One Mango Tree

I recently discovered One Mango Tree, it is an awesome clothing site that provides jobs to women in Uganda to create sustainable income (we love that!) these are fair trade pieces and they are GORGEOUS! Oh my goodness, and you know how usually fair trade=kinda pricey (well, you want that because that means the person was paid fair) but One Mango Tree is totally affordable! 

Head over to their website and read more into their vision, I love it

These are my faves...

The Beach Tunic

I love it because you could totally wear it as a dress, or with a pair of jeans 

(ps, it's only $22.80, yep a steal)

The Beach Hoodie

I kinda have a beach theme going, I'm ready for warmer weather I think, but it just looks to comfy

The Canteen Bag

I just love the colors, and the design

Here's a link to their site, I mean seriously such great stuff, how did I just find out about them. 

Who else did some shopping after seeing their site? ;)

Chrome Buffalo...

I have a super fun fundraiser to share with you all today, it's called Chrome Buffalo, first check out their video, then we'll share the details...

So cool right? I know when we were starting our adoptoin fundraising I really wanted to sell shirts, which we totally did but I wanted a super cool looking shirt, and well-I'm just not that savvy so I would have LOVED to pick a pre-done design, and you get $11.00 of every shirt you sell for your adoption (or whatever you're fundraising for) so cool right? So here are some of the FAQ...

What is Chrome Buffalo?

"Chrome Buffalo™ is an online crowdfunding platform utilizing the concept of individual Drives. And since we’re defining here, a Drive is our fancy word for campaign - an united effort on the Chrome Buffalo platform directed towards the goal of raising funds for your specific cause. Each shirt sold raises $11 for your cause! Buffalo Up!"

Who is it for?

"we're talking about anyone who needs to raise funds for a specific cause. That means organizations, adoptive families, schools, sports teams, faith groups, families with medical expenses, bands, voluntourists, youth groups, et al. We won't waste your time, but you get the picture! With the Chrome Buffalo™ platform, hundreds of individuals or organizations can run Drives for their specific causes simultaneously."

Why?

"Because there is a need! There are millions of people out there who have a need to fundraise for their cause and quite frankly, gone are the days of soliciting funds through door-to-door sales or letter-writing campaigns. Honestly? Who needs more wrapping paper, breakfast breads, chocolate bars, or tubs of cookie dough? That all goes straight to our luv handles or the garbage. But something wearable (and with unlimited use) that supports a family member, a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, or someone across the globe? Now that’s worth $22!"

How does it work?

"Because if you are anything like us, we know you are busy and pulled in thousand directions so we’ve tried to make it as simple as possible:

1. Create a log-in with ChromeBuffalo.com
2. Submit your ‘Important Info’ (so we can get you your funds after the Drive ends)
3. Choose a T-shirt design, set a funding goal, and submit a Drive by uploading your photo, story, video, and a personalized note to go on all your Backer’s shipping receipts.
4. Pending approval by Chrome Buffalo, you will be sent an activation code for your Drive – simply activate your Drive on your desired start date and your 10-day Drive is launched!
5. Send people to your Drive and watch your cause’s dollar amount rise, remember, the more you sell, the more you make!
6. Within 10-days after your Drive ends, Chrome Buffalo will fulfill your orders and send your dough through Paypal!"

When can we start?

"Couldn't leave out the last W, but honestly we don't have much to say other than: "There's no time like the present - start your Drive today!"

Ok, so I think this is super cool! And such a great fundraising idea, we're going to do one to raise money for our high school student's missions trip to Ecuador this spring (my hubs is a youth pastor) and I'm so excited! I don't know about you, but my closet is quickly becoming full of adoption shirts, missions shirts, project hopeful shirts, you name it! I love shopping for a cause and can't wait to put YOUR shirts in my closet! So, who's gonna sign up?!

In the mood for a giveaway!

So today I have a special treat for you today...a giveaway! Lora over at EagerHands has generously offered this beautiful necklace to giveaway to one of YOU!

"I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

"God places the lonely in families..." Psalm 68:6

{may you have grace and strength in the waiting}

"The verses above are the inspiration for this beautiful ready-to-ship handstamped necklace featuring a small hammered and domed copper disc that is stamped with the word "WAITING", as well as the outline of Africa. Dangles on a pretty sterling silver plated ball chain with a lobster claw clasp."

