Scentsy Give Away!!!!

Now 2 additional chances to win!!!! Post about this contact on Facebook, make sure you put the link in your post, then leave a comment telling me you did it.  And post about it on your blog.  Again make sure to put the link to this post in it and then leave another comment to tell me you did it.  Make sure you leave one comment for the Facebook post and another for the blog post.  Good Luck! 

If you have read my blog at all you know I have a little sis, Katie.  I love my baby sis with all my heart and I am so proud of her.  She is only 25, married and is a big shot Public Relations person for Chesapeake Energy.  And now, she is pursuing her Masters in Business Administration.  So to help pay for the additional cost of school she decided to become a Scentsy representative.

I had no idea what Scentsy was when she told me about it, but, of course, I was like, "You can sell anything, go for it."  Then things got busy and I never had a chance to visit her website to check out Scentsy.  A few weeks ago Don and I visited some family and the hostess gave all the ladies the Scentsy Nightlight in Vanilla Cream.  It was so cute!  I put it in my office and it's a hit!  All my office mates come by just to smell it.  They love it.  The great thing about Scentsy is that they are not candles, so you can have them in your office or your home unattended.  The wax feels like lukewarm water to the touch and does not scorch or burn skin.  It's awesome for homes with children.

To give you a better idea of what all the hub bub is about, here are a few of the newest Scentsy's:

The Safari Collection

The Full size Victorian Warmer

The Plug-In Roma Warmer

The Enchanted Mid-size Plug In

The Taro Plug-In

The Brand New Zebra Plug-In

So, to celebrate my new love of Scentsy and Katie's MBA dream, we are giving away a free Scentsy plug in of your choice and a Scentsy bar.

To enter just go to Katie'sScentsySite, browse all the products and let us know which is your fav in the comments.  It does not have to be just the Plug Ins, just which products you really like. And if you find something you really like you are more than welcome to purchase as well :).

And to help you out even more, Katie sent me some specific links to some awesome products:

FULL SIZE WARMERS

MIDSIZE WARMERS

PLUG-IN WARMERS

NEW SCENTSY BUDDY (perfect for baby gifts!)

NEW NURSERY COLLECTION

NEW SCENTSY PAKS

NEW FRAGRANCE FOAM (hand sanitizer)

As you can see, the smelly goodness and gift giving opportunities are endless.  Happy Browsing and good luck!

You have until 12AM on 10/14/10.  We will announce the winner an 10/15/10.  Good luck!

Everyday Blessings

Wow, what a whirlwind the last 2 months have been!  So much has happened, times full of Everyday Blessings.  These two months have been a time to reflect on and receive more of the blessings of God.  So to keep it all straight, I think I will join the "Bullet List Bloggers."

