adoption: a calling

A topic that has weighed on my heart since summer 2010. A new family recently moved into our neighborhood and I was offered an after school nannying job (duh, I accepted). Little did I know that summer would impact my future in more ways than one.

Michaela. Michaela was born in China, however she spent most of her life in the states. Although she was not biologically her parents child, you could see no separation in their bond.

"Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 1:13

Flashforward 6/7 years to my college year's..I find myself having the desire to adopt. Adoption to me is not just creating a family, but it is bringing families together. I do not necessarily know WHY I want to adopt, but just because it feels right to me.

adoption is Plan "A"

The joys of adoption sometimes come with the sorrow of not being able to have biological children. To me, a kid is a kid is a kid. All kids cry, poop, sleep...as well as laugh, love, and dance. If I am blessed to become a mom I will treat each child like they were the one's hand selected for me.

Let's be honest, this all won't happen for a long time...

xx

alb

Travel With Me: SeaWorld in Orlando, FL

Is it really Christmas vacation without a space-enclosed 7-hr trip to Orlando, FL with my family? I did not know that I would want see my 21st birthday after having to live through the endless Christmas singing my mother performs, while my father's endless snoring at night (which in my opinion is closer to the sound of a child screaming bloody murder rather than snoring)...but at the end of the day I would not change these memories for anything in the world.

If you have not heard of this ride SeaWorld is known for, Sky Tower, is a 400-foot icon that takes visitors up super duper uber high, to see all sights of the park, as well as, downtown Orlando and even the Space Needle on a clear day. On December 21st 2015 my family and I thought it was a *fabulous* idea to ride this ride, because it was something we could all do together. After a 42-minute wait (although it was advertised as a mere 15-minutes), we all board this ride together. After a slowly climb to the acclaimed 400 feet, somehow there is a halt in our ride. We eventually make it up and around seeing the wondrous sights, and even a new roller coster that is under construction until Summer 2016. We gracefully exit our ride and then move onto the "One Ocean" Shamu show at 11:30 a.m. 

NOT EVEN 25 MINUTES after we got off the SkyTower, we were exiting the Shamu show and noticed that the SkyTower was stalled somewhat although we casually ignore it, because even when it is moving a turtle probably can crawl faster than the ride moving. My cousin an I made our escape to Chickfila for a much need waffle fry & sweet tea meal. While enjoying our calories and maximum sodium intake we casually are making small-talk while checking twitter...WE STOP DEAD IN OUR NEWSFEED...there are rumors that a SeaWorld ride called "SkyTower" was broken down and riders have been trapped encased in the ride for about an hour. Shortly after we get a phone call from our parents saying they are witnessing multiple helicopters circle around the ride and they were live streaming the event on local news websites. 

Needless to say I am thankful that my family and I ventured to the ride a mere 30-minutes prior to breaking down. After a mechanic was lifted up to the top of the ride to manually transport the riders, from start-to-finish riders were trapped for over 3hrs. Stay fabulous.

xx

alb