Justin & Brittany
Justin & Brittany
We love to be outside and we enjoy camping seasonally every year. A typical weekend during the summer is spent being at the camper grilling, playing cards, swimming, or fishing.
One day our neighbors let us borrow their paddle boat to take out on the lake which was half covered with beautiful water lilies.
Neither one of us had ever been in a paddle boat before so we decided it would be fun to try! About half way out, somehow we got tangled in the water lilies, and we were stuck! Neither one of us brought a cell phone, so all we could do was laugh about it and pedal as hard as we could!
Finally we broke free of the lilies and Justin picked one for Brittany for their picnic table as we headed back to shore. We like to think that we look at life in this way, always laughing to keep trying times light-hearted, and working as a team to overcome obstacles together.
Our Story
We met through friends in 2007. Brittany’s best friend was dating Justin’s best friend at the time, and one night she invited Brittany to a party. It was an instant connection full of laughter and guitar hero! We moved in together 3 weeks later and have been inseparable ever since. We lived in South Carolina together for 3 years before deciding to move to Michigan.
In November 2010, we decided to move from South Carolina (where Brittany is from) to Michigan to be closer to Justin’s family. Justin grew up in southwest Michigan and really missed living here. Once we moved here, we both fell in love with the area and all it has to offer.
We bought our first home together in April 2012 and just a few months later in December of that year, we were engaged. We were married in May 2014 and we spent our honeymoon in Jamaica. We started trying to build our family soon after we were married in 2014 and it was not in God’s plan to have a child biologically.
After trying to get pregnant for a few years, God laid adoption on our hearts and we began to pursue this journey. We have spent time together preparing a nursery and continuing to have hope that we may one day be parents through adoption.
Our relationship consists of lots of laughter, conversations, open communication, honesty, loyalty, and trust. When we are not at the camper, we enjoy just being home together watching TV, or hanging out with a mutual group of friends.
Our Relaxation & Fun
For us, being outside in the sunshine is a must. Brittany likes to read outside, go for a run and practice yoga, and Justin enjoys lifting weights, grilling amazing steaks and trying his hand at new dishes on his grills. Justin enjoys all sports, (especially Michigan football!) and plays golf a lot. He participates in a golf league every year throughout the summer. We really enjoy taking nature walks together on the trails near our house. This is something that we have started since the coronavirus has shut down most activities. We have been able to spend so much more quality time together during this pandemic going for walks, updating our home, and just enjoying cooking new recipes at home.
During the summer we seasonally camp and spend a lot of time there, it is our home away from home. We are able to go swimming, fishing, enjoy campfires and spend time with other campers while just enjoying the great outdoors. If we are not in the pool swimming, you may find us playing corn hole, having a potluck with other campers, or playing cards in our gazebo tent. When we can’t be outside we like to play board games, cards, and enjoy a good rom-com movie.
our adoption hopes
Gender: Any Gender, including an Ambiguous or Transitioning Gender Child
Ethnicities: Any Race and Ethnicity
Age: Newborn to 18 months
Total of: 1 to 2 Children
a snapshot
of us
We Live In: Portage
Our Faith: Christian
Pets: Dog(s)
Kids Already: No Children Now
Child Care Plan: Family Member Child Care Stay-at-Home Parent
Our Family & Friends
Our family and friends are profoundly important to us. Brittany has a biological sister, 2 step sisters, and 3 stepbrothers. We have 1 niece and 6 nephews from all of these siblings! We get to see them a lot when we visit South Carolina.
It’s important to us that we travel to SC often to visit family. Most of the time we have 2-3 trips each year, and Brittany’s family visits us in Michigan too! Brittany’s parents and grandma live in her hometown, so when we go home, we usually get to see everyone!
Justin is an only child and we see his family often. Justin, his Dad, and his stepmom love to go golfing together, and we all like to enjoy a craft beer. We get together with family on a regular basis and especially for birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, alternating years in South Carolina.
