Yummy Injera...

The only time David and I ever have Injera is when we go out and get Ethiopian food.  But we had a bit of a treat last week.

David works with a man who has a daughter from Ethiopia.  And he picked up some injera for his family the other day when he was near a market that sells it.  The best part was he picked up some for us too!  We got a plethera of chinese food that we thought would taste great with injera, and had a feast.  It was really good.  And since its just another form of bread, David's been eating it with just about everything.  Sometimes I come in the kitchen and he's just tearing off a piece and eating it.

Injera is this bread like pancake/pita thing that is eaten in Ethiopia.  You can see us eating it  here and here and here.  And probably many more posts in the future.

Now that we know its so easy to come by, I think we'll be eating it with dinner on a much more regular basis.  And this will be a great little comfort of Ethiopia when our little one(s) come home.

Yes, they look a little bit like pancakes.  But they're much bigger.  I should've put my hand in there so you could see.  There is a styrofoam plate underneath, and the injera is bigger than that, if that helps with the size.  And its cold.  And tastes more bread like than pancake like.   But yummy :)

SO cute :)

ANOTHER cute Christmas gift :)

I know these last two post have been about Christmas gifts - but in my defense, they were gifts that were given in January.  So while my posting is belated... its not THAT belated.

Last weekend as I was driving through my subdivision on my way to get my oil changed I saw two lovely joggers waving to me.  I assumed they were neighbors, so I waved and tried to figure out who they were.  Thats when I realized it was my brother and his wife jogging to my house.

Well.  Its Michigan.  And its snowy and COLD.  And its about 3.25 miles between our houses - full of hills.  So I am incredibly impressed with their venture.  They asked me to drive them home so they wouldn't have to run that whole way back - which I gladly did.   But the best part was they had an addition to the great books they got us (remember?).  It was this ADORABLE hat for their future niece/nephew.  LOVE it!

Thanks Cody and Liz!  I'm excited to have a baby to put in this cute hat!

A Work of Art

Well, let me just say that David and I have some pretty great people in our lives.  And for Christmas this year, our friends Chad and Alisha gave us a pretty great gift.  You might remember from our Auction, Chad is pretty handy with the woodworking.  He made an amazing cutting board that we auctioned off.  If you don't remember, you can see it again, here.

This year for Christmas they gave us another of Chad's great works of art.  Seriously - a work of art.  And its amazing.  He made us this beautiful piece of art for our wall.  Its made out of Zebra Wood, which is imported from Africa.  Its amazing, and David and I have been arguing over where to put it up.  He doesn't exactly trust my decorating skills.  So for now its sitting on our bookshelf, on display until we find the perfect place on the wall.

Thanks Chad and Alisha!  We LOVE it!!

I'm going to post... I'm going to post...

 Okay, well I'm writing this right now mostly to hold myself accountable.  I have been meaning to post for quite awhile.  But work, and grad school, and being a wife, and going to an AMAZING poetry workshop (Yes, I sure did...)  has kept me distracted.

So I'm posting this to tell you there is more to come.  TODAY.  I have some delightful family time to attend to (It was David's birthday last week!!), grocery shopping, grading, homework, AND some blogging to do.  So stay tuned...  :)

New Year, New NUMBERS!!

Well my friends, its that time again!  I just mentioned to a couple people today that we were waiting for our January numbers, and then checked my phone on break and I had an email from our caseworker.  This is a "phone call" month, but she likes to send our numbers in an email 'while we wait'.  LOVE that!
So....

GIRLS:

BOYS:

SIBLINGS:

Yes.  TEENS!!!  What a great day today is :)  I never knew a teen number would make me so excited, but it has :)  And I'm going to enjoy this high as long as I can!

What 2011 Could Be....

2011 promises so many things for David and I.  I would be lying if I told you we weren't incredibly excited for the year to come.  There are so many great things that could potentially happen for us.  But here are just a few things we are looking forward to in 2011:

OBVIOUSLY we hope to bring home a sweet baby or two this year.  (HOPE, HOPE, HOPE!!!)

We are (HOPING TO) travel to Ethiopia twice and see an amazing country, and our child(ren).




We will both be turning 29 this year.  It will be the beginning of our LAST year in our 20s.  I am dreading this a bit.  Today I was looking at some old pictures, and saw a guy I went to high school with. I thought to myself, "He looks like he's 30!"

And then I realized.  There is little difference between 28 and 30.  I probably look like I'm 30.  And I was immediately embarrassed.  But just inside my head, because none of this conversation actually happened out loud.

I'm not sure why, but in my head I still feel like I'm in my early 20s.  I actually think I'm cooler than what I really am.  And because people in their early 20s are cooler than people that are almost 30 - I of course couldn't be almost 30.  In my head.

I will have a rude awakening in 2012.

