Home.

We made it. It may have been a little over a week ago and it may be that I have been too tired to even think about posting on our blog...

But we made it. By the grace of God, we traveled over 9,000 miles, 23 hours, and 3 viewings of Frozen on the airplane to arrive back in Minnesota and into the arms of the people we love.

We have so much to be thankful for. We are figuring out this new life one step at a time, but praising God for His unending mercies, faithfulness, and grace.

Learning each day how to live and breath into our new role as parents.

There is a lot to write about, a lot to discover, and a lot of really hilarious things that (as parents) we probably shouldn't be laughing at. (We will be reporting all these missteps and adventures as soon as we have one solid night of uninterrupted sleep).

For now, here is a little glimpse into one of the most precious moments of our lives.

Thank you to all who have been praying, supporting, journeying through this adventure with us. We know that the hard part is just now starting, but are so thankful for the love we have been shown.

It is good to be home.

Up Up and Away!

Seriously. We can't believe that this day is here.

2 weeks ago, we woke up to a whirlwind of news, emotions, planning, and a lot of crying. Today/yesterday (I don't really know what day it is), we are sitting in the Paris International Airport, eating macaroons (I stress eat), waiting to board a flight that is going to literally change our lives forever.

I'm not a big cryer by nature. I actually have had to pinch myself to cry at times when I'm next to Erik who is a tender-hearted little soul. He makes me look bad. But, my eyes seem to have taken on the characteristics of a leaky faucet...on crack. They don't stop. I'm a disaster. We both are.

I don't really have a lot of words that I can say to let people know how we are feeling. I suppose if you have been there, you know. Excitement, fear, joy, anticipation, anxiety...I don't even know. I'm like a junior high girl's mood ring.

Either way, we wouldn't and couldn't be in this spot without a lot of you! Your prayers, encouragements, support, bags of donated clothes, toys, and cheetos...the list goes on. It is a joy and privilege to be able to share all of this with you. A total joy!

And holy cow. We can't wait to meet our sweet girl. And we can't wait for that first post we get to make introducing our daughter into your lives!

God is amazing. You guys are pretty rockin' too.

So here we go.

Let the Adventures of Noi begin!

Hello 30, Goodbye '13.

Sometimes you need to walk away. Just walk away.
Like when you are trying to hang that weird plastic stuff on your windows because it is supposed to help you keep your house warm and the plastic keeps clinging to you.
Or when you are trying to beat your husband's high score on the phone game "Dots" and have officially cramped your fingers into a permanent "index pointing" position only to realize your score is so low that it doesn't even make the board.
Or when you are trying to get the "perfect" sock bun that everyone says is so easy to do, yet somehow you are the only person in the world who's hair thinks it would look better as a 80's rock star sunburst.

Or when something becomes so overbearing and looming that the pressure makes your heart want to sink faster and more traumatically than the Titanic.

I know that writing is a form of therapy for many. It is a form of therapy for me. At times.

But there was a time that I needed to walk away. When the thought of writing yet another post about our continually postponed adoption made me feel like I was wrapped up in clinging plastic and stuck with my fingers in "index pointing" position. (Awkward picture, eh?)

So, in true form to how I do most anything that I am overwhelmed with...
I walked away.
Unannounced.
I didn't write, I didn't call, I didn't text...I kind of just shut down.
It is clearly not ideal and often quite hurtful to people that I am close with but who really wants to hang out with a girl with crazy hair wrapped up like a plastic mummy? Exactly.

In my time away, I turned 30. Which obviously made me much wiser and sound of mind. I had some time to reflect on this past year and all of the really incredible things that I DIDN'T write about. Yup. Thats right. Good things actually happened! I was just too consumed with our adoption to recognize it.

I realized that although our journey has been crazy and amazing and tons of people have wrapped their arms around us in support, prayer, and love...it is not the only thing going on in my life. And when I let it get to that...I felt smothered. I felt trapped. I felt exhausted.

Just like those people that ONLY EVER talk about their kids. We were ONLY EVER talking about our adoption. And we don't even have a kid yet! Yikes. Not cool, Andersons. Not cool.

