{I hope you dance} A letter to my kindergartner

To my sweet Olivia Grace;

Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life...I dropped you off for your first day of kindergarten.  My heart ached as I watched you walk slowly into your new classroom with a nervous look on your face. You starred at the ground and held extra tight to your daddy's hand as we walked down the hall. You didn't say much but I could tell by the look on your face the thoughts that you were thinking.  Thoughts like "will I make a friend?  Will I be accepted?  Will I be loved? Will anyone notice I am even here?  How will I make it without my mommy?"  

Do you know how I know what you were thinking baby girl?  Because your momma used to be just like you.  I see myself in you in so many ways, especially our natural tendency to be shy and stay in our shell.  I see the battle in your mind as you fight against the urge to stay hidden away in your room all day but deep down knowing God has so much more for you than to have only imaginary friends and dolls who don't talk back.  You are right sweet girl.  God put that desire to know and be known within you.  

Because of the pain I experienced from being so shy that I missed many opportunities to meet new friends and go new places it took every bit of strength I have to send you off to school and let you conquer your fear of the unknown.  As your momma who struggled with insecurities and wanting to stay in my shell I will fight for you.  I will not let you stay hidden, refusing to take chances in this world.  Yes, it will be scary but it will be so worth it.

Will you please do your momma a favor?  Will you cling to God when you are scared?  Will you say 2 Timothy 1:7 when you are scared?  For God did not give you that spirit of fear or timidity, but he gave you POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND.  Do not believe the lies of the enemy.  You are chosen, you are valued, you are loved and most importantly, you are a daughter of the most high God.  

I made many mistakes growing up and one of them was that I sat by and watched as life passed me by.  I wouldn't try new things for fear of failure.  I wouldn't say hello to a stranger for fear of rejection.  Sweet Olivia, you may have your momma's introverted personality but you do not have to use that as an excuse to miss out on life and all the amazing things God has in store for you.

My prayer for you today is that as you embark on this journey in life that you will look up.  Look up to the one who made you, look up at the people around you who God placed in your life for a specific reason.  Choose to love and live freely.  Today I break any strongholds that fear has over your life in the mighty name of Jesus.  

I pray that if you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.

Love,

Your #1 Cheerleader, Momma

P.S. I pray whoever reads this will be encouraged today....don't let fear hold you back, just dance!

{Marriage Monday} 6 Essential Marriage Resources

You found Mr. or Mrs. Right, had a fairytale wedding, said I do and began your happily ever after. But what happens when the wedding ends?  This is the part of the story that most of us aren't equipped to handle. We go into marriage thinking all our needs will finally be met only to find out it is just the beginning of God stripping us of ourselves so we can become more like him.  My husband and I ran into many speed bumps in the beginning years of marriage and we were blessed to have some amazing resources to help show us the way.  For this weeks Marriage Monday post I want to share some that have helped us over the years.

1. The Bible

There are SO many great marriage resources but the number one resource we have to equip us for marriage is the best selling book, the Bible.  No matter where you read in the Bible we can learn so many life principles and allow the word of God to come alive within us which empowers us to act in ways we could never do in our own power.  

2. Marriage Today
I can't say enough good things about the resources at Marriage Today.  You can visit their site and order books, cds, dvds and so much more.  We were blessed to be introduced to this ministry early on in our marriage.  I highly recommend becoming a rock solid partner for $25/month and you will receive a new cd/dvd teaching every month.  Not to mention I love supporting a great ministry that is on a mission to keep the family together.

3.Mountaintop of Marriage: A Vision Retreat Guidebook  
This is another Marriage Today resource that I highly recommend. We try to do this once a year to hear God for the direction of our family.

4.The Power of a Praying Wife 
When Matt & I got married I never really thought about praying for him rather than nagging him.  This book helped me to learn that prayer is the number one thing we can do to partner with God in our marriage and help our spouse become the man God created him to be. This book is great place to start in prayer. As I connected to the Lord in prayer He has been able to lead me to pray over things specific to my husband.

A few years ago God put it on my heart to get a few of my friends together to pray over our husbands for 30 days.  I started a group called The Power of a Praying Wife: 30 Day Challenge and much to my surprise thousands of women have joined this challenge.  I love the accountability and surrounding myself with other like minded christian women.  You can read more about the story of how it got started here.

