What we accomplished while in Utah?

Going to Utah was not in my summer plans and when I decided to go I was not looking forward to going. I had been trying to get a hold of the lawyer for two months and she was not calling me back and I was getting a bit worried about the adoption. I knew that if my son was not adopted by the end of the summer that it would be very difficult to do it during the year. I also had a feeling that everything wasn't right. At first I thought that I just had to be patient and wait for a miracle to happen and well that was not the right thing to do in this situation I needed to work hard to make it possible. Sometimes there are things in our lives that just happen and we wonder how could it have happened so quickly and so perfectly and we didn't have to do anything at all. Then there are other times that we have to work hard to make things happen. Getting my son was one of those don't have to do anything and everything just happens situations. Well the making the adoption final was a little different. I had to follow the spirit and work hard to make sure that what needed to happen, happened.

I was driving back from Houston and I got this overwhelming feeling that I needed to go to Utah. I just was hoping it was just a thought but it would not go away and then I knew that it was what I needed to do and I went to institute and the feeling would not go away and so I left about 8 hours later. My sister just happened to have a friend in New Mexico that needed a ride back to St. George. He was willing to pay 1/2 of my trip up and so I jumped on that opportunity. It was kind of a miracle. We drove all night and into the day and all night and 33 hours later I was in St. George. Before I left I called the lawyer and told her that I was going to be in Utah and that I wanted to meet with her when I got there. She called me back about an hour later; she asked me why I was coming to Utah and I told her that I was a bit concerned that I had been calling her and she had not called me back. She informed me that she had been calling my sister and she could not get a hold of her. I asked her to call my sister in about 5 minutes after I got off the phone and I would call my sister to let her know that she was calling and so my sister and the lawyer where able to catch each other. They set some things up. When I got to St. George the lawyer called me and she said that she will get things set up for my sister to sign her parental rights away. I made an appointment to meet with her in about four days from the time I got there. The lawyers office was in Provo and so I needed to drive up there.

I stayed in St. George until the morning of my meeting. The lawyer called while I was driving to Provo to meet her at 2:30pm and she informed me that my sister would be appearing before the judge to sign her rights away at 2:00pm that day so by the time I got to the lawyers office the papers should be signed. So I got to the lawyers office and she signed the papers and the lawyer was wonderful. She asked how long I would be around and I told her that I would be around as long as she needed. She said that she might be able to get me in to see a judge and we could finalize the adoption before I left back to Texas. I could hardly believe that it was that easy. She called me a few day later and said that she set up a time to meet with the judge. I met with the lawyer the day before and they explained what would go on in the court room and some of the questions that would be asked. I felt very prepared. The next day I went to the court room and met the judge and before I knew it the adoption was final and I was legally a mom.

e left for Utah and less then two days later we were in Utah. I got in about 9am and the lawyer called about 2 hours later. I had called her and told her that I was going to be in Utah and that I would like to meet with her. She asked me why I was coming to Utah and I told her that I had been trying to get a

To Utah We Go!

Over the summer I was hoping to make my way to New York to see some dear friends and when I realized how much it would cost I decided to stay in Texas and take my son to all the museums in Houston. I bought citi-passes for my son a friend of my son's and myself and we explored Houston. It was really quite fun and it kept us very busy. We went to all sort of different places. The space museum at NASA then the aquarium which we played in a whole lot of water. We went to the zoo and explore all the fun animals. We went to the children's museum, the museum of natural history, and art museum. I took my son to see the symphony which I loved and he did to, which I was a bit surprised by. Utah was not in the plan at all. One afternoon we were driving home from the North Side of Houston and I got this feeling that I should go to Utah, and I thought to myself NO WAY! The last thing I wanted to do was go to Utah and if I did plan to go anywhere it would be New York. The feeling was so strong and it would not go away, then I knew that it was very important for me to go, and that moment I did not know how important. I prayed and really pondered and the feeling just would not leave me. I talked to my son about going and he was really excited, however I was a little nervous. Sometimes it is difficult to follow impressions especially when you can't see the whole picture. It takes trust and faith and I knew that my family in Galveston would think that I was crazy for getting up and going. To be honest, it I had not received such a powerful impression I would have thought I was crazy too. I packed all my sons things and my things and we left at about 12:00am and drove to New Mexico picked someone at 4:00pm and we drove the rest of the way to Utah and got there about 9:00am. The drive took us about 30 hours. It was such a very long drive and I was grateful we did not have an accident. My son was an amazing little boy and he was so pleasant to drive with. It is difficult to stay occupied in a car for 30 hours and he did a very good job, probably far better then I would have done if I was his age.

