The Crazy Catch-up Post

Hello there.  I haven't been blogging regularly for a while now.  Our life has been a tad busy lately.  Let's see.  Within the last week, we moved from the city where we lived for eleven years.  We bought a new house.  And last, but definitely not least, traveled to China to adopt our daughter Norah!  So needless, to say, blogging has taken the back burner for quite some time as we prepared for all these life changes.  While I would love to tell you more about the move and our new house, that will have to wait.  We are in full adoption mode so I will just give you the abbreviated version of how we ended up sitting in a hotel room in Beijing, China.

We received our travel approval on July 3rd.  However, we still need to wait for our travel dates based on visa appointments available from the U.S. Consulate.  We received confirmation July 12th that we would be able to travel.  Several days later, we received our in-country itinerary and were able to book flights leaving July 31st.  We were already scheduled to close on our new house on July 30th, so we were cutting it close.  Thankfully, we were vigilant in completing paperwork, had a great real estate broker and lender who put out fires, and were able to stay on track.  So, I quite my job on Friday, we moved on Saturday, closed on our house on Tuesday, and left for China early Wednesday morning.

This left very little time for packing, but fortunately I have a gracious mother who let me spread things on the dining room table and couch so I could pack in an organized fashion.  So far it seems the only thing I forgot to pack was my foundation and I was able to find a bottle of over-priced Maybelline at an department store in Beijing.  It was difficult to know what exactly to pack, so I am keeping a running list of what has been important to have and what has been extra weight.  That way I will know for next time!

We kissed our baby girls good-bye at 4:45am and arrived in Beijing at 9:45pm the next day.  We flew from LAX to Seoul, Korea and then to Beijing, China.  Flying with Korea Air was a great experience.  If you have to be on a plane for twelve and a half hours at one time, you should definitely be on one where they provide hot towels before dinner.  By the time we arrived at our hotel, we had been up for about twenty-four hours and ready for a good nights sleep!

Waiting to Leave for Seoul

After a full night's sleep, we felt like new people.  Well, almost!  So, now you know how we came to be in a hotel in Beijing, China.  I will post more on what we have been doing the last couple of days tomorrow.