New year, new routines

So for the new year I made some resolutions and goals. Some of which I am doing okay with meeting and others still need some work. So my goals were to spend more time in deep prayer, spend time playing with Belle on my days off, exercise three times a week for 20 min, and only eat one sweet a day. I need to do these things to not only be healthier physically and spiritually, but also for my mental health. I sometimes get anxious about things like money and chores. Silly to some people but that is how I feel. So I am doing fairly well, I have been trying to watch what I do put into my mouth and I have been exercising on my days off except when I hurt my knee recently. I have been doing 20 min on the elliptical and sit-ups, push-ups, and planks every night as well. I am feeling better now that i am making healthier food choices and exercising. I know I need to do it for my heart and to just maintain healthy weight. Which I am at a good weight but I would like to lose a little. Not much, but just to feel better and have my jeans fit the way they used to!

So as for what I have been doing, it's been caring for Belle obviously, cleaning, cooking, and putting Christmas stuff away. We kept our stuff up until after January 7th to recognize the Ethiopian Christmas. Next year we may do more on that holiday to get into the habit of celebrating that holiday for Adeline. We want to include some of her culture in ours. She needs to know where she came from and how they do things!

So speaking of Adeline and our adoption, we had a oops moment. We sent our USCIS stuff right before Christmas but the check was written for the wrong amount! :-(  So it was sent back but we sent it back right away with the proper amount on the check. It appeared as though they had processed our papers mostly and just needed the money, so we are hoping this didn't hold us up much! We have a few more papers to be notarized and certified, then a few state certifications and pictures and a few more changes and we should have all of our documents ready! We also got our grant approval yesterday!! We have a $2500 dollar for dollar matching grant to help with the cost!! This will go toward our dossier submission and we will need to come up with another $1000. So we are praying and trying to trust that God will provide the funds we need! Prayers are appreciated! I will post our letter later.

Today I was supposed to work, but Belle is sick again with a fever and runny nose. Poor thing! So I am just going to chill and catch up on a few things! God is good and I am so thankful for my husband, daughter, and the rest of my family! They are all awesome!