Compartments

Compartmentalist extraordinaire. That is my current status in this whole process. If you haven't heard, our travel dates are confirmed and we even have a flight schedule! We are flyin' out at 6am on 5/29 and will be back in Knoxville on 6/4 around 6:15pm. Yep. That's soon. And that is why i am choosing to compartmentalize. B/c traveling at the end of May also means that there is a lot of other stuff going on!

1. Ava & Atley end of school year stuff. Next week i have something with their school literally every day of the week. Now, i am a PreK parent so that means that I insist on attending everything. Yes, i know it is not necessary and the world will not come to an end if i am not there. However, it is important to me, time is fleeting, and i will be there for every little thing as often as i can!

2. Employment. Well, it's done (at least officially). Trained the new girl this week. She is officially sitting at what was my desk in what was my chair across from the guy who still is my husband. ;) She is gonna be great and i am so thankful for her. However, as much i am relieved to be done, the tranisition is still to take place. I am now officially doing something else on my Never List. And i cannot deny that i saw a hint of sadness in my husband's eyes when we did our last presentation together yesterday.

3. Daniel already mentioned this one previously but, The Pure Joy Project. Our friend Kayla Joy Hurst is generously offering her incredible talent for photography to help us raise one final bit of funds before Silas comes home. She is offering an incredible deal on a photography package for our friends and family in Knoxville. $100 of every package purchase goes directly toward our adoption! If you're reading this, please take the time to visit http://www.adoptiontees.org/ to learn more about the project and what role you might play. Even if you just help us get the word out we would be thrilled. A little marketing goes a long way!

4. Travel prep. Well. At least my sister is coming. That's all i can say. I got nothin. Nothin is together and honestly, not real sure where to start. And that is why my world travelin' sister is comng to my aid and relief. B/c this will require thought and organization...something i am quite short on currently.

So there are my current compartments. At least they are labeled right? But underneath all this stuff that is so prevalent right now is this slight rumble. And no matter how hard i try to keep it under control, i am so full of mixed emotions (in a not so compartmentalized fashion), that i am not even sure what to do with it all. I am so incredibly excited to go to Ethiopia, to meet Silas, to hold him, to smell his skin, to kiss my favorite spot on the side of his warm little forehead. And then i am scared to death. Scared of the transition, scared of what we might experience medically with him when we get home, scared of failing to help Ava and Atley transition well. And really, what i am holding on to in all this inner chaos is that the same God who brought Atley to us is the same God who deliverd Ava from her scary circumstances as an infant, is the same God who is bringing Silas home to us. We are his family. He lives in Ethiopia right now, but WE are his family. So, "peace, be still," are the words i am trying to choose to cling to in the midst of all this noise.

I should probably go back and read this about once a day.

This is getting long, but one more exciting bit of news. We learnded last week that we WILL have internet in our hotel room in Ethiopia, something we were previously told would not be. So please plan on following our journey. We will keep everyone updated. How can we not? Our friends and family have been SO amazingly supportive that i have run out of words to describe my gratitude.

Okay, now go visit http://www.adoptiontees.org/ and check out the Pure Joy Project!