As part of our adoption journey we are doing an adoption profile that will be given to birth mothers along with other families who are seeking a child. The birth mother(s) will then choose the family they want their child to be raised by based in part on this profile.

This was an interesting project because we want to present the best of ourselves to the birth mother but at the same time, we want them to see us for who we truly are. We want to have a child in our lives who comes from a mother who understands and perhaps shares our values.

Here are my responses to my section.

About Me

The fact that I am writing this while running a password cracker in the background for a hacking challenge should probably tell you enough about me to not require any further information. That being said, I am going to channel my inner 'As Seen On TV' ad and say, "BUT WAIT...there's more!"

Aside from being a totally unapologetic nerd (not a geek -- there is a difference) I am also a hobby hobbyist...I make it a hobby to have many hobbies. Probably my top hobby is being an avid Crossfitter (yup it only took two paragraphs for that to come out). I wouldn't call myself a total meathead but if I do not get to workout on my schedule I do tend to get a bit irritable. Imagine a kid who has had too much sugar and won't go to sleep, that's basically me if I don't workout. When I am at the gym, I still behave like a child and spend most of my time between lifts/workouts dancing to whatever music is on.

In order to bring balance to the forces of nerdy and manly, I also enjoy rocketing towards the earth at approximately 120 MPH...ie. skydiving. I started jumping out of airplanes in college and can never get enough of that rush. Each jump is a minute that nothing else in the world can bother you, no stress, no worries, no anger, just the sky. If that was not enough, I just started flying planes this year, so that is my newest hobby (how do you know if someone is a Crossfitter, pilot, or vegetarian? --> they'll tell you).

Because skydiving, flying, and Crossfit are probably some of the most expensive hobbies one can have, I save money by brewing my own beer. OK, never mind, beer brewing isn't cheap when you consider the Kegerator and kegging system I built. Did I mention I am pretty handy when it comes to building and fixing things? Just don't ask me to do any sort of interior decorating work because I am terrible at anything that involves wood. But cars I can handle all day!

On the fringe of my hobbies are climbing mountains, camping, and hiking, but I mostly reserve those for when I travel to Colorado to visit family and friends.

I am generally found with a smile on my face (or a silly smirk if I think I just did something funny) and without a whole lot of worry about life. This world is the way it is and we can change some things and others we can't. I do what I can to live a good life and when those uncontrollable parts get in the way, I smile at my wife, we laugh, and we just enjoy that we are together. We cannot wait to share that life with a tiny human.

About Brie

She is the most caring person in the world and she reads a lot...DONE!

Oh, I am supposed to write more than that? Briana is the only person in the entire world who gets me. She gets (and more importantly I think she enjoys) my humor and silliness. Most people probably just assume that I have some sort of ADHD but Briana knows that I just have way too much energy and that I just need activities to occupy that energy (enter our quest to find our tiny human).

Briana is the perpetual parent. She is the one that immediately takes the role of mother goose for any group of people. You need tissues, she has it. You need some medication, she has it. You forgot your phone, wallet, and any sense of being a put-together human being at home? She has it somewhere in that purse of hers. She is always thinking of others and is always ready to give others a helping hand. These are the reasons that she is such an amazing nurse.

Mostly I love Briana because she puts up with my stupidity manly demeanor and somehow can always correct guide me down a better path without even the slightest hint of annoyance.

Briana will be a great parent because she has thought about being one every second since she was probably 5 and ¾. We discuss our approach to future parenting frequently and we see eye-to-eye on the simple fact that any child, regardless of situation of life choices, can grow up to be a successful person if they simply have a caring family environment. Briana’s total embodiment of a caring personality assures me that she will be an amazing parent.

But in the end, she really only wants a small person in our lives to occupy me in the hopes that all my energy will be expended taking care of the child instead of spending money on crazy hobbies.

About The Fam

My fam is spread out across the country so we do not get to see each other as often as we would like to. Time with my family generally involves me fixing at least one of my mom's internet connected devices, trying to convince my dad that there is better beer than Old Milwaukee Light, and playing Xbox with my younger brother. My mom is a teacher who always instilled in us the value of education and learning. So much so that everything I write from text messages to blog posts to emails is written to research paper quality (it was difficult to dial back the formality of this profile). My dad is a definitive manly man (like he thinks he wrote the book) who is a banker turned general contractor. He decries anything that he deems sissy (his word) but is still able to understand many of my more "hipster" tenancies. My brother is probably the smartest person I know and for some reason decided to apply to smarts as an Army JAG (lawyer). He is more interested in the metaphysical properties of the universe (we routinely discuss string and multiverse theories) than he is in most other aspects of life...except gaming, he loves that. My brother and I enjoy playing Xbox together (by that I mean him winning and boosting my player level) and that is generally where we talk to each other and keep up on each others' lives. Him and his wife are expecting their first child and we are SOOOO excited for their child to be a same age cousin with our own child.

My family is extremely caring and we enjoy being together. I hope to be able to live closer to them someday so that we can share the many joys of having a small child in our lives.

Five Words To Describe Me

#nospacesmorewords #sillyforrealz #adventurousnerd #unconventional #atitudeiseverything