We're approved!

We're approved to adopt with LDS Family Services! Our profile went live today and we are so excited! Check it out here... https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/27685670/ourMessage.jsf. Please feel free to share our link with others...

The Agape Project

Check out this video about adoption, it's so beautiful and amazing, I can't wait until we can have our own little one and birth parents to be a part of our lives! 

"Agape (pronounced "a-ga-pay") is a Greek word for a particular type of love. Agape' love is love that is based upon principle and is, by far, the noblest type of love. Agape' love is unselfish and is more than just an emotional response... the Agape Project is a personal project that involved birth moms and adoptive families to show how much love there is in adoption. I wanted to create an awareness video to educate others on adoption. It has been such a huge part of my life and has made my dreams come true. I hope anyone considering to place their child for adoption will be moved after watching this amazing video" - Briana Marie from http://www.TheAgapeProject.net

Family Collage

Our Birth Parent Letter (updated)

 We dressed up as lawn gnomes for Halloween and this picture was too cute to not post here

Hello!  We are Chris and Julianne and we are so excited that you have chosen to learn more about us. 

Fun, creative, loving and accepting are just some of the words that describe each of us.  We both love life and especially each other.  Our story began in 2006 when we met online.  On our first date, we sat in the comfy couches in the back of Barnes and Noble while we read magazines and talked for hours.  It was love at first sight.  We were married eight months later and have never been apart a day since we first met.

Julianne talking about Chris:  Chris is one of the funniest guys you will ever meet.  He is always doing something random and loves to make others laugh.  He served his mission in Richmond, Virginia and recently graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media.  He plans on getting a Master’s degree in Business in the near future.  He’s really smart, works incredibly hard to take care of our family, is intensely creative (both with music and graphic design) and is always trying to learn something new.  He loves playing guitar and the keyboard, and often does sound mixing for other bands.  He likes to spend his free time watching movies, playing video games, finding new bands to listen to online, playing one of his musical instruments and hanging out with his brothers.  He is also one of the most loyal people you will ever meet – when you’re his friend, you are friends for life.  He loves playing with little kids, especially his nieces and nephews.  He will be a fantastic father someday.

Chris talking about Julianne:  Julianne is incredibly creative.  You can almost always find her making something and giving it away to others.  She loves taking care of people, animals and plants and she always tries to be there for someone who needs her.  She has a maternal need to nurture and has dreamed about being a mother since she was a little girl.  Julianne grew up in Japan where her Dad worked as a businessman.  She has a passion for all things Japanese, especially their artwork.  She has traveled all over the world and even spent a summer studying abroad in Thailand, Cambodia, Australia and New Zealand.  Julianne has a Bachelor’s degree in Art & Visual Communications and hopes to go back to school to get a Master’s degree.  She started an online business in 2009 where she sells her handmade fabric covered button earrings, necklaces, hair bows and clips, and crocheted accessories. In the last few years, she has seen it grow it into a company with customers worldwide.  In the future, she plans to continue the business while being a stay-at-home mom.

We love to have fun together and we are always doing something new.  We love traveling, especially going to see Julianne's parents in Japan before her dad retired.  We love going to movies, spending time outdoors, going on hikes and doing yoga together.  We also love spending time with each of our families.  We love finding new restaurants to eat at and this is something we especially love to do with Julianne's parents.  Every year around Christmas, we like to go to Temple Square to see the holiday lights and take family photos.  Another family tradition that we have is something called "Pie Night".  This amazing party happens the day before Thanksgiving and we all enjoy eating different pies while spending time together.  The point is that you can actually enjoy your pie the day before instead of doing it after a very filling Thanksgiving dinner.  Brilliant, right?  We also like to throw incredibly fun birthday parties for each other.  Last year, Julianne's Mom threw her a Pirate themed birthday party.  We all dressed up as pirates and played games like "pin the treasure on the map" and we made our very own parrots out of feathers, markers and paper.  It was amazing.  We want to continue these traditions, as well as make up some of our own, with our children someday.

We’ve had our fair share of loss and disappointment, but we’ve become stronger because of it.  After trying to have a baby for the last few years and going through rounds of infertility treatments, we found out that the likelihood of us being able to conceive was not very high.  While this was devastating, we decided to explore other options and eventually we realized that maybe there was something else in store for us.  Once the decision was made that we were going to adopt, everything felt right again.  This is what we are supposed to be doing.  This whole experience has helped us to appreciate life and everything that it has to offer. You have to have hard times to enjoy the good.

We believe that life is all about love, an all-encompassing love that we can’t even begin to comprehend.  We’ve had a glimpse or two of the big picture and all we can say is that when everything’s said and done, love conquers all.  The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.  As children, we were both raised by very loving families.  Our families will always feel like home to us.  No matter where we go or what we do, they will always be there and we are so grateful for them in our lives.  They have given us a strong foundation to build our lives upon and we want to share it through having a family of our own.  Everyone deserves to feel loved and accepted for who they are.  We want to give that love to someone else and show them all that life has to offer.  There are so many beautiful things to experience in this world and we would love to share them with someone new.  While we’re grateful for everything that we’ve been through, we’re also excited for the future.  We can’t wait to be parents!

We’d love to meet you.  We are hoping to have an open adoption, where pictures, letters, phone calls, in person visits, etc. are all welcome.  However, we definitely want to hear whatever you are comfortable with.  We feel that you can never have enough friends and hopefully together we can bring more love into this world.

For more information about us, please visit our profile: https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/27685670/ourMessage.jsf or email us at adoptchrisandjulianne@gmail.com

Love,
Chris & Julianne