This is a special necklace and I know it will hit home to many of the waiting mama's out there.  And even if your little one is already home, I'm sure you remember parts of the wait that seemed to never end.  But as you wear this necklace around your neck it can be a constant reminder of the little one your heart is ready to meet! 

Lora, the designer has a special place in her heart for adoption, and I'm so thankful that she wants to bless one of you with this sweet necklace!

This giveaway is for everyone! Not just waiting mama's, because I know in the adoption community everybody knows somebody who's waiting.

Here's the details on how can win:

This giveaway will begin Tuesday Jan 29th and run through Friday Feb 1st

The winner will be announced Sunday Feb 3rd 

-Donate to our family of the week (1 entry)

-Share the family of the week post on your

-Facebook (1 entry)

-Pinterest (1 entry)

-Twitter (1 entry)

Make sure you comment below and let us know what you did :)

For each entry please leave a separate comment 

(so if you do all of the above you could get 4 chances to win!)

I can't wait to see who wins! 

Make sure you check out Lora's blog too (she's the one who's donating the necklace :) )

New Week New Family, The Gilliams!

Hey guys!
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, I planned on spending mine at Created for Care, but my body had other plans and I spent it recovering from the flu...  yuck! Anyway, moving on to the good stuff.   I'm so excited to introduce you to this weeks family, they're so sweet! Check out their story, they are so cute and I just LOVE them, so I'd like to introduce you to, The Gilliams!

 

Here is a little note from mom:

"We aren't anyone special; just ordinary people who's lives have been radically changed by our glorious God and his heart for the orphan.  We started this process in Jan. 2012, and right now we've been on the waiting list for almost 5 months.  We can't wait to be parents one day soon, to love on our little boy (and hopefully a brother or sister too!), the way we've been dreaming of for years..."

Don't you want to be a part of their story? Give and share! Ready...GO!

Wanna meet us??

So some of us from the Give1Save1 crew will be at Created for Care this weekend...AND we have a table, all official like.  So come meet us! We wanna say hi in real life! :) And if you're not able to make it, we will MISS you, really we will.

Come say hi! 

Remember this..

Sometimes adoption, mommy hood, life in general-can get super overwhelming, don't you agree? 

But if you remember anything, remember this: HE will never give up. 

Love you all and pray for you and your families (waiting families, forever families) everyday

Be encouraged today!

Live 58: End Poverty

Back around Christmastime, I watched an awesome documentary called 58, I blogged about it a while ago on my personal blog, but wanted to share it with you guys!

Ok so 58 us basically a movement, a movement for the church, not my church not your church, but the church as a whole-you know Christians, followers of Christ.  It's about changing the world, radiating poverty and oppression. It's super inspiring, I know you'll all love it and my explanation doesn't do it near the justice that it deserves, so you need to watch it yourself, okay? Do you have Netflix? It's on there, and it's online too!

Go check out there website here

Go learn more about the film here

And I'll end with a teaser of the film to get you pumped okay?

And ps, did you know that in the last 30 years..poverty has decreased?! Yep, it's because of people just like you! Who are living out Isaiah 58.

Adoption and Nesting

Do you guys feel like you went through a "nesting" phase during your adoption? I've heard about nesting while pregnant, maybe around the 7/8 month? But I'm convinced that you nest while you're paper pregnant as well. Just me? I sure hope not. I've never experienced the "pregnancy nesting" so I'm not sure if the nesting I'm experiencing compares at all, but I'll share it with you anyway, maybe some can relate. 

So, we've been in the waiting phase 9 months now...9. So like, if I was physically pregnant I'd be ready to pop. Anyway, this odd urgency of needing to get things organized and cleaned hit me hard this weekend. I tore up our file cabinet and totally re organized it, why? I have no clue, no one besides me sees it but I felt like I needed to do it, so I did. I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out how to organize my kitchen..why? No clue just that "sense" of needing to do it I guess.  A friend of mine told me that moms to be nest because they know there's going to be change coming and the need to have everything "ready" when the change comes is important. But you guys, adoption is so unknown..I could be nesting forever I feel like! I don't know how much more organizing my house can take (I also organized my car...this is scary) but I suppose with nesting comes fun things like getting a room ready..which we also kinda started! That part of nesting is fun, I love searching Pinterest for ridiculously overpriced furniture and dream of what our little ones room could look like if I had a zillion dollars. 