5.The Power of a Praying Husband 
Truth be told my husband read this book and prayed over me before I began to pray over him.  There is power in prayer! :)

6.The Blessed Marriage  
I can not say enough good things about all of the resources written by Pastor Robert Morris and his wife Debbie of Gateway Church.  This book is based on sound doctrine while being simple and easy to apply.

Two more books by Robert & Debbie Morris that I highly recommend are:
The Blessed Woman: Learning About Grace from the Women of the Bible and The Blessed Life: The Simple Secret of Achieving Guaranteed Financial Results. The Blessed Woman dissects the stories of the women of the Bible and lessons we can learn from them.  The Blessed Life uses sound doctrine to teach us how to manage money God's way, which is crucial for every marriage.

A great marriage doesn't just happen, we must work for it!  Having great resources is just one more way to strengthen our marriage and live a blessed life!

What are your favorite marriage resources?  Leave a comment or linkup here and share them with us!

An InLinkz Link-up

3 Truths about God in Exercise

Over the last 10 years of me being in the fitness industry and teaching group fitness classes I have always been taught, and taught others, to be mentally strong.  When the squats and lunges start to burn you just need to dig deeper, find your strength from within, and keep going.  But recently God has been shifting my perspective on that and I want to share with you a few things he is speaking to me.

Before I share those things I have to clarify that I am not saying we shouldn't be strong mentally because at least 90 percent of everything we accomplish begins in our mind.  I am a huge believer in the power of our thoughts.  However I think I may have been drawing my strength from the wrong place.  Allow me to explain with the following example:

I went for a run earlier this week.  I usually listen to fast music when I want to run fast and will listen to a christian workout track when I am running at a leisurely pace.  This particular day I had planned to see how fast I could run 3 miles but God asked me to listen to the christian music.  I agreed to do it and mentally decided I guess I just won't be running as fast because I usually draw my strength from the pace of the other music.  Something amazing happened that day....I ran faster than I ever have before because as I was listening to the christian music I stopped thinking about how tired I was, how my knees were aching or how thirsty I was.  Instead I was thinking about the words of the song "You're an over comer, you'll stay in the fight til the final round" and "where would I be without you?".  God spoke some things very clearly to me in that moment:

1. He is our source of strength.

God created us to be strong.  He is a strong God and we were created in His image. He did not create weaklings.  However, in order to tap into our strength we must first tap into Him.  If we use ourselves, and others around us, as our standard of measurement for strength we will be disappointed every time. You and I were not created the same so nothing good will every come from me measuring how strong I am against you, and vice versa.  We will be disappointed every time and will miss the strength God has given to us.  

2. He never intended for us to carry the burden of being physically fit.

Have you ever noticed how much shame and stress comes with the idea of being physically fit?  We either feel shame because of our lack of strength(in comparison to those around us) or we feel stress and pressure to maintain the strength that we achieved on our own.  Being physically fit is a blessing from God but it won't feel that way if we don't allow him in our journey.  If we do it on our own there are only two options: we either feel ashamed that we can't do more OR we feel prideful that we are able to achieve so much.  

3. God cares more about our heart than our six pack abs.

No, six pack abs aren't of the devil(believe me this momma would love to have some again after having 3 kiddos)!  However, the enemy can get us to focus so much on losing weight and looking exactly like the woman next to us(or on tv) that we forget to ask God what His best is for our body and life. God has called each of us to different things in life and we each will need different bodies and strengths to achieve that destiny.  Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit and we do need to take care of them but we must be sure to ask God what that looks like for us.  

As I was running and being powered by the words of those songs I have never felt the Holy Spirit so strong in my workout.  I am excited to see where God takes me as I let go of me and give EVERY area of my life to him.  Will you join me?

P.S. God is stirring my heart about combing my training in the fitness industry with my knowledge of His word which by starting a christian boot camp.  Will you pray with me about wisdom in moving forward in that in His timing?  I would love for it to be called "2 Timothy Training"....for God did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity when it comes to being physically and spiritually fit!

