Chosen

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Welcome! I'm Lauren Maruki. Life has a way of throwing unusual situations my way. Join my husband and I as we work through infertility, adoption, decreasing debt and living, gluten free. I will sprinkle in some traveling too! Feel free to laugh, cry and agree to disagree!

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Thoughts on Open Adoption

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Open adoption has become a sore spot in my family. For those that are new to my corner of the blog world, welcome. I'm Lauren Maruki and I have been writing about all the bumps in my road from living and travelling internationally to infertility and now adoption of our first child. Hubby and I both have adopted cousins. Hubby's cousins are now adults, and mine are all under the age 12. Open adoption was a topic of discussion a couple weeks ago at a family event. To our surprise, my mother discovered that my cousins do not have an open adoption with their birth family. I had wondered if that door was shut. Now I am wondering if it was accidentally shut or purposefully shut. I want an open adoption. I want to continue to learn not only about the birth mother, but the birth father, the birth grandparents, the aunts, the uncles and all the crazy cousins. Those people make up my child. Those people have traits that my child will possess. The traits will be the key to perso...
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Starting Your Envelope System

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Now that you have placed your debt in increasing order, lowered your bills and placed all saved and newly found cash on the lowest debt, you can turn your attention to the envelope system.  Learning to save a few bucks a month will prevent a birthday party from throwing you into financial ruin for a month. Since we have followed this method for nearly a year, we now have savings for things that we never thought we would.  We can't tell you how much to place in each envelope but, I have listed our amounts that we save per month. Often Forgotten and Yet 'Fun' Spending: Auto Repairs       $30.00 Auto licenses and tab renewal/taxes     $10.00 Medical Bills       $10.00 Vitamins     $60.00 Dentist/Doctors       $0 Restaurants     $20.00 Clothing     $20.00 Transportation (gas)       $120.00 Drinks (coffee, beers after work and smoothies)       $10.00 ...
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First Adoption Fundraiser!

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I am so excited!  Hubby's cousin and wife brought a new home and they wanted to furnish the home with new items. They are selling nearly everything and Hubby and I get to keep all the proceeds! Hubby and I were over the moon when his cousin suggested giving us all the proceeds back in early June. We were beyond thrilled because we are in desperate need to raise funds to adopt. Once we mentioned it to a few other people, we started to get donations. People want us to sell their items and keep the money. How wonderful is that? We were initially aiming to receive around $500 from the sales, but my cousin-in-love said that we were aiming way too low. She estimates $1500! Well an accountant can go toe to toe with a lawyer, but this is a case close matter. I rather take the $1500 estimate. So wish us luck as we sell all that we can on Saturday, July 16th! We will be one step closer to our first down payment for our adoption!
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