We have friends who are truly just an extension of our family. They are exactly what you expect when you say you have best friends. They are always there for us any time we need them and they are so supportive of our adoption journey. Most of our friends have children of their own who we love and adore just like our own.
When we get together with them we like to have potlucks, play games, and celebrate holidays together like New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. We host a chili cook off at our house every year and everyone makes their own chili. Our friends and family are a huge part of our lives and they have helped to shape the people we are today.
Our Home & Neighborhood
We live in Texas Corners in a ranch-style home with a fenced-in backyard. In our backyard, we have a vegetable garden that we plant tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, and collards in every year. We love the convenience of having a nearby farmers’ market, parks, and walking trails. We can’t wait to share our knowledge of gardening and our love for the outdoors with children someday. We are excited to pass on our passion of camping, s’mores, campfires, and the peace that it brings to just be in nature.
In the future, we would like to have some land where we could enjoy other activities like planting fruit trees or riding four-wheelers and snowmobiles. We would really like to have a puppy that a child can grow up with, and recently put our names on a waitlist for one!
Education
We highly value education of all types. We believe that a skilled trade or a degree is extremely valuable in life because of the opportunities it opens up for yourself and your family. We fully believe that a person always has room for growth and improvement in all aspects of their lives. We will support and encourage our children to achieve their dreams, whatever they may be.
Correction & Discipline
We hope to implement a discipline technique that works best for our children, knowing that for each child, the technique may be different, and some things may not work for everyone. We want to inspire our children to develop self-discipline because it is a big part of being successful in life.
We would like to implement the concept of “1-2-3 Magic” because we want to encourage a positive environment through our parenting. We also would like to use the “Love and Logic” approach to encourage sharing and critical thinking. We agree with the idea of using empathy with consequences so our children can learn from their mistakes and still feel the love and compassion that we have for each other.
Our Faith Views
We both grew up going to church every Sunday and we both profess to be Christian. We celebrate Christian holidays including Easter and Christmas. Every other year we go to South Carolina to celebrate Christmas with Brittany’s side of the family.
Currently, we attend a Baptist church nearby occasionally. We both listen to a variety of music including worship music and we pray often. We are still growing in our faith and we hope to share our faith with our children someday.
Justin's Career
I am the General Manager at a large collision repair facility in our town. I started in this industry right out of high school in the lowest position there was and have since worked my way into higher positions. Because I have worked many of the positions, I feel like it helps me to be more well rounded in my current position because I am able to understand what each stage needs to succeed.
When a vehicle comes in with damage, it is very satisfying to see it go through all the stages to come back to pre-accident condition. I also play a large part in dealing with our customers in one way or another. It always makes me feel good to see a customer become whole again once they get their vehicle back and move on from a scary situation after having an accident.
I lead a team of 20 employees and I enjoy the challenges this job provides me. It has prepared me for many situations that come up in life and one of the most rewarding parts is to see an employee grow as an individual and in their skill here.
I will take at least two weeks of paternity leave in order to bond with our baby.
Brittany's Career
I am fascinated with teeth, science, and anatomy. I love working with patients to help them achieve their optimum health in oral hygiene. It is so satisfying to provide oral health care and to help patients navigate through their treatments. My favorite part is educating patients on proper hygiene, techniques, and products to use.
Our plan is to have immediate family provide child care at our home for a couple of days a week and one or two days at daycare. Brittany will take a maternity leave and since she works part-time hours, she will be able to be at home part time with the baby. When the baby turns 3, we want to look into options for a preschool part-time to allow the child social interactions with others their age.
Justin
My immediate family is from Michigan, my grandparents on my Father’s side are from Tennessee and my grandparents on my Mother’s side are from the Netherlands. We don’t celebrate any specific traditions relating to our background, but we do try to cook family recipes that have been passed down to us over the years.
