A day full of giveaways!

Hey friends!

Just wanted to let you know of a bunch of giveaways going on today in the blogger world!

Over at Tatertots and Jello there are several giveaways going on!

Heal my Sole is offering a $40 shop credit! You can check out Heal my Sole's website HERE to see what types of things they offer. Personally I would love to try out the Dead sea salt and the cucumber melon massage oil!

Next is a $50 gift certificate to Wine Sunday!
Visit Wine Sunday's Shop HERE

I love a good glass of wine now and then but it takes me a while to actually finish a bottle.
Putting the original cork back in can be next to impossible sometimes! So this would be my first pick of things to get from their shop.

I mean who doesn't love a beautiful hand crafted wine stopper!

isn't the wine bottle light just BEAUTIFUL?!

Royal Design Studio is giving away a free stencil (up to $50, with free shipping!)
You can check them out HERE to see what all they have to offer.
My favorite is probably the Endless Circle Lattice 


Oh My Crafts is giving away a $50 Gift Card!
Just think of all of the awesome stuff you could get HERE!
I know I AM!

Cottage Coastal Store is giving away a $100 Gift Certificate!
They have some really beautiful things...Now personally I know my husband is not a fan of "beachy" "nautical" things but they have some other amazing options such as these HERE

Last but not least Jo Totes is giving away the bag of your choice!

Now obviously you HAVE to go check them out HERE

But I'll show you a couple of my favorites :)

Cute right?! and its for your camera!!! :)

Anyways...There is your day of giveaways! Thanks all to TT&J!

Go enter one, or two, or all of them! Leave me a comment saying you did. :)

I'm off to put in my last entries for some of these myself!

Silhouette Cameo Giveaway!

Hey guys....I know 3 posts in one day! GASP!
But I just HAVE to tell you about the fantastic giveaway going on over at T&J

It's for a Silhouette Cameo!!!

Isn't that just BEAUTIFUL!

I would like to win this so I could create some stencils to be able to etch on glass.

Example: 

I really really want to etch my last name in all of my Pyrex dishes as my mother in-law and both married sister in-laws all have the same Pyrex I have and we never can tell who's is who's. Plus all of those church dinners would be that much easier making sure you ended up with the correct dish!

besides...isn't that just BEAUTIFUL?!

plus there is TONS of stuff you could decide to do with it!

I am officially drooling over this product and crossing my fingers that I would win this giveaway!

Quicksilver Creations Giveaway with Pinapotamus

Hey everyone.
Yep, Its happening again! There is an awesome giveaway out there for you all to check out.

Quicksilver Creations is giving away a $20 Shop Credit towards anything in her shop!
Or you can also put it towards a custom order!

Just take a look at some of the beautiful work Quicksilver has for sale in her shop!

The last picture is an example of some of the custom stamping she does.
Who wouldn't want to win this?! Just take note that you have 5 steps to complete to get 1 entry to this giveaway and to receive a second entry you can blog about the giveaway (As I am doing right now!).

Like it, Love it, WIN IT!

I want to post an update on how I'm doing on my list of things to do before the start of the new year.
So here is an update on week 1 of 11. I am going to put a number at the start of each one that goes to the number on the original list so you can reference back easily :)

2)I finally just got the final tools I need to give the trunk the face lift it desperately needs. Minus the paint for all the metal portions of the trunk. Haven't quite found exactly what I want for it.
Its so beautiful as it is quite honestly but I just know that we will LOVE it that much more once its all redone.
I have been slowly working on it a little bit every so often to strip out the old paper that is lining the inside.

3) The mirror is all stripped, needs a light sand job and just needs to be painted! I may even work on that more tonight. Really excited that this is o close to being complete!

4) I have started this and have several things sorted out, gave a few things to my sister and am just waiting a little bit to take the clothes to the consignment shop.

5) Sent a card to a friend last week and have a few people in mind for upcoming cards :)

8) I am reading the book "Like Dandelion Dust" by Karen Kingsbury and I am on Chapter 10! Now I HAD started to read this book before the list but had put it down for quite sometime. I did just pick up from where I had left off from and still remembered everything that was going on so I am happy to say that I have a good start on this. There are 28 chapters to this book so this really shouldn't be a problem.

9) Well last week I cleaned the shower, today I started cleaning the washer, and have been making all around really good strides around the house.

6) I did exercise 3 times last week! I was hoping to do it even more than that last week but I am VERY happy to say I did do it the 3 times I put on my list to do.

10) I am so thankful for my son and the fact that I have every day opportunities to teach him new things, get down on the floor with him to play, and snuggle before bed while watching some of a movie. I know not all mommies get that privilege as they have to work to provide for their families.

