Update on Travel and Starting Some Fundraisers

Update on travel process:
Okay, so I talked to someone in the adoption unit of Citizenship Immigration Services. She's looked at my I-171H renewal application. She said everything looked fine except my fingerprints expired. I called her and told her I had them taken last Monday. She said it took a couple of days to get into the system, so she'd check and then process my application. Since it was Thursday that I talked to her, I'm hoping/assuming I will get my new I-171H this week showing my application is good until October, 2012, and that my fingerprints are good until May, 2012.

But now, I will have to wait for a new travel approval. The US Consulate won't give me an appointment without a valid I-171H, valid fingerprints, and a valid TA. By valid, I mean ones that are soon expiring. I figure it could take until my original proposed travel date of March 10th to get that new TA. So that will put me into probably an early April travel date, maybe April 7th? I'm at a wait and see point right now.

Fundraisers:
As you can see by the sidebars to the right, I have started some fundraisers. The adoption fees for Shanghai are amongst the highest and close to $1,000 more than I originally planned. I've also been given a range for the total costs of the in-China travel plus Shanghai adoption fees. I'll barely have enough money if everything is at the bottom of the range (between the in-China/adoption fees and airfare). I might be able to come up with a tad more, but I've pretty much bled the well dry. So I decided to start some fundraisers. I also applied for a small grant, but most of the grant places only give their grants to married couples, so I don't qualify. And many only meet quarterly and I'll need the money sooner rather than later.

I added a button to the right if you find it in your heart to make an outright donation. Someone I know posted on my facebook account that if many of the people I know just gave me $10, it wouldn't take very long to come up with the additional funds I need. I did apply to one of the places that would take tax deductible donations in my name, where I then apply for a grant, and they then send the donations people made in my name to my adoption agency. I don't know how long it takes to hear from them but if they approve me, I will post that and their information on the sidebar.

I've also put up a link to my Just Love Coffee store. If you are a coffee lover, they sell coffee and are a Fair Trade certified program helping orphans and their forever families. I get a portion of the purchase price of everything you buy.

If you are local, my girls and I are selling candy bars - Hershey or M&M/Mars varieties for $1 per candy bar.

By the end of the week, I will have an Adoption Bug store where you can buy any one of six varieties of T-Shirts. My girls and I have several that we purchased from another friend's fundraiser and we all love them.

I am also looking into doing online parties for The Gourmet Cupboard and Scentsy. Look for more information and links to those soon.

And I will be making 2 1/4" buttons and keychains. You can either supply me with your child's photo or a picture or drawing you like, and I will make it into a button or keychain. They will sell for $4-$5. If you have any special requests just let me know.

If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know. I do have most of the funds I need, I'm just looking to come up with another $2-$3K so I know for sure I will have enough for all of us to get to China to adopt Amanda, XiXi (pronounced SiSi).