Adding Camping to my Life Experiences

 

Last night's experiences will rank in my list of things that I am really proud of myself for doing, like swimming in a shark cage, and biking down Pike's peak.

Even though I had never been camping before, even though it was in the forecast to snow, even though the temperatures were below freezing for most of the time we were going to be there, we went camping Friday night.

We have a friend in our running club who loves to camp, in way more extreme conditions than what we faced last night, and we had made plans to camp with him this weekend. Nothing in the forecast held him back, and he assured us he had plenty of supplies to keep us warm, so we gritted our teeth and decided it was worth it to do something epic, so we still went.

The excitement started on our drive to our campsite in Barton Flats (little lower elevation than Big Bear). As we navigated our way to our campsite it started snowing/ hailing on us. If it was snow, it was little pellets of snow that made a commotion as they hit the car. When there is a lot of it coming down as you drive, it really seems like the stars are falling from the sky to hit you, or like fireworks right in front of your car, crazy experience just driving through it (Blake at the wheel, I never drive in the mountains :P).

Our friend's car even slipped at one point, and we saw it slide a bit before he was able to gain control and continue to our camp. The temperature as listed by my car was around 30 degrees, and it was only 7 or 8 at night!

We all breathed a sigh of relief when we made it to the campsite in one piece. We also were happy that the snow/hail had a bit of a break as we set up the tents. Still, I had the job of trying to hold our one little lantern near enough to the tents where it was needed to set them up in the dark.

Between our borrowing our friend's sleeping bags that were rated for that degree of cold, bringing our own down blanket, and the fact that I was not willing to take off any of the layers or jacket that I was wearing during the day to sleep, I actually wasn't really cold at night.

However, it truly was a miserable night's sleep overall. The main problem is that I forgot a pillow, so I was using a blanket as a pillow, and it just wasn't as effective. The second problem was that our dogs were totally restless, and kept moving around. Tasha was enough as a pain as it was just from her moving, and trying to lick our faces (very persistently, I might add), but she upped her frustrating factor by 50 when she broke out of the tent in the middle of the night!

Seriously, we should rename her Houdini! She apparently pushed her nose at just the right spot to move the zipper enough for her to jump out! Blake noticed first, and started getting on his shoes, and I noticed him moving, asked what he was doing and he said "Tasha got out."

We have read before that huskies are not very good at returning, and should never be trusted off leash, because they might not come back. So it was with this very real, intense fear in mind that Blake set off to try to find her and I stayed back and started praying. He first started just looking around and calling her name, then he got the idea to follow her tracks in the fresh snow (that had been falling all night). After following her tracks a short way, he saw her, slowly approached her, called her to him (he was pleasantly surprised that she listened), and was able to successfully grab her and bring her back to the tent.

Once he got back in the tent, we turned around so that our heads were both blocking her chance at trying to escape again, and we tied the strings together as well. Blake said that he wasn't able to get back to sleep again after that harrowing experience, nor was he able to warm up again completely (it must have been around the twenties outside when he had to go get her).

I would compare sleeping on a camping trip to sleeping on a plane. It isn't solid, consistent sleep, and at moments you have your doubts about if you get any sleep at all since it seems you can always hear the ambient noises. At the same time, you know you aren't awake the whole night, and so you conclude you had moments you were able to sleep. Not bad enough to turn me off to the experience though.

This morning started cold, as mornings that it is still snowing are apt to be. I was okay temperature-wise, but Blake's cold hand issues were really giving him a hard time. His hands hurting combined with not sleeping, and not having enough warm clothes, he was noticeably uncomfortable, cold, and zombie like this morning.

As we worked on getting breakfast going, we put the dogs in the car so they were safe, warm, and more importantly, out of the way. I chatted with our friend, while Blake walked around (afterwards I learned he was checking the roads to make sure they were safe to drive down on), and his discomfort was bad enough for our friend to notice, and ask if we wanted to head down today instead of staying out there for a second night like we planned. I, being a novice, and a girl, really did not want to be at all involved about making the call to have us call the trip early. We were still talking as Blake walked back toward us, and our friend asked Blake the same question.

