We Speak Now + A Giveaway!

Hey friends!!! I wanted to make sure I got this one out there on the web!  I love the women behind We Speak Now and am delighted to show them some support!!! I hope you will take a moment and enter and share your thoughts and join the community!!!  

Ellie Coburn // elliecoburn.com | Ashly Griffith // After nine to five |  Keri-Anne Pink // Gingerlilytea | Franchesca Cox // So this is love | Kristine Foley // The Foley Fam | Lena Baird // Lena B. Actually | Emily // Dashboard Diaries | Cristine // Life with a side of Coffee | Shane Prather // Whispering Sweet Nothings | Shantel Cannon // Our Funny Little Family | Heather // Finding Beauty in the Ordinary | Ady // When in Doubt, just add Glitter | Beth Lewis // Through the eyes of the Mrs. | Brooklyn // This Little Blonde | Cassie Yielding // Live. Laugh. Love | Tamika Rybinski // No Time for Tea | Torie Jochims // Lattes and Love | Laurel Martinez // Heart of Wanderer  | Laura Williams // Lulu's Little Wonderland | Kayli // Truly Lovely | Ali Mills // Our Happily Ever After |  Jean // What Jean Likes | Hannah Stocker // All of My days with you | Jen Hallquist // Living a Listful Life | Jill Wilhelm // I know the plans I have for you | 

  Happy May Speak Now friends, both new and old! 

Today is an exciting day for Speak Now

Today, some fabulous ladies have teamed up to link up and tell you that you're beautiful. 

Speak Now is all about beauty from the inside out.

We believe in your dreams + passions. We believe in you. 

Today we want you to look in the mirror and tell yourself that you're beautiful.

Identify what makes you feel beautiful. Make this feeling an obligation in your life.

Today we are here to remind you that you can do anything.

Today and everyday, you are lovely, you are perfect, you are bold, you are unique.

Today and every day- you are beautiful!

Speak Now is a women empowerment organization 

built around the philosophy that self-love, self-respect, + self-confidence will make you beautiful.

We empower. We create. We educate. We inspire.

Link your blog up to connect with other bloggers who believe in the empowerment of women and help us spread awareness about the importance of women empowerment!

Once you link up, no community experience would be complete without a little welcome gift!  We are giving away a $100 visa gift card and any piece of beautiful jewelry from the Speak Now shop!

So link up, enter our giveaway, take a look at some of our blogging friends, and share our mission with your friends, family, and fellow blogging community. 

We are an online community designed to believe in you.

Today, we want you to join our movement. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

HOW TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY 

&  win a $100 visa gift card and a custom jewelry piece from our jewelry store

MANDATORY TO ENTER:

****MUST FOLLOW SPEAK NOW ON EITHER FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR INSTAGRAM TO ENTER*****

*****MUST LINK UP BLOG BELOW TO ENTER*****

 ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:  +1 for each // Follow Speak Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - COMMENT FOR EACH + 1 for each // Follow via GFC, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for any of our co-hosts - COMMENT FOR EACH + 1 // Share Speak Now's I AM BEAUTIFUL May link up with your FB or twitter friends - COMMENT FOR EACH +1 // Spreading the word via status/tweet/instagram post- COMMENT FOR EACH COMMENTS ARE OFF ON ALL WEBSITE'S CO-HOSTING THE EVENT SO YOU CAN HEAD ON OVER TO SPEAK NOW'S WEBSITE AND COMMENT TO ENTER!  { WWW.WESPEAKNOW.ORG }

A very special thanks to  Aunie of Aunie Sauce, Casey Wiegand,  Keri-Anne Pink, and Salena Lee  for sponsoring our link up!

Resolutions In Motion: The Finale

          Has it really been six weeks already??? When I started this I was hoping to kick start my year and get in gear.  While I have not made my goal 100% I HAVE made progress and I will take progress any day!!!

          My goals were fairly simple. I was determined to write three posts a week, kick the soda habit, work out at least three times a week and have a daily quiet time with God.  So how did I do??

          Three blog posts a week. Some weeks I did manage to get three out, others, not so much. I am going to keep working towards a more regular posting schedule though.  I am always reinvigorated whenever I do actually manage to get a post out.  It's not for lack of ideas I don't post 3x a week that is for sure...

