Toshi Koshi Soba

Black Friday, White Saturday

Finally, the first actual snowfall of the year. Of course the mountains have been getting snow already, but up there and down here are completely different.

Black Friday, White Saturday

Finally, the first actual snowfall of the year. Of course the mountains have been getting snow already, but up there and down here are completely different.

Monkey Munch Time

Time for some tasty tasties to start off the holiday season.

YUM.

More waiting!

Just a quick update on our adoption.

We have completed our homestudy, immigration paperwork and most of our dossier. We still have to receive our immigration approval before our dossier can be sent to the Japanese embassy. We are keeping our fingers crossed that our approval will come soon.

Yesterday we met with our Japan adoption coordinator in California. We were anticipating a long wait before our referral, but we were told that we need to be ready to travel soon after we receive the phone call, which could as soon as a couple months. We were really excited when we heard the news. We are now getting ready for our trip out to Japan and also starting our nursery for the new baby.

Our trip out to California was really short and we are both tired from lack of sleep but we feel that the trip was well worth it.

Today we had a long day of adoptive parenting class at our homestudy agency. It was long but we did learn a lot.

New dining room table and plant

Things are finally coming together after we got a new dining room table. We had a slightly more formal table in the kitchen and it just didn't seem right. We we got something more casual instead. Also we went to HomeDepot yesterday and found a plant for sale. So we just had to get one. Hopefully the kitchen looks a little bit better than it did before.

Boulder Falls

Another Lightning Shot

It's been a while since my last chance at capturing some lightning on camera, but this time I was able to. Sadly, it had to be from an upstairs window as it was pouring out.

For reference, here was my awesome, yes I said "Awesome!", shot from about 2 years ago.

4 Year Anniversary!

It was 4 years ago that Jeff and I got married. I can't believe how time flies!

The first year was really special and we went all out with our grooms cake and all but this year we're just going out to dinner. There is this place called The Keg in downtown Denver that serves great steaks. Gotta get the baked potato too!

New Homestudy Agency!

So we finally contracted with a new agency here in Colorado. Gosh, that was a really expensive lesson we just learned, but hopefully things will go smoother from here on out. We were so close to being done with the other agency so this sets us back a little, but not by much. Had we realized too late about the costs and issues related to the finalization, I think that would have set us back quite a bit.

So it's back to the paperwork again, but now that it's just retranscribing the information, it's not too bad.

Who done it?

Yesterday we went out shopping for 4 hours and got back just in time for a walk. Jeff got the dogs ready to go by putting on their collars and leashes. To our suprise the leather leash that we used on Ryder was split into two pieces. Someone sat in the dining room chewing the leash while we were gone.

Here is the leash:

Who was it? Bella or Ryder?

More Paperwork

Jeff and I managed to get our fingerprints to send to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation yesterday. That was fun. I can't remember the last time I had my fingerprints taken.
I think I had to get them before entering the school system. Anyways, so we should be ok for Colorado and now it's time to get clearances from California.

Lake Isabelle and Pawnee Pass

Here are some images from the hike I went on today to Lake Isabelle and Pawnee Pass in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. I accidentally left my camera memory card at home, doh. So I was limited to the in-camera memory available... a measly 8 Mb. That doesn't get you much.

Here is Isabelle Lake...

After the lake I decided to head up to Pawnee Pass. There is a lot of melt this year due to the record snowfall. You can see some of the results of that here...

And here looking down...

As I went up higher I took some shots as I approached the Continental Divide.

And decided to look back down upon Isabelle Lake.

And here is another shot of the Continental Divide. It was a bit cooler and windy once you get up into the open tundra above tree line. I think Isabelle Glacier is there somewhere.

Till another hiking day...

Shino Goes Back To Work

The day has finally arrived. I will be starting a new job as of Monday the 28th of July. It's been quite nice to be able to stay at home and get tons of lab testing and doctor's appointments whenever I wanted. I'm really grateful for that. I don't think I would have had the opportunity without being laid off.

Now it's time to make some money so that we're not butt poor to do anything. I will be working as a Regulatory Associate (contractor) at a company called Covidien. They market and distribute medical products and my division will be concentrating on respiratory solutions. I hope this job will open new doors and perhaps even meet some cool people. The company is located in Boulder so it's quite nice. The commute isn't all that bad, no freeway traffic just local roads. I did encounter a tractor at one point which slowed me down but it didn't bother me too much.

Here is the website for Covidien: http://www.covidien.com

I think this will be a big transition for me, Jeff and the dogs. The dogs will not like the fact that they can't go out to the backyard whenever they feel like it.

Finally, A New Start for the Neimas!

Hi everyone! Sorry we've been out of touch. We have been going through many fertility issues causing us pain, emotionally and physically. We never thought that we would encounter such issues nor did we ever imagine that we would end up adopting. Adoption is great, but the idea never crossed our minds till now. Throughout our journey we've cried, screamed and pitched fits, but now we've attained closure. So we're finally ready to take the next step. Finally!

We have decided to adopt from Japan through a small agency in CA. Adopting from Japan is pretty rare since the birthrate in Japan is pretty low and there are few agencies that have a Japan program. I hear the process can have emotional ups and downs, but after all that we have been through, I think we'll be able to handle it and can't wait!

We just started the application process and have a long way to go with the homestudy and dossier. Overall, looking at the big picture, paperwork and documentation is not that big a deal.

Thanks to all that have been supportive and understanding.

Shino and Jeff