The click-click-click of the coaster

As I was getting ready to leave work for the last time before crossing countries, one of my co-workers and closest friends and confidants during this whole wild ride was getting emotional with me.  With both of us taking in what was going to be happening in the next couple weeks, she likened our point of the situation perfectly to the slow click-click-click that you hear right before you reach the top of the roller coaster.  Those little noises hinting that something huge is just ahead.  That any moment is when you plunge through the rest of the ride.  The momentum builds and builds and builds and then you're off!

As of tomorrow, the clicks will be gone and we will be off!  Our SDA (State Department of Adoptions) appointment is October 10th!  Because I get massively motion sick and we wanted an opportunity to get acquainted with our little lady's native land, we will have a couple days to recover and get a bit settled.  It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to be in this beautiful country with so much history and the new culture and gorgeous sights to see.  It will be great to get a quick chance to take a breath and take it in before we begin the hectic schedule of completing our adoption in a whirlwind of a few weeks.
Here is our expected itinerary--
October 6th: spend a full day flying then waiting then flying then waiting then flying again.  Three flights in all to get us where we need to go.  A 4-hour flight, a 7-hour flight and lastly a two-hour flight.  Have I mentioned that I've never flown for more than two hours?  Oh and again, the massively motion sick part.  I will be incredibly glad to have our long travel day over with.
October 7th/8th/9th: Get used to a day-and-night time zone difference! (Insert my own ba-dum-ching! noise at my pun.)  It will be a 7-hour time difference between our home and our temporary "home".  That is a lot of hours!  Also, try to let our stomachs and bodies rebound.  Have I mentioned the motion sickness concern? haha
October 10th: Meet with the SDA and give our official introduction to them.  Who are we and what are we doing here exactly?
October 11th: The official match up day!  This is the day we should be getting our referral from the government that pairs us as potential adoptive parents for Melissa.  Yes, we understand that there is a chance that we may not get matched with her.  It's a slight chance, or risk, if you will, but one we've always known about and been comfortable with.  If God really wants this to happen, he will see it through.  If it's not meant to be, we've done our legwork and there is a reason behind everything, whether we can see it or not.
October 11th/12th: Head out to see Melissa!!!!!  I can't believe I am typing that!  Then, even more surreal, when I look at the date and do the math---that's ONE week!  It all still feels surreal.  I get the feeling that it won't sink in for a while.

So that's what our next week looks like!  I wouldn't have thought in a million years that this is something that we'd be doing--at our age, with our jobs and finances, from so far across the world, with a three year old at home.  But when you get called, you answer.  When you see a picture of a little girl that just absolutely looks and feels like she should be in your family...and then you realize that she doesn't have a family.  She doesn't have anything. Or anyone.  You become her family.

Speaking of family, the wonderful Joanna made it here today and Lily is thrilled!  She has not let her out of her sight since her plane landed I think!  Lily is just so happy to have her here and so are we.  She's been great with Lily and I can tell that they will have a blast together.  In fact, it didn't take long for Lily to gather the two of them in her room and quickly instruct me or Robert to 'go watch a show' aka 'get out of our hair!'  Makes me so happy to see her settle in with Joanna so quickly.

And on one last note, we just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to Black Island Farms!!  We did a post just a few days ago about how quickly our last fundraiser plans had changed.  The wonderful people at Black Island Farms came through for us in a huge way and held a fundraiser weekend for us.  They were able to raise over $1400 for us right before we leave!!!  I don't know if anyone understands just how much they give us helps out but each donation is about enough to bring us to tears so huge ones about take our breath away...just like a roller coaster does.

Pray for our nerves (and our stomachs) on the flight over if you don't mind and our next update will be from Europe!