Confession: I don’t like jam. I never ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, because well I am not a fan of jam or jelly. But Kyle loves it so I ordered a jar during Jacin’s last fund raiser and I’m serious you guys, I could have eaten it with a spoon. We were putting it on everything from toast to turkey sandwiches. In fact, when no one was looking, I would just stick my finger in the jar and eat it just like that.

Head to her Etsy Shop to get yours!

Megan’s co-worker has a child who has cerebral palsy. The little girl suffered complications during birth which left her with cerebral palsy and her twin sister unfortunately did not survive. The Conductive Education Center has been extremely helpful for this family and for other families who have children with disabilities. The Gap is stepping in to help raise money for the center.

On February 25-26th (this weekend) for every $5 donation, you will get 25% off your purchase and The Gap will be donating additional money to the cause as well. So if you are in Florida, get shopping!!

To learn more about the event or the Conductive Education center see these flyers.

• CECS Flyer
• Event Flyer

Below are some photos of the children who are helped by Conductive Education Center.

*Fundraiser and associated discounts are only applicable at South Gate Gap in Sarasota, Fl.

My answer was this:

Love is….knowing that you can always be yourself and you’ll actually be loved more for it.

Head over to see what everyone else had to say, it is a very sweet post.

That’s the slogan for OneHope Wine. This wine company is no stranger to this blog, we’ve talked about them a few times before. If you know me you know I love giving back and I love wine so for me OneHope wine is pretty much perfection. Half of all proceeds from each bottle go to the corresponding charity and to date over $600,000 has been donated to partner charities. These are the varietals they offer and their corresponding causes.

ONEHOPE Chardonnay (Breast Cancer)
ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc (Environment)
ONEHOPE Cabernet Sauvignon (Autism)
ONEHOPE Merlot (AIDS)
ONEHOPE Zinfandel (Troops)
ONEHOPE Pinot Noir (Children’s Hospitals)

I bring them up again today because they have made it easier than ever for couples and wedding vendors to incorporate charity into their weddings through wine.

OneHope Weddings allows couples to find out all they need to know about buying this wine for their big day and you can even schedule a private tasting to determine which varietal would be best for your event.

They are now offering discount pricing for couples buying in bulk and later down the road they hope to offer some customizable options.

So whether you are planning a wedding and want to serve this wine, offer it as favors, or even if you are just like me and you love wine, definitely try it. Giving back has never been easier and it has certainly never tasted better. Cheers!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1-1/4 cups Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 a grapefruit, diced
• 1 teaspoon sugar for topping

For the directions go here.

It’s just the right amount of sweetness and it leaves you with nothing to feel guilty about!

Did you watch the game yesterday? Or did you do something completely non-football related?

First- just so you all know, the foster dog found his forever home on Saturday! He is happily living in what I hear is a huge home, on 10 acres of land, with ample opportunities for walks and hikes, and has a new cat friend. The last update I received was that the couple adores him, he sleeps under their covers, and gets along great with the cat (something they were concerned about.) From death row at the pound to a new amazing life in only 4 days.

Did I tell you we lost him? Yep, the skinny little guy jumped straight through the bars of our rod iron fence. When we went to bring him in the house, he was gone. We looked over our back fence and below the empty field behind us, there he was running along the road!! It was too far to chase him or even scream at him- remember he had no name. Luckily I saw a car stop and pick him up. So I had to make the dreaded call to the rescue to let them know we lost him but that someone had picked him up and would hopefully bring him back to the shelter. Not 10 minutes later I got a call from the vet’s office saying they had my little run away. Turns out the vet was on her way home for lunch and picked him up. While this was a really lucky twist of fate it was also SUPER embarrassing. The dog was supposed to be wearing a cone for 14 days. In our house the cone lasted all of about 15 minutes so not only did she know we lost him but also that we failed to listen to doctor’s orders.

In the end, we mostly called him Wiley but then after he looked at me a few times I realized he looked like someone familiar… Harry Potter fans will appreciate this–Dobby. The scrawny little pup reminded me of Dobby.

I could never get a great photo of him head on, but he had those same ears. He also never made that awful noise again, thankfully. I would have loved to get it on video but it just didn’t happen. Use your imagination!

Now for the inspiration… I have no idea when it will be ready, but I can tell you it is going to be amazing!

The super talented Lizzie of Love Your Way is going to be the mastermind behind the new look. If you aren’t following her blog, you should.

How have you all been?

This skinny little dog weighs all of ten pounds and I can feel just about all of his bones. He is scrappy and scrawny but as sweet as can be. Now, I will say, I may have figured out why they didn’t like him at the pound. He makes this amazing noise that is the mixture of Chewbacca and a Velociraptor. If you forget the noise a raptor makes, watch Jurassic Park. The noise though is so impressive I can’t even fault him for it.

Did I mention that he has a mohawk? A few people have asked me about fostering, is it hard to give them back? Do you get attached? We do get attached but we know we are a means to an end and we have never felt bad about giving a dog to a home that we know will love it to pieces. When you get a orphaned dog they have the saddest most distant look in their little eyes. They are essentially lost. My favorite part of the whole process is watching those eyes change from lost to happy, comfortable and safe. There is nothing better than coming home and seeing that little dog wag his tail and jump on you, thrilled to see you. Dogs are so amazingly forgiving, they don’t hold on to their pasts, they move forward and live in the moment. We could all learn something from these little pups.

Now that you’ve met, you should know he doesn’t have a name. As the foster parents we get the privilege of naming the little guy. So help us out! Here are some of the suggestions so far, and feel free to send us some more!

• Scrappy
• Scoop
• Conner
• Doug
• Fritz
• Spike
• Yoda
• Benson
• Baxter
• Rex
• Buster
• Bacon
• Riley
• Wiley
• Jack
• Nigel
• Skip

What else?

All it took was this line…

Help the American Cancer Society create a world with

less cancer and more birthdays.

I was sold. Cancer affects so many lives and it is guaranteed to affect your life at some point whether that be a friend, a family member or even yourself. No one is safe, not the young, not the old, it doesn’t stay away from the otherwise healthy or even babies. Cancer is a major issue and if we can help do our part to create more birthdays, especially for the people we love, we’re going to do it! Right, Kyle?! He agrees, don’t worry.

We’ll be walking for 12 hours to represent the fact that cancer doesn’t stop or sleep, those 12 hours are from 6pm-6am. But it seems like a small sacrifice really. Our goal is to raise at least $1,500. If you’ve been touched by cancer we’d love for you to donate in someone’s honor or memory and we’ll walk for them too.

You can help support our team here. All donations are tax deductible. You may also want to see if there is a Relay for Life event in your area.

Let this gorgeous apple adorned cake atop a burlap runner inspire you….

Via Martha Stewart Weddings

Who would have thought apples could be so lovely on a cake?!

Ok, back to crafting…

Curtains?
Pillows?
Wreaths?
Burlap wrapped candle holders?
Placemats?

I don’t know where to begin.