I'm always trying to improve my blog and so today I thought of a great idea! I have decided that if you guys have any questions...any at all. You can e-mail me to ask me. I set up a special account for this purpose..I love receiving your comments and hearing your story. If you just want to e-mail me to say hi and share how you're involved in the adoption process I would love that too!

adoptedandproudofit@gmail.com

-Melissa

P.S. I'll be adding my speech that I recently gave in the next few days!

Dear Everyone who reads this,

I AM IN A NEWSPAPER!! I'm just kind of excited about it! It's an article about the new LDS Family Services. I highly recommend reading it! The ending is my favorite part so make sure you read that part!

http://heraldextra.com/lifestyles/article_66b16850-3278-5f73-8a7d-b71ac812d09c.html

Sincerely,

Melissa

Itsaboutlove.org

The LDS Family Services has a new website and I must say it is amazing! I went on it and loved it! I am now working with them for the adoptee section. I love being a voice for adoption it's truly one of my passions in life! Adoption is basically the most fantastic thing this world has. So in summary, go check out this new website!! www.itsaboutlove.org

My Mom

The story of my childhood, and the moment I realized my mom was the best friend I’ll ever have. The memories of running and laughing and having the best days with her- Taylor Swift

Last night I was feeling really sick and so I woke up my mom and she sat with me for hours. She is so funny and is always making me laugh so hard. In fact yesterday during church she made me laugh really hard but I had to try and keep control of myself. She is always saying things that make me smile! While I was feeling really sick I had to tell her to stop making me laugh because it was making my stomach hurt even more. She will watch my dance routines and sing along to my favorite songs! She is truly my best friend! She thinks she doesn't have talents but its not true! She always wants the best for others and looks for the good in everyone. I want to be a better person because of her. She has always been so supportive of me being adopted. Mom, this song The Best Day by Taylor Swift is totally our song, I always have the best days when I am with you.

The Best Day

I'm five years old and it's getting cold

I've got my big coat on

I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you

I run and run

Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides

Look now the sky is gold

I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall

I know you're not scared of anything at all

Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away

But I know I had the best day with you today

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean

I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys

And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away

And we talk and window shop till I forget their names

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school

But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you

Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel ok

But I know I had the best day with you today

I have an excellent father

His strength is making me stronger

God smiles on my little brother

Inside and out he's better than I am

I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run

And I had the best days with you

There is a video I found from back when I was three

You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me

It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs

Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

Now I know why all the trees change in the fall

I know you were on my side even when I was wrong

And I love you for giving me your eyes

Staying back and watching me shine and I didn't know if you knew

So I'm taking this chance to say that I had the best day with you today

My Dad, My Hero

My dad is a hero. You don’t find him listed on the internet but, what he has done through out his life is amazing. My dad built an entire new house. He never complained that the work was hard. He did it for his family. He’d drop his hammer down to come and help me or my brother at any time, if we had homework. He is like a ray from the sun; bright and full of life!

He has blue eyes and dark brown hair. People tell us all the time that we look a lot alike. We have the same blue eyes.

He has the best personality. He’s firm about what he believes in and you can’t change his mind very easily. He is funny and teases us all the time! He even makes up different nicknames for us. He walks around the house and whistles and sings. He also fiddles around on the piano and make up his own songs. He never learned how to play when he was growing up but, he’s always wanted to learn. I want to teach him someday!

My dad loves math and is my math tutor at home. Whenever I don’t understand something he is able to explain it to me and I’m able to understand it better. He is the perfect tutor, caring and patient. He taught me how to drive. And that couldn’t have been easy.

He always knows how to make me feel better. I can’t ever get mad at him because he always makes me smile and laugh.

The two things he can’t resist are cookies and chocolate. He loves them! Between my mom, dad, and brother we can’t keep enough chocolate milk or chocolate anything.

My dad is wise. He has a deep love for the gospel and is active in our church. He served a mission for our church for two years! He is a great teacher at home. He teaches us about everything from how to have a goodtime….to helping us with school. He shows us how to treat others. He is always ready to do anything for his family if they call and need him. Just a few weeks ago my grandma needed some help and we all drove down there to help her! My dad puts his family first no matter what he has planned.

He cooks and cleans. He watches movies and played dolls with me when I was little. He is always ready to make everything we do fun and enjoyable.
Once he took me to the dump for the first time, as we were driving he told me “I’ll watch your head for spiders and you watch mine.” He had just finished his sentence when I started backing up and said, “Dad there’s a spider above your head.” He totally thought I was joking… until he looked up and saw the multi-colored eight legged creature above his head. His reaction was priceless. I’ll never forget that! And now, I love going to the dump with him. After all, he does need someone to watch his head!

