OH my goodness!

Last night, Jill Kent, my praying FB friend said that she would go with me! HALLELUJAH!!! If i would not have had her with me this morning, i guarantee you, my friends, THIS would have been a VERY different kind of blogpost!!! There were quite a few times where i would touch her arm & tell her..."Oh my goodness, i don't know what i would have done right there if you wouldn't have been with!!!"

Let me back up...our biometric fingerprinting with the USCIS was suppose to be this morning. We would have never found out about it had it not been that my friend Jessica had told me that she had sent her paperwork in two days AFTER me & she already had had her biometric paperwork back & not only had it come but BOTH she & her husband (who was out of state) had already gotten their prints DONE!!!
After the wedding, Scott left & i called the USCIS office asking why we hadn't gotten an appointment. The man was rude & cold for ten minutes (acting as if i was just calling way too soon & i should just be patient) & THEN he asked me for my information-he changed his attitude. He said that i was right & we SHOULD have had our paperwork two weeks before! Of course, then Scott & i would've gone down to the office & sat there until they let us in since we knew he had to go back to work for another 5 1/2 weeks. (you CANNOT do anything unless you have the paperwork in your hands) THEN the man proceeded to tell me that we would be in trouble since the only way to change your appointment was through the mail & since we wouldn't be getting the paperwork until late that won't happen. He said that this was going to put us back aways with our adoption. I was completely devastated....at one point this past weekend i was almost ready to just give up even (something i NEVER thought i would ever feel). The man said that they wouldn't be able to change the appointment once i got there & that i could have issues.

SO....i tried to do whatever i could to get Scott's fingerprints changed...even called the office of our congressperson. No response. The closer it got the more nervous i got-esp. since i had NO IDEA where this place was & it was down in ST Paul & i had to be there by 8am....rush hour was not something i was looking forward to nor was i looking forward to waking up at 4:30am. Scott had ALWAYS been the one to wake me up...

SO...now you are up to date....last night Jill said that she would go with me to St Paul. She also said she had fresh muffins-bonus!!! Late last night on FB i was told that where we were going was NOT where we would want to be as it is under construction for the light rail! It could be really bad! It was way too late to call Jill so i left it that we were leaving at 5:30am...giving us 2 1/2 hours!

The only way that we made it down to our destination by 7am was because of Jill being with me! We were so excited that we were 2 minutes away from the spot & we'd made it with such great time! THEN we got down there...it was crazy...at one intersection-the one we had been warned about....Jill was saying turn left/turn left & it was complete with honking car behind me;) (Grace, yes, i thought of you MANY times!!!) When we made that left turn, both Jill & i were thinking something wasn't right. It was massive road construction for the light rail but it was also all shopping spots...OLD shopping spots. The GPS said that we were there...as we passed a Cub Foods, WALMART & LA Fitness Center. We finally figured out how to get back to where it said we were suppose to be & we knew we were NOT at the right spot.

SO, we saw that it said WEST on our GPS so we tried to see if that was an issue & there WAS an EAST SO we knew we were on the wrong side of town. I put...yes,I- CONNIE put in the new address into our GPS on our phone & off we went. It was about ten minutes when we came to the middle of a four way intersection & it said that we had found our spot!!!! We went around the corner, saw the St Paul Police Dept. & went in...it was dark but out of the dark came a woman who said that she'd never been asked this before;}) It was a long conversation with her making several phone calls, me leaving Jill there while i called the USCIS number but was only given the address...WEST!!! The policewoman was telling Jill the same exact thing. WE WENT BACK to where we had been...LA FITNESS CENTER, here we come!!! We went back & this time there was a man walking to the LeAnn Chin...yes, the USCIS is right around the corner! We might not have even seen it had it not been that the man told us that it was there-along with our GPS woman saying we'd found our destination! I STILL wasn't sure so put it on FB..."Is it really a dirty tiny hole in the wall in a strip mall?" NOT what i was expecting AT ALL!!! No big FBI facility. No huge office building! WOW!

