speak your mind, sister friend

It's been quiet over here this week and here's why: Spring is here. 

Spring for us this year doesn't just mean trying to unbury ourselves from the heaps and heaps of winter clothes that have piled up on the closet floor. It also means revamping Naptime Diaries and giving it a little spring refresh and that has me working, working, and not so much blogging, blogging. 

Come April 7th, the shop will have a new look and the blog will have a new look and there will be FIFTEEN new prints in the shop! And we have a quick favor to ask you: would you take a minute and fill out our reader survey? As we move forward writing and designing and trying to creative inspiring content, we want to be sure that it's mostly in line with what this community is longing for. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

I wish I could take you all to my favorite spot on the beach and drink coffee together, but instead - after you fill out the survey, look out for a surprise! Fill out the whole survey and a thank you page will pop up with a coupon code to be used in the Naptime Diaries shop! 

So, we'd love to hear from you! 

Speak your mind! 

the thick of it.

In the thick of it. 
The phrase keeps coming back to me over and over again. 
In the morning, I feel the shiny hope of that top picture. I can be the carefree mom, the playful wife, the encouragement speaker, and the devoted daughter of the Most High. 
It's all light and life and glitter at 6am. 

But by ten a.m., I am weighed down and discouraged and wondering 
what about me?
where did the glitter go?
why does it smell like poop in here? 

The beginning is sometimes fancy and when we work real hard at the end, we can see the good and the purpose and the glory. 
But the grace is in the thick of it. 
God's presence is in the thick of it. 
The good stuff is in the thick of it. 
So it's ok to be there today. 

Me? Today? 
I am in the thick of it with mothering and church planting and relationships and in all honesty, a house that desperately needs cleaning. 
What about you? What are you in the thick of today? 

give me my land.

View from Sullivan's Island. My favorite beach to visit here. 

part one 
I talk to women all the time about their blogs and their online businesses. It's one of my favorite things to do. Help them determine who they're writing to and what those people want to hear. When it comes to my own little space on the internet, it's always harder. Who am I writing to? What does she want/need/have to hear? The last thing I want to be is a clanging cymbal or a woman making noise that doesn't bring Glory to Him alone. 

I finally asked a precious friend the other night for some vision for my online voice. She said what I've known all along, but somehow lost along the way. She said, "I think you need to be writing to you five years ago. Young moms or wives of husbands in ministry or women struggling with depression or women figuring out what biblical womanhood looks like, women trying to find their place in the online world - one or all of the above. Write to them and give them some grace-filled hope. Not a 'how-to' guide, but stories of what happened along the way for you". That felt right. If you don't identify with any of those, no worries, you're still welcome here, but it felt good to remember that those are the women who make my heart beat faster and this blog is a letter to them. 

part two
I have heard about people who make hard choices and give up good things for the sake of better things. I have heard of those people and not quite identified with them because the last few years have been so much about adding for me. Adding a baby, adding a business here and there, adding a church planting endeavor into our lives. Others would look at our lives or schedule or workload and say, "I just don't see how it all fits. I don't see how this will work." and in over-optimism I would blink back tears and say, "It will. It just will. Because it has to!"

This past week the Lord caught up with me and said no more. No more pretending that you can add and add and never take away. And He helped me take some much beloved things off my plate and out of my life. Good things. Amazing things. Things I loved. But He loved me enough to help me see that there has to be space. Psalm 18:19 has been my battlecry this week. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me, because he delighted in me. It is for my good that the Lord brought space, it was His rescue for me, and it was absolutely because He delights in me and loves me. 

part three 
The other day I heard a pastor preaching on Joshua 14 where Caleb goes to Joshua and asks for the land that the Lord promised to him through Moses. The idea of us claiming things that the Lord has promised to us instead of wimping around like people who can't trust our Father is one I can't get out of my head. If He promises something to us, we can depend on it, right? 

