Four Things That Make Me Happy.

Things that make me happy.

Breakfast from Chick-fil-a.  I love that chicken, and they put it on a bagel with egg and cheese.  Shut the front door.

When Sean says, "You know that minion cake on the counter?" (That I made for someone else).
"Yeah..."
"That actually looks pretty cool so could I have that for my birthday cake instead of an ice cream cake?"
Because for that boy to give up ice cream cake in order to have a minion cake instead, is a compliment of the biggest kind.

This video made me happy but in a serene way.  Like, try not to cry at work but man alive did it give me new perspective.



And helping people makes me happy.

I got this email from my friend and I believe in this so much that I'm going to share it with you.

" I am working with Janet to help the African Young Women  go to school this year. I know that they have worked really hard to make these cards and are very proud of their accomplishments. It is very important to get these girls educated and to keep them in school as prostitution is a likely outcome for many young girls there.  Their stake president says that we are literally saving lives with this effort.

If you can spare the money I hope that you will pitch in and help us to make this thing work."

The following was taken from the website made to support this project (here):

These cards were handmade by us (the girls pictured above) in Sierra Leone, a country on the western edge of the Africa West Area in the capitol city of Freetown. Freetown is on mountainous peninsula projecting out into the Atlantic Ocean. We, the young women making the cards, live in single parent families. The unemployment rate here is more than 80% without any means of income. We are obligated to pay for our own schooling, which is about $165 per year and includes a uniform. Many of us have missed a year or two of school, and really hope to be able to complete High School. 

We decided as a group to make gift cards out of free scraps of material that we could find from local seamstresses. The paper was supplied as a donation. Each of us has made one hundred cards, which we hope will give us the amount needed to start school in the fall. The money is deposited directly into the school account of our choice.

We feel that you will be truly blessed for your help in our education. Thank you so much.

Love, the Freetown girls

Christiana Kai Tarawallie, Kadiatu Abdulali, Fatmata Balley, Marian H. Conteh, Joyce N. James, Marian Kalilu

So here's my first initial thought on the matter:  these girls aren't asking for a free hand out, though if you ask me, they certainly could.  The thing that strikes me with these girls is that they have a situation they want to get through and they thought of a plan on how to get through it.  They want to finish high school, something I took for granted.  They need tuition.  So they've sat down, put in the effort and work on a plan on how they can earn the money to go to high school.  They're out to change and better their life.  And I have so much respect and awe for that.

A box of cards costs $16.50 for a box of ten, each card was hand made and is unique.  They come packaged in cellophane and raffia with a picture of the girls and a note included.  These cards could be kept and used by you or you could use them as gifts.

If each girl is able to sell 10 boxes of cards they've earned their tuition for a year of high school.

I can support that.

If you feel you can too, please go to the website HERE to read more about the cards and how to purchase them.

Yeah, that  makes me pretty happy.

Mug Swap 2013

Once upon a time (like two weeks ago) I stumbled upon the great @cuppakim's mugswap 2013 on instagram.

And I thought...

"heck to the yes!"

And I signed up.

And then I forgot about it.

Until yesterday, which let me just say, was the best mail day ever.

Ever.

The box was labeled mug swap and I expected to find... a mug.

But what I found was brightly wrapped packages:

Inside those bright packages were a mug (love!) full of goodies:

And a cute hand written note:

And probably my favorite part, a drinking jar with a huge straw 

AND she did the wrap in a circus theme.

And the cute doily is by her too.

 Love.

Love, love, LOVE.

 You all need to check Jenn out.
Her blog
Her Etsy
Her Instagram

It looks good on my desk, don't you think?

Thank you so much Jenn.  I am one happy camper :).

Give Away: Newsboy Hat With Interchangeable Flowers

I almost feel like I should dub Tuesday "Give away Tuesday."

It's exciting stuff!

This week I do indeed have another give away for you.

This week's giveaway comes from Sister's Craft Corner, who are crazy talented.  Seriously, go check out their etsy here.

Just to give you an idea on how cute their stuff is check this out:

 The penguin hat... I died.

 

Also, a few months ago we received this in the mail:

 Which has been a highly coveted item around our place.

For obvious reasons.

Sister's Craft Corner is wanting to give one of you this newsboy hat with interchangeable flowers.  This give away will include two flowers, but the option to buy more is also always there.

This give away opens now and will run until midnight on Sunday April 21st.  The winner will be announced on facebook and via email.  Sister's Craft Corner will mail the winner the hat and two flowers.

Also, you can buy this hat on sale for $20 from their etsy by using the code CIRCUS.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Favorite "Deal" Sites. Discounts On Super Cute Stuff.

I like wearing cute things.
And finding cute crafty things.
And having cute things in my home.

