For months, anytime I get an e-mail, snail mail, or a phone call, I have a mini ZOMG-THIS-COULD-BE-IT moment which is equal parts panic and celebration.

As I packed my bags to head to Banff in Alberta Canada to give a keynote talk, I looked down at my phone and we got the golden e-mail with our court date!!

I tried calling Katie a bunch of times repeatedly yet no avail. My heart was jumping out of my chest and I had to tell everyone in the house!

I practically slid down the stairs on my buttocks, screaming, “WE GOT THE COURT DATE!!! WE’RE GOING TO SOUTH KOREA!!” And I gave Kevin and his mom and Cooper a huge hug!

Cooper must have known because he kept asking me to pick him up and he latched onto me like a monkey while I called my family.

My mom was crying when I told her, she couldn’t believe it! Cooper was trying to talk to my mom too, rolling around in the excitement like a puppy in a pile of leaves.

We called my sister and Katie’s mom and then I ran outside and told my dad! And before I knew it I was on schedule to be off schedule as I had to catch my flight.

I reached out to some close friends and family on my way to the airport, Marvin, Marcus, Clark, Juris, Lana, Auntie Donna, and Uncle Ronnie. I was so out of breath from trying to take it all in! It’s real! I can’t believe this is real!!

I must have told ten different strangers in my travels already! People sitting next to me on my flight, the lady at the Avis rental car counter, the jolly old man in the cowboy hat who gave me a ride to the rental car counter, a stranger at the Japanese restaurant I went to, and I’m sure I’m missing others!

Counting down the days until we meet our daughters. Until then, we’re doing our best making home feel like home and preparing for our trip(s) of a lifetime! ❤

Adoption