Calling All Bloggers!

We're having a Blogger Meet-up.  It'll be in Charlotte, NC in October, but it's not just for people who are from Charlotte.  I, for one, will be coming in from out of town.  =)    

And we'd love if you'd join us!  CLICK HERE to sign up for our team and to stay in the loop with all of the blogger meet up info!  Don't let the word "run" scare you off.  I promise, you don't have to run.  You won't even be able to run because it's impossible!  You can run, walk, skip, jump, or shimmy all the way.  Check out the post and join our team!  Please? 

Meanwhile...you guys remember The Blog Tap, right?  Well..turns out that I'm going to be joining in on the efforts to make it awesome.  So, lifestyle bloggers, we're looking for GUEST BLOGGERS!  Specifically, we need people who are willing to post next week.  It's simple.... just e-mail me at mynewwifelife@aol.com and we'll sort out all the details!  Love y'all!  

How To Remove Word Verification

The whole word verification thing on Blogger has gotten out of control.  I've posted links, tweets, I've done a guest post about this..other people have done guest posts about this.  Please, please, please remove your Word Verification.  Everyone.  I'm not sure why some of you think your an exception to the general public's opinion that word verification is annoying, time consuming, and pretty difficult.  It's Saturday.  You have time.  This post has been up since 6 am.  Read it.  Follow the steps, and magically watch MORE comments be posted to your blog!  =)

"Please prove you're not a robot?"  So...basically Blogger is telling us that when we fail to recognize some of the extremely skewed letters, we fail the human test?  That's pretty harsh.  I don't know about y'all, but that messes with my self esteem!  Haha.  :)  The best thing to do in negative relationships like these is to get out and get out now.  I'm going to tell you how to give Word Verification the boot.  Simple steps, with pictures, arrows, and written instructions.

How To Remove Word Verification

Step 1:  Determine if  you are using the old or new Blogger.  Refer to the pictures below if you aren't sure.  

Step 2:  If you are using old Blogger, skip to Step 4.  If you are using new Blogger look in the top right corner of your screen and find the "Blogger Options" button.  Refer to pictures below to see where this button is and what it looks like.

Step 3:  Once you have found the "Blogger Options" button, pictured above, click on on it and you will see a menu drop down.  Click on the 5th option - "Old Blogger Interface."  Be patient while your page is reloading.  :)  

Step 4:  You are now looked at the old Blogger Interface.  Beneath the "Manage Blogs" header, find and click on "Settings" as pictured below.

Step 5:  Once you click on "Settings," you will see the page below.  Click on "Comments."  

Step 6:  After you have reached the "Settings" & "Comments" Page, scroll down until you see the left-justified words, "Show Word Verification for Comments?"  See the picture below for reference.

Step 7:  Select "No" because that is the correct answer.  Scroll down some more and for the love of all things precious, SAVE your SETTINGS.  :)  I always forget this part!  

To return to the new Blogger, simply scroll all the way up to the very top of the screen and click "Try the updated Blogger interface."  

And they all lived happily ever after in a land full of comments, e-mails, and friendship.  The End.  Happy Saturday!  =)  

Oh, and don't forget to come back Wednesday for a super awesome (and currently top secret) one time only link-up party!  You won't want to miss it!  =)  I'll give you a hint, just to peak your interest, you could be meeting some super awesome bloggers in REAL life...okay, that's it!  Come back Wednesday for the full scoop! 

Going On Vacation ~ Needing Guest Bloggers!

I know that I'm publishing two posts back to back, but it's completely necessary!  If you read my most recent post, you know that my hubby and I have taken a week off from work and are going on VACATION!!!! 

As my previous post explains, this little vacation is pretty last minute.  We already had plans for Wednesday - Saturday, and Sunday is church...so we are going on a little road trip Monday and Tuesday of next week.  I need two things from all of you fabulous people!   

