Picnic Perfect GIVEAWAY!

Today, I'm super excited to be featured over at my friend Mackenzie's blog, 'Life of a Pint-Sized Mama.' Mackenzie has the sweetest family, and documents the big and small pieces of her life as a mom, a wife, and a faithful follower of Jesus.  She is just one of the many young mamas out there who I've connected with and learned from this past year or so.  I'm thankful for these relationships in cyberspace and look forward to seeing how they might continue to ripen and grown in the future. 
  
Head on over and say hi to Pint-Sized Mama and take part in a sweet group giveaway!  One winner (yes, one) will take away lots of amazing prizes from lots of amazing women!  To be considered, follow the directions on this post and make sure you are a follower of my blog via Google Friend Connect (GFC).  Just head down towards the bottom right of this page and hit the blue 'Join This Site,' button.  Once you are a follower, you are entered!

I will be giving away one of my favorite summertime picnic essentials - a Skip-Hop Lunchie.  These lunchies are the perfect sized lunch-mate for toddlers, and are perfect for on-the-go picnics or getaways.  They are insulated, include a handle for carrying, and zip the entire way around for easy access.  Most of all, they are adorably cute, and come in a variety of colorful animal friends perfect for boy, girl, or both!  Lately, I love sticking ours in our swim bag and sneaking in some fruit snacks, cheese, and Capri-Waters to the pool!  

Don't forget to head on over to Pint-Sized Mama and check out the rest of the great giveaways.  Good luck to you :)   

      

A Picture Sneak Peek and Giveaway Winner

Last Thursday night, Beau, Cruz, and I reconnected with Darcy from At Play Photo to take some pictures of our family.  Darcy was our go-to photographer throughout Cruz's first year, and I fell in love with her creative style and natural eye.  While many may wonder why I get professional photos taken when I take so many myself, I love getting to see someone else at work, and love getting some pictures of the three of us together.  Most of all, I love that Darcy usually has something up her sleeve that would be pretty hard to recreate myself (not to mention she's a master in the golden light ;).  

Thursday night was the perfect example.  Our scheduled shoot happened to fall during Cedar Falls' Sturgis Falls celebration, which comes complete with an entire street filled with carnival games, rides, and sugary food.  This became the perfect backdrop to document our family at this stage, which at times, feels like a circus!  So, we walked through the carnival, spent way too much money on games, lemonade, cotton candy, and a carrousel ride in hopes to get a smile from Cruz, and mostly chased him around and tried to get him to hold still for two seconds.  I'd say Darcy definitely earned her money after the workout he gave her :)

I love the colors, the amazing light, and the real-life that seems to peer through these images.  Visit here to see our a sneak peek of our images.

Last but not least, a winner of my Amazon Book Hop Giveaway (drum roll, please)...

Congrats to Tamar W., who wrote:
  
"I recently read Dream New Dreams by Jai Pausch; it was a sad story from the widow of Randy Pausch of the Last Lecture. Certainly not the page turner you were thinking about, but it was sad... "
  
I will be contacting you shortly with your prize :)

Thanks so much to all who entered.  I LOVED reading all of the titles of the page-turners you are reading, and even added a few to my list.  My mom, a librarian at a public library, was especially grateful :)

Have a great day!

Mid-Summer Giveaway HOP

Summer is in full swing around here, and we're soaking it up with all kinds of simple summertime pleasures.

And nothing says summertime than a beach chair or blanket under a shade tree, a cold drink to sip on, and a good book to read.  From John Green to the final two Hunger Games books, and maybe, just maybe those Fifty Shades of Grey books, I'm ready to turn some pages this summer and add some new covers to my book shelves.  Cruz is also pretty excited to be reading this summer, and just scored his first library card yesterday.  

I'm excited to spread my love of books and good summertime reads through a book hop giveaway.  I'm linking up this week with I'm a Reader, not a Writer, and offering one of my followers a $10 gift card to Amazon to purchase a book of your choice!  In order to be considered for the prize, you must complete the following two steps:

1.  Become a follower through Google Friend Connect by clicking the 'Join this Site' icon on the right side of this page.

2.  Leave a comment on this post telling me the last page-turner you finished.  Did you love it?  Would you recommend it?

I'll be choosing a winner for the giveaway next Tuesday, June 26.  You have until then to enter.  Good luck and happy reading!
  

 

Finally...a tutu winner!

I'm finally ready to announce the winner of my Tutuloo giveaway!  Kamryn, shop owner of Tutuloo, and I are excited to announce that Murdock's Mama has won a custom tutu of her liking!  'Murdock's Mama' is the creative voice behind this cute blog.   I think little miss Jordyn will look adorable in her new tutu!

Please message Kamryn at her Facebook page for details.  And check out her cute summer inspired tutus - I can just see a little dolly at the fireworks in this red, white, and blue one :)

 

Blue Jeans and a Giveaway!

Taking a week off from my weekly 'blue jeans' post to announce a fun giveaway!  I must say, I'm a little bitter about this one since I don't have a little girl of my own to dress up :)  I met Karmyn, owner of TuTuloo, through our next door neighbor a couple of years ago.  Karmyn is a stay-at-home mama to two adorable kiddos, and started designing and selling homemade tutus and accessories as a hobby a few months ago.  Now, she's thinking about hiring someone to help with emails and orders!  Her tutus are customized anyway you'd like and let me tell you, she has some cute ideas.  My favorites have to be the watermelon or 'under the sea' tutus!  I think they're so cute paired with a simple white tank and some jellies or tennies.

Notice the sparkly fish???
 

      
Darling...
 