I am trying to be obedient and listen very hard to what He wants me to do and say and not do or not say. And I am also asking that He would give me my land. In the spaces where I know He wants me to be, like this blog, I'm asking that He'd set me free in those broad spaces to make much of Him. I'm asking that He'd save me from wasting my time and that He'd rescue me from the easy-to-fall-into trap of creating a kingdom or even a website that is about me or glorifying to Jessi. In all the areas where He wants me to be - my home, this blog, our church, my kid's school, the Influence network - I'm praying He'd give me my land and enable me to work for the harvest well. 

And I'm wondering, what about you? 
What land has He promised you? 

All I want for Christmas! (a massive giveaway!)

Christmas is days away and  a group of us lady bloggers wanted to get together to bless our readers in two ways. #1 - we want to give away a HUNK of stuff, stuff at the top of our own lists for Christmas to one of our readers. and #2 - introduce our readers to some of our favorite bloggers - the ones we truly love to read and interact with. 

Maybe you know all these ladies and maybe you don't! Either way, we've set up a super simple giveaway where you can go below and "like" these ladies facebook pages for up to SEVEN entries to win the big old lot of goodies below! 

Check out all the gifts + then head down to the giveaway entry where you can automatically like all the facebook pages, without ever leaving the giveaway! We'll announce a winner on the 26th, but in all seriousness - everyone wins when you are getting to know all these great blogging ladies. Merry Christmas! 

Ashlee from Growing Up a Thomas is giving away this Bobbi Brown lip + eye palette. Here's what she has to say about it: 

I love makeup and I really, really love Bobbi Brown makeup. When I was 14 and my parents finally let me wear it (like just blush and mascara) my grandma took me to get my makeup done at the Bobbi Brown counter. Such a cool grandma, right? From that day on I was hooked! I have tried other (read: less expensive) brands before but the quality can't be beat. It never fails that there is always Bobbi Brown makeup on my Christmas list! Mostly because it is a bit pricey and so I ask for whatever I am out of as a gift. Plus, she always puts together the cutest little sets that are perfect for holiday gift giving - which is why I bought one to give to one of you!

Beth Anne from Okay BA is giving away a french press, a bag of Starbucks coffee, and a really precious little mug! Here's why: 

In the mornings when the sun is still hazy, I sneak downstairs & brew a cup of coffee. The fresh grounds pull me back to being a little girl & my mother's morning cup & then to college lecture halls & cold winter mornings & the last bit of night, when my husband has a cup before bed. It is a comfort to me, a balm to my soul, & something I wish to share with all of my friends.

Diana from Hormonal Imbalances is giving away these super, super cute leg warmers! Ahhh.

I just bought new boots and fell in love with these. I adore just looking at them, and can't wait to see them on someone!

Jessi from Naptime Diaries is giving away these gold earrings from Lisa Leonard. She says: 

These earrings have been on my list since the second I saw them! I think they're funky, classic, casual, and dressy all at once. They seem like the perfect addition to any outfit - year round - to make you feel just that much more put together. 

Kacia over at Coconut Robot is adding in a $50 Anthropologie Gift Card!

I'm awful at gift lists.  Just awful!  I'm not someone that has a running list of items I'd like in my head, so gift cards speak my love language.  I especially love finding unique items at Anthropologie--and gift cards give me the ability to splurge a little bit on them!

Kim from Oh Sweet Joy bought one of you this amazing ring for NSPottery! She says:

I'm a firm believer that accessories make or break any outfit. Whether it's a pop of color on your hand or a neutral statement necklace, adding just a little extra detail can make the biggest difference in how "put together" you feel.  I love my NS Pottery pieces and wanted to share the love with y'all. Enjoy & Merry Christmas!

Finally, Raechel from Finding Our Feet is giving away these amazing polka dot gloves from Madewell. 

I'm a sucker for polka dots. And warm hands. 

And, well, using my iPhone with warm hands and polka dots. 

Alright ladies - get to entering! 

