Fall Swap Reveal!!

I participated in the First Annual Blogger Fall Swap Hosted by Johannah, Bri & Desiree! I've never particpated in one before, so I was excited to do so. My blogging swap partner was Justine from Full Hands Full Heart. Check out her blog!! Tons of great posts!!

My package was full of wonderful goodies! A gorgeous wrap scarp from Eleanora. The blue color is just gorgeous. A set of notecards (always useful!!), and of course my favorite part were the goodies from Bath & Body Works. I LOVE anything Pumpkin, and anything coffee related. The smell is amazing!!!! Definately a new favorite scent for me.

It was fun choosing goodies for someone else. Kinda like Christmas in fall, hehe!! ;-) Happy Wednesday! And a huge thank you to Justine for my lovely gifts!!

Goodnight Manger (Review)

This was my first book by Laura Sassi, and I was pleasantly suprised. It's written in rhyming form, filled with beautiful images,  and it is an excellent storybook for children of all ages. I love how she takes us from the moment Jesus is born and gives a little glimpse in what may have taken that place that night. It would make a perfect gift for the little ones in your life!

I'm excited to share this book with Evie on Christmas Eve! Many thanks to BookLook Bloggers for allowing me to review this book in exchange for my honest review.

9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage (Review)

I truly enjoyed Shela Wray Gregoire's fresh take on sprucing up our relationship with our spouse. She takes nine very hard hitting subjects, and gives us simple "take away" tips to apply to those areas in our life.

For example, one chapter was on communicating with our spouse. She points out that women are geared for "face to face" chats, while men are more geared for talking while actually doing something together or "side by side" talking. At the end of the chapter, she shares different challenges to find ways to better communicate by finding activities to do together. That way our female need for talking is satisfied, and our husbands are more relaxed and open to sharing their hearts.

Here's a few other things that I really loved:

• We are not in competition with our spouse. Remember you are on the same team!
• Make it your goal to focus on the postitive aspects of our husband rather than negative.
• She reminds us the importance of intimacy within marriage for both our sakes.
• She reminds us that we are to be a peacemaker not a peacekeeper within our marriage. I found this specific chapter very riveting. I've never thought about it within those terms before.

Lastly, I felt she really drove home the importance of marriage via the last chapter, and I quote:

"You cannot be a good mother unless you are first a good wife, because the best gift you can give your children is to love their father."

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work in the future. Many thanks to Blogging for Books for my copy.

Autumn Days

Last week we loaded up and headed out to our first pumpkin patch visit of the season. Evie loved it!! The patch we visited offers play areas, and a petting zoo. She really loves animals, so I think that was probably her favorite part. She was excited to see all the pumpkins, and kept saying "Ohhhhhh". Well, we let her pick out a small pumpkin to take home, so I handed it to her for a picture. At first she holds it looking at me for the picture, then all the sudden she chunks it like a baseball! That got us tickled, because we seriously didn't even think about how she would react to holding one. Ha!

Five For Friday

Oh, TGIF! For some reason, I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Nothing big planned, but time with friends & family is always a must on my list.

...Right now, I"m loving my Verismo from Starbucks. We received it as our Christmas gift last year, and it has been such an AWESOME way to save money when it comes to our coffee addictions. My husband claims I'm the only one that's addicted, but we know that's not true. He drinks more than I do on average! Ha. Anyway, we are able to make latte's at home for a fraction of the cost! I usually spend $10 on a box of pods that usually lasts us for about 1 to 2 weeks. I've been "sweetenening" my coffee just a tad with the Cinnamon Brown Sugar or Pumpkin Pie Syrup from Torani's Syrups! They have such amazing flavors, and I just LOVE them.

...I'm also loving the fact I've downloaded a new show to watch on Netflix. Several of my friends told me to give "Call The Midwife" a try. I was a HUGE fan of Parenthood & Hart of Dixie, and had been pinining for another fun show to watch. I've also been watching random documentaries!

...I'm loving this stage that Evie is at. She's is so hilarious! She just chatters all day long, and it's the cutest thing. She learned to say "red" last week, and how to open our drawers. Round two of child proofing has taken place.

...I'm loving that I stayed home a lot more this week. I was able to REALLY deep clean the house. It feels SO good to have that finished for the weekend. Also, I was introduced to Gain's room spray. Um, how did I not know this existed? To say I'm in love with be an unerstatement (I wasn't paid to write this). It just makes our bathrooms and hallways smell so good.

...I've been enoying listening to Carla Bruni. It's the perfect background music for when I'm typing. I love her voice, plus I just enjoy listening to French once in a while. ;-)

Linking UP: Five at Love Made My Home | Five on Friday