. Cara box REVEAL! .

Yay...PRESSIES!!!

While browsing some new blogs I found Kaitlyn from Wifessionals and I LOVE her blog. I had a little mishap when I participated in a Christmas ornament exchange (which has been taken care of) but I was a little weary to do something like that again. Well, while browsing Kaitlyn's blog I found out about the Cara Box exchange. I figured I would give it another shot, so I participated in the swap. You buy your partner 5+ presents fitting that months theme. This months theme was Resolutions so I got to know the girl who I was sending my box to, while another girl got to know me and who was sending me my box...I got to meet 2 lovely girls! SO FUN!! My new friend Jen blogs over at Grown in Southern Ground sent me my box! I was so excited when I came home from work to see my package...it was like Christmas all over again!

Without rambling any more...here is my very first (and definitely not the last!) CARA BOX REVEAL!!

{ love love LOVE this! My favorite bible verse! }

{ my note of encouragement...so sweet! Brought tears to my eyes, thank you so so much Jen }

All my goodies!! How exciting is it to receive something that will help you accomplish all you new year's resolutions!

This is the pile of goodies I shipped to my other new friend Brandi who blogs at Brooklyn State of Mind. Check out her blog to see what I got to help her accomplish her resolutions / goals.

This was so much fun....I had a blast putting this together and getting to know Jen and Brandi! Ya'll should really check out wifessionals and join in in next months Cara Box!!

xoxo E

. ice ice baby .

So I have basically been complaining about winter and being cold since, well October :)
I was born to be Southern, and live in a warm state. Well I had no clue what was coming. This past week we have been hit with bonechilling cold temperatures, and let me tell ya..its COLD!

I have been taking 2 showers a day, just to get cold. I have to dig out my car every morning, and after my shift at work I have to dig it out again. Izzie refuses to go outside even when wearing her winter jacket. I had a day off Tuesday and all I did was bundle up, layed in bed under the covers and kept warm. I even ordered pizza to be delivered :)

Because I'm close to Lake Erie, the windchill is crazy cold. Monday there was a windchill of -16 and Tuesday it was -10. Today it has been lingering at 3..still really cold. I took some pictures so I can remember what 'cold' is when I live in the South and complain when it gets to be in the 40's.

I think it just looks cold! Hope ya'll are staying warm wherever you are!!

With school starting Monday I am going to try to post M-W-F, and have them scheduled in order to not lose my mind and to make sure I remember about my little slice of the internet.

Next weeks blog schedule:

M - CARA BOX REVEAL!! (so excited for this one)

W - My last semester, hopes & expectations

F - Netflix favorites

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo E

. ABC's of me #2 .

I saw this ABC on Simply Clarke and seen as how I've been in a blogging dip lately (my life just doesn't seem quite as much fun as other bloggers whos life I read about) I thought a little ABC would be fun :)

A. Available or married?

I am available at the moment :) I do however come as a package deal with my fur babies. No way I would date a guy if he didn't love them!

B. Book

At the moment the only books I have been reading, I have been forced to read for school. I'm not a huge book lover to begin with, but the few that I will read are mostly true crime books



C. Cake or pie?

I am boring, I LOVE vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. Howeverrrr...my boss makes a delicious raspberry apple pie, which I have not been able to resist.



D. Drink of choice?

At the moment I'm drinking Clear American from Walmart. Its sparkling flavored water. I start my day with a full glass of ice cold lemon water, but after that I like sparkling flavored drinks but I'm trying to lay off the soda. So far, so good :)



E. Essential item?

My purse

F. Favorite color?

All time favorite color is pink. For clothes I'm liking darker colors, browns, greys and navy now that my hair is darker. I feel like there are a lot more colors I can pull off now that I'm no longer blonde.



G. Game to watch or play?

My family is very into cames, especially over the holidays. I love rummicub to play and watch.

