Happy Thursday!

You can find me on

little Mrs. Ruthie's Blog today!!

1 Follower Away from a large group giveaway... thank y'all so much for all your support and readership! You rock! 

1 Day away from Friday!! Scott is celebrating his 28th birthday Friday, and Maddie is celebrating her 14th birthday on Saturday! We have birthday dinner plans on Friday night, then Saturday I have a surprise for them for the day - will take lots of pictures! :-)

Ahhh yeahhhhhh!

Anyone have fun weekend plans!?!?!

Heart Bootcamp

Happy Monday!! Today I have a fabulous treat for y'all as one of my favorite bloggers that I've become so close with is guest posting today! I have to say I just LOVE Ashley from La Luce! She has such a full honest heart and encourages so many people daily by giving back to our communities, growing our faith with God, and just being such a sweet, positive person! :) And she is an Italian sista like me! - so we get along GREAT! hehe oh! and did I mention she has a HOTT etsy shop?? Check out her fabulous items here! Enjoy!!!

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heart bootcamp

So let me first say how much I love that I've gotten to know Amanda these past few months. She and I have tons in common...besides being Italian of course ;)  and I'm so thankful to have met her. She has always been the sweetest encouragement and I love how genuine she is. When she asked me to guest post the first thing that came to mind was a post I wrote a few weeks back. So I wanted to share it with you...

Ever have a day where you feel like everyone is coming down on you? I did for almost two weeks straight. It felt like everytime I encountered someone they were looking to argue, make a point, or just have an attitude. I’m not saying this at all for sympathy, trust me, it's just fact. What’s almost funny about that, is for years I had the worst attitude ever. I was snappy, saying whatever came to mind without thought for how it would make someone feel, and never backed down from an argument. That is something I gave to God awhile ago and I believe He is continuing to work it totally out of me. Not only just not to say anything back or just leave the sitation alone BUT to not even be moved in my deepest of hearts to feel like saying something snappy back AND to use that time to love on them instead.

After the first few times of being in a situations where I was like "ummm where did that just come from?" I started asking God what the heck was going on. I wasn’t in victim mode of “why is everyone being mean ” it was more like… is there something still inside that you want me to see and is this how you’re doing it? Am I doing something to invite this that I need to be aware of? For almost two weeks I didn’t feel like God was saying anything to me about it, so I just kept trying to handle each situation with at least not getting into a negative exchange.

Yesterday though this lady was on a whole other level and while I didn’t say anything rude or argue, I walked away totally pissed and vented to Kevin. While we were in the car later I was thinking about it and God put it on my spirit that “as long as I was still moved at all by situations like this, they were going to keep happening because He has to prepare my heart, and this was just heart bootcamp.” Can you imagine the mental image that accompanied this? Yup… hearts climbing over walls and swinging off ropes into muddy pools of water...my imagination is still that of a child, can you tell?

But once I really started thinking about it, I realized that when God puts a call on your life He has to make sure you are equipped. He has called me to literally spread His love. Spreading His love to his people. People are not always easy to love at times and He wants to make sure my heart can go beyond my own personal defenses or reactions and continue to love especially when it’s hard. I also got understanding that when the enemy is scared of you he will do anything to change your heart and distract you from your purpose. I say this to put a giant spotlight on one of his oldest tricks in his book of whackness. It would only make sense right? If God wants me to love people wouldn’t the enemy want me to resent them or not want to be bothered? Wouldn’t he do whatever he could to change my heart towards people? Not going to work buddy.

If you’re aware of his tricks you can step on his head and keep walking down the path God has for you. I share this because I also don’t want any of you who have been doing GiveLove or whatever you have been trying to do better with in your own life...to feel discouraged if you encounter situations like this along the way. Stay encouraged and  BEING love.

Guest Post: Mrs. Alana's Miscellany

Today while we are driving back the 8 hours from southern Louisiana back to home in Austin, Texas, I have the gorgeous and sweet newlywed Alana from Mrs. Alana's Miscellany posting for me. She also has an amazing Etsy shop that you have to check out! The link is below! Y'all enjoy!! Thanks Alana! :)

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Hi!  I'm Alana and I blog about my newlywed adventures at Mrs. Alana's Miscellany. Amanda is such a sweetheart and I'm happy to be posting for her today!  I guess I should introduce myself:

I'm a Southern girl from a small town in Alabama (Roll Tide!) learning to love my new home in Omaha. Who knew cornfields were so gorgeous? I'm absolutely dreading winter though. I'm used to snow melting before you can even make a snowman.

