Welcome home Jack NOONDAY GIVEAWAY

Jack's home, playing in the backyard in his pjs with his new big sis Amelie

eating Daddy's bacon (which is the best bacon ever, because he adds fresh ground pepper and just a little cayenne, truly a lifechanging tip, you're welcome)

and playing with Mommy's lipgloss (desperate airport times call for desperate airport measures.)

Seriously, could you eat him up??

In case you're new to my blog, Noonday Collection is my addiction of choice. 

Jessica started it as a way to fund her adoption and it's grown so big so fast that her head is spinning and Jack's adoption was funded (yea God!!) All of the jewelry is fair trade and provides women all over the world a pathway out of poverty - and that means less orphans y'all.

Last week we agreed to sponsor a woman in Rwanda named Esperance so that she can go to school to learn how to make the jewlery. It cost us $330 - about how much we spend on electricity in one month - to fund a scholarship to send a girl to college.  To Harvard, essentially. I don't think I've ever been so excited to write a check. Esperance will now have the chance to earn a skill that will provide her a good wage, so that when she does have children, she can afford to feed them. And send them to school. And maybe even have some leftover to buy herself a cute pair or earrings.

I can think of no better way to celebrate Jack's Texan citizenship than a Noonday giveaway, can you?

Courtney Garrett is the reigning Miss Houston in the Noonday Ambassador Pageant and she wants to give you a $50 giftcard to Noonday!

And if I were you, I would use it towards the Kampala with Love necklace because I have been coveting admiring it ever since Jessica wore it to meet Jack. I never wear red but I really, really think it's time to start.

But, I you might want to go yellow with the Happy Day necklace from Uganda

or blue with the Agate Drops earrings, made by Tibeten refugees, which I happen to have and wear about five times a week (and now I think I need the coral ones)

 

or the peacock earrings from India (peacocks are in, have you noticed? I've noticed.)

or this trellis gate cuff - oooo, I like this new India stuff. This is only $24? What?

If you don't win, you're gonna be blown away at the prices, so y'all, snatch up some Christmas gifts before Jessica comes to her senses. She's jetlagged, so there's still time.

Okay, so, here's what you do to win:

1. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL.  
2. One entry: go to Courtney's page and pick out your favorite item (it'll be hard, I know) then leave it in the comments
3. "Like" Noonday Collection on  Facebook and leave a comment
4. Share this giveaway on your own facebook page and leave a comment
5. Blog about this giveaway and leave a link
6. My friend Cheryl is also doing a giveaway and you can hop over to her blog and double your chances to win! 

I am going to choose a Nanostyle giveaway soon so you still have a chance to enter that one, and the Olay Pro-X Clear $50 giveaway. I know, it's Giveawaypalooza over here!

How are we different, oh, who can count the ways?

My husband just said to me, "Oh, babe. Your butt is big, girl, even bigger than mine." 

And meant it as a compliment.

He likes them round...and big...

I shall now choose to be thankful. 

New and improved TV watching spot

The first time we tried to move, to another suburb on the southeast side of Houston, I had a baby, a one year old, and I was pregnant. And I had to keep the house clean. For showings.

It. Was. H. E. Double hockey sticks.

The showing service was less than reliable at the time and once someone came to see the house when there was literally a dirty diaper in the middle of the floor.

Our house was on the market for eleven months, ie, the entirety of Maggie's pregnancy and for a couple of months when I had a one year old, a two year old, and a newborn. We had approximately three showings a week. One second showing. One. No offers.

The second time we listed it with a new realtor to move to another suburb on the northwest side of Houston, I had a four year old, a three year old, a one year old, and a baby. And I had to keep the house clean. For showings.

Same unreliable showing service. Once the doorbell rang when I was upstairs, my discarded jeans lying on the stairs. I managed to pull them on just as the realtor came in. I'm not sure if catching me half naked would have improved the property value or detracted from it.

Last summer, we thought about moving again, to yet another suburb on the far west side of Houston. Talked to our friend and new realtor, Karre. We began to make some repairs on the house. Then I did some math and realized that with the current market, with the money we made on selling our home we would be able to afford a nice refrigerator box under and overpass on Interstate 10.

Every time we've gone to the incredible hassle of listing our home, the decision has been prayed over and discussed at length. Every time we have felt that it was where God was leading us. Every time we've been flat out utterly completely 100% wrong, as is evidenced by the fact that it did not sell.

(Karre says no, it didn't sell because we had bad realtors who obviously didn't price it well. Every house will sell, she swears up and down. I tell her lots of people with bad realtors sell their homes, that God's will is stronger than a bad realtor, and that He didn't want us to move for some unknown and completely unfathomable reason. She gives me a look that says, whatever Missy, you had bad realtors.)

Here we are again, thinking of listing our home again. Next summer. After we save some money, a lot of money. Moving somewhere, maybe in Houston, maybe not.

Will it happen? With Super Realtor on the scene? I don't know.

But just in case, I'm getting a new powder room.

So I hope you liked that whole little life story that was really just a set up to tell you that I'm getting a new powder room.

Tee hee hee!!

