Swap Time! + Holiday Giveaway!

Hello there lovelies! Its Monday, Thanksgiving is next week and I'm finally starting to feel the holiday bug. It's been cold out, and we even saw our first snowfall up here in the north. One of the things that really gets me prepared for all the cold days is a nice cup of tea. I am kind of a sucker for holiday teas.All of the aromas of spices just makes me warm to the core. Thinking about all of the options out there I thought, there has got to be some I never tried because they don't carry them in my area. And like that the Holiday Tea Swap was born! This will be a fun way to swap and try new teas as well as make a new friend. Send a cute holiday card along with some of your favorite teas and viola! All of your tea wishes are met!

Here are the deets:

 

~ Sign ups start today and will run through November 30th. I will randomly draw a name for everyone (You may not get the same person you are sending to) and notify you on December 1st.

~ Please send a minimum of 3 teas to your swap buddy. This is meant to be a swap to experiment with new teas so I am not asking you to send boxes of tea. Just send a few new teas for your buddy to try out.

~Because you are not sending out boxes of teas this should be easy to get shipped out. Please have your teas send out no later than December 10th.

~I will add a link up for everyone to link up a blog post about their swap so we can all see what everyone got to sample! This linkup will go live on Monday December 22nd.

~You do not need to be a blogger to participate and this is open internationally!

I really hope you will participate! This is going to be so much fun!


{{SIGN UP FOR THE TEA SWAP HERE! }}

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I am also apart of a wonderful giveaway this week! What better way to get in the mood for the holidays then to win some CASH?! Here's your chance. Enter below. I will also be posting ANOTHER giveaway I am apart of tomorrow because silly me didn't realize both of these giveaways would be happening the same week! Lots of fun ahead! See you tomorrow!

Ruffles and Rain Boots Motherhood and Beyond Our Poole House Leapfrog and Lipgloss Jordans Onion The Deliberate Mom French Robin Designs Girl on the Move The Trish List Coffee With Jamie JENerally Informed Image Map  Don't forget to visit the beautiful ladies who brought you this giveaway!

Jen of JENerally Informed ♥ | Jennifer The Deliberate Mom ♥ | Celeste of Leapfrog and Lipgloss ♥ | Julie of Girl On The Move ♥ | Lauren of Motherhood and Beyond ♥ | Sarah of Ruffles and Rain Boots ♥ | Tammi of French Robin Designs ♥ | Jordan of Jordan's Onion ♥ | Trish of The Trish List ♥ | Jamie of Coffee With Jamie ♥ | Holly of Our Poole House
  Ruffles and Rain Boots Motherhood and Beyond Our Poole House Leapfrog and Lipgloss Jordans Onion The Deliberate Mom French Robin Designs Girl on the Move The Trish List Coffee With Jamie JENerally Informed Image Map
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Winter Reading- Updated Book List

So on Monday I posted I was going to partake in a winter reading challenge. I did not have books picked out yet so I decided since I have picked out most of my books I would give a quick update.


5 points: Free book of your choice : I was to the library and picked out a book the day I decided to do this challenge so that book is going to be Tales From My Closet by Jennifer Ann Moses (298 pages) Finished 11/13/14)

10 points: Read a book written by an author who has published at least 10 books: This was easy because it seems like most of the authors I wanted to read have put at out at least 10 books. I have been meaning to read  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. So perfect choice. (292 Pages)
10 points: Read a book of short stories. TBA

10 points: Read a book with a food (not a drink!) in the title: This is such a fun topic so of course I had to pick one with a cupcake in the title! I will be reading How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue. (309 pages)

15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you (so no rereads for this one!): There are so many series out there that I want to read so this was hard. I decided to read Matched by Allie Condie. (369 Pages)

15 points:
 Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language: This is an interesting category. I had fun looking these books up. I decided on a book originally written in German called Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. This is also book 1 in a series! (548 Pages)

15 points: Read a book written by a local author (either an author from your state if you live in the United States, or in your country if you live somewhere else—note: author must be from where you currently live).  TBA

20 points: Read a "bookish book" (in which books play an important role, e.g. the setting involves a bookstore or library, a major character is an author, or a book that celebrates reading and books: TBA
 
20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title (N, S, E, W) TBA
25 points: Read a book from a genre you don't usually read. I really wanted to read this book even though it wasn't in my normal go to type of book. My Notorious Life by Kate Manning.

25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title. Be sure to tell us the song name and artist as well! TBA

30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, brunch; update: meals like feast, banquet, picnic will also count, but try not to get too "creative" with your meal words!). TBA

So that's what I have picked so far! If you have any suggestions let me know!


Wellness Wednesday: Massage is saving my life

Seven years ago (Veterans day to be exact) I was riding in the backseat of my brothers sporty Subaru Impreza WRZ. Remember when they were cool? I was bundled up in the backseat on a trip home from my grandmothers. It was a 2.5 hour drive and we were in New Jersey. 7 miles from the Pennsylvania border. 45 minutes from home. I had dozed off when I was suddenly woken from a bad dream. I looked around. I had no idea where I was. Everything hurt. A lot. I heard screaming and yelling. It finally became clear to me. I had just been in a car accident.

I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I glanced down at it and realized it was crushed into the door. My head also hurt. With good reason. It had gone through the window.  I instantly started to cry, then scream. Where was everyone else? I know I wasn't traveling alone. Where was my brother? I tried to find him but couldn't move. A man came up to the car asking if I was okay. He couldn't open the door and I was in hysterics at this point. Emergency vehicles arrived quickly expecting the worse. I was removed from the car and was able to see the scene. It was awful. That sporty cute little WRZ had gone head on with a big SUV. That little car saved my life.

It was truly a miracle. We all made it out alive. Rescue workers in shock. They had prepared for the worst. I would have to if I arrived at that scene. It was a miracle and the scariest day of my life.

Car Accident

Today I am a perfectly healthy 31 year old. I count my blessings everyday. With numerous stints in physical therapy and lots of love and support I am back to as close as I can be to normal. I will never have a normal right hip or knee again. They will always cause me discomfort and pain at times. I already have arthritis starting and more days then not my hip bone is up in my back. I over compensate a lot and that doesn't help either. I needed a plan and something to help with relief.

Massage.

Massage has become my gift from god. Not only is beneficial to my injuries, it is also relaxing. Any injuries you have will be upped when you are stressed. Massage is a great way to release tension and clear the mind. Regular massage can help with issues like anxiety, headaches, fibromyalgia, TMJ, and many other ailments.

I am lucky to be able to get regular massage through a woman I clean for. We trade services. I clean her house every Sunday and she gives me a massage. She is excellent at what she does and has been really beneficial to some of my injuries. I am able to see her regularly and she knows where my problem areas are. She is able to continue to work on muscles that need some extra love because she is familiar with them.

Recently I have been going to the gym more often and experimenting with new exercises. Because of that I have really upset a muscle group in my left hamstring. It has been sore for weeks and I never thought to bring it up in my massage sessions. On Sunday night when I was talking about what areas I wanted to focus on I talked about my sore leg. She was able to focus just on that area and all the surrounding muscles that connect to that area. I have been sore from the massage, but the muscle finally feels like it is loosening up. It doesn't help that because of my permanent injury to my hip these problems are reaccuring. Every week is a battle but massage is helping me through it.

Lots of benefits guys. Shop around and find someone you like. Your body will thank you for it.

Have you had a massage? Do you enjoy them? Do you have injuries that a massage helps?