I like them even better when I can
a) get them for free
b) get them on sale or at a discounted price.

And I'm pretty sure there isn't a single one of us who wouldn't agree to that.

Today I'm going to go out on a limb and share with you the sites that I stalk on facebook because they're always giving stuff away on there and sites that I check daily because the items are just too good and the price is too.

I hesitate to do this because now you're going to go and buy it all before I can... but I'm just nice like that.

So don't buy them all out before I can get there, okay?

First, awsome sites that do giveaways on facebook all the time:

Beadsbee Boutique.
Facebook page here
Website here

I actually did a giveaway on my blog for her a little bit ago.
I'm so in love with her stuff that it's what I gave to my mom for Christmas.

They do a weekly giveaway on facebook for things that you can't buy on their site.  Bonus stuff.

Like this week she's giving away this bracelet:

And sometimes she do an extra giveaway just for the fun of it.

Like this necklace that I need:

Because she's nice like that.

And the stuff on her website is really a decent price to begin with.

Mindy Mae's Market
Facebook page here
Website here
blog here

She's always offering coupons and doing contests for free stuff for the first five people who comment on this picture on facebook.  It's fun to try and keep up with everything that she's doing and giving on there.

P.S. I Adore You
facebook page here
Website here
They're on instagram too.

This site is different in that they give some of the proceeds to help find a cure for Childhood Cancer.  They offer a new deal every day and the deal lasts for six days.

So I"m getting a good deal on cute stuff and helping childhood cancer out at the same time.

Also, on facebook they randomly just give stuff to people who like them and comment on their page and show support.  They do this on instagram too.

Very Jane
facebook page here
Website here

Pick Your Plum
facebook page here
website here

Sassy Steals
facebook page here
website here

Groop Dealz
facebook page here
website here

All these sites offer new deals and discounts everyday.
The discounts only last for limited time.
Also, Sassy Steals will do a weekend giveaway which includes all the week's deals.
I like to get the emails so I can make sure and see it all, that way if something catches my eye I can get right on it before it runs out.

Actually, there has a few things that have caught my eye today...

So now I've shared my secret favorite places to find good deals on cute stuff.

Do you know of any sites that I haven't mentioned?  Let me know.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to do some birthday shopping for myself on them this weekend.
My birthday is coming up you know...

December Bucket List. And Easy Christmas Cards

Hi.

My name is Stephanie...

and I'm Pinterest-aholic. (Follow me here).

My issue with this stuff is that I pin it, and then it taunts me. 

You know you actually want to try and recreate this.

You know it's not good enough to just let the idea sit here.

Yesterday I was collecting Christmas craft ideas off pinterest for my boss who claims that every year his family Christmas party is dry, boring, and lame.

So this year he's in charge of it and this year it's going to fun.

So... would I be willing to give him ideas for a craft for the kids?  One that doesn't involve any baking.

While I was looking at my Christmas board I realized there were a few things on there that I really wanted to do this December, so I made a December bucket list.

I tried to keep it small so I don't overwhelm myself.

This December we are going to 

Watch The Muppets Christmas Carol 

Watch Mickey Mouse's Christmas Carol 

Try peppermint popcorn

Have a hot chocolate bar

Egg nog french toast for breakfast

Make hot chocolate in the crockpot

Watch the Grinch and make Grinch Punch

Cut out fancy snowflakes and hang them on the mantel

Use tickets to surprise the kids and drive to see lights

Decorate sugar cookies for Santa

Send out a few Christmas cards (it's been years since I've done Christmas cards)

Do the 12 days of scriptures with my church going kids

Also, if you want a crazy easy way to send cards that's crazy cheap.  Like, so cheap it's wrong, then you need to check out Send Out Cards.  They're advertising on my sidebar also.  

Guys, just for Christmas they had 58 pages of possible card choices.  And I added a family picture to it.  The hardest part was entering my addresses, but now that the address are in there... from now on I can send a card with our family picture in literally minutes and dimes.

So give yourself a gift this season and do cards the easy way.  They're high quality and so fun to make.

And I didn't even get anything for saying that.  I just really feel that way.

Awareness, A Cause, Moral Support

The Circus was on one this morning.

Like, more than usual on one.

Like walking around and calling each other "sibling" instead of using names.

I might have been on one too because when I did Casidee's hair for crazy hair day I swooped her bangs up and asked her if I could safety pin them.

I'm surprised any of us made it out of the house with our pants on.  Or with matching shoes.

Today I have a special guest blogger that would like to introduce you to a subject that is near and dear to her heart.  Every now and then I post things about cancer, whether it be that I have parents who have fought various types of cancer and won, or that I'm fighting the need to be tested for the breast cancer gene but the test is so insanely expensive and not covered by insurance (hello, preventative), or about various causes to raise money for childhood cancer, or about Tayler's desire to raise money for cancer.  That's a tear jerker, that one.  You can read it here.

