Book Review: You Carried Me

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book cover for You Carried MeWhen I was given the opportunity to review this book, I jumped at the chance, and I’m so glad that I did.

You Carried Me by Melissa Ohden is the incredible story of an abortion survivor and her quest to find answers. She learned about her almost-tragic beginning from her adoptive family and she writes openly and honestly about how she processed this information and how she has used it to encourage other women along the way.

You can see an interview with her here.

I read the entire book in one sitting because I was so drawn in and touched by her life. I highly encourage you to pick up a copy and read it – AND, share it with someone who might need the encouragement that this book provides.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher; all opinions are my own.

A New Adventure 

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If you had told me six months ago that I would be embarking on a new business venture in 2017 that involved clothing, I would have laughed. Hard. 

And yet, here I am, waiting excitedly to get the onboarding call from LuLaRoe along with my friend and business partner, Jenn! 

I discovered LuLaRoe in November when my friend, Emily, sent me a photo of giraffe leggings. I was intrigued and that’s where it all started. 

I don’t necessarily care about fashion, but I definitely care about comfort, and that’s my favorite thing about LuLaRoe. I can be comfortable AND stylish! 


I will be posting more as time goes on about why I love LuLaRoe, but I wanted to share our group link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/378132492585320/

Jenn and I are doing this for our own specific reasons, but mine (and Brennan’s) is this: we want to be parents again and we know that selling LuLaRoe (and encouraging others along the way) is one way to make that happen. ❤

Kindness in Unexpected Places

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Brennan and I have used TurboTax for many many years and have been satisfied with their tax filing software. It’s easy, thorough, and efficient. However, they gained us as customers for life today through a simple, meaningful gesture.

Today I began to enter the info that we have received thus far and I got to the part about changes in our lives. I had dreaded the part where I would have to remove Tori as a dependent because things like this are a harsh reminder that she is no longer with us. 

I answered their questions and then clicked on the dependent section. After laughing at the questions about Tori’s income and whether or not she paid for her living expenses, I reported that Tori had passed away last year by checking a simple box.

I never saw this coming: 


Someone put thought into this. Someone said, “You know, these people lost their child. We should be gentle and kind.” It would have been so easy to just ask for the information as one would expect a computer program to do. But TurboTax added a compassionate element and it brought tears to my eyes.


The process was simple and I am still amazed at their compassion. 

Thank you, TurboTax, for caring that our daughter passed away. Your gracious compassion means more than you may know. 

Pieces of a Puzzle

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Like everything in life, there are many pieces of our IVF and adoption journey that have to come together just right. We have to be able to afford it (likely $50,000 for both). We have to have a suitable home (closing in March, if all goes well). We have to have Krabbe-free embryos. We have to be matched with a birth family. There are many other examples, but overall we have to be patient and rely on the Lord’s timing.

In an effort to raise funds but also include others in our journey, we borrowed the idea to “sell” puzzle pieces for $20. The giraffe puzzle is 500 pieces, so that represents $10,000 of the funding needed. More importantly, it will be a physical display of all those who made it possible for us to have more children join our family.

We’ve had a great response so far and we are so encouraged!

If you would like to be a piece of the puzzle that helps build our family, here’s what you can do:

  • Send $20 via PayPal to Lesa.Brackbill@gmail.com OR
  • Mail a check for $20 to:
    P.O. Box 406
    Hershey, PA 17033

Once we have all 500 pieces claimed, we will put the puzzle together and glue it together/frame it. Someday we will be able to show Tori’s siblings all the love that was shown toward our family and who made it possible to bring them into our family.

Overall, we have already raised $1,100 and the auction hasn’t even begun! God is SO good!

The auction will take place here on January 20-25. In this group you will also see the other fundraisers happening (currently, Thirty-One; in February, LuLaRoe!). This is also where you will continue to see progress reports more regularly than on the blog.

Thank you all for the support and love you continue to show us ❤

Saying Goodbye to 2016

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Tori was physically part of our lives for parts of four years: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

2017 will be the first year we will experience her absence, the first year we will have to say that she passed away “last year” and not this year.

We cannot stop time, nor would we want to do so. Every day that passes is a day closer to seeing our girl again in Heaven. Yet, at the same time, my heart aches as we enter a year she will never know, a year we are forced to experience without her.

2016 was a bittersweet year filled with transitions for us. To name a few:

  • Bitter: Tori went to Heaven;
    Sweet: She was healed from Krabbe.
  • Bitter: We sold our first home, the home Tori knew as her own;
    Sweet: We paid off Brennan’s student loan.
  • Bitter: I was left without a “job” as a mom, a role I treasured;
    Sweet: Finding a new position where I see Brennan and other friends daily.

While it is difficult to say goodbye to 2016, we are hopeful about 2017 and all that is on the horizon.