So, now that we are both thirty, flirty, and thriving-ish? and clearly WAAAY wiser than we were 12 month ago...
We wanted to share a few moments that made this past year make us not want to walk away and shutdown from the world. Obviously, some adoption stuff is interweaved but hey, we can't just pretend it isn't happening!

Quick Recap:

~Began January with beginning our adoption from South Africa. Announced it with a pic of us through a pic of an iPhone. Classic. 

~ Spent amazing times with friends on the sunny beaches of California. Should have taken advantage of that more (cough, -13 today, cough).

~ A visit from my beautiful friend Jenny, Erik's 30th birthday trip to Chicago for the Cubs Home Opener, and family visits out to California full of wine, golf, and blueberry picking.

~ Quality and amazing friendships made over the past 6 years because God brought us to California to begin our marriage, all of whom we have been unbelievably blessed by!

~A sad farewell to a trusty ole car that was stolen and stripped and towed to the salvage yard. RIP Green Machine.

~Dossier #2: finished. 

~ Celebrated 5 years of laughing, loving, crying & adventuring by getting tattoos. We are so romantic. 

~Finished up our year at Modesto Covenant with an incredible group of students, a crazy Adventure trip to somewhere in Nevada, and people who will forever be a part of our hearts. They packed up our apartment into a UHAUL in less than 2 hours. No joke. Rockstars.

~We moved. Like big time moved to Minnesota. God called, we answered. Our journey was epic. Still is. 

~ Moved into a 1923 house that we love, started at a new church that we love, live in a city that we love. I mean...it's okay or whatever.

~ Travelled to Colorado for my cousin's wedding, spent quality time with the fam, and DANCED like I had the lead role in Footloose.

~Our nephew, Wells, was born and we are obsessed. 

~Watching Bella walk in snow for the first time in her life. Hilarious. 

~Enjoying being close to one of my favorite families in this entire nation/world, seeing family more often, cutting down our own Christmas trees, and exploring parts of the Midwest I've never seen before. 

~ Siblings. 

So here's to a new year, probably filled with a lot more adoption news than anyone ever wanted to know, but also filled with sweet moments outside of that which define our lives and bring us life. 

I suppose sometimes walking away to gain perspective on all the good isn't so bad after all. 

Cheers and Adios to 2013. 

Because of you...

Because of God's people doing unthinkable things...

Rallying around us in ways that we could have never imagined....

Standing up for us when we felt weak, overwhelmed, and defeated...

Because you said yes to making a difference...

Thank you.

Thank you for your generosity.

Love.

Encouragements.

For everything.

This is what happened.

And IS happening.

Because of you.

Fathers and DAY 7.

4 years ago, I was sitting in church.
I felt a tap on my leg and looked over to my husband handing me a folded up piece of paper.

The question had been, "In what big ways do you want God to move through you and your family?"

I'm pretty sure at that point, my answer was God putting a Jimmy John's Sandwich Shop down the street from my house so I could use that as a ministry spot and eat all the lettuce wrap Italian sandwiches I wanted.

Erik clearly was on a different level.

I looked down at the piece of paper and to my amazement, written in golf size pew pencil was one word:

Adoption.

Before any doctor's appointments, before any conversations, before any "results"... God had placed in his heart the desire to become a dad through adoption.

So I don't think it is ironic today that our Give1Save1 week is ending on Father's Day.

He makes all things beautiful in his time.

So today as we wrap up a week of ridiculous, amazing, and unbelievable blessing, let's do it in honor of all the dads out there, who hope, dream, fight, cry, passionately love, and care for their kids...

For Erik. A Dad who has loved every step of the way, even before we knew what we were getting into.

We've got $1,800 more to go. If every friend of ours on Facebook gave $2 today, we would surpass this. So let's do it. Share, post, tweet, instagram...

Let's blow the socks off of this fundraiser in honor of Dad.

Give1Save1 Day 6 and another AWESOME FREE GIVEAWAY!!

So, for real peeps. When we said you all were awesome, we weren't joking.

And due to your overwhelming support and love, we made it WAY past $4000!!

As another way of thanking you all and another encouragement for getting the word out we have decided to giveaway...

