.147 million reasons why.

.147 million reasons why.  This week I was talking to a lady about adoption.  She stated that her and her husband thought about adoption but are hesitant.  She said they are hesitant because they are friends with a couple who is three years into the process of a domestic adoption.   Her thought was there is not really a need.  When she asked, "so, is there a need?"  I was stunned.  Is there a need?  YES - YES - there is a need.  There are 147 million (most likely more) reasons why there is a need.  There are over 147 million orphans in the world today.  So yes there is a need.  And it is high.  Below there is a video that has some more alarming statistics that have had some influence on why we are adopting from Ethiopia specifically.  The numbers in the video are taken from a variety of websites and organizations and put together by the Young family.  .147 million reasons why. 

.chase family reminder.

click to learn more about the Chase family

This is just a friendly reminder that there are only TWO more days to help this family through our partnership program.  If you want to support the sweet Chase family you have until tomorrow at midnight to purchase an item from Hannah James.  

.zoo day.

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.zoo day.  Today is a zoo day with friends.  Lydia is in love with giraffes, Asher likes the monkeys, and I love the bears.  Hoping to see lots of good animals on this sunny zoo day.

In searching for pictures for the zoo I came across the awesome photo at the top.  Check out the artists other creations below and also on her website.  Anyone who can turn a toilet paper roll in to something beautiful is Seriously Awesome.  .zoo day. 

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.new necklace.

new french locket necklace

.new necklace.  Hi friends.  I listed a new necklace today in the new shop!  {more coming next week} I hope you have a lovely weekend.  We are off on another adventure again, this time we go south to Illinois!  .new necklace. 

.the winner is.

The winner of the petite rose bud earrings is..... 

Melody J.  

Congrats - You will be hearing from me shortly.

.the little sis.

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Happy Birthday Alyssa!  Happy, Happy, Golden Day!  I hope that you are filled with joy today as you celebrate.  I love you, always. -older one.

.welcome summer.

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.don't forget.

Today is the last day to enter to win these lovely earrings.  And you have until the end of the month to shop & support the Chase family!  As always, thanks for the support :) 

.escanaba.

.escanaba.  This past weekend we were invited up to Escanaba, Michigan with some friends.  We had a wonderful time with them and enjoyed the warm weather and great company.  .escanaba.

.storenvy.

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.storenvy.  You may have noticed that I have a love-hate relationship with etsy.  I love a lot about it but at the same time I always feel like I get lost in the crowd.  Every time I go back, I seem to find myself finding another place to sell my products.  Some place smaller.  The odd thing is I don't purposefully search for these other shopping sites, I just happen to come across them and love then -dare I say it- more then etsy.

A couple weeks ago I stumbled across a social shopping site called Storenvy.  It immediately caught my interest as a seller because, alas - It is 100% free, like big cartel - whom I also love.  And it promotes the shops, something big cartel is not involved in.  I feel like it is the best of both worlds.

Since it is free.  I joined.  Set up my products.  And LOVE IT!!!  From all the online selling sites, I can hands down say it is one of the best.  And I have sold through a lot of different markets- etsy, 1000 markets, storenvy, big cartel (I only set up there, never sold) and zibbet.  I love that it is social shopping, you can follow stores, and follow friends.  I adore this feature because it promotes handmade items in a great way - instead of separating everything like big cartel or competing against each other like etsy.

I will probably post more on this sometime soon, as I myself get more acquainted with the site.  For now, go visit and tell me if you like it or hate it.  If you sell your items online, what is your favorite site to sell through?  If you buy items, where do you usually go to buy?  .storenvy. 

.fathers day.

 with Lydia, watching the Memorial Day parade

with Asher, waiting for the Memorial Day parade

.fathers day.  Happy early fathers day to all the fathers out there.  To mine, who raised us in love and support.  To my father in law who raised Aaron to be the man he is today.  And of course, to Aaron - you are an amazing father and I could not be more blessed then to go through this journey of parenthood with you.  I love you, always.  .fathers day. 

.sandboxes.

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.sandboxes.  This past weekend my husband and my father in law put some safety features up on our deck.  Before there was a gaping hole underneath the railing, which I could have seen Asher trying to crawl under.  Lydia on the other hand has been trying to stick her head through things, so the plastic chicken wire cage was a necessary additive to protect her from taking the plunge to our concrete sidewalk below.  Now we have a nice patio that is kid safe - totally horrendous in the beauty department, but kid safe.  Tonight we are going to pick up a sandbox to add out there.  It won't be fancy like these dream ones, but it will work the same.  Score.  .sandboxes. 

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.sticking together.