These are rooms I'm currently drooling over...

Do you think it's weird to have a tree inside? I think it's kinda fun!

See that wiener dog under the bed?? We have a wiener dog so I think we need that toy for sure

And this might be a little on the girlie side, and we're requesting a boy but still, this room? So sweet!

So all you mama's who have your little ones home...please tell me you went through a nesting phase and that I'm normal! :)

New Week, New Family

Hey guys!
I hope you had a great weekend, over here we've been battling the cold bug, and it's hit us hard. Luckily it's a 3 day weekend so we can rest it out, and while we're resting I'd love to introduce you to the Pehl Family, you'll love them.  Their video is so sweet and it definitely made me tear up and "awww" quite a bit.

So cute right? I love how they showed us how they're "waiting" for their children.  They're adopting two children from Ethiopia, and how they're just waiting on a referral, or two :) So, can you guys rain down some blessings on this family? I know you can :)

31 Bits

How is it that I've never posted about 31 Bits? I'm not sure. I guess maybe I thought everyone knows that about them and it might be redundant. Or maybe I thought that it was too similar to Noonday, whom I love with a love that is maybe weird for a jewelry company. But anyhoo, the time has come, because they are just not the same thing, and every girl needs some versatility anyway, right? So, here's some of my faves.

The Shea Headband, $24
Now, let's see what happens... Will Wynne Elder, connoisseur of the boho hippie headband,  head straight over and purchase that blue one? Will she surprise us and pick the multi? Might she beg Noonday to start making headbands too? We shall see... :)

The Sweet Tart necklace, $28
I'm in love. *Hey honey, the blue would be just fantastic for Valentine's Day, and you'll need to shop early online, you know.*

Whimsy Trim, $119

Now this... this awoke a sleeping lion in me! I used to be a photographer, did you know that? Well, it's true, and I love to shoot women. I used to anyway. But now I really really really want to do a shoot with this headpiece. And I know it's for weddings and such, but I would wear it every chance I could!

Every purchase is fair trade and provides honest work and a good living for women in Northern Uganda, so buying this awesome stuff is just the right thing to do. It's your duty, practically. :)

Love One More

I love finding organizations and ministries that are all about serving God and loving His people.  Which is why when I stumbled upon Love One More, I was hooked! I pretty much found them because someone had liked their page on Facebook and I was drawn by the picture with a necklace saying "love one more" so, being my curious self I popped over to their page and fell in love with what they're doing.  Basically, here's a bit about them:

"This is not about us…this is about God.  We are just a group of girls who are on an adventure!  We are moms and wives, and we have jobs and busy schedules.  Most days we can be found doing laundry and dishes and trying to keep our kids alive and maybe teach them a thing or two.  But, in the midst of all this we are seeking God and trying to find the time and energy in our lives to Love One More.  And we would be so honored if you would join us on this adventure!"

"We are on a journey, learning to make time in our lives to Love One More and we invite you to join us. We are also raising money to help support organizations that serve orphans, adoption, foster care, sponsoring and mentoring children."

So that's just right up our ally right? We love organizations that support orphans, adoption, foster care and sponsoring and mentoring children don't we?

One thing I loved right away is that they're simple, they're making a difference right where they're at! Sometimes I think it's easy to feel like you're not doing enough-but look at the difference they're making right where they are?! I just think it's so awesome!

So, go check out their blog and facebook page and see more about them! Last I read in their blog they're currently working on sponsoring a little boy in Peru, and if you wanna help out you can purchase one of these necklaces and the proceeds go to his sponsorship. Pretty cool. 

Ponich Family Update!

Hello All at Give 1 Save 1 Africa!!

 

The Ponich family checking in!!

 

We have been home for 3 AMAZING months with our daughter Zadiya!

 

She is doing well and just turned 2, it is still hard to believe the journey our family has been on over the last year, and we couldn’t be more grateful to you guys at Give 1 Save 1 and our friends and family who supported us!  We are so thankful for the adoption community who all pull together to help each other out, one month they are ordering a hat from you and the next you are ordering an ornament from them.  Adoption has brought so much to our lives, and we are incredibly blessed and fortunate in that we have been able to enjoy the privilege of international adoption.

