Two weeks from today...

And yes... I am pretty much wigging out.

I don't travel well.

We'll leave it at that.

;)

So this is how my Saturday has gone...

New Camera, Thirsty yawning, the mattress is still there...

I washed Caroline's sheets, made Marc switch out the sconces in Caroline's room with the ones in our room, 

I helped Marc put up the chandelier,  

painted a new Cherry Blossom branch (which Marc said looked like a white lightening bolt... yeah, well I saw it too.) 

Gizamee slept, I painted the sconce that was in our room that was to be put in Caroline's room so it would match the chandelier,

and then

I did a little fun craft project.

The flowers go in Caroline's room...

but to see it you have to go to our travel blog. 

(Blogger is blocked in China so I had to use something else.)

www.ourcaroline.com

Come see!

Update...

We have confirmation that we will be leaving Sept. 4th and coming home Sept. 18th. 

 Oh, is that why I feel sick, or is it from the four shots I had to get yesterday?  Urgh.   :)

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.....

Oh!                                Oh!

Oh my goodness!                Is this for real?

It's looking as though we      leave on September 4th!

We arrive in Beijing on September 5th! Tour Beijing on the 6th.

We fly to Guangzhou on the 7th, and get Caroline that afternoon!

Paperwork, touring, bonding, eating, crying (I'm sure,)

getting homesick, but having thetimeofourlives,

and taking WAY too many pictures,

and then fly home on September 18th.

All preliminary of course.  ;)

~WOW!~

~

I just know it!

I'm going to know something today....

I can just feel it!!!

(Even though it's Friday 13th.) heh!

Come on email!!!

I'm so excited!

This feels like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff...

waiting for someone to tell me

 when to

JUMP!

BIG BUTTERFLIES in my stomach!

Hurry up and Wait!

As soon as I get an official travel date

I can't wait to post it....

Right... 

here!

I've been oscillating between tears of joy and the look of a deer in headlights...

all the while constantly checking my email for confirmation. 

Good times.

At least my eye isn't twitching.

Oh, wait.

;)

He leadeth me...

Travel Approval takes on average three weeks.

It could be two; It could be four...

weeks.

After Travel Approval, you leave in about three weeks.

However, travel in October is not possible.

~AND~

This year the Asian Games are in Guangzhou during November,

making travel... highly unlikely.

So if it wasn't in September.... it was to be December.

We needed a miracle.

I needed a miracle.

I prayed...

many lovely people prayed...

Our wait for TA started last Thursday.

But Today... 

four days later...

~We Received our Travel Approval.~

My heart is beating so quickly...

my eyes are filled with tears...

I feel touched by God.

And I am so blessed.

~

I've been Happily Home Sewn!!!

Isn't it beautiful? 

I love it, Jessa!!!

I've been Happily Home Sewn!

Panda Schmanda....

Yippeee!

We're sending Caroline a package!

This time, 

it's a very personal package.

We are finally

"introducing" 

ourselves to her.

I found the cutest book at Hallmark.

It's a storybook wherein you record your own voice reading the story.

We took turns reading the pages.

Very sweet.

We are going to put our picture in the front of the book, 

so she can see our faces,

and hear our voices

when she turns the pages.

I am also going to hold a stuffed animal in the picture, 

and that will be sent to her, too.

The stuffed animal.

I was going to send a panda.

I bought the cutest little panda for her

awhile back.

But then I started thinking.

She already has a panda from us.

When we sent our first package,

a panda was included.

I didn't personally pick out that panda.

But still,

I didn't want to send her ANOTHER one.

PickyPickyPickyItHasToBeJustRightPickyPickyPicky.

So off I went to a lovely gift-store downtown.

I was on my lunch-break so I didn't have much time.

Around and around the WebKins table I went,

at least twenty times.

Pick up, put down.

I had a minor panic attack for a moment 

because I have NO idea what she likes.

Does she like blue?

Does she like frogs?

Are poodles and kitties too girly?

Is the blue hippo too babyish?

I finally settled on two kitties...

and then I looked up.

There on a top shelf were evidently new arrivals.

And then I saw it.

The cutest, sweetest, most sincere face I have ever seen on a stuffed animal.

That was the one.

THE One.

I bought it.

Along with the two kitties....

(What?)

When I got home, and took "The One" out of the bag...

I realized....

It is a PANDA!

It never crossed my mind exactly what it was...

it was just cute.

Maybe subconsciously I thought it was a raccoon?

Doesn't it look a bit raccoon-ish?

Oh well.

Doesn't matter.

 It's just right.

Godspeed little Panda.

Give Caroline all our love.

;)

On my Soap Box.... Organic Perfume.

And after reading about 

the terrible, 

scary,

icky,

chemicals 

that can be in fragrances...

I found this organic perfume apothecary called

Ajne.

Interesting.

So I purchased a sample set...

because it's next to impossible to determine 

if you'll like a scent

just going on description alone.

Oooh, what's in here?

Eh eheheheheeee!

Oh!

Little bottles....

pipets

and things...

I chose:

Vanille - too musky.  Eck!  Wash it off!  P-tuey!

Aphrodisiac - too "old-lady-ish."

But 

Novel Amour - hmmm, interesting.  It has notes of a floral, Fruit Stripe Gum. 

Don't believe it's quite my scent, but 

I think I'll try again.  

This time, I'll watch out for anything that says Musk.  

Musk = Yuck

 in my book!

Such Fun!

I glean too much enjoyment from

getting

small packages in the mail.

Well,

any size packages for that matter!

I'm on a first name basis with the Post Master.  

She probably reads my blog.

;)

Nah.

On my Soap Box.... literally...

I purchased

two

perfect, yummy bars of

homemade

soap...

and I fell in Love!

Ever used homemade soap? 

It has made my skin so soft!

