Tuesday Talk: Don't Quit On Me...

Isn't that the title of a song or a line in a movie? It should be. I've been majorly MIA and that is for a few reasons -- I've just been hired on F/T at my job (let me hear BIG cheers :) and I started my rehearsals for a musical I'm doing at our local theater in town (4 nights a week!) -- But I can't lie... not to you guys, the #1 reason I've gone blogging AWOL is because I'm working through a few issues all things writing. I've needed some inspiration because I was beginning to bore even myself --

I saw the "LOVE" picture in clipart and it made me feel happy and I realized that was it -- Nothing I was doing on my blog was making me feel happy {and I'm a very happy person} -- In fact, so much so, it's the thing my husband says he loves the most about me, my happy-go-lucky way about life -- So... this is the dealio (yes. I just said dealio) -- I want this blog to be for you -- It's actually for me, but definitely for you -- Now that I'm making a lot of sense... let's get on with it --

I've mentioned that one of my greatest joys is to find out what someone's goals/dreams are and help them achieve it -- I love hearing what they want and then coaching them very practically how to get there -- I love promoting them like I have for Victoria and Leila -- I. love. seeing. others. succeed. and being a part of that --

I want my blog to serve a purpose and this is how I want to do that -- First... I've got skills ladies :) I didn't pay for an education in counseling and coaching to sit on it and make my life more comfortable... For all you Newlywed lovlies out there, I want to provide practical tools for getting you through that first year of marriage {which is statistically proven to be the hardest} -- So... I'm going to start "Tuesday Talk" -- This will be a post dedicated only to marriage and supporting its success -- If you've got questions, I want to answer them {no one has to know you are the one the question came from, unless you want that} -- If you don't have questions, well... you are going to get an earful about me simply hear about my life -- If you've got any success stories, I want to hear about them!

Secondly... If you have a dream, such as using your insane ability to throw meals together using rice and pretzel sticks {if you can really do that, email me} and want to write a cook book and sell it... I want to help. I will be calling this "Fantastic Friday" -- My hope is to not only generate blog traffic for you, but to seriously. truly. practically. help you get to your dreams... I will be posting tomorrow hold me to it how I've done just that for my SIL and I want to help you, too --

OK... enough rambling. I miss you guys :)

The Sweetest Sensation !!!

Click here to learn about the Sweet Sensation Giveaway

What a fantastically fun giveaway this was for me... I met so many new bloggers and so enjoyed reading each and every entry -- Clearly we have A LOT of really sweet sensations out there!!

With a whopping 40 Nominees, and the vote of each of our judges, LyndsAU, Mrs. Newlywed and Mojito Maven... (thanks, again, ladies)

Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S. was voted the Sweet Sensation!!

G.R.I.T.S. -- Clearly this definition of a Sweet Sensation fits you...

This blogger exudes kindness, support of other bloggers and spreads their sweetness like wildfire. While appealing to their audience, they are honest, sincere and stay true their authentic self. Their blog not only entertains, it also offers resources to help people excel in their lives such as using their blog to promote charities, spread the word about bloggers who want to become more well known and doing surprisingly kind things for no reason other than to 'pay it forward' --

This blogger is without a doubt an all around Sweet Sensation.

This is what you'll be receiving!!!

SATIN LIPS... Given by my good friend, Elizabeth:

HOT HEART... Given by my BFF Leila:

I personally own both of these products and L.O.V.E. them!

THANK YOU, AGAIN, LADIES FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!!!

And... of course, last but definitely not least, a $25 gift card to Starbucks!!!

CONGRATULATIONS G.R.I.T.S. -- You've gotta a lot of love coming your way... Hope this makes your Valentine's Day :)
(Email me your info so I can get this out to you right away)

Sweet Sensation Giveaway!

*****UPDATED***** I've gotten several requests for the HTML of the picture so they can post in on their blog -- Not sure how to do do that, but what I do is right click on the picture, save it into your pics -- To add it to your side bar, go to "Add a gadget and then "Add a picture" and then enter the link to this post -- Hope this helps :) I'm so excited to see all the entries already!!

