Giving Thanks a Little Late.. (Operation: Christmas update and the cashmere scarf WINNER!)

Sorry I've been MIA this last week.

I've been working A LOT (gotta pay for this wedding and Christmas gifts--but luckily, I have the most fun job ever!) and stressing out A LOT over the wedding.

Plus, doing homework and finals. Gag.

Here's something cool that happened last week, though--I got a new blog design!! What do you think?! I have to give a HUGE thank you to Jana over at Little Web Writing Hood for the design. I HIGHLY recommend her--she is fabulous and great to work with!

Operation: Christmas is in full swing right now! Again, thank you so much to everyone who participated. We had over 102 participants which is waaayyyy more than I expected for our first year! If you haven't received your troop information, please notify me ASAP. It seems like my message went to several peoples spam folders and I want to make sure that everyone who wanted to participate can! Brandon and I will be going shopping tonight for our goodies to send--can't wait!

Since I wasn't on my game Friday, I'm playing catch up now and giving thanks a few days late.

So here we go!

Give Thanks Friday (on Monday) #6

5.) 

The lovely Nicole and I got to decorate the TV news room last Monday.. I LOVE Christmas so I was pumped to do it! You may remember this $1.99 5 foot tall stocking I found at Goodwill last month--it's now providing a little extra Christmas cheer at the office.

And a little extra entertainment..

4.) 

As previously stated, I LOVE Christmas! I am so blessed to have a job that allows me to go cover multiple Christmas events (including this beautiful tree lighting)! It also gives me the opportunity to meet celebrities!

(..like Frosty the Snowman! Side note: this is my starstruck/'deer in the headlights' look)

3.) 

Thankful for all of the above (Brandon, iPhone, Manicotti and Duck Dynasty)

2.)

Brandon and I got to go out for dinner last night with this hottie, her husband and adorable son! We had a wonderful time gabbing, eating, and playing with the adorable Baby Ben! I'm thankful to have friends that we can go out with on a regular basis.

(Benjamin!!! Seriously, how adorable is he??)

1.)

I got to have an hour-and-a-half long phone date with my best friend Jen yesterday! I miss this girl so much. We grew up together, have the same sense of humor, think the same, are maid of honors in each others weddings, etc. We text each other almost daily but it seems like our schedules never match up to where we can sit down and talk on the phone, so yesterday was really special!

That about wraps up my week! 

And now, onto my first giveaway winner!! 

The winner of a beautiful cashmere scarf (just in time for Christmas!) is....

Kelly N!!

Congratulations, Kelly! I have sent you an email and will send the scarf off to you right away! 

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I'll be hosting another giveaway very soon! 

Have a wonderful week!

Give Thanks #5 (and my first giveaway!)

Wow, what an amazing week this has been. I don't even know where to start!

But I have an awesome, awesome gift to giveaway, so I'll go ahead and get this rolling.

5.)

Yes, this is another 'thankful for Brandon' post--I have a lot of reasons to thank him! Last weekend was Brandon's bachelor party and we didn't get to see each other or really talk for a few days. When we got back home, I discovered my Gatorade was gone and teased him for taking it. So the next day, he comes home from work with two bottles of Gatorade and flowers. And then he took me out for dinner and a movie ('Wreck it Ralph' in 3D--so cute, check it out!). So, yeah.. I'm pretty blessed. And spoiled. 

4.) 

Last week was Dad's 49th birthday (you seriously wouldn't guess it--he still looks like he's in his late 30s)--I am so blessed to have such an amazing man for a father. He is the most honest and hardworking person I know (and he's one of the few people I know who doesn't have an enemy in the world). I'm a pro at cards, so this was his B-Day card for this year.

3.) 

We got to spend Thanksgiving with Brandon's family--it was such a wonderful day! We arrived Wednesday and got to babysit his little 3-year-old nephew (which was a hoot) and then had a wonderful day of food, family and fellowship at his sisters house Thanksgiving day. I seriously couldn't have asked for better in-laws! 

2.) 

My mom and I had such a wonderful girls day in Denver last weekend. We went thrifting with the wonderful DeeAnna Soicher and found several beautiful wedding rehearsal dresses, as well as ideas for our wedding reception. 

1.)

Last weekend was my beautiful tea party bridal shower--It was everything I could have dreamed of for my shower and so much more. I am so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.. it truly was the perfect day!

Now, my list is only supposed to be the top 5 things I'm thankful for each week, but I'm going to make an exception because I feel so overwhelmed by the response for "Operation: Christmas." 

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect as many wonderful and generous people to sign up to send letters and care packages to our troops overseas. These letters and care packages are such a small way of saying 'thank you,' but the impact it makes on the soldiers receiving them is huge.

I wanted to do something for everyone who signed up as my way of saying 'thank you'--and I figured there's no better way of saying thank you than with a gift.

A warm gift.

A fashionable gift.

A cashmere gift...

I'm giving away a new and stunning light purple cashmere scarf to keep for yourself or to give as a gift this holiday season (but, you'll probably want to keep it for yourself.. just sayin'..)!

I have two cashmere scarfs of my own that I LOVE. I'm terrible at accessorizing, but scarfs make it easy and simple to add a little extra something to your outfit.

I have worn my blue cashmere scarf on the news to liven up a black top.

