Cara Box {March} and guest posting

Awesome things in the mail + Meeting new women + Encouragement = Cara Box

Kaitlyn at Wifessionals started this monthly box swap. Each month there will be a different theme. Anything from a season, to a color, to a topic (like fashion or childhood).

Everyone is paired up with another blogger and she with another. That way, you get to know 2 new bloggers. Cute huh?!?  

Towards the middle of the month you will create a box or package, specifically for the woman you were paired with, and ship it off to her. You will then get a Cara Box from the girl who was paired to get you. 

You can read more about it here if you want to join.

This months theme was......your initial. Your partner gets to know you and sends gifts with the initial of your first name. I got paired with Beth this month and you can see what I sent her here. 

This month, adorable Hallie over at Life: Oceanside sent me my Carabox. I was so excited to be paired with this adorable girl! I am a major fan of Hallie and have been bloggy friends with her for a couple months now. She is getting married this month, so stop on by her blog and wish her well! I am also guest posting for Hallie TODAY on her blog so go check out me here. 

The first item was an adorable green water bottle - green is my favorite Color. Perfect timing because I am using this bad boy in Maui!

The next was a Candle - to enjoy and relax with - and the scent is amazing!

Some delicious Chocolate - oh how I do love me some Dove chocolate. I was nice and shared it with my hubs. :)

Tools to Care for my feet - I love pampering myself and this is wonderful - and I am in LOVE with the blue nail polish!!

Hallie also sent the cutest Cheetah Coasters - I mean how cute are these??!

Hallie also sent some delicious recipes for Campfire Apples and Cabana Banana Bread. These are going to be gooooood.

Thanks so much Hallie for the incredible Carabox this month! It was a wonderful treat to come home to!

Coffee & Conversation {link up}

What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

 This week's question for Coffee & Conversation really intrigued me. I knew right away what I would regret not fully being...or the two things I would regret not being. First, a wife. The Lord has fulfilled this desire and blessed me abundantly with the most amazing husband. I wouldn't trade him for anything. I'm not going to paint our lives as perfect because there are definitely tough days, but each day with him is a gift. 

The second desire to be is a mother. In college, my friends used to call me Momma Clara - I certainly acted like the mother of our group of friends. I have always desired to be a Mom and pray one day I will be one.
I love everything about babies. I love little hands, little feet, tiny hair bows, spit bubbles, snotty noses and scraped knees. I could hold babies all day and snuggle them all night long. I am excited about teaching children right from wrong, helping them in school, encouraging them to dream. I am excited about sharing Christ to them and I cant wait to see Stephen as a Dad. 

Whether the Lord blesses us with children by normal means or adoption, I know each child will be an incredible blessing. I am incredibly luck to babysit several wonderful children and taking care of them makes me desire my own little ones even more! Baby FEVER!!

Seriously though. Nothing is more special than the gift of children, and I hope and pray that one day I will get to love on some of my own. 

Happy Monday darlings!

Guest posting at From Here to There blog AND Coffee & Conversation

Come say hi to my Mississippi gal pal Heather at From Here to There. Heather and I have now officially hung out together two times and I'm not joking when I say I love this lady!!!

I am guest posting for her today and its all about meal planning! If you have trouble making lunches everyday and end up eating out spending more money than you want, here is a simple solution....

Last week started Coffee & Conversation with two of my other dear friends, Lauren and Kalyn. I am linking up with them again this week...

QUESTION:
What is one of the most valuable lessons you have learned this year so far?

This might not make sense, but I have a horrible tendency to want to do everything that comes my way - whether volunteering for something, going out of my way to please lots of people, etc. When I take on the world, I accidentally hurt or leave others in the mud. I can't continue to stretch myself so thin that I don't have time for those relationships that are most important to me.

 Didn't Jesus himself pour into only 12? And each of those 12 pour into a small group of others?

So why on earth do I think I should always be at the side of a million people?

Our bible study group talks about it often - live life together, share joys and sorrows with each other, and invest in each others lives. I don't want to be a surface level friend to these 12/14 people I spend each Monday with and not see or hear from them til the next Monday because I'm so busy doing a million other things for a million others.