An Erik Anderson original "many faces of Erik" 12-month calendar complete with themed season pictures! He mentioned something about Uggs.

(Ok, he literally said he would disown me if I didn't write that.)


But, for real...we actually do have something for you and I think you will love it! Because I do!!! And it is not just amazing, but it is for an amazing cause too!!

So, first person to write "You hit $5,000!" (when we hit $5,000) gets this:

This INCREDIBLE Arrow Necklace is from an INCREDIBLE company called "Story Company." They do amazing work to empower people all over the world to use their skills and creativity to make sustainable business and change! Check them out HERE for more information on all of the great things they do and the awesome products they help to provide! (Even if you DON'T win this necklace, you should just go buy it...or buy everything on this site because you will be obsessed!)

And then GO! Go like the wind and share our link!! Lets make this happen! Two Days left, people!!! WAHOO!!!

Give1Save1 South Africa Day 3!

So...

You guys are ridiculous. Like, good way ridiculous!

Not only are people all over the world pouring out love all over this adoption process but we are leaping toward our goal and it has only been 2 full days!

We can't wait to see what God is going to do this week, because He is already blowing past our expectations!

So keep spreading the news, sharing the link, praying, talking, jumping up and down like a crazy person...whatever you have to do to keep this thing going! We want Facebook to call us and tell us to stop posting this link because it has been posted too much! :)

We can't thank you enough.

Some of our favorite people in the world helped us put together this little video for you to enjoy...

Here we go, Day 3!!!!

Give1Save1 South Africa Day 2!!

It is a miracle that I am even able to see as I type, considering we were both in tears all day yesterday with the RIDICULOUS outpouring of love and support that we were shown in just 24 hours!

Seriously people. Like for real.

It is funny how I doubt and worry and get anxious so much when God continually shows His blessing in ways FAR bigger than I can even imagine.

If God had a Twitter, he would "#BOOM" all the time.

So we are on to Day 2 of Give1Save1 and have no idea what to expect because clearly God is in the business of doing that.

Here is a little recap from of our thoughts yesterday!

We love you guys so much!! Thank you!!!

Now lets go dominate Day 2!!!

You Are Loved.

I always find it difficult to start a blog post when you are already speechless to begin with.

It's kind of an oxymoron, falling into the same category as Jumbo Shrimp, Bitter Sweet, Artificial Grass...

Speechless Blogpost?

In January, Erik and I were brainstorming fundraising options for our (at the time) one adoption from Ethiopia. We desired a way to fundraise by bringing all the people we love together and worshipping God and sharing our story all at the same time.

Insert For All Seasons.

As an incredible worship band leading music for our students at Winter Camp, turned overnight incredible and dear friends...we approached them with our crazy idea.

How about a Worship Adoption Benefit Night?

It took like 1.3 seconds to receive an enthusiastic "YES!" and an even shorter amount of time for Erik and the drummer to start embracing like long-lost war mates.

And so was the birth of the "You Are Loved" Adoption Benefit Night.

The one that happened last night.

The one that blew our expectations of God out of the water.

The one that reflected the beauty of the hearts of so many people.

The one that continued to confirm God's hand and plan at work.

The one that screamed, "YOU ARE LOVED!"

For All Seasons led worship in a way that invited the Spirit to fill the sanctuary and fill our bodies and hearts in powerful ways...
we had incredible help with sound and media - like the kind that made everything look and sound like you were in a different element of life...
girls made delicious cupcakes to celebrate and bless others with afterwards...
friends helped in taking the offering and donations being handed in...
more friends helped to set up/take down/prepare...
girls helped with childcare so parents could be a part of the worship time...
one of our amazing high school students, Danielle, shared her own story of adoption and how it has shaped her family...

I mean. It was U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E.

Wouldn't you be left speechless?

Last night, Erik and I found ourselves in tears. Completely overwhelmed by the love and support. Completely moved by how God goes so far beyond what you expect, even when you have seen Him exceed expectations before.

Because of willing, loving, supporting hearts, we are one step closer to bringing our daughter home.

Actually....

$3, 079 closer to bringing our daughter home.

Right??!?!

And it is thanks to all of you.

