Sharon & Eric
Hello and welcome to our page! We are Sharon and Eric. We’ve been married since 2007. Our life together has been full of adventure and some hardships, but always full of love and respect for one another. We have always hoped to become parents and while that journey has been longer than expected, it has given us the time and space to build a life in which we are excited to expand our family. Our family and friends are very supportive and look forward to welcoming any child to our life and community.
Eric is a biology professor for a small college where he teaches zoology and ecology courses. He is a teacher at heart whether it be teaching a science course, mentoring his students in the research lab and in life, or taking the students out camping.
Sharon is a litigation paralegal at a law firm where she takes on the challenges of different cases, types of law, and organization of a file to successfully support the attorneys she works with and helps clients achieve their goals. She loves the challenge of learning new things and building on her skill sets that she’s developed over the years. She has also used her legal knowledge to serve as a guardian ad litem in the court system to advocate for children in neglect and abuse cases.
Thank you for taking the time to review our profile. We are wishing for you the discernment and encouragement that you need as you take this journey.
Things We Can’t Wait to Do as a Family
Play tag and other games with neighborhood kids, as well as play at local parks | Read The Giving Tree, Where the Wild Things are, Where the Sidewalk Ends poems, The Berenstain Bears books | Eat the things that they make and perhaps that we grow in our garden; homemade cookies and cakes just as our moms and grandmothers made plenty of delicious homemade goodies. | Travel to the family camp in the Adirondacks where Eric grew up going every summer as a kid. He looks forward to showing this child the fun that he had swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and being out in nature. | Visit the zoo where we had our first date! This zoo is also one of the best zoos for animal habitats and has an Eric stamp-of-approval as a zoologist. | Celebrate Halloween complete with fun costumes; Advent together as leading up to Christmas, including decorating, music, and spending time with family and friends. | Teach him or her how to enjoy time in the kitchen preparing food for family and friends, as well as hosting them when they come to visit. | Sing a song, sing out loud, sing out strong. There’s many times and places in everyday life for music and singing. | Make homemade playdough, make art together, make forts to play in, and make your own fun from your imagination.
Our Home
Our home is a 2800 square foot home in a small suburban neighborhood. We have a screened porch on the back that overlooks our larger backyard that is perfect for games and running around. Our neighborhood is diverse and has other children in the neighborhood. We chose our house because it offers plenty of space and plenty of light for everyday living and for hosting family and friends.
OUR HOBBIES
Eric enjoys hiking, birding, wildlife photography, reading, and strategy games.
Sharon enjoys DIY and home decor projects, singing, music and podcasts, travel, small hikes, and kayaking.
Together we enjoy many of these things, but also hosting friends and family for cook-outs and game nights. We enjoy spending time with our community and inviting new friends to join in on that fun.
Parenting Philosophy
We desire to raise a child who knows they are loved and supported and they, in turn, show love and support to others. This includes:
- Respecting ourselves and others
- Showing love by kind words and actions
- Recognizing and supporting others’ endeavors
- Understanding the consequences of our actions and inactions
- Being diligent in what we do
- Finding joy, even in hard times
- Understanding the importance of community with our family and friends
Our Extended Family
Eric grew up in New England, where his brother and dad both still reside with their spouses. Eric’s mom lives close to us and looks forward to being a grandmother and spending time with the child.
Sharon grew up in Virginia, where her dad resides. Her mother passed away in 2021 (after almost 55 years of marriage to her dad). We miss her terribly. Sharon’s Aunt and Uncle live very close by and look forward to enjoying time with the child.
We spend time with our families often for holidays, for visits, and also for just general get-togethers to spend time with each other. All of our family values time together and looks forward to celebrating that time with any child that joins our family!
How We Met
We took notice of one another’s postings in an online discussion forum, mostly for the fact that we found the other person’s comments thoughtful and also humorous. We met in person two years later when Eric moved to NC for graduate school. We began dating then and married two years later in 2007!
5 Things About
Sharon
I’m very loyal and still to this day maintain several childhood, college, and young adult friendships with women are much like siblings to me even though I am an only child. We try to make annual trips for a ladies trip getaway together to reconnect and have plenty of laughs together.
All of my birthday parties as a kid were Halloween-themed since my birthday is October 29th.
I will sing anywhere and everywhere. Eric has pretty much gotten used to living in a house where there’s a song for everything, whether it be a song from memory or with made-up words.
I got to fulfill one of my desires to pet a cheetah when we took a trip to South Africa to visit with friends. It was exhilarating.
I love travel to see new things but also love to curl up at home on a rainy day with a good book and hot cup of tea while listening to the steady sound of rain.
5 Things About
Eric
I love to be outside. Hiking, camping, birdwatching, kayaking, it doesn’t matter as long as I can be in a wild space.
I designed and built a solar-powered recirculating birdbath for our backyard one year to de-stress from work.
My mother tells me that she was glad when I learned to read so that I could read the Handbook of Tropical Aquarium Fishes to myself and she could read me storybooks. Later, she made a rule that my brother and I had to carry our own books out of the library because we would try to get so many.
I love a good joke. Or a bad joke. All jokes are good jokes.
One year in college I stuck around during the summer to work as a research assistant. The cafeteria was closed and my roommates only knew how to use the microwave (despite having a full kitchen at our disposal). This is the story of how I learned to cook.
Get In Touch with Sharon & Eric
If you think we might be the right match for you and your child, we’d love to hear from you! You can send us a message online or call our agency, Adoption Advocates, at (512) 477-1122 / (800) 966-HOPE to get connected.
