Meet & Mingle Saturday Blog Hop

Friday's Letters Link Up

  

 

 

Dear Husband

Thank you for being the handy

man that you are.

 

Dear God

I just want to thank you for

all of our many blessings you

have given us with moving

into our new home. We are so grateful!
Love you so much!

 

Dear Mom

Thank you for spending

the night help us move

some of our things over to

the new house. Your the best!

 

Dear Self

I know that December is

going to be one crazy busy month.
Keep calm and hang on!
You can do it!



FREE Essence of Beauty Hand Creme Printable Coupon for CVS!



I just got the Sunblossom hand cream last night and I love the smell of it!

 

Winter time is coming fast and the Minute Clinic at CVS is giving away Lotion to help us all beat the cold and keep our hands nice and soft!

 

Head on over to their Facebook page and like them to get a coupon for FREE Lotion and then head on into your store and get yours!! Quantities are limited so act fast!!

 

Your coupon will be emailed to you and is good through 12/31!

Top 5 Coupon Sites

Although bargain hunting on the Internet is fun, there seems to be too many junk coupon websites popping up which can make things a little frustrating. To save yourself some time, SmartMoney listed the best coupons sites that are worth clicking through. Here are my top five picks from the list.

• RetailMeNot: "RetailMeNot is still hands down the best place to look," Kathryn Finney, the founder of The Budget Fashionista tells SmartMoney. You can even set alerts, which will notify you if your favorite retailer releases a new coupon code. I've used this site for everything from hotel discounts to online department store coupons.
• Coupons.com: For those looking to save on groceries, Coupon.com will fit your needs perfectly. The site provides printable grocery coupons, and you can even load some onto your supermarket loyalty card with no printing required.
• Coupon Network by Catalina: You know the little coupons you get on your receipt after shopping at a grocery store or pharmacy? Apparently they are called "catalinas" and the company behind the product has a site with more deals that you can print out and a loyalty program. I looked through the site and it seems pretty user-friendly. Although the drawback is that not every supermarket and pharmacy participates in the Catalina program, most of the major chains do.
• Coupon Cabin: This site has a team that tests out the coupons and even guarantees some of them. If the coupons from some handpicked retailers don't work, the company will offer a $25 Restaurant.com voucher. The firm is working to provide the guarantee on all offers.
• DropDownDeals: This is a coupon toolbar you can download to your computer. When you're doing some shopping online, DropDownDeals will send a pop-up that will show you deals on the site that you're on. The toolbar seems like a no-brainer, because you don't need to do any extra searching for a coupon. The drawback to this tech tool is, not all the available coupons pop up.

Information from:

http://www.savvysugar.com

Staircase Gallery Walls

Weekend via Instagram

(Pictures from left to right)

1. Phoenix Temple under construction. Wahoo!!

2. Out & about with the love of my life

3. Thanksgiving. Helping the kids make Nativity scenes out of candy

4. Tired puppy

5. Black Friday shopping with my Mom & Josh. Found this sweet hat and had to take a picture!

6. Hot cocoa+fireplace+Christmas music+Husband=GREAT night.

7. Flowers from my Husband. I placed them in our kitchen window and

it reminded me of one of my favorites Hymns "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today"

8. Lunch on Black Friday with my two favorite people.

Meet & Mingle Saturday Blog Hop

Friday's Letters Link Up

Dear Family

I had so much fun spending the day 

with you yesterday. Love you all so much!!

Dear Blogging Friends

Who hit the stores today for Black Friday?

What was the best deal you found?

Dear Husband

It was so much fun spending the day

with you today. I love you more and more each day.

Dear Stuffy Nose

Please just go away!

Dear God

Thank you for being 

our constant provider.

What I'm Thankful For

Our Lucky Finds

We will be moving on December 17th!

Just 8 days before Christmas.

I am so excited to be able to spend Christmas in our new home!

I have always decorated our place for Christmas but there is

only so much you can decorate in an apartment before you run

out of areas to decorate anything else and then it may look like too much.

I have been buying (thrifting) Christmas decorations here are there.

I bought some garland the other day. $0.50 for 9 feet. I bought 4.

