Thanks!

Hi all! Thanks so much to everyone who is shopping Amazon and ordering Ross Roast through our blog! We've also received so many e-mails and FB messages checking in on us and asking about the adoption process. We love your interest in us and how this crazy process works!

This week, we were able to finalize round one of paperwork and funding. We've submitted everything to AWAA and are now waiting to be assigned to our home study agency and meet our social worker. Our next steps will include preparing our house for the home study. Our house is anything but kid-ready. All we need are outlet plugs, right?

Jimmy and I have both just finished up another school year. He's officially on summer break and hanging out with his brother, Thomas. We've been watching movies, staying up too late, and swimming. I, however, am back to work on Monday to finish up grades and settle in to summer slowly. Our BIG summer adventures involve hanging out in Pasadena and planning for at least one trip to Ethiopia next year.

Happy Summer!
Jimmy and Celeste


PS. Melissa Fay Greene's There Is No Me Without You was one of the first books that we read about Ethiopian adoption. If you are interested in learning more, you should definitely read it.

Coffee and Baby Ellie

Hi all! Thanks for supporting us through all of your amazon purchases! You are the greatest! We wanted to let you know about another fantastic opportunity to help.

Our incredibly generous friend Ross, CEO of Ross Roast Coffee, has offered to partner with us in our adoption journey. Ross will donate 50% of every bag of Ross Roast Coffee that is purchased from our supporters to the Ellie Fund.

Ross has a plethora of coffee options from all over the world, including a number of organic options. He hand-roasts all of his coffee beans so that they are never roasted before a customer places an order. It is definitely some of the freshest and most flavorful coffee that you will ever experience. 

You and your friends can order through http://www.rossroast.com/. When ordering, please note that you are ordering for the Ellie Fund. Again, thanks for your support!

Love,

Jimmy and Celeste

Diving Head-first into Fundraising

We’ve only dabbed our toes into the waters of adoption, and I have found myself stretched and uncomfortable in so many ways. For an introvert who can’t be measured by Myers Briggs, I find this process way too public. We’ve submitted every possible detail of our financial life to strangers on the other side of the country, and we’re waiting for a complete stranger to come visit us to decide if we are fit parents or not. This sort of nakedness in front of strangers feels much more comfortable than the unchartered world of building a fundraising network. I am not a fundraiser. I don’t ask for help. It’s a fault, I know. So, for the baby girl who will be waiting for us on the other side of the world, I swallow my pride.
 

For those of you who don’t know, over the next year or so we will need about $30,000 to finalize our adoption. We’ve saved some, but will need nothing short of a miracle to close the gap between what we have and what we need.  So, despite my hesitations, Jimmy and I have been working on a fundraising plan. Jimmy has been dreaming up ideas for how we can supplement our incomes to bring home Baby Ellie sooner.

Our first step is turning this blog into a source of income. You’ll notice more ads and links to Amazon.com. If you link to Amazon through our site and make a purchase, we will earn a percentage of your purchase. So, if you are a regular Amazon shopper, please link to their site through ours. If not, you really can buy about anything on Amazon, so link through our blog and see what you can find.

Love,

Jimmy and Celeste