1. I have never been on a road tip.  Do you have any tips?  Must-do's that are not location-specific?  Photo-prompts?  This will be our ONLY vacation this year {other than a mission trip} and I want it to be two completely perfect days!
2. I am looking for GUEST Bloggers to fill in while I'm on vacation.  Even though I will be at home, I won't be posting.  I am looking for people to post March 1 - March 4th, and then one on March 7th.  E-mail me if you are interested in filling one of my slots!  =)  

  

Lookin' Spiffy

I updated my blog, made some changes, and I'm loving them!  :)  Thanks for not making any rude comments while my blog was looking all wonky.  And, thanks for following in general.  I try to keep it lookin' spiffy 'round dese here parts fer ya.  {That's Southern for "make-over"}

{1}  The New Header & Color Scheme.  Check out that chair.  Isn't is fabulous?  The chair was pulled out of Mr. R's parent's garage when he moved into his first big-boy apartment.  When I saw that chair, it was love at first sight...for the chair & me.  Later, after a brief courtship, we got engaged and had engagement pictures taken.  I had my sweet fiance stuff the chair into my cross-over SUV and tote it all over the place for our pictures.  No worries, it was totally worth it.  The picture in the header is on a framed canvas in our home and that ugly, old, fabulous chair is in our living room.  & then a blog layout was born.  :)  

{2}  Tab Changes  I have a brand new tab called [Create] that you just have to check out!  It's awesome and I love it!  I'm not even going to ruin the surprise by telling you what is in that tab.  You'll have to find out for yourselves!  Also, I recently made a tab for my Pandora Bracelet that we started on our honeymoon.  One more tab change that is a must see is the [Button Swap] tab because I deleted all of my old buttons and replaced them with shiny, new buttons to match my new blog!  If you have one of my old buttons, I ask that you please replace that old, cruddy button with a sparkly new one.  

{3} Your Buttons are gone, as you may have noticed.  A lot of the buttons on my side bar were outdated.  I had a few buttons from "MegaBlogs" who never talk to me, and I don't think that's what buttons are really all about.  Not for me, anyway.  I want to try something different...I'd love to swap buttons, but let's get to know each other first.  I'd love to do a post about my favorite bloggers and stroke y'all's bloggy-egos a little.  So, starting from scratch, who is up to button swap?!  As mentioned above, I have new buttons and I've made three sizes.  If you need a different size, let me know and I'll work on it! 

{4}  Twitter  I love connecting with other bloggers on Twitter, so if you wanna be tweeterific friends, click here!

{5}  Rearranged  I moved some things around, and I just want to point out, quickly, where things have gone.  On the left side bar is some quick info about myself, as well as my largest button.  In the footer, you will find labels that I use + blog archive +  a list of my most popular posts.  On the right side bar, you can  follow me with Google Friend Connect, Google+, or by e-mail.  Pick your poison.  Beneath that is where your buttons will go soon..I hope!  :) It depends on you, really.  If you are looking for recipes or crafts, check out the [Create] tab.  If you are looking for pictures or love-dove stuff from our courtship, engagement, or wedding check out the [All About Our Love] tab.  

So?!  What do you guys think about the new blog stuff?!  :)  I'm excited, but I would LOVE some feedback, suggestions, or anything else you have to offer.  I did it all myself using pictures I had, Microsoft Word, Paint, Photobucket, and Pixlr.  So, I'm an amateur..please be nice with your constructive criticisms...haha!  You can leave a comment or e-mail me at mynewwifelife@aol.com.  Happy Friday!  

Pardon The Mess..

I know that i literally JUST redid my blog.  But I'm not happy with it.  It's not "perfect" and it doesn't look all fancy and inviting and reflective of my odd personality.  So... I'm FIXING it and I'm not stopping until I am 100% satisfied with the way it looks.  
You'll notice that all of your buttons are gone.  I took them off.  I'll put them back up... I just needed some space.  I still love you guys..promise.
Meanwhile.... anybody got any tips for a CLUELESS blogger who can't afford Photoshop?!  Haha

I'm Over Here....With The Girl From That Thing....Talking About A Really Important Topic

I'm sorry...Post # 3 for the day...it's totally worth it, though.  pinky swear.
Meet Ashley Marie from Chickadette

I have only good things to say about her.  And I truly hope that if I am ever a mother, I am the kind of mother that she is....she's gorgeous and nice and creative and has tattoos, and somehow still has time to blog.  Ah-mazing!  Anywho..I'm on her blog RIGHT NOW and you just have to do two things for me!  
(1)  Click Here to read the post on how to remove Word Verification from your blog.  And before you blow this off, please note that it is probably on your blog, too.  It was on mine and I was pretty sure that I had opted out of the whole Word Verification thing.  So...just DO this for us all, pretty please.  It only takes a few seconds!  I've broken it down into 7 of the easiest steps on the internet WITH pictures.  It doesn't get any better than a well written post on a pin-up model's blog with the intentions of making Blogger a better place.  So, go do it.  Immediately, please.  :) 
(2)  Become Ashley's newest follower & fan!  :) 

Hey y'all, I'm O'r Yonder!