I'm not saying I can only share life with these twelve or ten or fifteen, but what I am saying is I am learning to invest in those lives, build our relationships, encourage them in their marriages, walk with God, pray fervently for them, and just grab lunch with them to catch up on life.

They too, will pour into others and the cup with overflow with God's goodness and grace. I don't have to give everything to all the people I'm friends with on Facebook or have their number in my phone, but for those God has given me a relationship with, why don't I pour into them so they can pour into others?

Its a good lesson to learn.

I Love my Post Blog Hop {Co-Host}

 

Welcome to the I Love My Post blog hop where we invite you to link up your favourite post of the week, to show it off and hopefully receive some love from the others partaking in the hop!

If you are yet to participate in a hop they are really simple to get the hang of all you need to do is 'hop' around, hopefully finding some new great reads!

The Rules are simple. 1. Check out and follow the hosts and co-hosts. Leave them a comment if you would like them to follow back. 2. Choose at least 3 other blogs and hop on over and leave them some love, plus let them know how you found them - I'm sure they would love it if you followed as well! 3. Have Fun and come back next Saturday.

Please just don't link up and click off to make this successful everyone needs to hop around!

Your Host’s this week are: Sarah from Life in a Break Down Bex from Futures and our lovely co-host’s are: Rachel from The Easley Family Clara from Walking in the Light Maggie from Maggie The Mrs Grace from Grace for Gayle Ady from When in Doubt Just add Glitter

I would love it if you would tweet, share on facebook or place our button on your blog, the more sharing we can get happening the bigger this hop can become!

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This week's Featured Blogger is: Maggie from Maggie the Mrs

Follow Maggies life as a new Mother and wife to a Police officer in the Southern US! Her little one hit 6 months old the end of February and if your in need of some 'awww' factor this weekend make sure you check out her post on it. ~ Sarah

If you fancy being next week’s featured blogger make sure you follow all the rules give you hosts and co-hosts a follow and Sarah could be calling on you next week to come and feature with us.

P.S. If you want to be a co-host the lines are now open just drop Sarah a line at: sarah@lifeinabreakdown.com

First Things First #9

Happy Tuesday all! Hope everyone had a great start back to their week. I'm linking up with Halie from Penguins  Pasta & Polka Dots for this weeks First Things First! This is the 9th week I've joined in and I  have heard some great firsts and made lots of great new friends through this linkup. So enjoy and come join in!

1. First speeding ticket or traffic accident

My first speeding ticket happened freshman year of college on my way home to my parents. We had just watched the Iron Bowl (Big rivalry, Auburn vs Alabama)  on Friday and I got up super early Saturday to head home. I was tired, had started to get sick and ready to see my Mom and Dad. Sadly, I had made it about 45 minutes away from Auburn when I needed to pull over to get sick (no, I was not drunk, but running a fever and sick sick). When I was getting back on the interstate, I was trying to get up to speed with traffic and got pulled over. I know of two other close friends that day who got tickets. It was a bad day to be a driver, great day to be a cop. :(

2. First BIG accomplishment you're proud of

My first BIG accomplishment was being chosen to sing in the choir for All-State music. I was in early high school and auditioned. I was actually sick this time around too, but determined to make the choir. My Mom even ran to the store to get meds while I was waiting to audition. I walked out afterward and prayed I would get it. Then, I got the letter. I made it! I practiced my music for a couple of weeks then traveled to Birmingham (where I live with my hubs now) from my hometown to sing. It was a great 4 days of practicing with other people who loved to sing as well. 

3. First thing you usually reach for in the fridge

I love milk or cheese - so I usually reach for those two items. If we are out of string cheese, I go for the milk, but reverse it if there isn't any cheese and I want milk. I can't live without dairy!!

Coffee & Conversation

I love coffee. I love friends. Combine the two and bam! Something incredible happens. Last week, Kalyn and Lauren introduced a new linkup where you can come and find out whats going on in your blogger friends life. 

Lauren and I go way back (since our college days in 2005) and recently got linked back up through blogging. Now, we get to meet for actual coffee and share life together. 

I also recently got to go on a blate (blogger + date = blate) where a bunch of us ladies from Alabama (and our MS friend) got to eat and drink coffee together - and I got to meet Kalyn fro the first time too!

