Quick! Make me laugh!!!

Hello friends!
Well, here I am on a Tuesday night. And, I can't believe it is only TUESDAY! I feel like this week has already lasted 100 days.
I think part of that is because Travis and I are feeling a little worn out with waiting. We were told to expect news around the first of the year.  But, alas we wait and wait and wait.
I find myself refreshing my email about 20 times a day. It is extremely frustrating. And, this week, I am finding myself a little (or maybe a lot) down in the trenches about it.

I try realllllllllyyyy hard to stay positive! But, between the waiting game, my car breaking down (looks to be about $1,000 or more worth of damage) and some other random daily annoyances...my shell is beginning to crack. Oh, and Travis is sick. Did I mention that??

I guess what I want people to know is that this waiting is so hard. Unlike with a pregnancy, you are not able to place the time on a calendar when you child will arrive in your arms. Everything is out of you control. My heart wants to pick out baby room colors and fabrics and furniture. But, my mind knows I can't do that yet.
My heart wants to scream HURRY UP! to our adoption agency, but my mind knows that isn't acceptable.
My heart aches so much sometimes, that it tells my mind to be negative and grumpy. And at times, it really does feel like the pieces of this crazy puzzle will never come together.

But, seriously, after a hard day of worrying myself into a sick stomach, I know my time is coming. I know our time is coming. A time to love, live and grow with our new family. And, something else...
After going through this journey for nearly a year and a half now, I can say that I have learned ONE HUGE IMPORTANT THING= EMPATHY!

Never have I looked at people and their life situations like I do now. My mind and heart are much more open to lives unlike mine. I feel a genuine desire to listen, with an open ear. I feel it is my duty to pay it forward. And, I will pay it forward, long after our journey is complete.

Life is precious, isn't it??! It makes it so much easier to let go of all the silly things, when you have such a large worry occupying your heart. And, that for me, has been a good thing.

I've become so much more adaptable!! And, I've been known to be a stickler for schedules :)-
 The universe is preparing me for a crazy-ass toddler!!

So, quick! IF you have someway to make me laugh, say it! Do it! If you can make someone else laugh, please do that too!!! We are all in this together...this thing called LIFE :)

Happy Holidays

Wanted to wish you all a happy holiday and well wishes for the New Year. Posts are few and far between because there is mostly just waiting and wishing until we have good news to report. (And even then, there will be lots more agonizing wait time.)

It is very likely that we'll have news to report before the New Year, or at least soon after.

The waiting is soooooo difficult, but the thought of being matched with our child and being able to announce it to the world would be the most fitting Christmas gift/moment. But if it doesn't happen before Christmas, it will happen soon after and we can't wait to share the news.

Sarah bought a recordable book today that we recorded our voices on and will eventually send to our baby. Things are really starting to move along, but all we can do is wait and look forward to the day we can share our baby's name, picture and life with our friends and family.

Until then, we're thinking of all of you this holiday season.

"Rock" The Adoption = A massive success!

Well, we had our first fundraiser last week, and it was awesome!!
Special thanks to the bands, friends and others who came out to make our night such a success!!!

We also sold all but 3 of our Tshirts!!

We are thinking about possibly throwing another fundraising party in NKY sometime next year.

Right now, our life is a bunch of paperwork. What's new?!
I told someone the other day, "If you had to fill out this much paper work to birth a child, we'd have no children on the Earth!!"

We hope to have some great news to report soon! We are PATIENTLY waiting on a referral of a child.

We still have our PO box open for anyone who has expressed interest in donating.
You can also mail donations to:
405 Lyndon Lane
Louisville, KY 40222

Rock the Adoption for Baby Hubbard less than 2 weeks away ...

All the details are finalized and we are only 12 days away from a night we promise will be fun. Admission is only $10 and between 7 and 8 p.m. there will be complimentary food served on a first come, first served basis.

We have two bands playing Thursday, Nov. 10, at Cosmic Charlie's in Lexington. The first is Sarah's dad and his band, Sons of the Frigidaires, at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.). During their set, there will be members of several other native bands of Lexington sitting in to do some of their old songs, including members of Exile, Swing Street, The Bats and The Johnson Brothers.

Then, Adam Zopfi's band, The Wonder Years, will cap the night off around 10 p.m.. If you love the 80s and 90s, come see this band!! They'll play until at least 11.

We appreciate all these musicians donating their time and talent to our cause. They're all great friends and among the most talented musicians in Lexington. Food has also been donated by Billy's Bar-B-Q. And if you are interested we have event T-shirts, thanks to Matt Browning and Surge Promotions, on sale for $20.

So, come have dinner with us and hang out! It will be a memory we can share with our future son or daughter that will last its lifetime.

Dreaming so...

Ive been one big ball of emotions and nerves for the past two or three days.

Travis and I were told we should expect your referral any day now. Wow.

Could it be? A picture of you, our baby? Is it this close to being real?

So hard to imagine. Yet, as real as the air around me.

I got nervous the other night thinking of all the ways my life will change when you come along. No more mornings of peace and quiet. No more laying on the couch with just my own thoughts on a Saturday afternoon. No more time to just hang with my travis and love each other.

then my worries got worse ...

Will Travis still love me the way he has for 10-plus years? Will my parents and his parents ever want to hear about our successes again? Or will our lives just evaporate into the cool night air? A life gone and replaced with a cute, chubby toddler who won the hearts of those we love?