Good Morning!  
It's pretty much Monday to me, because I didn't work yesterday.
I had an eye doctor's appointment.  I was there for a really long time because apparently my extreme  near-nearsightedness has created a freaking HOLE in my retinas.  I was there for a really long time.  THEN they dilated my eyes and I was blinded by the light.  My pupils were crazy big!

By the time we left the doctor's, we were STARVING.  And we knew that by the time we finished eating, drove the hour home, and THEN went to work...we'd only end up being at work for about an hour.  We decided not to go back to work and to get drunk at lunch instead.  Haha.  Don't judge.  It was Vodkarita and it was delicious.  It had a lot of vodka, a little margarita mix, a little orange juice, and little fresh scrawberry.  It had sugar around the rim.  YUM!  I had two.  I was dancing in the booth.  I passed out on the way home.  I was plastered and blind.  haha  Good times. 

So, like I said, today is my Monday.  Only it's Tuesday and I'm being featured by one of my blog-love-bugs, Bethany!!  :)  I love her, for real, and would be her best friend IRL if we could.  sigh.  You know how they have nudist communities?  I vote that we start a blogger community!  :)  Haha  Anyway...
Bethany has named the post "special k and the art of farting."  Haha.  She gave me a pet name!  I seriously adore that girl.  She's super busy this week with work, and has a GREAT series for the week!  She's featuring one guest blogger each day, and the topic is "firsts."  First anythings.  We got to pick!  It's great.  I hope you'll go check it out!  :)   If you don't already follow her blog, get your butt into gear and start!  She's the best.   

ALSO.  Is your blog on twitter?  Do you follow bloggers with your personal twitter account?  If the answer is yes, bounce on over and follow @MyNewWifeLife or click here.  It'll be Tweetarific!  
Happy Monday! Fine, fine.  Happy Tuesday.
Oh...and my drunkenness prohibited me from writing about my new tattoo!  I'm working on the post right now, though!  It'll be up today.  I promise!  For real this time!  XOs

The Leibster Award

I received my 2nd award!  :)  Exciting times, y'all!  

I've seen this award around blog land, and was curious about it.  So when I received it, I decided to do some research.  I Googled.  I had no idea what a liebster was.  Honestly, the first thing to come to mind?  

Source: steamykitchen.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Lobsters.  That's right.  

 To no surprise of my own, the Liebster Blog Award has nothing to do with lobsters.  Imagine that.

I learned that the Liebster Blog Award:

• originated in Germany
• "liebster" is German for "dearest," "beloved," and/or "favorite"
• "lieb" means "loves"
• The award is typically given to smaller bloggers & somewhere along the way, someone decided that 200 followers or less means that you have a small blog.
• The award is given to bloggers who deserve more recognition.

I'm addicted to Google & I think it's GOOD to know the history about things.  Don't judge me as a dork, please.  :)  

OH, and more thing!  The award comes with RULES!  Don't worry, not dress code rules or speed limit signs.  Good rules!  The kinds of rules I don't mind following.  Check it: 

The Leibster Blog Award Rules<3   Thank the person who gave you the award and provide YOUR readers a link to check them out.<3  Give the award to 5 of your favorite bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  Don't forget to provide links!<3  This one is easy because you'll WANT to do it first!  Post the award on your blog!  :) <3  Bask in the love from fellow bloggers - they are they best, aren't they?!<3  Have fun, spread the karma, & whisper a little prayer for the blogger who tagged you & for the bloggers you are tagging!  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meet WhitneyShe gave me the award.

