Featured for Recycle Love T-Shirts

We still have over 2 weeks to sell these t-shirts for our adoption through Recycle Love at Andrews blog! Remember, if you are interested in these shirts for adults or kids they can be purchased by clicking on my "Recycle Love" button to the right of the page and then select the shirts you want from the Andrews blog. Ten dollars from every t-shirt sold will go directly to our adoption fund and shipping is included. Just don't forget to list our names (Leslie or Derek Jones) in the PayPal notes to seller section when you pay! We were featured today on their blog!

Recycle Love _ T-Shirt Fundraiser

We just signed up to partner with the Andrews  family for an adoption fundraiser! They have adopted before and felt the calling to help other families as they embark on this journey. This is such a blessing to us that others would try to help with the financial costs of adoption! These are pretty cool t-shirts and they even have kids sizes. For every t-shirt sold we will receive $10.00. Last but not least, the family who sells the most t-shirts will win an additional $500.00 towards their adoption! Can you tell I am excited?

The back of the shirt says:  "Life's most urgent question is this: What are you doing for others? ~MLK"

The shirts are $24.95. This includes shipping!

You can order until February 18th. The shirts will be mailed 1 -2 weeks after that.

To Order:

1. Click on this link: http://africaboundandrews.blogspot.com/ or click the "Recycle Love" button on the side of my blog to go to their site.

2. You can order the shirts which are listed on the right side of their blog. They come in black and white for kids and adults.

3. When you pay all you have to do is list our  name, Leslie or Derek Jones, in the MEMO/Notes to Seller section so they know who the proceeds will go too! 

This fundraiser will last until  just after Valentine's Day!! As the Andrews said on their blog: 

So if you like the shirts or you know someone who would, please spread the word on your blog, Facebook, or email. We are praying that God will do an amazing thing through this fundraiser for our family and many others!

How Did We Choose Ethiopia?

This is a great question that I have been asked a lot recently. There are so many options when it comes to choosing where to adopt, whether that be domestically or internationally. Somewhere along the way we felt led to adopt internationally for various reasons. I believe that this is simply God's plan for us. When it came to choosing where, we first had to look at requirements for the different countries. Some require you to be older that we are or married for longer than we have been. So once we narrowed it down we were left with a couple of options. While that made such a daunting decision easier, it is still a hard decision to choose where you will bring a child home from. Yet as we began to look closer into these countries it became apparent to us that our hearts were being called to Africa. Why? Because we learned of the incredible need and the desperate situations of the people there. We learned a lot of upsetting things that broke our hearts, just as we know they also break His. We just knew God was calling us to save one of these precious babies. At that point, I knew I could not say no. I simply could not forget what I had learned.

One of my friends posted this video on her blog. I couldn't have explained why we chose Ethiopia any better than the way this video portrays it. It just brings tears to my eyes and it makes me wish I could do so much more.

Sweet Serenity

Untitled from Leslie Jones on Vimeo.

(I apologize for the shaking motion of my hands and the quick shot in general, however I hope you get a sense of what I was going for :)

Last year over Christmas break we were able to go with Derek's parents to Hawaii. I had been once before while babysitting for a close family. I loved Hawaii. I mean, I had dreamed of visiting there one day. I didn't think I would ever be able to travel somewhere like that. So to have the opportunity to go back, and with my husband, was a dream come true! It was such a nice break in the midst of my very first exciting and stressful  year of teaching. We spent most of our time on the island of Kauai. We did spend an extra night in Honolulu, Oahu before our plane left. We had read abut Lanikai Beach and decided to drive there to see it. I am telling you, I had never, ever seen anything like this. The picture or the video just do not do it justice. There are times when I am in awe seeing such places of beauty on God's earth. This was one of those moments. I had forgotten I had this video until I stumbled upon it the other day. It is way too pretty not to share. :)

Pink and Pearls

Here is a new cute wreath! I made this one for my etsy shop for the upcoming holiday! I would love to hang one like this on my door, but since my door is red I will probably need to use another color. :)

Goodbye 2010

The older I get, the quicker time seems to go. Derek and I were reminiscing about the year as we waited up for the ball to drop. I must admit, staying up til midnight is a rarity for me most of the time. As time passes so quickly, it becomes easy to forget about of the events of the year. I always find myself amazed at the BIG changes that have occurred even though most of life seems pretty normal.

I must say, I did not do a very good job of taking pictures of us this year which makes me a little sad...so that is one of my goals for this year! I have a feeling this is going to be a very exciting year!

We started out the new year of 2010 in Hawaii....not bad :)

Later on in April we bought our first house! I couldn't find a decent picture of the outside, but we did replace all of the flooring downstairs ourselves. Quite the accomplishment.

I finished my first year of teaching and Derek finished his first year of graduate school! My days were leisurely and full of reading, crafting, and sun!

Later in the Summer we traveled to Charleston, South Carolina. We just loved this city! The only bad part was the intense heat!

We celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary :)

We enjoyed the Summer and Fall in Louisville. I began my second year of teaching and life became busy again.

   

Then we decided to official start our adoption paperwork after thinking and praying about it for many months.

I am really looking forward to this year.  As I said, I am determined to take more pictures to capture it all!