At this point, Blake surprised me, because he very quickly said yes, he couldn't handle another night there. Not with the cold, not with the dogs. So we made plans for what we wanted to do before we left, but decided to leave this afternoon (Saturday).

His mood noticeably improved as the plans shifted from spending today and tonight there, to just spending the day there and then driving home. We enjoyed tea around the fire, made biscuits on hangers, went for a hike with the dogs. There were moments where we were comfortably warm, as the sun was out and we were moving, but then then would be followed by some bitter cold gusts of wind.

After lunch we packed up, and took off back home.

My thoughts:
- It was a crazy way to experience camping! Cold, with lots of dog excitement, but I actually was really glad I went.
- Though I did not object, at all, to Blake's wanting to come home early (as even as I type this I look forward to sleeping in my bed tonight) I have to say that I wouldn't have minded if we stayed either. It really wasn't that bad for me.
- The new coat I bought (mostly with a giftcard) for this trip worked great! (As seen in the pictures above). I also practically lived in it as I put it on as we drove through the snow on the way to the site, and literally did not take it off until we drove back down the mountain today.
- As extreme as this was, I look forward to the next time we go camping! It was really scenic there both to wake up to, and on our hike later in the day. Also, you can't appreciate a cup of tea until you are drinking it next to a fire in 30-40 degree weather. Blake says when we go camping next, it will either be in summer or in the desert/beach, I think he is done with winter camping fun. :-D 

Life

Life is funny sometimes.

Like when yesterday, I set out to write this long post about feeling like I was spinning plates, where I didn't feel like I was on top of the game in any sector, and like I was just doing what I could to get one thing caught up (spinning) only to have another area suffer. But I talked to my sweet husband about it, and his first instinct was to try to make it better. His first suggestion (just go read on the couch and relax) sounded amazing, but when you feel like there are a million things to do, sometimes relaxing isn't the best solution.

When I explained this to him, and then decided I just would start on one of my long list of things to do, he offered to do some of my stuff, so that I could feel like I was getting things done! And it worked! After an hour or two of being productive, while he did stuff that should have been my jobs, I felt less overwhelmed, because stuff was getting done. Thus my overwhelming, life is too hard kind of post got partially replaced with this upbeat, I have a great husband, post.

Life is also funny because I guess our adoption was going too smoothly lol! I read online yesterday that there is a strike going on in Ghana! It started Wednesday, and it is (from what I understand in the few articles available online) made up of all civil and local government workers in the country! Now, I don't know, and can't find out exactly who is involved in this strike, or how (or if, but it doesn't sound good) it will effect our adoption. I am hoping (and praying really hard and having every breathing person I know praying) that it ends quickly, and our documents aren't slowed down at all from this particular strike. It is interesting how positively I am taking this news overall though, which is mostly in just laughing at the absurdity of it all (and how much strikes/lockouts are affecting my fall 2012!).

See, we were warned that most people hit some kind of delay. That's why every time we talk about our after Thanksgiving trip, it is "if it doesn't get delayed." You can't see what delays are coming, but most people have one somewhere, and it wouldn't actually surprise me if this was ours. I can't wait to see our daughter, and have her home... but at the same time I really do appreciate the fact that we passed court way earlier than expected, and aren't even close to being "behind schedule" even if this strike takes a month and a half or more!

Also, my students keep me grounded. I will end the year early if we are blessed to have our daughter here before the school year ends, which I am still hopeful for, strike or no strike. But at the same time, it would be with a heavy, reluctant heart that I walk away from the twenty five students who I have become so attached to. They have gotten used to a routine and a teacher, and a way that they imagine their fourth grade year to go, and at some point, they will be trading it for a different teacher. That teacher, even if he/she tried to emulate my way of running the classroom, and used my lesson plans and did everything I asked her to do to make the transition smooth, would still not be me. Not that I am a perfect teacher by any means, but every teacher is different.

So, while I wait and hope and pray for things to go one way, I continue to do what is needed for my fourth graders, knowing that all adoption delays are benefits for them.