Thank you to Whitney from The Land of Sunshine for deeming me worthy.  :)  I'm flattered, especially now that I know what the award means AND because I love your blog & it's fun to be recognized by people I like!  If y'all don't read her blog, start now & I'm not kidding..  She is the sweetest & prettiest girl in all the land - and she's a great weight-loss pal.  :)  Even though we've never met IRL, she's the kind of person who will tell you straight up that you're making excuses & need to get your butt in gear.  :)  Seriously.  She told me.  And I dig it.  So, go check her out because she's real.  & real awesome.  :)    
And the award goes to....{in no particular order}
Tiffany at All Because Two People Fell in Love
Karla at Always Kiss Me Goodnight
Monica at The Musings of Lil Moo Moo
Bethany at Healthy is the New Skinny
  Meg from Mr. C & Me
These ladies are my FAVS!  I keep in regular contact with all 5 of them, they are not listed in order of importance, and each of them are WELL worth your time!  :)  I swear it to be true..so check them out!  They deserve to be recognized even though they are "small" bloggers, like myself.  I could go on and on for DAYS as to why I picked these 5, but if you go their blogs they will show you all on their own.  
To everyone else...thanks for helping my blog grow!  :)  I don't want to be cheesy & over-the-top.  I'm aware this isn't a Grammy Award or anything, haha!  I have been meaning to write about this for a while...my little blog has been growing lately & I've met some pretty amazing ladies!  Thank you to everyone who's left a comment, grabbed a button, sent me an e-mail, written a guest post, featured me as a guest poster, or brightened my day in any way at all!  Y'all are awesome & blogging is SO fun.  Thanks for following!  & if you aren't following..I hope you will start!  (And don't forget that soon, we'll HAVE to start following each other with Google+ or BlogLovin' or some other website.  So, try out Google+ today please!  I'd hate to lose  y'all!)
XXOO   

Google+ MINUS

I hope that most of you have heard about the whole Google+ Monopoly going down on March 1st.  If not, read this informative post.  Basically, the convenience of "following" Bloggers is going away.  Google+, or as I like to affectionately call it, Google-, is forcing us to use circles & stuff to follow each other.  Circles are dumb.  Unless they are topped with diamonds.  ;)  
Anyway, you may notice that I added the Google+ Widget to my right sidebar, right underneath the "Blog Archive" Widget, but above the "Followers" Widget.  It looks like this...

Click here to create your own widget.  If you don't do it now, you'll be OUT OF FOLLOWERS on March 1st.  I'm pretty pissed I'm a lady, and I'm angry with Google for forcing us to do this.  But anyway, that's just the way it is!  Moving on...
I also JUST posted another wedding day post!  :)  Part Four!  It's pretty awesome...go read it!  :) 
WEDDING POST PART FOUR   

Gahhh, I loved being a bride!  Can I go back?!

Under Construction

My blog is a little over three months old.  I started it toward the end of October and if you don't mind me tooting my own horn for just a brief moment, I'll tell you that I've come a long way since MNWL first "went live."  Sounds official.  haha :)
My first header looked like this..

Horrible.  If you remember those days, I am so sorry.  But hey - thanks for sticking with me! 
Kitty from A Law Student's Journey and Randee from Randee's Organized Chaos had separate linky-parties that I participated in recently.  The parties were basically the same thing.  I linked up and once the link lists were closed, Kitty and Randee each e-mailed me two blogs to go check out and review.  So, I went and looked at 4 blogs and typed up a review for each of them.  I e-mailed my reviews back to Kitty and Randee, who then forwarded my thoughts/opinions anonymously to their respective blog owners.  Soon, I received anonymous blog reviews of my own!  So far, I've received 3 out of 4 reviews for MNWL (so I'm still waiting on my fourth one to come through).  Here's the feedback I received:
The Good

• Pretty header, nice colors
• Simple, colorful, easy-to-navigate layout and design
• The "Pages" bar is right under the header
• My pages are great and help you find what you are looking for
• "Our Story" is an easy and comfy read.  You like that I have it documented before I forget, and it's written so that you imagine me talking.
• My lay-out is easy to read, the middle column is wide and makes my posts easy to read
• 3 column layout evenly distributes all of my stuff 
• My side bars have a lot of "good stuff" in them and seem to be ranked in order of importance
• Big pictures!
• The posts are published in an easy-to-read font
• I write about a good variety of topics, so there is something for everybody
• My popular posts are fun to read and easy to see why they are popular.
• My Pinterest posts are "fabulous" in content, and are a great length.
• My stories are cute and personal. :)
• I'm open and honest in my posts, so people can relate to my well.  I'm not afraid to talk about the hard stuff - which people like, apparently.  Cool.  
• My "Coo-Coo-Kachoo" signature
• I come across as sweet.
• I share myself on my blog.
• It's very pretty :)

The Bad
I have crossed out the issues I've already corrected.  :)   Consider the remained bullet-ed points here to stay.  