But back to 2011 -

We will be getting travel vaccines.  And lots of them.  And do you know that these shots are NOT cheap?  I had no idea.  I called the lady at the health department, and she said it could be around $400 per person.  Whoa.  Those are some serious shots.

We'll decorate a nursery!

We'll put together a crib (or a bed - depending on age.  Maybe BOTH!)

David is going to run the RiverBank Run - I'm trying to get him to do the 10K.  He's tall. With long legs. And he runs circles around me.  I'll be there to cheer him on.  And MAYBE do the 5K.  But only if I'm confident I can finish before he's done with the 10K :)

I'm going to be a Girls on the Run Coach again this year - Yay GOTR!!

We'll be preparing for Brian and Elizabeth's wedding - which is actually happening in 2012.  But 2011 will hold lots of planning, talking about, and growing excitement!

And probably SO much more that I don't even know about.

I can't WAIT for this great year!!

Unexpected Christmas...

This Christmas didn't go exactly as planned.  It was amazing and beautiful and wonderful.  But it didn't go as planned.

It started with both of us getting sick.  I mean SICK.  I was throwing up every 2 hours.  We woke up, the morning of Christmas Eve feeling like we were dying.

We were celebrating at my mom's house on Christmas Eve.  We were planning on getting there by noon.  But we couldn't get out of bed.  Somehow we managed to get cleaned up, but we didn't make it until around 5:30.  And we were struggling.  I started feeling a little better, but didn't really leave my post on the couch.  David was really struggling.

We made it for presents, and thats about it.  We went home and went to bed by 7:30.   But, as a perk, baby Stefanich even got some gifts!  Aunt Liz and Uncle Cody bought their new niece/nephew some great books!  And cousin Eddie helped break them in :)

Then Christmas morning came.  

Christmas morning we woke up to the news that  my Grandpa has passed away at 6:45am.  I can't even begin to tell you the impact this man had on my life.  But he couldn't have chosen a better time.  He got to meet Jesus on his birthday, and he got to celebrate in the best way known.  And on top of that, he got to see my dad once again.  

Words can't describe the loss my family and my sweet Grandma feel.  He was the love of her life for 53 years, and their love and relationship is an amazing model for David and I.  He was a man of God, and he was the kind of grandpa that would both hug you and harass you by stealing your last bite of brownie.  He was an amazing man.  Amazing.  And the amount he will be missed cannot be explained in words.  

But like I said, it was also very beautiful.  I knew my Grandpa was now spending Christmas with my dad, and with Jesus.  And his passing was a peaceful and beautiful thing.  He was surrounded by family that loves him, and I can't imagine a better way to spend your last minutes on Earth and your first moments in heaven.    

On Christmas morning we drove to David's parent's house to spend Christmas with them.  I wasn't really feeling better, and had lost 5 pounds in the last 24 hours.  But I was able to keep toast and sprite in my system, so I was on the mend.  

We had a really great couple of days with his family, and would you believe Baby Stefanich got some more gifts?  I think those gifts were my favorite ones to open.  

We got a darling pug receiving blanket, a superman onsie (of course, one of Dave's favorites), a Duke bib (another Stefanich family favorite) and the final onsie you will see is MY favorite. 

So while this Christmas was nothing like I would have planned or expected, it was amazing, and beautiful and wonderful.

It was amazing because I got to spend a lot of time the last couple of weeks with family members that I love.  You can't beat family.

It was beautiful because I got to celebrate the life of an amazing man.  And man who made the kind of impact that cannot be measured. 

And wonderful because I can look forward to Christmases where there will be sweet babies in those onsies.  Babies to cuddle and love, read stories to, and tell all about their Grandpa and Great Grandpa who are looking down on them from heaven.  

I feel lucky.  Because now my child(ren) have another guardian angel looking over them until they are safely in my arms.  And that gives me a feeling of peace.  

This was a great Christmas.  A Christmas like no other.  And I'll never forget it.  

Zoo Lights

Each day after Thanksgiving we go to Chicago to enjoy a delicious meal and some hectic shopping with David's brother Brian, his fiance Elizabeth, and sister Amie.   (Ahem... yes, this post is a little over due.)

But the other thing we do is we walk through the Lincoln Park Zoo for Zoo lights.  So here are some pictures from that.... so you can enjoy too.

It was SO cold.  You will notice sometimes we have 3D glasses on.... these made cool little snowmen when you looked at the lights.  So pardon our dorkiness... but it was really cool.  Especially when you looked at a camera flash.

My Groom :)

Me and some awesome lights. I hope I never have to have glasses.  Because its not the best look for me. And if and when I do - remind me not to choose red frames. 

Lizards. 

Trees.  And Amie in the green hood.

A sleeping Tiger.  With HUGE paws.

A cute little (BIG) gorilla/apish type family. 

Dave and I.  Looking cold. 

December Numbers...