We are so excited to give one of 

you this massive package of gifts!

Merry, merry Christmas! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

chosen, part 1.

some precious lady friends. 

Hey ladies!

So, last week – I had the huge, huge, huge honor of leading a breakout session at the Chosen Conference in Charleston, SC. Chosen was a conference for all women – to point them to Jesus and to celebrate the fact that He calls us to Himself, chooses us for His glory and His pleasure and His purposes. It was such a sweet time and I was really overjoyed to get a section of that time to breakaway with some women and discuss the idea of how our being Chosen relates to how we can speak life. And specifically, how we can speak life to other women online.

is there anything better than a group scripture doodle session ?

Through that little session, I shared my story of how the Lord has walked me through accepting some influence He’s given me, called me to speak life to women, and then how He’s teaching me to be quiet and say something. I am still seriously in the midst of figuring all this out, but I thought it might be good to share with some of ya’ll these pieces of the story – since I really think He wants us all to be walking in newness of life, speaking life as much as possible. Not for our own glory, or so that we’ll be known as women who speak life – but because if we’re in Christ, we know LIFE. And why in the world wouldn’t we want to share it?

just SOME of the hundreds of volunteers who put on Chosen

So here’s where I started sharing my story with the ladies:

I always knew I had a struggle with being dramatic. Drawing attention to myself. Talking too much. Over the years, the Lord has helped me – it’s still a struggle, it’s still very much something that you’ll notice when you meet me, but I’m believing that the Lord is healing, slowly:). Anyhow, it was that issue that kept me from blogging, inititally. I knew I had a problem with attention seeking and talking about myself, and blogging seemed like the fast track to feeding that problem. Until a met a woman who said she wrote a blog with the intention of ministering to other women. It didn’t really matter if my heart agreed, I saw an open window and an open excuse, so I started myself a blog.

your truly doing some VIGOROUS hand talking

I started (my old blog) Babes Having Babes in 2007 and wrote about um, I’m not sure what. My hair, outfits, my cute little baby. Sometimes I actually WROTE. I think about eight people read it and I don’t remember how they found it. And then some things started to happen. I got pregnant again really quickly after having a baby, that precious baby was diagnosed with a fatal genetic disorder and then cleared of having it, we decided to move to Seattle to run a maternity home, we moved cross country, we had that precious second baby, we told hilarious and wild and precious stories of working in the maternity home, we got pregnant with a third baby, the Lord called my husband to church planting, we had that handsome prince of a baby. And all along, more and more people kept reading. Maybe to keep up with the crazy things the Lord was bringing about in our life, or maybe just to see if the train was gonna wreck, or maybe to see if I’d ever lose the baby weight – but they kept reading.

one of the precious rest spaces in the "boutique" at Chosen. So fun! 

And in the fall of 2009, I realized that the Lord was giving me some influence with women. I was pretty much landlocked, at home with three babies under three, very little money, and sharing a car with my husband. I was thousands of miles away from my former community, and my real community – the women I was doing life with were just as busy as I was. But here were these women, online, who I could sit down with at naptime and interact with. Pray for, laugh with, be challenged by, and share what the Lord was doing with.  I had a voice with them and they were on my heart, and that was a God-given influence that I couldn’t create by any means of personal promotion and that was precious. 

But, what in the world did He want me to do with it? 

................................

I'll finish up talking about the rest of the breakout over the next week or so. 

I do want to say - just as soon as the dates are released, you're going to want to mark your calendars for the Chosen Conference 2013. 

I'll be there FOR CERTAIN. 

Seacoast Sisterhood, thank you for a wild and precious weekend. 

Father, thank you for pouring out your Spirit. 

until He says to stop.

It’s a new year and I like to hit refresh on my purposes for everything. We all have too much on our hands sisters to do anything without purpose. So I might take the first few weeks of this year to share with ya’ll what I’m finding when I look for purpose.