I am going to wrap this around our banisters going up our stairs

and around our front door with some lights woven in between.

There is this group on Facebook that I belong to called Mesa Consign.
It's just like a Craigslist and there are over 2,750 members who sell their stuff.
It's so easy to go overboard and spend a lot because there are so many
things I want to buy and it's updated with new items every minute!!

Last night we found two great deals on there and just couldn't pass it up.

We bought this gorgeous
9 foot pre-lit Christmas tree from Paddock Pools.
 It was originally $800 and we paid $100 for it.

We also bought this Soft Serve Ice Cream maker.
New in the box and never been used.
Originally $99 and we paid $30 for it.
I cannot wait to get my hands on this!

I love finding crazy deals like this!!

Have you had any lucky finds?

Speaking of crazy deals,
are you doing the whole Black Friday thing?

Testimony Tuesday

Hey all of Kimberly's wonderful readers! My name is Stefani (or Stef, if you like the nickname thing) and I blog over at Miss Jo and Co. I spend most of my posts rambling about my crazy one-year-old, fashion, good food, and being a law student's wife.

I am so excited to be here for Testimony Tuesday and so grateful to Kimberly for having me!

When I think about my testimony, I really can't specify one moment where I just knew the Church was true. Instead, I have these bits and pieces that I've put together over time, and as each piece falls into place I begin to discover more about my beliefs and the beauty of the Gospel.    When I was 15 years old, I spent a week at EFY in Massachusetts. I'm going to be honest - I didn't have the greatest time. I had always had a hard time fitting in with "typical" Mormon girls and this time was no different. I spent a lot of the week alone and by the end of things I felt really, really discouraged. I remember being in my room one night, thinking about how the week was going and wondering if maybe this Church just wasn't the right fit for me. I decided to pray about it. I think this was one of the first times when I actually prayed with the intention of receiving an answer. I'd prayed for help before, yeah, but I'd never said, "Here's what I need to know. What can you tell me?"    It was there in that moment that I knew for myself that this Church was the "right fit" and that it was where I needed to be. I felt a strong confirmation that I just needed to stick with it and that everything would be ok.    I'd like to tell you all that after that experience I went on to be an exemplary Church member and everything was super and dandy. I'd like to say that I remembered that experience forever and that I didn't stray. Sadly, that wouldn't be true.    Years later, I found myself living in Provo, UT, a recent graduate of BYU. Even though I was in a huge Mormon community, I have never felt more alone. I stopped going to Church regularly, I began choosing the completely wrong people to date, and I stopped living the way that I knew, in my heart, I should be living.  With each bad decision, I fell further away and became more desensitized to the promptings of the Spirit. But the Lord was still looking out for me. He still loved me. And even in my "darkest hours," he tried to reach me and he finally found me.    The day came where I realized that I was not happy and that the choices I was making were never, ever going to bring happiness. So I went to the place where I knew I could find it. I went home.  I spent the next few months going through the repentance process. It was the hardest, most emotional thing that I have ever had to go through. But because of that experience, I can tell each and every one of you that I know that the Gospel is true. I know that we can repent for our sins and be forgiven. I know that even in our darkest hours, Christ is still looking for us. He wants to find his lost sheep and he wants to bring us home.   I also have a testimony of the joy and the reassurance that comes from reading the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. They are the Lord speaking directly to us and it is in them that the answers to prayers can be found.   (I was going to find a quote from one of my favorite talks to add to this post, but after looking through it, I wouldn't be satisfied unless I added the whole thing. So go read Jeffery R. Holland's talk Broken Things to Mend. It's seriously one of the best!   Thanks again to Kimberly for letting me post this week! It's been an absolutely incredible experience.

Meet & Mingle Saturday Blog Hop

Friday's Letters Link-Up



Dear Husband

I appreciate and love you so much.

I am so thankful that you are apart of my life.

Thank you for being the hard worker that you are.

It brings me peace knowing that you will do everything

in your power to support us and our future family.

Dear New Home
We are so excited to move in!
You are the perfect starter home for us.
Thank you for being available for us to find you.

