I am participating in not one, but TWO Preppy Christmas swaps this holiday season. The first on is hosted by Clemson Girl and the second by Grove Gals. I have never done this sort of thing before, and I am pretty excited. I have been behind in blogging so I am not on top of the swaps, but I ready to jump back into action. I cannot wait to share with you what I give and what I receive. Hopefully this will spur some creativity for this holiday season! I cannot believe it is already time for Thanksgiving! What happened to October? Hmmm...maybe we should do some sort of holiday idea/tradition/recipe sharing here...let's brainstorm!

Today I would like to share with you the story of a family that could use your prayers and generosity.

The McNeil's met at Taylor University and have been married for 10 years. Unfortunately, within the last nine months they have received the devastating news that both of their children, Waverly (5) and Oliver (2), suffer from a terminal disease called Sanfilippo or MPS III. You can read more about the disease and this family's journey on their blog: Exploring Holland

Their dear friends have started a campaign: A Hundred for a Home to gather 4,000 friends who will donate $100 each in order to help the family with the purchase of a house, necessary home modifications, and out-of-pocket medical expenses. (or really to gather anyone to give anything to support this family)

The goal is to minimize their financial burden, allowing them to enjoy the short time they have with Waverly and Oliver.

As you can imagine, caring for two children who are slowly dying is an unimaginable, devastating experience. In addition, there are straining financial expenses that insurance will not cover like: co-pays, certain procedures, respite care, formula for tube feedings, hearing aides, wheelchairs, and more.

Major home modifications also need to be made for the children. The McNeil’s home must be completely wheelchair accessible which implies the widening of doorways, installation of a wheelchair-accessible shower, and ramp installations, just to name a few.

Please visit A Hundred for a Home to read more about this family and consider donating today.

Psst...Go to Simple Mom to enter her awesome giveaway.
But hurry! It ends tonight at Midnight CMT!

Brooke and Mike took a road trip to visit...us! We had a great weekend hanging out, playing games, watching football, and touring DC. Mike and Brooke and I don't typically have the opportunity to spend a lot of time together, especially since I haven't lived in the same state for nearly 7 years! Unless there is a holiday or family event bringing us together, we tend to all be busy going in our own direction. We planned this weekend so we could hang out before all of Brooke's weekends filled up with Basketball (until mid summer). It was perfect timing as fall was out in full color and the sun shined all weekend long creating idea tourist weather.

Here are a few pictures of the weekend and some quotes from our first president, George Washington:


We had a great weekend together. I think it reminded all four of us (Mark included) that we really enjoy each others company, jokes, and even cooking! We cannot wait to all get together again!

Thank you to all of our service men and women. To those who are active, retired, in the reserves, or who have fallen serving or country. Thank you for your sacrifices which will not be in vein. Thank you to the families who let their loved ones serve and stood strong be their side at home.

Coming from a military family, I have memories which will forever be ingrained. I hope and pray these memories continue to urge me towards constant gratitude for both my family, and every other family that is making similar sacrifices year after year so that we can be free.

This is my friend Shannon! She just ran the NYC Marathon and was awesome! She ran the Boston Marathon last year, and will probably continue to run. She is currently my sole motivator when it comes to running. She has vowed to sign us up for races (more like 5-10 K than 26.2 miles!) to whip my butt into shape. The only bad part is she lives too far away to be a regular running partner.

I am proud of Shannon and her determination and passion for running! Go Shannon Go!

Only one game has my attention this weekend, and I believe it is making me sick to my stomach. The Philadelphia Eagles host the NY Football Giants in Philly at the Link for Prime Time Sunday Night Football - cue Faith Hill. Ahhh...the suspense. I believe the Eagles will win (and that my belief will help them get there!)

I do not currently have my dream kitchen. In fact, our apartment is so tiny, we have a miniature kitchen with shrunken appliances. Yet this doesn't stop a girl from dreaming. Here is a collage of some of my favorite kitchen inspirations. When I come across pictured I like I clip them and copy them and file them in hopes of the day that I get to design my dream kitchen from scratch. (unfortunately this means that I cannot attribute many of these images to their original location - I apologize)


P.S. This is a prelude to pictures of my actual kitchen and a recent mini renovation with my shelves!

Most of you have probably heard of Wordle before. Wordle is a program that creates images our of selected text or web address. You get to customize shape, style, font, and color. It is quite a lot of fun and I really like it. However, I have been unable to thing of a good use for it here on my blog, until now. Here is a wordle of my blog posts recently:

I recognize that I have talked about sports a lot recently. As a Philly Fan, it has been an exciting fall. Thanks for continuing to read even if you weren't all that interested. I am going to try to broaden the topics I blog about and dig deeper in some that I have neglected (Shelf Life and Recipes). If there was something more that you would like to read about, leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you!