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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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)

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.


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.

On Saturday I finally became the proud owner of a library card. It was a spontaneous decision and I couldn't feel more motivated to start reading more books. Up until now I have really been lacking in the reading department. I have quite a few books I purchased at the book sale earlier this year. I intended to participate in a Summer reading challenge that I failed miserably at only reading 1 book. Now that winter is approaching, there is nothing I love more than snuggling up on the couch in my blankets with a hot cup of coffee or tea. The perfect equation to add a book. It also works out that the Semi-Charmed Winter 2014 Book Challenge just launched on November 1st. I can totally get on board.

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Happy Saturday! It's a cold one here in Upstate NY (36 Degrees!). I think it's Mother Nature's way of telling us winter is coming and we best get ready. We had our first accumulating snow yesterday. Nothing over the top but it was sticking to the ground for a few hours. It never seizes to amaze me when I see the first snow related accident into the ditch. It's like people forget what it's like to drive in snow from one year to the next. I mean come on, we only get around 5 to 6 months of non snow months. It can't be that hard to remember.

Anyways, now that it's going to be consistently cold outside, it's time to start getting organized. The summer months are much to precious to waste indoors cleaning, so now that I will be spending more time inside I want it to be clean and organized. I am not the biggest fan of winter, but I must admit I love to make my home feel warm and cozy this time of year. I like to pull out the seasonal candles and decor to make my home feel inviting. I however can't do that until I get cleaned up.


Today I want to share my tips for getting stuff organized in a smooth way. No chaos here. Once I am done writing this post this is how I am going to spend most of my weekend. I can't complain to much. I will be doing this in my pajamas with a hot cup of coffee just inches away at all times, and music jamming in the background. Cleaning and organizing doesn't have to be a bad thing :) Follow these tips and you will be on your way to less clutter and a happier living space:

• Make a list of all of your rooms you want to tackle. List everything that needs to be accomplished in each room. Not all rooms will need major attention, so this will help give you a starting point.

• Pick the rooms that need less attention first. This way you can whip through them and leave the biggest areas for last. For me the rooms that need the least attention are my dining room and bathroom.

• Remove all clutter off of all surfaces first. For example if you are in your living room and your coffee table is cluttered with magazines or dishes, these can be eliminated quickly by putting the dishes in the kitchen and recycling the magazines/flyers.

•  Now that you can see all of your surfaces, wipe down and dust everything. Don't forget to dust around the ceiling and in corners. Cobwebs can be hiding anywhere, and getting them cleaned up is the first step is getting that clean feeling in your space.

• Next I will tackle any cabinets or closets. Pulling everything out if usually the best plan of attack. For example, in my bedroom closet I hang most of my work clothes and store my shoes, bags, coats, and any other little thing that doesn't have a place. Often it looks like a bomb went off in there any is very hard to find matching items. Pulling everything out makes this an easier job.

•  Now that you have everything out, sort through things that you use and things that you don't. Bag up anything you haven't used in 6 months. Chances are if you had no use for it in 6 months you probably won't use it.

• Once you have sorted and bagged up some stuff, take care of the rest of the clutter and things on the floor. Put everything away in its place. 

• Now that you have wiped everything down, got rid of cobwebs, organized its closet/cabinet space, and cleaned up the floor you should be able to vacuum or sweep. You always want to save this to the end. 

 There you have it. A plan of attack to get clean and organized. And you did it all in your pajamas. Pretty sweet deal! I hope you get some things accomplished this winter!