1 Peter 3:4 says – But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

Adorning is to make beautiful or attractive. But for us,  it’s not about the beauty. The braiding of the hair or the house. Or the home tours. Or the cleaning schedules. Or the fashion Fridays. And surely those can’t be all wrong – but it can be wrong if we’re seeing them as the best part.

So what is to make us attractive or beautiful is… Well, wait. Back up again. It has to be all about Him. So why would we want anything to be beautiful? To bring Him glory. So that others see beauty in us and are pointed to Him.

So let the beauty be the hidden person of the heart. And how is it seen if it’s hidden. And is everything that is hidden worthy or worthwhile or beneficial or beautiful? My guess is no. Cause Oh Lord I’ve got some hidden things that are ugly. U gee el why.

So, here comes the WITH.

Let it be that with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

One thing I know about gentle and quiet spirits is they aren’t born. Well, maybe they are in you. One was not born in this sinful flesh. But slowly. With restraint. With sweat. With tears. With biting my tongue and swallowing pride and crucifying flesh and putting on of the good things. There is one deep in there.

And it feels like my job, well – Christ in me, His job, to slough off and exfoliate this rough and bumpy, loud and entitled spirit.

And use what is left. The hidden pieces. In the quietest and gentlest way.

So here is what’s left:

To keep writing till He says stop.

To be hidden FIRST in my husband. To let my voice always be in submission to him and to Him. To be quiet long enough, that the Lord would loosen his tongue and when he’s said his peace and nodded gently to me – to speak. I have to say, this is freeing and made utterly joyful by the fact that He is good and while he is sinful, I can trust them both. He died for me and I know he daily is trying to.

To be hidden next in my family and my Family. To be inaccessible when a diaper needs changing, a book needs reading, a child needs disciple, a meal needs making, a sister needs prayer, a friend needs help, or a community needs the gospel.

And then to hide in Him. To have no fear of self or failure or confusion or double chins. Because I’m hidden in Him.

And then those pieces that He chooses for me to share, to wrap them in the fallible and fresh (and not yet complete) gentle & quiet skin and to share them. This should be the true story. The genuine story.

And maybe sometimes the story is light and about thrift shopping and maybe sometimes it’s dark and it’s about death, but it stays genuine. It isn’t “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”, it is a true story – filtered through the layers of redemptive hiding and told by gentle & quiet. But when it’s all said & done – I want to ask one question – Is it REALLY true? And by that I mean, does it really tell the gospel even it never uses the words, even though it will quite often.

And to mess up and start all over again, in grace and growing in wisdom.

Until He says to stop. 

Hey friends!

Today I'm so excited to introduce you to a new friend.

Laura sent me one of the most encouraging emails after losing our sweet baby and upon reading it, I promptly read her entire blog. (sidebar: if you sent me an email and I haven't responded yet, I promise I will) Since then, I've been so blessed by her wise words and her awesome shop and I think you will be too! Say hello and check out her blog and shop! 

1. Tell us a little about you & your family. 

Hi there! My name is Laura! I am so excited to be over here with you today. Jessi asked me to tell you a little bit about myself and my family, so I will do the best I can. For some reason I can talk and talk about any and everything but when it comes to talking about myself or defining who I am, I have a hard time. I think that is because I am always changing...my style, my interests, my taste in food....except for cake balls. I will always love cake balls. So there's something about me- I am a sweets addict. I also live off of caffeine. I am always doing something and when I'm not, I'm thinking about what I need to be doing. I am the wife to an incredibly handsome guy named Brandon. He is associate pastor of a church here in San Antonio. Together we serve side by side and we love it. He has a heart for people and it is so inspiring to see. I am also mama to 3 sweet gifts from heaven. Asher is my 5 1/2 year old. He's my mama's boy. He's got me right in the palm of his little hand. He will be starting kindergarten in a month and I may or may not be having a minor emotional break down about it. Bella, is my 3 year old. She is independent, out spoken, bossy, everyone's mama, way too smart, but extra sweet. Mia Glory is my precious 7 month old. She has her daddy and I wrapped around her little finger. She is just plain edible. Like really, I could just eat her up.