 

We continue to advocate for Give 1 Save 1, it really is such a neat feeling when a last name pops up that you know gave 1 to your journey and now you get to give 1 back   It truly is a terrific concept!!

 

Sleep Sense

Hey guys,

Well, we're hanging at around 100 days home. Jude-o is doing great in every aspect. Seriously, he's an angel baby. I think God had mercy on me (not a baby gal, really) and gave me a gem. There was one little area that he required a little extra attention. Ok, ALOT. And it wasn't so little, it was sort of gigantic. Sleep, my friends.

When he first came home it was a pleasure to get up with him once or twice to rock him. Then the weeks went on and I started getting really tired. And then the months went on and I got delirious. And also quite cranky. And so was Jude. And that's not exactly conducive to bonding during the day. Once or twice was turning into 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 times a night sometimes. He basically settled on sleeping in my arms while I was awake. That wasn't really going to work out, so I got desperate and hit up all my adoptive moms for advice and insight.

I found alot of you are continuing to get up a million times a night. And some are sleeping just fine. But for those of us not blessed with a good sleeper, what's a mom to do? With birth babies, you generally have two options (basically): cry it out or live with it. With adoptive children, cry it out is super frowned upon. Given that our kids have experienced unexpected loss of caregivers, we wouldn't want them to think that that was what could be happening. It's perfectly understandable and I couldn't bear to try it with Jude not knowing what he's experienced before us. BUT I couldn't go on holding him all night either. We even got a giant co-sleeper thinking maybe that would work and we could live with it, but no. He wouldn't let that fly.

Well, one of our mamas, Brianna, turned me on to Sleep Sense as it had worked with them and Azzie. You guys, it worked like a charm for us! It's basically 'cry it out' but you're in the room with them, so there's no fear of abandonment, you're right there. The premise is to take away sleep crutches that help the baby fall asleep so he can do it on his own. For Jude, he wanted a bottle and rocking. Well, a one year old certainly doesn't need any bottles at night, let alone multiple! So anyway, nights 1-3 we sat by his crib, right beside it. He cried, but it wasn't the big deal freak out cry. More like a whine. He did that for 40 minutes, then slept until 3 am. Brandon went in there and slept on the floor by him and he again put himself back to bed. Now we're a week into it and he's slept solo all night long 3 of those nights. 3 nights of solid sleep! Like 12 hours!!! And he only whines for like 2-3 minutes. It's so wonderful!!! Anyway, if you find yourself desperate some day (maybe today) I totally recommend Sleep Sense.

I know it seems dreadful to listen to the cry, but for us it wasn't so bad at all. The cry was not panicked, at first it was confused. But then he knew what to expect and it's dwindled to a little nothing. I read a book and have some tea. It's actually kind of nice. If you have any questions, shoot me an email at b.cupitt(at)yahoo(dot)com.

New Week, New Family

Happy Monday Dears,

You guys have been rockin' the donating the last few weeks, 2013 is starting off with a huge bang.  This week, I'd like you to meet another family who you will love! Meet, The Burns.

They are the sweetest family who's adopting a little girl from Africa.  Here's a little note from Mom and Dad:

"There are a few things we are sure of in this process.  First and foremost, we are moving forward with our Jesus–I believe there is no doubt that the orphan is a cause close to His heart. We confidently believe it is His plan to have us directly involved in bringing one of these orphans into our family to show them His love. Secondly, we are sure that we can not do this alone.  We are blessed with an amazingly supportive community.   We are sure this will not be easy and will absolutely need to rely on you for your support."

Do you guys want to know something else? Mama Burns..she's blogs over at Shedoesjustice.  Her shop is awesome and I know I've seen some of you guys linkin' up her blog and loving her writing, so now is the perfect time to share again!

So, you know what I'm going to ask...

It's time to give $1, share their story and help little Shilo home!

(the sidebar donation link still is not working, but please use the link right above here and you'll be taken to the Burns paypal site :) )

Make HIM famous. 

Depraved Indifference

Just a little something to pump you up for the weekend...

And gotta love some Francis Chan

How are you gonna show Jesus this weekend?

Let 'em eat cake (cupcakes!)

Hey guys,

So way long ago Beth posted about the Cupcake Kids.  We're gonna revisit them today because the National Cupcake Kids Sale is coming up this spring, and you might want to get involved! You probably do because you guys are awesome like that.  Ok, so who are The Cupcake Kids you ask? Well...