          Kick the soda habit.   In the past six weeks I have had a total of six sodas. Is that still too much? Oh yes.  Is it better than 6 in one week? Heck yea.  GO ME!  Baby steps people.  Me and Dr. P have a long history together and severing ties is easier said than done. I have definitely made progress though, so yay!  

          Working out three times a week.  What is about 3x a week that I seem drawn too??? Maybe it is because it is manageable?  Anyways... not only have I been working out three times a week - Michael and I have been running every other day and doing a core challenge on the opposing days.  This past week was lax due to many a conflict but we are hoping to get back to it ASAP.  

          Daily quiet time with God. Oh man. This is perhaps the single most important goal of them all and it is the one I made the least progress on I feel.   Oh don't misunderstand - God and I have had many a "come to Jesus" meeting these past few weeks (or months).  Many a screaming match and a whole lot of "WHAT THE WHAT???" have been heard from me over the past year in general actually.  I have grown so much in my faith as a result. I am daily in prayer seeking God's guidance or asking Him for one thing or another.  I have NOT, however, just sat and wrote my heart's prayer to Him.  There is something so beautiful in sitting with a pen and journal and bible in hand and just writing/learning/praying/listening (did I just think of a new post??? Why yes, yes I did!)  In any respect I am pushing myself to make this a daily discipline - it s also the one that Satan attacks the most with any excuse he can which is probably why it has been so difficult - but I find the most difficult things are usually the ones most worth doing.  

How did YOU do on your resolutions??? 

Make sure to go Link Up with Brooke over at Covered in Grace!!! 

Happy Wednesday!!

Way Back When-sday - No Pain No Gain

       This Way Back Whens-day post is brought to you by pain...and Lowe's Hardware...and more pain.   In 2007 I was honored to spend 6 months of my life traveling with an organization that combined some of my biggest passions; traveling, community service, and performing.  Up With People is a global leadership and education training Non Profit Organization that changed my life forever.  The people I met and the experiences I had will forever be a part of who I am.  That being said it ended in total disaster... and I do mean disaster...

        Allow me to set the scene...My fellow cast members and I have spent the past 4 months growing and expanding and having the adventure of a stinkin' lifetime.  We've toured the US and made it all the way across the ocean to Europe.  I've stood in the Duomo in Milan and taken a gondola to the top of the Swiss Alps.  I've even tried schnitzel in Germany!  We are now at our last stop on the European part of the tour, Belgium.  The stage is set. It consists of a raised platform  about 4 feet off the ground with layers of curtains going back.  Between two of these layers are a set of stairs...seemingly innocent enough...for now. 

       The curtains rise, the music begins and a dramatic opening number rocks the 3000+ audience.  We rush on stage from the back of the house and all arrive front and center.  The welcoming speech and then pitch blackness save a single spotlight in the middle of the stage for a lone dancer.  My cast mates and I rush off stage and down the stairs to prepare for the next number, or at least...that is what was supposed to happen...

      What happened next is kind of a blur of pain and blackness I remember a fall and a crack and maybe even blacking out and then trying to stand and not being able to.  See what really happened was I missed the stairs by about an inch and a half and stepped off in to the black nothingness and landed sideways on my ankle cracking it in two places.  A trip to the Belgium ER confirmed that I had broken my first bone in my entire 21 years of life.  And since I am from Texas I went big (and, ironically, I also went home).  Here is the ankle fixed. I have a plate and 5 screws on the outside and two screws on the inside (literally you could find this kind of stuff at Lowe's).  This is right after the 45 minute surgery the day after Thanksgiving 2007.  

           After deciding I should have the needed surgery back home in Colorado I made the call home.  My mom went in to super human mode and within minutes had a flight scheduled home.  I spent the next day saying goodbye to my beloved cast (who went on to the Philippines) and hobbling around on crutches.  I can honestly say the love and support they showed me was unbelievable - I have never felt so loved.  Some super cool facts about my adventure; I had to give MY SELF injections of a blood thinner before they would let me leave the hospital (to prevent blood clots and potential death on the plane home of course).  The people on the plane were so sweet - an older lady saw that I had been stuck in the middle of the row for the thirteen hour flight with a splinted (not even a cast yet) ankle and was cramped (and not allowed so much as Tylenol for some reason). She was in the seat with extra room on the outside and graciously gave it up for me - so sweet!!!  Another fact - I ended up detoxing off the pain pills - let me just say - scary - it was not intentional...Also, I slept for for like thirty some odd hours after getting home from my surgery.   

