Where in the world is Olivia?

Olivia is from the Hunan province (similar to a state) of China (population of 71 million-7^th most populated province in China), which is located in the south central part of the country.  Girls from Hunan are known as “Spicy Girls.” They say this is due to the heavy use of chili peppers in their food, but I'm wondering…..  The Xiang River runs through the province, and the traditional crops from that area are rice and cotton.  The climate is sub-tropical with short, cool, damp winters, very hot and humid summers, and plenty of rainfall.  There is a professional sports team in Hunan, the Hunan Billows F.C. (soccer team). 

The capital of Hunan is Changsha (population 7 million), where we will probably travel to meet our little girl.  To give you a perspective, New York City’s population is around 8 million.  She is not from there, but most adoptions in China are finalized in the capital of the province from where the child comes.  We believe she currently resides in or near Chengnan, which is in Ningyuan County, a couple of hours away from Changsha.

We will also travel to Guangzhou, which is where the U.S. Consulate/Embassy is.  It is located very near Hong Kong, also in the south central part of China.  Guangzhou is where we will finalize everything on the American side of things and will be the last place we visit.  Guangzhou is the 3^rd largest Chinese city, population 14 million.

We cannot wait to travel to see the sights and sounds of Olivia’s birthplace.    I want to “live in the moment” while we are there and soak it all in.  My wish is to be able to tell her about it someday when she is old enough and hope to be able to go back one day so that she can see where she is from.

I’m desperately trying to do a better job of “living in the moment.”  I am horrible at this!  I’m always marking things off a “To Do List” and thinking ahead of what needs to be done.  I told Philip just the other day to keep me in check, and especially on our trip, to remind me to enjoy it.  After all, it is a once in a lifetime thing.  So, for the next few weeks at least, I’m going to try to “Live in the Moment.”  I want to cherish these last few weeks that we have together as a family of 3.  Our lives will never be the same.  I want to make sure that Ansley knows how much we love her and for her to enjoy these last few weeks of being an only child. 

Thanks for your interest and for your prayers.  We hope you have a great weekend!