TOATS Sponsor Giveaway

During April, I was a Sponsor for Allie over at Tales of a Twenty Something. Today her sponsors have teamed up for this awesome giveaway. Good Luck!

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Today's the day y'all.

These lovely 20 ladies below have come together and are giving away one awesome prize!

Allie // Kelley // Sami

Brin // Jenn // Ricci

Katie // Dara // Kelsey

Angie // Rebekah // Stephanie

Crystal // Brittany // Jenni

Amy // Meighan // Sara

Sarah // Meg // Betsy

Thanks to these wonderful ladies, one lucky person will win $115 dollars CASH! Enter below via Rafflecopter! All entries will be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekly What? - My Blog Week in Review

This is my first time linking up with Allie, Jenn and Ricci for Weekly What? Honestly, this has been one of my best blogging weeks.  It has been hard to keep up, and to write so many emotion filled posts, but that is the kind of blogging that I love.  I always want this blog to have substance... whether there are 3000 readers, or just a faithful 3. 

So, in case you missed a post or 2, here is a recap of the week. 

Monday

On Monday, I shared with you Detective Allen Pearson's story, and how it changed my perspective of "The Thin Blue Line"

Tuesday

On Tuesday, I shared with you what the cost of distracted driving really are... I remembered Ava Frances. 

Wednesday

Finally a happy post! I shared the What Will It Bee? Baby Shower that I threw in November. 

I also linked up with Kimmie at Sugar and Dots for What I Whipped Up Wednesday. 

Thursday

Nine

Friday

Time for my Favorite Link Up!

Pit & Peak... Tired Edition...

Look at that fancy new button... super cute! 

You know the drill by now... so here's the most 'raw' Pit & Peak vlog I've done to date... Excuse my excessive eye rolls, and my broken out face, and the mumbling in spots...

Have a great weekend! I know I am going to! 

Nine

Nine...
...the number of innings in a baseball game.
...the number of Justices on the US Supreme Court.
...the atomic number of Fluorine.
...the number of squares on a Tic-Tac-Toe board.
...the number of years without my Grandma.

Nine years... one year less than a decade. I really can't believe it's been that long. April 11, 2004 changed my life forever. I find myself missing my Grandma Nellie now, more than ever. With each new baby born, with each new milestone reached, with each new health scare for my Granddaddy... I miss her.

This picture was taken in 2002, at a celebration for my Grandma & Granddaddy's 45th Wedding Anniversary. They would never celebrate 50. 

I so wish my Grandma were here to see these babies grow up. 

I know that my Grandma Nellie is in a much better place. I long more for Heaven, than I ever did before. Every single time I hear this song, I cry, thinking of my Grandma. 

"Knowing You'll Be There" sung by Samuel Jones at Kings Crossroads FWB Church. (my church)

I love you Grandma... and I miss you every single day.

What Will It Bee? Baby Shower

It's been a pretty heavy week so far here on the blog, so today I decided to lighten things up a little bit, by sharing with you a baby shower that I actually threw last year. (Yes, I'm just getting around to blogging about it...and the baby is almost 4 months old... better late than never, right?)

This shower was kind of 'thrown together' at the last minute. We had planned a date, but my cousin's Grandma had been in the hospital for a long time, so we didn't know if we were going do it when originally planned, or wait until after the baby was born. We went ahead as planned.  It was a small intimate gathering, but it was a lot of fun.

Wayne & Jessica decided that they were not going to find out the sex of the baby... so the theme had to be gender neutral. I was worried at first about what to do, but I turned to my trusty friend, Pinterest, for inspiration. I had a lot of big plans for this shower, but since I only had about 2 weeks definite notice, I scaled it back a lot, and then time ran out, and I had to make some other 'cuts.' But as things often do, everything came together.

Here are the details:

The Invitation

I designed the invitation, pulling in my favorite parts of some that I'd seen on Pinterest. 

 The Food

Menu:

Cupcakes

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods

Lady Fingers

Cheese "Hives" (Like Cheese Straws, but made in the shape of bee hives)

Cream Puffs (Regular, and Chocolate Covered)

Honey Nut Cheerios Bites (I used these and cut in fourths)

Peanuts in Yellow Booties*

Lemonade

How cute is that Bee Hive drink dispenser? 

As you can see in some of the pics, I had menu cards to match the invitation. 

Decorations

I went very light on the decorations this time around. 

I used black and yellow netting to go above the windows, just to add some color. 

Black table cloths, yellow bee printed squares in the center, and a mini-diaper cake.

Other Details

Mommy and Daddy to 'bee' wore these little 'badges.' The bees are pink and blue to match the guessing game that we played. 

Guests taped up a blue bee if they guessed a boy and a pink bee if they guessed a girl.  As you can see, a lot of people guessed boy... and those people were right! 

Favors

The favors were candles with a label that said "Than you for bee-ing at Wayne & Jessica's Baby Shower!"

Not bad for something that was 'thrown together.'  I love planning and throwing these parties. Have you been to a shower lately? What was the theme? 

*I promise, a tutorial on these booties is coming soon... I have some to make in a month or two.

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Linking up at Sugar and Dots for What I Whipped Up Wednesday