"The Cupcake Kids was really the kids’ idea.  They had been watching their parents becoming involved with a ministry in Uganda, Africa called SixtyFeet and they wanted to help out in their own way.  “Why don’t we sell cupcakes and lemonade on the corner one afternoon and give all the money to the kids in Africa?” they said one day.  Okay, why not?  So we gathered some friends, designed a sign or two, baked some adorable cupcakes and sat out on the street corner.  Some folks showed up.  And God showed up…big time!

As moms and dads who are involved in ministries both here in the US and internationally, we really wanted our children to grow up with compassionate hearts for others…to look beyond their own wants and desires and address other peoples’ desperate needs.  That’s what makes The Cupcake Kids so special.  Not only was it created by kids, it blesses children half way around the world.  And it’s the perfect way to get your kids and family involved in missional work!

In April of 2011, we had our very first {Inter}National Cupcake Kids sale.  The Cupcake Kids had over 140 sales in 35 states and 5 countries!  Children all over the world helped to raise over $70,000 for SixtyFeet! (And this number continued to grow as folks kept hosting Cupcake Kid sales well past April!)

This year, the {Inter}National Cupcake Kids sale will be held on May 4, 2013.  Please remember, you don’t have to have your Cupcake Kid’s sale on this exact date – any day of the year will do!  And you don’t have to sell just cupcakes…we’ve had folks from all over sell coffee on Day Light’s Savings, host benefit concerts, make adorable cupcake crafts….just about anything to raise awareness for the precious children in Uganda."

Isn't that so awesome? I love the idea of getting kids involved. It gives them ownership and lets them be a part of the solution, and it's a great way to educate them about poverty and the oppressed.  I have a friend who did something similar with her kids, they baked cookies over Thanksgiving break to raise money to sponsor a child in Rwanda! They baked and baked and baked and these kids raised enough money to sponsor a little girl for a year! Annnnd they get to meet her this spring (more on that to come!) 

     

photo: Rachel Wurzbach Photography

Photo: Rachel Wurzbach Photography

(check our her blog to see how her kids raised money for Rwanda!)

Seriously guys, it's so easy kids can do it (and they have!) 

So, the national Cupcake Kids Sale will be on May 4th, 2013

Who wants to get involved! You can register your sale here, a get baking! I know you all are super creative so you could make some super cute cupcakes, or maybe do cookies? Whatever you and your kids wanna do, lets just get involved! 

And if you're not a Cupcake eater, maybe you want to do their RUN for Cupcakes, I personally am not a runner and I'd rather eat the cup cakes, but for those of you runners out there, this is for you:

Yep, you can run for cupcakes. For all you health nuts out there. 

So, are you gonna bake or run, let us know! 

The funnest fundraiser ever!

Hey guys!
So you know The Wallaces? You probably do, and if you don't you should. Well, they're in the process of adopting a little girl, you can read all about their adoption journey here (and you seriously need to go read about it, go on, go!) because it's crazy!

Ok, so they recently announced the crazy way that God lead them to little Glory.  

And they thought up this amazingly fun fundraiser! It's so awesome!  Okay so here's how it goes, Wallace hubby has a super epic beard (see pic) and for just $5 YOU can vote to either have him keep the beard, OR shave it! Whhaaat?! So fun! 

So, would you vote beard? Or no beard? 

Go vote and tell us what you picked!

Purse & Clutch

I found another gem, you guys. All fair trade. All awesome. And can I just say how happy I am that fair trade and cuteness have met in a nice happy place. Is that shallow? Anyway, here's some faves of mine from Purse & Clutch.

 orange shopper made from recycled saris {$19}

ikat clutch made in uganda. be still my heart. {$36}

pink and lemon scarf made by disadvantaged women in cambodia {$32}

that's just my personal wishlist. :)

New Week, New Family

Hey there guys,

I hope you had a great weekend, ours was mellow-a nice change to the craziness of the last month of so. Anyways there is a super sweet family I want to all to meet,  The Grahams!

 

They're so cool! Pretty much like rockstars right?! They're in the process of adopting a little boy or girl from Uganda, and their agency says there's next on the list! So, they could have a new little member of their family very soon! 

So, how about you go give them a dollar, and go share their story, you guys are great at that.