Officially Waiting

The profile books came in a day early. I looked through one and loved it. I was not sure how it would look in print which is not the same as the screen. My text was 16pt which sounds really large so I was not sure how it would come out. It was great. I figured that if someone was not a good reader a large font would be inviting. Of course DH finds a spelling mistake that I made. It was in a title and I  wrote Altanta, erggh so I was really upset for about a minute and debated about reprinting them. Then I thought abut the money and time I would waste and just ignored it.

I drove over to the agency and I handed her my profile books.  Even though my agency is national, it seems that they focus on the states in their local area. She wanted 5 books for the 3 offices in my state and one in two  other states. So for now it seems that I could travel to one of three states, but they are all close enough to drive to.

I wanted to get her impression of my book and get on her good side. We had a great chat that lasted for almost 45 min. She loved our book. The cover is blue with white swirls and we are wearing blue outfits.... honestly that was not planned but it looks nice. She went through and oohed and ahhed over it. It made me feel great. She loved the colorful backgrounds. We made the left and right pages the same color but then we made every two pages a different color. I used, purple, blue, yellow, green, and pink.

I have lots of pictures so if someone just looks at it you can still get a good idea. The SW said she can tell that we are happy, and have lots of hobbies. She did not catch the spelling error. =) I did provide text for those who wanted to learn more, but since the text is 16pt it is not as much as you might think.

I am very excited to announce that we are officially waiting to get matched.

I ordered My Books

My DH's friend came through for us with a couple photo from their wedding. I was so happy bc it was a nice photo of us outside. YEAH  Then I had my best friend edit the book for spelling, grammar etc. Then we looked it over again. I made a few small changes.

I got to the point where I had to just order them before I went mad worrying about it. Shutterfly usually has coupons, so I found one for 30% off, free shipping, and free upgrade to expedited shipping. The SW wanted 5 copies, so I ordered another one for us to keep bc you never know who you might run into. Each book was $30, plus tax and shipping. I put in all the codes to see what would happen. The 30% and free shipping both came off. Then I saw that free shipping could take 2-3 weeks.

I decided to use the upgrade for expedited shipping instead of free. I paid $30 for the shipping but it should get here on August 15.  I am so excited!!!! I will drive the books over to the agency the day I get them.

Today I also got a completed final draft of the home study in the mail. They sent me one to keep, and one to sign and return. HMMM that is interesting that they needed a signed copy all along bc I have requested this document about four times. I will just bring it to them when I deliver the books.

So now I can relax for a few days. =)

First Draft of Profile Book

The indecision of not knowing what agency to go with was giving us too much anxiety. I finally put my foot down and made DH sign the contract. I told him that I know he will mourn the $8,000 bc we spent years sacrificing to save up that money for our down payment on our dream home. He started to list all the things we could do with that money. We talked about how taking out a car loan for $10,000 and making payments on it is different than giving up you worked hard to save. It is also hard bc we are not guaranteed to get anything for that money, so it feels like we are gambling and we are not gamblers.

I mailed the contract in the next day so we could not think about changing our minds. So I feel relieved and excited to say that we have officially contracted with our agency. There is no turning back now.

I finally finished the first draft of my profile book. Then I had to get up the nerve to submit it to the SW. After the way I was treated at my house, I have been really unsure of myself. I sent in the book and the next day she said it was nice. She only gave one little suggestion but it may take me a few days to fix it.

On the cover I put two separate photos of us instead of a couple. I did this on purpose bc  they were our best and most recent photos. It has been really hard to get an updated couple shot. I have tried many times in the past year. Everyone had a couple shot on the cover, so I wanted to stand out. The SW wants us to have a couple photo.

I don't have any that are current and nice. The photo has to be nice since it is on the cover. DH's friend got married last year, so I asked his wife to locate a good photo of us. If that does not work, we are heading to sears to get a professional photo done.

How do you like my new blog design? I was on the waiting list for two months. She is great and very affordable. I just gave her a quick idea of what I wanted and she came up with the design on the first try. I wanted something cheery.