Dear Blogging Friends
Can you believe that there are
6 days left until Thanksgiving
and only 39 days until Christmas?!?!
Where has this year gone! Seriously!

Dear Followers
Thank you for following
Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl.
I have reached 500 followers!
All because of YOU...
It means so much to me!

Dear Pinterest
I am getting so many amazing
ideas for Thanksgiving, Christmas
and neat DIY projects for our new home!

Dear Heavenly Father
This has been a season of
so many wonderful blessings.
Thank you for always providing
for us and answering our prayers.
We are so grateful for you.
We love you so very much.
 

Give Thanks Printable

Download Here

(printable from All My Love For All My Days)

Pure Love of Christ

(one of my favorite pictures of my Husband on his mission in Brazil)

 

 God wants us to be a doer of His word and not a hearer only.

The best way to show the love of Christ is by example.

When you are willing to get out there and serve someone else,

you forget about yourself and all the problems you have in your own life.

You learn to focus on what others are going through in their lives

and doing so sometimes your problems are very small compared

to what they are going through.

 

Here are some scritpures on Charity that I love:

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your

good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies, 1 Cor. 8:1

Charity, a pure love, excels and exceeds almost all else, 1 Cor. 13

See that ye have faith, hope, and charity, Alma 7:24

Clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, D&C 88:125

Let thy bowels be full of charity, D&C 121:45

I love what Russell M. Nelson says in an article of the Ensign

Paul’s counsel, “Be thou an example of the believers,” applies equally to all of us.

 Each of us can be an example of the believers. Brethren, as followers of Jesus Christ, each of you can live in accord with His teachings. You can have “a pure heart and clean hands”; you can have “the image of God engraven upon your [countenance].”  Your good works will be evident to others. The light of the Lord can beam from your eyes. 

 

What are some of the trials or challenges that you are facing right now in your life?

Today....

Pray and ask Heavenly Father to place someone in your path that you can help.

Then see what happens and see how you feel.....

Testimony Tuesday: Emi from C&E

Blog

do you believe in miracles?

we do.

We had an experience which made us believe in them even more.We are newlyweds who just got married on the first of june, 2012.

After returning home from our honeymoon in june, we had one week to open all of our wedding gifts, pack up our things, and move to california. needless to say it was a hectic week. the night after we got home, we had a family party and opened all of our wedding gifts. It was a crazy night as we opened lots of presents, wrote down lists of thank yous, and sorted them into piles to take with us, to store, or duplicates to return.

The day after this gathering, I noticed that my wedding ring was not on my ring holder...or on my hand! These are the only 2 places it would usually ever be, so I was shocked to not know where my favorite thing was. In 8 months of having it during the engagement, that had never happened once. I thought I must have set it somewhere in the house or somewhere as we had opened gifts or packed up. I was sure we would find it.

Well, that week went by with all of our family members searching high & low for it. Finally sunday came when we had to move, and we left heartbroken and with a bare left hand. I still had hope that it would be found, but as the days went on after we moved it seemed less & less likely. My cute parents searched every night for it and my dad kept calling me with more and more questions about what I remembered. My parents both looked through all the garbage, gifts, and everywhere they could. They would not stop looking!

Meanwhile, my new husband had every excuse to be furious with me about it...but he was handling it so well. Instead of making me feel guilty about losing our most prized, special and expensive possession, he just took it like a gentleman and made me realize that we still had our love which was most important thing!

We were just missing the symbol of it........

Well, exactly one month later on friday the 13th, that all changed.

the ring was found!

you won't believe how:

The night back in june when we had opened all of our gifts, I had somehow unknowingly taken off my ring amidst all of the unwrapping and packing. Everything was sorted into piles, and the ring was with some items we returned to bed bath & beyond the next day...I had no idea as I made those returns that my RING was inside the box with all the gifts!
Right at that moment, it could have been gone forever. As they processed and restocked the returned items at bed bath & beyond, the ring could have fallen out, been taken by an employee or customer, or endless other possibilities. But instead, it ended up inside of a mini cupcake tin which was restocked on the top shelf of the store.

