The Awesome List - May

Am I right??  I hope that most of you wouldn't argue this fact - there are just too many good things about this season.

Based on the types of days I've had this past week, focusing on something fun like summer is good for my soul.  Luckily, my friend Anne hosts an Awesome link-up on the first Tuesday of every month, so let's dive right in!

|| Sunshine.  Sure, there is sunshine in the winter.  But I've found that the sunniest days are usually the coldest.  In June, July and August, bring on the sunshine and hot days!

|| The lake.  Have you been to a beach in Chicago on Lake Michigan?  So much fun.  I also enjoy Lake Michigan on the other side, on the shores of Michigan.  For a moment, it feels like you could be on the beach somewhere!

|| June birthdays!  Not only my birthday, but my Dad's, sister in law's, my Mom's, father in law, brothers in law are all in June.  And A's follows up in early July!

|| Drinks in the backyard.  Nothing better than sitting in the back, eating dinner with my family, putting the kids to bed and sitting around the fire.  Drinks with neighbors can't be beat!  (No driving and no babysitters needed.  Win-win).

|| Big Brother.  This is by far Amanda and my favorite show.  Can't wait!

|| Weekly play dates with my besties.  Three of them have summers off - so getting together is much easier!

|| Cottages and Boats.  My husband's grandparents have a lakehouse not too far from here.  We don't make it up as often as we should, but when we do the days are full of sun, boating, beers and family.  Perfection.

|| Flip flops and pedicures.  It's pretty nice to be able to just slide sandals on and go.  Long gone are the days of taking five minutes to bundle up, just to walk to the car.  Twenty if the girls are with me!

What are you looking forward to the most this summer?

7 Awesome Things about the Midwest

On certain days, I need to focus on good things.  Like today, for example.  We all know that I love the winter - the more snow, the better in my mind.  There is one part of winter I do not like, and that is ice.  If you are in the Midwest, or specifically Chicago, you know that we woke up to the world covered in ice.  Cars, roads, sidewalks.  On days like today, I need to be reminded why I love living in the Midwest so much.

Cue the Awesome link-up, from Anne at Love the Here and Now.  Today I'm focusing on the awesome things about living in the Midwest.

|| We get to experience all of the four seasons, and they each last longer than one week.

|| With the above, we have the opportunity to wear any kind of clothing for at least a few months out of every year.

|| In some parts of the Midwest, it is so flat that you can see for miles. (just like the song).  This is one of my favorite parts about rural Iowa, truly beautiful.

|| We are truly smack dab in the middle of the country, which means that we can get to almost every large city in the U.S. with less than five hours in an airplane.  No cross country flights!

|| There are very little earthquakes.  The few that we have had are barely recognizable.

|| We produce more corn than other region in the United States (shout out to Iowa on this one!)

|| "Midwest is Best". 

Do you live in the Midwest?  What else would you add?

Linking up with Anne.

Home Sweet Home + Adspace Giveaway!

"Home Sweet Home" has never sounded better.  If you follow me on Twitter you probably saw that my husband and I were stuck in Austin while Chicago got 20 inches of snow over night.  We made it home, and it has never felt better.  I will share more about our trip soon, but wanted to share some Awesome things about being home!

|| The long sleepy hug I got from A this morning.

|| The huge smile on E's face when she saw us.

|| Sleeping in my bed.

|| Puppy kisses as soon as I walked in the door, and cuddling with him all night.

|| Changing my clothes and taking a shower. 

|| Coming home to three packages in the mail was fun!

|| Realizing that my amazing neighbors had not only shoveled for us, but cleared my car and shoveled a spot in back for Charlie!

|| Although this was snow's fault, it is truly beautiful outside.

|| A very full DVR.

|| All new makeup.  (We still don't have our bags, so I had to go shopping!)

I am so, so grateful for my wonderful neighbors, their daughter for taking care of Charlie, and my in-laws for having the girls stay with them while we were gone.  I honestly don't know how the weekend would have been without them.  It really takes a village, and this was the perfect example of that!  I wish that you all have neighbors, family and friends nearby and are able to help each other out.  Community is a true blessing!