When we liked this house I liked very much where the powder room was because 1) guests didn't have to go through the laundry room to powder their noses and 2) I could watch TV from the throne while I powdered my nose.

Yes, I think like that.

(We need to put that in the realtor description!)

Problem is that it was very claustrophobic and poorly designed. There's a huge cabinet in there, but if you put stuff in it, you will have to essentially stick your head in the toilet to retrieve it.

I didn't take a 'before' shot because I thought surely, surely, nine years in one house, I have one. Turns out, I don't take a lot of photos in the potty. Who knew?

Here's one of the only ones I could find, starring a little Maggie:

Edited, because do you see what's been discarded at her feet?

The color is actually not so red anymore but the same pumpkin that is in my kitchen.

Here is what it looks like at this very moment:

Pretty exciting, eh?

Big Reveal coming soon!

Meet Jack Honegger

He was found as a baby, alone, wandering in a hotel in Rwanda. 

 Gorgeous photos & video by Wynne Elder

Now he has a mommy, a daddy, a big sister, a big brother and a dog.
He will eat Mexican food at least weekly, dress as a cowboy on Go Texan Day, and learn to say 'y'all.'

To God be the glory!
Great things He hath done!

He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son that He loves.

Colossians 1:13

Read Jessica's blog  here to see how Jack is doing
(and isn't her dress too cute?)

Nano Style giveaway!!

Have I mentioned before that jewelry is one of my love languages?

It is. My grandad owned a jewelry store in Center, Texas. My dad made jewelry as a hobby - he even made my wedding ring. (Walker picked the diamond, and my dad designed the band. I had no input whatsoever. I was just so happy to finally have a ring on that finger, I didn't even care what it looked like.)

I love jewelry that is unique, so when NanoStyle approached me about reviewing a cubic zirconia pendant, I had a very hard time choosing one piece!

NanoStyle is known for their cubic zirconia jewelry. I really liked this "Cross Phillipians" pendant. It has "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." Isn't it beautiful?

The Cross Mosaic says "Blessed are the peacemakers." I'd like to give this to every one of my kids because lately? They. have. not. been. peacemakers.

And look at this one - it says I Love You in 20 languages. How cute it that?

I finally settled on this one, the Cross Philippians 2 pendant.

I love that it has so much scripture on the onyx. It's rare to find jewelry with scripture. When I finally got it in the mail, the writing is so teeny tiny - and then it hit me. NanoStyle. Nano means teeny tiny. Aha!

Anyway, I have worn this almost every day since I got it. And NanoStyle wants to give a $100 gift card so you can get some cubic zirconia jewelry yourself!

Y'all, seriously, read the rules. I mean it.

• You don't need a US address to win - yea, Aussies!
• You must leave your email in the comments. I will not hunt you down if you win.
• You get one entry by going to NanoStyle, checking out thier cubic zirconia jewelry, and leaving a comment about your favorite pendant
• You can get another entry by tweeting this giveaway and leaving a comment saying you did so
• Third comment comes from facebooking this giveaway and leaving a comment saying you did so
• No more than three comments per person.

Official diagnosis

I have several giveaways for y'all that I really need to post, but...

Olay Pro-X Clear $50 Giveaway

I've mentioned before that one of the most annoying parts of getting older is something I never expected - acne. I have more breakouts now than I ever did as a teenager.

One of the greatest signs of being kicked out of Eden is that I am combatting gray hair and zits simultaneously.

It's just not right.

I've spent a lot of time with recently waxed furrowed brow in the acne aisle at CVS trying to figure out how to treat it. Because y'all know, just like everything else the skin is not what it was twenty years ago.

We have needs. Very special needs.

The folks at Oil of Olay paid a lot of money to do a lot of research which can be summed up like this:

1. most adult women deal with acne on a regular basis
2. all of us hate it
3. none of us have a clue what to do about it

So they put their heads together and came up with a special line of acne products just for us called the Olay Pro-X Clear Skin Care Line.

Then they paid a lot more money to do three independent studies which concluded that:

1. This stuff works.

The Acne Protocol is a three step program that consists of a Pore Clarifying Cleanser with salicylic acid, a Skin Clearing cream for breakouts, and a Complexion Renewing Lotion that helps to even out skin tone and moisturize.

My biggest problem is the "underground" zits. I used this product at a very crucial time of the month, if you know what I mean - and I think you do - and yippee! No underground zits. And the moisturizer has not caused any breakouts on the rest of my face, which has been a consistent problem for me with other moisturizers. 


Another thing about the product that I really liked is that it is fragrance free. I have come to view most fragrances to be more unnecessary chemicals, so this is a definite bonus to me.

While we’re on the subject of taking care of your skin, you might want to check out this post by Roxanna Sarmiento in the Life Well Lived section of BlogHer.com. She has some great tips for developing habits that will help your skin looks its best.

Blogher is giving away a $50 giftcard to Drugstore.com so that you can try the Olay Pro-X Clear Skin Care Line for yourself!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a)      Leave a comment telling me one good thing about growing older - and make sure you leave your email address!!

b)     Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c)       Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d)      For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Enter between October 3^rd – November 3rd.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.
Check out the BlogHer RoundUp page here to enter this contest on other blogs.