So, in one of the speechless, blubbery, messy kind of ways...

Thank you. Thank you from the depths of our hearts. Thank you for being a part of our story. Our daughter's story.

Thank you.

(If you weren't able to make the evening...here is a little glimpse of our more recent story that we shared last night). 

Another Not So Little Fall Update...

In the wake of a busy summer, busy ministry season, and busy photography season, we haven't gotten a chance to do very much updating. I'm fearing that people feel left in the dark. ALAS FRIENDS! You are not in the dark. Here comes (drum roll, please) A SEPTEMBER UPDATE!!!!! WOOOO!!!

I feel like I just asked someone to come on down for the Price is Right.

Where shall I begin? How about May?

may...
We officially completed all of the paperwork that we could for our dossier (quite eager and motivated). The hardest thing about being eager and motivated, however, is that not everyone is on the same track as you. This led us to a lot of waiting. Waiting for our home study to be complete, waiting for United States Immigration to approve us, waiting for paperwork, signatures, notaries, stamps, seals, envelopes...basically everything you can think of in the first 3 rows of Office Depot.

june...
Our home study was finally "officially" completed and we received our biometrics appointments for fingerprints for USCIS...for July...for when we would be out of town.
So, we rescheduled, took another dose of "patience" medicine, and settled into what would soon become a very familiar waiting game.
However, this waiting game was also filled with some great distractions like a trip to Kauai, a trip to Texas for a beautiful wedding, Vacation Bible School, a camping trip, and lots of fun photo shoots!

july...
Our physical, spiritual, and emotionally beings were all wrapped around our High School Youth Group trip to Tennessee for CHIC. I'm pretty sure that God knew we weren't able to handle much else. We received our fingerprinting appointments for 2 days after we returned from our trip and that was about the most exciting adoption thing that happened all of July.
As I look back on it...I'm so thankful for that.
We did, with the help of a very talented high school student (shout out to Derek Mari! Holla!), create something super special and super amazing that will be shared with you all so very soon. Please stay tuned for further details...shh...

august...
You know those movies that are really good, but somewhere in the middle they hit a slow spot and you are about to fall asleep and then BAM! Something exciting happens and your adrenaline starts pumping and you remember that you are really enjoying that film? That is August.
The beginning of August brought us our Immigration approval, our trip to Sacramento for State Sealing our documents (way less intimidating than expected), our submission of our Dossier and our submission of 4 Grant Applications! Look who got there stride back?
WE WERE BUSY, PEOPLE!!!
All that mixed in with a trip back east to see Erik's family, our college friends, and my family, the end of Summer Ministry and the Kickoff of Fall Ministry! I needed a nap.

september...
So now we are here. September. It is so hard to believe that it has already been 8 months since this process began. We have discussed how crazy it is when people talk about their adoption experiences taking 2-3 years. Because honestly, these 8 months have gone by so fast. 2-3 years sounds understandable. Do-able even.
When we submitted our Dossier (WAY back in August), we were required to make a payment of $6,000. As of Sunday, we were $1,000 short.
When we started this journey, we committed to our family and to God, that we would not do this process through debt. We committed to walk this journey by paying in cash...which in this world...isn't easy.
Easy would be taking out our credit card and putting the remaining $1000 down until I got paid for the wedding I shot at the end of August. Easy would mean not trusting in God but trusting in us. Easy would mean instant gratification.
Easy isn't what we signed up for.
So, we decided to wait. The paperwork just sitting on someone's desk in Michigan until we turned in our money. A kid potentially just waiting in an orphanage to be called someone's child. Our child. That is hard business.
Enter in Sunday morning...
I decided early on Sunday morning during our ministry fair at church that I was going to write a blog update, because I had a lot of people asking what the status was on our adoption. I knew what I would have to say that our papers were turned in to our Adoption Agency, but not going anywhere anytime soon. Lame answer.
Well, I didn't even really get a chance to say that because 2 hours into the morning, we were told that someone wanted to anonymously give us $1000 for our adoption. Yes. You heard that correctly. $1000.
That would be before anyone knew how much we needed to complete our Dossier.
That would be before I even had the chance to let people know that we were waiting on that money so that our Dossier could be sent on to be Authenticated.
That would be other people not taking the easy way and graciously giving their own money to us.
That would be 2 very humbled people in awe and shock.
That would be a God who knows exactly what we need when we need it.