• D started his new job (a dream job) at our church last month.  What a blessing and an answer to months of prayer.  God is so good!  When we moved to Houston, D left his job for me.  He began looking for a new job in Houston a month before we moved.  We thought that he would find a job quickly since we were moving to a big city.  Boy, were we wrong.  D is a graphic designer and well, with the economy, no one was hiring in the creative department.  But, the 10 months he was unemployed were really a blessing.  First, this was one of those trials that brought us closer together and really strengthened our married.  Second, we both learned to truly trust God with our life.  Not just say we trust Him, but really live it out. For example, not living in a constant state of anxiety and worry.  For those of you who know me, you know that is totally out of character for me.  I was transformed through this experience.  I can't say I did not have my moments, because I had just a few.  But we gave it up to God and trusted he would take care of us, and he did.  It was so freeing, a feeling I had never experienced before.  Even though we are already frugal, Dave Ramsey people - we learned how to live on what we have and enjoy it.  So much of what we thought we had to have to live was "fluff."  Plus, when this job opportunity finally presented itself, it was more than we even hoped.  The world may look at it and not think so, but it meets all our needs plus more than money can buy.  My man loves his work - he tells me he's excited to go to work in the AM and just as excited when he comes home, he works in ministry, he loves his team, and it's at our church - so many work/life balance issues resolved there.  We are truly blessed!
• We are buying a home!  We thought we would have to wait another year to buy a house since D had been out of work for so long and with the new mortgage laws, but God came through again.  We found a house way within our budget, newly redone (it's like moving into new construction), in a well-established neighborhood, lots of old trees, 4 bedrooms (for kiddo's and visiting fam/friends), 10-15 minute commute to work and church, on and on and on.  The blessings don't stop there.  When the home was inspected it was found that it needed a new roof - the sellers replaced it! New legislation went into effect Oct 1 which would have significantly raised our monthly mortgage, but we were grandfathered in (missed it by just days).  It's been incredible.  Plus, the biggest blessing is our realtor, Patty Cwalinski with Houston Heritage.  If you live in the Houston area and need a realtor you must call Patty.  She was awesome!  Plus through her referral we found our mortgage lender, Jamie, who has been a miracle worker.  I was fearful this would be a very stressful and difficult process and they have made it so easy.  So, I'll post pics of the new digs as soon as we close, which should be Oct 15 - crossies!
• D's car is dead.  Ok, I know what you are saying, "How is that a blessing?"  Well, because, again, God is showing us how we can be completely content and happy with what the world sees as inadequate.  Sure, we have had to make some adjustments with only having one car, but I've never felt like it is a problem.  We will have to buy another car once we start having children, but for the short term it's fine.  Plus, when we do go buy a new car, we won't feel like we have to buy something extravagant.  A car is just a mode of transportation, not a symbol of who I am.
• Veritas/Small Group.  Veritas is the name of our Sunday School class and the people there, and in our Small Group, have been the biggest blessing of them all.  I don't know if we would have taken all these issues that have come our say so well if it were not for our Veritas people's.  They welcomed us with open arms from the moment we stepped into that classroom and have not let us go yet.  They allow God to move through them and we have reaped the benefits.  We love them all so much and look forward to continuing to Do Life Together with them all. 
• My Accountability Partner.  K is my accountability partner.  We have only been meeting for about 2 months now, but that relationship has changed me.  God brought us together at the exact right time for us both. We are both dealing with some discontent in areas of our lives, as well as change.  Also, she is just about my baby sister's age, so she's helping to fill that void.  I miss my sister so much!  Our talks have helped me to truly put some things in the right perspective, to accept the challenges that God has put before me, and to confront them without a whining or resentful spirit.  I love that girl and can't wait to see what God will do through our lives.  K, if you're reading, you are constantly in my prayers!

There are so many smaller (for lack of a better word) blessings which we have experienced in these 12 months since we moved.  If I listed them all I would have the longest blog post ever.   But I felt, since we are moving to a new chapter in our Houston life, it was time to truly reflect upon and write out all God has done for us.  It was a big leap of faith to move to Houston and God has been faithful.  My prayer is that our life, this particular chapter especially, can be used to bring others to a saving knowledge and relationship with my God and Savior. 

So on that note, here are the verses which sum up my life and faith at this time:

Philippians 4:4-9, 11b-12

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

...11for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

K and I are reading this book, Calm My Anxious Heart, I highly recommend it for anyone.  We will all face circumstances which bring us discontent and anxiety. 

What verses are you clinging to right now?  How is God working in your life?  Let me know, I'd love to hear it and it will be an encouragement to others.  If you have a blog, post about it and then link up below at my Mr. McLinky.  If you don't have a blog, just leave a comment.

Look for those everyday blessings!

Fish Lips Photography

I am so excited for my friend Sara!  She has officially launched her website for her photography business, Fish Lips Photography.

To celebrate, Sara is having an awesome give away on her blog.  The prizes are:

Grand Prize: FREE session & CD of edited, high resolution  images!                                    
3 MORE Prizes: $25 OFF session & CD of edited, high resolution images!

Sara is a super-talented photographer based in Houston, TX and I have the privilege of knowing her.  Here is a little info about Sara's mad skills in her own words:

Sarah is an on-location, natural light photographer in Houston, Texas. She shoots couples, maternity, newborn, babies, children, and families. Sarah is Ryan's wife and Elizabeth's mama. She loves reading, October, red wine, traveling, her 4 pound Yorkie, and Jesus. Not necessarily in that order.

