December Charity of the Month Wrap Up

December's Charity of the Month, One Warm Coat is a national non-profit that assists in the collection and donation of warm coats to those in need - over 3 million coats since their inception in 1992.  They can only do this with our help and support!

With the Charity of the Month Program, each month I will donate $1 for the first 25 new followers to my blog AND the first 25 new likes on my Facebook page to the current Charity of the Month.

This month I added 33 followers and 23 Facebook Likes.  That translates to a $50 donation for One Warm Coat!  Thank you very much for your help and support.

Don't forget to check in tomorrow for January's Charity Feature.  

Mediation Monday

Hello and welcome to a new week!  I know I have been some what MIA lately, but I am back and refocusing for the new year.

Pinterest

This week's image for us to meditate on is a good one as we all take time to review 2012 and set goals or focus points for 2013.  While it is always nice to have company on this journey, the bottomline usually ends up being that you still have to put in the effort and work.  Nothing worth gaining is ever going to be just handed to you.... although that's not to say we still can't hope!  haha  

I hope you all have a great week, and thanks go out to Lauren over at Enjoying the Journey for sharing the image first!  =)

P.S.  I'll be working on my 2013 Focus Points for publication later this week.   

SnapShot of Joy!

Happy Wednesday!

I hope that every one had a wonderful Christmas.  We had a safe journey and a happy holiday.  I think everyone got what they wanted from Santa, with a few happy surprises as well.  All in all a great time.  

Holiday Message

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very blessed and happy holidays.  I have the day off of work today and am busy getting the last of our Christmas prep ready.  My husband is going to be working all weekend, which means that my little bear and I will be making the road trip home on our own this year.  

Little Bear is not to sure of Santa yet!

We have a 5 hour car ride, followed by a birthday party, two Christmas parties, and then another 5 hour car ride home to squeeze into the next four days!  It's going to be a bit crazy, but I know so much fun.  I cannot wait to see all my family and share the love and joy of the holidays with them.

He has been fascinated with the tree this year!

Of course all of this craziness means I am probably not going to be doing much blogging until next week again.  Please understand and know that although I am not posting, you all are still in my thoughts.  The joy and friendship this blogging world has brought is one of the best gifts I have gotten all year!

Merry Christmas! 

SnapShot of Joy

The joy of giving!

Source

Holiday Gift Guide - Last Chance!

Welcome back to my Holiday Gift Guide.  If you missed the first four parts, you can check them out here, here, here, and here.
Again all of the gifts in this guide are great on their own, but there is an added bonus when you choose to buy them: you also help out a charity. 

If you are still looking for Holiday Gifts, then you are probably feeling a tiny bit of stress.  A good idea is always a simple donation to charity in your loved one's name.  For some charity ideas, please check out my Lend A Helping Hand page.

Also, Samaritan's Purse has some great Charitable gifts you can choose from:  gift a child a life-saving surgery, a mother a goat to help her feed her children, or help share healing love to our wounded soldiers.

It's true, gift cards make it on most Christmas wish lists. They're a practical, one-size-fits-all present. But we know of 53 gifts of hope that are even more powerful than a piece of plastic, while just as convenient and easy to give. You can find them in the 2012 Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog. Any gift you choose will be the perfect one because it comes wrapped in the love of our Heavenly Father. And each one is guaranteed to arrive on time to those who need it most. Give hope this Christmas.

Another idea is from Charity Miles and DoGoodBuyUs.

DoGoodBuyUs is the largest online marketplace of charity-made products. They're the perfect stocking stuffers.  And, for Team Charity Miles, they will automatically ship your products express (you don't have to pay extra) in order to make sure they get to you in time for Christmas!

I hope you all have enjoyed this Holiday Gift Guide; and that it has helped inspire you this holiday season!  

Meditation Monday

Welcome to another week!  

This week's image is one I hold close to my heart, for I am prone to falling into the trap of expecting that I can do everything.  I need to remind myself more than I'd like to admit that I am not a superhero and I actually cannot do everything!  
The key, I have learned, is to work on managing my expectations and working within reasonable ones.  As long as I pace myself, I find that tackling anything is possible... and the entire family is usually happier in the process.

I hope you all have a great week!   

Happy Holidays!

Since I cannot mail our family Christmas card to all of my wonderful readers, I figured I would share it here with you.  May you all find exactly what you are looking and hoping for this Holiday Season!

 

Holiday Gift Guide Part Four

Welcome back to my Holiday Gift Guide.  If you missed the first three parts, you can check them out here, here, and here.

Again all of the gifts in this guide are great on their own, but there is an added bonus when you choose to buy them.  

This week, I have put together an Etsy feature.  Rather than just spending money at a nameless conglomerate of a store, you can support a local artist.  If you dig a bit, you can even find artists who are donating their proceeds to charity.  Please note, all of the items on this list are handmade; but not all directly benefit a charity.  

Rescue Dog Bracelet - For Charity @ MusicTeachah

Snowball Express Charity Shirt @ Nestingproject

Faith, Hope, and Charity  Hand-painted Peg Dolls @ tomiannie 

100% of Proceeds Donated Chevron Jersey Infinity Scarf @ SakManmo

The Lorax Metal Stamp Bracelet @ darkerblue

Inspirational quote necklace @ lulubugjewlery


I hope you enjoy!

SnapShot of Joy

Oh happy day!

Pinterest Source

Guest Post @ A Cat-Like Curiosity: Estabilishing a Place of Refuge

Today I have the pleasure of doing a guest post over at A Cat-Like Curiosity.  I wrote about Establishing a Place of Refuge for yourself.  

Please take a moment to check out the post, and Sarah's awesome blog while you are there!
 

Meditation Monday

Pinterest Link

This week's image is more of a reminder to myself than anything else.  The past weekend has been less than perfect for me.  I got a miserable cold that managed to derail all my perfectly laid plans.  So here I am starting out a new week with the goal to focus on the wonderful and let go of all the not so great!  


Have a wonderfully imperfect week!
 

Sparkle & Shine Holiday Blog Hop

I wanted to throw a shout out to Petit-Lapin today.  They were kind enough to feature my holiday gift guide in their Sparkle & Shine Blog Hop!  

I am feeling the love and if you could see it, my smile is most definitely shining today!

Thanks again ARG!  If you are looking for a little holiday cheer, please stop by and join the hop.

Friday's Fab Finds

Happy Friday!  

For today's first Fab find, I have a pretty cool Charity Opportunity from Crate&Barrel:  all purchases made today will benefit Rebuilding Together!

Crate&Barrel: Hearts&Homes Program

The next Fab Find is a set of free Christmas printables from Oh So Amelia!

Oh So Amelia Printables

Finally, in case you missed it,don't forget to check out Part 3 of my Holiday Gift Guide!

Gift Tag Freebie and Thank you!

Not Done Growing hit a little milestone this week - we have 100 followers!  I am so excited and happy to have such an awesome group of people reading and (hopefully) enjoying my blog.  I am truly grateful for you all!

As a way to say thanks, I have a page of Holiday Gift Tags that you can download.  I print mine out on card stock to use on my gifts, but I don't see why sticker sheets would not work too! 

download HERE

I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed making them!