Yesterday I hit the payment button, leaving .37 cents left in our adoption account. Our Dossier will be sent out to the United States Ethiopian Embassy for Authentication this week and hopefully on to Ethiopia within the next 4 weeks.

That would be where we are. Today.  

God is good.

A Little Not So Little Update.

I thought that I would take a moment to "adoption update" all of the wonderful people who so faithfully check into our blog. I know that I write blips here and there about what we are doing, what we have finished, and more often, how I am feeling, but I was kindly and graciously reminded by my mother that it would be nice to do a little recap/update in one post.

Even at the ripe age of 28, I often wonder, "What would I do without my mother?"

So, here is what is up in the Anderson Way of Adoption:

1. WHERE DID YOU SAY?
We are adopting from Ethiopia. :) I state this only because we still have had several people ask us where we are adopting from or if we had decided if we were doing international or domestic. If you are new to this blog or new to our story, check out this post on how we came to this decision! As far as preference goes, we have listed a child of either gender between the ages of 0-2 years.

2. WHAT DID THE BEGINNING OF THIS LOOK LIKE AGAIN?
We officially started our adoption process with the Home Study in January. Contrary to what many might think, this only included one visit to our house and the actual "study" of our home was minimal.
I'm not gonna lie...that was slightly disappointing.

The majority of our Home Study was made up of meeting with our Social Worker at the Bethany Agency office, talking about our lives, our families, our hopes, our jobs, our faith...basically like a CSI investigation on steroids and with a strong guarantee of no jail time at the end. (We had some training mixed in with all of that as well...so maybe more like FBI?)

We finished our Home Study at the beginning of April and have currently been waiting for it to be approved by the Bethany headquarters in Michigan. This process has taken a bit longer than we had hoped...but it's almost done!

3. SO WHERE YOU AT NOW, SUCKA?
While we have been waiting for that, we started on our Dossier (Doss-e-ay). Basically, this is all of the official documentation about Erik and Jessa Anderson that will go over to Ethiopia and allow us to be approved to adopt from their country.
It is intense. It has moments of being REAL ugly. And it is tedious. Good thing I inherited my momma's awesome organizational skills. I have never loved 3 ring binders, checklists, and plastic sheet covers so much...in my life!

At this moment, all we are waiting for is our Home Study to be approved and notarized so that we can send it to US Immigration to be approved to bring a child into the country. The rest of our Dossier is COMPLETE! We are hoping to have everything sent off by July....fingers crossed...fingers crossed...

PICTURE BREAK!!! 

5. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER ALL OF THAT?

After all of that, we wait. We wait for a long time. We are put onto a waiting list to receive a referral of a child. There are no guarantees, but judging from what I have seen, read, and heard, the wait time is anywhere between 9 and 18 months...to receive a referral. Another 6 or so months to actually get a court date, travel, and officially bring our child home. That is...if all goes smoothly...which in adoption, the road is more like budget cut California roads after the rainy season. 

6. DOLLA DOLLA BILLS YA'LL!

On the topic of Fundraising...

We have been SOOOOOOOOO blessed. There have been so many instances of grace, compassion, and generosity shown toward us that honestly, we are a little taken back. I have shared this with a few people, but when we started this whole process, finances was one of my biggest fears. It is incredible how God can take one of your biggest fears, when you hand it to Him, and turn it into a reaping of absolute humility and peace. 

If you follow our "Fundraising Thermometer" you have seen that line raising over the last few months to almost half of the cost! It is AMAZING! So, I will take this moment to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the people who have given of there own means to help support us on this journey. There are not even enough words to thank you all enough. You truly do have a special piece of our child's life! 

We obviously have more work to do in terms of working toward the total cost, but feel so confident in God's wide open doors and blessings!

7. CAN I GET AN AMEN?

Interpretation: How can you be praying? 

This is another question that we get a lot and probably one of the best ones that we are asked! We firmly believe that your prayers are one of the strongest supports that we can be shown, knowing that God is faithful to His children who come before Him and seek Him. 