         The whole ordeal was really something else - 4 months of physical therapy and my first experience with a cast - and hopefully my last!!!  I learned a lot of humility (no pain no gain right?) through the process and am grateful to so many people for making the experience a lot less miserable!! 

     Here I am rocking the crutches during an annual get together with some friends!!!  

I hope you enjoyed this week's Way Back When-sday!!! It brought back a bitter sweet time for me.  It is definitely something I will never forget!  Be sure to share a link to YOUR WBW story in the comments!!! Until next time!

A Love Letter to My Love on Valentine's Day

Dear Michael,

       

         I love you.  Those three little words have been uttered a time or two in our almost five years together.  When I met you my world was not flipped upside down - it was flipped right-side up!  Nothing made sense until you came in to my life and shook me to the core.  Every preconceived notion - gone.  Every worry, every fear - Gone when you held me in your arms.  Every doubt and every hesitation - gone when you opened my eyes to what unconditional love looks like.   I won't pretend I am the easiest person to love. I come with baggage and a past and so do you, but you have unfalteringly shown me what it means to show grace and what it means to love and be loved.  How did you ever do it? How did you manage to break down every wall, every barrier of my heart and wiggle your oh so cute self in to every nook and cranny?  

       The first time you said those infamous words, "I Love You" will never cease to be one of my favorite memories.  It started us on a journey that has taken us on highs and lows and everything in between.  Throughout the roller coaster our lives have been this past year you have only ever held my hand and given me the strength.  I truly would not have made it through it all without you.  You will never know the strength you give me in times of weakness and the joy I feel every time I see your perfect smile. Thank you - for loving me the way you do.

       Thank you.  Thank you for the honor and privilege of 

being your wife. Thank you for allowing me to love you through every hi and low and every moment of every day. Thank you.  I know I am not a perfect wife - I know I never will be.  But God willing I will show you love every day.  We will never be perfect people, but together we are two halves of an imperfect team destined for big things.  Of this I have no doubt.   You are destined for greatness and I will be by your side every single step of the way.  You have my whole heart for my whole life and I promise to do everything I can to make sure you know that in action as well as words.  

         Together we can and will do anything we want.  Together this imperfect team will conquer this world until God's Kingdom comes and we spend eternity in Heaven together.  I cannot wait to see how God blesses this next chapter of our lives and see what amazing journey He takes us on.  God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.  You are His greatest gift to me and I promise to cherish you, my gift, for as long as we both shall live.  I could seriously use every cheesy movie line or love song right now, as my heart is bursting at the seems with love for you.  Never have I been so sure of anything like I am sure that you are the man God created especially for me.

        Here is my promise to you:  I promise to love you with all the love that I possess.  It may not be perfect but it is made perfect through God's Grace.  I promise to watch youtube videos with you until the sky turns that awesome shade of lavender. I promise to provide as much pineapple as your heart desires and I promise to bake banana bread (I'll even mash the banana's myself) as often as you like.   I promise to never spray hairspray anywhere near you and I promise to never put lotion on right before bed.  I promise to kiss you when you walk in the door, I promise to listen whenever you need an open ear and a shut mouth.  I promise to want every cute and furry thing I come in contact with and I promise to pout when you tell me no. I promise to try and be a wife that you can be proud of - one who honors you with her words and actions.  I promise to steal the covers and hog the bed. I promise to drive to you nuts but I also promise to make you laugh!  I promise all this and more - I promise I will love you until the end of time.   

Happy Valentine's Day mister incredible!!! I love you!

On Being a Servant Wife

        God has been speaking to my heart in a big way lately.  He has quietly been convicting me in an area in my life that, as a woman, is hard to look at objectively.  God has been stirring within my heart the painful realization that I have not been a servant wife to my husband. {and all the feminists gave me a dirty look - hang in there I have a point I promise!!!}

         Let me lay a few ground rules before I continue...
           1. I do NOT believe that being a servant means allowing one's self to be a carpet to be walked over
           2. Nor do I believe it means that a wife is to accept abuse of any kind - period - that was NOT God's design for marriage (or any relationship for that matter).
           3.  I also do not believe that God meant being a servant wife to mean being at every beck and call or that it requires never questioning or providing accountability to husbands

        Now that we have that understood, please allow me to explain what I DO think being a servant means and why I feel I aim to be such a wife! The bible talks endlessly about wife and husband relationships and I will only scratch the surface in this post. My aim is not to preach or condemn - only to share what God has laid on my heart for my own marriage.  Perhaps I am not the only one to struggle with this???