So come along on this journey. Make some new great friendships - isn't that why a lot of us started blogging anyway, to share life together. :)

Each week, they will have a new topic and you can link up. So grab your cup of joe and lets chat!

  TOPIC:

What are you most thankful for so far this year?

I can't even begin to answer that in a short post but I will try ;) I am most thankful for my relationship with my husband. We are about to hit our 1 year anniversary (March 10) and I feel like this past year has sped by me. Like all girls, I desired to be a wife and mom and dreamt of the day I would meet my future hubby and begin our lives together. I dated some not so great guys and got very impatient for "the one" to come along.

I waited

 and

waited. 

And then I realized that no matter what I did, I couldn't continue trying to make something happen. 

I had to wait and give it over to the Lord.

In His timing (and with help from a roomate), I met Stephen and the rest is history.

I am thankful for the way he loves me. How he makes me laugh. How he comforts me when I cry and am sick. How he holds my hand when we walk through the house together. How he is always excited to see me and comes to welcome me home. How he brings me my water at night (even though I never drink it but just like having it).

I am thankful for our playfulness. For our date nights. For every moment I have with him - good or not so good. 

I am thankful for my husband.

Wednesday's Hump Day Hop {Link up}

Welcome to week two of our new blog hop. Each week, we will trade back and forth between GFC and Facebook. This is a great way to discover new blogging friends!

 We are excited to have Jo from Jo My Gosh co-hosting with us this week!

Hop Rules:

1. Don't forget to follow 1-3

2. Remember to link up with your Facebook Page, NOT your blog!

3. Try and visit some fellow Facebook pages and leave Facebook love!

4. Have fun and hopefully make some new friends!!

If you are interested in co-hosting with us, please email Summer!

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

<a href="http://www.simply-summer.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q720/simplysummerblog/0d727ec9-f8e8-4e51-ab80-043abb2ef3c6_zps4724ce44.jpg"/></a>

First Things First #8

It's Tuesday, so you know what that means....

The questions:

1. First breakfast of choice

Of choice? Hmm, anyone remember the Rice Krispy Treat cereal? My grandmother used to give me that stuff (she would buy each grandchild their favorite cereal and keep her pantry stocked with it) and I would DEVOUR it. I absolutely wouldn't share it with anyone. It was mine, hands off losers. This stuff would send my blood pressure through the roof if I ate it now. Breakfast of champions yall. 

2. First dessert of choice

I like dessert a lot, so this was tough to answer but I'm going to have to go with Cadbury chocolate. The real chocolate from England, not the fake Hershey version at the grocery store or CVS. The amazing $6.00 bar from World Market because that's the only place in the States that carries it, or from a friend who mails it overseas for you from England (that's what I do).  What is better than a dessert on the go? It goes with everything and goes anywhere. Its rich, creamy and always, always appreciated on the one rough week out of the month. ;)

3. First beverage of choice

A cold glass of milk. BUT,  if you mean alcohol, I am not  really a fan but can stand to drink some cheap Riesling.

Thanks Hallie and Halie for this linkup!

30 Second Thursdays {Vlog Linkup}

Last week I missed the Valentines linkup for 30 Second Thursdays due to feeling like death in the bed from a stomach bug. Anyone else gotten this junk? Its awful! I literally wanted to die for a couple of hours. Needless to say, no vlog, blog post or Valentine's for us.

But, this week I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER and joining back for 30 Second Thursdays with Kaitlyn, Samantha and Hallie!

The question this week:

What things are you shallow about?" (Name brands, certain jobs, ANYTHING...yep, embarrass yourself...)



PS. This is our guest room and I love it. Showcases my "perfection" mentality with my stuff. 

First Things First # 7

Link up time again!

 

1. First thing you do at the gym:

BAHAHA, gym? Are you for realz? Yea, I don't visit that place. 

2. First date with your current significant other:

Well, we kind of disagree on this one actually. I claim our first real date was a lunch at Newk's. If he bought, its a date. 

His claim was it was later that week when he took me to dinner at a local Cajun restaurant and to see the Social Network afterward.

Whatever it was, we seemed to work out fine in the end. 

3. First email address:

I don't really remember besides it being with AOL.com. It was probably something extremely stupid though - like Iheartjustintimberlake or something. Come on, you know you loved love him too. ;)

Hope everyone has a fabulous Tuesday!