Random Things

Well, the bad news is that we still don't have a region assignment. Andrea said she hopes it will happen in another week or two.

But the good news is that she did ask us to participate in the Little Miracles Travel Conference Call last week. It's a 2-hour call where they advise you on anything and everything regarding your actual trip. This felt like a big step! Usually participants must have been assigned a region or have their LOI. We will most likely still have to participate in next month's call, but Andrea said several families got their LOIs last week, so it looks like things are rolling over there and she doesn't want us to be blindsided if the pace keeps up.

This is good because we are so ready to go! Seriously, we have already begun packing some of our things, and have checked off the majority of the items on our packing list. Our Travel Documents are all in process, and should be ready soon. These include:

- Medical Certificates (again)
- HIV test results
- Our Physicians Medical License
- State Police Clearances (again)
- FBI Fingerprint Clearances (again)
- 2 Certified Copies of our Marriage Certificates
- 3 Copies of our Passports
- 1 Power of Attorney
- Power of Attorney for Escort
- Power of Attorney to a Spouse
- Original & Copy of our Immigration Approval – I-171H
- Photocopy of our Homestudy
- Employment Letters and Pay Stubs
- Photocopy of our last three years taxes with W2’s
- USCIS I-864 Form
- USCIS I-600 Form

Of course most of them must be notarized and then apostilled by the state, so there are several steps to having an official copy of one seemingly simple document. (This is a fraction of what we had to prepare for our original dossier.) I told a friend the other day that this bunch of paperwork isn't as bothersome as it might seem. I imagine it's a feeling similar to winning the lottery, but having to cut through all the red tape to collect our winnings. It will all be worth every last ounce of effort!


We recently got very revved up for our trip after watching 2 Kaz-related movies recommended by other bloggers:

1. Long Way Round – A documentary of actor Ewan McGregor and his actor friend taking 3.5 month long motorcycle trip around the world. As they ride their way through Kazakhstan and we see about an hour’s worth of their experience there. We LOVED this documentary – even beyond the glimpse into Kaz. It is well done and we highly recommend it to anyone. We watched the whole thing in one day. It’s a series of 7 episodes, so it took about 7 hours. Actually 8 counting the bonus materials!


2. Nomad - This epic-style film was Kazakhstan's official entry for the 79th Academy Awards. It was filmed entirely in Kazakhstan, and about Kazakhstan during the 18th century. It tells the story of a boy who is destined to unite the three warring tribes who have survived and fought for centuries against invaders and amongst themselves. This movie was obviously very expensive to produce. The cast included hundreds of Kazakhstanis (thousands?) and it had some nice cinematography. It certainly provided insight into the history of our child’s birth country.

Seeing and hearing the strong, proud and beautiful people of Kazakhstan in these films was fascinating, as was seeing those vast steppes (grassy plains) we hear about so often. It made us feel even closer to it. We really do feel honored to adopt from Kaz, and we are ready to immerse ourselves in the rich culture and incorporate it into our lives.


We are still doing well in our quest to learn a little Russian. After we finished the basic set (8 lessons) of the Pimsleur program, we decided to purchase the "big daddy" set of Russian 1, which has 30 lessons (although the first 8 are the same.) I am on #17 and Frank is on #25. (Go Frank!)

We like how the Pimsleur learning process is somewhat mindless. We just listen to it in the car every day, and ta-da -- it sticks! But if you remember from a previous post it occasionally seems geared toward men trying to pick up Russian women. Professional girlfriends even. In fact, right now on #16 they seem to be negotiating rates. It sounds something like this:

Man: How much money would you like?
Woman: How much money do you have?
Man: I don't have very much money.
Woman: You have a lot of money.
Man: How much money do I owe? I have 25 dollars and 5 rubles.
Woman: I don't want any dollars.
Man: Ok. Here are a few rubles.
Woman: Just leave it on the dresser on your way out. See you next week, big boy. (Ok she really doesn't say this part, but I half expect it!)

This conversation is under the auspices of a husband/wife exchange. Um...I call BS Mr. Pimsleur. But I like your program anyway. ;-)


A few other miscellaneous things...

- For those who asked, Frank got his super-warm hat (pictured 3 posts ago) at Lands End.

- I thought up an alternate version the Rock-a-Bye Baby lyrics, so that we can sing along with our crib mobile without anybody getting hurt!

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top.
When the wind blows the cradle will rock.
When the birds sing their beautiful call
The sun shines on baby, cradle and all.

- For those who gave us gift cards to Babies "R" Us, this is the thing of beauty we bought with them:

It's the Britax Marathon Convertible Carseat -- in "Cowmooflage" so our baby can be ultra-safe AND ultra-hip. Thank you gift card givers! It rocks. Now we just have to figure out how to use it...


- By request from several folks on my last post, here are our Dr. Seuss-ish wedding vows, as well as the other vows we took:

Frank, do you take Regina for your wife?
Do you take her for all your life?
Will you take her near and far?
Will you take her in a car?
Will you take her in a boat?
Will you give her the remote?
Will you love when love’s not new?
If you will, then say I do.

Regina, do you take Frank for your mate?
Do you take him as your permanent date?
Will you take him in a plane?
Will you take him on a train?
Will you take him in the air?
Will you take him everywhere?
Will you love when love’s not new?
If you will, then say I do.

Frank, please repeat after me: (These were the same for both of us.)

I, Frank, take you Regina,
to be my wedded wife.
I promise to love and stand with you always,
in times of celebration and sorrow,
in times of sickness and health.
I will cherish our friendship,
honor our promises,
and dedicate myself
to the success of our marriage.

Hard to believe that was more than 8 years ago, and that at the time we had nary a thought of bringing children into the mix! How things can change.

Gosh, this is a long post. Can you tell I'm excited? I could go on, but sleep beckons. And so does the Frankster. I hope everyone out there has a wonderful week. In case I don't say it enough, thanks for your amazing support. Please send us all your good energy for our dossier to move on to the MOE very soon!