.sticking together.  I know I post a lot about other adopting families.  I have to.  It helps me remember that other families are yearning for their children halfway across the globe.  It helps remind me that other families are putting their hearts out there, just like us.  It helps me remember that I am not alone.  And because I am not alone in the adoption process I will continue to link to them, to stay connected.  

We families need to stick together.  We encourage one another through, blog posts, through chat sessions & forums, through our etsy groups.  We encourage one another through fundraisers,  and emails.  To be honest if I didn't blog about adoption and connect with other mom's I would feel really alone.  

I know other families who have been through the process of adoption.  I am beyond grateful for their advice and encouragement,  but they are not in the midst of this long process right now, I am.  And I love that I get the support I need from people in my exact same position from these social media sites.  I have been blessed to meet some amazing people who are becoming closer each day.

That being said, one of my blogging buddies needs our help.  Lindsay and her family are adopting a little girl from the Congo.  They need to raise money before they can go and get her.  Please pray with me for this family and read where they are at in the process here.  They need our help to raise money so they can bring home their little girl.  Please consider helping them.  Thank You for sticking with me and praying for them.  .sticking together


PS: You can vote for me by simply clicking the thumbs up button here until June 21st.  

.announcements, announcements, announcements.

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.announcements, announcements, announcements.  I know this has not been the most thrilling week on Hannah James.  To be honest my mind is still processing what I need to do in order to adopt.  The meetings we have scheduled, the classes, the paper work, the decisions.  I don't think my brain was completely ready to take it all in.  Yet it slowly is.  And daily, DAILY, I am making progress and knocking out the work.  Because I know it will be worth it.  .announcements, announcements, announcements.

I don't know if you have noticed the pages on the top of the blog.  One page I want to highlight today is my advertising page.  That is right, Hannah James is currently open for advertising!  If you have a family friendly product then purchasing an advertising spot is a great way to get exposure.  The pricing is reduced by half if you sign up anytime this summer!  Some great spots available starting at $5.00 - that is a great deal!

And the final announcement is that I would love it if you could vote for me in Circle of Moms Top 25 Adoption Blogs.  I am loving the fact that there are so many great adoption blogs on the entire list, I am loving the fact that more people will be aware of adoption from this - I mean seriously how cool is that.  You can vote for me by simply clicking the thumbs up button here until June 21st.  

I am grateful for your support, Thank You!!!   

.50 things.

Don't forget about the Hannah James giveaway!

1. My all time favorite color is brown.

2. I love hot weather and anything in the 75 - 100 degree range is perfect.

3. I think I could become a vegetarian but my husband would have real big issues with that as he needs to eat meat daily.

4. I have been to 8 countries - although Morocco was only for a long layover (17 hours), and Sierra Leone was for a short one where I didn't even get off the plane.

5. I graduated with three Minors (Adventure Education, Environmental Education, Youth Programming and Camp Management) - and I love them all more then my Major (Elementary Education).

6. My favorite number is 6.

7. I do not have good grammar, but it is slowly improving.

8. I could live on tacos.

9. I broke my arm in 7th grade by doing a cartwheel.

10. I am better at individual sports rather then team sports.

11. I look like my mom & my daughter looks like me.

12. I have 20/20 vision, but also have bad night vision..... so I guess its not perfect.

13. I have a really good memory.

14. My dream would be to work at an orphanage in Africa.

15. I would like to have either 4 or 6 children, not 5.

16. My Birthday is May 12th.

17. I think living in Seattle would be perfect - although I have never been there.

18. I love the rain.

19. I have a bad habit of pulling out my eye lashes & eyebrows.... some sorta OCD I think.

20. I married my love on October 14th, 2006.

21. I love to travel.

22. My favorite vacation was to CA!

23. I do not rest when my children nap. I blog. Or craft.

24. I love to be organized.

25. My house is a poor reflection of number 24.

26. I have a long tailbone so doing v-sits hurts my back/bum.

27. I love to be barefoot.

28. I live on the top floor of an old farm house.

29. I love reality T.V.

30. I have seriously considered applying for Survivor.  Someday I think I will.
31. I hated pink as a kid, but it is growing on me daily.
32. My fist job was vending at UW-Badger Football Games. 

33. I met my husband in New Orleans.

34. I can easily spend an entire day at Barnes & Noble.

35. My favorite song is Set the World on Fire by Britt Nicole, it makes me want to get up and BE THE CHANGE!

36. I am overly obsessed with checking my email.

37. My least favorite chore is cleaning the dishes. 

38. I am better at cooking a meal then baking anything.

39. I write in cursive.

40. I am highly emotional and cry easily.  I blame my mom.

41. My favorite job was as a camp counselor, summer of 2003 to be specific.

42. I drive a mini-van and I love it. 

43. My husband and I picked out our son's name the first year we were dating.  We told each other if we ever married each other and had a son we would name him Asher Michael.  6 years later we followed through.

