giveaway: albion fit!

Albion fit offers a variety women's fitness and swimwear, almost acting as a one-stop-shop for all your upcoming summer needs!  I love wearing workout clothing, mainly to make myself feel as though I actually working out...it's a terribly genius trick I play on myself.  Albion fit sent me one of there go long crew tops, and if I am being totally honesty, I've slept in it for three nights straight.  It is really comfortable, long (perfect for a growing belly!), and best of all: thumb holes. 

also, make sure to check out their swimsuits!

enter to win:

one of these same tops in your choice of color!

To be eligible to participate in the giveaway, you must first "Like" Albion Fit on Facebook and you must also pin your favorite item from albionfit.com onto one of your Pinterest boards and leave a comment on this post with the link to that specific pin. 

Giveaway ends Friday, good luck!

(also!  memeandhe15 gets you $15 off 

any purchase of $50 or more until may 24th!)

giveaway: firmoo sunglasses

I have an exciting giveaway for you today from Firmoo Glasses!  Firmoo is the World's Most Popular Online Eyeglasses Store with 580K+ fans on Face book. Their mission is to offer varieties of unbelievable cheap yet fashionable prescription & Plano eyewear to the consuming public. All of their eyewear is directly from affiliate factory, so their price is 85%~90% lower than that in the traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Here are my favorite Firmoo sunglasses, which I shared about a year ago (I still wear mine all the time!)

Firmoo has tons more sunglasses to choose from, which you can check out on their sunglasses page.  

My current favorite are these: 

You can also check out how other bloggers and customers are styling their Firmoo sunglasses:

If you want to have Prescription Sunglasses, Firmoo also offers great tips on how to make your eyeglasses into sunglasses!  

Onto the Giveaway:

PRIZES: 6 winners will win $20 sunglasses E-voucher each. The vouchers only can be used on Firmoo sunglasses.
But, if there are 50+ competitors one grand prize winner will receive a pair of fashionable sunglasses, shipping included!

All you need to do is visit the Firmoo site and leave a comment telling me which pair of eyewear you would love to win.

that's it! Our winners will be chosen on Monday, May 27th.

Good luck!  

ps. To order a pair of sunglasses, check out their order page and their tracking and shipping page.

a date in harrisburg

For our weekly date last night we went into Harrisburg and tried out a new restaurant called Arepa City, which serves authentic Venezuelan food.  We both tried three different kinds of arepas, which are a cross between fried cornbread and a tortilla and then stuffed with a variety of vegetables, cheeses and meats.  It was delicious and really fun to try something different.  After dinner we walked along the river for a while and had some really good conversation about our relationship and some areas we are working on.  I am thankful for a husband who challenges me and wants the best for our marriage.  We kind of forgot how much we enjoy spending time in Harrisburg and plan to go back a little more often this summer.

20 weeks

I have hit the half way mark in this pregnancy, and time has been going surprisingly fast.  This is the point when we could find out our baby's gender, but we are waiting until the birth.  Of course we are both really curious, but it is exciting to wait.  The other day we were feeling the baby kick, and david was pretty sure he felt a boy part...but he couldn't be certain ;)

Thankfully I have been feeling great besides some tiredness  here and there.  Oh, and david won't let me leave out the increase in emotions ;) It is a crazy thing feeling this belly of mine growing little by little each day.  And people have no qualms about giving me the play-by-play of its' growth: "wow! you sure are popping out today!"  "you're getting the pregnant lady waddle already!" Thank you.  Yesterday the cashier at a local drugstore said, "I'm asking this with caution, but are you expecting?"  You don't know how badly I wanted to just stare blankly at her.  She was lucky that day.  Here is a little tip that will help eliminate lots of awkward moments: unless a woman's water is breaking all over your drugstore floor, don't ask if they are pregnant. 

Here's to twenty more weeks...hoping they are as enjoyable as the first twenty!

happy mother's day!

my beautiful mama and me

I am a big believer in mothers day being a day to celebrate all women, so when a poem was shared in church this morning that encompasses all walks of motherhood, I was excited to share it with you:

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you
To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.
To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst
To those who have aborted children – we remember them and you on this day
To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be
To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths
To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you
To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you
This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

lately...

We have started composting our food scraps again.  Actually, we live right next to a compost collector where other people do the actual work of composting the food scraps, so it is a little embarrassing that we hadn’t been composting for a time.

I planted a few things on our patio.  Nothing like last year, because that was before I realized our patio doesn’t get any sun.  So I’ve planted a few shade friendly flowers and vegetables.  Seeing those little sprouts emerge is one of my favorite things.

I bought this book.  David and I have been on a quest to simplify and take responsibility for our place on this planet, and I am determined to continue this journey as we add a little one to our family.

We have been reading this book.  I can grow tired of all the Christian self-help books out there, but this book is one of a kind.  The chapters are divided by subject (for example: On Economics, On Family, On Women in Leadership), and Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo speak honestly about their beliefs.  It has been so challenging to my faith and just what we need right now.

I’ve been quite exhausted.  The other evening I laid down for a ten minute power nap, and next thing I knew it was 11:30pm.  Meanwhile, David was hosting seven of my favorite students in our living room and they were eating waffles. Waffles! I can’t believe I slept through waffles.  I blame baby.

I have gotten some wonderful advice on having a baby.  Someone told me the other day, “It isn’t a mistake that you two are having this baby.  You are going to hear a lot of advice from people, but feel confident that God is equipping you to raise this child.”  I needed that reminder.

a few from the phone

1. a 20 week baby...halfway done cooking!

2. an accidental photo...the best kind. 

3. baby needed a burrito. I had nothing to do with this.

4. david brought me leftovers from a dinner out.  selfless, I tell you.

josh ritter concert

This past weekend we went to a Josh Ritter concert on campus.  Josh is one of david's top five favorite artists, and while he has seen him in concert before, I never had and we were both really excited.  Like, fourth and fifth people in line excited.  Actually, I'm not really sure how that happened, but we did end up being at the very front of the line to go in and even talked with Josh for a minute before he went inside to set up.  He really is a fantastic artist, but my favorite thing is that he grins like a fool the entire time he plays.  He just looks like he still can't believe how fortunate he is to be playing his music for others.  I like it.  I may or may not have teared up about it during the concert.  But whatever. Our close friend did a short interview with him after the concert, which you can see in the second photo.  Check out some of his music!

a few more from margot's visit

Dave's mom flew back to Chicago on Monday morning.  We had a great week with her and it was fun showing her our home and the things we love to see and do in our area.  We kind of love showing off the East Coast and all it has to offer, so we love having out of town family and friends visit. hint hint.

a new cafe, wildlife, and a picnic at dusk

 Saturday we ate breakfast at a new cafe in Harrisburg where the english muffins are homemade and we can't stop talking about them.  We also popped into a local bookstore and walked along the river.  We then headed to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park, which is where we went with maggie last fall, but we still can't really talk about that because we miss our little roommate so much.  We are kind of in love with all the animals at Lake Tobias, but there is no denying that I have a special bond with the goats.  Dave and his mom had to finally tear me away from their pen.  I was ready to move right in (but can we please get a goat?). We finished the day with a picnic by our favorite river with homemade guacamole and italian sausage.