So as far as prayers...here are a few:

• That ultimately, God would be glorified through this process, through us, and through each person who is uniquely a part of this story.
• For the process of Ethiopian adoption going on right now, as there are always obstacles, challenges, corruption, and changes. Everything that is happening now effects the lives of children who are waiting for homes with loving families. Please be praying for the Ethiopian and US government, orphanages, and agencies that are working hard to match children with families and care for the orphans. 
• For the completion of our Home Study and Dossier...for a smooth, error free process...and for wise and discerning eyes to catch anything that needs to be done or changed quickly and effectively
• Peace, patience, and understanding as we continue to walk through this process. Each new day there are new feelings of excitement, hope, sadness, frustration...you name it. Our heart is to pursue this journey and our child by following God's heart and living in His promises and displaying His character. But that is really hard sometimes. :)
• Continued support in finances. I have been abundantly blessed with great photo jobs (which all of the proceeds go toward our adoption) and, as stated before, we have been SO blessed by the generosity of others. But we haven't reached the end yet! So keep praying!

If you are still reading this...

Thank you. Thank you for walking through this with us, being a part of our story, our child's story, and God's amazing story. We couldn't do it without you. 

Phew...

I think that is it. Holy cow. Talk much? 

Mini Session, Mini Preview

We did our Mini Session Photography Fundraiser this past Saturday and WHOA!!! It was INCREDIBLE!!! We had such a blast creating unique and fun backdrops, capturing some amazing photos, laughing, and getting to know some really incredible families!

Sadly, we had to cancel the afternoon because the weather just got a little too severe...
40 mph winds and horizontal rain don't make for the best photography? Weird.

We did, however, have a great morning and got some fantastic shots before the monsoon rolled in so I thought we would give you all a quick preview! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day!

The best part about all of this is that we get to do it again this weekend!! AH! So, if you didn't get a chance to sign up but want to...let me know! 

Thanks to everyone who did come out this past Saturday and braved the crazy weather with us! We had so much fun and feel so blessed by each of you!  

Gearing Up

Oh my. What is the date? With the mixture of church fundraisers, photo sessions, mission trip planning, housesitting, and finishing up all of our last steps for our home study....

I have completely neglected this little blog. Poor guy.

But now that I have a some-what rainy day and nothing to do (for approximately 12 hours), I can confidently say that I am back!

And we are TOTALLY gearing up...for A LOT!
We have exactly 6 days until our last home study meeting and exactly 7 days until our Mini Session Fundraiser! Oh geez.

Last night, a few incredible ladies came over to help put together some of the backgrounds that we are making for the Mini Sessions. We got one background completed and parts of another...but mostly, we spent time laughing, talking life around a great spread of food, and enjoying each other's creativity and wisdom. It was soul filling at its finest!

And although I didn't get any pictures of the hotties working...I captured a few of what we did and a couple shots of my models showing off how awesome the background looks when you snap a photo!

Thanks ladies for your help!! I'm so excited for next weekend!

Thank you.

We have been so overwhelmed with the amount of love, support, encouragement, wisdom, and guidance that has been given to us as we are walking in the process of adoption.

I think that it is really easy (as you can see from my last post) to get overwhelmed by the discouraging aspects of all of this. But we often forget that we have so many hands and feet behind us and in front of us, carrying us and catching us, as we go. 

And for those of you who have been there to walk through all of this with us...we just wanted to say...

I wish there were bigger words to use and more extravagant ways of showing it...but seriously...we couldn't do this without you...every single last one of you. So, whether you have supported us with prayers, words, finances...whatever! 

Thank you. 

We have a long way to go and way more work to be done, but we feel encouraged, supported, and lifted up by all of you. 

Today, I added up all of the financial support that we have received so far and was completely blown away by the amount of generosity and love that we have been shown! I have added a fundraising thermometer to the side of our blog so that you can follow along with us as we move forward and closer to building our family...

One that each of you will be a part of!

I pray that today you feel as blessed and loved as we do and that the Lord will show you His incredible faithfulness in ways that far outweigh anything you have ever known before.