Bring On Lemons

This bracelet is simple, understated, and elegant. I slipped it on last evening and was impressed with the way it goes on. There are no clasps to wrestle with and you don't have to worry about it falling off. I even wore it to bed to make sure it was truly comfortable. It's shiny and adorable. This would be a great buy for yourself as a pick me up, or as a gift for a friend or daughter. It's nice and sparkly and the message is oh so sweet! It's comfortable to wear as an everyday piece too. I received this product at a reduced rate in exchange for my honest review. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IPOOWCY #CarlyCreation

#LILLELoveLettersApplication This post began as part of the Lillebaby Love Letters Application I was encouraged to write by a friend. It's turning into such a great moment of reflection. Thank you as always Lillebaby for helping me love my current role just a wee bit more! xoxox When it comes to gifts, my husband has given me the greatest one of all. He has blessed me with 2 amazing children, adopted my 2 older children, AND allowed me to be a stay at home mom. He goes above and beyond when it comes to appreciating my special role and he thanks me for all that I do. I’m a big advocate for attachment parenting, breastfeeding, babywearing, and my husband refers to me as the “Crunchy Mama” but he’s behind me 110% and isn’t afraid to change a diaper, puree up some baby food, turn the garden under so we can plant even more yummy foods next year, and yes…he even babywears. He’s the dad babywearing at home as well as at the county fair. He can tell you the different between a woven ...

I've been blessed these last few weeks - gorgeous weather and an opportunity to fill in as our church secretary and this means I am responsible for placing the SCRIP order. I'm no expert and I'll save you the lengthy story about exactly how SCRIP works. The short version is this: You buy or order gift cards through your church and the stores give a percentage back to the church. I've always shied away from doing this with my Starbucks card because I'm a Gold Card holder (and I accumulate points when I reload and use my Gold Card). As I was placing the SCRIP order this week, I came up with the following plan - which I now believe is my best PIF idea so far for 2014! Buy a $25 Starbucks gift card through the SCRIP program at church (7% or nearly 63 cents goes back to the church) Register the new $25 gift card into your Starbucks account Transfer the $25 balance from the new card onto your Gold Card Use your Gold Card to buy a drink or pay for the order of ...

Wouldn't you love to send a special Valentine to that certain someone in your life? This year, I want to help you do that! You will have a choice whether I send a food prize or a gift card and the recipient must live in the United States (sorry to our far away friends - we love you just the same)! Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Entries must be received before Noon (central standard time) on Friday, February 14th 2014. The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced in the Rafflecopter form as well as being announced on my business Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/successwithrelax?ref=hl The winner must email me with the name and address of the recipient as well as their choice (food or card). Emails must be sent to: crystaljotto@gmail.com with the subject line: I WON! The winner has 24 hours to claim their prize. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today, I received a very polite email letting me know that I had not won a literary contest I had submitted a story to. For some reason (call it human nature if you will) rejection brings me to a funny place. I hear every negative comment that has ever been called to my attention. Those thoughts fill my mind and I fight them off saying 'Crystal, not everyone can win. Toughen up. Where's that lemonade attitude you talk about?' and then I start second guessing myself. 'Who are you to tell other people to be positive when you're sinking into the muck and mire of negativity?' on and on.... And then - I am reminded to breathe. Life comes with it's very own phone-a-friend option when you don't have all the answers. I grabbed my phone and called a friend. Sent an email to my husband. Wrote in my journal. I started to hear positive encouragement. I saw the love in my children's eyes. I remembered that Dr. Suess was rejected numerous times before becoming...

Today's post title is inspired by the fabulous song that is likely going through your head right now "I still belong, don't get me wrong, you can speak your mind but not on my time...you can live your life, but this is my life..."etc... The topic however is inspired by a dear friend who recently said to me "why is it so hard for people to be real and have a conversation about things they disagree with?" I've been thinking about that queestion and the conversation that it inspired - what she was really talking about is feedback. Why is it so difficult to tell someone that you'd like them to do something differently? We beat around the bush, and sometimes never say what's on our mind. Isn't this really the rooot cause of relationship problems? The cause of dating mis-haps, family arguements, and the underlying issue that often results in anger and fighting? Before you answer, let me toss out some scenarios: 1) You're dating someone ...

Each day is a gift in and of itself. Each day is actually a two-fer...as in: the day is a gift, and the day brings you a gift. The key is finding the gift some days. Today we received some bad news about the farm transition and expansion. I won't go into details, but there were so many gifts buried beneath the superficial struggles throughout the day. The struggle: The cows were too hot and not milking much The gift: Mark got to spend time with his Dad putting together the sprinkler system The struggle: Financing problems we had not planned for The gift: a team of professionals on the county/state/and bank level who pulled together to help us understand what we can do moving forward to make this less problematic. The struggle: Finding time for engagement pictures The gift: We scheduled them...and it means we have an afternoon together (may not be the location or time of day we originally planned, but it will be perfect since we are together) The struggle: No help for mil...