Showing posts with label Portfolio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portfolio. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Portfolio: Page 11
This is the last page of our portfolio. As you view it, remember to pray for the birth moms who will see our portfolio. Pray that God will give them wisdom to know whether or not we are God's choice for them in their adoption plan.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Portfolio: Pages 9-10
The following two pages have been left the original size like the previous pages. If the page is too large for you to view, you can either scroll the page over or zoom out. Enjoy!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Portfolio: Pages 7-8
The pages below are little hard to read when small, so I left them the original size. Depending on your monitor, you may have to zoom out or scroll over to see the entire page. The grandmother-to-be notes are really sweet. 
Friday, December 2, 2011
Portfolio Pages 5-6
The following portfolio pages have been left in their original size for reading ease. If you cannot view the entire page, you may change your view setting or scroll over to see the rest of the page.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Portfolio Pages 1-4
THE FIRST PAGE
The first page of our portfolio contains our basic profile. The basic profile has basic information about us and is the very first page of information that birth parents will see. All portfolios have this as the front page, so we had ours printed on green paper.
PAGES 2-4
The next pages of the portfolio contain our birth parent letter. If you would like to read it, click on the following link and select the "Letter From Adoptive Parents" link. The birth parent letter is also printed after the web address. In addition to our profile page and birth parent letter being in our hard copy portfolio, they are also posted on Covenant Care's website (the waiting families list page).
http://www.covenantcareadoptions.com/Pregnant/Adoptive-Family-List/ctl/Detail/mid/1595/xmid/3354/xmfid/10.aspx
The first page of our portfolio contains our basic profile. The basic profile has basic information about us and is the very first page of information that birth parents will see. All portfolios have this as the front page, so we had ours printed on green paper.
PAGES 2-4
The next pages of the portfolio contain our birth parent letter. If you would like to read it, click on the following link and select the "Letter From Adoptive Parents" link. The birth parent letter is also printed after the web address. In addition to our profile page and birth parent letter being in our hard copy portfolio, they are also posted on Covenant Care's website (the waiting families list page).
http://www.covenantcareadoptions.com/Pregnant/Adoptive-Family-List/ctl/Detail/mid/1595/xmid/3354/xmfid/10.aspx
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
God at Work - Even in a Portfolio
Throughout this entire adoption journey, from the international adoption to the current one, God has been ever-present (as He always is)! Here are some examples:
IDEAS
God provided portfolio ideas. The way the portfolio came together and turned out is nothing but God - He just used my fingers and my computer to make the finished product.
TIMING
The portfolio was completed in perfect timing.
PRINTING
Michael's closed at 9:00 the night we printed our portfolio. We needed to make it to Michael's to get the scrap book paper covers and the binding ribbon. We were still at Staples waiting on our portfolio copies at 8:45! While waiting for our copies, the Staples manager came over to talk to us. After hearing what we were doing, he told us we could come back later with a picture of our "new" family and have that picture enlarged (16x24) for free! We made it to Michael's with just enough time to run in, buy the materials, and leave before the doors were locked (Eric even had enough time to go in to BestBuy while I made our purchase).
PROVISIONS
Our portfolio could not be shown until $1,300 was submitted to our adoption agency (fee for showing the portfolio). Since last February, a lady at our church has been having Premier Jewelry Fundraisers for us. We have been stashing the money away in an adoption fund. Some of the funds were used for prior adoption fees (such as the home study earlier in the year). With several other parties held, additional money was raised for our adoption expenses. In addition, more of our puzzle pieces were purchased. These two fundraisers, plus another donation, covered the cost of our portfolio fee (received up until the week we had to turn in our money). We were going to turn in our portfolio fee on October 14th when we had our Macon meeting, but our case worker recommended that we mail it in, so we did just that the following week. Pictured is Eric with the check ready to be mailed! Since then, God has continued to provide for other adoption expenses. GOD IS OUR PROVIDER!
IDEAS
God provided portfolio ideas. The way the portfolio came together and turned out is nothing but God - He just used my fingers and my computer to make the finished product.
TIMING
The portfolio was completed in perfect timing.
PRINTING
Michael's closed at 9:00 the night we printed our portfolio. We needed to make it to Michael's to get the scrap book paper covers and the binding ribbon. We were still at Staples waiting on our portfolio copies at 8:45! While waiting for our copies, the Staples manager came over to talk to us. After hearing what we were doing, he told us we could come back later with a picture of our "new" family and have that picture enlarged (16x24) for free! We made it to Michael's with just enough time to run in, buy the materials, and leave before the doors were locked (Eric even had enough time to go in to BestBuy while I made our purchase).
PROVISIONS
Our portfolio could not be shown until $1,300 was submitted to our adoption agency (fee for showing the portfolio). Since last February, a lady at our church has been having Premier Jewelry Fundraisers for us. We have been stashing the money away in an adoption fund. Some of the funds were used for prior adoption fees (such as the home study earlier in the year). With several other parties held, additional money was raised for our adoption expenses. In addition, more of our puzzle pieces were purchased. These two fundraisers, plus another donation, covered the cost of our portfolio fee (received up until the week we had to turn in our money). We were going to turn in our portfolio fee on October 14th when we had our Macon meeting, but our case worker recommended that we mail it in, so we did just that the following week. Pictured is Eric with the check ready to be mailed! Since then, God has continued to provide for other adoption expenses. GOD IS OUR PROVIDER!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The Portfolio
What's a portfolio? In the adoption world, a portfolio is like a scrapbook. For our adoption agency, our portfolio included the following: a cover sheet, a letter to the birth parents, and information about us (who we are, our life, our families, where the baby will stay, etc.). The hard part about making our portfolio was that is was only supposed to be around 10 pages total, including the cover page and letter. Ours totaled 11 pages. The portfolios are a requirement because case workers show them to birth parents. Birth parents look at various portfolios in efforts to choose the family desired for their adoption plan.
