How It All Started

Let me start off by saying that this is literally my very first time to blog. I have decided to start a blog as a way to keep family and friends updated about my adoption experience. Since I am not 100% sure what to say, I will just start off with my story. I have always known that one day I would adopt a child. I didn't know when I would do it, but I have always had the desire to. So about nine months ago I started to feel like maybe the time was right. I discussed it with my family and gave them time to warm up to the idea. I continued to bring up the idea until my family agreed that they too were excited about the prospect of having an adopted granddaughter/niece. Initally, my mom and I spent some time looking into domestic adoption and both eventually agreed that the right choice for me was international adoption. I guess it was around August when I really started researching different countries and adoption agencies. I was able to get the country search down to Russia or Kazakhstan fairly quickly but choosing an agency was much, much harder. I was in the final stages of picking the agency when I started talking with a good online friend of mine from the adoption community. She told me about her experiences and recommended Adoption Ark to me. She had such wonderful things to say about them that I felt I had to consider them. I spoke with one of the caseworkers and felt really good about them so I signed up and the process started. I initally decided to go to Kazakhstan because there was a waiting child there I was hoping to adopt. Prior to getting my paperwork in, she was adopted by another family and I decided to change to Russia. After many months of working on the paperwork, I finally submitted it all approximately one month ago. I was given an estimated wait time of 12-18 months. To my extreme surprise, I received my referral last week for two girls. It took a day or two before it all felt real. Not only was it a whole lot sooner than I expected but twins! I couldn't be more excited and can not wait until the day I get to meet them. I am currently spending my time preparing for a trip to Russia, taking care of things at home & work, and trying to learn a little russian. So, that is pretty much my story. I will try to keep everyone updated as I wait for my trip 1 travel dates.