2. What is your blog about and why do you blog?

My blog is bits of me and everything I love. Which includes my family, decorating, writing and creating. The heart of my blog is to inspire each person in their own talents, gifts and stories. To tell them, share them, and be confident in them. We each have a story. I blog to share mine. 

3. How did you make the decision to open your shop? 

Honestly, it was a simple "what if" thought that turned into a reality. One step in front of the other and all led through prayer. I have always loved fashion and changing up my looks. Even more so, I love to look like I put a lot of effort into "my look" without putting a lot of effort into it. The pieces I have in my shop are perfect for that. It's as simple as putting them on. A pop of color from a fun necklace, pair of earrings or ring, can make a plain white tee and jeans stand out. I love that kind of simplistic yet bold fashion. I love creating something and then putting it out there for others. The idea that a bit of me is being shared with someone else, makes me happy. It has become an avenue for me to share myself with others that I am so thankful for and blessed by. 

4. What recreates/refreshes/renews you? 

Time with God! I try to set time aside each morning to read and pray and just be in communion with the Lord. Quieting my spirit and being still to hear what He wants from me and has for me. I like to do it first thing in the morning because it sets the tone for the day. It refreshes me and gets me going in the right direction. Taking that time to fill my spirit and my self up so that I can then pour out into my husband and kids. That renews me. 

5. What has surprised you most in this life? 

How strong we humans really are. Not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. I've heard a lot of people use the phrase "I don't know what I would do if" or "I don't think I could handle it, if...." 

I'm sure if someone had told me what I would go through, I would have said the same thing. I would have surely thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. Surely it would be too much to bear.

Until I walked through them. Some of the hardest trials of my life. I have fought the hardest battles of my life and found myself broken in the end. Holding 2 of my sweet, precious baby girls, lifeless in my arms. I have seen tiny caskets, and feet so tiny. I have cried out in desperate need with tears streaming. I have lived through these moments.....I have lived through them. I survived. I came out stronger. Wiser. More full of joy and more aware of the precious gift that life and all that it has to offer brings. And I found out "what I would do if"....I'd turn to Him. The one who can get me through. The one who gives me strength to come out of it, but not just barely...completely, wholly and with a renewed spirit and desire to love, inspire, share, and bring Him glory through it all. 

So, she's kind of the greatest, right? 

ALSO. Thank you Lord for the sweetest timing ever. 

I just got home from my Saturday run and what do I find in my mailbox? My new splendor earrings. 

So ignore the hot sweaty mess, feast your eyes on my new goodies!

Go show Laura some love and have a great weekend friends!

guest post #4, meet Rachael

First of all, thanks ya'll for your encouragement & prayers about yesterday's post. 
I'll keep you updated and I'll for sure keep talking about our sweet baby.
I already want to write more and more and more about him, but I'll disperse those posts as evenly as possible. My heart is broken and encouraged by how many of you know the similar pain. I love ya'lls guts. 

In the meantime, meet Rachael. 
I love her a lot. 


1. What is a song that brings back strong memories for you and why? 
"Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky still gives me butterflies every time I hear it. My sweet husband & I shared our first kiss to that song. Afterwards, he pulled away and said, "Uh oh. I wasn't supposed to do that." At first, I was offended. Then I realized he was referring to how much he liked me and how he wanted to protect me. It was such a sweet moment. I'll never forget it!

2. What has most surprised you in life? 

I've definitely been surprised to have five kids at twenty-five. I never imagined marrying a man who had been married before and was currently raising two kids. And I certainly never dreamed that our "fourth & final boy" would end up a set of twin girls. I am thankful the Lord has blessed me with this responsibility, though, and I am excited about the future!

