1.  If we only knew that there was sooooo much paperwork involved in the adoption process for Russia before we got started......we still would have chosen this journey!!!  What are hours of chasing all sorts of paperwork, getting documents notarized, apostilled, redone, making multiple copies, numerous trips to the post office and FedEx and so on......compared to the opportunity to be a family to a child(ren) who has none.  Every moment is totally worth the blessing to be a family to the children God has for us.  So, more paperwork requirements we need to work on over the next month or two.....bring it on!

2.  Hey, I have been blessed with a new friend - Melissa!   I met her by following some blogs and she is also adopting from Russia!   So we can exchange stories and encouragement through our journeys. Check out her blog and see what is happening with her too.  She's awesome!

3.  I also joined the group Friends for Adoption with Melissa.  October is officially the first month.  In this fun little group, we pair up and exchange a little goodie of encouragement with our friend.  (And who couldn't use some encouragement?)  Check out what I received from Melissa this weekend.  I LOVE IT!!!!

4.  Have you heard about the major floods in Thailand? Here's an article about it. Some very good Christian friends of ours are currently living in Thailand. They recently emailed us and said that although the situation is devastating the area, they are thankful to be a part of a local church that is helping those in the community who are displaced.

5. The best kind of "home made" brownies are the Ghiradeli box mix.  You can buy a big multi-pack box from Costco to make sure you always have some on hand for those times when you get a craving and need a brownie fix.  I love how they have little chunks of chocolate in them....yum!

6. I recently signed up for Groupon and purchased some great deals on car washes and maintenance.  Haven't used them yet but it seems like they could end up being some great money-saving deals!  Are others out there getting some good deals with them?

7. I'm thankful to have come across the "miscellany monday" group started by a new friend at lowercase letters and to be able to join the group!  I'm not very creative and we don't have much happening with our adoption process right now other than MORE paperwork and more waiting and fundraising.  So miscellany monday gives me a platform to write some random thoughts (and I have PLENTY of those...just ask Dean).

Happy Monday!