Marriage Monday

 I had just turned 21 two weeks before my husband and I got married.  All the stars had aligned and we knew God had brought us together. With stars in our eyes and an extra pep in our step we just knew we were about to live a life time of wedded bliss.  We had the most beautiful and peaceful wedding ceremony but it didn't take long for us to realize that the only things we had in common were our love for God, working out and cookies & cream ice cream.  Luckily for us we both loved God and that is the one thing that has held us together 9 years later.

By the grace of God we found Marriage Today ministries and started attending Gateway Church and God began to bring healing and restoration that only He can bring.  My heart hurts to think of where we might be if we hadn't asked God to intervene.  Because of our story we have a passion for marriages to not only survive but to thrive.  

In my years of learning how to be a wife God taught me to honor my husband with my words. I started doing this in private just to him then God put it on my heart to honor him publicly. A few months ago God gave me the idea to start a #marriagemonday on Facebook and much to my surprise several of my friends started doing it.  I have had several people send me private messages letting me know how much God is doing in their marriage simply by them honoring their spouse.  

God put it on my heart about a month ago to start a blog linkup for Marriage Monday but I have argued.  Some of my arguments were that no one will do it, we will appear to be "bragging" and I don't even know how to host a linkup!  While God didn't argue back he did make me increasingly more aware of how desperately our world needs to have Godly values put back into his original design for marriage.  My hearts desire is that marriage is looked at as something beautiful that God loves rather than something that looks like a prison cell.  

While I recognized the need for this to be something so much bigger than my Facebook friends I still wasn't convinced that I should be the one to start it(yes, me, the life outside the shell girl...I struggle too!).  BUT then I attend The Declare Conference and God spoke to me in a way that was so clear. I could write a book on everything God taught me at the conference but the main thing God spoke to me was "It is not about you. Get over yourself, step out in wild obedience and have a kingdom perspective."  Without a kingdom perspective we will NEVER do anything that puts us in a position of looking stupid or being vulnerable.  It is only when I rely completely on God that I can move forward without hesitating and be all he has called me to be.  

Marriage Monday is a way for us to honor our spouse and God by speaking life over our spouse rather than complaining about everything that is wrong.

How to participate in Marriage Monday:

1. Post a picture on instagram with #marriagemonday

No need to be a blogger for this one!  Put at least one word(or more) stating why you are thankful for your spouse.  Let's make #marriagemonday bigger than #mcm(man crush monday)! :)

2. Post a status update on Facebook honoring your spouse.

Again make sure you put #marriagemonday!

3. Share the #marriagemonday vision with your friends. 

My heart behind Marriage Monday is not to exclude the singles but instead to highlight the value of marriage. 

4. Honor your spouse in private.

Even if you don't participate in any of the social media outlets the effort of focusing at least one day a week on our spouses positive attributes will change our attitude in marriage.  

 5. Linkup to this post(and future Marriage Monday posts) with a blog post about your marriage story, a marriage resource you love, pictures of you and your spouse, or anything pertaining to marriage that will encourage others! If you are single feel free to linkup a post about what God is speaking to you in this season!

An InLinkz Link-up

5 Baby Steps to Overcome Fear

I will never forget the first time I stepped outside my comfort zone and prepared to teach 5 minutes of a group fitness class.  I had practiced my notes, rehearsed so much I knew all two moves I was going to do in my sleep, picked out the perfect royal blue shirt and put just the right amount of make-up on to look cute but not overdressed.  As the days lead up to my "big day" I began to lose my appetite and the day of the class anything I did eat came right on back out.  With sweaty palms, a shaky voice and eyes starring at the ground I began to teach 5 minutes of an hour class.  The result?  I failed miserably.  But the craziest part was that it sparked something in me to try it again.  You see, you don't actually fail until you just quit trying.

These days I no longer lose appetite when preparing to teach, I have confidence, I can make eye contact with my class and I rarely have a mess up.  Many people have asked me how I got from point A(terrified) to point B(walking in confidence in my calling).  Here are some baby steps I have taken over the years that have resulted in huge changes in my confidence and my ability to stick my head out of my shell and try new things.

1. Know who we are in the Lord. 
I have learned that when we try new things and take risks if we do it in our own power we will fail miserably. If I don't know that I am first and foremost a daughter of the most high God than I will always be too self-conscious to move forward. I know that even if I fail miserably at something that my relationship with God is unwavering and that brings such peace that only He can bring.

