Welcome! Meet:

Mike + Alissa

Consultant / Grant Writer

Virginia

Caucasian / Multi-Ethnic

Christian

All About Mike & Alissa
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Mike & Alissa

Hello, we are Alissa and Mike! As we sit down to write this, our hearts are pounding with excitement and emotion. We want to thank you so much for choosing to hear our story and learning about us as prospective parents.

We have a three-year-old son named Rafa who also joined our family through adoption. He is very shy when you first meet him, but once he gets to know you, he gets super playful and loud. He loves singing and dancing with or without music. He likes to color and put together blocks and trains. He loves being outside and you can really see the beauty of nature reflected in his face and joy. Though he is often still hard to understand, he loves to talk and tell stories both in English and Spanish.

We love to travel as a family. We cannot wait to share future journeys with a second child, exposing them to different cultures and climates around the world, as well as going back to rediscover some of our favorite places through the eyes of our children. We both traveled growing up, and together as a family of three, have been fortunate to have already traveled to five countries, as well as many states. We look forward to exploring all the national parks, monuments, and cultural and historical sites with another child.

We have a Friday night tradition where we order take out and find a movie to watch or a game to play as a family. We always order something from a new place and love to try food from all cultures.

Once a month, we try to go on a hike together somewhere nearby to take in the beautiful land outside the city. Finally, every year on May the 4th, we have a Star Wars party where we encourage our friends to dress up as their favorite character and bring themed food - we can’t wait to have another Baby Yoda join us!

Why Adoption?

We were in a relationship for over six years when we first decided to become parents. Alissa knew at an early age that she wanted to parent through adoption, it always felt like the right path. When we started dating, Alissa was excited to hear that Mike was also interested in adoption. Growing up, Michael had friends whose siblings were adopted and he always considered it a positive option for building a family. We spent time talking with others and doing research before moving forward with bringing a son into our family through adoption in 2022. We fell in love with Rafa and he has added so much to our family. We could not be happier as we watch him grow and develop into the amazing young person that he is. We are now ready to build our family again through adoption and Rafa is excited for a sibling. We have support from family and friends in our adoption journey.

Family & Home

We have lived in our neighborhood in Arlington for over three years now, and we are lucky enough to have a grocery store and pharmacy right next door in addition to restaurants. Our favorite part of our home is the kitchen. We are total foodies! We also love the living room where we can play games or watch movies and the backyard where we can enjoy summer nights grilling and relaxing outside.

We have two cats named Cheddar and Brie. Cheddar loves to play fetch, and Brie loves to snuggle. They are extremely friendly and affectionate, and love cuddling with our son.

We love that even though we are in an urban area, our neighborhood has a small-town feel and is the perfect place to raise a family. There are a variety of green spaces and playgrounds to choose from in our neighborhood, including both traditional parks as well as outdoor green spaces. We also cannot wait to take a future child to have a family picnic together in one of our many neighborhood parks.

We are very fortunate to have such a large and strong community of friends and coworkers in our area. The majority of our best and closest friends live in the D.C. area. We can’t wait to raise a second child with their support and love around us.

Our friends are a part of what we call our family because we believe you do not need to share blood to be a family. We love taking trips to the beach or having cookouts with our friends during the summer and love heading to the orchards for apple picking and pumpkins during the Fall.

Although our parents do not live in the area, we fly out to see them regularly, and they also come visit us here at home a few times a year. Alissa has a family of about 100 people a one-hour flight away. We cannot wait for another child to be surrounded by dozens of cousins at Thanksgivings and Christmases, where a buffet of dozens of dishes in the kitchen and dancing in the living room is a common theme. Mike’s family is about a two-hour flight away. Some special traditions in his family include etching Christmas ornaments, a gingerbread house decorating contest, Easter egg hunts, karaoke in the living room, card games, and of course lots and lots of presents!

On Sundays, we attend an Episcopal Church. The church has many young families and we look forward to watching a child play with others on the front lawn.

How others describe me

Alissa Through Mike's Eyes

Alissa is the most loving and caring person that I have ever met and I am very excited to see her continue to express that love as a mother. She consistently makes sincere connections with people almost immediately and works hard to ensure that everyone she meets feels special and respected. Alissa takes that joy and fun-loving attitude into all aspects of her life. She is really good at making everyday moments more fun as she turns routine tasks into a game or song. Alissa loves singing and dancing, and you can usually find her doing both while vacuuming or cleaning.

Alissa is originally Canadian and received her U.S. citizenship shortly after we met - I even got to help her study for her test. She grew up all over the world, including Kenya, Zambia, and Bermuda, and I think this unique experience growing up helped her empathize with other people, having seen so many different points of view. Her mother’s side of the family is originally from Guyana and she gets to connect with her culture and heritage through Soka Tribe, an Afro-Caribbean performing group she dances with. In addition to dancing, she plays piano and tries to watch as many musicals as she can. Alissa also enjoys event planning and often plans birthday parties and celebrations for our family and friends.

Mike Through Alissa's Eyes

Mike is an amazing husband and I can’t wait to see him continue to grow as a father. He is loving, caring, and supportive, and is one of the most intelligent, funny, generous, and thoughtful people I know.

Mike’s dad was in the Air Force, so he grew up all over the country, and his mom professionally baked, so there are always some delicious desserts when we visit his parents. I think some of his mom’s skills rubbed off on him, because Mike is really a great cook too! Some of his favorite foods include Indian food and chicken pot pie.

There is no place Mike would rather be than outdoors, especially in the mountains. He loves to get away for weekend camping trips! I can’t wait to watch Mike show our children how to make a fire and make their very first s’mores, how to put up a tent, and how to catch a fish. His other interests include playing strategy board games, playing Xbox and PC games, reading, running, hiking, wildlife photography, and watching Star Wars and football. He also enjoys going to the zoo!

How We Met

We met in Pittsburgh in January 2015 at a trivia night that a mutual friend had invited us to. We were both in our last semester of the same graduate school, but had never met previously. We continued to attend the weekly trivia nights, talking more and more each time, and eventually realized we had feelings for one another. On our first date, we went to an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse where we competed to see who could eat the most (Mike beat Alissa by about one piece of meat). About two months later, Mike flew to Bogota, Colombia, while Alissa was there on a graduate school capstone trip to tell her he was in love with her. After we graduated with our master's, we moved to Washington D.C. together. In February 2019, Mike proposed at the United States Botanic Garden and we were married in July 2020 on the front lawn of our church in Capitol Hill.

Advice to Future Child

Always seek out the joy and beauty in life. Good things and bad things can happen to you, but only you can decide each day to stay positive or negative. Always show love and respect for the people and world around you. Follow your dreams and imagination.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

Depending on the level of openness you prefer, we look forward to providing regular updates and communications, as we currently do with our son’s birth family. We hope that eventually you will want to become a part of our extended family, but if not, that is okay too, as this is your decision and journey too. We are open to any level of openness that you choose.

Favorites

Mike

Favorite Book: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Thanksgiving: lots of football and food!
Hobbies/Interests: playing games and being outdoors
Dream Vacation: hiking in Nepal
If I Could Choose a Superpower: healing

Alissa

Favorite Book: Top Gun
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Christmas: dancing, music, and lots of food!
Hobbies/Interests: dancing and swimming
Dream Vacation: enjoying the beautiful beaches and waters of the Maldives
If I Could Choose a Superpower: teleportation