Remember that big, giant, beautiful heart part?
Two of her designs are benefiting two of my favorite causes.
Did I mention they were super pretty too?

Wendy Hagen is rad.
And real.
And funny.
And encouraging.
AND FUNNY.

Plus, I'm taller than she is, and I am shorter than everyone.

If you don't read her blog, you should.  Her post about Pinterest? Go. Right now.
If you haven't met her, you should.  I have.  Nanny nanny billy goat.
If you don't have a copy of her book, YOU NEED ONE.


It is my top recommendation for new mamas.  For struggling mamas.  For doing awesome at everything mamas (even if I sort of think that they are lying liars that lie).

It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you feel normal when you feel crazy, it will encourage you, it will help you know that you aren't alone, it will make you a better wife, mama, friend, and human.

For reals.

I have three copies to share with you.
Because you need to read it, like whoa.

You need to know what a MBD is, and what to do about it.
I have me quite a few MBDs.  In fact I just had a whole weekend of them.  Not my fave.  But trying to laugh through them is how I deal.

All you need to do is tell me something.  Anything.  Happy or sad.  Funny or mundane. Tell me how your kid tracked poop ALL OVER THE UPSTAIRS right before a party (oh wait, that was mine and I have never HATED THE GUTS OUT OF CARPET MORE!!!!)

I will draw three names tomorrow and send the happy books on their way.

I loved, loved, loved reading the comments on this post.  I feel so much more normal in my crazy.
Thank you for sharing the wonderful, horrible, unbelieveable, things that happen to all of us.

When I am having a bad day, I am coming back here to find some sunshine in the shared stories.

The three winners are:
Sarah- who had for sure the worst day.
Kate B.- who made me laugh (sorry.)
Angie- I think the teenage years start at three.

I love that with the out of control rising cost of silver (and everything else in the world...) Lisa came up with a way to keep the beauty and integrity of her pieces, yet enable them continue to remain affordable with the new pewter line.
To me pewter takes me back to early American History, and to the blacksmith shop of Paul Revere.  It is one of my favorite metals for it's history and for it's understated simplicity.  Plus, you can't argue with sticking it to the man, while still having something pretty.

How would you like to win a $50 gift card to Lisa Leonard Designs?
HELLO!!!!

All you need to do is sign up for her newsletter here.
Then come back and leave me a happy little comment.

(Pssssst!  Guess what?  She is going to give away TWO gift cards.  Boom.)

While you are clicking around, you simply must visit Lisa Leonard Designs on FB.  Because how could you not?  Likey like it, obviously.

Plus, I know that you are super exited to treat yo'self.  So here my friend is a handy coupon code to help you out.
Save 20% off anything in the shop with the code shopping20
Now go.

(Entries close at 10pm PST on Sunday March 25rd.  Winner will be announced Monday.)

Thank all of your for your heart and your donations to the 

When we started planning and dreaming what Project 320 would look like this year, my biggest wish was to giveaway a Silhouette SD machine.  Fast forward a couple months and I find myself putting the Silhouette at the very top of my birthday and Christmas list.  I then spent way too much time entering all of the giveaways throughout the blogosphere over Thanksgiving weekend.  Can you guess what happened?  Out of thousands and thousands of entries, I actually won one of my very own over at Infarrantly Creative.

I screamed.  I celebrated.  I was so very, very excited.
But then I got to thinking.  To praying.
Suddenly I realized that this little Silhouette that landed in my lap, was an answer to prayer.  I wanted to give away a Silhouette to help raise money for water.  I now had a Silhouette.

It didn't come in the way that I expected, but I love how that is often how God shows up.


If you don't know what a Silhouette is, or what it can do, the question is more like what can't it do?
Any shape.  Any font.  No cartridges required.
Just imagine the fun crafts and gifts you could make with this little marvel!!!


I am amazed by Lisa Leonard.
She helps me seek little reminders of grace and evidence of beauty in my mundane.
She has the gift of encouragement, creativity and is abundantly generous.  I am constantly inspired by her lovely blog and love to give her thoughtful jewelry as gifts.



Surely you know of The Pleated Poppy, and Lindsey, the girl behind all of the pretty?
She is a wonder with all kinds of mad skillz, yet is even sweeter than toffee crack.
Her blog is full of fun, fashion, and her magazine worthy home.  Her shop is full of happy, girly, fabric deliciousness.




I could write a grad school thesis on all of the ways I love and look up to Drew B.
She is like the sister that I always wished I had, an adoring wife, phenomenal mother, an encourager,  stinking funny, insanely generous, and way, way, way too talented.

If you ever have the opportunity to sit in front of her camera, she will capture your life in a way that will change you and your family forever.  She has given us such a gift in each image that she shot.  A gift that will last long, long, after our lives on this earth end.  Photographs have unique the ability to do that.  To freeze time.  To make a lasting memory.

