Monday Musings {no. 4}

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I hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving! If you read my {Thankful Day} post, you know that I am thankful for love. But trust me, there is SO much more that I am thankful for. I'd just hate to take up the rest of your life telling you about it.

One thing I am thankful for is my family. I spent most of Thanksgiving with my entire family (who lives near us). I love that we all live close. Grandparents, two uncles, two aunts, nine cousins, my parents, and the five girls. Makes for large family gatherings with lots of food, but we always have enough to go around. And I am thankful for that.

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Gussy!

Okay, yes, I realize that I pretty much shamelessly promote Maggie's products at any chance I get, but I can't help it. I just love me some Gussy!

And this lovely pouch...

...now belongs to me! I love it.

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Did you know that Christmas is approximately 24 days, 16 hours, 4 minutes away as I type this??

photo credit

Wow. I looove Christmas, and I'm starting to get excited about it. Have you started up the Christmas season at your house?

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Happy Monday, everyone!

Monday Musings {and a giveaway winner!}

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I just have to ask. Has anyone tried the new Caramel Brulee Latte at Starbucks? I know, I know...I make it sound like I really am addicted to Starbucks...but I promise I'm not. I just really want to try it. But first I thought I'd see if anyone else likes it! So let me know.

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Guess what? We have a winner for the Cymbaline Designs giveaway!

Snow White Teardrop

I plugged the numbers in at Random.org, and number ONE happened to be the lucky one. And the winner is

Heidi!

I've already sent Heidi an email, so congratulations!

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I really just want to give all of you blog followers and commenters a huge

Thank You

While I try to remind myself that comments and followers aren't everything, they do help me feel encouraged to blog. Does that make sense? So thanks. Because all of you are pretty special.

And really, I'm not just saying that.

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Last night I sat down and wrote myself a "blogging schedule". Not a big deal really, just a simple thing. I'm hoping that having a blogging plan will keep me from getting stressed out when I feel like I don't have anything to post. And this is perfectly flexible for me. It will probably change. Of course. So if you'd like to know what to expect for now, here it is:

Monday--a Monday Musings post like this one. I like the freedom to be random.

Wednesday--Whatever post I think up. This depends mostly on my life. I'll write about what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, or something funny that happened.

Friday--I'll share something I like. It might be in the form of some Etsy finds, or a product I love. I'd love to do some giveaways, too, but I'm still working on that.

Tomorrow I'll already be changing my schedule, though. I got an award over the weekend and I need to make my "formal acceptance speech". Do you have a cute blog? I need to nominate 10 others for the award, and I'm giving you a chance to get one. Just leave a link and I'll come visit you! Tomorrow the cute blogs will be announced.

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Well, that about all I've got for now. Whew! Hope you all had a great weekend. Feel free to tell me about it!

Monday Musings, {two}

Welcome to another edition of Monday Musings!

image courtesy of

I think some hot chocolate would just about hit the spot this morning. How about you? Well, grab a mug and pull up a chair. It won't hurt if you stay awhile.

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If you haven't entered my blogiversary giveaway, you need to. Check out the loveliness from Cymbaline Designs:

Persimmon Blossom Earrings

See? You're missing out if you haven't entered. All the details are right here.

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I've decided that I need a "regular" blogging schedule. Otherwise I get slightly frantic about having to post every day, and then the quality of posts goes down (in my opinion). Do any of you have suggestions? How do you decide when to post? I would really appreciate any help you can give me!

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Today I realized that Christmas is only 40 days away. Oh my. Why is it that the older you get, the quicker time goes by, and the slower you want it to go by? Just doesn't make much sense to me...

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Well, there's really not a whole lot on my mind this morning. Be sure to check out the giveaway and tell me about your blogging schedules!

Monday Musings, {one}

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Mmmm, Fall. Have I mentioned that sometimes I wish I lived up north where there was actually a change of seasons? I found these beautiful leaves and had to share.

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So, Monday Musings. Did you notice the title? I find that on Mondays, I have a lot to say, but not a definitive subject. Monday Musings will just be a post of anything (and everything) I can think of!

Oh, and if anyone else already has the Monday Musings title, I'm not trying to steal your thing. It's just what I though of off the top of my head. If it's too big of a problem for you, just let me know so I can work it out.

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Guess what?! I am very excited to tell you all that this coming Saturday (the 14th) is my first "blogiversary". Yep, I've been blogging for one year. I can hardly believe it myself. When I started blogging, I never really thought I would have a true following of readers. So each and every follower, subscriber, kind word, comment...means SO much to me. Thank you.

And in honor of one year of blogging, there might be a little celebration. Just maybe. And it might be something you could find in this post. Have I piqued your interest? Be sure to come back on Saturday!

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If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you may have picked up on the fact that I have a Starbucks addiction. I mean, it's not that bad...mainly because it's a little out of my budget. But on Friday morning I did go to Starbucks, and the girl who took my order made me laugh. Our conversation went something like this:

Her: So, I noticed that you wear skirts all the time...

Me: Oh really?

Her: Do your legs ever get cold?

Me: Well, it's not really that cold, here, so not really...

Her: Oh, okay. I think my legs would get cold.

I live in Florida, so it's not really cold. I just thought it was really funny that she asked me that!

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Well, I think that's about it for this edition of Monday Musings! Tell me, what did you think of it? And be sure to check back on Saturday for a blogiversary celebration!