The process of buying a car

Buying a car for me was a huge thing. I got out of debt, besides my student loans, in October of 2010 and so getting a car was hard because I didn't want to get a back into debt once again. I had a car, but it had some serious problems and I was afraid that one day it would be die and I would never be able to revive it. I thought about buying a car for months before I actually bought one. I research different cars and different ways of financing a car. I talked with financial counselors and bank attendants about the best way to finance a car. Of course banks wanted me to go through them and credit unions wanted me to go through them and so I looked at the interest and I talked to a few people I knew at church who were financially smart. I decided the best way to go was through a credit union, and then I had to figure out what credit union I would go through. You would be amazed at all the different credit unions there are and they all seemed quite good. After a few weeks of looking at the options I decided to join The Gulf Coast Educators Credit Union. I am a teacher and it made since to go to a credit union that was especially for teacher. I think it was one of the greatest moves I ever made. I can't tell you how much more I like being part of a credit union then a bank. Once I got things settled there and a savings started I started looking at cars. I knew that I wanted a crossover, something that would be big enough to carry camping gear and a bike but small enough that I did not have to spend a fortune on gas. I test drove all sorts of crossovers but none of them were in my price range. Then I drove a Mazda CX-9 which I loved. It was a little bigger then what I wanted and it was a little out of my price range, not much but enough to not be interested. I got on line and started looking around at different Mazda CX-9 to see if I could find on in my price range, while I was doing that I came across a Mazda CX-7 and it was in my price range and it was the size that I wanted. I didn't go out immediately and buy one. I went and spoke the financial counselor at the credit union and we talked about all the possibilities and I went home and thought about everything and then I went out and actually started test driving some CX-7s to make sure that it was really want I wanted. I waited about another month and after the month I was still interested and I went back to the credit union and got everything set up and I went on line and looked at all sorts of different CX-7 and I found one in the color that I wanted and I went and test drove it. When I had decided that was the CX-7 I wanted it, I took it in to be looked over by someone I trusted. I could not afford to buy a lemon, when everything checked out I went back, worked with the bank and the dealer, and I picked up the car two days later. I love it! It is a simple car but it looks nice and does the job I need it to do. Overall it took me about 5 months to get everything figured out and set up to buy a car because I was so nervous about getting back into debt and being taken advantage of and I am so grateful that I did because I learned a lot of great things. Don't ever finance with a car dealer, don't give a down payment, don't use a trade in on a car and the best way to finance a car is through a credit union.

The First Few Months

The first month of being a mom was an adventure. We did all sorts of different things. I got a lot of help from some great friends. My friend Sarah had a somewhat baby shower. She had a friend take Victor to main event where they went and played all sorts of games. I stayed back with the ladies and we had a good time, visiting and talking about what it was like to be a mom. I was a bit uncomfortable because so many things had changed in such a short time and I still had not adjusted and everyone was asking questions and I just didn't know how to react. I hope they did not think that I was ungrateful for all that they did, I truly was and I don't know what I would have done without them. I had only had my son for a few weeks and I still wasn't comfortable with being a mom yet.Everyone was so kind and supportive. I still felt like all of this was just a dream and I was going to wake up and it would all be over.