• My header and buttons are too traditional for my funky personality
• The green-ish box around my header is too big for the image inside of the box
• I have a lot of "Pages" and could maybe combine a few to downsize
• The "About Me" in the right side-bar should be moved up to the top and my button should be moved down.
• My buttons tend to run together with the other info I have in my side bars
• The font in the "Pages" bar is hard to read.  Either change the font or increase the font size
• My craft and recipes photos should be larger
• I should consider making the Post Title font larger
• My posts seem too long & wordy, thus not grabbing the attention of potential new followers
• I should proofread better to weed out those pesky typos!
• I should consider making my middle column even wider
• Sometimes my content tends to be a share a little "TMI."  While it's important to stay true to myself, I should consider keeping some intimate things out of cyber-space.  
• Some of the pictures I post are small, so you have to squint to see them.  Bigger = Better!
• I have my blog set up so that 5 posts are on my first page.  This was noted as a problem because my posts get kind of life, so I need to consider reducing the number of first-page-posts.
• There was some confusion as to what my blog's purpose is - is it a journal?  it is for family/friends?  is it for the public?  Some of my posts get very long & are filled with details, which may not interest the general public.  So I need to do some major condensing or break up long posts into smaller stories.
• I really need to work on CONDENSING 

So...I'll be picking and choosing through these, trying to figure out what I can do to best improve my blog while staying true to the odd-ball locked inside of me.  If you have any suggestions you'd like to add to the above lists, go right ahead!  Leave them anonymously if you'd like or you can publish it as your actual self.  I don't mind, I'm not easily offended, and I will greatly appreciate the input or help you have to offer!  :)  
Happy Monday!  Have a great week.  And try not to be too critical of my blog because it is officially....

   

50 Followers ~ Thanks for Yesterday ~ Diet Update ~ Button Swap ~ & I've Been Tagged

I want to start out by thanking those of you who are reading this post, especially those of you who read my stuff regularly.  :)  My blog hit 50-followers yesterday.  Butter my butt and call me a biscuit.  :)  50 people who think I'm interesting is a pretty cool thing.  :)  So, thanks.
Yesterday was not a good day for me.  I was having a bit of a pity-party, and was just  feeling confused and lost and down in the dumps.  I wrote this post.  I received some awesome, much-needed, Christian advice on this post.  I really felt the love & y'all helped me sort out my thoughts...I just needed it.  So, thank all y'all fabulous people who commented and encouraged me.  Seriously.  Thanks.  I'll do a follow-up post on where we stand with missions & going to Africa when we know more.
I'm also going to take a brief moment to brag on myself.  I've been making healthier choices when it comes to food.  I've been doing this since January 3rd and I've lost 6 pounds so far!  :)  Yay me!   And all without working out - double yay!  I am so lazy.  I really don't want to excercise, but I know I'll have to if I want to continue slimming down.  I know a lot of people are trying to watch what they eat, and I'd love to hear from you & maybe form an alliance against butter.  :)  E-mail me at mynewwifelife(at)aol(dot)com and we can team up & support each other.  Fun stuff.
In other news, maybe you've noticed that I've added a tab at the top of my blog?  It's about button swapping & I'd love to swap buttons with any of y'all.  So leave me a comment or send me an e-mail, and we'll totes m'goats trade buttons.  :)
Alright, and now.......
I was tagged!  I'm a dork - I know - because I am SO excited about being tagged.  I've seen these posts all over & thought they looked fun.  So, thanks Alison, darling, for tagging me.  :)  

...The rules...

(one)  you must post the rules.

(two)  post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

(three)  answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

(four)  tag eleven people and link them on your post

(five)  let them know you've tagged them!

