abby Lee's studio that probably would really happen.  That woman is nuts!  But I do like the idea of Gia being a little dancer.  And maybe a Toddler & Tiara.  :)



Story #2--from my dream last night

Gia was freshly home and was 17.  She and I were riding in the backseat of the car (hopefully Kevin was driving) talking about the whole process of her getting here.  She spoke fluent southern English and laughed a lot.  We talked about things I had done to get her home and what she had done over in Korea to leave, ha ha!  I wish I could remember some of the funny comments, but we did A LOT of laughing in the dream.



Hopefully, these are not prophetic dreams.  Oh Lord...


Sending Hugs

greetings

Everytime I turn around there is one more person offering to help fundraise for our adoption!  It's humbling, to say the least.  Today I got one such phone call.  Here are the details...

If you like to send cards (for any occasion) we have a DEAL for you that will also help Gia come home.  30 cards for $30.  That's $1 per card!  Seriously, you cannot get better than that.  And these cards are CUTE!  You'll probably want like 17 boxes, just sayin'.  :)

The cards are from the Usborne company.  If you want to read more about Cards for a Cause, click here.

Here's the link to the FB page for the fundraiser.  https://www.facebook.com/events/367919963278242/ 

If you need to message me for more details, please do.

Oh, and PLEASE pass the word; we are so close to getting this girl home!

Special thanks to Jeni Parrish for offering this amazing deal!

Sending Hugs

VP

What do we want?  VP!  What's that?  Visa Physical!

That's how a former cheerleader tells you that her daughter has a visa physical scheduled for August 30.

We got the email today that Gia's visa physical will, in fact, take place on Aug 30.  I have weird mixed emotions about it because while it's another HUGE step for us, it's still three weeks away.  You know when you're running and you know you only have another 45 seconds left but somehow it feels like you run for 45 more minutes?  That's how this feels to me.  It's almost like I'd rather not know how close we are because it makes it that much further away.  

Kidding, I do want to know!  I take it back!  

I love updating people as we get these last bits of news because the reaction is always the same.... "Great, so what does that mean?" 

So here's what it means:

Gia's EP was approved already (big step) and the only thing separating us from the travel call (TC) was the visa physical and visa interview.  Well now that the VP is scheduled, we are just one tiny little step away!  I'm pretty sure the VI can take place before the VP, so that may be done even this week.  Regardless, we are CLOSE.  So close that part of the email from today said to start packing her suitcase and getting our hotel arrangements figured out....AGHH!!  It's so overwhelming, in a good way.  

Another part of the email said to get all our fees taken care of before we can travel.  I know it probably doesn't seem like it, but I really haven't been incredibly stressed out about the money because I just knew God would provide where needed.  And He has!  But now, if I'm being honest, I'm slightly starting to feel it.  I think it's because I know there's a deadline now: 3 weeks.  Oh my...

We still have puzzle pieces and t-shirts, if you are interested in helping that way, but more than that we want your prayers as we start planning this trip.  

• safety
• travel arrangements (flights and hotels are not included in our fee for Holt)
• Gia's transition and ours
• our jobs (mine particularly) as we take time off
• Gia's foster family as they are losing a child they've known for almost 2 years 
• for us to have opportunities to share Jesus with people as we travel

Sending Hugs

know more families

home improvements for a cause

Tomorrow we greet August, our 10th month in waiting.  So you could say that news of the EP submission was the end of our adoption "pregnancy."  We are very much looking forward to Gia's homecoming, but it's getting very overwhelming as THE day approaches.  So much to do!  We've cleaned her room out, painted, bought more clothes, and put together storage shelves and such, but that's just the beginning.  I keep thinking of all the little things we'll need to prepare for as travel approaches and it just makes me crazy, but in a good way.  Here we are, a couple with no children, traveling to a foreign country to get our sweet daughter who will likely be 20 months old by that time.  We have no clue what to pack or how to prepare for what she might need!  Ahhh!  Please don't hear this as a complaint...I'm simply giving you a glimpse of what's going on in my mind.  Our agency does a great job preparing us for travel and how to pack, not to mention all the friends we have that have walked this road before.  We'll be fine.  :)

I am happy to say that we can finally see the light at the end of the financial tunnel.  I checked with Holt today about our balance and it's a little less than what I thought.  We're definitely in the home stretch for fundraising, whew!  That's been the toughest part of this whole year!  We are still selling any t-shirts we have left and the puzzle pieces too.  One last fundraiser was presented to us by another adopting family just a couple weeks ago, and we had to jump on it.  If you are in Birmingham (or surrounding area) you have the opportunity to help Gia come home and get your house in order too.  Contact Precision (message me for contact info) this week and all proceeds will go to Gia.  Precision is owned by a guy we go to church with and his family is adopting too, so it makes it extra special to us that he's giving this week to Gia.  He can do literally anything you need.  We've used him for heating and air stuff, he's built retaining walls for friends, he's a plumbing expert, or can just screw in a lightbulb for you.  You name it, he can do it!  This fundraiser is for this week only, so pass the word quickly.  Make sure you tell him your with the Huguley adoption so we will get the Gia dollars.  :)

Sending Hugs

puzzle winner

51 puzzles pieces so far.  Keep 'em coming, everyone!  

I'm sure you're dying to know which picture we chose, right?

Well, the winner is...

It was fun to read all the texts, emails, and blog comments about the pictures you guys liked.  I liked them all, but at the end of the day Kevin and I both thought this one represented our journey the best.  The path, a little beaten but still beautiful, lined with cherry blossoms...perfect.  The only thing I'm not loving is that this pic is from Japan.  Oopsie on my part.  I thought they were all Korea pictures.  Oh well, the idea is the same.

This has been an intense year.  At the end of the day, we really can't complain because our adoption has been much shorter than most.  We were blessed with a relatively calm process, though we didn't know it at the time since this is our only experience.  Even so, there's been lots of (good and bad) emotions and we're glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  After she's home a new set of issues will surface, but right now we are focusing on getting her here!  

Only a few more weeks!!

I just placed the order for the puzzle, and I promise to update with pictures of the puzzle as we put it together with your help!

Sending Hugs