2. Hear from God.
I am a big fan of stepping outside of our comfort zone but not before we first consult with God. You can read my thoughts on using our shell as our place of refuge and strength here.  If we all decided to just follow our friends on what "outside the shell" is than we completely miss the call God has on our lives.  We must hear God for ourselves so we can remember that word when fear tries to creep in.  We hear from God just like we would if we wanted to talk with a friend, by spending time with Him. Get to know Him in his written word and fellowship(or hang out) with Him through praise and prayer.

3. Look fear in the face.
Many years ago I heard someone say "look fear in the face and imagine the worst possible outcome".  Now this may sound crazy but when we bring darkness into the light the darkness flees.  It also gives us the opportunity to look at the thing we most fear and recognize that if that worst thing does happen we will live to tell the story and be stronger for it.  It's true, what doesn't kill you does make you stronger. :)

4. Do it scared.
After we discover our true identity, hear from the Lord and have looked fear in the face we just have to do it.  Here is one of my favorite quotes that I had on my bathroom mirror for years.

5. Speak the Word of God.
Last, but certainly not least, speak the word of God before, during and after your outside the shell moment. The word of God is alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword(Hebrews 4:12).  Find a scripture on fear that really speaks to you(there are 365 in the Bible...one for every day of the year!) and know it inside and out.  My scripture, the one which this blog was founded on, is 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but power, love and self-discipline".  I love speaking that one out loud and aligning my thoughts and words with Gods. We have the power of life and death in our tongue and we must choose life.

I would love to hear what your favorite verse is and how you use it to overcome obstacles!

Remember, every journey starts with one step...take a step of faith today!

Healthified Monster Cookies

Before I share this recipe I have to warn you that I am not a "foodie" blogger. If I were this picture would be on a beautiful glass plate, with a glass of milk next to it and some fresh flowers in the distance.  Let's be real, I'm a stay at home mom and business owner whose only camera is an iPhone. :)

My husband had mentioned a few nights ago that I never make cookies anymore so I decided to surprise him with some today.  However, when I pulled out the recipe I knew I had to give it a total makeover because that's just what I do with not so healthy recipes.  I posted the picture of these on Facebook and had so many friends ask for the recipe that I decided to just write a post about it so it is all in one place.  

You will also notice that I called them "healthified"(yes I made up that word) instead of "healthy" because while they are better than normal they do still have some ingredients in them that aren't the best for you.  I do make some Chocolate Chip Almond Flour cookies that are 100% healthy but I have to say they aren't as good as these(big surprise).  

Enough talk, here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs(I used organic, free range)
• 1 cup light brown sugar(I may try to sub coconut sugar for this one next time) 
• 1 cup Organic Coconut Sugar (this stuff is amazing! I bought my huge bag at Costco)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 ounces of almond butter(or organic peanut butter if you don't like the taste of almond butter)
• 1 stick organic butter(I used Ghee which is clarified butter and Paleo friendly)
• 1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies(I had M&Ms on hand but I usually use the Unjunked brand which is free of dyes and artificial flavors. I buy mine at Target)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use the Enjoy Life brand also bought at Target...gluten, dairy, soy free)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups oatmeal(I used gluten free but you can use anything other than instant)

Directions:

• Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine eggs and sugars, mix.
• Add salt, vanilla, almond(or peanut) butter, and butter. Mix well.
• Stir in chocolate candies, chocolate chips, baking soda and oatmeal.
• Drop by tablespoons on cookie sheets
• Bake 8-10 minutes

**Please note: This made 3 dozen cookies so if you don't have someone to share them with I recommend cutting the measurements in half! :)

You may notice these still have a ton of fat and calories in them but they are free of artificial junk and are a great snack for kids.  Next time I plan to add milled flax seed to mine because it doesn't affect the taste and adds fiber and omegas for the kids.  

We seriously could not keep our hands off these today.  It reminds me of The Office episode when they are eating frozen yogurt and Michael says "I can't believe this has no calories!".  :)  There are plenty of good fats in them but we only need a few servings of that a day. 

Hope you enjoy!