At school my co-workers and team got together and got a card for me and we ate cake balls and talked about what it is like being a mom. With the money from the card I got bedding and some toys for Victor. I was very grateful to them and their support. They gave me great advice on how to be a mom. I can't tell you how much I learned from them and how much their advice has helped me. I couldn't have done all that I have done without their support and advice when I had no idea what I was doing.

When my son got to me he was in third grade. That first week of school he was not doing very well at all and I could see that the curriculum was too hard for him and I spoke with his teacher and she felt the same. I could see that if he stayed in third grade he would struggle all year and in the end he would be held back. I spoke with the principal and classroom teacher about pulling my son down to second grade. I had to write up a proposal for the principal of why I felt that my son should be put down to second grade. The classroom teacher helped gather information and my son's previous school was helpful and after two weeks of going back and forth with the school and district we were able to get him into second grade. Looking back having him put into second grade did him a world of good, he was able to catch up and over the summer I was able to work with him and get him closer to where he needed to be. He was also able to build up confidence to where he felt as though he could be successful.

Attending church at first was a nightmare. Having been a single adult, I was so use to things being quiet and being able to listen to the speaker with no interruptions. My son had a very difficult time sitting still and he would blurt out how much he did not want to be there. There were times I was so embarrassed, I felt like everyone was watching me and judging me. After a few weeks of this, I sat my little boy down and we had a nice conversation and lesson on reverence and I told that him that sacrament meeting was the most important hour of the week and if he could not behave that after church he would have to sit in a hard chair at home for an hour. What he wanted was to be taken out of sacrament and when he realized that no matter what he did I was not going to take him out he started to finally settle down. Then I had to deal with him wanting to leave to go to the bathroom every week. I stopped that by having him go at the beginning of Sacrament and if he asked to go during I would not allow him to. At first I had The Friend for him to look through, however now he just sits and listens. I have to say I am very proud of him, he still gets a bit fidgety at times and I just remind him the importance of church, and it is normal for an eight year old to get a little board.

The first few months were really a learning experiences for my son and me. I saw miracles all the time. Those first few months we were getting to know each other and it was kind of fun.

A journey begins with a single step.

October 28, 2010 I am driving to the airport to meet my nephew who will be staying with me and I would be raising him. Two weeks before I was living my life as a single adult getting ready to move into a friends house so I could save up some money so I could travel around Europe for the upcoming summer. I got a call from my sister-in-law and we got talking and she said that things were not working out for my nephew in the family that he was being adopted by and she asked if there was any way that I would consider taking a child in and raising him as my own. I have always wanted to be a mom and so I did not hesitate, about an hour later I got a call from the adopting family and a social worker in Utah asking if I was serious about taking my nephew in as my own. I spoke with them for over two hours talking about possibilities and expectations. By the end of our conversation I was scared to death, I was going to be a mom much sooner than I had anticipated. I didn't know if I could really do it. My nephew, and now my son, was diagnosed with an attachment disorder and I was informed by that adopting family that it was serious and they shared with me some of the things they were struggling with in their home. I was driving to church and I was thinking about how I would be able to make a difference with a child that seemed to have some serious issues and the only experience I really had with children was as a teacher. I didn't know if I could make a difference and I was worried that if I couldn't make a difference that I would be stuck with a child that was abusive and hateful (which was my impression). To continue as I was driving to church I got this peaceful feeling that Heavenly Father could do far more for this little boy then any psychologist could ever do and that I needed to trust that this is all part of a greater plan. I knew then that everything would work out and a week and a half later I was driving home from the airport with a very cute young man that seemed a little scared but a little excited. To be honest I am not sure who was more scared my son or myself. Who would have known at that moment that I would come to love that young man as if he was mine and had always been mine.

If we let Heavenly Father build and create our lives we will discover that it is far better then we could have ever done on our own. What a blessing and miracle it is to be a mother?