We love to go to St. Augustine. It is only a few hours' drive and it is full of so much history and delicious food! It is full of so many different opportunities, such as historical tours, beautiful scenery, and museums.

We also love going on "stay cations" at the local beaches on the East and West Coast of Florida.

We are really excited to visit local theme parks, aquariums, and natural parks with our new family.

In the end, we believe any day can be a vacation when you are doing things you enjoy with the people you love!

We love to be outside! We value nature and animals and we love to walk and see wildlife.

We also love sports, running, and games. We love the spirit of competition and the lessons learned through it. We both enjoy running, and we participate in events that support scholarships for children, foster care, guardian ad litem, domestic violence, etc.

Spending time with family and friends is very important to us. We value the time we get to spend together and the bonds that we create, especially during football games. We have many friends that have young children so we would have an immediate trusting and safe friend group for a child.

We also love aquariums and zoos. We cannot wait to include a child in all the activities that we enjoy, from the park near our house to the Tampa Aquarium and Lowery Park Zoo!

Our dreams for our child are for him/her to develop into the individual that they aspire to be. We want to offer opportunities in all areas from different sports, educational programs, and travel experiences to gain the knowledge they desire to make their dreams come true. Our dreams as a family are to ensure that we work hard to develop a life for a child to grow, imagine, and inspire. We want to have a home full of love, trust, and growth to promote a trusting family environment. We will raise our child to value the change he/she can have in this world. Our child will be raised around family and friends that will always have their back and provide unwavering love and support.

Our neighborhood is in a quiet, safe, and peaceful area on a local canal. This provides us many beautiful opportunities to see different wildlife—including fish and manatees, numerous species of birds, armadillos, frogs, rabbits, etc. We love to go for walks along the canal, which leads to a park that has basketball courts, a jungle gym, baseball field, and Frisbee golf. It is a wonderful area for families to gather and play.

Our neighborhood is hidden behind the local leading hospital in the area, which provides an extra set of safety and reassurance. The local fire and rescue department is within one mile of the home.

The schools in our area are above average and we have many options from public, private, and fundamental schools. Curtis' mother is also a fifth grade teacher and she is excited to offer her support.

We are a very active family that enjoys the outdoors and activities that involve sports, imagination, games, and fun! Our community is a great place to raise a child and we cannot wait to explore it all with a child!

Our extended family is just as thrilled about our path to adoption as we are. They are all incredibly supportive and cannot wait to take this journey with us!

Locally, we are blessed to live only 20 minutes from Curtis's mother and father, and his entire extended family. His family is extremely close, and they only live five minutes from each other (aunts, uncles and cousins). This affords us a great opportunity to have family gatherings on a regular basis, supporting the importance of family and building new traditions as our family unit grows.

Kristin’s family is spread across different states and countries. From a mother and father in Maryland, a sister in California, a sister in Amsterdam, and a brother and father in Florida, her family is excited to share this journey with us. The diverse locations offer an awesome opportunity for travel, exploring new places, and creating wonderful experiences and memories. Kristin is the eldest of her three siblings and has a very strong bond with each of them, no matter the distance. Kristin also has a very large extended family consisting of 13 cousins who are in Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Florida, and Maryland.

Thank you for taking the time to view our profile and consider us as potential adoptive parents. There are many feelings that surround the plan for adoption. Feelings and perspectives from the adoptive parents and the birth parents might be from a different viewpoint, but we are united in this process together. While we can never claim to know how you are feeling about this process, we want to ease your fears about trusting us as adoptive parents. First, Kristin has worked in adoption and foster care as a social worker for 4 years. This experience allowed Kristin to have an inside understanding of the perspective and emotions that come with adoption from both the biological mother and adoptive families point of view. Kristin currently works as a social worker in the medical field, which requires a high level of empathy, understanding and desire to help those most in need. Similarly, Curtis has worked with at-risk youth for 10 years as a case manager, mentor and care worker. Curtis currently manages a transition program for at-risk juveniles that match youth with mentors, provides employment assistance and educational support. He is well-versed in working to promote change in those who need it and believes compassion and empathy are the foundation for making a difference.

Our relationship is built on love, honesty, trust, and loyalty. It will be vital for the child's development to create this same relationship with him or her. The plan is to be very open with the child about the adoption and about his/her birth parents. We are open to post adoption communication, as this will help support the relationship with this child and help to further his/her development. We are committed to letters, emails, and photos. We are open to further discussion about the timing of these communications.

What makes us different? Besides our work histories and our relationship built on trust, loyalty, and honesty, we have other traits that would be valuable for the development of a child. We are motivated, committed, open-minded, imaginative, enthusiastic, intuitive, punctual, organized, resourceful, and responsible. We love to laugh, value diversity, and handle change with patience and critical thinking. All these traits can be seen through our role in our professions and our strong desire to improve the lives of others and the world. We feel strongly that every person should be treated equally and with respect. We are open to adopting a child of a different racial background, and our family and friends are in full support of this decision as well. We feel confident we can manage society's view of our family dynamic, and it does not bother or cause us fear. Regardless of the child's race/culture, we will ensure they are aware of their history and are able to embrace any cultural ties they choose. It is vital for the development of any individual to be aware of their culture, feel accepted for who they are and have family and friends that have their back. We will provide that and more.

In closing, we empathize with the weight this decision must hold but admire your strength and resiliency as you move forward with adoption. We make you a promise, that if you choose us as adoptive parents, we will not let you down and we will ensure a safe, healthy, and happy life for this child. Everyone has their own journey, and we believe ours has led to this very moment. Thank you for your time and reading our profile. We look forward to creating a relationship and moving forward as a team.

Curtis & Kristin