We definitely pride ourselves on being hard workers when it comes to our jobs and our careers. Julie is an accountant at a small firm that is extremely flexible with her schedule and very family friendly. Justin works for a large chemical supply company and travels within a two-hour radius of our home throughout the week. He is able to make his own schedule which will allow him to be present for our child's activities and needs as they grow up.

Outside of work, we enjoy spending time with our family, friends, and dogs. We frequently have game nights and dinner dates with friends and their families. We are also very involved with our alma mater, Kansas State University, as it is located in the town we live in. On Saturday's in the fall, you can find us at football games cheering on the Wildcats! We also have season tickets for basketball games so there is always a sporting event to look forward to. We are so excited to welcome our child into the Kansas State family and to pass on our love for the Wildcats. We are looking forward to creating new family memories and traditions with our child.

Julie About Justin: I first met Justin our freshman year of college. Besides his looks, what really attracted me to him was his kindness. As I got to know him, I discovered all of his wonderful qualities. Although we were young, I quickly realized that he was the one I wanted to marry and raise a family with. He is extremely reliable and has an incredible work ethic. He gives it his all in everything he does and never comes up short. There is never a day that Justin doesn't put a smile on my face. Watching him care for and love our dogs, I get a glimpse of how he will be as a father. I know he will support and love our child with his whole heart and I can't wait to watch him become the best father!

Justin About Julie: When Julie and I started dating in 2008, I immediately knew that she was the person that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. She is the most caring and loyal person that I know and always puts others first. She has a terrific sense of humor and definitely is the funnier of the two of us, even though I pretend to be... She is an extremely hard worker and I know that she will be an outstanding mother for our child. She is full of love and patience and I am so excited to watch her raise our child in the future!

Over the years, we have developed a love for the Chicago area. We first visited Chicago together in 2014 and immediately started planning our next trip. Our favorite thing to do in Chicago is attend Cubs games at Wrigley Field. Justin is a lifelong Cubs fan, thanks to his Grandma. While he was growing up, they would watch many games together on TV after school. Justin's love for the Cubs was the main reason we first decided to take a trip to Chicago.

In addition to going to Cubs games, we truly enjoy the city and everything it has to offer. We have visited Shedd Aquarium and taken a few city tours in our past trips. We even enjoy spending an afternoon exploring Millennium Park or the Navy Pier when the weather is nice. Even though Chicago is a large city, we like to get away and visit the beach along Lake Michigan for a relaxing evening. We do our best to make a trip to Chicago at least once a year and can't wait to bring our child along and turn it into a family tradition. Justin is very excited to pass along his love for the Cubs and experience Wrigley Field with our child!

We recently moved into a five bedroom, three bathroom home in a wonderful neighborhood with the hopes to grow our family! The development that we live in is filled with families with children, and on any given day you will see several children playing in yards, riding their bikes through the neighborhood, and families on walks in the area. The development seems to be growing all the time! Our neighborhood is a great place to raise a child, and they would grow up with many friends and kids to play with. We enjoy spending time on our deck watching sporting events if the weather permits, or in the basement watching movies and playing card/board games. Our two dogs, Banks and Wrigley, have a large, fenced in back yard that they love to play in, and we envision a child growing up in this home and playing in the back yard as well!

The community we live in is very welcoming and puts off a "small town" vibe, which we love. A new elementary school is currently being built a few blocks from our home as well, which will be extremely convenient when our child starts school!

Family is something that we are both very passionate about! Julie is the youngest of three children (older brother and sister), and Justin has one younger brother. All of our siblings have children of their own, and we are excited for the opportunity to share that bond with our siblings. Julie's siblings have a total of five boys, while Justin's brother has a 2-year-old daughter that they adopted at birth. Julie's entire family lives a short two hours away and we get together on weekends as often as possible. Justin's family is all only a few hours from us and we get together with them for major holidays and special occasions as frequently as we can. With our siblings having children of their own, we can't wait for the opportunity to have our own child to add to the joy of family get-togethers! Even our four-legged children, Banks and Wrigley, are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their human sibling as they have an abundance of love and slobbery kisses to offer.

We are so thankful that you have taken the time to consider us and learn more about our family. We can only imagine the difficult decisions and challenges that you are facing throughout this process. We want you to know that we are thinking of you and your child each day and we promise to provide your child with a safe, joy-filled, and loving home.

We met our freshman year of college thirteen years ago. We started dating a few months after we met and have been together ever since. We immediately became best friends and both knew early on in the relationship that we wanted to be with each other for the rest of our lives. We wanted to wait to get married until we had graduated from college, so after graduation in Fall of 2011, Justin proposed in January of 2012. We spent a year and a half planning our wedding and got married in Julie's hometown in the Summer of 2013. We have been happily married for the past 7 1/2 years and are loving the life we are building together! Since the wedding, we have added two dogs and we recently purchased our forever home that we are beyond excited and ready to grow a family in.

Ever since we started dating, we had always talked about having kids and raising a family. However, in May 2012, Julie was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Fortunately, it was diagnosed in the early stages and the doctors were able to perform a hysterectomy and remove all of the cancer. Although this was great news, it was also devastating, as we knew that we would no longer be able to naturally conceive a child. This is something that has taken us many years to come to terms with, but we now understand that growing our family through adoption is a true blessing. We witnessed how beautiful adoption can be when Justin's brother and his wife adopted their little girl in Summer of 2018. We are anxiously awaiting our opportunity to experience the gift of adoption and expand our family!

We want you to know how important you are to us and that we will be forever grateful for you, as you are providing us with a gift of a lifetime. We know how brave, selfless, and courageous you are for going on this journey and we hope to provide some peace, clarity, and support along the way. We welcome you to play whatever role you choose in your child's life but no matter what, know that your child will always know that you love them. We are more than happy to share with you their milestones and experiences through pictures, letters, e-mails, and text if desired. Our hope is to get to know you and maintain a healthy relationship. We are open to making arrangements for visits when the time is right, if that is something you would like to do.

We will always respect you for the choice you are making as we know it is very difficult and full of selflessness. We want to thank you again for considering us as potential parents for your child and taking the time to hear our story. We promise to provide them with all the love, support, and guidance in the world. We are thinking of you and your child every single day as you make the difficult decisions throughout this journey. You and your child are both very loved!

Sincerely,

Justin & Julie