On top of that, she shares her vast knowledge, and has translated it into normal, understandable, human language, through Momtog, the UNmanual and the UNposing Guide.  Drew has helped me fall madly in love with my camera and to embrace it's possibility.  Each time I stop time through the click of the shutter, I am so very thankful for what she has taught me.  When my memory gets hazy, and I can't fully imagine what my girls looked like when they were this young, I will be able to flip through the photographs that I've taken, and be transported right back to these busy years.  As much as I would love each of them to stay little, in some way, they will through the lens.



So how does this all work?

One $10 donation to the Project 320 Well
equals ONE entry.

Donate at the Project 320 charity:water page first.
Then come back to this post and leave one comment for each entry.


Make sure that either your email is attached to your profile, or is included in each comment.

Comments will stay open until midnight pacific time on Sunday, December 19th.

Donations will be verified,
and one happy winner will be chosen to receive all four prizes
on Monday, December 20th.

Win prizes.
Save lives.
{Which in itself, is the best prize in the entire world.}

Thank you for having the heart to make this earth a safer, healthier, happier place for a community an ocean away.

{Be sure to click over to the Project 320 blog and check out all of the other wonderful giveaways.  How encouraging is it to see social media being used to change the world?}

Starting on Monday, December 13th, bloggers with a passion to give, share and save lives, will be hosting exciting giveaways, all to help fund a well through Charity:Water.


Little things always have a way of turning into very big things.


Want to participate?


Visit the Project 320 blog for all of the details.


Mark your calendars.  Monday morning is going to change everything for a community in need.

Who wouldn't want a bike that could hold your dog and a basket of happy flowers?
While you pedal happily along in your cute boots and scarf?

All I am missing is the dog.
Oh, and the bike.

But that all could change.
Could this Madsen radtasticness be mine?

Perhaps.

Or yours.
Who knows.

Click here for all of the deets.

Every October, when I see these three cereals on the end cap near the registers at Target I become a little kid again.

 They are fun, happy, and spooky.

When General Mills and MyBlogSpark offered to send some our way, how could I say no?

Spooky treats?
Yes please!

But the best part, how would you like some spooky sent your way?

If I were to sit down and write a list of one hundred things that are my fave, right near the top would be:

The kind and immensely creative Whitney of Bel Kai Designs combined them into something so sweet, so personal, so dear to my heart.
She found beauty in my words. Words about my sweet Joy. Words that encourage me.  Words that comfort me. Words that came pouring from my heart and now I can wear close to my heart.

I adore Whitney.  Her talent, her passion, her ability to see beauty in the ordinary.  Wouldn't you love to meet her?
"I live in Southern California with my three boys {one husband, two littles}…we love to picnic, spend time outdoors and travel to see family, when we can.  
My taste in clothing has always been a little on the neutral side, so I have always had a passion for accessories and adding flare with a great necklace or pair of shoes.  And I’ve always loved to create and style.  So, I started making jewelry for myself about nine years ago.  Friends and family encouraged me to start selling it and my business has been growing since!  I pretty much feel like the luckiest girl in the world that I am able to stay at home with my boys while I create and pursue my dream.  It is not always an easy dance, but I am thankful nonetheless."

I considered it a honor and a blessing to read each and every comment that was left for me this weekend. 
Each and every struggle.  Worry.  Burden. Fear.
It was a joy and a privilege to pray for each of you by name.  Asking God to extend His mighty love, grace, hope and peace over your lives.
Thank you for your transparency, your honesty. For wanting more, wanting better.  
May your days from here on be full. May they be free.  May you find trust and beauty.
May you fly.


The Sweet & Simple Birdie necklace is finding it's way to The Stews who shared:


"One week ago my unborn son was diagnosed with a blockage in his brain. A blockage that may attribute to or involve other neurological problems. Upon his birth, he will be in the NICU where he will receive numerous tests that will determine whether or not brain surgery can reverse his hydrocephalus. This week has been a week full of constant worry. I am worried for my high risk delivery, for my little one to be immediately in intensive care, and for the physical pain that he will have to endure. My husband and I have decided that we have dedicated Benjamin to the Lord and, while our initial instinct screams for us to panic, we are choosing to continue to surrender our little one to God and to trust that he has great plans for Benjamin's life. But my mommy's heart is still so anxious! This verse is one that my husband has encouraged me with and prayed over my belly since the diagnosis. It helps me to remember that my baby needs my faith and trust in our Savior and not my worry."


Will you join with me in praying for a miracle in Benjamin's life and peace over the Stewart family as they prepare for his arrival?


Thank you so much Lisa Leonard Designs for this beautiful giveaway and for encouraging us to fly.