The number one thing about this getting me down, if I am being honest, is just the possible delay in getting to see our daughter in person. If we were millionaires, I would just say let's keep the tickets, and go see her, even with no legal, adoption related purpose other than enjoying this precious time that she is small as the adoption continues to move slowly towards a close.

The money we lose from the changing of plane tickets isn't really a big deal, and was a risk that we took buying them early, so that part of it is just eh.

Changing around when I am absent sub-wise isn't fun, but isn't a big deal either. It would mean pushing our trip back to December, but any December activities can be changed for a year, also not a big deal.

But I am SO EXCITED to see her. To hold her, play with her, take countless pictures of her, and see with my own eyes that she is healthy and happy. Hear her try to make words, help her/watch her try to stand, and maybe take her first steps. I know I can't take her home at this trip, but just to have that brief window of time and memories with her before she ages even more before we get to see her. I have been reading books about caring for babies/toddlers, and one big thing that I have gotten is how quickly they change and how each month progresses them more towards the toddler stage.

Alas, we aren't millionaires, and no matter how much my mom heart wants to be there with her, we need to be financially smart to have the money necessary to raise her, and an extra, unnecessary trip to Ghana just wouldn't be smart. So, if you are the praying type, please join us in fervently praying that 1- the strike ends soon, 2- the strike won't affect adoptions, 3- we get our paperwork in time, and 4- we get to keep our tickets and our trip and see her in person in less than a month.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Psalms 17:6

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b

Excerpts from Psalms 37 (my favorite psalm). 

:5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

:7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;

:23-25 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

:37 Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;

:39-40 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

Projects for Our Little One

It still hasn't sunk in that we are legally parents. It probably has to do with the fact that we have still not seen her in person, held her, taken care of her, etc. But it hasn't stopped me from getting more serious in planning for her arrival!

One of the major things that was a concern to me about adopting a girl instead of a boy is having a whole new adventure in learning how to care for hair that is so different from my own.

But like everything in life, I overcome a lack of knowledge by extensive research and treating new areas of information like a school class that I will be tested on, and I learn. My FAVORITE site to teach me about how to do black hair is at chocolatehairvanillacare.com . It helps my confidence to know that the woman who is able to do beautiful enough braids and twists etc. to have a whole website about it is also someone who wasn't born with that kind of hair and had to teach herself before she could teach others.

Among many things that she posted that will be extremely helpful in the future was how to make a hair braiding practice board. She even mentioned in the post that it isn't required to learn how to braid with a practice board, it is more for those of us who want to make sure that we really learn how to do something before doing it for real. So, I made one of my own. I did tweak one thing, and that is how each piece of yarn was attached. She slip knotted them, and I couldn't figure out how to do that. I threaded each piece of yarn through a needle, and then tied a knot to get it to stay.

Here is a picture of mine:


This is if I want to use it horizontally.


Or I can use it vertically.


Here are some of my first attempts with it, center and left are cornrows and the one on the right is a flat rope twist. I am excited to have this to practice with, and I think it will serve me for many years. For the first few years she is home, she will have so little hair, I will need the practice board to actually do braids on. Then, I will have a squirmy toddler/preschooler who, if she tolerates the braiding time at all, will not want me to spend any extra time with her hair trying to figure out how to do stuff. I will need to be fast and efficient in the time I do braids, so that it ends as quick as possible for her.

I have also been working on a quiet book. They are all over pinterest, and it keeps me busy and occupied during those moments when I am antsy to do something to get her home, and I am powerless to move the process along. I feel like I am connected with her as I work on it, and thus is a craft that brings me lots of joy.

I started with the cover. My previous sewing projects means that I have no lack of fabric around. I was going to be really on top of it, and take pictures as I went, but I forgot. I wanted stability, so there is cardboard sewn into both sides, and then covered with fabric.





Honestly, I haven't decided how to attach the pages yet. I either will make button holes in the middle of the cover, and then put binder rings through them and through the pages, sew ribbon on the cover and then thread each of the pages and knot them together or I will sew down the middle to attach all of the pages together. For now, I have a cover, and am starting to work on the pages, and will deal with how to put it together later. 