I'd like to introduce you to Heather.  I don't know what it is about hearing stories of cancer, and realizing how many, many different types there are, but when Heather reached out to me, to introduce me to her story and her cause, I just knew I had to let her tell us all about it.

I wonder if someday I'm going to need help from others of my own, and so I feel such a need to help where I can.

I hope you'll take a minute to read Heather's story that she wrote for us here, and then go check out her blog HERE.  Also her husband's blog HERE has a different perspective that I loved reading.   Because when it comes down to it, we all need each other.  Even if it's just moral support.

I am 43 and a mother to a quirky little 7 year old, Lily. She is my only child, and my whole world. When Lily was just 3 1/2 months old, I was diagnosed with Mesothelioma; a type of cancer that kills 90-95% of those who have it. As I’m sure you can imagine, the first thing that came to mind when I was diagnosed was my baby girl and how I wasn’t going to be able to watch her grow up. After intense treatment and recovery, I'm still here almost 7 years later and cancer free!  My journey with cancer was a terrifying one and I'd like to turn my pain into purpose and become someone that other people can look to for guidance, inspiration, and hope in situations like my own. 

I'm trying to raise awareness of this horrible, little known cancer that is such a deadly killer (and sadly, 100% preventable).



  My Story: Mesothelioma at 36

The three words nobody wants to hear are you have cancer."

Yet, there it was, coming at me during what otherwise was the best time of my life.  I had just become a mother 3 1/2 months earlier.  A doctor gave me the diagnosis.  I had malignant pleural mesothelioma, which is an asbestos exposure-related form of cancer.  What has shocked people the most when I tell them about my diagnosis is that not only has asbestos not been banned, but that I got this disease from secondary exposure.

When I was a little girl my father worked construction.  Apparently, asbestos was in the drywall and other materials he worked with doing drywall taping, mudding and sanding.  He wasn't aware of it at the time, but millions of microscopic asbestos fibers were in the dust that covered his clothes and jacket that he wore home.  They even fell into the car he drove.

I was 36 years old when I was diagnosed.  It was rare at the time to find someone so young with malignant pleural mesothelioma because this disease was at first associated with older men who spent their careers either on military ships or as mechanics, electricians and plumbers, or in the heating trade.  But as time progressed doctors discovered that secondary exposure had sickened the wives and, like me, the children of those men.  They breathed in the innocent looking white dust particles that followed them home from work, caked to their clothes that were subsequently put in with the rest of the family's laundry.  Little children jumped into their daddy's arms when he came home from work.  Many children, like me, put on their father's jackets - without a clue what toxic substances were on those clothes.

Teachers and secretaries who worked in schools that had asbestos have also developed this form of cancer, as have the children who attended those schools.  And of course there are young adults who grew up playing in the vermiculite insulation that was peppered with asbestos in the attics of millions of homes across the country.  These young people, just starting their lives and their own families, are having to put everything else on hold to fight this horrible disease.

The great news is that a growing percentage of patients, young and old, are beating this disease as more advances in the treatment of mesothelioma are being made.  A cancer diagnosis at any age is still more than devastating, but I am hopeful.  Many of us who have mesothelioma have built a community of support for each other.  we cry with each other and we celebrate the successes.

More needs to be done to cure this disease, though, and that's why I continue to share my story.  My hope is that this brings more awareness to this form of cancer that is striking the young and old alike, and to offer hope to mesothelioma patients.

My Tummy Just Burped

{picture source}

Reason number five on my long list of reasons of why I love my job, is that I get to be home long enough in the mornings to do my girls' hair.

I love those moments with them.

For some reason, it's always exciting to have Mom do your hair, even if it happens every morning.

I'm totally okay with this.

I find it's also good one on one time with them. 

We talk about who the cute boys are.  We talk about homework.  We talk about recess.  We talk about what we should do after school or next weekend.  We talk about what they want for Christmas/birthdays.  We talk about being nice.  We talk about the scripture we read that morning.

I love hair time.

This morning I was brushing out Tayler's hair.  She had a specific request for hair that we'd found on one of our favorite hair blogs (here) and I was brushing and parting when her stomach rumbled loudly.

Tayler giggled.

"Mom, my tummy just burped."

I just can't beat that, so I'm going to leave this post at that.
But I'll be back tomorrow to tell about how The Man discovered a thing called Toma Toes. 
That's good stuff right there.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I have a whole list of hair blogs that I like to look at but here are my three favorites:
Adopt A Do
Hair For the Mini Diva
Redpunzel

i cried when i met her

When you get a facebook invite letting you know that your long lost friend (here) and his amazing wife are going to be in town, you do whatever you have to do to be there.

