I lovelovelove how we got our loan.  Instead of going to a bank for a personal loan, we used LendingClub.com, which offers peer-to-peer financing for personal loans.  If you're familiar with Kiva, you've got the general idea.  Lots of people each lend a small amount until the loan is fully funded.  219 people in our case!  It's such a win-win-win because we get the loan we need, regular people like you and me get to make better rates than they might be able to find elsewhere on their investments while helping out their peers AND we get to bypass the banking industry altogether and instead allow individuals to profit.  Awesome!  If you're interested in setting up a loan or investing in other people's loans, my referral code is Member_565917.  Using that should give you $25 extra to use for investing and/or give me a $100 referral bonus for each new loan.

Other highlights include getting sweet messages from a client whose site I just launched on Friday (including one saying she wants to send me a BEAUTIFUL clutch!!) and getting the sterling silver blanks delivered for my hand stamped jewelry!  There's nothing like opening a package of sparkling silver!  It's like being a kid in a candy store!

Next up, sending out the I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition), various background check requests and submit my passport application tomorrow!  Yay!  With this loan, our savings and our remaining fundraising efforts (Barefoot Books, sewn goods, hand-stamped jewelry and Fair Trade coffee), we're ready to power through the rest of the paperwork and process.

N.B., here we come, sweet boy!!

The master checklist!

We sat down tonight and went through all of the documents and I’m feeling pretty good about my potential ability to stay up on everything.  We knocked out a few things which are either ready to go or are ready to be notarized, so that good!  We still don’t have the majority of the forms for our home study application, but now that we have the info from Holt, we will be scheduling another meeting with our social worker to go over everything.  That when we’ll receive the rest of the application forms.  I’m chomping at the bit to get started, which is a little silly since we have so much fundraising left to do.  Oh well, gotta take control of the things we CAN control, right?!

One sobering thing about being officially a Holt Ethiopia family is that the clock is now seriously ticking.  Holt sent a letter to our social worker saying that they really want the home study done within three months.  So that means we really only have about three months to raise $12,690+.  The $3000 dossier fee is due when they approve our home study and then the $9690 program fee is due when we accept our referral (N.B.).  Usually, there are months and months between the dossier fee and the program fee, but since N.B. was on the Waiting Child list, we’re already matched, so we skip that wait.  So the program fee will be due pretty much immediately after the dossier fee.

It a little scary and a lot overwhelming.  But I totaled it up and we’ve raised $500 in donations and selling my fundraiser products (bibs, jewelry, etc) over the past few weeks, so that good!  We’re planning a silent auction/spaghetti dinner in early December that we’re hoping will be a success.  We’re also going to start looking into bank loans, etc.  Unfortunately, we bought our house at the HEIGHT of the boom, so we’re upside down on our mortgage, which makes it harder.  But I’m sure we’ll find something.

As I told one of our ministers, I think we might be bringing N.B. home in $20 increments.  =)  Hey, whatever gets him home is good in my book!

Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who came out, bought and/or donated!  I had a great time!

The next step is that Jessica will go over all of this with her supervisor, who will make the decision whether to go ahead and approve us (since we’re the only family going ahead with N.B.) or to send our file to the selection panel, which meets Thursday.  So we could know whether approved Thursday evening or this evening!  Eek!!  Either way, we’ll know more this evening, I hope.

I’m a bundle of nerves, so think I’m going to go hit the craft store.  I need to grab some supplies to make some things for the Etsy shop.  Besides the Etsy shop, I’m doing our church’s fall craft show (both with my crafts and with Barefoot Books), so lots to do to get enough stock ready for that.  Not that I’m expecting it to be huge or anything, but better safe than sorry.  =)  I’m also hoping to apply to one or two more local fairs.  We’ll see.

Thank you SO much for all of y’all’s support!  I can’t express how much it’s meant to us.  =)  Especially you Facebook friends!