...11 fun facts...(one)  I have my very own .32 gun.  It's pink.  I have a permit to carry it concealed on my body or in my purse.  It's tiny but packs enough punch to provide me with a way to defend myself against bad guys.  It's a big enough gun to kill with.  So, that's cool.(two)  With the local primaries going on right now, I'm pretty mildly obsessed with politics - which is something new for me.  I've never really cared a whole, whole lot.  (three)  I took piano lessons for 7 years, but I can hardly read music anymore.  And I wasn't very good.  (four)  My favorite hairstyle is a side braid.  I have super long hair / braids are easy / braids are cute / braids keep my hair out of my face.(five)  I have teeny, tiny feet.  Size 5.5.  And teeny, tiny hands.  My wedding ring set is a size 4.5.  But really big but & boobs I'm fuller & curvy everywhere else.  So my small hands & feet look weird.  (six)  I have four tattoos so far.  Love 'em! (seven)  I'm a Christian.  (eight)  I "sign" all of my posts with "coo-coo-kachoo, Mrs. Robinson" because of this song:(nine)  I've lived in South Carolina all of my life, but done a good bit of traveling around the Caribbean and Mexico.(ten)  I learned how to drive on a 6-speed manual transmission car.  It was awesome.  When I graduated high school, I got a new car and my parents gave my first car to my Aunt & Uncle, who needed it.  We recently bought it back from my Uncle and my husband drives it, now.  :)(eleven)  I hate change & am extremely uncomfortable with new and/or different things.  Change just scares me, I guess.  And I usually cry..even though I'm usually not  a cry-baby.  
...questions from Alison...what is your favorite part of blogging?meeting girls from all over the country who i have stuff in common with.  relating to people...supporting people...receiving support from them.  it's cool.  and what's great is that blogging is somewhat like a diary.  i'll always be able to look back on this time in my life.  
what is your dream job?well, i always wanted to work in the family business and eventually, maybe, someday, run it.  and i currently work in sales at the family business so.. i guess the only thing that would make job more dreamy would be less hours.  haha  i wish i could work 3 days a week & make just as much money
what is one thing that is in your dream home?um....narrowing it down to one thing is hard because my dream home would be a perfect reflection of my husband & i, and how we would need our home to function to fit our needs.  but i would just love it so much if we had a huge shower....just an amazing bathroom in general. 
who is your favorite band/artist?right now...probably the band perry.  love their sound.  
what is your favorite vacation spot/trip?i just love mexico...i've been to several different parts with my parents.  i'd love to go back...but my favorite vacation was our honeymoon to st maarten.  it was pretty amazing.  
who is one celebrity that you can't stand?well that's easy!  kim kardashian.  she's famous but has no talents or skills...she is a moron and her "marriage" stint just makes me loath her even more.  it complete goes against every belief i have about marriage.  it's disgraceful.  
favorite chick flick?my best friend's wedding is an all-time favorite.  i just love julia roberts...the cast in that movie is amazing.  the plot line is hilarious.  it gets me every time.  
what is one thing that has made you laugh recently?zombie, my chihuahua.  he comes to work with me so i'm always laughing at that silly pup for something.
favorite website(s)?blogger/facebook/pinterest
are there any tv shows that you must watch?grey's anatomy.  fa sho.  and it comes on tonight!  yay! 
favorite recipe/food?my homemade (& made up) recipe for spicy chicken nuggets.  check it out on my recipes tab.  good stuff.  
...my questions...what color are your toenails right now?what's your favorite joke (or at least one that you always remember)?how old were you when you had your "first love"?what is one thing you always find money for, regardless of the budget you're on?who was your favorite cartoon character or princess when you were growing up?if you lost your phone and somebody was looking through your pictures, would they find anything embarrassing or inappropriate?  how many tattoos do you have?  do you know what slapsgiving is?  if so..you need to e-mail me so that we officially become bff's.  :) hahado you & your significant other pass gas in front of each other?what do you think your worst personality/character flaw is?do you know the muffin man? 
hmm...a few of those got a little personal.  a little weird.  a little random.  oh well.  :)  i never claimed to be normal.  


...i tag these 11 people...(and I'm tagging people that I don't know very well, for the record.  & also people that haven't been tagged yet)JordannAmberElisabethBreanneBethany
& that's all I'm gonna do.  I'm sorry.  I keep getting distracted.  I'm looking for bloggers to tag & just end up reading their blogs instead.  So...if you want to participate & haven't been tagged yet, just pretend like I tagged you.  :)  It's fun.  It's a good, change-of-pace kinda post.  