  
Here's how to enter: 

1. Visit TuTuloo's Facebook link and click 'Like.' 

2. Follow this blog by clicking 'Join this Site.'

3. Comment on this post and tell us the color or theme you would choose.

The winner will be announced a week from today.  Good luck and happy FRIDAY ;)

Bubblewish

I've got a thing for lighting.  Ask my husband, who gets a little annoyed with my obsession, and rebels by casually unscrewing the light bulbs in each of my lamps when I leave a room and 'forget' to turn them off.  I guess he doesn't understand what a little ambiance does for a woman, especially when every other part of the day was anything but calming.  No matter how messy a room is, or how crazy a day has been, it's amazing what a little lamp light, or a new scented candle, or a string of white twinkle lights will do for a mood or a room.  I guess it explains why some people leave their Christmas trees up half the year.  

Cruz's room looked so bare after I took down his Christmas decorations, and since then, I've been searching for something to keep up all year long.  And that's when I discovered Bubblewish.

  
Bubblewish is an Etsy shop responsible for these unique and creative felt twinkle lights.  Each string of lights is customized with ten, hand-sewn, felt shapes, and is the perfect length to drape over a window, arrange on a shelf, or hang in a tree house :)  You can choose from a variety of shapes and colors, and play with color patterns unique to any nook or cranny in your house.  

I ordered a string of stars in baby blue and white to hang over Cruz's window in his room.  Ordering from Erin at Bubblewish was warm and so friendly.  And when my lights arrived, they were even better than I expected.  The stars were the perfect size and are one of the first things you notice when you walk in his room.  The lighting is soft and sweet, and adds such a cozy touch to his room, during the day or at night.  Most of all, I was so impressed with the detail - the precise white stitching on each star, and the way each shape carefully encloses each light to create a soft color as they illuminate on the wall.  I'm in love with these lights, and would like to order a strand for every room of the house.  I'm seeing a multi-colored string of shapes for the toy room, and maybe a string of pink hearts to hang from our fireplace mantle for Valentine's Day.

So because I know what a little lighting does for my soul, I'm so excited to share this site with you and encourage you to check it out.  And in honor of great lighting, Bubblewish would like to offer a free set of lights to one of my readers.  The giveaway winner will be able to select the shapes and/or colors of their lights.  In order to be considered for the giveaway, simply become a follower of my blog and comment on this post.  I will announce a winner on Valentine's Day!

In case you're unsure of how to follow, click the 'Join this Site' icon towards the bottom of this blog.  Use your existing email account, and follow the directions displayed.  To comment, click the 'comment' button at the bottom of this post.  Good luck!  

And the winner is...

Commenter #16...Ashley L!  I'm delighted to give this gift certificate to another mommy who works hard and loves her little boy to pieces!  Ashley, since I know where to find you, I'll be contacting you shortly for your prize :).

Again, thanks to all who read these little ramblings of mine, and thanks to those who decided to be part of this giveaway.  I'm hoping for more in the future!  I had so much fun reading your comments and even found a few great blogs to add to my reading list.  A special shout-out to the Spencer 'stalkers!'  It's been fun hearing Beau reminisce about the 'glory days!'  It really is a small world, after all.  

Happy Sunday.  We're slowly recovering around here, and happy to have found some time to wash bed sheets, clean out the fridge, and get groceries.  It's looking like a snow storm might be heading our way soon; maybe a snow day will be in the stars...

The Vintage Pearl...and a Surprise!

Here goes nothing...

For over a year now, I have been documenting some pretty important, life-changing parts of my life on this blog for the world (or my 20 followers) to see.  It started as a place for me to explore.  A place to practice a craft that is a daily part of my life as a teacher, and a place to start living the sermon I preach to my students every day.  

Write. Write.  WRITE.

Write down the good, the bad, the ugly, the sad.  Write down the moments you never want to forget.  The lessons you want to pass on to future generations.  The big and small moments that impact your daily existence and make you better.  Whatever those moments are.

It's true that this blogging obsession of mine is in large part for Cruz, for him to someday have documentation of his life through the eyes of his mom.  But, along the way of writing about a growing belly, pregnancy cravings, and poopy diapers, this blog has become my outlet.  My place to piece together the puzzles of this multi-faceted life and attempt to make some sense of it all.  So to all my readers, followers, and friends, wherever you are, thank you for being my audience and continually reminding me that everyone has a story to tell.   

As a thank you to YOU, I am about to embark on my first giveaway.  For Christmas, I received a bracelet from an online jewelry company called, 'The Vintage Pearl.'  I love it for its simplicity, its daintiness, and most of all, the sweet little name etched onto a tiny piece of silver, strung next to a perfect little pearl.  I wear my 'Cruz' bracelet every where.  It's become a daily reminder of what's waiting for me after a day at work, and has become a topic of conversation with friends, co-workers, and other moms.

 

 

The Vintage Pearl is known for their unique, simple, and sentimental jewelry.  Their pieces are hand-stamped, and can include names, initials, birthstones, and their signature, pearls.  Most of all, I love The Vintage Pearl, because it started with Erin, a simple, ordinary mom of four, some ambition, and of course, blogging!  Check out her blog here.

So in honor of Erin, her pearls, and the wonderful world of blogging, I'm giving away a gift certificate to The Vintage Pearl.  In order to be a contestant, follow these simple rules:

1) You must become a follower on my blog.  If you are already, move on to step 2!

2) You must leave a comment under this blog entry.  

There is one condition.  I need a substantial 'pool' of contestants, and will not pick a winner for the certificate until I get 40 FOLLOWERS!  It's a long shot, but if my mom can figure out how to become a follower, so can you!

If I can get 40 Followers by next weekend, the last weekend in January, I will use random.org to generate our winner.  

Happy Blogging and Good Luck!