I cannot wait to have babies so Sara can photograph them, she is amazing!  To enter the contest click here.

Good luck!

A Dog's Life

This post is long overdue. A lot has been going on this summer and I'll post updates in future posts. But I just had to let you know what Daisy and Bruiser did this summer.


Every year D's family has a big family reunion at his uncle and aunt's beautiful lake house. It's not like going camping people, this is nice. They live right on the lake and have all the toys for lake fun (ski boat, pontoon boat, 2 jet ski's, and a huge float that gets pulled behind the boat - more on that later). They also have a wonderful saline pool that is enclosed in a UV cover. I prefer the pool to the lake because I can actually see through the water. When you hear stories of alligators and alligator gar roaming the lake waters, you tend to want to stay close to safer shores. I let the little one's of the fam brave the wild waters. Oh and the huge float, well we are not friends. 2 years ago I decided to be a sport and ride on it with some of the little cousins. We were thrown off and I ended up with a broken chin. Had a ginormous bruise for a month. So I stay close to the pool.

This year we decided to bring Daisy and Bruiser for the first time. I could have brought Bruiser before because he's 6 lbs and no bother. But we were not going to torture ourselves and bring a Lab puppy. So we waited until this year since Daisy is now the ripe old age of 2 years old. I was very nervous because Daisy and Bruiser are not the only dogs at this reunion. D's cousin always brings his Basset Hound, Trixie and his aunt has Huey, the Scottish terrier. I always worry how dogs will react to each other for the first time.

Here is the Gang below minus Trixie. (Lord of the Manor Huey on the left, my little man Bruiser center, and our girl Daisy on the right).  They are a happy bunch. (Check out Bruiser's cowlick!)

Well everyone got along so well except for Trixie (hence her absence from the pic). Let's just say Trixie (a female) kept trying to prove to little Bruiser that she is a large and in charge woman. Poor thing, he just didn't know what to think of all of it. And Daisy just looked dazed and confused. It's as if she was saying, Can't we all just get along? I think Huey just expected it. He's been Trixie's victim in previous years. But once everyone settled down and found their corner, it was all good the rest of the week.

The biggest event of the week was Daisy discovering water. I mean she is a Lab which is a water dog, but we have never had a pool or taken her to a lake. So this was her first time. D was determined to teach her how to fetch a ball from the lake. Well, mission accomplished! It took all of 5 seconds and then we could not keep her out of the lake or the pool.

Here's our brave girl.

"Not too sure about this."

"Here goes nothin'!"

"Wooo Hooo!"

Look at that graceful form

"Yikes!  Water"

SPLASH!

Always brings the ball to her Dad

I'm a very happy puppy

This picture tells the whole story.

Friendships

Last weekend I attended a women's retreat organized by several members of my Sunday school class.  It was just us girls from the class and it was awesome.  We spent time being silly, staying up late, eating, and learning about each other and God's Word.  Our speaker was Tammie Head, a woman for our church who founded Totally Captivated Ministries. She was incredible!  We learned that our insecurities keep us from close relationship with God and with other women.  Well, it's a concept I always knew but when she said it and explained it - it finally clicked.  I have to just say, my church is awesome!  I mean, not only has Tammie been a result of our church's focus on ministry and encouraging everyone in the purpose God has given them, but also Beth Moore.  And Tammie is Becky's mentor, encouraging her in ministry as well.  I know we also have several other ladies who have written Christian books or studies too.  It's that emphasis on living out your faith rather than demanding to just be fed, that led D and I to join.

To learn more about our retreat visit Becky's and Ally's blogs - they really captured the entire event.

At the end of the retreat, we all shared what we learned and, wow, did we ever learn!  We discovered we were all craving deeper relationships with each other but let our insecurities keep us from each other.  We made a decision to reach out to each other more and keep cliques from our class. 

Then, this week I came upon this post at Kelly's Korner telling us about Lisa Whelchel's (of Facts of Life fame) new book, Friendships for Grown Ups.  And today Kelly posted an interview with Lisa where they discussed friendship. 

Check out Lisa's book and Kelly's post if you are struggling with this issue.  I cannot wait to read it! 