Guest Post & Button Swap

Good Morning!  :)
So...three magical things.  
(1)I am guest blogging today for Breanna, and I hope you'll go check it out.  :)
(2)I received some advice yesterday.  I was advised to make a button and start trading them.  So... I googled some stuff, and found some tutorials, and I followed them, and I came up with this:


<a href=”http://mynewwifelife.blogspot.com/” style=”border: none;”><img alt=”My New Wife Life” src=”http:// <a href="http://s1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd512/mynewwifelife/?action=view&current=holdme-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd512/mynewwifelife/holdme-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>” style=”width: 129px; height: 129px;”/></a>
I hope we can trade buttons, add them to our respective side-bars, and become bbf's (best-bloggy-friends).  So...leave a comment or send me an e-mail and we will trade buttons.  :)   
(3) Every Friday, Amber at The Pless Press brings in another blogger who shares her story.  Each week, they have been absolutely amazing.  I was even one of the featured stories not too long ago.  Carrie from Strawberry Swing is sharing how God has changed her heart today, and I hope you'll go check out what she  is sharing.  She said it best, "God writes the best stories!"  And also, Amber is a pearl for starting up such an encouraging series!  :) 
Have a great day!

Share Your Story @ The Pless Press!

So...Do y'all follow Amber at The Pless Press?  If you don't you should.  She is such a genuinely sweet girl, with an adorable blog.  She is currently doing a series that I encourage you all to go check out.  It's called Share Your Story, and she is featuring tons of different bloggers.  Every Friday, a new blogger plugs in with Amber and shares her story about what God has done for them.  It's amazing.  She featured me some time ago and to be honest....writing down my story was a little difficult.  I have what some would call a pretty rough background.  But I'm thankful for my happy ending to a dark and scary path.  I have really enjoyed reading all of the Share Your Story posts, and I hope you'll go check them out as well!   

I found the post I wrote floating around in my ever-growing pile of drafts.  I figured I would post it and send y'all her way to read the other amazing posts she has featured!  AND...there will be more!  :)  So, do go check her out.  

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Guest Posts

While the cat has my tongue, I thought I'd ask for some guest posts.
Please e-mail me if you are interested in writing up a post to be featured on My New Wife Life!  :)  
I would like for the topics to stick to my basic favorites:-marriage and/or love and/or romance-blogging-dogs and/or Chihuahua's-recipes-DIY projects-home making skills?
Oh, and btw, tomorrow is my 23rd birthday.  I'm pretty depressed about it.  And I'm taking the day off, so I won't be blogging.  haha
So....if you are interested, e-mail me at mynewwifelife(at)aol(dot)com and we will chat!  XOs!

Tuesday Morning Ramblings

Good Morning!

Source: xaxor.com via Finkiyaya on Pinterest

How funny...my coffee cup is about a million times the size of this little shrimpy cup.  ;)

As I sit here drinking my daily cup of coffee, I can't help but think of how Christmas Eve is just four short days away.  I feel like Christmas starts on December 1st.  I'm kind of sad that the season is already almost over.  This is my first Christmas with my husband...and I've had a ball making it special and capturing every moment in a picture or in our Christmas journal.  I am super excited about the gifts I'm giving him, and I can't wait to see his face when he opens them!  But still....I'm not quite ready for it all to be over.

Source: gettyimages.ca via lise on Pinterest

I feel like I didn't really get to decorate the way I wanted to... and that makes me sad.  I did decorate...but you see, this is the thing.  The house we are currently living in is ginormous.  It's really huge...it's the house I grew up in.  I figured my parents would be giving me a lot of the decorations they won't have room for in their smaller home (they down-sized after their two kids moved out).  But by the time they got around to it, I did not feel like putting up a bunch of decorations just to take them down in a week and a half.  But we did decorate some..and you can see tons of pictures here.

Hmm...I am so sorry that this post kind of sounds a little sad.  That was not my intentions!  I am loving Christmas!  I just don't want it to be over because I've been having FUN, but at the same time...I don't feel like I did it as big as I could have.  Either way, Christmas is not about decorations or pictures.  It's about God's love in our hearts and showing that love to other people.  :)  

In other news....