The dark purple scarf makes my holiday ensemble a little more classy! 

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting Operation: Christmas. If you haven't signed up yet, you can still do so until November 30th!

I'd like to give a huge thank you to Amy at One Artsy Mama for partnering up with me on this project. If you haven't visited her page yet, you should do it. Now. She is fabulous and has the cutest craft ideas EVER (and the most adorable crafting sidekick I have ever seen)!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter--it will walk you through the steps. (P.S. This is my first time using Rafflecopter, so please bear with me!) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Party, Party, I like to Party

Sweet Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Cedar Hill Ranch

Operation: Christmas

Happy Tuesday!

I am so excited to announce that I will be teaming up with the fabulous Amy from One Artsy Mama for the first annual Operation: Christmas event.

Soo.. what is Operation: Christmas? I'll tell you!

Operation: Christmas is a wonderful way to thank the troops for all of their sacrifices for us and our country by sending them a Christmas card, letter, or care package. I'll give you a little history on why I believe this is so important.

I have always had a love and respect for the US military. Both of my grandfathers served during World War II; one of them was a medic for the US Army and the other was an Air Force fighter pilot. I grew up hearing their stories of courage and honor and skimming through their incredible pictures.

When I was a senior in high school, I became involved with the Soldiers' Angels program. I was assigned a soldier who I mailed letters and care packages to. My soldiers name was Jeremy and he was serving our country in Iraq. I still to this day keep in touch with Jeremy via Facebook--he is newly married and has a beautiful baby boy. I felt a great sense of pride and accomplishment by giving back to somebody who was fighting for the freedom and liberty that we so often take for granted.

Fast forward a couple of years.

I had just started my junior year of college and was living with my friend, Abby. One night, we made plans to have a small get together at our apartment. Abby notified me that one of her best friends, Brandon, was home on his two week leave from Afghanistan and would be coming to the party. I didn't think a whole lot about it and went about my work and school day (in sweats). I went and ran a couple errands that evening before coming home--when I got home, I was greeted by Abby and her very cute friend. And I was in sweats. Ugh. I quickly changed and got ready for the party. Brandon and I hit it off from the start and talked the entire evening. Actually, we stayed up until about three in the morning (after everyone else had left or gone to bed) gabbing about our families, dreams, achievements, etc.

The night we met. Aww, were we ever that young? Side note: why did I ever wear my bangs like that?

It seemed like as soon as we met, he had to head back overseas. We had a really strong connection that we didn't want to lose--so we began calling, texting, emailing, Facebooking and (my favorite) writing letters as often as we could. He'd send me flowers and notes, and I'd send him care packages and pictures. I worried about him every minute of every day and counted down the days until he'd be home (we met at the end of September, he went back at the beginning of October, and wasn't home for good until February).

Only a few of our letters/cards/notes

I so love having all of these letters to look back on--they represent the first four months of our relationship when we were thousands of miles apart (and had a time difference of twelve hours). Brandon has a huge bag full of letters from his time in Afghanistan. Many are from his family and friends, but some are from strangers who just wanted to say 'thank you'. Those are letters that he will always be able to look back at--it's also something our children will one day enjoy.

The months seemed to drag by but Brandon finally came home on February 18, 2011. I surprised him by meeting him at his bus with his family (I had never met his family before but I got in touch with his wonderful mother and she helped me arrange the surprise).

February 18, 2011--My awful bangs and I have never been so happy at 4:30am!

We were finally able to pick up where we'd left off and go on actual dates (versus our Skype dates that we'd so often plan). We made a list of things we wanted to do/places we wanted to visit when he was overseas and one of those places was Disney World. So in December of 2011, we went to Disney World--and this happened!

You can read more about that amazing proposal/nervous vomiting story here

One time, Brandon and I were talking about his time overseas and he'd mentioned how so many soldiers don't receive any letters or care packages. This broke my heart. I feel that all of our armed service members deserve something as small and powerful as a letter just saying 'thank you'. A small gesture like that can have a huge impact on someones life.

Please join in our mission to thank these heroes and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Here's how Operation: Christmas works.

1. Click here to sign up for this event (sign up ends November 30, 2012)
2. At the beginning of December, I will email you with the name and address of your soldier.
3. Send your soldier a card, letter, or care package (mail typically takes one to three weeks to arrive so the sooner you can send your card, the better).

 It's that simple! And you'll be making a huge impact on someones life. 

Amy really is 'one artsy mama' because she made the button for this event! Please grab one to put on your blog to spread the word!

What To Send

Drink mixes (such a lemonade, Crystal Light, etc. for them to mix in their water bottles when they're on the road), non-perishable food items, homemade crafts or gifts, books, magazines, candy, crossword or Sudoku puzzle books, playing cards, chap stick, personal hygiene products (such as shampoo, tooth paste, floss, soap, etc.), stationary, etc. We will be adopting an entire platoon so there will be more specifics in the email.

Note: It is not recommended to send homemade food items.

I used to send Brandon Oreos (he once told me he really missed those overseas), candy, movies, books, pictures, and other miscellaneous items. For a full list of suggested items, check out Adopt A US Soldiers site. 

This is a great event for the entire family!!

Thank you in advanced for participating. If you have any questions or would like to get you and your blog involved in this event, please let me know via the comments section or on Facebook.