I recently did a small, but fun giveaway last week and this is what happened -- But this isn't where it ended! Brooke, who was the final winner (and gives me a SERIOUS amount of blog love... I'd consider following her!) of the $25 Starbucks Gift Card wrote back to me and said "I love that I won, but I really want you to take it and do something inspiring with it" -- Well, that through me for a loop, yet I gave it a lot of thought and this is what I came up with...

Instead of this giveaway being about those who enter, this is an effort to nominate and recognize the "Sweet Sensation" of our blog world -- Your job is to nominate the blogger you believe fits this criteria:

This blogger exudes kindness, support of other bloggers and spreads their sweetness like wildfire. While appealing to their audience, they are honest, sincere and stay true their authentic self. Their blog not only entertains, it also offers resources to help people excel in their lives such as using their blog to promote charities, spread the word about bloggers who want to become more well known and doing surprisingly kind things for no reason other than to 'pay it forward' --
This blogger is without a doubt an all around Sweet Sensation.

How would one nominate their favorite blogger?

1. Nominate one blogger by telling why they should receive the Sweet Sensation Award and include their link in your comment
   
2. Let your blogger know they've been nominated!
3. Promote your nominee!! The more nominations they receive, the more likely they are to win!! (check out my sidebar to see how I would promote my nominee if I were nominating someone)
4. Nomination will close February 12th and the judges* will take the top 3 most nominated blogs and choose the winner of the Sweet Sensation package**
5. The winner will be announced Valentine's Day, February 14th

*Notice I said judges? Well, I have 3 fantastic blogging friends, LyndsAU over at All Things Fluffy..., Mrs. Newlywed of MisAdventures of a Newlywed and Mojito Maven over at Make Mine a Mojito who have agreed to help me in picking the winner -- Once all the nominations are in, I will figure out the top 3 most nominated bloggers and then each of us will read through these top 3 blogs and pick who we believe to be the Sweetest Sensation!!!

**WHAT? you ask is up for grabs for this Sweet Sensation? I'm so glad you asked!

I have two fabulous, and clearly generous, friends who wanted to be a part of knocking the socks off our Sweet Sensation:

Elizabeth is a MaryKay Consultant and specializes in empowering women through bringing women's inner beauty outward -- She has donated this!

Want Satiny smooth and kissable lips? Satin Lips from Elizabeth is the set for you...

Next up! Leila is a Slumber Party Consultant and specializes in empowering women in the bedroom ;0) and she has donated this!

The Hot Heart from Leila is the only way (well, in my opinion) to soothe aching muscles, relieve period pain or add some oil and massage your partner ;0) THIS THING IS AWESOME!

I personally own both of these products and L.O.V.E. them -- Valentine's is upon us so go visit their sites and see if they can meet your needs!

THANK YOU LADIES FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!!!

And... of course, last but not least the Sweet Sensation will be receiving that ever coveted $25 gift card to Starbucks!!!

GET OUT THERE AND START NOMINATING THE SWEETEST SENSATION IN BLOG WORLD!!!

It's My Birthday... I Can Cry If I Want To

1st Birthday, December 20th, 1978

Being a December baby and having 4 older siblings, Christmas was never the best time to have 15 little girls running around the house -- and what exactly does that mean? It means I never had a birthday party with my friends until I was 16 -- I guess our society makes a huge deal out of age 16 and for the first time in my life, I wanted... really wanted, to have a party -- I remember it was a Saturday and so what did I do? Seeing as I always waited until the last minute to do everything I loved living by the seat of my pants, so the morning of my birthday, I called every friend I knew and invited them over... Conclusion? Every. single. one. was. busy. -- go figure --

After sulking for hours on end in my room {because I hide my feelings so well}, my mom called me downstairs to have lunch with the family and give me my birthday presents -- When I walked through the dining room into our kitchen I hear a huge SURPRISE from the other room... There they all were... every friend who'd claimed to have other plans, my whole family, all the people I loved so much... they were all there to celebrate my birthday -- I. was. loved. --