I met my awesome husband, Mike, on eHarmony last year and am in the process of writing our love story. He's the dork to my nerd, and I thank God for him every day.

My husband is in the Air Force, which means he's gone on missions a lot. Being apart is hard, but my amazing bloggy and twitter friends keep me company when he's gone. The friendships I have with women I've never even met amaze me all the time!

I recently opened my etsy shop, Alana in Love, where I sell my art and possibly the cheapest custom art around. Come by and check it out!  I'd love to make something for you.  :)

 

I hope you'll stop by my blog and say hello! You can also connect with me on twitter or Facebook.

Guest Post: Home is with You

Today Mallorie from Home is with You is guest posting! Just found out this girl is going to be an Austinite in a few short months and can't be mor excited!! She has the cutest Etsy shop and is married to a musician! Show this gorgeous girl some love! :) Thanks Mallorie!!

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Hey guys, I'm Mallorie and I write over at Home is with you... On my blog you can find recaps of my husband and I's adventures, recipes, and my thoughts on life in general.

People often ask me what it's like to be a musician's wife. And I tell them about how wonderful it is to hear him singing and playing his guitar random times throughout the day. I talk about how fun it is meeting all the new people at his shows and on Twitter (and now through my blog), and how it has really helped me come out of my shell and not be so shy. And how I still get butterflies when he uses my name in a song or talks about me on stage...

But the truth is that is only part of it...I've written on my blog before about how we struggle with money. We get asked all the time about getting "real jobs" and that can wear on a person. Dave and I work harder than a lot of people we know that have "real jobs". The amount of things we could be doing to help get his name out there and make sure even just one more person hears his songs is never ending.


We are constantly reminding ourselves to slow down and take breaks, but it can be hard. This is a crucial time for his music and we don't want to miss an opportunity. His music is too wonderful to not be heard. We are preparing to move to Austin in January, and we can't wait! Texas in general has always been so supportive of Dave's music and we love it there. We are so excited to see where the music takes us...

Make sure to stop by the blog and say hi! You can also find me on twitter here, I'd love to "meet" you all :)
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Home is with you...

Guest Post: Mrs. T, Naturally

Today Kristen from Mrs. T, Naturally, is guest posting for me, and I can't tell you how much I seriously adore this girl! She has such a strong heart and mind, and has a way of explaining or saying things that I am never good at. I love who she is as a person, and she has the most beautiful little girl, Emma! Thank you soo much Kristen! Everyone, enjoy... and please visit her blog - you will love her! :)

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Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 19:17

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

We have so much.

We want so much more.

Where is your heart?

What is it focused on?

Loving others?

Mass consumerism?

Giving to those in need?

Pure and genuine religion to God means caring for others, and not being consumed with the world...

Religion is not:

going to church 3 times a week

leading a bible study group

praying before every meal

waiting til marriage to kiss

waiting til marriage to have sex

not drinking alcohol

refraining from smoking

refraining from pleasures in general

wearing skirts below your knee

going on a mission trip with your youth group every year

I hear Christians say, "I hate religion." 

"I don't have a religion, I just believe what the Bible says." 

"I'm not 'religious' I just love Jesus." 

Religion is not a list of rules.

Religion is simple. It is love. 

Love your neighbors. Love your Creator.

Guest Post: Sweet and Sour Showers

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday! Today I am sooo excited to have Jac and Leah talk about their awesome party planning, mouth watering desserts and foods, and crafts! I am such a huge fan as I'm doing a lot of the planning as a Maid of Honor for my mother's wedding, and my little sister who is also Maid of Honor will be helping plan with her bachlorette festivities!! Absolutely LOVE these girls!! Show them some love! :-) *Thanks so much Jac an Leah!*

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Hey everyone!  We are Jac and Leah from Sweet & Sour Showers.  We live in Austin like Amanda, and we love reading about all her goings-on.  We were so excited when she asked us to guest post! 

