WOW?

The fact that I haven't blogged since I moved to Chattanooga is beyond me----we are hear obviously and LOVING it. It feels so great to be back in Chattanooga for me, and awesome for Corey to be in a new place. Of course we miss our friends in Asheville - but luckily we have family here to keep us company.

We have moved along in the adoption process - did our self study, had our individual interviews, couples interview, both our doc appointments and have our homestudy scheduled for Oct. 17th (wish us luck) Seems to be moving along quite well - just looking forward to getting all the paperwork done and sent off. We are hoping to have the dossier (paperwork) off by Christmas - then we are looking at 12-14 months from there for a referral. What a wait, eh?

I will keep you posted on our world - thanks for checking in!

Love,
Tobi and Corey

Birthday/Anniversary Weekend

What an incredible weekend - it started out with my parents coming for their annual July Art show at the Civic Center - with their friend Jim (an artist). It was a little bittersweet knowing this would be the last time we would live here for the show! So Friday night I had a surprise birthday party for Corey - it was incredible. 15 of our favorite people - it was perfect. Saturday I spent the whole day with my best friend Danielle, her mom and her boyfriend Rich - we did lunch, went to the show - then they joined us for a dinner celebration with my family at Carabba's. Sunday Corey did his 64 mile bike race and rocked it! Nellie and I got to be there to see him "run" in - right at the end his bike had some issues! Then Monday Corey and I spent the day together -and that night we went to Gabrielle's for our 4th year in a row. It was a fantastic way to end the long weekend. I am an incredibly lucky young lady! Here are 2 pictures to share from Corey's bday party.

Isn't it ironic?

So we have officially sold our house - to the people we prayed it would be. After three offers, 2 with contingencies - our favorites got it! And ironically the family has a beautiful chinese adopted girl - and also a biological daughter. It is so special to us to have a family that has gone through what we are going through be the new owners of our home. Well today they came over to look at the house - and the two little girls had never seen the actual house - just pictures. Their names are Chloe and Jo - and they are both 6 years old (the mom got pregnant during the adoption) and just 2 peans in the pod. Well they had already picked out rooms from the pictures -and Jo (the little chinese girl) picked the room that was going to be Ivey's nursery! It just brought chills to me....and the sweetest thing of all is they brought us a gift from China - an adorable pair of little girls shoes (see attached picture). Needless to say I cried - it was a beautiful moment. It feels so wonderful to know our house we be in good hands, and an incredible loving family will have years of happiness in this home we love so much. It looks like we will be moving around Aug. 15th - which when we started thinking about it.....wow that is really close. So we have tons to do to get ready to move! I will hopefully add more later! Thanks for reading!

Chattanooga

Yes it is true....we will be changing our address. . . again. After much thought and consideration we have decided to move to Chattanooga, TN. Moving to Chattanooga will get us closer to family and friends and we will be able to raise our child with my brother's children. We will be closer to my godchildren in Nashville, closer to Corey's family in Memphis, closer to friends in Atlanta. There is a better job market there for Corey - he is SO done with sales, and wants to get back to his roots with IT. Chattanooga has always felt like home to me, even after all I went through there! I am not sure what I will be doing in Chattanooga - I want to keep doing my card/stationary business. I am in the process of getting out of my side of my business. After much heartache, it will be hard, but with the business turning to just flowers it is an easy transition for me. I will miss the retail side, but maybe one day after my child is in school I could try that again - but until then I want to be a mom and have a little side business/job to keep me busy.

So that is our news - if all goes well we will be moving in July. We have found a house we love in Chattanooga - it will be hard to leave our house (hopefully it sells fast!!!) but the house in Chattanooga is a great replacement! We are really looking forward to this new adventure in our lives. Asheville has been good to us - it is just too expensive to live here with no job security. We figure we should do this before we have a child - looks like Asheville was just a 3 1/2 year vacation :).

We appreciate all of you and thank you for your support - will let you know when we are in Chattanooga!

Wow 2 great weekends in a row!

Well this Easter weekend - Corey and I went to my mom and Daddy Bob's in White Pine, TN - as did my brother Erik, Stacy, Rigby and Lucy! We had so much fun!!! We played all day Sunday outside with the little baby pool (needless to change we pretty much all had to change clothes) bubbles, frisbees, and even Nellie got to come out and play with no leash, which is a BIG deal. It was just a great day - as my brother said it felt like we were there so much longer because we had so much fun!!! And of course my highlight was at the end of the trip when Rigby wanted to go home with me....oh how I loved that! So that was my fun Easter - we are one lucky family!!

Just a note: We bought that original Good Luck piece and will put the money in Ivey's account - he of course is making more, but we wanted the first! Erik and Stacy bought one too!!!

Great Weekend!

Just wanted to write about what a wonderful weekend I had in Chattanooga with one of my dearest friends Danielle! We went to Chattanooga for the MS Walk which was on Sat. We did the walk with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew Rigby, niece Lucy and our friends Cope, Jenny and Madison! We went on adventures all over Chattanooga! The walk went great, the time with friends and family was even better. It is just so awesome to see my nephew and niece grow up - I love spending time with them! We couldn't have asked for better weather - lucky girls! Danielle and I stayed in the historic Read House over the weekend and Ribgy came and spent Sat. night with Tobi O Wan and Danielle - it was awesome!! Danielle and I kept saying it was one of the best weekends ever....the only thing missing for me was not having Corey with me! Just wanted to share a great weekend with you! Will hopefully add pics later!

My Daddy Bob

For as long as I can remember I have had the support and unconditional love of my Daddy Bob - he is so good to me and my family....I am so truly lucky to have him. Just a little proof of how awesome he is - check this out. While my mom was gone for the day Daddy Bob made this piece of artwork in honor of our adoption. If you look closely there are "ladybugs" in metal. Ladybugs represent good luck in the world of chinese adoption. Hence the name Good Luck. He is donating all the money to benefit Bringing Home Ivey!
(note: apparently my mom said this picture doesn' t do it justice)

Daddy Bob I love you with all my heart...and I am so glad I will always be your little girl!

So lucky

I know... this post is about my dog! But I am sitting here at my store on a Saturday (which are always dead) and I brought her a long to keep me company - I wish I had a camera to show you how sweet she is laying on her little IKEA Sheepskin Rug (which I would tell anyone to get for their own little dog) next to me. I know that isn't much I just feel so lucky to have my little Nellie around on days like this! Can't imagine what it will feel like to have a baby to be with me everyday!