We can't seem to think of a time where we didn't want a family. We've dreamt for years about having experiences that we enjoyed when we were kids, and making those part of our family, including building family traditions, celebrating holidays, having family dinners together and traveling to explore and experience the world to make those memories that would last forever. While we always had considered adoption as a way to grow our family, it wasn't until we stopped trying to conceive a child through fertility treatments, that we were hopeful that adoption could create the family we always dreamed of.

While we are excited to grow our family with the adoption of our child, we also look forward to growing our family with our child's birth parents and family. We will always teach our child of their birth parents and family, and we will embrace their culture, traditions, foods and holidays as our own.

There isn't a day that goes by without us reflecting on how lucky and grateful we are to go through life together. Balance is key to any relationship, and we balance each other so well. Jason tends to go with his gut instincts, and Juliane likes to research every possible option. Jason likes to cook; Juliane likes to bake.

Juliane dedicates so much energy into the perfection of her job, her style choice for home, filling the house with plants that bloom, and restoring old furniture once belonging to her grandparents.

Jason puts so much love, passion and intentionality in his relationships, into teaching and in every creative project he embarks on. Everything he puts effort toward in life, is to better and grow his community or himself.

Jason is a perfect counterpart to Juliane. We each express our love languages to communicate with each other so that we have gratitude, appreciation, and respect for each other. Despite if the days are good or stressful, we support each other, and realize there is work to make an amazing team.

We both started off on different career paths before attending graduate school, to pursue the careers we currently have and love.

Jason is an eighth-grade middle school teacher at a year-round school, educating students on US and North Carolina history, while incorporating current events, government and civics, teaching life lessons, as well as sponsoring student government, working on school improvement and leading his team in decisions throughout the year, he also worked in film and television.

Juliane is an architect and project manager and works for a small architecture firm based in the southeast. She designs large commercial buildings - including healthcare clinics, hospitals and manufacturing facilities that make life saving drugs. Knowing that these projects are helping the community bring her great joy and satisfaction.

The careers we have pursued is our way, we believe, to contribute to and improve the communities and the world in which we live.

We live in the great state of North Carolina! Ancient mountains, fertile farmlands and the coastal beaches pack the state from end to end. We live in the center of the state, all of this within a few hours' drive! All that is required is to hop in the car and pick a place to go!

We've seen fast growth in the past decade, and in fact, our area is listed as one of the top three areas in the entire US to live due to our "research/technology roots and collegiate rivalries. This tri-city region (known as the Triangle) is luring new residents every day with strong job growth and high quality of life."

With this growth comes diversity- in population, arts, restaurants, and festivals! Our neighborhood is reflective of that. We live in a new development with new homes. We've lived in our house for almost two years and have been decorating it so that it reflects our personalities- books, plants, art, and music are literally everywhere.

We wouldn't be where we are today without the love and support of our families. Both our parents have been married for over 50 years, setting an example of love, commitment and working through the joys and hardships that occur in life.

We are lucky to become closer with our family, the older we get. We have such a loving and supportive relationship with our parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles - and we have a lot of fun when we are all together. While we don't live in the same state as our family, we talk on the phone several times a week, plan visits throughout the year and always spend the holidays together. Even the journey is an adventure when we go to visit!

Family visits are packed with fun outings, games around the table or enjoying outdoor picnics. These times together are always filled with laughter, sharing stories, recalling memories and nostalgic moments and enjoying great food together. Building on these traditions, we have created our own, including adding to our collection of special ornaments to commemorate places we've visited, attending a local Christmas Market every December, exploring new recipes to enjoy, and going to the State Fair every fall.

We are so excited for our family to grow, with the addition of our child.

This is a tough one to write. What can we possibly say to express what's truly in our hearts to someone we've yet to meet? How do we put into words the respect we have for you, and the hope we feel, and have that be fully understood? You've got pictures to view, videos to watch, and small snippets of answered questions to give you a glimpse into who we are. We have no idea how to write this. So, let's take this moment to speak from our place in this world, to you in yours, both physically and emotionally.

First, we can't imagine what you are going through. The choice you are making cannot be an easy one. And it's one so powerful and far reaching that it not only impacts your life and that of your child, but a couple you've never met. Your sacrifice has become our hope for a journey we've wanted to be on for so long, but have never been given that chance. With that understanding, we have so much respect for you as an expectant mother - to be so selfless and consider your child's needs above your own. Regardless of your place in life, the struggles you may face, this will be a monumental decision, and we will always honor that.

That selflessness will continue with us. We will always place this child first. We will always love this child, and show affection to them to the point of their embarrassment, even when they get to be "too cool". There will never be a lack of hugs, kisses, words and deeds of support and affection, and a forever understanding of togetherness and family.

And they will know you. They will have love, and know love- both from us, and from you. They will fully understand that a family was formed before their birth, of us and you, and that this family has, and will always strive to create the absolute best life that we could ever provide. They will not wonder about you, they will know of your love and sacrifice, and hopefully, you will also tell them. This will be our journey, yours and ours, and though we don't know what we don't know, we will discover that knowledge together.

We hope that we can fill their days with silly laughter, with delicious meals, brightly lit holidays, carnivals, extended family, stories, and culture, striving to give them not only the same life we had growing up, but hopefully surpassing that, lifting them upon our shoulders as we stand upon those who came before.

This is only the tip of the iceberg for the hopes and dreams we have for the future. Does it sound big? Absolutely. But it hopefully cannot compare to the reality that this family will be, one that you will hopefully choose to be part of.

So, since you are reading this - we know you are considering finding an adoptive family for your child. While we hope and pray every day that we will be perfect parents to them, there will be no end to those efforts. And every day, we will get to celebrate this awe-inspiring gift that will have changed us all.

Jason & Juliane