When God Writes Your Story

A few months ago a ministry called Single Matters had posted they were looking for "how you met" stories from married couples.  I felt like I was supposed to share a bit of our story plus a glimpse into our first few years of marriage.  I sat down and wrote something very quickly, clicked submit and much to my surprise they asked if they could publish it.  

Here is a the first paragraph of  "When God writes your story: Matt & Rachael":

"Some would call my story a fairy tale. That’s how it looked on the outside.

I was 20 years old when I finally worked up the courage to end a very unhealthy relationship—one that I had known (for four years) was not where God wanted me. I remember the feeling of freedom I had when that relationship was truly over. I was in college and so excited about this new single life that awaited me. I couldn’t wait to see how God was going to use me, and what exotic places I would go with my job and/or ministry. I was even so bold as to tell God I wouldn't date for years."

If you would like to read the rest of the article it is the featured article on Single Matters today. You can find the article here.

This is just a glimpse into our marriage story.  Matt & I feel called to marriage ministry so please leave me a comment with any areas of our lives that you would for me to share/write about and what God has taught us.

DIY $1 Caricature

As I was cleaning out the office today I found some cheap frames I had bought from the Dollar Tree that are too small to fit the pictures I needed framed. Since I didn't have the receipt I couldn't exchange them so decided to get creative.  I said a little prayer for God to show us something fun to do this afternoon and in pops a random idea:  draw caricatures of the kids on the frames.  The kids had a blast doing it and the best part was that we had everything on hand!

The end result was a little creepy but, hey, they had fun and that really is all that matters.  I plan to do it again in a few years when they are older and can compare the two.:)

Materials needed:

-cheap frames($1 at Dollar Tree)

-construction paper

-paint(I used left over sample paint we had on hand)

Remove the glass piece from the frame, have your child hold it in front of their face(this was their favorite part) and start painting!

After I did the face I let them color in the eyes, lips, hair, etc. 

Next put it back in the frame and put your choice of construction paper behind it(this helps it show up a little better).

Here was our finished product!  Next time we will get even more creative with paint colors and facial expressions:)  Have fun!

Don't ditch the shell!

After all my talk of "live life outside of your shell" you must be wondering where a post called "don't ditch the shell!" came from.  The turtle you see pictured above has been hanging on my refrigerator for years(long before I started this blog) and I JUST recently noticed the turtle is actually missing!  All that is  left is his shell!  We are going to use my MIA turtle friend as an illustration for today's lesson...don't go to the extreme and ditch your shell!

This is something that has been stirring on my heart for a few weeks now to clarify but when my friend, Karen, sent me this quote I knew it was God saying it was time to write this post. God doesn't ask us to leave our shell(as this quote suggests) but he does ask us to stop being paralyzed by fear and stick our head outside of our shell and move. 

Living life outside of your shell is being brave enough to stick your head out of that shell and go where God is leading.  The extreme of that is ditching your shell all together.  Turtles actually can't live without their shells.  They are their protection and their place of rest.  In fact, their shell has its spine and you don't have to be married to a chiropractor to know that your spine is your life line. 

We don't have a physical shell but we do have a spiritual one.  And just like turtles we can't live without that shell as our protection. Our shells are our place of refuge in God. If we don't first run to Him in our quiet place where it's just us and Him, we will never be brave enough to stick our heads outside the shell.  Our shell is where we retreat and get a word from God. He downloads dreams into us in our shell. He prepares us for what is to come in our shell.  

Please don't mistake living life outside of your shell for ditching your shell all together. We need our shell for rest and protection because just like a turtles shell, it is our life line. If we ditch our quiet time with God we will fail miserably when we stick our head outside of our shell in our own strength. 

Retreat to your shell when you need to but don't stay there!!  Share what God downloaded to you during your quiet times then go back to that place when you need to refuel!  Just like we weren't made to ditch our shells we were also not made to stay inside the shell.  God longs to speak to us so that we can be a light in this world and bring glory to him.  You do not have to be an extrovert to stick your head out of your shell and allow God to use you, take it from an introvert. :)

I hope this post brought some clarity on this subject! :)

16 things you may not know about me

I am attending my first ever blogger conference, The Declare Conference, next week!  As a fun way to get to know the other bloggers before we attend we are doing a 4x4 link-up of some questions about ourself.  Hope you learn something new about me! :)

4 Things about me:

1. I grew up in Oklahoma where my parent's started Picture in Scripture Amphitheater the year after I was born!  I had the honor of returning home last week and snapped these fun shots of me with some of the animals.

