Adoption March Madness

It’s March already, y’all! As if you didn’t know that! This year is flying by, and we haven’t had a lot of time to update. While we haven’t had a shortage of fun things to share, even we have to do mundane things like taking our pets to the vet, running errands, going to appointments, etc. Don’t even get us started on being sick! But, we’re back to update y’all on a few things.

We have been maintaining our personal challenge of cooking two new recipes each month. For January, we found two recipes on Pinterest. Where else? And, March’s recipes came from family and friends.

We wanted to make all the recipes together, but due to timing, Chris had to make the first one, Teriyaki Chicken Casserole, by himself. It was a little cumbersome, so he said he would like help next time. We both really enjoyed it, so we will be adding it to our monthly food cycle. See the recipe here.

Our second recipe was for Beef Stroganoff, and it left a LOT to be desired. Our recipe had way too much Worcestershire sauce. It may be awhile before we try another version again, but we gave it a go! (We somehow missed taking a picture of this one!)

Our friend, Lara, shared several of her family’s recipes. She and her hubby, Trey, served us their lasagna recently, so we opted for their meat loaf recipe. Neither of us grew up having meat loaf. Chris can recall maybe eating it one time. We loved how easy it was to make and can’t wait to try it again! We might add some more spices or veggies in the future.

We tried a dessert that we both LOVE – peanut butter fudge. We’ve had the recipe for literally years but hadn’t gotten around to trying it until now. Jessica was so nervous about burning it or cooking it too much/too little, but it turned out perfect! It got the approval of Jessica’s parents and Chris’s coworkers.

We can’t wait to try more of the recipes friends and family have shared with us and others we’ve found ourselves. If you still have a recipe you would like us to try, feel free to share it with us!

On to adoption news…after about a year of talking about it, we finally applied to a national adoption agency. We are just adding another tool to the toolbox in hopes to match with an expectant family. This is where our sports phrase, March Madness, comes in. We had to read this HUGE manual and have to update a lot of our home study. We’ll have some other odds and ends, including filming ourselves and having a video created. So, this month is going to be CRAZY busy. It will even spill over into April, because we all know this adoption stuff does not go quick. BUT, we want to go as quick as possible, so we can go “active” with the national agency. Going “active” in the adoption world refers to the agency showing your profile to expectant mothers who have decided adoption is best for their child.

Although we’ve decided on a national agency, we can still match through your sister’s hairdresser’s landlord’s second cousin twice removed. So, still continue to share our story and desire to adopt just like you  have been. Everyone has been so sweet to us, and we can’t wait to tell a little one how much they were loved (and by so many) before they were even here.

**We are hoping to adopt a newborn. If you or someone you know has decided to place a child for adoption, learn more about us here.**