I worried and worried. Will I teach you all the things you need to know? Will you love me right away? Will I bond with you? Will we LIKE each other???  Will I be a good mother???
My girlfriends say "Oh, those feelings are so normal!" "Everyone worries!"
But I still couldn't calm down.
Finally...ARE WE MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE?
And the answer? We just have to go with our hearts on this one. Everything you do the first time is new and stingy...and beautiful and hard...and challenging and refreshing.
What I hope for and pray for and ask for and dream for is that you and I will just click. That our hearts, minds and bodies will just melt into each other. And, it will feel like you've been a part of me forever. I want to know I'll be your biggest fan.

I know this might be wishful thinking, but I have to be wishful. The fear of an adoption working out is the biggest fear I've ever known. It is so scary.
I never stop thinking about it, but there are days I have to give my mind a rest. I have to think only of good things...of places in the heart that are made only for love.

Of places where little fingers grasp mine and little cheeks rest on my chest. Of places where I watch my husband become an even better man as he cares for a tiny human being with a love he's never known. of places where our family meets the chance to love a child who didn't come from our bloodline, but from love none the less.
Of places where I will struggle as your mother, but linger with happiness in our successes together.

Of places where our life shifts, sways and bends, but never breaks. I'm dreaming of these places with you.

Latest Update From Korea

Travis and I just got our Oct. update.
We get these monthly from our adoption agency.
Korea is getting ready to stop handing out EPs for this year. That means only a select few more families will get to travel this year to pick up a child, and we aren't on that list.

We didn't expect to travel, but still that puts us into 2012.

So, now all we can do is wait for Decemeber, and HOPE we get our baby referral.

The update also informed us that most children are now 9 months old when referred and 18-24 months when brought home from Korea. Also, not a surprise. But, ALSO, hard to accept at this point.

Best case, we will be referred an 8 month old and get to pick them up within the year. That would put our baby at 20 months old or younger.

We also now have our P.O. box for donations to help bring our babe home!!
Here it is:

Sarah Zopfi/Travis Hubbard
P.O. Box 22051
Louisville, KY 40222

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

-Sarah

Been a long time ... But we're gonna Rock 'N Roll!!!

We know it's been a while since this blog had any attention -- almost two months to be exact. So, Sarah and I offer our apologies to those that may have been wondering or curious about updates.

But, to be honest, there really hasn't been much to update. That's the most frustrating part of the adoption process. You fill out a bunch of paperwork, write a few hefty checks, and wait. And then you wait some more.

Plus, the last couple of months have been extremely busy with plenty of Hubbard and Zopfi family joys to make us forget about some of that frustration.

My brother, Todd, and his wife gave birth to their first baby, Brody, on Aug. 5. And as of Oct. 16 you can all officially refer to me as The Godfather. You will be contractually obligated to do so.

Sarah and I also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and 10th overall anniversary on Sept. 9 and 10.

Then, this past weekend we celebrated the wedding of Sarah's brother, Adam, to his long-time girlfriend Lindsay.

It's been a very fun and eventful two months, and we're so happy for Adam, Lindsay, Todd and Danielle. But, we still wait, and wait, and wait.

We did finish our USCIS application, which was approved. It grants our baby the ability to enter the country when we can finally have them escorted or pick them up. We also never pursued a domestic adoption after our first near match. We definitely considered it and haven't ruled it out should any other complications arise with Korea. But we feel we're so vested in this process and that ultimately it's still the most predictable and -- at this stage -- quickest path to adoption. We really don't like the prospect of starting over.

And we're still looking at probably December or late November, at the earliest, before we receive a referral. Then it could be another 9 months or a year before we are able to meet and bring home our baby unless the process speeds up.

But we finally do have some big news, and this is where the Rock 'n' Roll reference applies, and you can help.

On Nov. 10, a Thursday, in Lexington, we will be hosting a benefit concert as a fundraiser for the adoption at Cosmic Charlie's. For those familiar with Lexington but not Cosmic Charlie's, it's the old Lynagh's Club. Adam's and Wendell's cover bands will be performing, and a third local band from Lexington may also be performing. We'll have food and maybe some silent auction items, plus the club is providing everything but drinks for free, although those will be available. Doors will open at 7 p.m. with music beginning at 8 p.m. until ????

There will be a minimum cover charge of $10 per person, but if you would like to or can afford to donate more you can. We'll have a P.O. Box set up for those who can't attend but want to help.

If you can read this, then you're invited, and if you know someone else who would like to come, invite them. Every dollar helps, and we thank you all so much for your encouragement and support.

Here are details Sarah posted to her Facebook Events page:

WHAT: Adoption fundraiser to help us raise money to complete our adoption!

WHO: Any friends, family or kind souls who would like to have a good time rocking and rolling while donating to a WONDERFUL cause!

DETAILS: Doors open at Cosmic Charlie's at 7 p.m. There will be several local bands playing that night, as well as a light dinner served.
You can bring your family (over 21) and friends, and enjoy some great music and drinks!

Cover charge will be $10 per person at the door. Anyone who desires to make a larger additional donation can do so at the door via cash or check.

*If you are unable to attend, but would like to make a donation anyway, we will be creating a P.O. box address soon where donations can be sent.

SPECIAL NOTE: Travis and I have already been showered with so much love and support during this long process. We hope to see all of you on this special night. And one day, we will be able to tell our child all about the people who loved him/her before even meeting him/her...the wonderful people who helped bring our baby into our lives! THANK YOU!!!

-Travis