We were third in line. I got up to the counter & told the young lady how my husband wasn't there & explained VERY little...she went two steps over to her supervisor & that supervisor looked at me & coldly said, "Your husband isn't here...why not!?" I explained-"We didn't get our paperwork in time & he is in ND" She literally SNAPPED, "Well, WHY didn't he just go to the ND office then? Oh, JUST DO HERS & put his to the side!!!" that was said complete with a whipping of her arm & rolling of eyes. The young lady was replaced with a woman who looked like she was able to take care of anyone...either physically or with anything else...VERY businesslike. Gave me my paperwork to fill out & instructions! I was able to be first in line -i filled out the paperwork quickly!

I went over to the rude woman when she called me up briskly & then she gave me back my paperwork & told me to go to the woman in the other 'room'. She took my paperwork, felt my VERY dry hands, sprayed my hands with water then very business-like told me to stand to her left. THEN she became a nice woman having a conversation with me. Then she told me how i had really bad hands for this...my hands are very dry. There were a quite a few re-dos :}) She then told me to fill out the card saying how great they were & that i was done. I took two steps & there was the rude woman again now asking me where my husband was in ND. I bent down to her desk that was right there, almost kneeling & spoke sweetly. I could almost feel her melt! She spoke more and more with a sweet voice! She said that he could not be in a worse spot! He could go to Helena, MT or Rapid City, SD or Fargo, ND...the closest being FIVE HOURS away from Scott! She asked, "Well, could you get a hold of him?" as she walked into her office. There was hope! Seriously? "Actually, YES! He told me last night that he was off today & if i could get him into Bismarck he would be willing to drive!!!" OH MY GOODNESS!!! We weren't allowed to have our cell phones on ANYWHERE & she called me into her office & told me to call in there! She was on with the Fargo office & i called Scott!!! I could NOT believe what was happening! (That man at the office that i had called the week before had NO IDEA what he was talking about!) They were going to help us!!! Scott was just leaving his place to go do his laundry & get an oil change. A few minutes later, i was giving him the address & he was on a 10 hour round trip on his only day off in the past seven days! He said that if it helped to get Ethan home sooner than he was doing it! I LOVE MY MAN!!!

The lady warmed up throughout our conversations....hers with Fargo & mine with Scott. She was even telling her boss, who had come into the room, about the whole story! Laughing that Scott worked in the middle of nowhere out in ND! I had asked her name, her name was Bobbi. When it was over, i told Bobbi how grateful i was for all that she had done. She's sent his paperwork with their scanner & called & gotten it all taken care of so all Scott would have to do was walk in. I came around the desk & told her i was going to give her a hug! WOW! What a hug does! I don't know WHY we didn't get our paperwork in time & why we couldn't have gone down there as a couple but maybe it was to let a woman, Bobbi, know that her job was important...that what she was doing was a really big deal to a little boy in Bulgaria & his Mommy & Daddy!

Jill & i left the building expecting that the trip home would now be a breeze since it wasn't rush hour anymore but we had traffic within a 1 mile from the spot where we were, where we sat at an intersection for over twenty minutes!!! Let's just say that i have NEVER in my life seen anything like it in all my traveling! ONLY on TV....WOW! We just kept saying how grateful we were that we had NOT run into this in all of our traveling this morning!

I have never been SO GLAD to have something over as i was to have this be done!!! I came home & got met at the doorway by three VERY VERY happy children to see me...HUGS all around! LOVED THAT! When i put Sophina to bed, i KNEW i would sleep & i did...for THREE HOURS!!!! WOW! I may be up late tonight!

I have found that we are in desperate need of DAILY PRAYER & i am begging YOU to be a prayer warrior for us. THIS IS HARD STUFF to stay encouraged about...the light seems so far away. We thought that we may be seeing Ethan for the first time THIS WEEK & now it is aways off & i found that i struggled GREATLY with that. This morning at about midnight, i realized that i just have to rest...NOT EASY when there is so much at stake! BUT i can't do this & Scott can't do this & our family can't do this without support...especially PRAYER support! WE NEED ENCOURAGEMENT! We are so very grateful for the prayers last night & this morning & we KNOW that there were a bunch of you carrying us through!

Scott should be starting his laundry soon at the 24 hour place in Bismarck & then he'll have to drive home & start work tomorrow! PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM! He is an incredible man...i am blessed!
Connie for the crew
PS...this is for those of you who want it in one sentence......
Scott and i BOTH got our biometric fingerprinting done today!!!!