Let's all reach out to each other a little bit more.

Great Family Movies

The Hubs and I are avid movie goers (or DVD at home goers).  We saw two awesome family-friendly films this weekend I thought I'd share. 

First is Jonah A Veggie Tales Movie.   As we were watching I just about fell out my chair when one of the characters (Carlisle the caterpillar) called Jonah Grumpypants.  I know, I know it's silly - I just never thought I'd hear someone else called my name.  And really it's a great way to introduce the trailer I found.  Enjoy!



Can you tell I really like this movie?

Next was Disney's Princess and the Frog.  Love, love, love this movie!  First, because it is set in our home state of Louisiana.  Second, Raymond!  Raymond is the cajun firefly from the swamp and he so reminds me of some of my relatives.  D and I rolled when he asked if the frogs were from Shreveport.  If you love all the classic Disney animated films (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, etc)  you will love this.

Here We Go Again

Well, a few months ago I posted that I was beginning the P90X challenge.  And boy was it ever!  I have never worked out so hard, even with personal trainers.  Unfortunately, after 4 months of hard work (including watching what I ate) not one single pound or inch came off my body.  Talk about discouraging.  I cannot blame the P90X DVDs.  Most of my problem comes from my thyroid/hormone issues.  Those issues are being resolved, but it still makes loosing 20 -30 pounds a big challenge.  Anyway, I have to admit that for the past month I have fallen off the wagon big time.  I was so discouraged by my nil results that I just gave up for a few weeks.  But I am revitalized and have a plan.  I will begin my working out again next week by using the P90X Lean Circuit.  And I am ordering Jillian Michael's Master Your Metabolism book.  I am such a type A melancholy and I crave details.  Well, I've heard that Jillian's book it full of them.  Wish me luck, again, as I continue this challenge. 

I have some great websites I'd like to share which contain a ton of great info about weight loss and healthy living:

1)  My friend Erin, the dietitian and certified trainer.  Erin has launched a series of services and informative posts on her blog.  When you get to her page, scroll down the right side and click on the button with the bird titled Nutrition and Fitness Series.  I am so excited that Erin is finally sharing all her incredible knowledge.  I am very tempted to hire her for the Grocery Store Tour.  Navigating the grocery store as someone trying to eat healthy is a huge challenge.  I highly recommend you visit this site.  Even if you never hire Erin, she gives some great tips on her posts.

2)  SimplyFitMama and VitaMama.  I love these two blogs!  They are just two mom's trying to feed their families healthy - eliminating preservatives and fat by buying and cooking smart.  They have awesome tips and info for anyone ready to make the change for a healthy life for yourself and your family.

3)  FitBottomedGirls and Sparkpeople.  These two sites have so much info and tools at your fingertips.  I especially like Fitbottomedgirls DVD reviews.  It can get pretty confusing choosing a DVD or two to develop your workout routing, especially considering that some programs can cost up to $120. 

4)  American Dietetic Association.  The public tab of this site has so much wonderful info on healthy living, lots of tools (like a BMI calculator), and expert reviews of diets (such as Dr. Oz, Jillian Micheals' Master Your Metabolism, and many others). 

I hope these sites encourage you, as they have me, to dust myself off and try again.  My true motivation is two-fold:  1)  Get myself healthy and take care of this body God has given me.  I never want to be unable to serve him because I did not take care of myself.  Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.  I Corinthians 3:16-17.  2)  I want to give my future children a good example of healthy living and eating.  I never want them to deal with being overweight because of my laziness as a parent (i.e. eating out all the time, serving frozen premade meals regularly, feeding them sugary snacks).  It is so easy in this busy culture of ours to fall back on fast food.  I want to give my children something better. 

So, I know this is not going to be easy and will take a lot of time.  But I'm ready.  I'm tired of not liking my body, of feeling like crap, and having no energy.  I do not want to tell God No simply because I am too lazy to get up off the couch and change my body.

Will you join me?  Even if you can't right now, would you pray for me?  This is totally a spiritual battle.  Satan would love for me to continue on my current path and destroy my body - making me unusable by God in so many ways.  I refuse to give him that power.  I AM READY!