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Yesterday, something amazing happened.  I published my 100th post, and it was a guest post, and it was written by a sweet girl named Breanna who had never guest-posted before.  You can check it out here.

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Also, I read the GREATEST post this morning!  It's by Mrs. Pancakes and it was the coolest thing to read.  It's about love and marriage and Christmas...all of my favorite things!  It's a must read, so go ahead and click here.  

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Do remember how I told out love story in an 8-part series?  It started in November and ended in December, but I told it.  Click here if you missed it!  Anyway, yesterday....I started working on my wedding posts and I am so excited!  :-D Squeak!

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Today, I'm going to be rearranging a few things on the ol blog-front and hopefully get more organized.  So....stay tuned!  :)  And please be patient.

That's about it!  Thanks for sharing a little piece of your morning with me.  I hope y'all have a fabulous day!

My Story...

Hello!  :)  If any of y'all read the love story that occured between my amazing husband and myself & if you are a lover of the LORD then head on over to Amber at The Pless Press.



She is featuring me today in a series she calls "Share Your Story."  She's been getting bloggers to write about what God has done in their lives and it's an amazing thing she's started.  And let me just say....that Amber is very sweet.  We e-mailed back and forth a few times and she offered some amazing encouragement when I really needed it.  She's sweet.  I like sweet people, don't you?  :)  So I hope you'll not only go read my story, but also go check out her entire blog!  

I am all about keeping it real and being honest and sharing God's amazing and precious Word.  Kudos to Amber for taking the initiative and starting this series!  Plus, this is my first time being featured and I'm so happy that it's for such a worthy cause.  Go check it out!  XO's!

Just click here.... 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I am loving that December will be here tomorrow = my birthday will be 28 days away!  I will be 23 and for some reason, that kind of depresses me and makes me feel old.  :-/  However, I am very excited to celebrate with my hubby!  He has something planned...but is keeping his lips sealed as to what!

I am loving my husband a lot right now and am learning to really encourage him and rely on him.  We are going through what could turn out to be some HUGE changes in our life, and it's teaching me a lot about marriage and myself.  Oh, and this picture reminds me...I'm loving that my hair is getting so long!  It's even longer now...this picture is from our honeymoon!

I am loving all of the fabulous Christmas presents I have picked out for my husband!

I am loving that Zombie gets to wear his new Christmas outfit!  :)  And in general, I'm just loving Zombie.

I am loving ADORING hearing so much Christmas music!  I don't know about y'all, but I listen to the old stuff!  Classic Christmas music from the 50's and 60's.

I am loving all of the fun crafts I've been working on!

I am loving decorating our FIRST home for our FIRST Christmas together in our FIRST year of marriage!  Did you know (I'm sure that you didn't..) that decorating for Christmas is the ONLY, yep - ONLY - thing we are doing together this year that we also did together last year.  It's pretty crazy.

I am loving that my brand-new-baby-blog is up to 9 followers!  Hooray!  I have really enjoyed getting involved in this amazing blog community.  I have been repeatedly pleasantly surprised at all of the CHRISTIAN women out there who blog.  I've enjoyed reading about your lives, marriages, and families.  Blogging is so much fun!

I am loving that since I'm doing an 8-part-mini-series about our love story, I get to relive every precious memory we've made in the past year.  I have had a lot of fun digging through our past.  :)  Love stories are the greatest, aren't they?

I am loving all of the scrap-booking I've been able to do lately!

I am, as always loving Pinterest.

I am loving that Christmas is right around the corner.  It's such a special time of year.  My birthday is right there on top of it all, but my anticipation is mostly about Christmas.  This will be the first Christmas in many years that I have considered myself a Christian.  I am so excited about watching God move in my life during this special season!  My husband and I are running a "bakery" for our church's Live Nativity we are putting on for the community.  I am very excited about participating in something so much bigger than me.  I hope God uses the LN to touch people who are long hardened by the world.  I am looking forward to celebrating this Christmas as a season of GIVING for the first time in a long time.  I used to regard it as a season of receiving.  I am looking forward to spending a very romantic Christmas under the mistletoe with the godly man my Lord has so generously blessed me with in the form of my husband.  I am loving all of the excitement in the air that comes with new traditions, old traditions, Christmas trees, and nativity scenese.  I am loving this season!

What are you loving?  Go visit littledaisymay.blogspot.com to link up!