More Journals and Lip Balms for CHOA

Today, I took a second donation to CHOA - Scottish Rite. In all, I took 238 journals and 60 lip balms! The beige and pink journals in the bottom right of the box came courtesy of Hammerpress Letter Press & Design Studio. They were so kind to send 50 journals.

The lip balms were donated by EcoLips, an organic and natural lip balm company.

 NightOwl Paper Goods located in Birmingham, Alabama donated ten of these cute journals. I love the animals!

 Ex Libris Anonymous donated fifteen of their super cool journals made from old textbooks and books. What a great way to reuse books!

 In Blue Handmade was gracious enough to donate five of their small, handmade leather journals. I got to pick out the stamps for each one, so that was a lot of fun!

 Sitara Collections sent six of their exquisite handmade leather journals made by women in India. These were stunning! They are not lined.

Thistle Farms totally floored me with their response to my email. Penny Hall and Tonya Sneed took time out of their busy schedules to make 90 - yes, 90 journals for this donation. How awesome is that?! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, ladies!

Lastly, my friends Tanya Hudson, Chanel Cobb, and Sarah Parker's MCG Bible Study group sent these journals. I cannot thank everyone enough! It is my hope that the teens at CHOA have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

You might be wondering what my next stop is. The next donation will be going to Greenville Memorial Hospital. I spent several months in the NICU there as premature twin and two major hip surgeries as a teen.

Adventures in Athens with Mom

My mom and I decided to go to Athens to try some places our friends had recommended or went to.

The first place was Your Pie, a pizza place that lets you make pizza any way you want. The way it was set up reminded me and my mom of Subway. The best part was the brick oven. By the time we got our drinks, our pizza was done!

We chose to make ours with sausage, cheese, and mushrooms. We also put onions on one half with the other toppings. I liked the fact that the toppings didn't get melted together so much that they were mushy.

 

The second place we stopped at was Menchie's frozen yogurt. Some friends of ours had tried this place and my mom and I wanted to see if it compared to Sweet Monkey.  I got pomegranate raspberry tart mixed with Georgia peach, topped with granola and pecans. While Menchie's doesn't have nearly as many flavors as Sweet Monkey, it was okay. I really liked the fact you could purchase a carton to go!

This next place was kind of spur of the moment. I spotted a sing for Gigi's cupcakes out of the corner of my eye on the way home. Since we don't go to Athens much, we decided to stop.

We tend not to like overly sweet desserts. I'm glad we only got one cupcake because it was RICH, as we say in the South. :)

We chose the salted caramel and chocolate cupcake. It was good, but I could only eat a little bit. The saltiness was a nice contrast to all of the chocolate. There was even chocolate inside the cupcake! Overall, a great day in Athens with my mom!

What are some of YOUR favorite places in Athens?

I Love Dropbox!

I realized while on my computer yesterday that I had not shared the fabulousness of dropbox with everyone! I couldn't believe it because it's a wonderful free program that is like a backup place for all of your files. I've been using it a little over a year and love it. I store almost all of my schoolwork on there, personal files, pictures, as well as church things that the publications team is working on together.

What's great about it is it can be accessed from anywhere! Even on your phone, which is great for people on the go that don't want to keep up with lots of flash drives or external hard drives.

Click this link to be invited by me and automatically get 500MB of space added to your account! I use the free version. Dropbox doesn't even know who I am. I just love their product!

Free Books for Kindle!

Just wanted to share a great resource I found with all of my friends who might have a Kindle.  It's called Pixel of Ink.  They send out daily emails with several free e-books.  Not all of them are free, so make sure it says $0.00 before you click buy. :) 

I downloaded two completely free books this afternoon, The Fence my Father Built by Linda S. Clare and Caged: Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet by Cameron Conway.  I'm excited to read these when I have time because I've never read any of their books. A new book to read is great. A new FREE book is even better!


If you go to this link, they do have some free books for the Nook as well.

Happy reading, everyone!

Best Birthday Gift Ever!