In 2017, we hope to:

  • Buy a house in Hershey (March) – can’t wait to tell THAT story!
  • Pay off the rest of Lesa’s student loan and be DEBT FREE
  • Publish my book (will pitch to publishers in Spring)
  • Save/raise enough money to do a round of IVF
  • Begin the adoption process
  • Host an encouraging event for those who have lost children
  • See PA make Newborn Screening for Krabbe mandatory for ALL babies
  • Succeed in raising funds for Hunter’s Hope through a pilot program
  • Plus many other smaller goals

Brennan and I both feel encouraged and we feel hopeful for 2017. The Lord has already opened doors that excite us (ones that we couldn’t even have dreamed up) and we know that He has great things in store for us.

Years will continue to pass without Tori here with us, so while this first one is the hardest, we recognize that the heartache will never fully go away. Instead of dwelling on what we cannot change, we choose joy and hope. We choose to continue to fight for Newborn Screening so that others will never know the pain we have known. We continue to be grateful for all the Lord has done in and through us, knowing that He isn’t finished yet.

As we enter 2017, we pray that the Lord will continue to guide us and show us the path He wants us to take. And we pray that for all of you, as well.

 

Our IVF/Adoption Journey

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As you may have gathered, Brennan and I would like to expand our family and have more children. Our hearts long for this, and we’ve been working hard to make this happen. Unfortunately for us (and others with genetic mutations like ours), it’s not simple.

After much prayer and wisdom-seeking from others over the past two years, we have decided that it is unwise to do this “naturally” and are instead looking to use IVF and/or adoption as a means by which we can grow our family. We started the IVF process last summer but were halted in August because of a lack of funds. We’d love to do both IVF and adoption this year, but that would mean coming up with about $50,000 or more (adoption ranges from $25,000-40,000 or more!). Even with our frugal lifestyle, that’s simply impossible. 

This is why I went back to work in August. This is why we sold our house, paid off Brennan’s student loan, etc. – by doing so, we freed up a great deal of monthly expenses that we can now put toward this endeavor. We are trying to save as much money as possible to go toward IVF/adoption, but even with all of our efforts we will still humbly admit that we need help to raise the funds necessary.

You all have been SO generous to us over the past two years so we didn’t want to just do a fundraiser to ask for money. We wanted to offer YOU a gift, something in return…and we have the perfect thing.

As you may remember, I wrote a song this summer about how I felt after Tori was diagnosed. Thanks to our amazing friend, John Amodea, the song has been recorded and is available to download!

Here’s what we’re hoping will happen: enough people will buy the song (via the “Tip” button on the NoiseTrade page) that we can have/adopt a child in 2017!

If you cannot afford to buy the song, please download it as our gift to you, and perhaps share the page on your own page.

If you would like to buy the song, go to this link: http://noisetrade.com/lesabrackbill/lord-remind-me

We’re doing this as a “pay what you feel” download…and whatever you can give is so greatly appreciated. So feel free to change the “tip” amount to whatever you would like to give.

Please share our story and the song with others, too, if you are willing.

We hope you enjoy the song and that the Lord uses it to encourage you.

In addition, Brennan and I will be hosting an online auction to help cover the cost of IVF/adoption as we seek to expand our family! The auction will be held on Facebook (January 20-25, 2017) and we are in need of donors!

Here’s the link to the Google Form we created for item donations; if you are a consultant for a company, an artist, seamstress, craftsman, musician, etc. and have something you would be willing to donate to our auction, please fill it out so that we can start to build our inventory! Or, if you have a service you can provide (massage therapy, hair cuts, photography, etc.), that would be great as well!

We’d love to have at least 100 items in our inventory!

You can access the auction here.

We will gladly credit you/your business for your donation and offer a link to your website/Facebook page as well in hopes that you will be blessed by this auction as well.

We want to be parents again more than anything. With your help, we can do this!

Thank you in advance for your support!  

The Big Move

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I’ve moved far too many times in my life.

  • From Hayward, CA to Red Bluff, CA (and then another move within Red Bluff).
  • From Red Bluff to Azusa (far too many moves to count while I was in college!) – 525 miles.
  • From Azusa to Glendora (and two moves within Glendora).
  • From Glendora to Harrisburg, PA (five moves since I moved to Pennsylvania) – nearly 3,000 miles.

Each move has brought with it new adventures, new challenges, new surroundings. Most moves were welcomed, though some came from circumstances I could not control.

This move is different than all of the above.

This move means leaving the home we fixed up, the home where we became a family, the home from which Tori went to Heaven. So many memories in less than four years.

As of this morning, we owned this house for three years, eleven months, and eighteen days. 1,449 days. I haven’t lived anywhere this long since I left my parents’ house when I was eighteen.

And I think that’s partly why I have struggled with the idea of moving. I know it’s the plan, and I know it’s a great one because of the financial progress we will make. My heart hasn’t been communicating with my mind on this one.

But, it is finished. And I feel like this morning brought me closure. 

Let the new adventure begin ❤️