Friday, April 30, 2010

WE ARE APPROVED!!

Last Wednesday, April 21, 2010, Dan and I received a phone call from our caseworker informing us that we are approved for adoption.

We are now online on the LDS Family Services website. You can check out our profile, get to know us, read our letter and view our pictures at: https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24253336/ourMessage.jsf

Check us out!

Joanna
(Here's a picture of us in Kauaii, Hawaii.)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

We began the adoption approval process with LDS Family Services in November of 2009 and we are finally finished with our paperwork! Now we are just waiting for Family Services to approve everything until we are officially online. Here is our finalized birth parent letter:

Dear Friends,

Hi we are Joanna and Daniel. We want to thank you for taking the time to get to know us and read our letter we've written for you. We understand that you are experiencing lots of emotions and having different thoughts about this big decision you are making. We cannot comprehend everything that you are going through, but we respect you for considering adoption. You are loved very much and our thoughts are with you often.

Our Story

Dan and Joanna met in 2001 right after we both graduated from high school. We were both working at a little sandwich shot called Cutler's. Neither of us were looking for a relationship at the time, Dan was getting ready to go on a mission and both of us were only 19, but after becoming friends we began dating a few months later. However, we soon fell in love and dated until Dan left on his mission to the Philippines in July of 2002.

Back tracking a little, when we first met, Joanna thought Dan was a 'player' after hearing about a few girls who had their eye on him. It seemed like he had a date every weekend. At first Joanna wouldn't even give him the time of day because of this assumption. Quickly, though, she realized she was mistaken--he only liked her--and the rest is history.

Many, many, many letters later and a mission over, Dan returned in 2004 and we began to date again. Things became a bit bumpy for us in November and we decided to break up and just be friends for a while.

In January of 2005, Dan's dad died. Joanna attended the funeral as a supporting friend. While sitting in the funeral, she was impressed that Dan was the person she was supposed to marry. Later that night, when Joanna dropped Dan off at home, we were sitting in Joanna's car and she told him of her impression. He said something to the effect of "Yeah, I've known that for a while now."

A week later, we had a date set, and a few weeks later Joanna had a ring on her finger. We were married in May of 2005. It was kind of funny when we told everyone we were engaged since a lot of friends knew we had just broken up. We always joke now that we didn't get back together, we just got engaged.

Our Hobbies

We love to travel and vacation with extended family. We love to watch movies. A favorite weekend activity is rentind a Red Box and watching it while cuddled up on the couch, or seeing a matinee at the Megaplex after work on a Friday afternoon.

Recently, Dan found a good deal on a projector (for his birthday) to watch movies and TV on, so he bought it and began what was supposed to be a one day install. We painted a wall for our screen, then Dan crawled around the attic through the insulation to cut holes in the ceiling and holes in the wall for mounts and cords and plugs--making the holes much bigger than he intended. This left sawdust and insulation all over everything. Then Dan spent more time in the attic feeding cable while talking to Joanna on a cell phone to bring him a hammer, or a saw, or shine a flashlight for him. Dan patched the plaster and we painted more.

Several weeks later, with the house in a mess, and Joanna going crazy since she didn't dare clean anything until the 'one day project' was finished, Dan said: "hm...this is a bigger project than I thought." All we could do was laugh and think about how much fun movie night would be when it was finished.

We also like to play board games together or with family or friends like Settlers of Zarahemla, Ticket to Ride, and Monopoly on the Wii. We love card games, like Phase 10, Rummy, and Quiddler; and dice games like Farcle.

Dan is very active, he plays basketball several times a week. He loves golfing, snowboarding, jet skiing, and playing any other outside sport to burn off his excess energy. He also likes watching sports live or on TV.

Joanna loves to write. She is currently in the process of writing two teen-novels about a love triangle between a boy, a girl, and a ghost, and hopes to have them published someday. Joanna also loves snowboarding and jet skiing, but she's not quite as energetic as Dan is, so she can often be found curled up on the couch feeding her love for literature by reading a book or passively watching a TV show while playing a stratedy computer game.

Dan about Joanna

Joanna is an awesome fun-loving person. She adores children and is always willing to babysit our niece and nephews. Joanna is the oldest sibling of four and enjoys giving advice and spending time with her family. I love being with her, she always brightens my day with her outgoing personality and loving character. Joanna has a great sense of humor and has put up with a lot of my corny jokes*

*Side note from Joanna: Even though it never seems to end, I still laugh at his "Your mom goes to college" joke that I hear at least once a week. Thanks Napolean Dynamite.

Joanna about Dan

Dan is loved and admired by everyone he meets. He has this way about him, that people immediately trust him and feel comfortable coming to him with their problems. I always say that he would make a good counselor and that maybe he should change his major to social work. The thing is, that he would love whatever occupation he chooses, so working towards his Bachelor's in Business Management also excites him. Dan has a great sense of humor, and is always joking, and teasing, and making people laugh (his sisters still think he is funny even though they've put up with his jokes for a few decades). He makes me laugh every day, many times to side-splitting laughter. I love Dan so much--he is my best friend.

Now that you know a little bit about us, we want you to know that we are praying for you and your baby. We want what's best for both of you and are supportive that you are considering the different options. Adoption brings many blessings to many people. We hope you will spare a minute to look at our pictures and visit our blog at: joannaanddan.blogspot.com. Thank you again for reading our letter.

Dan and Joanna

Monday, March 22, 2010

Hoping to Adopt...

Testing...testing... one...two...three...

Welcome to our blog!! I am a first time blogger so bear with me through the technicial difficulties.

Dan and I are almost finished with all of our adoption paperwork with LDS Family Services and hope to be online soon so we can start looking for our baby! I've put a link to the website, It's About Love, if you'd like to see our profile when it's up and running. I'll let you know when it's there, but please check it out!

Stay tuned for stories, pictures and I'll add our birth parent letter for all to read!!

Joanna

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Dan and I have been married since May of 2005 and are looking forward to growing our family! We are looking to adopt and hope to find our baby soon! Live Life Joyfully!