Give 1 Save 1

Since starting the process to adopt, I have been enjoying meeting new friends from all over who share my passion for adoption.  Beth is one of those people, and when she told me about Give1 Save1, I was super excited to share it with you.  Then my little blogging hiatus happened, I became a bad blogger, and I never did.  Finally, I have the post ready for you - I'm excited to share it with you, from Beth herself!
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Hi there!

I'm Beth and I'm pleased to be doing a little guest post for you guys. Let me tell you a little about myself and a little project that you might just want to help with. 

Ok, like I said, I'm Beth. I'm a mom to two, Will and Abby. I'm also mom to two more though I don't know their names yet! That feels weird! We are in the process of adopting two older girls from Ethiopia. Working on our homestudy. 

When we started the process we knew that it would be hard to make $30,000 come through our house in about a year's time. I was trying to think of how my God given talents could help us raise that money. I thought to myself "Too bad rockin' blog skills and a Pinterest addiction can't pay those adoption fees." And then as I was surfing around that day I came across good old Pioneer Woman's website. A routine stop for me. That day she was giving away a KitchenAid. That day over 40,000 people entered a blog contest to win that machine. And then I thought to myself, "If every one of those people gave me a buck, two little girls would have a home and I could worry about stuff besides loans, like raising them." Unfortunately I am no PW and I don't have an army of people. Yet. A new vision was born. Maybe blogging is a gift. Let's see what we can do with this....

So I came up with this idea, Give1 Save1. In the next year I am attempting to get 30,000 people to join the Dollar Mob. It's a group of people that give $1 every week. It comes out of your Paypal account automatically once a week. Your dollar then goes to a new family that is adopting from Africa. So if 30,000 people joined we could fully fund 52 adoptions a year! And in the process we have a good time. There is a new family each week, but we're constantly talking mommy stuff, design stuff, and we have tons of fun giveaways. We've even opened a shop! I know that it's a recession right now and I know it's hard to give, but everyone has a dollar to spare, right? If you'd like to check it out, come on over. Every family is so appreciative of every dollar! 

Thanks so much for having me over and for listening to my hair brained idea!


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(Ok, now it's back to me again)  Hair brained?  I think not!  How about utterly BRILLIANT?!  $1 each week.  Or a one time donation.  This would be a great project to get your kids involved in!  Sometimes it takes so little to bless someone SO MUCH!  

You can also become a facebook fan of Give1Save1 to stay updated!


Thanks, Beth!

I'm Back!

Well, hello there!  Remember me?  Probably not at this point!  It has been so long since I've posted.....due to life being generally busy, and adoption stuff being crazy and pretty much sucking all of my emotions and creativity.  Every day I think, "wow, I should really blog."  And then......I don't.  I realized just how long it's been when a bloggy friend emailed tonight .....probably to make sure I'm still alive :)  Thanks, though - it made me feel special!

So here's my update...along with whatever random thoughts I have!

*On the family front,  my sweet baby girl turned 2!  Two!  And is suddenly not so sweet anymore.  Ha!  Ok, she can still be sweet and also quite hilarious, but she's definitely going through that frustrated/frustrating stage.  Overall though, two is fun - she is loving pretend play - being a mommy to her baby dolls, etc.  I am....I mean, she is....also having a lot of fun with her new dollhouse!  Here's a picture from her birthday....oh the anticipation of the birthday cupcake!

*Adoption News!  I am THRILLED to let you know that as of today, we are officially DONE with paperwork!!!!!  Our dossier (and most of the contents of our savings account) are on their way to our adoption agency, and in 1-3 weeks it will be headed to Ethiopia!  So excited for this step.....each step bringing us closer to our precious son(s).  We are also delighted to share how faithful God has been in providing for our needs.  The check we had to send today was pretty massive, and we had enough to cover it, plus a little more.  Of course we are still saving like crazy and fundraising since we still need close to half of our funds to come in.  We are praising the Lord for providing for our needs, and thanking our friends and family who have contributed!

*Orphan Sunday - we had the opportunity to help put a service together at our church and speak about our adoption journey.  It was truly a blessing to be able to hear the stories of others in our church family.  God puts families together in some pretty amazing ways!  We can't wait for the day when we can share updates to our story.

*Fundraising - so yeah, we still have a large chunk of change to raise.  A friend of mine from college is a consultant for Tastefully Simple, and she volunteered to do a fundraiser for us!  Not only that, but she sent me a box with lots of yummy samples!!!!!  If you haven't tried Tastefully Simple, they have some great mixes that help you to prepare foods with just a few ingredients - great for those nights when you don't know what to cook, or for snacks for unexpected company!  My favorite products are the Beer Bread, Bacon Bacon seasoning, and definitely the Oh My Chai!  Yum!!!!  This fundraiser is online, so if you would like to participate, click here, then "Shop Our Products", then "Host/Event Search", then you will need to fill in my name and state (PA).  If you want to order but don't know my name, you can figure it out pretty easily by looking around the site, but if you are having trouble, message me and I will get it to you - I just don't want to blatantly put it out there on the WWW, know what I mean?  The fundraiser is ending November 30 and you will receive your orders in plenty of time for Christmas - they make GREAT gifts!

*Thirty-One Gifts - you might remember that I started selling Thirty-One Gifts to help save money for the adoption.  I have to say, after about two months in, I am LOVING it!!!!  Our purses, totes, wallets, and other things to help you stay organized also make great gifts!  Orders made by December 12 will arrive in time for Christmas.  Of course I have to mention, if anyone is interested in a catalog/online party - a quick & easy way to earn FREE products - let me know!  Or, if you'd like to receive my email newsletter to stay up-to-date on our amazing specials, just give me your email address!

*Shop With A Purpose - Along with our fundraising efforts, we'd like to support the fundraising efforts of our other adopting friends.  I have started a Pinterest board featuring many of the fundraisers I have been made aware of - there's a little bit of everything there, so if you are looking for some unique gifts that will also help to form a forever family, check it out!

*From Here Onward - Just to let you know, I do plan on being a more regular presence once again on this blog.  Hopefully I'll even have some creative crafty ideas again at some point!  Thanks for sticking with me through the craziness of life!

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday 2011 from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.