Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Having Fun Not Going to BlogHer


There's an amazing conference happening this weekend called BlogHer09 where 1,500 female bloggers will be meeting up in person to talk blogging. I won't be there, but I'm not letting that get me down. Instead I'm participating in several Twitter events including #BlogNerd #PityParty09 #NonBlogHer and #BlogHop09. One BlogHopper is even giving away a $50 gift card on her website. I'm actually quite happy to be home with my family this weekend and I would love it if you could read my Top 10 Reasons why post and leave a comment there (as I'm trying to win a cash prize for most comments)! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's OK! You can either not worry about it, or find out by following one of these links. :)

To join in the these parties I need to start with an introduction. So if you are a regular reader here, please bear with me, while I share a few things you might want to know with new readers.

I'm Jennifer (Jenni) Saake, with the A.K.A. "Hannah". I'll be celebrating my 37th birthday next week and my amazing husband and I will mark 17 years of marriage next month. We have three living miracles (ages 9, 6 and 3) after a long journey through infertility and 10 losses (miscarriages and failed adoption attempts). I am the co-founder of Hannah's Prayer Ministries and author of Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage & Adoption Loss (NavPress, 2005). We are blessed to enjoy the journey of homeschooling and are currently planning our first family RV vacation after winning a week's free RV rental through a local blogging contest (and could really use your tips if you have RV experience)! :D

I have lived with multiple chronic health challenges most of my life, starting with mono at age 8 that set my immune system off ballance. All through my teen years I dealt with the debilitating pain of endometriosis and in my late teens also developed fibromyalgia (though it went undiagnosed for several years). Early in our marriage we also discovered that I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and as our years of infertility progressed we uncovered several other female issues such as uterine deformity, hormonal imballances and immne factors causing my body to attack the children I tried to carry. :( I finally had a hysterectomy last fall (age 26) and am encouraged to be mostly free of female pain for the first time!

My freshman year of college mono swept through the campus and upon that exposure to this virus, my immune system went into near-total shut down with the dramatic onset of chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS, also called CFS, ME and a variety of other names). The first two years I slept as much as 18-23 1/2 hours out of every 24. I gradually gained more freedom from my bed and more ability to function when out of bed, but nearly 19 years later, the impact of this illness (including pain like your body aches during your worst case of the flu, nausia, memory issues, muscle control problems, hormonal fluctuations, and nearly unmanagable exhaustion) remains a daily battle.

While it is a slow process, I hope to write a book on the life of Paul as an encouragement for Christians dealing with chronic pain and illness. Hannah's Hope took me 10 years to write, so I know not to rush this project either. In the meantime I keep an encouragment blog called Harvesting Hope from Heartache for hope and help in the midst of life's hardest seasons of grief, loss and pain of every kind.

On a lighter note I also am passionate about beauty, yes of the body, but especially of the heart. I am a consultant with Affordable Mineral Makeup™ as well as with Gurrlie Girl™ Christian Jewelry and I love to write share natural, healthy, green, and affordable beauty tips and tricks on my InnerBeautyGirlz blogs. :) And since I'm often asked how I became a published author I thought you might enjoy the link to that story as well. :)

Please leave me a comment here or on any of my other blogs. You never know when I might pull a random give-away and be emailing someone who comments, offering to mail you a book, jewelry, makeup or some other fun treat! ;) I'm also extending a 10% discount on Affordable Mineral Makeup™ to my blog readers who mention BlogHer this month - details posted at InnerBeautyGirlz.com.

12 comments:

Amanda said...

My goodness you have had quite the rough road in your life! 10 miscarriages??? How did you cope with that? I had one, which talk about on my blog and it was the most heart wrenching thing I've EVER experienced... well, it's pretty close with Ella's heart conditions, but man (((HUGS)))

I love a good ending, and the fact that you have 3 miracle babies is amazing!

I'm so happy you're participating in the party!!! Hope to see you back over the next couple of days. Make sure you go back and leave 3 more comments for 3 more entries for linking up :) And for tweeting about the party you get to give another comment for another entry!!

It's so nice to meet you!!!

Amanda said...

One more thing! I LOVE mineral makeup. I usually use Everyday Minerals, but would love to try your stuff out!!!

If you're ever interested in getting exposure for your business you could do a giveaway on my blog and get 3 months of free advertising on Garibay Soup... just so ya know!!

Stefany said...

Howdy!

I found you on Twitter yesterday (or today) because your @name speaks to me. I don't have quite the history but do understand the pain of infertility. I was blessed with my babies but it was a rough road!

Anyways, nice to meet you! :)

I so want to try your makeup. $ is tight right now but hopefully soon!

Angela @ Nine More Months said...

What an amazing road it's been for you so far. I can't even imagine the heartbreaks you've had to endure so far. Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Amy said...

It is hard to understand why things happen the way they do, only God knows. I always wonder how people that do not know Christ deal with pain and loss. You have an amazing story. I am so glad that I found your blog. I am excited to go and check out more.

Stop by my blog when you get a chance. I am linking my family blog on Blog Nerd, but you should check out my faith journey at http://girlfriendsgetreal.blogspot.com

God's blessings to you and your ministries!

Julie Donahue said...

Jenni,
Thanks for sending me to the alternative parties. Well....maybe not thanks! I'm not getting anything done! But it will be fun not doing anything! :)

Love ya sis!

Unknown said...

That was a lovely post - always nice to get to know you better and I have had a few miscarriages myself, so it's nice to see someone giving encouragement!

Thanks so much for mentioning my link and all the promoting on twitter. I hope you can join in the other #pityparty09 session on Saturday!

Oh, and my hubby and I will have our 17th anniversary this year!

Hoosier Homemade said...

Bless you on your journey to good health. I am a Fibro sufferer too.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
~Liz

Michelle Smiles said...

You sound like one busy momma! My journey through miscarriages and infertility wasn't as dramatic as yours sounds but I now find myself the mom of the most joyous girl from Guatemala and a biological miracle so I am blessed beyond my imagination!

Jana said...

I am happy I found you through blog hopping. I too have PCOS and it took 5 years to conceive our daughter. What an amazing story you have to share. I look forward to reading more.

Groovewoman said...

HOWDY from TEXAS!! I am hop-ing over to you from BlogHop'09, I am #241. It is so nice to meet you! Wow, girl, you do have 3 miracles in your house! The Lord is Good isn't He!! I am looking forward to getting to know you more.

Be sure to Hop on over to my place and check out my **GIVEAWAY** and to spread the BlogHop'09 Love!

Groovewoman
http://groovewoman.blogspot.com

Marina@EBMR said...

Wow...praise God for the sunbeams in your life.

PS I'm Blog Hopping...Come visit my blog and enter the 2 giveaways...while at my blog please could you help me build up comments for the blog giveaway I'm trying to win? Thank you

http://energizerbunnysmommyreports.blogspot.com/2009/07/top-10-reasons-i-am-excited-to-stay.html....