3. Describe somewhere you'd like to live other than the place you do now and why. I've never been to Nashville, but I'd move there in a heartbeat. My husband has worked hard to develop his gifts with songwriting and producing, and it's paid off locally. But if ever an opportunity opened up for him in the music industry elsewhere, like Nashville, I would support a family move 100%!

4. What is you blog about and why do you do it? 

I blog about my family, natural living and attachment parenting, and motherhood in general. I want to make mysterious things like cloth diapering and placenta encapsulation seem reasonable. I want to show the world that two very different people can love each other and raise a God-fearing joy-filled family with relative ease. And of course, I think my husband & kids are beautiful. I enjoy showing them off!

5. What is one thing you'd like someone to leave an encounter with you knowing. 

I always want to help. I want to be relatable. I want to be a resource, a place from which people can draw encouragement and empowerment. It's why I'm a nurse. It's why I blog. It's why I tend to overshare. I want people to pour me out, because that fills me up.

6. What is a food or drink item you absolutely cannot live without?

SUSHI! SUSHI! SUSHI! And recently, iced coffee. But not together.

Rach, you're the greatest.
Ya'll go visit her and give her some blog love. 
And I love you all too. 

2nd guest post, my bff, the pretty grandma

I miss you guys! I miss the internet!
We're at a church planting conference that is MIND BLOWING and so wonderful, but we're being encouraged to use the interwebs very little. Didn't ya'll love Jhen? 
You're also going to LOVE Danielle. 


I call Danielle the "pretty grandma" because she's encouraging like a grandma, but duh - she's real pretty too. I didn't ever think that an internet friend would ever feel like my sister, but D does. Recently when I was having a hard time, she called me second only to my own blood sister, to weep and pray with me. I love her. She means a lot to me. Visit her blog and love on her too. 


Introducing..... Danielle Burkleo. 

1. what do you blog about and why? 

i blog about my life, the little things i love and hold dear, that i would forget about if not documented. the stories, the good times, the bad times, memories, pictures, my boys, my man, grace, most importantly…my Jesus… and even an occasional DIY or two. i blog because it is important. it is important to me to remember, to look back and see those sweet times. to see how He provided and how He was so good even if I didn't see it then. i blog for my boys so i can look back and tell them how crazy they were. i blog to share the love of Christ with others.

2. if you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?  

i don't know if i would live anywhere else. my heart is here in this little 1100 square foot house, with these three guys, smack dab in the middle of upstate new york. i would, however, vacation summers in greece. if you have a summer home there you can invite us and we'll take you up on it.

3. What's an issue/topic/idea that makes your heart beat faster and makes your face get hot and makes you incredibly passionate?

passionate about: the gospel of Jesus Christ, pregnancy/childbirth and all it entails, educating kids and youth about sex, stopping and preventing child trafficking, showing women how beautiful they are in the eyes of Christ, adoption and photography. this is a random bunch of things, eh? i hold them all close to my heart. i love to talk about them, i love to work at them, and i love to continue educating myself and others in all these areas.

4. What's the last thing you laughed really really hard at? 

myself. i say really funny (re: dumb) things sometimes and i almost wet myself when people repeat them back to me.

5. What's your favorite memory from childhood? 

oh! there are so many. trying to catch frogs in the little ditch that circled my house, dollhouse with my sisters, kickball in the backyard, summer trips to rhinebeck. the list goes on… i was blessed with a childhood that i would never change. 

6. What is one thing that terrifies you?

 it terrifies me to think whether or not i would choose joy and choose to walk worthy if everyone i love was taken away from me. i desire to have that devotion to Christ and pray that i would. but it terrifies me to think of what path i would walk. 

OK. Don't forget about The Ladd's adoption fundraising ya'll. 

Thank you D. You're precious. 

a whole lot of little important things

First up, new in the shop. 

- I put a few items on sale. 

- I made some sections for 5x7's, and I'll continually be adding to that section.

- BUY THREE, GET ONE FREE is still going on.