 

We have been friends since high school (although you won't see any 9th grade pics any time soon) and recently took the plunge into the blog world.  Since we're at the age where tons of our friends are getting married and having babies, we have had LOTS of practice planning showers.  What we noticed through all this practice, though, is that while there are tons of wedding and totally over-the-top party planning sites, there isn't a good resource to help girls our age throw a really special shower for our BFFs.

You know what else we noticed?  Sometimes planning showers sucks.  So, we thought it would be kind of fun to blog about that, too. 

 

To start, check out the pics from some of our favorites showers:

 

Monogram Themed Shower

Tapas & Sangria Shower - these are Mexican wedding cookies as party favors

Engagement Brunch - plus paper rosette tutorial

See more pics and read about our party themes here!

So like our Facebook page says, we strive to show you how you can create a memorable shower in an affordable and attainable way (and hopefully sell a few baked treats along the way...)

Did we mention we love to bake?   We thought that blogging about all our showers would be a great way to feature our baked treats, many of which we have customized specifically for wedding-related events.

Here's a look at some of our favorites:

Tropical sugar cookies (our friend was heading to Hawaii for her honeymoon)

Animal print cookies - perfect for any bachelorette party!

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes with Glitter - doesn't get any girlier than that!

Wedding Cake Pops - the ultimate shower treat/favor

You can check out more of our baked treats here, and feel free to contact us if you are in the Austin area.

Since Amanda's mom is about to get married, we can't wait to see what ideas she comes up with and how we can help her with the festivities.  In the meantime, we hope you'll come check out our blog or follow us on Twitter.  Be sure to say hi! 


Happy Planning,

Sweet & Sour Showers

Guest Post: Meet Mrs. Ruthie Hart :)

Hey everyone! I have a very special treat for you today as one of my favorite bloggers and amazing girls, Ruthie, will be guest posting while I'm away! I have grown so close to Ruthie personally within the last several months and you'll read below just how much we really have in common! She is the most fun, full hearted girl who I admire so much! Show her some love for me!! :) *Thank you Ruthie for your amazing post!!*

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Hi there Maggiano Takes Austin Readers! 

My name is Ruthie Hart and I am a fellow Austin blogger and actually went to high school with Miss Amanda. I blog about my little newlywed life over here. Amanda has been such a blessing to me in the blog world. She is beautiful, positive and so supportive of her friends. I <3 her! 

So here I am....

& my two cute boys

(hubby-jon & frenchie-ernie)

Speaking of pups, how adorable is Huxley?!

I remember when Amanda sent me an email saying her and Scottie were getting a tiny little Boston Terrier...I was beyond excited. Although Ernie and Hux haven't met yet, I know they will be BFFs (playdate soon??).

So I know Amanda and I feel the same about our fur-babies.

We are obsessed. 

Well...obsessed is the wrong word. We are in love!

Jon and I picked up Ernie from the breeder in Dallas 2 days after returning from our honeymoon, and it happened to be Valentine's Day. You know how people talk about love at first sight? That is how it was with Ernie. Jon got to meet him a couple weeks before but I had only seen pictures. 

How could you not fall in love with this precious chunk?

 (my first picture with Ernie)

Everyday when I come home from work at 5pm, Ernie is waiting for me (in fact I get more kisses from him than my hubby!). Jon will tell me that if I have somewhere to go after work, Ernie will stress and pace wondering where mama is. 

We play together. We walk together. I talk to him. I spoon him at night. He is somewhere between my baby son and the greatest friend I've ever had. He keeps me company when Jon travels for work. And he always has the funniest expression on his flat little face. 

Ernie brings so much joy into my life. 

Some people have dogs to have a pet. Ernie is more than that. He is my family. 

My family

So enough of the sappy stuff (and yes I sometimes tear up when thinking about how much I love Ernie...can you imagine when I have kids?!), I do blog about fun things too!

I recapped my February 5th wedding in a total of 16 posts.

I've tried my hand at being a domestic diva in the kitchen

And I consider my self pretty crafty :-)

I'd love for you to stop by my blog and say hello!

Guest Post: Heather from Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

Today, Heather, from Finding Beauty in the Ordinary, will be guest posting for me as I'm headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a week! I've grown really close to Heather and she is just so amazing, honest, and so sweet! Please give her a warm welcome and enjoy!! Love y'all! :-) *and thank you Heather for this awesome post!* 
Show her some love!

