T-shirt fundraiser

I haven't posted an adoption update in a while because, well, there's not much to report! But, if I did post an update it would go a little something like this:

Every night I lay in bed thinking about paperwork. Correction. Pretty much every waking moment somewhere in the back of my mind you can bet I'm thinking about paperwork. Paperwork to gather, paperwork to get notarized, documents to create, what items can I check off the seemingly never-ending list that compiles our homestudy and dossier. Apparently, I'm slightly overwhelmed by paperwork. The pimples that are showing up on my face serve as proof to this. Yet, at the same time, I'm thankful for this paperwork. I'm thankful that each document gathered, each form notarized, each item checked off the list is one step closer to our little girl!

With that being said, we're meeting with our social worker for the first time on Saturday, our homestudy is coming up, and we're hoping to be able to submit our dossier by the end of the year at the latest.

Mark and I are so excited to officially announce our first fundraiser! Our hope and prayer is to raise enough funds to help offset some of our upcoming adoption expenses by selling some awesome t-shirts!We've been working with a great company called Fund the Nations who has helped us to create the most perfect t-shirts.

By purchasing a shirt (or two!) you're helping us get one step closer to our sweet girl, AND you're getting an awesome t-shirt that will promote adoption awareness and can serve as a reminder to pray for our family whenever you wear it! I'd say it's a win-win situation.

So here they are, the shirt designs! We will be taking pre-orders from August 20-September 5.

All pre-orders must be submitted to us and paid for by Friday, September 5, 2014. Once all pre-orders are received, we will be placing the order and the shirts will be shipped to us. If you are local (Glendale and surrounding Phoenix area) we will arrange delivery or pick-up. Otherwise, shipping will be a flat $4 fee per order. You can expect to have your shirts by mid-late September.

How to order:

1. Choose your t-shirt design (1 or 2), style (scoop neck or v-neck), and size.
2. Place your order one of many ways:
1. Send an email to megansalonga {at} gmail {dot} com with your order information.
2. Send either Mark or myself a message on Facebook
3. Comment on our t-shirt pictures on either Facebook or Instagram
4. Leave a comment on this blog post
3. We will send you an email confirming your order.

Pricing/Style/Sizing:

• Adult T-shirts will be $20 (plus $4 for shipping if you are not local to the Glendale/Phoenix area) for sizes XS-XXXL. Both designs 1 and 2 can be ordered as a traditional scoop neck (as shown in image) or v-neck for no additional cost. Please specify the type of neck line you would like. Otherwise, we will assume you are ordering scoop neck.
• The t-shirt itself is very soft, so it is a little thinner than your normal t-shirt, and a bit more fitted (some people say they run small, but it is just a more fitting shirt). Please keep this is mind when ordering, as some may want to order a size up. 
• Children's sizes (2T-youth sizes) will be available for $15

**UPDATE - A few people have shown some interest in getting one of the designs as a racerback style of shirt. If you are interested in this, please contact me ASAP and let me know which design preference you have so I can put you on a waiting list. We need to reach at least 13 shirts to place an order. Once I have 13 people on the list, I will look and see which design is the majority, as we can only do one of the designs. I will then contact everyone on the waiting list to finalize your order. **

Payment:

• Cash in person
• PayPal - You do not need a PayPal account in order to pay. Once you tell me your order, I will send you an invoice via email and from there, you can pay with a credit card.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all!

Remember to keep our family in your prayers. Thanks so much for your support and love! 

On life, homeschooling, and wait...WHAT?!?

Yes, my friends, you've read that right...

Ind*an adoption. As in, we're adopting from Ind*a!!

Before Mark and I got married, we dreamed about our family. How many kids would we have, what their little personalities be like, would they look like their Filipino daddy, or would they take after their half Ecuadorian, half white girl mama? But, we've always had it in our hearts to adopt. For us, adoption has never been an "if", but rather, a matter of "when".

As some of you may know, the past year has been one of the most trying years that we've endured since being married (I'll save that for a whole separate post), but it's also been one of the most faith growing years of my life. I've always had a strong faith in Christ, but I thank God for this past year (as crazy as that may sound) because its gotten me to this place of completely trusting in God's plan for my life, even if it involves loss, sickness, struggle, and pain. I can look back and see His hand print in every single moment of it. His timing is perfect!

Lately, we have really felt a calling that our "when" is now! We've spent the last month in serious prayer, sought Biblical council, prayed some more, talked to other adoptive families, prayed about it, researched agencies and countries, prayed a little lot more...well, you get the idea.We really wanted to make sure that calling we were feeling to act now was not out of our own desires (although we really do want this to happen), but that we were in line with God's will for our life.

So, we're excited to announce that we're officially in the adoption process!! It's going to be a long journey, but we can't wait for the day we get to bring our little girl home to her forever family!

As you may or may not know, adoption is super expensive. Like $25-30,000 expensive. But we know that since God has called us to this, that he will provide the funds to bring home our daughter. To help with some of the costs, we will be announcing a t-shirt fundraiser in the next couple of weeks (because who doesn't love an awesome t-shirt), and we're going to be having a huge garage sale in October and would be more than happy to accept donations of your "stuff" to sell!

Please be praying for our family as we go through this long process...it's going to take a village.