 I feel really badly that I haven't posted since our last number update!!  I feel so very much in limbo - just waiting month to month for new numbers.  People ask me where we are in the process, and I feel like I've been saying the same thing for months now.  We have EVERYTHING done - we're just waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Its a long process.  I think the only people who truly understand are those waiting with us.  We've been in this process for over 8 months.  And we know we have many more ahead of us.  But I know my baby or babies are out there, and hanging on to that makes this whole wait SO worth it.

So without further ado.... OUR DECEMBER NUMBERS:

And let me preface this with saying I really DISLIKE racing.  I mean REALLY.  But we need to get these number zooming along... hence the cars.  Enjoy :)

For girls:

For boys:

Yes... for those of you that obsess over our numbers - which might JUST be David and I - our boy number did not move.  Little sad, but lets take a look at the silver lining...

Siblings:

Yes!!  The silver lining is that our siblings number is 24 - the LOWEST number we have.  And our truest desire is to adopt siblings.  So although our boy number didn't move at all, we will rejoice in the movement we have seen, and throw out some yippees over our sibling number :)

On a SIDE note:  I work about 25 minutes away from home.  And the school I work at has clear parking lots and road, and decent driving.  But my hometown is filled with BLIZZARDING conditions and Lake Effect Snow.  Its crazy.  I drive slow, and shovel TONS of snow (okay.... David shovels tons of snow and I thank my lucky stars he hasn't asked for help yet..) and I actually USE my 4 wheel drive in order to get up the driveway.  Its insane.  But its Michigan weather.  So I embrace it :)  And look forward to the days of building snowmen with my children.  :)  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Confession (AND NUMBERS!)

There is something you should know about my husband.  He is amazing, and handsome, and wonderful.  AND he loves superheroes.  Superheroes of all kinds.  He loves the movies, and t-shirts and the comic books.  The websites that tell about movies coming up, and who's playing who, and the break off shows like Smallville that tell the tale of Superman before he was super.

It's a love he shares with his brother and dad.  It's endearing, unless you are the one walking with them from one end of Chicago to another to get to the best comic book stores.  And then waiting in a sketchy store with nowhere to sit or stand without touching somebody else while they peruse the shelves for a great superhero adventure.

And I'm quite confident it's a love he is dying to share with our child as well.  So when I asked him how to "share" our November numbers with the world wide web, he suggested I look up issue numbers from Superman comics.   It's not the clearest way to share the numbers, because its not a super huge number for you to view... you have to look in the top left hand corner to find out...  But I suppose our new numbers are hidden on the cover much like a superhero often must hide his powers.  (Yeah - that was a weak stretch... sorry.)

So here they are... November numbers :)  Note the HUGE jumps... and celebrate with us!

For Girls we are number:

For Boys we are number:

For Siblings we are number:

Do YOU love auctions?

 Remember the AMAZING action we had here?

Remember how fun it was to bid, and try and win your favorite items?

And remember how great it was that you knew the money you were spending was going towards adopting families, and bringing home babies?

Well, then I've got some great news for you.  Worthy of the Prize is having an adoption auction that goes live tomorrow!  And they are even auctioning off one of our super cute T-shirts!  Check out Worthy of the Prize to see the awesome items they are auctioning off!  Its a great place to go for some Christmas ideas, AND some of the proceeds come our way!  Thanks Worthy of the Prize!!

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween!  Enjoy this AMAZING pumpkin my father in law carved!  He is a pumpkin carving genius.  And this one is my favorite.

Creme Brulog

My brother in law and his fiance have a SUPER cool blog called Creme Brulog.  They live in Chicago, and spend countless hours traveling the city searching for the best Creme Brulee they can find :)  So they eat, and they critique the Brulee's according to various expectations.  And here is our take on there super fun blog :)

Today David and I got an early dinner with David's parents.  We went to this new place in Holland called Salt & Pepper.  Our dinners were quite delicious.  And then we noticed Creme Brulee on the desert menu.  So of COURSE we ordered it.  

Mary was at first very excited by the fruit on top.  She knew that was one thing Brian often looks for in a good Creme Brulee.  But she was disappointed by the strawberry.  She gave the Creme Brulee a 2.5 out of 5.

David thought that the sugary top was nice and crunchy, but was disappointed at the temperature of the custard.  It was cold.  He gave the Creme Brulee a 2 out of 5.

I agreed with the temperature being all wrong.  The top was somewhat warm from the crunchy sugar top, but the rest of cold.  BUT I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of the custard.  It was quite delightful.  Plus, I just love deserts. So it gets a 3 out of 5 from me.

David's dad was going to order pie, but there was only pumpkin pie.  NOT his favorite.  So he opted out of desert.  Lucky for him... I had some Halloween candy in my purse.  And it just happened to be his favorite candy :)  I'm pretty sure he gave the candy a 5 out of 5.

And thus concludes the Stepping Stones version of Creme Brulog!