H. Hometown?

Simonshaven, The Netherlands

I. Indulgence?

Chocolate chip cookies from work...they are so good I can't resist

J. Jobs?

I've had numerous jobs throughout the years, too many to mention. I usually get bored with a job after 6 months. My current job is working at the Upper Crust Bakery & Soup Co. I either work in the kitchen, preparing sandwiches or up front with customers and making various espresso drinks. I love my job and I am already sad to think about having to leave this place in a few short months.

K. Kids and names

None at the moment, besides fur babies. I can't wait to have kids and would like 2 or 4 and I have some names picked out already

L. Life is incomplete without?

Izzie & Hazel

M. Music group or singers?

I don't really listen to specific singers, but more of a general genre...country! I also really like Christian music.

N. Number of siblings?

I have a younger sister...Lynne (who blogs over at holland-amerika line)

O. Oranges or apples?

Hmm..apple juice when it's a caramel apple spice from Starbucks. Orange juice in the morning :)

P. Phobias / fears

I don't really have any phobias but I don't like uneven numbers...I'm weird, I know

Q. Favorite quote?

"Don't quit before the miracle"

R. Reason to smile?

After many obstacles and hard times, I'm finally about to graduate college. What's not to smile about!

S. Season

Summer!! I hate the cold, I is currently -13 outside, and I have been hibernating on my day off. I have not left the comfy cozy of my bed. I cannot wait to move somewhere south when the time is right!

T. Tattoos?

Yep, I have 10 or 11...I can't keep track, I keep losing count. I have a few :)

U. Unknown fact about me

I love being auburn so much more than I thought I would...I almost don't ever want to go back to being blonde

V. Vegetable you love?

Hmm, I was thinking tomatoes, but they are a fruit. Then I thought of olives, but they are a fruit too I think. I do love green beans..they are my fav

W. Worst habbit?

I hate taking off my make up at night, it just seems like too much work when I just want to go to bed. I literally takes 30 seconds to take it off, and maybe 2 more minutes to wash my face. I really need to get on that!

X.  X - rays you've had?

My arm when I broke it when I was younger. My lungs one time because I couldnt' breath. My leg because I fell over Izzie's doggie gate while trying to run to get the phone.

Y. Your favorite food?

Cheese fondue!! And any type of desert :)

Z. Zodiac

Taurus. But because I was born at 12:10am on the cross of aries and taurus my zodiac can go either way I found.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you decide to do the same one so I can see what you have answered!!

xoxo E

. new blog name - WINNER REVEALED .

Thank you all so much for taking the time to come up with new blog names for me...some of them were super creative, and most were ones I couldn't have come up with on my own. So thank you, it meant a lot to me that so many of you entered!

If you read the other entries, you might know what the picture above means. In case you don't know :) ...it means that:

            

     Sprinkles on Toast 

is the new name of my little slice of internet!! I think it is so ME and its timeless and classy. When I'm married and I have kids, Sprinkles on Toast will still be a very cute name. 

Funny story: in Holland we put chocolate (and sometimes fruit flavored) sprinkles on our bread, the sprinkles are called 'hagelslag'...it's just something we do. Our sprinkles taste nothing like the sprinkles there. I love that the new name will represent a big part of me that is Dutch!

Congrats Jonell on picking the winning name! Please email me your address so I can send you your gift :) And to the rest, thank you again, I really appreciate the ideas!!

The new blog will be up and running in the next few weeks and will include the new name....EEK, I'm so excited!!

xoxo E
 

. my first GIVEAWAY!!! .

The time has come lovies!!! Its time for my first little giveaway!

Ok so here is the scoop. My blog is embarrasing to me. I have tried to do the whole design your own blog, but changing all those codes is hard! It honestly looks aweful!! The only reason why I haven't paid someone to re-vamp my little blog is because I can't seem to settle on a name for my blog....lets face it, I've changed the name 3 times and I've only been blogging for a year!

