Hike to the "N"

 Out here in the West, we have a phenomenon called Hillside Letters. Giant letter built on the exposed sides of hills around cities, usually as a outlet for school or municipal pride. Around Reno, we no less than 6 of these letters (5 of them for High Schools). The "N" in the north of Reno is the oldest, originally built in 1913 by UNR students (article).

(shamelessly borrowed from the internet)

Today, Sara and I hiked up to the UNR "N". We started out at Rancho San Rafeal Park, which is just one mile from our house. We walked along side the large pasture used as a dog park (a favorite area of our dogs!) and headed for the tunnel which took us under N McCarran Blvd. From there we followed the nature trail through the riparian area alongside Evan's Creek. Right now, Evan's Creek is just a small stream, since we have had very little moisture this winter. In fact, the last time we were there a month ago, there was barely any water at all. This time, there was at least enough for a 6 year old to have fun exploring, especially the thin skin of ice on the water. She thought that was pretty cool.

Playing in the creek on a beautiful mid-winter day.

 This Riparian area of Rancho San Rafael is a favorite destination of ours. The trees are old and numerous. The creek meanders through. There are trails and fallen logs galore to discover. As an adult, I know that the area it encompasses is rather small. But seeing it through the eyes of my 6 year old, I just know it goes on forever!

Right above Sara's finger is what appears to be a short branch. It is in fact, a Great Horned Owl. To zoom in and see it really well, click the picture. When the viewing gallery comes up, right click the pic and choose "view picture." When the new picture comes up, click on it to zoom in.)

This is our second time seeing the owls here. Last Spring they also nested in this stand of trees. It was amazing that we even saw this bird today since it was camouflaged so perfectly. An older gentleman who was there pointed it out to us.

A rather narrow section of the creek

Nearing the top of the steep ascent to the "N"

The trail leaves the wooded area and heads upstream along Evan's Creek, till there is a cut-off heading up hill (and I do mean UP hill) toward the "N". Along this part of the trail, it is your typical Northern Nevada sagebrush and cheatgrass and is all very brown this time of year.

The white rocks behind Sara are one leg of the "N"

 I did not realize until we were right on top of it that we would not have a good vantage point at which to take a picture with the "N". It is way larger than it seems, and not as pristine as it looks from afar. I probably could have gotten a forced perspective shot which would have looked cool from the bottom of the "N" but did not think of doing it at the time.

Still not very good at self portraits with my new camera.

There was a beautiful rock on which to sit, right at the top of the "N", but it was rather windy up there, and getting on in the afternoon, so it was starting to get chilly. We only stayed for a few minutes, then headed back down (and I do mean DOWN) the hills. 

I did not think to stop sooner, or we could have gotten a better picture.

The trail map at one of the junctions

If you zoom in on the picture (following the directions which are on the owl picture), you might be able to see the "N" on the hills close to Sara and at about the level of the bottom of her ear.

 It looks so very far away in this picture. Further away than it really is. In reality, it's about one and a half miles away. So, all told, we hiked about 3 miles an had a section of very steep ascent and descent. I'd say that's a pretty good afternoon jaunt, especially for a six year old!

This picture makes me laugh because Sara is traversing the fence because she "forgot her acid-proof shoes." So something I would have done as a kid! I had my shoes with me today, obviously.

So, that was our adventure for today. It was a lot of fun. And now as Sara and I look out at the hills and see the "N", we can say, "I've been there!."

One Year Ago...

Long time no hear! I know, I know, you missed me, right? :-) Well, it's getting late and I have to get up early in the morning, but I couldn't let this day slip by without posting something. Today is January 23. Exactly one year ago, on a Sunday morning, Joe got up in front of the church and read our Adoption Declaration to the church. I shared it with you all the next day (you can read it here.)

One year. Where has the time gone? I remember all the uncertainties from a year ago. The impatience. The hopes. Our goal has changed a little in the last year. We are no longer trying to adopt internationally and are looking for our own birthmom. We are not as insecure as we were. And I, for one, am more patient (God's been working on me). But our hopes are still the same.

I remember thinking that a year seemed like a very long time to wait. Now, here it's over and it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye.