        I have only been married a year and a half or so but I feel as though I have learned more in these past 18 months than in my entire life combined.   I am blessed beyond blessed to have a truly magnificent man for a husband - I love (even if imperfectly) everything about him including any and all faults/flaws.  Likewise he, for some crazy reason, seems to love me (an even more imperfect creature, prone to attitude problems and known to whine to get her way - I know you can't relate, right?).   While I could dedicate a post to what I think he should and should not do, I wont - I will simply leave it to God, because this is not about him - it is about me, and how I can (and need to) be a better wife.  How can I ask him to fix himself if I am not willing to look at my own multitude of flaws (Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, right?) But I digress...
       
         Proverbs 31:10-31 says that a "virtuous and capable wife is more precious then rubies...She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.  When she speaks her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness." (NLT)    Oh, how my heart longs to be this woman pictured here - to be wise and laugh without fear of the future (look up worry wart in the dictionary and there you shall find my face plastered across the page).   I love how it says she gives instructions with kindness - I am FAR too quick to give a harsh command or request. That approach sure as heck hasn't worked so perhaps a softer approach - one of grace and understanding is worth a shot (challenge accepted!)

     1 Peter 3:1-7 was a tough one to swallow for my little miss independent self.  It says, "wives, must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good Word, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be one over by observing your pure and reverent lives." (NLT)   Oh man.  I think this point is perhaps the most debated topic among women in the history of all time.  Here is what I think...I think that God absolutely wants men to be the head of the spiritual household. I also think he designed us women to be leaders - but servant leaders.  He knew we had the ability to be the example.  It does not mean we must give up our strength - simply wield our feminine powers wisely.  When I came to this realization, my control freak self almost sighed in relief...I find beauty in the fact that God knows how men are and He gave us the ability (nay the RESPONSIBILITY) to quietly (but poignantly) lead our men back to God simply by our example - Go God! It is a perfectly beautiful balance of love and correction, power and subserveance. Cool, huh?!

         James 1:19 is a doozy for me as well. It says to "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger." (NLT)  I have to admit I have a bit of a temper and get easily frustrated with the little annoyances of life (like socks strewn about, etc.) My husband is my polar opposite in this and is the most level calm person I have EVER met.   I however and VERY quick to anger (I snap like a twig in the forest).  What I came to realize though, is I am guilty of much the same things or worse. I am no better then he so why am I so quick to anger when the toilet seat is left up (again) etc.  I am not saying these things are genuinely annoying, I am saying that as wives we are called to give instruction with kindness.  Is it easy? No way.  Is it worth it? Oh yea.  If I have learned anything I have learned that picking battles is key to a happy marriage.  And even then, when you choose a battle, how you battle makes all the difference.  "Harsh words stir up anger, but a gentle answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1)  I am so so guilty of belittling my husband with words.  I can cut him down quicker then an axe to a tree.  My words can either build my husband up or just as fast tear him down.  I have felt so convicted of this lately and I love how God has been working in me to correct this.  We are called to honor our husbands and that means with our words as well.

          Proverbs 14:1 states that "a wise women builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hand." Enough said really. It goes back to 1 Peter 3 where it talks about a gentle and quiet spirit being so precious to the Lord.  This is another area of great conviction for me - I am harsh and loud and anything, ANYTHING, but gentle.  I am embarrassed even just thinking about what a monster I can become.   I am learning to daily ask God to work in me to give me a spirit of gentleness. I want my husband to adore me - not fear me.  Yelling doesn't accomplish anything anyway so why, oh why, is it my first instinct to throw a tantrum.  I think it comes down to control - we feel we have more control when we yell for some reason. I don't know. In any respect God has called us as wives to be gentle and wise - which means we know what battles are worth fighting and how to say it in such a way as to encourage gentle instruction.  Please tell me I am not the only one who fails miserably at this sometimes.

          I could go on and on but this post is long enough already! I am thankful that God has opened my eyes and is working in me to make me a better wife.  I can't say it's been fun - in fact it's rather a kick in the stomach, but I know it is necessary.  I desire above all else to be a wife worthy of my husband and while I can't promise to be perfect I can promise to love imperfectly, but love none-the-less.

          I'll end with Proverbs 12:4 which says, "A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones."  Now tell me - what girl doesn't love a good tiara???