On my 17th birthday I up and left this family to go and live with my biological mother who happened to live near the scariest city in the country the great City of Philadelphia -- This was 14 years ago, today -- It was 14 years ago today I started my venture toward The Great Break, a journey even an author couldn't have imagine and written about -- It was 14 years ago today I threw caution to the wind thought I knew what was best for me and started making my own choices -- Yet every with every birthday I turn one year older, I realize how much I don't know -- It was also 14 years ago that my mother turned 40 and it hit me today that 40 is only 9 years away -- 14 years ago today, I never would have thought I'd be so rich in life, married to a man that loves and adores me, graduated with my Master's Degree, in communication with my dearest friends, close to all of my family and on my way to actually fulling my dreams of opening my own practice and writing --

I have a dear friend (and I'd venture to say, a brother...), Stephen -- He was born on the 26th of December and for years we had a tradition of going Christmas shopping together and by the time our day was over we'd surprise each other, having bought a birthday present for each other -- We've know one another since he was born (seeing as he's younger, et-hem...) and we've had a many conversations about the pros cons of being a December baby -- Cons? Well... it seems that even if your family doesn't lump your presents together with Christmas, friends always do (Not Le, though... ur da bestest, :) There are other cons... such as not having a birthday party til your 16, but clearly I'm over that ;0) --

I could try listing Pros, but it seems Stephen and I could only ever really think of one that we just love... With every birthday, also comes a new year -- Cards say I hope this year brings all the happiness, love, dreams, hopes, desires or {insert wish here} -- Without fail, people are hoping for you that this next year will be a New Beginning and with my birthday, I always feel the joy of a new year approaching... another opportunity to move forward, accomplish one more dream, gain a little bit more wisdom and do a few things differently so I don't go completely insane that may not have worked in my prior years -- With my birthday, it's a truly a New Year and a fresh start...

Something new is that I'm sharing it with each of you, that is a really fun feeling -- Sometimes I feel like I'm just grateful not to be in a psych ward I've lived the life of a 50 year old woman and yet, I treasure my story -- Its grievances, traumas and heartbreaks have taught me that what hasn't killed me, has truly made me stronger because I've allowed them to -- They have also made me into the woman that I am today on my 31st birthday -- I look forward to what this year holds...

I thought it would be neat to see how I "progressed" through the years and then I thought 'heck' I bet my bloggy friends would find it fun, too! So... here I am! I'm not going to try and explain every pic... I'll just preface them with the fact that clearly I had serious blonde/brunette identity issues since I was 15 I went through a few shades of blonde before I realized God knew what he was doing making me a brunette ;0)

Fantastic, Fun and Freeing Friday

Being a woman, I know women... Despite what men think, we are not all created equal -- We have our hormones and that in and of itself says enough -- Yet, there is a subject that I thought I'd speak about in a bit of a different light -- Sex...

I can almost feel the blood pressure rise in each of you as you read the word -- It's no mystery that we all have it and hopefully, love it -- As this is a blog that primarily women read, I though it appropriate to breach that place -- (and men, if you're reading, pass this on to your wife!)

Whether you grew up Baptist or Atheist, sex is subject that we all want to know more about -- There are psychological, emotional, physical, and spiritual effects attached to sex and once married, you have one person (hopefully, again) to share it with... The Hubby :)

I have a best friend whom I've spoken of before -- Leila and I have been through the worst (and I mean some bad stuff) together and we've also been through the best of times together -- When Dan and I were engaged, people sent us cards, gift cards to Target, wedding decor, preparing for marriage books and Le? She sent me a gift basket full of sex stuff (and a few practical needs like a wedding planner) --

You may be thinking dirty or raunchy -- But that's not it at all... it was massaging oils, lubricants you can't find in the stores, a really informative book :), a cute 'after sex towel', lingerie and other fun items that I'll let you check out yourself -- She not only opened my eyes to a whole new world, but she also helped me understand how a woman should feel empowered in the bedroom --

Le is a Slumber Party Consultant and yes, she sells Adult toys... she also educates women about the power they have to not only build up their self esteem, but their husband's too -- If you are sitting there with your mouth wide open, that is a sign you should look into her and what she does -- Sex should be a freeing and empowering subject between you and your husband... I encourage you to check her out -- Ask for a personal consultation (phone or otherwise) -- She is an incredibly private and discrete woman and she'll be able to not only answer any of your questions, but add a whole new element to your bedroom --

Leila is offering a 20% discount exclusively for Newlywed Central Readers!