For those of you who don't know, we spent the last three months of 2011 doing some intense fund raising. I'm am proud to say that everyone's generosity helped us raise $5,000 so far! That's 50% of our goal in just three months. But it sure did wear me out! I was sick with a bad cold 4 times in those three months! So far, January has been a recouping time for me. Time to get, and stay, healthy, time to get back on track with Sara's Schooling, and time to just have a bit of down time and re-prioritize things. But the month is just about over, and it's time to do some things again.

So, what's next? Well, we'll be doing some more fund raising activities (not as vigorously as we did in the Fall, though!) and I need to contact a few more agencies, etc. I'll be putting out more emails and generally trying to get our name out wherever we can. If any of you know of any resources, please let me know! And, now that we have some money in the bank, it's time to finally apply for those adoption grants. I should have done that before the end of the year in order to fit into the quarterly schedule, but, well, my life was insanely busy and I didn't get to it. So my goal is to apply to as many as I can before this next quarter is over. The biggest thing right now, though, is getting our name out there and finding us a baby. All the money in the world isn't going to do anything if we don't have a baby. So, please keep praying, and I'll check back in with you all when we have any more news.

Funds Update 12/4/11

I know it's been a while since I wrote. What have I been doing since the 14th? Hmmm.... well, I got our Family Profile Books re-printed. THAT was an adventure, let me tell you. On second thought, you really don't want me to go into all of it! I had to take a few days off from everything because I got sick. Then, it was the week before Thanksgiving and time to bake 22 pies (which we sold for $12 each). After Thanksgiving with the family, I took another day off because I got sick - again :-( After recuperating, it was back into the kitchen to can more jams and jellies in preparation for this past weekend. On Friday night I set up my homemade goods display at an In Home Shopping Mall/Craft Fair. Then, on Saturday morning and evening, I set up at two more. And just this morning at church I set up all my goods. It amazes me that every time I set up at church I bring in $100 or more. All told over this weekend, we made about $700! This brings our total as of today up to $4,500! That's 45% of our total goal in just two months! (Yes, I know there's a lot of exclamation points in those last few sentences, but if I were speaking, I'd definitely be excited when relaying that information. ;-)

So, THANK YOU for all your help and donations. Two months ago if you had asked me if we'd have nearly half of our goal by this time, I would have said no way. But you all have been generous beyond all our expectations!

A bit more progress

Well, hopefully I just opened up a lot more possibilities for finding a birth mom or even an already born baby. Today I sent out a emails to a couple of homes for unwed mothers in this area (City of Refuge and Casa de Vida), to a couple of Christian children's homes which are familiar to our church (New Mexico Christian Children's Home and Agape Villages) and to a member of our church who will send out the email to a couple hundred people in churches around the country and maybe even the world. This is something I've been needing to do for a while, and I finally found the "round tuit" I've been missing. (Get it? I finally got "a round tuit" - ie around to it!) Ok, I'm corny, I know. ;-) Oh, I also contacted the Crisis Pregnancy Center here in Reno to ask how to go about getting our info into the right hands in their organization. Wondering about Planned Parenthood, too. They are so pro-abortion, though, I don't know if they would keep family profiles on hand. I know they do refer to adoption agencies if a birth mom wants to adopt out, just don't know about individual families' information. I guess that will take some more looking into.

At any rate, hopefully this will turn over some new leaves and find us a baby!

Funds Update 11/8/11

We are excited to announce that we are just about 1/3 or the way to our goal! We have $3,127 and are still going strong. I am taking a bit of time off from the canning and baking to concentrate on making aprons. But come December, I'll be back into it  making gift baskets, jar gifts, and aprons as well.

Thank you everyone who has donated so far!

Funds Update 11/1/11

Well, we are officially 1/4 of the way to our goal! Wow, $2,500 in just one month! You are are amazing! Remember to keep spreading the word to find us a baby!

Mom, wouldn't it be cool...

After sitting quietly for several minutes while eating her lunch, Sara turned to me and said the following:

"Mom, wouldn't it be cool if when we went to Party City earlier, there was a sign that said no adults allowed, so I went in and saw a baby for sale, only it was free, so I got it and we took it home and adopted it?"

It amazes me the things she thinks about!