Adoption Can Be A Long Journey With A Wonderful Destination. By: Diane Armitage

Different trips to the same place.
Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place; you've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.
So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding the places for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait- and wait- and wait.
Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly thinks like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"
After a long time the ticket agent tells you, " I'm sorry we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."
"By boat!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than by air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.
It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and fourth to Australia two or three more times, marveling at each trip.
Then on glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather than by air.
People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are able to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, " Oh be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible, traveling by sea is so easy."

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.

The last year in review

I have been realizing that I have badly neglected our blog. To say that I have been a little busy is a rather LARGE understatement. So here we go... I will do my best not to bore you with too many details.
Over the last year we have had a few accomplishments and we have experienced some losses. To start off I finally have finished my master program! Well I say that with the caveat that I still have to complete comprehensive exams in November and will be taking my licensing exam in September. It has been a hard last two years but I am so thankful I did it! I will be participating in graduation in May of 2011. I want to thank anyone who supported me through my program. Along with finishing my program I also completed an internship at St. Luke's Meridian Hospital. I worked as an intern in the Emergency Department. I completed 516 hours and most of them were completed at night! My typical shift was from 5:30pm to 2am or 3 and at times 4am or later... This was a struggle as I tried to hold down my job with the hospice company and carry a full load at school. But thank the Lord I did it! My supervisor Alissa Lyon made it a wonderful experience. She challenged me and taught me so much. I am forever grateful to her for all she has taught me. I can only hope to one day be as good of a social worker as she is. She is amazing!
Brent continues to work as a Developmental Specialist for A New Leaf here in Meridian. He enjoys the children that he works with and has been able to utilize his Masters and training as a Behavior Analyst often. Recently the state of Idaho has change some of the rules and it is looking like Brent is going to be able to use his Masters a lot more!!!! This is a huge answer to prayer. We will have to wait and see what will actually happen but we are hopeful. In addition to this exciting news Brent applied for the MSW program at NNU. He is interested in furthering his education and experience. Really he has seen how awesome Social Work is from his wife and wants to join in on the fun! This will be a great addition to his already fantastic resume. He will start classes September 9th!
Over the last year we bought our first home. This was only accomplished by the wonderful financial program through Love INC. Long story short Brent and I signed away a year of our life to getting out of debt and learning how to work together to manage our money. I can proudly say that we accomplished part of this goal. We paid off all of our credit card debt! In the program we were assigned a financial counselor. Dan was a gift from God! He was able to meet us where we were at and worked with us diligently. In fact Dan was the one who suggested that we invest in our first home. I would like to say a BIG thank you to Dan. He was an amazing source of support for us in so many ways.
The home we are now living in is in Meridian Idaho and we are so happy to finally be settled. It has five bedrooms and two & 1/2 bathrooms. Its a little big for just the two of us but we hope to not just be the two of us for much longer. This brings me to the next part of life over the last year.
Brent and I started trying to have children about five years ago. As anyone can tell our prayers for a child have not been answered. In October of 2009 we were referred to a clinic in Boise that provides treatment to people that have fertility issues. This was a great step in the right direction. In December of 2009 we had our first of several fertility treatments. Alas we still have not had our prayers answered. After the most recent attempt that did not work we have come to the decision that we are going to pursue adoption! Brent and I have thought and prayed about this decision long and hard. We feel that we want to have a family and we are looking forward to the day that we will bring home our first child! We hope that you will pray for us as we embark on this new journey. We are very excited to get the process started. I will keep the blog updated more often and update you on our adoption journey.
I feel like I am missing somethings but this is the main points from the last year. This brings you up to speed on Brent and me.