Brittany
Brittany’s immediate family is from South Carolina. We are mostly English descent from around London. We don’t celebrate any traditions from our English roots, but you won’t go to any southern home without sweet tea in the fridge and a front porch swing to welcome you home! We alternate going to South Carolina every other year to spend Christmas with family.
We would like to thank you for looking at our profile. We cannot begin to understand the challenges you are facing and how overwhelming and difficult this is. It takes a lot of love, courage, and selflessness on your part to make this plan, and we do not take that lightly.
We are so grateful that you have taken the time to read through our profile, and we ask that you consider us as a family for your child. We ask that as you read through what we have written about ourselves, that you keep in mind how much love we have for children. We hope that it helps to put your mind at ease as you make this difficult decision.
- Child Separation, Attachment, and Bonding
- Child Development, Including Safe Sleep Practices for Children
- Behavioral and Emotional Needs of Adoptive Children
- Impact of Adoption on the Family
Ultimately, we hope to have an open adoption that would include visits, pictures, letters, and updates exchanged between us. We understand how healthy it is for the baby and for you to be involved in our lives throughout the year. Ideally, we want to have several visits per year including a visit around the baby’s birthday and another visit around Christmas.
These are very special days to us and we wish to spend them with you because we can only imagine how important these days may be for you as well. We also want to extend an open welcome to invite you to less formal visits like dance recitals, baseball games, etc. Those are the moments to capture memories, and we want you to be able to be there for those if you wish.
We want to build a trusting relationship with you that will evolve organically like any new relationship would. We would love to be a part of the prenatal visits, be at the hospital when you go into labor, go shopping for baby things together, and meet some of your family around the time of placement. We are open to texting and video calls occasionally and pictures of all of us as a family during our visits.
We will be open with the child that they are adopted, so when questions arise, we are able to give honest answers and emotional support. We look forward to creating and sharing memories with you throughout this journey in our lives.
OUR COMFORT LEVEL WITH DIFFERENT ADOPTION OPTIONS
- Very Comfortable
- Mostly Comfortable
- Unsure
- A Bit Uneasy
- Not Comfortable
Ultimately, we hope to have an open adoption that would include visits, pictures, letters, and updates exchanged between us. We understand how healthy it is for the baby and for you to be involved in our lives throughout the year. Ideally, we want to have several visits per year including a visit around the baby’s birthday and another visit around Christmas.
These are very special days to us and we wish to spend them with you because we can only imagine how important these days may be for you as well. We also want to extend an open welcome to invite you to less formal visits like dance recitals, baseball games, etc. Those are the moments to capture memories, and we want you to be able to be there for those if you wish.
We want to build a trusting relationship with you that will evolve organically like any new relationship would. We would love to be a part of the prenatal visits, be at the hospital when you go into labor, go shopping for baby things together, and meet some of your family around the time of placement. We are open to texting and video calls occasionally and pictures of all of us as a family during our visits.
We will be open with the child that they are adopted, so when questions arise, we are able to give honest answers and emotional support. We look forward to creating and sharing memories with you throughout this journey in our lives.
Just one more thing...Ultimately, we hope to have an open adoption that would include visits, pictures, letters, and updates exchanged between us. We understand how healthy it is for the baby and for you to be involved in our lives throughout the year. Ideally, we want to have several visits per year including a visit around the baby’s birthday and another visit around Christmas.
These are very special days to us and we wish to spend them with you because we can only imagine how important these days may be for you as well. We also want to extend an open welcome to invite you to less formal visits like dance recitals, baseball games, etc. Those are the moments to capture memories, and we want you to be able to be there for those if you wish.
We want to build a trusting relationship with you that will evolve organically like any new relationship would. We would love to be a part of the prenatal visits, be at the hospital when you go into labor, go shopping for baby things together, and meet some of your family around the time of placement. We are open to texting and video calls occasionally and pictures of all of us as a family during our visits.
We will be open with the child that they are adopted, so when questions arise, we are able to give honest answers and emotional support. We look forward to creating and sharing memories with you throughout this journey in our lives.