A few weeks later, a lady named jilda went to bed bath to get a mini muffin tin to make her son some muffins he had asked her to make. As she chose her pan, she reached up to the highest level in case they had any different sizes. She happened to grab the tin the ring was in...coincidence? I don't think so! She came home and discovered a diamond ring loose inside of the muffin tin. She had no idea how it got there or what to do with it.

Meanwhile, my dad had gone to have his hair cut by our family's favorite hair stylist. She is our good family friend and does all of our hair...so she was asking my dad about how we were, and he said great except for the sad loss of our ring. she had just seen the ring when I was in to get my hair done before the wedding, so she knew what it looked like. She asked him when we lost it, and he mentioned we had been opening wedding gifts at the time.

The next week, megan's coworker jilda came into the salon and was talking about how she had found this ring at bed bath & beyond and didn't know what to do. She was having a jeweler come into the salon that day to tell her the price in case she were to sell it.

Megan overheard this and remembered her conversation with my dad...she said that although it was a longshot, she knew someone who had lost a wedding ring. She remembered we had been opening wedding gifts, so she thought it might be possible that it was found at bed bath. As the jeweler arrived, megan called my dad to check if we had ever found the ring. He said no, and she said that her coworker had found one that looked like mine. The jeweler advised them to have my dad send a picture of the ring to them to identify it.

I was coming home from a tiring friday of work in LA when my dad called me and casually asked me to send him a picture of the ring. I had no idea why, but we hung up and I sent him a picture. 5 minutes later my hairstylist megan called me out of the blue and gave me the best news I've ever heard in my life- she said,

"emi this is megan blanchard...i have your wedding ring! your dad is on his way down to get it right now!"

Obviously I was in shock! I had zero context, but I started crying from happiness the second she told me...I really hoped I wasn't dreaming!  Later I got the entire story and we put it all together. We have gone over it hundreds of times since and still can't get over it. The ring is now safe and sound at home in Salt Lake City, and we will be coming home to visit in 2 weeks so I can get it back on my finger then. I am so excited to have it back and in SUCH DISBELIEF at the series of events which came together and got my ring back to me.

This story is such a miracle and it makes the ring even more special to us---we will tell this to our children and grandchildren forever!

This story may not seem like a big deal since it is just about a material thing, but the more we thought about how it all happened the more we realized what a true miracle it was. There is no way that this could have happened randomly, and it's such a testimony builder. Heavenly Father proved more than ever that He truly is involved in the details of our lives and can make the most unlikely things happen! What a sweet reminder of the fact that our prayers are heard, no matter how small our problems are. If it's important to us, it's important to Him!
There's no way to deny that after this experience!

These two were happy to be reunited!

Thanks for having me, cute Kimberly!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

I Am a Mormon Monday

Blog//Facebook//Twitter//Pinterest

Hello! My name is Abbey. I blog over at Along Abbey Road, where I share all the things I love in life. I also like clothes, so you can see my personal style and how I dress modestly as a Mormon style blogger!

What is hope and what do you hope for?

I believe we all possess the intrinsic feeling of something greater than ourselves. Hope is believing in that higher power and knowing that everything does and will turn out for the best. I hope for happiness to be a part of my life and to bring it to all those with whom I cross paths. I hope to make a difference in this vastly depressing world and bring joy and truth to those seeking it.

How I live my faith:

Love is the greatest gift we can give. Above everything else, I try to love and see the innate good in others. Through doing so, I hope the light of the gospel can make itself known through that love and the spirit it brings.


Thank you so much for having me Kimberly!!!


Interested in being featured?

Email me @

bostonksox {at} gmail {dot} com

I would L♥VE to hear from you!

Scripture Sunday

Shirt: F21//Jacket: Ross//Skirt: Thrifted//Shoes: Payless //Necklace: F21

Purse: JcPenney//Sunglasses: TJ Maxx

Alma 34:20-28

Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.

And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need-I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.

Meet & Mingle Saturday Blog Hop

Weaknesses Into Strengths

It is usually pride that keeps us from being shown our weaknesses.

It is humility that allows the Lord to show us our weaknesses.

He says we are given weaknesses for a reason.

  That we may humble ourselves...

Our weaknesses present us with a choice.

We can choose to turn to the Lord for help, or we can choose to try and overcome it ourselves.

