After some hesitation to continue my fundraiser, many people have encouraged for me to keep it up.  I tend to worry about things more than the average person, so as my husband says, I just need to chill out :o)  What I am going to do is place a paypal donate button on my blog.  I am not a non-profit organization, so any donation to our adoption fund can not be claimed on your taxes.

Here is what I am thinking of doing.  For any donation of $30.00 (or more), I will send a painting of choice as a thank you gift.  Any donation amount is appreciated, though.  I have some sample paintings in my "Adoption Fundraiser" blog that I originally started (just scroll down).  I can do any of those, and you can request any color for the backgrounds.  I was also thinking of painting states, or other countries for those of you who might want something like that.  I will do a sample one of Oregon State to see if anyone likes that.  I try to get the paintings to look as similar as the photos you see, but there will be some differences.  Also, if you need your gift by a certain date, please let me know and I will be sure to get it out to you.  Sometimes it's hard to get paintings done & shipped out while working full time, so it could take a couple of weeks!

I'm excited to see how this does!  Like I said before, we have about $15,000 or more we'll be needing before our adoption is complete.  I would like to be able to stay home to bond with our baby for as long as possible, so this will help with that also, as I won't have an income when we return back with our child.

I highly doubt I will blog before the New Year, so I want to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!  Chris and I are heading up to Portland to have a nice dinner, and to see a comedian!  We are super excited!  I can't remember the comedian's name, but I guess he is kind of known....but not a big deal :o)  Here are a couple of goals of mine for the new year (in no particular order!):

1.  Get into better shape.
2.  Learn more about God & His Word
3.  Buying more to support other families adopting...as gifts for others....and maybe for myself ;o)
4.  Better eating habits (I was horrible this past year!)
5.  Learning more about Ethiopia / Adoption / Babies
6.  Enjoying life a little bit more, getting out more (I'm such a homebody)

2012 will be a GREAT year!!!