I (Erin) worked on the portfolio for a while. It started with an outline of what we wanted the birth parents to know about us. I tried several times to start the formation of the portfolio but it just wasn't coming together. Finally, the Wednesday before our October 14th meeting when the portfolio needed to be submitted, the ideas finally started to come together. Earlier that week I came up with what background I wanted to use. I then started looking through pictures. I put all the pictures I thought relevant into PowerPoint slides based on categories (marriage, family, kid involvement, hobbies, etc.). In addition to working on the portfolio, that was a crazy busy week for Cross Country. I had a Cross Country meet that Monday and that Wednesday. Every night that week was a late night, especially the night I worked on the birth parent letter. That Wednesday's Cross Country meet was in Macon (2 hours away), which made for an extra long day. I took my lap top and narrowed down pictures on the way there and on the way back. That night was an all-nighter. The portfolio was finished around 7:00 that next morning. I then emailed it to our case worker for approval so that it could be printed that night after work.
The portfolio is all God - from start to finish - from white paper to green paper - from outline to binding ribbon. The earlier days of that particular week were extremely exhausting. I just couldn't stay up later than around 1:00. However, Wednesday was different. God just gave me the ideas and energy needed to complete the portfolio. I wasn't even tired. I sat on the floor of the baby room and worked and worked. Now, just so it's clear, Eric did help with the portfolio in other ways. I am the writer and creative project person in the family, so I volunteered to take on the writing and creative aspects of the task. In addition to having energy to stay up all night and actually think, God gave me the strength for work that Thursday.
After work that day, Eric and I went to Staples to have our portfolio printed (pictured to the left). 8 copies were made because there are 7 birth mom case workers and we also wanted a copy. We then went and picked out ribbon and scrapbook pages (the portfolios are bound in clear paper sleeves because many of the case workers put all the portfolios in a huge binder). We then went home to assemble the portfolios. Seeing the finished product was a relief and a blessing. We also couldn't believe that the time to turn in portfolios had finally arrived! We had been told for so long . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . Turning in portfolios (pictured to the right) meant that birth parents would FINALLY get to know about us!
The following posts will feature the various parts of the portfolio so you can see what birth parents will see. As you see each page, pray for the birth parents who are seeking families for their adoption plans. Pray that God will give them wisdom. Pray that God will unite us with our future child in His perfect timing and that we will patiently pray in the meantime.
I (Erin) worked on the portfolio for a while. It started with an outline of what we wanted the birth parents to know about us. I tried several times to start the formation of the portfolio but it just wasn't coming together. Finally, the Wednesday before our October 14th meeting when the portfolio needed to be submitted, the ideas finally started to come together. Earlier that week I came up with what background I wanted to use. I then started looking through pictures. I put all the pictures I thought relevant into PowerPoint slides based on categories (marriage, family, kid involvement, hobbies, etc.). In addition to working on the portfolio, that was a crazy busy week for Cross Country. I had a Cross Country meet that Monday and that Wednesday. Every night that week was a late night, especially the night I worked on the birth parent letter. That Wednesday's Cross Country meet was in Macon (2 hours away), which made for an extra long day. I took my lap top and narrowed down pictures on the way there and on the way back. That night was an all-nighter. The portfolio was finished around 7:00 that next morning. I then emailed it to our case worker for approval so that it could be printed that night after work.
The portfolio is all God - from start to finish - from white paper to green paper - from outline to binding ribbon. The earlier days of that particular week were extremely exhausting. I just couldn't stay up later than around 1:00. However, Wednesday was different. God just gave me the ideas and energy needed to complete the portfolio. I wasn't even tired. I sat on the floor of the baby room and worked and worked. Now, just so it's clear, Eric did help with the portfolio in other ways. I am the writer and creative project person in the family, so I volunteered to take on the writing and creative aspects of the task. In addition to having energy to stay up all night and actually think, God gave me the strength for work that Thursday.
After work that day, Eric and I went to Staples to have our portfolio printed (pictured to the left). 8 copies were made because there are 7 birth mom case workers and we also wanted a copy. We then went and picked out ribbon and scrapbook pages (the portfolios are bound in clear paper sleeves because many of the case workers put all the portfolios in a huge binder). We then went home to assemble the portfolios. Seeing the finished product was a relief and a blessing. We also couldn't believe that the time to turn in portfolios had finally arrived! We had been told for so long . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . Turning in portfolios (pictured to the right) meant that birth parents would FINALLY get to know about us!
The following posts will feature the various parts of the portfolio so you can see what birth parents will see. As you see each page, pray for the birth parents who are seeking families for their adoption plans. Pray that God will give them wisdom. Pray that God will unite us with our future child in His perfect timing and that we will patiently pray in the meantime.
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