(which is wonderful because I HATE lotion.)

So....

you know...

I had that thought pop in my head:

"I can make this!"

"The ingredients are simple and pure, and I'll know what I'm putting on my skin!"

So now...

I'm making soap.

Good ol' fashioned Soap.
I've ordered all the supplies...

This may or may not call for the opening of another Etsy shop. 

We'll see.

Although I already have it set up...

and named.

Heh...

On my Soap Box.... WEN.

So...

"You haven't washed your hair in three weeks?"

Well, not really.

Have you seen this stuff?

Wen Cleansing Conditioner

It's not a shampoo....

it's a cleansing cream.

(Oh well, that clears that up.)

I've seen it many times on QVC, 

(Why does that have such negative connotations?)

but I thought. 

pfhffft...that'll never work on me.

While we were on vacation

and had T.V...

(oh lovely HGTV and FOOD Network.... I miss you!)

I saw the WEN infomertial...

(why does that have such negative connotations?)

and that must've had a subliminal effect on me.

I finally decided to try it after

freaking out about all the ingredients in cosmetics...

and it's so

DELICIOUS!

It's like a mini Spa treatment every morning! 
The Lavender is so yummy!

It takes longer.... it's a bit of a hassle...it's more expensive

but,

it feels ... so.... good! 

It smells so good!

I haven't used a straightening iron since I've been using it

because it makes my hair so smooth.

It's also supposedly better for the environment.

(i.e....less chemicals like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.)

And Sodium Lauryl Sulfate....

it's not the worst thing on the list at Skin Deep...

but as

another trusted Etsian, LongWinterFarm puts it...

"It’s already a known and accepted irritant, found to penetrate skin and organs, cause children’s eyes to develop improperly and cause adult eyes to develop cataracts, but the powers that be are still debating whether or not 1,4-dioxane, something contained in SLS, is carcinogenic. The American Cancer Society denies the danger, the EPA considers it to be a probable carcinogen, and the FDA wants it gone completely. I dunno about you, but the debate alone is enough for me to freak out!"

I purchased two bars of homemade soap from

LongWinterFarm

a few weeks ago...

She's really neat.

She lives in a Yeti....

Um.

I mean a Yurt.

A yurt is a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia.

Not a Yeti. 

The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is a mythological creature and an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet.

Anyway,

so I bought

two simple

harmless

wonderful bars of soap...

which leads me to...

tomorrow's post.

Are you still following me?

On my Soap Box...all week.

I'll be on my Soap Box all week...

I'll need more than a day

 to rant

and rave.

Here goes:

One simple purchase

from

my beloved Etsy,

opened up a whole can of worms...

I purchased 

handmade mineral makeup from a sweet Etsian...

which of course started the whole...

"Well, if she can do it so can I,"

thought process in my head...

Researching the ingredients led to

the discovery of this:

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Please don't go there,

 unless you want to be crazy...

In a nutshell...

(because my husband doesn't want to hear read the whole thing again,)

mineral makeup isn't so nice on your lungs...

the lipstick I've been using since I was fifteen

contains an ingredient which causes cancer (BHA)

and may also contain lead...

and

fragrances... in anything....can be neurotoxins among other nasty things.

Now, I know... I know...

take it with a grain of sand...er...salt...whatever.

(Later, I did read that the lead amounts that were found in lipsticks were mostly tiny.  I think one doctor put it that you would need to eat 7 tubes of lipstick per day for 70 years for the amount of lead to add up, but still.) 

And WHY can't I find the dang ingredient listing for lipsticks?

I tried finding the Maybelline ingredient list but you actually have to call to get it.  

Loreal has it listed on their website.... hmmm, not much help while in the store...

I don't know.

It just made me mad.

Before all of the above happened, I had read

this article about Whales...

Oh it's just so sad. 

But come-to-find out... we humans aren't much better off.

Stay tuned..

You'll find out why I haven't

"washed" my hair

in three weeks.

Fun!

HappilyHomeSewn Giveaway!

My sweet friend,

Jessa,

over at:

is having a celebratory

birthday

giveaway...

Hurry and comment to be in the runnin's...

~Enter Here!~

HaPPy BirthDaY JESSA!

even though your still younger than me...grumblegrumblegrumble....shut up. ;)

Finally!

Lordy girl, 

Where you been at? ;)

I've been working SO hard...

to get ...

my GlassPie store...

OPEN for business!  

~Enter Here~

Did you hear?

June 7, 2010 

We received our Letter of Acceptance 

from China!

Since then, we've held it in our hands...

it's been signed...

it's been copied, 

it's been loved and celebrated...

Oh, I feel so fortunate!

June 16, 2010

Financial matters fell into place unexpectedly today...

Visa applications were lovingly completed for our new daughter....

and on the way home

from eating a celebratory dinner...

I realized what today was.

Four years ago today, we lost our baby Anna.

Oh, I just cried and cried the whole way home....

But in the end, 

I feel so blessed.  

I feel I've been given a huge gift.

A gift of a little girl who needs a mommy and a daddy...

and a mommy and a daddy 

who need this little girl. ~

Vacation Situation...

We just came back from another lovely stay at Emerald Isle.  

Oh, it's good to be home, but good gracious that's a beautiful place!  

Add in some friends... old and new.... and a sweet 10 year anniversary re-nup, 

and it was perfect.  

Why do vacations have to fly by?

I'll try to add more pictures throughout the week..... I'm just soooo sleepy.  

But it's a good sleepiness.

A good.... I get to sleep in my own bed with crisp, clean, sand-free sheets complete with kitty cats all around kind of sleepiness.  

But where's the ocean sounds?

~Wonky~ Wednesday!

~GlaSs PiE~

If at first you don't succeed....

Pie...

Pie....

 

Again!!!