I’ve never seen my dad cry and I don’t think I ever will. He broke his foot and walked in the house and sat down. All he said was that he needed an ice pack because he thought his foot was broken. I told him to get a pink cast because real men wear pink. Unfortunately, he got blue. He didn’t let that stop us from going to the beach that year. Of course, I was the one that packed up the car because he couldn’t carry anything. I was so happy to help him out. What I liked even better though is he couldn’t have done it without my help. One day we were at the store and they asked if we needed help out, and I said “Nope, I’ve got it.” For some reason that filled me with joy!

He helps with school all the time! Last year, I did a project on Leatherback Turtles. He had this idea to help me make a papier-mâché model. The night before the project was due I had glued it down, but when my dad went to move it from the table, it slid off. He took the time to fix it for me and then I got a 105%! It felt nice to know he was there to help me, no matter what happened.

My dad will do anything he can for anybody. Just a few weeks ago, he had to set up a broadcast for a bunch of youth to watch. He had been limping all day. I knew how to set up, so when he said he could handle it, I got dressed so quick, he couldn’t say no! I set up for him that night. It was fun to do something for him!

When I’m sick, he’s ready to go and get anything I need. My dad comes to anything from dance performances, to school plays. He’s there no matter what time it is. Once, he took off work to come and see me dance at my talent show. He didn’t need to, but he did!

I’m glad he’s my dad! My dad is my hero and no matter what he does that’s what he’ll always be to me. He’ll deny that he’s anything special… but he’s my dad and that’s enough for me! Life would never be the same without my dad. I love my dad!

I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!

Everyday I am truly grateful for the gift of being alive! When I was a child I was always asking to go out to get ice cream. My parents would ask "what's the special occasion?" I would reply that "we needed to celebrate life!" I am truly always thankful that I was adopted and placed in my family. I know I was placed in the right family! We are a perfect fit for each other! I am so happy and I love my family! I feel their love for me each and everyday!

Growing Up Adopted - YAY ME!

One of my sayings in life is I was adopted and proud of it! Being adopted is awesome! My theory on adoption is simple. Us, adopted kids, have six parents: Our Heavenly Parents, Our Birth – Parents, and my parents. With all these people we have so much extra love than the people with only four. I grew up always knowing that I was adopted. In my opinion EVERY child needs to grow up with this knowledge. Seriously, if you don’t tell them it will ruin your relationship with your child. Plus, they won’t get out of those genetic science assignments.

Growing up adopted was cool. I’m just a normal person. Every child has to come to terms with adoption. So, while coming to terms with being adopted I had this special baby blanket given to me which was made by my birth mother which says, "made with love!" A special letter was also given to me. These gifts always remind me of how much I am extra loved. I sometimes wonder how come people don't always understand how incredible adoption is, that adoption means just an extra bundle of love. Adoption is amazingly AWESOME!

Sometimes I would feel like I was the only one in the whole world that was adopted but, then I would meet other kids my age who were too. We would instantly feel this amazing connection, like being members of a select, exclusive club. This past summer I learned my roommate at EFY was adopted too and we just totally hit it off and had a lot of the same opinions about being adopted. (She always felt grateful she was adopted. And was blessed with a very cool family! Her family was of different nationalities.) We also had grown up with similar experiences. It was really great being able to relate with someone at that level. We both were raised strong in the gospel and because of that we both have strong testimonies. Just a side note...(She is an amazing missionary. She says that she is always telling everyone about the gospel. She even asked these two guys on campus while we were at EFY, what they were doing that Sunday, and asked if they wanted to go to Church? They said "yes!" She asked them if they wanted to meet with the missionaries and learn more about what we believe. They said "yes!" They contacted the missionaries to meet with them. She was an awesome example to me and I'm glad we were roommates at EFY.)

Anyway, back to the subject of adoption. While going through understanding adoption, I came across this song which really helped me comprehend adoption. It's called "You Are Loved" by, Josh Groban...and he has an amazing voice so, I’ll play it for you now (it's on my music list)

I just want to express how thankful I am for my birth mother. I know that she still loves me and cares for me and that is why she gave me to my parents. She gave me the most precious gift of life and she gave me my amazing parents! There isn’t a day that I am not thankful for her sacrifice. It reminds me of the scripture in John 3 :16. (For my birth mother so loved me that she gave me, her first born, to a home with both a mother and father to be sealed to for all eternity!) To close I’d like to read this Poem and I thought it was pretty fantastic. The name of it is:

Legacy of an Adopted Child


Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make you one.
One became a guiding star; the other became your sun.
The first gave you life and the second taught you to live in it.
One gave you nationality; the other gave you a name.
One gave you a seed of talent; the other gave you an aim.
One gave you emotions; the other calmed your fears.
One gave you up…it was all that she could do.
The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.
And now you ask, through your fears.
The age old questions, unanswered through the years.
Heredity or environment…which are you the product of…
Neither my darling…neither.
Just two special kinds of love.