Thursday, January 15, 2015

a REAL Update

Hi Llama friends! Amanda here again. But this time I have a real update for you!

Melissa's crazy situation should be over at the end of the month. Praise! I'm not sure if she will return to blogland immediately, or take a little time off, but either way we will still love her and support her. Amiright?

Because she's had to be away so long, myself and several others in our #Tribe have offered her current and upcoming sponsors free ad spots on our blogs. Just send us an email and we'll get you taken care of.

The spots available are first come first serve. Once you email your desired blogger about their spot, they can let you know if their spots have been filled or not. If so, go with your second or third choice! :) who doesn't like options right?

2 Maple spots on Knock on Wood   -   email Amanda

2 Looking Fancy spots on The So-Called Homemaker   -   email Christine

2 Simple Love spots on Love the Here and Now   -   email Anne

2 Smidge of Joy spots on All the Joys   -   email Meagan

2 medium spots on Sage   -   email Cassie

2 Takeover Tuesday spots on Hey Kerri Blog   -   email Kerri

2 Soul Provider spots on Ember Grey  -  email Emily

A few others who do not yet offer sponsorships have said that they will also chip in and tweet out some posts for Melissa's current and upcoming sponsors as well. Please email me your information and I will pass it along to them.

Thank you so much for your patience and support during this time.

Keep praying, tweeting, emailing, snapping, and texting her your love!


Monday, January 12, 2015

A Non-Update

Hey Llama Readers! It's Amanda again. I just wanted to drop in and say that Melissa and her family are still dealing with this crazy situation and we are not sure how long she may be away. Unfortunately she is at the mercy of others' schedules at the moment and no timeline is available.

I will definitely keep you all posted if I have any more news to share.

Thank you for keeping Melissa and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Continue to text her, email her, snapchat her, tweet her, instagram her, and leave her sweet comments. I want her to be flooded with our love and support when she is able to return to Blogland.

Have a wonderful week!

Amanda

Monday, January 5, 2015

UPDATE

Hey guys! It's Amanda from Knock on Wood.

I'm stopping by to let you loverly Llamas know that Melissa is going through a yucky personal situation right now that might keep her away for a bit.

I can tell you that she and her family are all healthy and nothing has happened to her furkids either. Please keep Melissa and her family in your prayers.

Tweet her, Email her, or leave her a sweet comment on this post to let her know we are here for her and that she's in our thoughts.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Amanda

Friday, January 2, 2015

New Year, New Love!

Happy New Year, Friends! 
I'm happy to announce that today, not only am I linking up with Meagan for Blogger Love, but I am also co-hosting with her! I'm beyond excited! Meagan has been a great person to sponsor this past month! LOVE HER!
All The Joys Friday Favorites
So...
I learned something yesterday - my recovery day/ day off. Despite being 27 years old now, I am afraid I cannot party like I could in my early 20's. Don't get me wrong, New Year's Eve was a blast! But New Year's DAY was rough.

My mother in law came over to bring in the new year with Josh and I. I ended up being the only one drinking. Josh and I thought that she'd be spending the night since New Years with us usually means a few adult beverages and a traditional champagne toast at midnight.

Wrong, Melissa. No one wants to play your reindeer games.
This happened NYE...
She didn't want to spend the night so she only drank sparkling juice. That's all Josh drank too. But that was fine with me! More booze for me. Only someone forgot to remind me that my kids' version of "sleeping in" is 7 AM. Oops. Someone also forgot to remind me that because of the 7 AM wakeup call, and I not only drank a lot but also stayed up until after 1 AM. Ugh.
I was drunk but we were still super cute! xoxo
Thursday was a rough recovery day. But I survived. I'm at work today. Can someone fast forward to May now so I can have another long weekend? Pretty Please?
Actually, no. Now that I say that I don't want to fast forward just yet.

I do have a few things I'm looking forward to this new year. like...
Ainsley will be TWO and Zander will be FIVE.
Ok... I'm a little saddened by this too, because it means my babies getting older. I'm already planning their (joint) birthday party. It'll be zoo themed. Stay tuned for some fun pinterest inspired zoo decor!

My brother in law is getting married in Sept. 
We always take a trip to Jersey once a year. This year we're going later in the year to celebrate a WEDDING! Josh is the best man. He's nervous but I know he'll be great! Even if I have to help him write a speech.

Ok... well, I thought there'd be more than that. Oops. I'm sure there is, but I did have some favorite blog posts from this week, and that's kind of why we're really here today... right? right!

