A special day:)

This is a long post. It will show you a summary of part of my life, mostly in photos,
and help you understand who I am!

Today is a very special day.
On this day, 24 years ago, I was adopted!

My parents had tried to have kids for 5 years,
and then signed up to be on the adoption waiting list.
They waited for two years.
Then one day, they got a call.
"We have a baby for you!"
While most parents have 9 months, they had three days to get ready for me!

They had a long drive in the snow (!) to come get me.
Here we are when they brought me home! They don't look happy
at ALL do they?? :)



I was 2 months old. I think they took a couple days to name me. After deciding
against "Ruth" because my dad's mom always called the babies of the family "Baby (insert name)," they decided on Ginger. My mom new a Ginger in high school who was a very nice girl, I had the hair to match it, and they liked the name. Sometimes kids would tease me when I was little, but I love my name today because it's unique!

Anyway! It's been a fantastic 24 years with my parents.
What's being adopted like? The same as being born to parents. I've never felt
different. And actually, my aunt and uncle have red hair, so I fit right in:)

My parents have given me more than I could EVER give back to them. I am their only child, and they've loved me with all their hearts. I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

Pretty sure my cheeks haven't slimmed down at all. This picture makes me LOL:


Yup! That's me with a camera below! I think I learned to take pics when I was 3 or 4. My dad had been in the air force, and when he went back to school when he was done with the AF, he had to take an artistic course. He chose photography. Little did he know that camera he gave me would turn out to be the start of something great!


They also:
Gave me lots of kisses and hugs.


Taught me how to iron (I have to say that I took credit for learning how to
iron with a flip flop though...)


Let me play sports and be in activities of all kinds..Here are just a couple of the sports I played! (And they were there at my games, matches, meets and recitals to cheer me on!):


(Wow... Look at that form! So awkward...)

Oh, the costumes...

My mom let me polevault, even though it made her nervous ever time I jumped! haha!

(here is the polevaulting team in Florida! My parents let me go:))



Let me be silly:


Bought me cute clothes:


My mom made me a halloween costume this year... it was exactly what I asked for, haha! She was like, "Ok......." She made it for me with love even though I know she laughed at my design... but didn't let me know it:)


Were always interested in what I wanted to be when I grew up
and encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do. Here's a photo of me in 1st grade.
I wanted to be an artist:)


"Made" me take piano lessons at age 6 or 7... which taught me about music..
Which I used when I started playing the cello... and playing the cello
is how I met my husband back in college:)


Got me braces (and pets:)) (My eyes look funny because I just woke up, FYI!)


Taught me how to travel, and took me to see lots of different states. When I traveled in Europe for a semester in 2003, I had my first digital camera-- which was when I fell in love with digital photography!-- I love travel photos and I can't wait to travel again! I still have those sunglasses somewhere... I should wear them on my next trip:


They let me have friends over-- they taught me about hospitality.
This is from New Year's Eve 2002-- my senior year of high school (Can you find me?). 75 people were in and out of my house that night..( I had a guest book, so I could make sure I thanked everyone for stopping by!). Not everyone is in this photo, even!
And just FYI, none of my get togethers had THIS many people, haha!! We had a great group of good friends back in high school... We were a good group of kids:) And no... this is not the entire senior class.. haha! 680 people would NOT have fit in my house. This was just one of those crazy special nights. My parents were AMAZING for allowing such craziness!


They helped me get through school, K-12. They always encouraged me to keep going. I have ADD, so it made some aspects of school super rough. Without their encouragement, I couldn't have graduated...and with highest honors!


Helped me through university financially and emotionally. Graduation day was the BEST DAY EVER!!


Showed me what a good marriage is, and the type of person I should marry (a wonderful one). They threw a wonderful wedding celebration and now they treat him like a son! So they have two kids now! (My dad likes talking to someone about guy things. A lot.)



And most importantly, they taught me how to love God, and love people.
(It's difficult to find a photo that expresses my faith... Confirmation Day
is just one tiny aspect of it!) My grandparents (both sets not shown here) were amazing examples to me in this HUGE area of my life... and they made my parents who they are today! And I love my parents!



That is not ALL they have taught me or given me... But I could go on and on!
I know that I gave them some trouble at times, but they never stopped loving me.
I am who I am because of them and the wonderful things and experiences in my life.

I have been so blessed....