Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

• ½ cup milk

• ½ cup coffee
• 3 tablespoons pumpkin purée
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar (more to sweeten)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cloves

Add pumpkin purée, milk, and agave nectar to a small pot over medium heat and whisk quickly for about 5 minutes. Add in pumpkin pie spices and vanilla, and continue to whisk. Your spices may not totally dissolve into the milk; if you prefer a smoother texture, use less of the spices, or add it them at the end.

Once the milk is frothy and bubbling, add it to your mug. Pour in the coffee on top, and you're good to go. Of course, there's always the option to add whipped cream and more spices on top for an extra pumpkin-y drink.

This drink is definitely yummy, but doesn't taste as pumpkin-y as I would like, and the cloves are incredibly strong. For the future, I will definitely do less cloves ... maybe some ginger? More pumpkin purée?

In Other News ...

Well. There really is no news. My plan for being on my agency like Flies On You Know What didn't really work out too good. It doesn't matter how much I'm on them if they just avoid ...

After writing that post last Tuesday, I called my agency and I was going to really let her have it. I said my peace, but then ended up crying my head off at the end of the conversation. I partly blame my pending sickness (double ear ache/infection that had me down for about 3 days) for that part. She ensured me that she understood the urgency, and that she would be working on "Ecuador" stuff tomorrow (last Wednesday) and that she should have updated pictures and video of E for us. I told her that I had to work all day, but that I would be looking forward to her email with all the details, and we would be ecstatic to receive updated pictures. Most importantly, we are still needing that Formal Assignment letter from the committee in order to apply for our I-800 and MOVE FORWARD! Wednesday came and went ... nothing. I got incredibly sick Wednesday so I didn't bother to try and connect. But then Thursday came and went ... and nothing. Thursday night I emailed her and reminded her what she told me about "working on Ecuador" Wednesday and that I wanted answers. Late Friday night, I finally got an email with a few more documents, not necessarily important documents and some were duplicates, and absolutely no updates. Extremely frustrating. E is a waiting child, so I'm just baffled as to why it is taking so incredibly long to get things in order. Ryan has done a good job of reminding me that we have only been in process from Ecuador for a few months -- but we have been doing this dance for far too long. We haven't gotten any updates about our daughter since we started this process. The initial paperwork we received was written when she was 2 1/2 years old. We know nothing more beyond those documents from October 2011. At first I just accepted it, because we would be traveling so soon to go and get her. I didn't want any time wasted on updated pictures or videos because we would be there soon enough and I could get my own pictures and videos. I just wanted them to get the paperwork in order so we could GO!

Of course, my plans have once again been thrown off course. As I talked about in Expectations, my timeline for all of this obviously doesn't matter. But now it's come to a point, where things will start to get difficult. I put off school this semester and took an Independent Study. My I.S. is to study Latino culture while in Ecuador, and write a research paper. It is to also include 6 weeks of journaling during my stay in country. Not quite sure what I'm going to do, but obviously that isn't going to work. Of course there are other parts to the class, so I'll be diligently finishing that up and begging my professor to try and find something that can work for the requirements. Since I'm only taking 3 credits, and I've dropped below half-time status, my student loan deferral is up next month and I'll be required to start making payments. Since Ryan graduated in May, his payment deferral is also up -- and so we'll be required to start making payments of nearly $600/month starting mid-December. We don't exactly have that lying around, and since we're working we don't exactly qualify for any sort of hardship. I will, of course, do my best to try and convince them that we are indeed in financial hardship!

Since we didn't travel this semester, we will be likely traveling next semester (God willing!)... which means that I won't be able to enroll for classes, further delaying my payment deferment. Had I known, I would've stayed enrolled for all of my classes for Fall Semester. If only I knew.

We're coming up on the end of another year, and Ryan will have to forfeit weeks of vacation, again. I've lost count on how many he's lost over the years. He always saves them so that we can use them when it's time to travel for the adoption. His weeks don't roll over, so if he doesn't use them, he loses them. This year we saved again because, of course, we knew we'd be there and back before the end of the year. If only we knew.

The adoption tax credit is set to expire December 31st, so we will likely miss out on that too if it doesn't get renewed. Check out the website, and see how you can help advocate to keep the credit. We could really use all the help we can get!!

Worst of all ... E's birthday is in 34 days. We won't be there. Birthdays have been incredibly hard over the years. It kills me that she will turn 4 years old. In that orphanage. Without a family.

I need help maintaining a positive frame of mind. Please help me.

Meatless Mondays: Cranberry Quinoa

In an effort to eat more healthy, and save more money ... we've decided to try for Meatless Mondays. This weekend I tried a delicious recipe that will definitely be good for Meatleass Monday!! I'm calling it:

Cranberry Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Quinoa
• 1/2 cup Sliced Blanched Almonds
• 1 cup Broth Stock
• 1 1/2 cups Boiling Water
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries

Over medium heat, stir and toast the slivered almonds until golden. Add the quinoa and toast for a few more minutes until it begins to darken. Transfer the toasted quinoa and almonds to a 2 quart saucepan and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff gently with a fork and serve.

PS - I always rinse my Quinoa before cooking. Use a fine mesh strainer and dry for about 20 minutes to remove all the water. This step avoids have mushy grains.

Flies On You Know What

At the end of last week we received a couple documents which we've been waiting for, and that we need in order to file our I-800. Of course, we're still missing the most important piece, the Formal Assignment Letter. When I last spoke with my agency, I suggested that our ICC (In-Country Coordinator) just politely ask the committee to review our file. Seems simple enough, right? So far no word.

 

This has dragged on far too long. Starting today, I'm going to be on them like flies on you know what ...

 

We have been doing this dance for far too long. I'm a hurting mama, and it seems as though I'm being dragged through the mud. For purposes of this adoption, things have certainly moved along quite well. But as I said in my last post, we keep making plans just so they get jacked up. Well, it's still happening. Just for once I would like my plan to be seen through. Just once.