Linking up with Anne and Emily.

See below for the giveaway!

This giveaway is always a lot of fun, but this time it's even more fun because instead of one winner taking all the spots, we are going to have SEVENTEEN winners! That's right, 17 of you lucky ladies are going to walk away from this giveaway with a free ad spot. That means your odds of winning are much, much, higher than on most giveaways. Here's the list of ad spots up for grabs (unless otherwise noted, each of these spots is for one month).
That's a pretty significant list of spots, amiright?! It's a bunch of bloggers who are AWESOME to sponsor, and I guarantee you'll see a jump in your stats from joining with them! Here are the ladies providing these prizes.

All the Joys//Atlanta Area Moms Blog//HappyPrettyBlog//Hey Kerri Blog Hey Sabrina Faith//How to Make a Life//Keeping Up with Ashley and Cody//Love the Here and Now Re-Solve//Route Bliss//Sage//Seriously, Sarah? Southern Hope//Treats and Travels//Wife Mommy Me//The So-Called Homemaker

Now here are the rules: 

 -ALL entries will be verified. Although we are saving you some time by not asking for your usernames for the Bloglovin' and Instagram, your entries must be verified before you can officially be designated a winner.  

 -When notified of your winning entry, you must claim your prize (and if necessary, verify the entry) within 24 hours or we will choose a new winner. 

 -Giveaway open to everyone everywhere!

Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the Love of Winter... And a Giveaway

Well folks, winter finally arrived in the Midwest.  I've lived here my entire life, and I don't remember a time when it took so long to snow.  Snow usually falls in October-November, December at the latest.  And here we are in January with the first snowfall.

For a snow-loving gal like me, it's been a long, dry, brown three months.  I realize I am the odd one out here - all of my social media feeds are overflowing with comments about how awful the weather is. 

So, on this Awesome Tuesday, I've decided to share the reasons why winter is awesome.

|| You get to wear that cute new hat you bought in the Fall

|| The dead, brown, ugly grass is finally covered with pretty white snow

|| There is no better reason to stay inside and curl up with a good book

|| Seeing kids so excited about snow falling

|| Watching those kids play in the snow, so happy - like there is nothing better in the world

|| Making ice cream out of snow

|| Sometimes school and work is cancelled

|| Scarves, sweaters, boots

|| Cuddling in a warm bed

|| Comfort food.  This needs no further explanation.

Of course, there are parts of winter that aren't so great, but if I were to focus on those I might never make it through the five months!  What are your favorite parts of winter?

And now on to the giveaway!  I am helping Faith from Life w/Mrs. G and the Artist celebrate her blog's five year anniversary!

Anne @ Love the Here & Now // Stephanie @ Wife Mommy Me // 

Bex @ Butcher's Niche // Rebecca @ The Adventures of Bug & Boo // Laila @ Front Row Mama // Sarah @ Joyfully Organized // Amanda @ Knock on Wood // Hayley @ A Beautiful Exchange // Meagan @ All The Joys // Faith @ Life w/ Mrs G & the Artist

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linking up with Anne and Amanda for the Awesome linkup.

 

It's Pretty Awesome + Giveaway

I'm late to the party today, but I'm here!  I had some family things going on last night that prevented me from blogging (the shame!).  Even though I'm a little late, I couldn't pass up the chance to link up with Anne for my list of Awesome!  After last night's events, this could not have came at a better time.  Let's refocus and share some awesome, shall we?

// Jersey Mike's.  It's my lunch choice today, and I forgot how fresh and delicious it is!

// Christmas traditions.  I love having new traditions with my immediate family, on top of older family traditions.  Our newest one is coming to the blog next week!

// Bonding with my sister over family drama.

// Getting a project I've been working on at work done (and funded!)

// Reeses Trees.  Is there anything better?  Maybe Reeses Pumpkins.  Or Hearts.  Or Eggs.

