We’re Shawna and Laura from Toledo, Ohio. Thank you for taking the time to look at our profile. We hope we may be able to share our love for our family and life’s many adventures with you.

We met 12 years ago through women’s hockey (Shawna was much better than Laura!). At the time, Shawna was a pediatric resident in Detroit (having finished medical school at Michigan State) and Laura was in a doctoral program at University of Michigan. After one of Shawna’s research proposals needed a lot of help, Laura’s patient and thorough editing made it complete. Shawna took Laura out to dinner in appreciation and we hit it off. Countless hikes, yard games, and scavenger hunts later, we were inseparable.

While living in Ann Arbor, we adopted our first black labrador, Chelsea. She was “career changed” from Leader Dog for the Blind. When we adopted her, we sought a high energy dog to fit our lifestyle. To this day she remains a spirited, smart, energetic, and – as a result -- sometimes naughty pup. Four years later we again found ourselves at Leader Dog, wanting to grow our family. Mikey, the happy-go-lucky boy, joined our pack and adds so much joy to our days. It certainly works well for both of us have a leash to hold.

After graduate school, we moved to D.C. when Laura got a fellowship to work in Congress. Big city living wasn’t Shawna’s ideal, so she accepted a position at the Toledo Children’s Hospital NICU and moved back to Toledo. Despite the distance, we grew stronger as a couple through our constant commitment and strong communication.

We’re now settled in Toledo and recently moved into our forever home in an extremely family-friendly, diverse, walkable neighborhood just north of the University of Toledo. We enjoy walking our dogs, having friends over to watch football and play board games, baking and cooking (Shawna loves baking Christmas cookies), and, of course, being active and playing sports. Laura still plays hockey and runs marathons, and we’ve recently started curling. In the summer we love spending time at our cottage an hour north in Michigan. We have the ability to hike, kayak and spend time on our pontoon boat. Shawna says that the highlight is pulling kids on the tube and hearing their laughter and excitement. Shawna is also a woodworker, builds furniture and is restoring an older home nearby. One of our favorite activities is trying authentic foods from various countries – not only because we enjoy eating, but more importantly, because we love learning about the cultural aspects of the food. Food brings people together and we look forward to sharing meals together in the future as one big chosen family.      

The attitude of gratitude motivates us. We strongly believe in giving back to our community. We volunteer at a local family shelter by cooking breakfast on the weekends and providing holiday gifts each year. Shawna also volunteers with a group that builds inclusive playgrounds for children with special needs. We are both empathetic people who want to leave the world a better place than we found it. We look forward to teaching our child these important values.

We have a full, fun, loving, and adventure-filled life and we can’t wait to add a new family member to it. We know that we would provide a life filled with acceptance, adventure, curiosity, kindness, structure, and love.