If we choose to turn to the Lord, our weaknesses then become strengths ... through His power.

This mortal test was purposefully designed to bring us to our knees.

To make us want to cry-out for a Savior.

One of my favorite Hymns is "I Need Thee Every Hour"

We do need Him every hour.

I think about the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane before He
was placed on the cross.

There the greatest single act of love of all recorded history took place.

Our PERFECT loving Savior was on His knees crying out to our
Father in Heaven.

 "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee;
 take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
How much more do we need to cry out to our Father in Heaven.

Our only Hope is Christ.

There is no other way or means to heaven, but through Him!

This reality requires us to humble ourselves before Him.

Many people don't want to admit that they need help with something, that they cannot do it under their own power.

Before coming to know the Lord a few years ago, I tried that.

It doesn't work.

I became frustrated because I felt like nothing in my life
was working out.

 It wasn't.

 I felt like I was walking through life with a blindfold,
not knowing what my purpose was and I felt no hope for my future.

 I was going down all the wrong paths trying to find peace and happiness in partying, money, shopping, and other people.

Only to soon find out that it only provides a cover up for a time and then quickly fades away.

For me, knowing that I have weaknesses and I am imperfect is okay...

that in some pre-mortal realm I agreed to accept the weaknesses that I have. 

This reality changes everything for me.

 When I counsel with the Lord in all my doings I feel close to Him and I feel like I can do anything... and I can do anything through Him who strengthens me.

Together, the Lord and I are taking my weaknesses and using them to teach me, humble me, and ultimately make me stronger.

 Without my weaknesses, such growth would not be possible, and I would feel no real need to cry unto my Savior, or make use of the great gift He has given me in the form of His Atonement!

I am grateful for all my many weaknesses and imperfections
because it makes me who I am and I know I can overcome
my weaknesses and imperfections through Him!

Have a great Friday & a fabulous weekend!!

Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life

♥ ♥ ♥ Happy Birthday my love ♥ ♥ ♥

I love you more than words can express.

You are my everything and more.

I am grateful for the man and husband that you are.

 You are amazing and you're my best friend.

I thank God everyday that He brought us together to experience this life with one another and be together for time and all eternity!!

We Found a House!

 We are moving!! Yippee!

God is so amazing and we are ever so grateful and blessed 

that we were able to find this place last week.

It's kind of a funny story actually....

Right now we live in an apartment.

We really love our place.

It's cozy, comfortable and the perfect size for just the two of us.

During the middle of this year we had discussed about

what we were going to do about our lease that needed 

to be re-signed in September. We were really debating whether we 

should re-sign our lease for another year or search for a house.   

We searched for houses with a possible rent to own option 

within our price range. Nothing.

After much searching, time was getting short and we would need to make a decision.

Just a week later, we still found nothing. 

We both agreed that we were happy just being together in our apartment

and we would re-sign for another year and search again when that time came.

We are just grateful for what God has already blessed us with and 

when our time to get into a house comes that He will make it happen. 

Well...I guess it was that time....little did we know.

God works in mysterious but miraculous ways!!  

A little over a week ago Josh's boss mentioned to him in passing

that his best friend (involved in real estate) 

had a house available just a few miles from our place where we are living now

and the price was a steal.

There was just one slight problem.....

We already signed our lease!

We went into the apartment office and told them the situation.

 They let us out of our lease no questions asked!! Can you believe that!

I don't know about you but any other apartment I have lived

in, once you signed the lease that's it and if you want to get out 

there is usually a cost or a penalty fee to go along with it.   

   

That same night we went to check out the house and fell in love. 

It has everything that we want and is the perfect "starter" home for us.

We placed a call to Josh's boss right after we left and said we want the house.

Josh's boss also knew that we would have to pay for the rest of the time in our 

apartment PLUS one months rent for the house.  He offered to pay the house rent

and we could just pay him back! 

 We are moving into our new place December 14th!

Just in time for Christmas!!

God is so amazing! 

Everything has happened so fast and

so many things fell perfectly into place!

I am feeling so overwhelmed 

with happiness and gratitude right now!

Here is our new place!!