Reflections... September 13, 2012

Hi everyone--

It's so nice for the blog to be up to date with photos so that I can journal a bit as time permits... Our friends from New York are on their way to pick up their new little girl from China. Wow, even thinking about their journey makes me reflective of our own journey to pick up Ellie-Kate and bring her home. It's so hard to believe that we wouldn't even have her now if we had not decided to go special needs. We would still be waiting on our little girl... since May, 2007 when we began our quest for another daughter. Can't even imagine our lives without her...

I'm having an odd kind of day. Social media has become so much of a part of my life. I *LOVE* interacting with so many different communities-- fellow soap fans, colleagues from work, high school and college friends, and, of course, friends from church and the adoption community. I really enjoy posting statuses and photos on Facebook and sharing our lives through the blog. However, ever since announcing my candidacy for office in my national association, I've felt more than a little self-conscious about posting on Facebook. Am I being sufficiently "serious" and "presidential"? Should I be "serious" or "presidential" when Facebook is really about socializing, but, truly, it's not just about socializing. Implicitly, Facebook (and this blog) are really exercises in self-presentation. How do I want for others to view me? Ahhhhhh, I'd love to feel that I'm just over-thinking this entire situation, but I think that I'm going to just be a little self-aware for the next five months.

I know that I don't want to back away from who I am-- a Christian, a mom, a busy professional. I want to be real for many reasons, but, for especially for the election, I want for people to really know who I am and what I prioritize. For the people who follow this blog and who follow our family on Facebook, I want to continue to capture our life journey as honestly and transparently as possible. So many people have commented to me that they do keep up with us through these means and that they enjoy learning about what we're doing and how we're doing. I don't plan to change just to win anything. On the other hand, I do think that it's important for me at least to realize that, if I do win, I represent something much bigger than myself and our family. After all, people in other elected offices don't just post when they like a show or one of their kids gets poked in the eye. As I said, I'm trying to figure out this balance between representing myself and our family and realizing that I have just placed myself and our family very much in the public eye. Well, I have said that we would make a good reality show :)

Thanks for reading/listening... It's nice to be able to just "chat" through a blog post again. It's very nice to be caught up enough on the blog and on our lives for me to do a quick post here.

We appreciate your continued concern and love! Please send up a prayer for our friends from New York that they will have safe travel and that they will have a smooth and joyous introduction to their new daughter, Nola!

Fondly--

Christie