My mom gave me the most awesome gift for my 22nd birthday a few weeks ago: A 30 minute massage!  I had never had a massage, but I know how much it helped my mom when her back was hurting.  As it got closer to my appointment with Kayla from Absolute Muscular Care in my hometown, I became more and more excited because I'd I had almost forgotten what it was like to live without neck pain! My neck had been hurting for months with no relief. I couldn't even sleep good at night because of it. After visiting Kayla, I have noticed a TREMENDOUS difference!  I have slept better ever since my visit! 

I didn't have the typical massage, though. I had something called the CranioSacral massage that is designed to help migranes, fibromyalgia, and even childhood disorders like cerebral palsy! Click this link to learn more about it. I couldn't believe there was a massage designed just for me! 

Anyway, I just had to share this with everyone.  Kayla didn't not ask me to write a review.  I just believe in sharing good stuff!  If you live in my hometown, I highly recommend her!

A Post about Marriage

My brother got married Saturday, so when I found a post about love and marriage I had to share.

I didn't write this. One of my fellow bloggers over at Four Sisters Farm wrote this, so go over there and comment. :)

Rooted and Established in Love (Reposted with permission)

I've recently become intrigued by a tree near our farm…or is it two trees? I’m not a horticulturist so I really don’t know - I haven't inspected it below ground level (The neighbors would probably think I'm strange since it isn't my tree).

This tree appears to actually be two trees that decided to work closely together. One trunk is sturdy and looks like it has been growing longer than the other; or maybe they started out at the same time and one was better suited to the ground from which it grew.

For me, this tree is a beautiful depiction of marriage. Two people choosing to intertwine their lives, their assets, their very beings into one. They share the seasons and are sustained by the same soil and environment. Each season brings different challenges and joys, various struggles and growth. These trees will never be separated except by the death of one or both.

This current season is cold and seemingly lifeless; and the trees, devoid of any evidence of actively growing, cling together and weather the season. I wonder what is happening during this dormant stage these trees go through each year...perhaps it is similar to times in marriage when things are less than fun, warm and friendly. When a couple is committed to God and to each other, there continues to be growth even when we can’t see it. Simply by staying together, something is happening…shared memories, resources, and relationships…things that shape a couple even when they are not aware. God is always at work conforming us in the image of Christ. I praise Him for the promise that He will not stop until the work is complete (Philippians 1:6)!

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Glamping?

I read an article yesterday that I thought was interesting. It was about glamping, which is camping in style. Luxurious bedding, bathrooms, lighting and even maid service. I instantly thought this would appeal to women. The women can go camping worrying about those icky bugs and sleeping on the ground. The men might go along with it because it's still in the middle of the woods. The article talked about places like Africa--even Washington.

How about this one in Canada?



Or this one in Tanzania? These places bring a whole new meaning to the term camping.

I thought this one was interesting. It almost looks like a living room in there. I'm all for roasting marshmellows by the fire, but not sleeping on the hard ground. That hurts my back
I'll admit some of them went a little overboard-a personal butler, bathrooms, and air conditioning?! Men would probably laugh at the thought of this. but it might not be so funny if that's the only way their wives would go. Mrs. Newlywed, this one's for you.

Credits: msnbc.com

Something to Make Your Life a little Easier

My mom came home yesterday with a smile on her face. She told me about a new product she had found that actually worked. Imagine that!

Hate doing laundry? This might change your mind or at least make it less of a hassle. It's a 3 in 1 cloth from Purex. It has detergent, softener, and anti static strip. I'm sure moms would love it(or anyone really). Since my mom doesn't have many readers yet, she asked me to tell everyone. Click here to read her post. What good is a secret if it's not shared?

For more info, go to Purex site.

Spreading the Love

I just found out about Swag Bucks from another great blogger, Trina. Swag Bucks is a site where you earn bucks to spend in their store anytime you shop, or invite your friends. They even have coupons for various stores at different times, so check back often. For every 5 bucks you spend on iTunes, you get one swag buck. Who doesn't love iTunes. You get bucks for shopping at places like Macy's too. This is especially great if you shop on the Internet a lot.

Just click here to join in the fun!