Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Update

Well, the paperchase is just about done! We get to turn in our dossier (that paperwork stuff I am always talking about) as soon as the following arrive

1) the documents we sent to the Chinese embassy in Houston
2)Michael's BC from the Embassy in DC
3)My passport

We are actually expecting all the 3 to show up in the next 2 weeks. At that time, we will make a payment (working on that now)and turn in our dossier to our agency. Then they will review it, translate it and sent it to China. At that point, we are DTC which is DOSSIER TO CHINA, then we wait for our LID (LOG IN DATE) and then we CELEBRATE and WAIT!

Question,
Michael and I attended a spaghetti dinner and silent auction last weekend for friends adopting from Taiwan. During our wait , Michael and I will need to look at fundraising ideas to raise money for the flight to China..Do you guys have any ideas?

11 comments:

Polar Bear said...

You are almost at the finish line! How exciting!

Sorry, I don't have any ideas for fund-raisers.

Ann said...

You're almost there it seems. I hope it doesn't take too much longer, then on to the DTC and LID. Then the real wait begins and you'll be in great company

Karen said...

I would suggest a yard sale depending on your neighborhood. Be vicious in selecting items to be sold. I'm sure you have a room picked out for the baby, and if you're anything like me, it will need to be emptied:-) Then, have friends/family members either send things they are parting with to sell, or they can have their own sale in their area and send the proceeds to the "adoption fund". There are sites, similar to freecycle, on Yahoo Groups that will let you announce yard sales. If you need help locating, just email me. Ebay/Amazon valuables, books, DVD's, CD's. I heard someone else say they stopped using their debit cards and get their spending money (including grocery money) from the ATM, then put all change in the jar along with all $5 bills. Check with your bank/credit union to see how they accept change. Some require it to be rolled, others take loose and run through a machine...have it all put in a savings account regularly so A) it can earn interest; but make sure you have the min. balance to avoid service fees and B)to make it harder to get to:-) Sorry this is long. I will stop now and come back later if I think of something else!

Shannon said...

Amy,

Thanks for visiting me at PickleChatter. It is nice to meet you. I wish you much luck and speed in finishing up the paperchase! I have to say that even though I was racing to DTC, I loved every minute of the paperchase. I miss having something concrete to do to put me closer to my daughter. Now I just wait. Take Care,
Shannon

Shannon said...

Amy,

Thanks for visiting me at PickleChatter. It is nice to meet you. I wish you much luck and speed in finishing up the paperchase! I have to say that even though I was racing to DTC, I loved every minute of the paperchase. I miss having something concrete to do to put me closer to my daughter. Now I just wait. Take Care,
Shannon

Sugar Cookies And Hope said...

Good luck on the end bits of your paperchase!! How exciting that you will be DTC soon. :)
Thanks for stopping by our blog and for posting such a sweet comment.
We wish you well in your fundraising (how about opening up a shop on cafepress.com).

Heather said...

How exciting to be so close to DTC! Can't wait to see the "We're DTC!" post.

Wishing you the best

Heather

Missy said...

Instead of using an interest bearing savings account, look into a Scudder Money Market. The yield there is an average of 5% which is a lot more than most if not all savings accounts. Plus it's a liquid asset so it's the same as having a savings account...but better. Also, it is absolutely free to start and maintain. Don't let a financial advisor rip you off by making you pay a fee to get started or continue it.

The only two rules that I know of are you have to have a minimum of $1,000 to START the account (but you can drop lower than that after it's opened if you're willing to pay some fees)

OR

You can open it with $50 per month, as long as you promise (and keep your promise) to continue putting $50 into it each month until it reaches $1,000.

Please talk to someone who knows what they are doing in this area though, because I'm NOT an expert.

Briana's Mom said...

OH - you are soooo close to DTC! So exciting!!! I will do the happy dance when I hear you are definitely DTC!

Kim and John said...

I remember the day when we were about to send our dossier to china. You are so close and that is so exciting. I love your calendar on your blog. Cute! Good Luck! I would like to add your blog to mine to check on you to see how you are doing if that is okay? As for fund-raisers. I agree a yard/garage sale, or there are several websites out there like http://www.fund-raising.com/ and current.com I think that is the site. Good luck. If I come across more I will let you know.
Kim
journeytoemmagrace.blogspot.com

Eliza said...

You are sooo close! Thanks for visiting me at my blog earlier! I have been praying for you guys...it is so hard to wait! I know of some people that made really cheap t-shirts and then sold them...very cute...
good luck!