- I listed a whole new item I'm going to be doing.

I've had a lot of requests for custom name prints for kiddos and I've released my first three templates. When you purchase one of these, you only tell me what names and/or scripture you'd like to be included and VOILA! personalized. 

For the first three, I obviously drew on some close inspiration.

ALSO, I added a few more prints to the shop!

(5x7)

Also. Benja got his hair cut. 

Also. It's Benja's birthday this week and I AM SO EXCITED. 

A far cry from how I felt last year. 

Here is his "after shot". 

don't be jeal. 

And ALMOST LASTLY. 

Only a few more days to get in on advertising on this little space for June. 

Check out the tab at the top o' the page or email me if you have questions. 

jessi connolly at gmail. 

AND ACTUALLY LASTLY. 

I'm skipping one percent changes tomorrow but ya'll FEEL FREE to still post. 

I'm going to just post some a few recipes and may even do a link up for that! 

Have some good breakfast/lunch/dinner recipes you're wanting to share?

Get ready!

Ok. Happy Tuesdee sweet friends. 

Love ya'll lots. 

whoooooole lot of winners

I'm gonna get right to it, because if I try to say anything up here, ya'll won't read it. 

IT'S WINNER TIME! 

Print#1 from Naptime Diaries: Annie Moore!
Print#2 from Naptime Diaries: Shannon Thompson!
Print #3 from Naptime Diaries: Jessica! A little nondescript, so this is the mother comment for identification help!

Diamond ball drop necklace from MaddyNBella: ErinT! 

Leather & Diamond bracelet from MaddyNBella: Sarah F!

18x41 oil on canvas Kelly Bollman painting: Melinda!

Handmade Recess octupi bag: Annie Sing!

"grace" hoop art from Marigold Road: Kara Mottershead!
Flower earrings from 31west: Laura Short!
owl necklace from 31west: Amy Horne!
ivory sailor knot headband from Tea Accessories: Abbi Russo!
chalkboard pot from Green Seed Creations: Hillary Surratt!
frame#1 from Green Seed Creations: Lindsey (unconventional at best email)!
frame#2 from Green Seed Creations: Dorian!
set of notecards from Call Me Blessed: Marilee!

Redemption Soap in Nancy bag:  Ally Mc.!

Mommy Needs Coffee yoyo necklace: Karly Lieb!
$25 shopcredit to ten thirty one art: Michelle Stratton!
pillowcase dress from A Friend Made It: Kim Alford!
beautiful agenda from Trading Ashes: Lauren Schner!
Blessed Painting from LalaLu: Stef Arnold! 
Beautiful Blendings headband: Tiffany Pate!

Congrats ya'll!

I'm so happy (maybe a little jealous, j/k) for you!

To keep things kosher, I'll tell ya'll EXACTLY how I went about picking the winners. 

I listed EVERY SINGLE entry out on paper, by hand, and then double checked. 

If that sounds silly, I'll tell you - I had no other choice. Since some people put all their entries under one comment and since disqus (my comment system) doesn't number comments, I wanted to make sure every single one was accounted for. 

I then numbered the entries, and used random.org to pick a numerical number each entry. 

It was worth it ya'll. I like giving you stuff. 

Here's one quick word, though. 

I really like these vendors/blogs/ladies. I'm so thankful for them. 

If you didn't win, or maybe if you did - will you support their businesses? If not today or this month, keep them in mind for gifts, holidays, birthdays! They were so giving to us this week and I would like nothing more than to bless THEIR socks off. I'm going to be featuring them all month and talking about them, telling you more about them, so stay tuned. 

They're good people. 

If you are one of our super blessed winners, start emailing me ASAP (jessi connolly at gmail) with the subject line being the item you won and I'll get you forwarded to the right vendor for delivery! I love ya'll!

I have a personal Mother's Day post coming on Sunday, but in the meantime - I pray the Lord is near to each of you this weekend, wherever you're at. 

Love you ladies.