I am giving one lucky winner $15 worth of E.L.F make-up!!I have just recently started using their products and I am in L.O.V.E! It's all so cheap ($15 will go a long way!) but really great quality. In order to win this awesome prize, all you have to do is come up with the winning blog name. So take some time, read my previous posts, get to know me (if you don't already do) and think of something creative. You need to enter by leaving a comment below and you can enter as many times as you like!
I will let ya'll know what new blog name I end up chosing

I am so excited to see what ya'll come up with! Let re-naming the blog begin!


xoxo E

(ps. for some reason blogger won't let me upload any pictures. Anyone else having this problem?)

. why do dogs leave earth first? .

I read this article on someone else's blog and i honestly can't even think of it. Yesterday Izzie at a whole chocolate bar AND 9 stroopwafels (Dutch caramel wafers). She was fine...iron stomach :) but I was so worried about her. I slept with my hand on her belly making sure she was breathing.

I can't even grasp the idea of Izzie dying...ever! I love the denial I'm in, I'm very happy with it, no one needs to burst my bubble. Izzie has been there with me through everything loves me regardless. I could have left 5 hours of 30 seconds ago and she greats me like she hasnt' seen me in days...like I'm the most important thing to her, like she is to me.

This year Izzie will turn the oh so young age of 5...so weird. I still see her as a puppy, mostly because she still acts that way. I can't imagine life without Izzie, and I won't, but I saw this and even though I don't need this at the time, someone else might want to read it.

Isn't that the sweetest thing...and SO TRUE!!! Now when you get home, great your fur baby like they great you and love them!!

xoxo E

. resolutions / goals .

I'm personally not a big fan of making new years resolutions...they always only seem to stick for one or two months and after that I forgot I made them or just simply don't care anymore. Last year for example, my resolution was to lose weight and be skinny. From the end of the year until the end of February I lost 10lbs, but then I stopped caring so I didn't lose anymore. I think now that I have a blog I can look back and see what I wrote, no more excuses for 'not remembering' what I said I would do in the new year.
So this year I am going to be focusing on goals, instead of resolutions...i think it sounds better.
So, here ya have it...my goals for 2013

1. Graduate college!! I am going in on Monday to apply for graduation, and if all goes well (please say a little prayer) I will be wearing my cap and gown in less than 170 days!!

2. Be healthier. I'm not saying I want to be skinny, because frankly, who cares. I just want to eat healthier, exersize more (take Izzie for a long walk) and take better care of my body. I have recently become a vegetarian, I started in June of 2012, but I wasn't strickt about it. After hearing a video in class (I had my back towards the tv so I couldn't see it, but hearing it was enough), I'm done eating meat. I'm not craving it, I just have to be careful to get my nutrients some other way.

3. Be financially responsible/stable. I tend to get carried away when people around me are spending money, and I need to be more responsible than that. I'm ashamed to say I don't have a saving account....well actually I DO have a savings account, there is just nothing in it, whoops. I need to start saving money and paying bills when they are due. I bought a huge white board so I can write down all my bills and due dates. I'm also working on making a budget and my boss is explaining the envelope method of saving money :) I'll keep ya'll updated.

4. Take off my make up before bed. Honestly, I'm so bad at this. I lay in bed before its time to go to sleep and its really not that hard to take off my make up but its one of those things that I just don't feel like doing. I have really good skin and I look really young (not always a plus) and I want to keep it that way!

5. Get closer to Him. At the moment I am reading a daily devotional. I am under so much stress and pressure and all I need to do is let Him lead me, and all my worries will go away. If only I prayed as much as I worried...I'd be in much better shape!

6. Be a better blogger. My one year blogiversary is January 27th (be on the look out for my first give-away!!) and I feel like I haven't used my blog as much as I wanted too. I want this blog to become part of my life, something to look back at later on to see how much has changed and how much has grown.

7. Organize my house. I HATE when things don't have a place! I need to get more organized in my house, bills have a place, school stuff has a place and stuff like that. Also, I am aweful at picking up after myself...I rather just clean one day of the week and do the whole house, but it woudn't take me nearly as long if I picked up along the way. I . need . to . work . on . that . PRONTO!!

What are your resolutions / goals for 2013? I don't know about anyone else but I think this is going to be a great year!!

xoxo E