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!

{Thankful Day}

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You wanna know something I am really thankful for?

I'm thankful for love. Sometimes I just feel like I want to share love with everyone, so that they can be happy the way I am. I'm grateful for my parent's love, as they guide and protect me. I'm thanful for my 4 sisters, who love me even when we don't get along. For my friends, who love me enough to listen, to laugh, and to play. And for my amazing man. Because he loves me through it all, good or bad, no matter what. And I'm a better person because of it.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Super Cute!

Have I ever mentioned that blog award excite me? Whenever I see an award post, and then I see my name? Excitement ensues. I mean, I know that in the scheme of things, bloggy awards won't really get you anywhere, but I still think they're fun to get and fun to give.

This particular award was passed on to me by Kelli at Sustaining Creativity. Thank you, Kelli! The rules of acceptance are pretty simple; pass it on to 10 other bloggers and let them know about it! Well, okay then...

(And these are in no particular order.)

Angel Face Designs--Heather is really sweet, she has an amazingly cute little girl, and she makes jewelry. How cool is that?!

Aunt Spicy--I always enjoy Aunt Spicy's posts. She's very creative, and I wish I could sew like her.

Becoming Briggs--People who write novels (or have novels in progress) are pretty amazing to me. Plus, she posts fun stuff like Not Me Monday's.

Diamonds, Fur and Laundry--Jenn is a sweet blogger, and it's fun to read about her life.

Erica's Bloggity Blog--I think Erica is really cool. Really.

Sparkle is my Crack!--Lisa Kate and I were lip gloss swap partners, and she does a lot of fun things (that I could never do) with makeup.

The Shabby Tiara--I love it when Suzanne posts a "Pink Saturday"!

Jack and Mandy - The Blog--Mandy's stories make me laugh, especially the ones about Jack. They're cute together (in my opinion).

Haus of Girls--What can I say? I live in a House of Girls, too!

Gussy has a lot to say.--I love Maggie's blog. And her Etsy shop. She's just all around amazing.

So there ya go! 10 bloggers that I enjoy, and now you can check them out, too!

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When I posted about my "blog schedule" yesterday, I kind of forgot that Thanksgiving was this week; whoops! So there won't really be a schedule. We'll try for next week.

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!

{Plum}

Plum is one of my all time favorite colors. Not quite purple, but still kinda the same.

Orchid Charm

Plum Luxury

Plum Drop

How do you feel about plum?

Be sure to enter the Cymbaline Designs giveaway! Ends on Monday morning!