We were late.  But if I'm going to be perfectly honest, when am I not?  I'd left work to go to a planning meeting, left the planning meeting to grab my kids, sent Sam a quick text saying "we're on our way!" because it just so happened that right as I was wishing I had a phone number for them, he posted it for me on facebook.

I entered the address into my GPS since it was in an area I wasn't at all acquainted with and the four girls and I set out.

You know it's going to be a good visit when you have to join a parade to get to it.

We came upon a round-about where we needed to "turn," only to find that a local parade was already going straight through it.  I stopped, not sure what to do, when a truck (which was leading a marching band) waived me in.

So I went.  What that pictures doesn't show is that there was quite the gathering for this parade.  We had our windows down and children were yelling at us, "hey! Where's your candy?"

I almost felt we were going to start a pint size riot for our lack of candy to throw out to them.
I finally pulled to the left and started to pass the parade.  Finally we passed the cop car that was leading the whole deal and turned right on the road we needed and left the parade behind.

As we turned off the road the police car blared it sirens.
The girls were certain we were going to be in trouble for breaking into a parade.

I struggled finding the house number and called Sam.
I was laughing hysterically and said fragments of, "where is this house?" and "we were in a parade!"

Sam just started to laugh and said, "you haven't changed a bit."
Man alive I missed that boy and his friendship.

When I met his wife Beth, I cried. (Reference to the joke here).

Cried because we were laughing so hard, that is.
I love that girl.

The kids were entertained with this awesome sand table (diy instructions here on Beth's blog).

And Sam's mom knows how to theme a party up.

I have a list of people that I need to end up living by in my life. 
Sam and Beth are on that list.

Playing with instagram :).

Hey Beth!
I know what I need your help with.
I need to knock this off for my bathroom.

{source}

A huge thanks to Sam and Beth for inviting us out.  Hopefully it won't be so long before I get to see them again.

organic... and a civil war battle wound

The best things in life could most possibly be those that are homemade.  Unless we're talking about McDonald's Coke...

Can you guess what these girls were up to last night?

 I'll tell you, it's 100% organic.

If you're a teacher you'd be very proud to receive this as a gift.  Or at least, that's what these girls were claiming last night as they made leaf perfume to give to their teachers.

Good morning Mrs. Teacher, you smell wonderful today! Is that a new perfume you're wearing?
Why yes it is, thank you for noticing.  It's called Ode la Leaf.  It's organic and the newest "must have" out on the playground.  I know some people, I can hook you up.

I had a hard time deciding if the girls were playing around, or if they really thought they were making the most awesome thing and were going to actually give it to their teacher.

In my mind it was can-you-imagine-them-actually-giving-that-to-their-teachers vs. my-mom-snubbed-out-my-creative-flow-at-an-early-age.

Smell this Mom!
Mmmmmm.... smells like grass (in my most excited voice possible), but you know, I don't think you're actually going to be able to take it to school. 
I got an "I know" from Tay and a scowl from Cali.  That's cool.  We split the outcome down the middle, one for each outcome.

But if you like organic then I have a pretty awesome website for you HERE.  They have some pretty amazing products, some of which I use everyday.  Like this one and this one and this one.  Also, they're out at the moment, but in the next month or so, you should get on and order the Horsetail Hydrosol, it's the most amazing stuff ever.  I'm not even exaggerating. You should go look around the site, there's a lot of different products, all of which I love. 

I would let this stuff go to school as a gift for the teacher. 

Also, this morning we did Jayme up with a pretty nasty chin wound.

Our elementary school is pretty fun in that they make such things as the pilgrims and the civil war come to life.  In the 5th grade events like these are very hands on.  As pilgrims they're crowded into a dark "hull" of a ship, eating... whatever it is pilgrims ate, and being misted by water.

They also lived in a colony and had jobs and places in the community and took sides, confederate or the union.  Today, they're having a Civil War battle.  Jayme had a card explaining that her chin got shot and she's going to have a pretty nasty scar for the rest of her life, so we did our best to depict that.

It just made me want Halloween to come :).

picasa editing

I got the individual shots from our impromptu photo shoot during Easter (here) and I started playing around with a new "toy" that I found.  Maybe you've already heard about this, sometimes I'm slow on the uptake.  Picasa is an editing program that you can download for free.  Oh yes, free, it's singing my song.  I've been using it on pictures for a little while now (like on my blog banners and collages).  I'm in love. 

Along with showing off the pics of these adorable kids, I thought I'd throw in some examples of what you can do to tweak pics with Picasa. :)
The original pictures from Jessica T Photography are labeled with a caption.  The rest are ones I played with.

Jessica T Photography

jessica T photography

Jessica T Photography

Jessica T Photography

Jessica T Photography

Jessica T Photography