// At-home Date Nights.  We watched more of Homeland - Season 3.  It's becoming a little ridiculous - but I'm hooked.  I need to find out what happens - don't tell me!  I hope I don't lose interest like I did with these shows.

// Christmas Shopping.  I absolutely love this.  Picking things out for loved ones, watching their excitement as they open the gift.  Gift giving is my fave!

// Packages from bloggy friends.  I got an amazing box from Lauren - more on that next week!

// Getting an awesome parking spot at work.  This is rare, so when it happens it can really make my whole day.

// E getting her first invite to a birthday party... for someone other than my friends' kids.  This is huge, as she is a shy kid... so making new friends on her own is a really big deal!  (Even if she doesn't want to go to the party...)

So, what is awesome in your life?  Please share the awesomeness!

One more piece of awesome for you.... check out this amazing giveaway, and enter for your chance to win.  Good Luck, wouldn't be awesome if you were the winner?!

Anne | Emelia | Meagan | Kasey | Heather | Sarah | Jenn Rachael | Jae | Sabrina | Krista | Lindsay | Vivian | Becca

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Awesomeland + A Giveaway!

Who watched Modern Family last week?  Awesomeland seems like a place I would like to go.

The Awesome link-up was created by Anne and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite link ups.  Who couldn't take time out of their day to focus on great things going on in life?  Let's get to it.

 

 

1.  Leftover Halloween candy (although I'm debating if this is truly awesome...)

 

2.  Texts from blog, turned real life friends

 

3.  Firepits in the Fall

 

4.  A Hawkeye win!

 

5.  Lemon Essential Oil in my water

 

6.  Going out to dinner with my besties - and everyone having an awesome meal.  New favorite restaurant!

 

7.  Watching E finish a difficult puzzle - all by herself

 

8.  Payday.  Until it's time to pay the bills!

 

9.  Travelling home to Iowa

 

10.  Planning vacations - St. Thomas here I come!

 

Do you know what else is awesome?  Giveaways!  Enter below for a chance to win a $105 Visa giftcard as well as ad space!

 



Lisa @ Showered With Design // Katelynn @ XO, Katelynn // Liz @ The Fitness Blondie //Emily @ Martinis & Bikinis // Brianne @ Being Bracco // Karissa @ Karissa and Company // Rebecca @ Renovating Rebecca // Amanda @ As The Wine Cork Turns//Anne @ Love The Here & Now // Justine @ Life As A Baltimore Girl// Just Jessie //Janessa @ Running on Empty //Amber @ InDuffinitely Me // Emelia @ Dream Big and Buy The Shoes // JC @ Sweet Love and Ginger // Kate @ Green Fashionista // Brianna @ Sincerely Brianna Leigh//Kelsey @ Random Randts // All The Joys // Molly @ Awfully Big Adventure //Kelsey @ Blonder Side of Life// Just Georgia Peachy//Meghan @ Champagne and Suburbs // Amanda @ Knock on Wood //Mary @ Eat Drink and Be Mary//Misty @ Handbags and Handguns //Ericka @ This Crazy Thing Called Life // Nancy @ Sincerely and Sarcastically// Classy & Sassy Mrs. // Keeping Up With Ashley & Cody

 

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This Is Awesome

I'm a big fan of taking a moment and counting my blessings. On walks, in the morning, driving around town. There are so many amazing things happening all around me that taking the time to actually write them down helps me focus on what really matters in life.

Last week, my bloggy friend Anne wrote a list of things that are just awesome based on The Book of (even More) Awesome by Neil Pasricha.  After some wonderful feedback, she has made this in to a linkup - where we can share our lists of awesome on the first Tuesday of every month.


Sleeping with the windows open, while being comfy and warm under numerous blankets.

Not craving Diet Coke anymore.

Retail therapy - especially while there are great sales going on.

Cuddling with toddlers just before they fall asleep.

An unexpected hug from your spouse.

The smell of freshly cut grass.

Baking a dessert from scratch.

Watching your children accomplish something they have been working on.

Putting together a puzzle.

Finishing a good book.


What are some things in your life that are awesome?  I'd love to hear them.