Every day I struggle with worry.
Irrational.  Permeating. Unnecessary worry.

It is perhaps my greatest weakness.
It keeps me up at night.  It often grips me.
But most of all, it holds me back from the beauty that is peace.

Time and time I come back to this verse.  This verse that is planted in my heart.  This verse that I need to let take place of my fears.  This verse that reminds me what exactly I need to let go.

What do you need to let go?

Leave me a comment.

Make a concerted effort to release what is holding you back from the life that you should be living.

I want to share this beautiful Sweet & Simple Birdie necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs with one of you.  Lisa is a woman who finds beauty, seeks peace and embraces joy.  Her blog is inspiring.  Her designs are delightful.  She is constantly a blessing to me in so many ways.

Comments will be open until midnight pst on Sunday 9/5.
A winner will be drawn and announced on Monday 9/6.

Fly.

As the comments popped up in my inbox about your favorite part of summer, there were way too many extolling the beauty of lazy evenings sipping sweet tea on the porch, while the children catch fireflies.

Let me just tell you.  I'm jealous.

Really, really jealous.  If you have a house with a "porch" in California, chances are, it is just a glorified front stoop, that you would be lucky to fit a few small chairs on.  Fireflies.  No such thing.  I saw a glow worm at Bass Lake.  Let me just tell you... gross.  NOT the same.

But then again, we've got the beach.

So... maybe I just need to plan a vacation one of these summers to the land of porches and fireflies.  Until then, I'll keep my beach.

Now to the winner of the happy summery dress:

Sarah, I hope your little girl can catch some fireflies for me.

Enjoy the tea.  I'm more of an unsweet tea girl myself.  I know, the horror, right?  Crazy Californians!

How has summer flown by so quickly?
Sniff, sniff.
What is a better way to celebrate, than with a bunch of fun giveaways with other fine bloggers?
Besides of course, giveaways and cupcakes... a bit of baking this afternoon might be in order.
Twist my arm.


How about a sweet peasant dress (size 4T/5T) and matching Pretty.Messy. flower headband?
Not a bad way to celebrate.

Just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about summer.
That's it.
Winner will be announced on July 30th.

Now it's time to bake.

My heart smiles when I see someone use their blog for good.
To see them have an idea.
A big, scary, seemingly impossible, idea.
An idea bigger than themselves.
To reach out.  To help.  To leap.  To trust.
To use their gifts to change the world.

Crystal had such an idea.

God took her idea, and did what He does best.
He helps to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever ask or hope.

Crystal found a beautiful quilt pattern.
A pattern that would make me run screaming.
But she is brave.  So very, very brave.
She decided to make this beautiful, wonderful quilt.
But not to keep.
To give away.
Because not only is she brave, she is generous.
To give away for a reason much bigger than herself.
A reason that is an ocean away.
To save lives.
To help buy nets.
Simple mosquito nets.  Mosquito nets that protect families.  Mothers, fathers, children, and babies from malaria.
One million people die a year from malaria infections.
Preventable malaria infections.
To her, each and every piece of fabric represents a person.
A life.
A life worth saving.
One net can protect a family of four for up to five years.
Five years.  Imagine the safety, the comfort, the peace that net would bring to a family.
Ten dollars.
A net only costs ten dollars.
Ten dollars can save four lives.
Think about that.
Something so simple.  Something that is hardly a sacrifice to us, can mean all the difference in the lives of that family.
Africa is near and dear to my heart.
Africa is near and dear to Crystal's heart.
But more importantly, Africa is near and dear to God's heart.
This quilt is a beautiful reminder of that.
Crystal's goal is to see the purchase of 500 nets.
I believe that goal will be exceeded.

For each net purchased, you get one entry into the raffle for this stunning quilt.
For each net purchased, you are helping to save lives.
Think of the love and care that she put into this quilt.
Think of the love and care you could send across the globe with the purchase of simple mosquito nets.

Go here to buy your nets.
Visit Crystal and learn more about her heart for this project here.

Thank you for your big hearts.
You are my faves.

Congrats Tracy!  You are the happy winner of a $25 shop credit to The Pleated Poppy.
Good luck trying to narrow down from all of the cuteness I am sure that you want.

Didn't win?
Don't fret.  Sweet Lindsey has offered all of you cool kids 10% off any purchase in her shop.
Use the code:   joyshope    and you are free to buy as much as you can hide.
Or am I the only one who does that?

Want some inside info?
The petal drop necklaces and bloom bags sell like hotcakes, if in fact you were at a restaurant that made really, really good hotcakes.
Want advance notice on when they are listed?
Follow Lindsey on Twitter to get all of the deets.  Then maybe your Pleated Poppy dreams will come true.

Thanks Lindsey!
Everyone hearts you.