Introduction to Thane

Hello blog-reading world,

I will be making some posts over the upcoming months, so I thought it would only be proper to introduce myself.

My name is Thane.  I am Annie’s less-better half—the yin to her yang, the peanut butter to her jelly time, the Simon to her Garfunkle.

Career-wise, I do a combination of marketing, consulting and analytics.  It’s one of those jobs that is interesting to the job holder but not really interesting (or well understood by others).

Being married to a nurse is interesting in many ways.  For one thing, I don’t put what I do in the same category as what Annie does.  Although some of my clients might disagree, I don’t think helping companies get more money than they already have is quite as important as saving people’s lives.

When I have a bad day, it’s because a presentation went wrong, a project went off-track or someone was unhappy with work I did.  When Annie has a bad day, people die.

I’m not belittling what I do, and, again, I enjoy it very much, but it’s good to be married to someone who has a job like Annie to help you remember what’s really important.

Quick funny story:  I’ve noticed on multiple occasions a phenomenon when Annie and I are introducing ourselves to people at parties.  Inevitably the conversation will turn to what everyone “does.”  Annie will say that she’s a nurse, which will be met with nodding approval and smiles.  Then they will turn to me and I will say I’m in marketing analytics.  This will almost certainly be met with confused stares and forced smiles.  Finally someone will break the awkward silence with a question like, “Do you enjoy that?” or a statement as awkward as the silence like “That sounds interesting” (which generally means exactly the opposite).  Then, they’ll focus back on Annie and her career, which they think they understand.

Yes, Annie’s the saint in our family.  I figure if I stick close enough to her, maybe I can get swept up into heaven on her coat tails before the pearly gates get shut behind her.

In my next post, I’ll share my feelings about adoption.

Babysitting

Since we are  responsible adults, and I'm a nurse for goodness sake, we often get the chance to babysit. Babysitting is so much fun for us and it lets us "practice" being parents for a little while. We had an opportunity like that this weekend when we babysat our four sweet nieces. We love to see them, but babysitting them is especially fun.
We did dinner, went to the park, and watched a movie with the older girls. We thought we had navigated bedtime quite well until 8pm when the older girls went to bed and we found  our younger niece curled up in a blanket in the hallway watching the movie. I guess we have more to learn. :)
We had a great time and we are so blessed to have some family close by.

Our Busy August

Well, August is my favorite month, but it was so busy this year with fun things that I'm excited that September has come and that with it has come a slower pace. We had birthdays and our anniversary this summer. 9 years!! It seems to have flown by.
We had our "family vacation" in August: a roadtrip to Yellowstone. Neither Thane nor I had been there since we were young and it really is nearby. So we packed up the car, camped on the ground, and admired the beauty of the park. We saw LOTS of bison. They especially enjoyed standing in the road so that the many tourists could take their picture. ;)
The highlight of our wildlife experience was when we came upon two bighorn sheep grazing on the side of the road. We watched them for quite awhile and they didn't seem to mind us a bit. We of course saw all of the geysers and other geothermic creations. The end of our vacation was rounded out by a whitewater rafting trip down the snake river at sunset. It was a lovely trip and we enjoyed being able to spend so much time together.

Our final excitement of the month was when part of Annie's family came to visit. We enjoyed all of the company, but especially our four-month-old nephew. He cooed and smiled as well as spitting up on us any chance he got. We especially love the time we can spend with family.

Some summer adventures

For Fourth of July we went to a concert in the park that included patriotic songs and fireworks. It was a stirring experience and a lovely evening. I am so grateful to live in this country with our many freedoms and opportunities.

Annie was called as the Young Women (ages 12-18) President at church and so had the chance to attend Girl's Camp. It was a lot of fun.

For the first time, we attended our local Renaissance Festival. Great fun. We saw lots of fun costumes and saw some great talent.

Go Rockies

In June we went to a Rockies Game with our Families Supporting Adoption group. We had a great time until we got rained out. The die-hards stayed until the game was resumed...but we went home to our cozy warm pajamas :)

Nursery Theme

Probably not that important, but lots of fun! We finally picked a theme for the nursery: alphabet blocks. Not only do we think it will be super-cute, but can encourage reading and education. We're a big fan of all of those things: cute, reading, and education. :) We are plugging away through What to Expect the First Year. We read together from it several times a week and it is surprisingly funny. And we are learning about babies and parenting to boot. More to come on the nursery as we make more progress.

U2 Concert

Saturday Thane and I attended the U2 concert in Denver. The Fray opened for them. We love The Fray and U2, so it was great. The music was great, but what we expected. The stage and lighting were unbelievable! Definitely the best we've ever seen. We were lucky to have clear skies (for the first time in a couple weeks). I was working on Saturday and not sure if we should go since I  had to leave work early, but it was definitely worth it. The stage was round with another circle around it and moveable bridges to connect the two. Great show! And now I've had U2 songs stuck in my head all week :) My favorite is "Beautiful Day".

Baby consignment sales

I recently found out about baby consignment sales. Granted, I never had need of them before, but they are so convenient. People can price and sell their used children's items and its all in one place. So there are all of the advantages of a garage sale or thrift store without any of the hassles- and everything is for children! I had a great time shopping for some baby basics such as bottles, a stroller, and a diaper bag. Thane even went with me and I had to tear him away from the cute little clothes.
So while we don't have everything, we have many of the necessities and for a fraction of the cost. I recommend anyone related to children to check them out in your area. Just google "baby consignment sale" in your city. Walla! Happy shopping :)

FSA 5K

Today we participated in a 5K run/walk to raise awareness about adoption. It was a fun event and so great to join with others who know the beauty of adoption. The weather wasn't ideal- a cold spring morning, but we warmed up quickly! I ran in the 5K and Thane worked as a volunteer, marking the route and encouraging the runners. Its been over a year since I ran in a race, and it felt good to get back into it. I think I'll start running again.  I feel so healthy after a good run.

Family Reunion

We just returned from a week-long trip to Utah. We had so much fun and were blessed to see many friends and family. Annie's family had a family reunion and the new baby of the family was held nearly the whole time. Families are so wonderful and such a blessing. After time together, we remember just how blessed we are to have people in our lives that we care about so much.

Approved to adopt

In December our application to adopt a child was approved. Now we are eagerly preparing for the time when a birthmother or father chooses us to be the family for their child. We are excited to be on the path to parenthood and are doing all we can to be the best parents we can be. We hope you enjoy our "new and improved" blog while we wait for the miracle of adoption.