+ Christine // The So-Called Homemaker : Playground workout for Mom's on the go. Um, firstly I cannot say enough how much I LOVE THIS! I'm always trying to find new ways to switch up my workouts. Sure, I just got back into it after almost 5 months, BUT having variety helps. This is a great way to get outside with the kids and do something!

+ Liz // Simply Complex Mom: Entrapped. Y'all... Liz has a way with words. I have very few words that can describe this post, but if you haven't read it already... you should.

+ Kristyn // Chits & Giggles : We Chose Giving. What Kristyn and her husband did for Christmas is truly inspirational. I love to hear stories like this, and it's even better when it's someone I "know". Kristyn and her husband "adopted" a child for Christmas and filled her wish items for gifts. It's so sweet to see people helping other people in need this time of year!

+ Rebekah // The Straight Arrow : Taxi Safety Tips! Would y'all believe I've never ridden in a taxi? My experience with them goes about as far as seeing people whistle for them on movies and T.V. Shows. So, basically I'd be the one you'd see on the news being kidnapped. NOT ANYMORE thanks to Rebekah though! With these safety tips, even a NOOB like me will be OK!

Who were some of your favorites from this week? Or Last week? Link up with me and Meagan to share!
This weekend I'm looking forward to not doing anything. We've already taken the Christmas decorations down, so I get to have a weekend of relaxation and recovery! Lord knows I need it!

Happy Friday, Friends!
xoxo,
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Thursday, January 1, 2015

Dear Running Shoes...

Dear Running Shoes, I've missed you more than I thought I would.

Strange statement, I know... strange but true.

Allow me to explain. On Monday of this week, I put on my running shoes for the first time in about 5 months. I say 5 months because YES, there was ONE DAY when I went running before Thanksgiving, but it doesn't count. I've managed to run every day (so far) since Monday this week, and oh my goodness how I've missed it.

On Monday, Amanda at Keeping up With the Haneys posted a very similar post to this one I'm writing today. I want to point that out because I have no intention to copy her post... I'm simply putting my thoughts to "paper" internet.

Monday I got home from work and it was just me and the dog. It was the first day that we'd had him that he was home all day long by himself. He did a really amazing job, btw. Nothing was torn up and there were no accidents. Proud fur mommy! So we went outside and played soccer in the backyard. Translation: I threw a torn up soccer ball for him and he played keep away while I talked to Kendra.

After soccer, he seemed like he was good and worn out. But I wasn't I had energy still. I wanted to do something. Texts with Christine led to me getting my running walking shoes on.
texts with Christine. We have priorities. ;)
I put them on with every intention to just walk with the dog. I had no idea how he'd do on the leash for a long walk. Sure we've taken small walks around the neighborhood with the kids, but nothing like what I was planning. I wanted to walk and get my heart rate up, I was craving the adrenaline rush that comes from the cardio.

My pace quickened and before I knew it, Gambit and I were running around the block. I had every intention to just go a few feet. A few feet turned into a whole mile. (Thanks, map my run for tracking that for me). I'm still recovering from a cold, so after the mile I declared we were done. I knew we still had to get back to the house. Walking back I called Amanda, thrilled that I had actually ran a whole mile!

I learned something that Monday. Well, I learned a lot of somethings.
1. I really... I mean really missed running! I never really considered myself a runner. I always dreaded that part of gym class. For some reason now, I just really enjoy running. I enjoy the freedom it gives me.
2. Gambit is an excellent running partner! I really swear this dog has had training previously because he does SO well on the leash. When I broke into a slow jog he kept pace perfectly. When I broke into the run he got EXCITED! You could tell this dog was smiling. He really enjoys running! Plus, he looks super scary so- automatic body guard!
3. With Gambit being cooped up in the house all day while we're at work, this is an excellent way for him to get all of that pent up energy out in a healthy way. After the run, he was BEAT. Even walking back to the house I could tell he was done. He played a little more after the kids came home, but he was beat. This is good because he's still very much puppy and this way he doesn't chew anything he's not supposed to at night. This was him after the run, before my shower. "I'm done, mom".
4. I really need to start using My Fitness Pal again. I added the app back onto my phone. I added Amanda on Monday. It's time to get back into the swing of things. If you use it, add me. MCam87

So... this is a lot of rambling, but that's why we're here, right? (Get it? The Rambling Llama?) haha. Anyhoo... I get this kind of sounds like a new years resolution, but it's not really. Not in my mind. This is me remembering how much I love being active and getting back into it. This is me being overly annoying about talking about working out again. Hey, it's on my sidebar. I gotta blog about it at least a little bit, right?
Have you gotten back into an old routine and fell back in love lately?
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