44. My favorite pizza toppings are green peppers, tomatoes, and onions. 

45. Whenever I had to fill out my race on standardized tests I hesitated, starting as far back as those tests go...3rd grade.  I don't know why but I always got mad and thought, who cares.

46. I love the smell of rain, fresh grass, the library, new cars, and summer heat.
47. I love coffee - Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Lattes are my fav. 

48. I use cloth diapers on my children.  And most of the time I like that.

49. I am fairly good with directions.  Most definitely better then my husband.

50. I am a child of God and strive to live for him daily, yet I will never be perfect and am humbled just to be called His. 

.perfect motivation for our dossier.

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.today I am reminding myself to breath deep.

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because today is our last home study visit!

Sorry for super short post... cleaning, organization, and deep breathing are in progress. 

Summer Auction

The Chase Family is having an Auction.  Name look familiar?  They are our first partnering family!  Their Summer Auction is going on until  Friday - so start bidding!  They have some serious cute stuff.

.new look.

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.new look.  Hey everyone!  I am going to keep my life simpler by only having one blog!  In theory one blog for the new shop and one for my family sounded great.  But in reality I can hardly keep up with the one, so adding another is not the best option.  I have switched the name of this blog from Simply Simon to Hannah James to reflect the shop, to have a change of pace, and because Hannah James has special meaning.  I am sorry for all the confusion & I hope you can forgive me and support me here at the newly improved Hannah James Blog! 

Now that everything, for the most part, is switched over.... How do you like it?  Do you like this layout better?  Is it easier to navigate?  Do you want me to switch back?  Is it all too confusing?  Do you like the new name?  Any feedback is appreciated, thank you for bearing with my super random brain today, and always :)  Have a good one.  .new look. 

.june giveaway.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED - THANK YOU!
.june giveaway.  To start things out right for The Chase Family I thought we should hold a giveaway!  I am giving away some Hello Summer Rose Earrings - you pick the color!  .june giveaway.

How can you win?

Go visit Hannah James and tell me your favorite item {one entry}

Follow this blog {one entry}

Follow the Chase Family blog {one entry}

Like Hannah James on facebook {one entry}

Blog, Facebook, or Tweet about this give away {3 entries - must leave links!}

Make a purchace from Hannah James to help the adoption funds grow! {five entries}

***NOW CLOSED THANK YOU***

.the chase family.

Now that Hannah James is opened we are starting the partnership program.  Each month a new family will be partnering with us to raise funds for adoption!  The families will get 50% of the profits from Hannah James bringing them closer to getting their little ones.  The Chase Family is the first family we are partnering with and I could not be more excited to help them out!  Please take some time to get to know them, they are a really sweet family.

"We are so blessed to be able to be on this adoption journey.  Though it is difficult much of the time, we know that this is the way God intended to build our family.  We're so thankful for all He is teaching us, for the opportunity to grow in Him, and for all the amazing people we have met along the way.  We are forever changed because God saw it fit to draw us near to Him and lead us to this path."  Jennifer Chase

When did your family start the adoption process? We placed our name on a waiting list to adopt from Taiwan on February 2nd, 2010.  After waiting with no movement, we felt called change our adoption journey to Ethiopia and applied with our agency on July 31st, 2010.

Where are you adopting from? Ethiopia

Why did you choose to adopt from Ethiopia? Throughout the summer last year, God placed some people in our lives who had adopted from Ethiopia and made it clear to us that our next children were from the country.

How many children do you have, if any? 2 beautiful little blessings: Melia 6-years old and Camden-4 years old

What are some of your families favorite activities? Reading, attending church and other community activities, spending time with our extended family and friends, and playing games together.

Favorite color? Jen-red, Trevor-green, Melia-pink, Camden-blue and green

Favorite candy/food? Candy IS our favorite food (especially chocolate)! ;)

Where do you live? *Carl Junction, Missouri*

Favorite place to visit? The Beach!!

Favorite quote? All things work together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose ~Romans 8:28

What are some other fundraisers you have done? We have sold "Adoption Rocks" t-shirts, done one on-line adoption auction and are getting ready to do a second {May 27th to June 3rd}, sold "bling shoes", done a garage sale, participated as a partnering family with Worthy of the Prize ministries.

Why do you blog? I use my blog as a journal for what is going on in our lives, whether it is adoption-related, family-related, or craft-related, it's just fun to have it all in one place where those interested in us can easily check in.

*Carl Junction is right outside of Joplin, Missouri.  They are still in clean up mode there and could use our extra prayers and support.  Please visit their blog and leave some love. Thanks!

And help them get closer to bringing their little one home by shopping at Hannah James!