Chicken Soup Giveaway - Dog

I remember when my family first got a puppy. We had to leave for a holiday party so my parents blocked our puppy in the kitchen where the tile was so she wouldn't pee on the carpet, but still had room to roam a little. When we came back home, she was out of the kitchen, and we couldn't figure out how she did it! Luckily she hadn't peed anywhere. We trapped her back in the kitchen and waited. She climbed on the the counter, through the top of our kitchen where there were wooden bars, and down to our living room couch. Smart dog!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wellness Wedensday #11 - Lemon Essential Oil

doTERRA Lemon - another favorite, this essential oil powerhouse is cold-pressed from lemon rinds to preserve its delicate nature and potent properties. Lemon is known as a powerful aromatic, topical, and internal cleanser that can be used to complement many other oils. Diffusing lemon in a room can cleanse the air and uplift mood. It can also be used on surfaces throughout the home as a non-toxic cleaning booster. For aromatic, topical or dietary use.

 

This totally worked for me too. We had some stuff stuck on the table from our kids, and after letting it sit for a few moments, it came right off.

Other great benefits from Lemon Essential Oil:

 

• Are you  DIETING? Put 3-5 drops of Lemon oil in your water! It helps reduce the toxins in your body so you get better faster!
• my new favorite use  - inhaling the scent to get rid of hiccups! Worked on me! It didn't work on my daughter or friend's baby though maybe because they have to really inhale instead of just breathe it in.
•  great mood lifter too

Chicken Soup for the Soul REVIEW - Messages from Heaven

My friend reviewed another Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

Have you had a loved one taken from you? Wish you knew if there was life after death? Have you wanted closure of a loved one taken too early? If you answered yes to any of those questions I would definitely recommend reading Chicken Soup for the Soul- Messages from Heaven.  This book has stories of people who have lost loved ones and their experiences with their loved ones who have died who have been brought to peace because they were visited by their loved one who let them know they were okay.  This was an uplifting book because you come to know that life will be okay with your loved ones gone even if it doesn't feel like it will be.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has lost a loved one because it will be able to lift your spirits with creating a personally connection to the stories presented in this book.

80th Mommy Mondays - Weaning Progress

Well I've made a lot of progress in weaning my daughter from nursing in the last 2 months though not as much progress as I would have liked.
Before Christmas and our little vacation, I weaned her to just nursing at night. I just have too much milk and that was the best way for me to just get rid of my milk completely so I wouldn't be tempted in the future at night at all.
The start of the new year, I started weaning her at night especially when she somehow chipped one of her "new" teeth so now her "rotting" tooth might be more exposed. She was doing great for about 2 weeks. She'd nurse just once a night (better than 3-4x), and then just once a day, usually before bed and then we'd brush her teeth. She'd wake up several times in the middle of the night asking for milk so I'd just rock her back to sleep in the glider and she'd be okay. My back and neck sure weren't great, and I was super tired. We made it about 36 hours straight of no nursing. I was getting so excited thinking she'd be weaned before she turned 21 months old on the 19th and then I could think about potty training her or taking her binky away at night before she turned 2!
The week before she turned 21 months, she started screaming, kicking, pushing me when I'd tell her no at night. During the day, I could handle that better, but after several nights of multiple times of waking up with screaming, kicking, pushing me I couldn't take it anymore with my lack of sleep. So she was nursing again up to 2x a night though I tried my best to just do one time a night.
I wanted to be able to tell everyone she was weaned especially her dentist when I take her in to check her chipped tooth, but no such luck which became very depressing.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to have my son sleep over at my friend's house and so I joined in too. My husband took my daughter for the night. I slept pretty well, but still woke up since I'm used to it =). In the morning, I find out that my daughter slept almost 8 hours straight! Seriously! She gave my husband very little problems - no kicking, screaming. I should have been happy, but I was upset that my husband probably thought I should be able to handle her if that's all she did. Luckily he was more understanding. The past couple days have been better again. Our new record is almost 48 hours of no nursing. We're working on breaking that record tonight with 72 hours.
Our whole little family has been sleeping out front so we're all close together so my husband can take my daughter if I need help at night. That one night to myself helped me get another jump start and I've been able to stay calmer and my daughter has let me just hold her after crying shortly about no milk. Hopefully we're almost there, and she doesn't regress again.
She's a strong-willed toddler - so praying that she doesn't get super mad and start kicking, pushing, and screaming me again multiple times at night.

Shutterfly Dimensional Wall Art

I love Shutterfly! I can't say that enough! I had a nice e-mail saying I got $20 off coupon. I decided to go big and get this Dimensional Wall Art that was 20%. Plus since my order was over $30, I got free shipping. I can't wait to get it in the mail. 10x15 Wall art for $46.

Dimensional wall art

View the entire collection of cards.

108th Fashionable Fridays - No nonsense

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of No nonsense for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Before our family vacation, I received some tights and leggings from No nonsense - a black fishnet pair and then a corduroy grey leggings pair.  Shop now for yours. No nonsense tights and leggings

This was going to be a little tricky since I was going on vacation and would have to hope that these items would work with the clothes I packed instead of having my closet at my disposal. I made sure to have lots of basics for a classic look on hand to go with the No nonsense items.
For my first look, I wore the fishnets with my favorite dress for church. Sorry the pictures aren't great. All I had was a hotel room to take pictures in or negative temperatures outside. I'm not brave enough to do my posing in public places yet  unless I had a professional photographer with me =)





I think these black fishnets made the outfit more fun with some sass compared to typical tights. These were simple for me to wear and felt more comfortable than I thought they would be. I worried that these would have an itchy and scratchy feel, but were actual quite soft.

The leggings I received were grey corduroy and made me nervous to wear since I'm about modesty. Typically I'd pair leggings with a dress, but they didn't go with the white dress I wore above so I decided to be brave and wear it with a long sweater top.

My daughter sneaked into this picture. It would take too long to Photoshop her out =)



I typically don't like corduroys because I think they feel too 80s or give off a frumpy vibe. After seeing the pictures of me wearing them, I actually like the look. I think it helped, that I created a classic look with them instead of trying to go bold or wear a shorter shirt with them. They give a great texture. They're not much different than wearing skinny jeans. Though since they don't have bottom pockets like jeans, I think I'll stick to wearing long tops with it since they feel so tight especially around my bum. My husband liked to tease me about how tight they were in the back.

The great things about No nonsense leggings and tights are that they can be found in grocery, drug, and mass retail stores as well as being affordable. In fact, I even spotted some in a grocery store while on vacation in Utah.
Jill Martin, a fashion expert and award winning TV personality is partnering with No nonsense. She co-authored the best selling style guide, "I Have Nothing to Wear!" She defintely is a "No nonsense woman."
You can like No nonsense on Facebook and follow them on Twitter with me. I'm excited to find more No nonsense products especially these more colorful leggings from this video
I wish I was sent more colorful leggings to play with, but I guess it worked out well to get classic colors since I was on vacation and was limited to my access of clothing. These colorful leggings can definitely make an outfit more fun and show your personality through color by being bold. I've been a lot braver doing this so I can't wait to find some more colorful leggings and tights to try. They're much cheaper than the colored skinny jeans out there too and a great way to have fun with fashion. Check them out online too.

My First Vinyl with my Silhouette

"You know you're in LOVE when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your DREAMS." - Dr. Seuss

One of my favorite quotes - a perfect choice for the first vinyl I personally made with my Silhouette.

Photo by The Turquoise Frame Photography