thanksgiving recap & courage that pleases

I am a little behind life on a few different things so I thought I would finally get to a Thanksgiving post.  =)  But I trust that you all had wonderful days with your family and friends!

A few things were on my mind this year.  Probably first and foremost was the value of family.  With a child being added to ours, it was a very sweet time to Skype with my family in Hawaii so that grandma and grandpa T and aunty Judy could see Hito.  And then it was time to prep for dinner with grandma and grandpa N and two uncles and great-grandma.  The food was wonderful but the company was better.  Kidding around with brothers, sharing recipes with mom-in-law, my baby smiling at my parents through a computer...it was an amazing blessed day.  And it takes a holiday to make me sit down and remember all of that.  

this was the after dinner nap session with grandpa, Hito, and one of the dogs.  it was adorable.

But in addition to my thankfulness for family, another thought has been on my mind.  And that is to remember that nothing I have is my own or earned by myself.  God has blessed me and my family with health and comfort.  And how often do I take this for granted!  One of my mentors died of breast cancer several years ago but she lived the life she knew God had given her with such singular purpose: His glory.  She kept a blog where she used the phrase "courage that pleases" in talking about what she saw as her calling no matter what her physical condition was.  I have come across another friend who is living life courageously.  Tahnie's story is amazing and not over.  But I sit here and complain about bad hair days.

My story has been going along, trudging at a slow pace.  And these women have looked at life and death and taken what they had and lived without hesitation.  I know that it would be insincere and a lie to say there wasn't pain or fear.  But DESPITE the pain and fear, they have had families, loved people, and changed other lives...whether they knew it or not.

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  My prayer now and for the future is to live life with a courage that pleases.  A courage that pleases my God and shows unmistakably that I know He is the only reason why I live.

 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; 

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in Your hand...

~Psalm 31.14-15~

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P.S.  Speaking of being thankful, I am also thankful for great friends like Caroline who is hosting some awesome giveaways on her blog to help you jumpstart/finish your holiday shopping!  Go check it out!

Cyber Monday special!

Hello everyone!  I hope you all had fantastic Thanksgiving celebrations (I'll post some of my pictures later on today)!  I am definitely doing some Christmas shopping today from some of my favorite Etsy shops!  I would tell you what I'm buying (like I did last year) but I found out that several of my family members read my blog now.  =)  Which is great (love you guys!) but I will be much less specific than I have been in the past.

So in the spirit of Cyber Monday, here is my holiday specials calendar again!  And let me know if you find any amazing deals out there!

November 25 - 28

Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend sale!

Visit snsnsnsibility.etsy.com Friday through Monday to get 20% off your entire purchase to get this season started!!!  Use coupon code "turkeytechdeals" at checkout.  

Visit the shop today (11/28) and use coupon code "cybermonday" for 30% off your entire purchase!  And make sure you look around because starting today through Christmas, there is a sale section with several one of a kind items! (and the coupon works on top of those discounted prices!)

November 29

Handmade Holidays with Cotton Lane

A good friend of mine, Caroline, is hosting a big holiday shindig over at her blog with giveaways and sales from myself and several other amazing handmade artists!

December 1-25

25 Deals til Christmas!

Every day from December 1st to December 25th will have a different deal to help you check people off your shopping list and maybe give other people ideas for you too!

Have a beautiful day and happy shopping!

Sense and Sensibility Holiday Calendar!!!

Can you believe how quickly the holidays are coming?!  I know everyone says this but seriously.  Time is flying!  And I don't know about you, but I am all about good deals and great quality this year.  I have once again promised myself to do as much shopping from small businesses and handmade artists this year as possible.  C'mon!  Help us small businesses out.  =)  As a handmade vendor myself, I'm hoping you all will be doing the same!

So to help you get a handle on what Sense and Sensibility is doing this holiday season, here are some big dates of sales that will be going on and special promotions that I'm participating in!

November 25 - 28

Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend sale!
Visit snsnsnsibility.etsy.com Friday through Monday to get 20% off your entire purchase to get this season started!!!  Use coupon code "turkeytechdeals" at checkout.  
(did you like my funny coupon code?  a little play on the...yeah...I know I can be lame...give me a break - I'm craving mashed potatoes and killer bargains right now.)

November 29

Handmade Holidays with Cotton Lane

A good friend of mine, Caroline, is hosting a big holiday shindig over at her blog with giveaways and sales from myself and several other amazing handmade artists!

December 1-25

25 Deals til Christmas!
Every day from December 1st to December 25th will have a different deal to help you check people off your shopping list and maybe give other people ideas for you too!

{via}

So make sure you come back and visit me in the next couple of days to get in on some great holiday shopping!

Have a beautiful day!

make it better Monday!

Happy Monday everyone!  And I do hope you are all having happy Mondays!  This is the first one in a while that I have felt ready to take on the day and the week.  So here's hoping I actually am able to tackle it all.  =)  But while I'm drinking my coffee, I thought I'd share a few little happy Monday things.

1) New nail polish (finally!)

So I love my little girly kicks that come up periodically and the most recent one (spurred by a recent spa visit with my mother-in-law, grandma, and aunty) is nail polish.  So many of my favorite fashion bloggers (like this one and this one too.  btw, they are ordinary fashion bloggers who know how to make smart choices without breaking the bank!) use nail polish so often with their outfits that I have been wanting to finally buy a new nail color.  I have not bought nail polish since college...which was...a while ago.  Let's just leave it at that.  So now, I present to you (drumroll, please) my new nail color.  And I am totally in love the the sparkle and great mauve color that I have with it.  Yup, I am on a girly kick alright.  =)

miss independent by Nicole from O.P.I (available at Target!)

2) Baby & Hubby (of course!)

I couldn't really have a make it better Monday post without talking about the men in my life.  =)  So rather than talking, I'll just show you.  

he's very smiley right now  

and totally loves chilling with dad  =)

3) Cake pops (my new obsession)

I am not really sure where this interest came from but I love how versatile and easy to serve these babies are!  You prep before hand and just bring a tray out when they are ready to serve!  (I am starting to think ahead for the holidays so that could be where this is coming from.) I started out seriously but couldn't help myself when I found some fun ones too.  =P

{via} who doesn't love the minions from Despicable Me?!

That's it for this week!  Have a beautiful day!

happy birthdays and a happy friday!

It is already November!!!  Yikes!  How did we get here sooooo fast?!  It seems like I just found out I was pregnant and now I have a seven week old baby!  It seems like I was just dealing with last winter and here it is starting to rain and get cold again in Cali!  (Dear God, I will try my best not to complain about the heat next summer.)  =)  It seems like I was just doing this last year and here we are, another twelve months have passed!

And that being said, I am giving a birthday shout out to two of my favoritest bloggers and dear friends that I have come to know through the blogosphere.  There are an abundance of wonderful people out there but I think these ladies are two of the greatest!  Sandy has a great blog full of fashion, food, and she is expecting her first baby soon!!  (so excited for you, Sandy!)  Ms. Megan has an adorable blog with movie reviews, her fav books, and she has two Etsy shops for beautiful cards and adorable little embroidered hoops!

Her birthday was on the first so this is a little bit of a belated shout out!  Happy belated birthday, Sandy!!!

Megan's birthday is tomorrow so swing by her blog and leave some love!

And then my family has kindly reminded me that my birthday is coming up on Sunday.  And I thought this is a great time to have a little sale in the Etsy shop.  

So check it out and get 15% off your entire order with coupon code "happybdayeveryone" from today through Sunday (11/6)!  I added several new items this past week and will probably be adding more this weekend so check it out and pass on the word!  

Have a beautiful day and weekend!