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 Hi! My name is Heather and I blog over at Finding Beauty in the Ordinary.
I'm a 26 year old, happily married, adventure seeking blog lover :) My
little blog is a place to share what's on my heart, what God is
teaching me, and what my husband and I are up to as we have recently
relocated to a new city for his new job.  I love capturing a moment by
camera and simply finding beauty in the ordinary moment of life. 

The past couple of months, I've started blogging actively, using social media, and have been trying to keep up with it all. Most days, I feel like I'm drowning in information. I get burnt out easily and often feel completely drained from technology! There are days where I feel like I go to bed with my laptop and wake up with it. Oh, and how can I forget my iPhone? That thing is my own personal little companion. I'm addicted.

Have you seen this video before?

 

Some of my favorites points for staying creative were these:

• Carry a notebook everywhere
• Get away from the computer
• Take breaks
• Go somewhere new
• Get lots of rest
• Stop trying to be someone else's perfect

Wowzers! Ummm... I need to watch this again. How often do I take a true break from technology? As in, literally LEAVE the computer, the phone, the emails... and get away? Whether that's going on a long drive somewhere beautiful, or sitting on the beach near the ocean, hiking to the highest peak of a mountain, or going on an evening walk? Or simply doing the mundane things of life like doing the dishes and folding laundry without being interrupted constantly by the ding of the iPhone notifying me of emails?  When was the last time I gave my husband my 100% attention? Not just the "Oh yeah, really, babe? What happened at work today?" question while I'm skimming through my BlogLovin' feed and diverting my attention elsewhere. I'm guilty.

God has blessed us with so much beauty around us. Let's get out there and enjoy it. There's a time and a place for everything, including our blog, email and technology time. Don't get me wrong, I love it all :) But when it all comes down to it, people are the most important things in life... let's invest in them,  and really be with them when we're with them. And take breaks from technology consistently, using our creative talents for His glory, and really live.

Guest Post: Easy Dinner Recipes: Saving Yourself Time and Energy

Today, Sean K., from the Blog Content Guild in Austin, Texas will be guest posting about some easy dinner recipes! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Take it away Sean!

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Easy Dinner Recipes: Saving Yourself Time and Energy

Let’s face it: cooking dinner at the end of day is a hassle. American work life is very demanding, takes a lot of time, and usually depletes a lot of your energy. The goal of most working people is to find easy dinner recipes that are convenient, easy, and affordable. Without the right know how, making dinner easy can be difficult. Let’s discuss some strategies that will help make cooking dinner easy and convenient.

Keep the Recipes Simple and the Ingredients Flexible

What constitutes a simple recipe? There are two main things that decide whether or not a recipe is simple. The first is the complexity of the ingredients. When you receive an ingredient list, does the list contain a lot of items or are the ingredients difficult to create? Any list that exceeds 5 items typically is a more complex recipe. Further, if you have to spend time to create any of the listed ingredients, more than likely, the recipe is going to be complicated.

Next, you should strive to buy ingredients that are flexible – ingredients that can be mixed, matched, and seasoned with a variety of different foods. Buying foods that are flexible will make cooking dinner super easy because you won’t have to spend time deliberating about what item goes with another item. All you have to do is sprinkle your favorite seasoning and cook. Some examples of flexible foods are pasta, chicken, and staple foods such as hamburger meat and any type of noodle.

Also, if you don’t feel like making any effort to cook, you can always opt for a premade meal. Grocery stores have a huge variety of premade meals that will sure to satisfy your hunger. Make sure to check the nutritional labels on them! Sometimes premade meals can be very unhealthy for you, so it’s always a good idea to make sure you’re checking the nutritional content.

Technology and Cooking Tools

Technology has now made cooking dinner easier than ever. There are so many new appliances that have come out that practically take away all the effort involved in cooking. For example, a George Foreman Grill is the ideal cooking tool for cooking all types of protein. All you do is plug in this grill, let it heat up, and after 15 minutes, you’re ready to cook. Chicken is a perfect protein to cook on this grill! Another great tool that’s very useful for cooking is a crockpot. A crockpot is a self-heating pot. All you do is add all your ingredients and seasoning into the pot and watch it cook.

If you implement some of these strategies, you guarantee yourself dinner cooking that’s convenient and easy.