Me overcoming my fears and riding Samuel the Camel :)

Me with one of the tortoises name Spike.

A picture I took while watcing this years play "The Man Who Ran" (the story of Jonah...and yes there is mechanical whale that swallows my dad who plays Jonah!)

2. I have 3 beautiful children here on earth and one more in heaven.  My son, Zeke, was born on my birthday which was part of the healing God brought me after my miscarriage. 

3. I turned 30 this year!  My sweet friends and family threw me an amazing, surprise birthday party.  My sister over at Life {Sweet} Life made this 30 photo collage for me that I will keep forever:

4. I LOVE to workout! Not to be skinny but because of the challenge. I have been teaching group fitness classes for years and always take advantage of putting people through workouts, like I did with my sister Sarah last week when I visited:)

4 of my Endearing Quirks:

1. I am a rule follower.

You will notice that I followed the 4 things that were listed in exact order and I will get 4 things on each...even if I have to reallllyyyy reach to make one fit.:)

2. I love even numbers.  I am so crazy about this that if the radio or tv volume is on an odd number I change it.  I have even been known to make my husband switch me seats in church so I can sit in the even seat....oops that might have been TMI, I have now entered crazy land. :)

3. I am a cross between introvert and extrovert.

I love to be a social butterfly and go places I have never been and meet new people.  However, I NEED my quiet time.  Even my kids and husband know to let me have my space when I get a little moody. :)

4. God speaks to me in pictures. Because of this I see and do life in pictures.  If you can't tell from this post with all the picture overload.  I would try to apologize for it but than I would just be apologizing for being me!  I will be the girl who has her phone out, ready to take a picture of any and everything at the conference...get ready for those selfies girls ;)

4 Things about my blog & writing:

1. I started this blog because I heard God clearly say "Don't worry about what to write or how to write...just write!" So here I am a few months later still trying to figure out how to add buttons, linkup and connect to other bloggers.  There are days I wonder what I have gotten myself into then I just remember what He spoke to me and all is well with my soul. You can read more about my start here.

2. I have a heart to see women be confident and courageous and live life outside of their shell.  I used to be soooooo shy!  Anyone who knows me from when I was younger to who am now just shakes their head in disbelief at how far out of my shell God has brought me.  It brings me such joy to give HIM all the glory for who I am today.  I want to pass my freedom on to others!

3. I also have a heart for health & wellness and love to share my tips/tricks with people in taking care of yourself God's way.  I gained a lot of weight during all my pregnancies and the best styles of workouts I did and taught were 3/2 Intervals.  Meaning you do 3 minutes of strength followed by 2 minutes of cardio.  The science behind this is that you use all your immediate energy stores for the strength portion so when you do the cardio you must utilize fat for energy.  Plus getting your heart rate up and back down(active recovery with strength) is a great fat burner too.  Here are a few of my favorite short workouts I have written for mommies with little time but want good results using only your body weight:

4. I used to think food was my enemy.  However, when my husband went to chiropractic school we began to implement new ways of living into our lifestyle and I found that food was my best friend. It can be used to bring healing and health to our bodies. Our family strives to eat organic, minimally processed, gluten free, dairy free and soy free.  Because of this I really enjoy playing with recipes. Here is one of our all time favorite healthy side dishes:

4 of my Favorite Things:

1. The Beach!!  We went to Maui in March and are headed to Florida in a few weeks.  I would live at the beach if I could.

2. My Church. We have attended Gateway Church in Southlake, Tx for 7 years now and it has been life changing for my family.

3. My family.  I know this sounds like one you have to add under favorite things but it's true...there is no place I would rather be than hanging out with my family.

4. Deep talks. I got my Bachelors in Exercise Physiology and would one day love to get my Masters in counseling.  I just have an innate desire to get to know everyone on a deeper level.  Because of this people in my life often come to me for advice.:)  

Alright, that is WAY too much about me!  Would love to hear about you...leave me a comment!:)