1) This is probably the one I am most excited to say that I only missed one day last week. And quite honestly I had some really amazing and profound conversations with God over the last week. Its been very enjoyable. I've been trying hard for a long time to be consistent in this area of my life but haven't been. I think it was a matter of changing my mind set of it having to be the first thing I did in the morning to when ever I could do it even if it ended up being before I went to bed. I would still prefer it to be first thing in the morning as it puts me in a better place and makes the whole rest of the day go so much smoother just because I spent some time being alone and quiet with God. I'm not saying that things are then perfect that day, Sometimes they are down right the hardest days all week. I just am at a better place to handle them because I know I'm not handling life alone. Make sense?

13) This is the one thing on my list that is the most overwhelming for me as of right now. :(


oh well. I'm off to spend some time alone with God and enjoy a cup of coffee, then work, and maybe get the Mirror all sanded and ready for paint tonight! :)

"I don't talk so good!"

Jeremiah 1:4-10

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak;

I am only a child."

But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.'

You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

"God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." -Unknown

Isn't that always the excuse we give to God?

"I don't know what to say!" or " I'm not qualified, use that person over there instead.  That IS what they have their degree in after all!" 

Both Moses and Jeremiah tried to use this excuse on God.

"Hey um God,...Don't you remember who you're talking to here?! I don't talk so good.I stutter. I'm afraid of large crowds. Couldn't you just pick someone else?! Please."

But God didn't just say, "Oh yeah! You're right, I forgot." 

Instead he told them what to say and literally put His words into their mouths.

Then they both tried to play the age card.

Jeremiah said "I'm too young!"

Moses said "I'm too old!"

But God knew exactly what He was doing and chose to call them at exactly the right age.

And once they were finally done giving excuses, He used them in mighty ways.

You are never too young, or too old to be used by God in mighty ways.

You just have to stop giving excuses and be willing to let Him speak through you.

God gives us the words He wants us to say at just the right time.

The question is, Are you ready and willing to let Him use you? 

No matter what your age is?

12 by 2012

So I was wandering around in the blogging world and came across someone's post about doing 12 things before 2012. I thought this sounded interesting and wanted to know some more about it and then realized that it was something someone was linking up to. So I went to the originator of the 12 by 2012. Danni over at  Oh, Hello Friend created this as a way to push herself to get a few things done before the start of a new year. (I'll let you check out her blog for the full rundown.) A few things that are just lingering. In checking out several of the others who have linked up it seems as though it is a lot of things people intended to do anyways but need the deadline to keep themselves from continuing to put them off. So thank you Danni for creating this challenge and making it a linky party so it'll help keep all of us accountable. Here's to everyone working to get 12 (or more...or less) things done before the start of the new year. And now I'm off to make a physical list so I can put it up somewhere so I can see it and be reminded to follow through on some of this... (like No.6...)

11 Weeks, 14 Items... I can do this!

1. Spend real quality time alone with God at some point in time during the day, every day, even if it can't be first thing in the morning. 
2. Give the beautiful trunk a major face life and get it in our room with the extra blankets inside.
3. Give the mirror a face lift and hang it in our room 
4. Clean out clothes I do not wear and take them to a consignment shop.
5. Send a card to a different friend once a week. (11 Cards in total. 3 of 11 Done)
6. Exercise at least Three times a week in my home. (5,10,15) 
7. Make Home Made Bread Dough 3 Times. (giving me 9 loaves of bread.)
8. Finish reading at least one book. 
9. Make some major strides in the Chaos Cleaning Project. (Including scrubbing the shower, fridge, and washing machine.)
10. Take more time to get down on the floor and play with my son. (not that I don't do this but I also need to make a more conscious effort to do this and take the time to just get right down on his level, not make him come up to mine.)
11. Sit down with Hubby and revamp our budget and really stick to it so we can get out of debt together.
12. Make realistic goals for starting the shop including short term and long term goals.
13. Complete Two Mei Tais.
14. Blog about each thing as I check it off my list. :)

Waiting....

Some days I feel like we're just waiting for our lives to begin.
Like we're waiting for something that'll finally start our lives.
Maybe its that we'll finally have our own place and that will make our lives begin.
Maybe its that my husband will finally have his dream job and that will start our life.

"I get so afraid sometimes that our lives are never going to start." -Holly

"Baby, we're already in our life. It's already started! This is it! You have to stop waitin', Baby." -Gerry

But I am done waiting. I'm sick of waiting. I'm tired of waiting.
I want to live.
Obviously there are things we will still be waiting on, like Dowe's dream job and our own place.
But I can still let myself live life to the fullest in the here and now.

So that is what I am doing.
Do I know what this means in its entirety?... No.
I am looking forward to this journey though.
I do know it will mean more projects around the house, spending more time relaxing and living, more time with my boys, more time with family and friends, more time to just stop and enjoy the coffee.
It will mean less time stressing out and worrying, less time wasting time waiting, fewer days of sitting on the couch in pjs because I just don't feel like the day is worth getting dressed for. (yep, I have those days too.)

What about you?... Are you living? I mean really living, or are you still waiting?

This would be a perfect day for you to start as well.