This is my first completed page. I am REALLY happy with it. Each shape is felt, and has a loop on the back. The background and seaweed are also felt. The parts are sewn together. The lines are made out of fishing line which I braided to make a bit thicker than a single piece of fishing line. I knotted the ends, and then sewed them in place when I attached the seaweed. Both of the fish and the jellyfish can be moved back and forth by little hands.

The last project that we are moving along with is her room. Years ago, when we were trying to get pregnant, we planned for the nursery to be a classic Winnie the Pooh theme. For that reason, we painted the walls a pretty light yellow. I got some wall decals, and even put them up. After time passed, we weren't getting pregnant, and we knew there was a strong possibility of adopting an older child (3-4) so we took those decals down, and I put the things I had bought away (but never got rid of them).

The fact that our little girl is only a year old... I get that dream back! It has been so much fun getting her room ready, especially since it means all those classic Pooh things come back out. These two pictures are the theme/ color scheme for the room:



Here are the two main pieces of furniture we have so far (a crib and a chair will also be added later):



For those who are curious, as strange as it seems, being her legal parents is not enough to get her home. Here is the easiest way to understand it:

• She is not a U.S. citizen until we readopt her in the United States after she gets home, so at this point she is an immigrant requesting a visa to live here. 
• She can't get a visa processed until we file a document called the I-600, which has to be filed in Ghana by us, in person. 
• Two of the requirements for filing an I-600 is proof of adoption (adoption decree) and proof of birth (her birth certificate with our names on it). 
• It typically takes 4 weeks to get the adoption decree and birth certificate after you pass court. 

So that is where we are at right now, and why we can't take this precious girl, who is ours, home yet. 

We know, logically, that things can get delayed, and slow our process down, but we decided to act on faith (and hope) and we booked tickets and a hotel room for the week after Thanksgiving (which is more than four weeks after passing court). It could get pushed back, and we realize that, but if things go smoothly (please pray that things go smoothly) we will be filing our I-600 at the end of November.

From filing the I-600, it is typically another 2-3 (usually 3, but why not hope for 2?) months to getting her home. Fun stuff!

Legal Parents!

We may not have her home yet, but we are LEGALLY the proud parents of this beautiful, precious little girl!

Obstacle Course Runs Reviews

 
Wow, we made it through our third obstacle course 5k in three weeks. Every weekend we have spent a portion of one of our two precious days off driving for a couple hours, getting wet, muddy and scratched, and running a 5k. Crazy!

Today, on our drive back from our latest run, Blake and I were talking about which we liked best (and included our May race as well), pros and cons of each, and which we want to do again, and which we want to skip.

I decided that it might be helpful for someone else to hear these reviews as well, in case you live in an area where one or more are offered, and it can help you decide which to go to.

So, in order of best to worst.

1. Rugged Maniacs
http://www.ruggedmaniac.com/

Pros
- Great obstacles that were challenging, but not impossible, so you felt great defeating them
-Super fun slide
- Well organized
- (minor detail, but I appreciated) Best t-shirt, where I actually wear it as just a Saturday shirt instead of a running only shirt
-Obstacles were evenly dispersed so that you didn't go too long without one
- Great mud (as opposed to watery, gravelly mud that hurt your hands) which was slippery, but not painful
- SoCal location had you rinse off in the lake afterwards

Cons
- The SoCal one has a very large hill, way harder than any obstacle
- The wall that you have to climb up and over was used more than necessary.
- Long check in lines, would have appreciated a mailing option for the bib/ chip

2. Ridiculous Obstacle Course
http://www.rocrace.com/

Pros
- Lots of fun, random obstacles, including a tarzan swing, fireman's pole, water slide, etc.
- Well organized
- Evenly dispersed obstacles
- No mud, just water
- Nice shirt
- Had mailing option for bib/chip
-Fun costumes

Cons
- We didn't have anyone join us, so we missed the company of others
- While the obstacles were fun, they weren't challenging, so there wasn't a big sense of accomplishment at the finish. 

3. Run for your lives
http://www.runforyourlives.com/

(This was today's race, and we really expected to enjoy it more than we did)

Pros
- Lots of zombie fans in attendance, so it was easy to talk to people
- You get to run from zombies
- Most challenging race yet, physically and in terms of fear (real electric fence and wires that shock you!)
- Good mud
- Good rinse off place in the lake again (in So Cal)
- Huge sense of supporting others on the course, especially since the best way to avoid the zombies was to run in a pack.

Cons
- Not well organized (to be fair, I believe it was the first year). There was even one water station that you had to pour your own water, and there were lines at some obstacles.
- Most challenging race yet (yes, this goes in both, it has the same hill as the rugged maniacs one in SoCal, but when you are having to sprint past zombies, it takes a lot out of you, and starts to detract from fun).
- The fun factor goes down significantly when you run out of flags (which happened to me early), and you feel less a sense of accomplishment when you end the race without any. I would suggest more health packs (where you can pick up an extra flag later) which I didn't see any on the course, and would have brought back excitement for me.
- Long line to get bib/chip
- Even the small sized shirt is really big on me, so I probably won't wear it much.
-Big portions of just running

4. Del Mar Mud Run
http://delmarmudrun.com/

(Sad thing is that we were the ones that convinced others to do this course).

Pros
- Had many of the same obstacles that we liked in the ROC race
- Had the mailing option for the bib/chip
- Well organized
- Fun costumes
- Decent shirt

Cons
- Mud was very gravelly and hurt your hands and your knees as you crawled through it
- Almost every obstacle was centered around mud or was just mud, and nothing else to do
- Nothing was very challenging, just muddy
- There was a long line to rinse off, and it wasn't a very effective way to clean off
- When you finished, there was no rush of accomplishment, you just felt muddy!

Bottom line on the four we did-

We want to do rugged maniacs again next year.

If we can find friends who are interested, we may do the Roc race and the zombie race again.

It would take a lot for us to be willing to do the del mar mud run again or any run that centered so much around just the getting dirty part without more interesting obstacles as well. 

News!

Did you hear that the NHL owners proposed a 50/50 split of the revenue? I am really hopeful that this means that they can figure out a solution and get the games going by November 2!

Now... have I had any other news today? News about when we go to Ghana/ become parents/ move on with this long process? No. Nope. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing.

But the hockey thing is good right?

Secret Option D

We got word last week that we were likely to have court in Ghana today (done with power of attorney) to declare us the legal guardians of our little girl.

As I got up this morning, I THOUGHT that there were only three ways this could go-

A. We get named legal guardians, big celebration, it is official, there is much rejoicing and we start to plan for a trip in Ghana in approximately a month.

B. The judge could tell our power of attorney that we need to show up for court (it happens, for various reasons), he gives a new court date, and we prepare to go to Ghana soon, as in a week or two. Crazy, wild, not our first option, but an option.

C. The court date could have been postponed. Sometimes judges have too many cases or end the day early, or even our "likely to have court" fell on the not likely, and we were actually still waiting on an original court date.

Most likely, one of those three DID happen today. Except, you see, I got secret option D.

D. Your agency doesn't get word from their Ghana contact and you have no idea what took place or not ... at all.

If you asked me this morning, I would have said option B was the worst, followed by option C. But I didn't consider the angst of the unknown.

If forced to bet on which occurred, I would guess C, only because options A and B seem to me that our contact would have told us if one of those occurred, and would only not say something if it was an uneventful day. Especially if it was just pushed to tomorrow. Logically, I could see how someone would think, oh, court isn't happening till tomorrow, so I'll tell them then.

But if he had a busy day, maybe he wouldn't have a chance to share how court went well. I really do doubt that he found out we are going to court in a couple of weeks, because that is short enough notice for a trip as it is, and I assume that they would want us to have as much time as possible.

Who knows? Not me! I have secret option D, and lots of questions and anxiety and wanting to know what is going on in a country far away! Ghana has never seemed so far away as it did today, where even though our agency tried to contact him, because of the time difference, it might have arrived too late for him to answer back before tomorrow.

It doesn't help that for us to find out, he has to write our agency, and then they have to let us know. So, even if he writes an e-mail back tonight, I might not hear until tomorrow anyways because our agency's business hours have ended. Super big sigh.

Hoping to have more news (even if not better news) tomorrow.