My Christmas Bucket List & $225 Christmas Cash Giveaway

The days between Thanksgiving and Christmas are by far some of my favorite days of the entire year. I think I love the Christmas season even more than Christmas day itself!

There are so many fun things to do at Christmastime that it is hard to do them all! Which is why I'm creating myself a Christmas Bucket list with only FIVE items, because come on, I can totally do 5 things in the next 25 days. 

1. Go see the lights at Temple Square

2. Watch Christmas with the Kranks (Holler at this list of Christmas movies you can watch on Netflix!)


4. Write a post about my personal testimony of Christ (because he IS the reason for the season!)

5. Do the 12 days of Christmas for wives again this year


What things are on your Christmas Bucket Lists? How about winning $225 in Christmas Cash??
Christmas Cash Giveaway copy
 
Today I have teamed up with a few other bloggers to giveaway $225 Cash to help with your shopping endeavors! Enter away below and make sure to check out these amazing ladies.


Check back tomorrow for another Christmas Cash Giveaway!



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Beginning #6weekstofab

In the most recent General Conference, Elder Jorg Klebingat said this...

"Feeding the spirit while neglecting the body, which is a temple, usually leads to spiritual dissonance and lowered self-esteem. If you are out of shape, if you are uncomfortable in your own body and can do something about it, then do it!

Please use good judgement in what and especially how much you eat, and regularly give your body the exercise it needs and deserves. If you are physically able, decide today to be the master of your own house and begin a regular, long-term exercise program, suited to your abilities, combined with a healthier diet." 

 Those words were the inspiration I needed. I began searching for a fitness program I could begin & stick to. Then I came across Simply Sadie Jane and found her at-home cross-fit inspired #6weekstofab program. 

I started today! And let me tell ya, even day one was hard! But I'm excited to start taking even better care of my body by following this long-term 6 week program. 


If you're interested in following the same program the links to the various weeks are below, as well as a few other posts from her site. Why not spend the holidays taking better care of your body rather than waiting for the busy gyms on January 1st?














A few other great posts from Simply Sadie Jane:



I'm gonna try and do weekly updates on here for you all and to help keep me accountable. Let me know how YOU stay motivated and what you're doing to improve your body, I'd love to hear!


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Give Back & Get Those Textbooks

I know what it's like to drop a TON of money on textbooks. It's the worst. But what if I told you you could save money & give back to an amazing charity instead of spending a ton of money on books you'll probably only use for one semester? Well I'm here to tell you just that!


Campus Book Rentals is your one stop shop for all things textbook. You rent a textbook at a fraction of the cost, and for each textbook rented they donate to Operation Smile.



Some perks of renting from Campus Book Rentals:

Save 40%-90% off of bookstore prices
Free shipping both ways
You can highlight in the textbooks 
They have flexible renting periods
And they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented 


They've also started a new program called RentBack. Basically, if you have old textbooks gathering dust on a shelf, they rent them out for you and you make money off of it! And you can make that money over and over again every time the book is rented. 



If you're not convinced go check out their website CampusBookRentals.com and find out how they can help you save money, make money, and give back to an amazing cause. 




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Authority: 6 Ways to Yes

If you haven't seen the YouTube video The Science of Persuasion you should definitely go watch it right now. I'll wait.

Great! Welcome back. Now you understand the 6 ways to yes! 

As bloggers, I think most of us have the desire to influence/persuade others. Whether that is for a company paying us to promote their product or just us wanting to share our latest blog post that we poured our heart and soul into.

I've already written posts for...

Now we learn about authority.



Authority is a big deal in blogging, yet at the same time it's nothing.

 I'm a newlywed, so sometimes people get snarky about me blogging about marriage. Truth is, I don't know much about marriage. Currently I know 15 months worth of marriage. That's all. But that doesn't keep me from blogging about my marriage goals, why I love being married, our date nights and how I'm keeping the spark alive in our marriage. However, someone who has been happily married for 25 years would have more authority than a newlywed marriage blogger.

I blog about blogging. Maybe I don't make $1,000 a month blogging but I've been blogging for over 5 years now. I've run 3 different blogs, each with a different niche. So how's that for experience!

I blog about Disneyland. I've been there close to 30 times, so even though I'm no Anaheim native, I know my stuff. 

The best advice is to blog what you KNOW. But also to blog what you LOVE. If you want to blog about happy marriages even though you've only been married 15 months, go for it! Share YOUR story. And if you happen to have some authority on a subject, i.e. you're a licensed cosmetologist blogging about hair? Share that! Brag about yourself. This is the blogging world folks, it's all about us.


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HUGE Black Friday Blog Ad Sales: Discount Codes for Your Favorite Blogs

I can't believe it's already time for Christmas shopping. It's hard to believe Black Friday is already here. Now what Black Friday would be complete without HUGE Blog Ad Sales??? So I've compiled a list of tons of your favorite blogs and their black friday ad sales. It's your one stop shop for growing your blog this holiday season and into the new year.


60% Off Ad Space using code BLACKFRIDAY

50% Off Ad Space using code BLACK50

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30% Off Ad Space using code BLACK FRIDAY

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Cosmos Mariners
50% Off Ad Space using code TURKEY50

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40% Off Ad Space using code TURKEYDAY

Living for His Glory
50% Off Ad Space No Code Necessary

Oak & Oats
50% Off Ad Space With Code BLACKFRIDAY

Noor's Place
50% Off Ad Space using code 50SALE

Southern Beauty Guide
50% Off Ad Space using code SBGBLACKFRIDAY

Lot 48
30% Off Ad Space using code BLACKFRIDAY]

Lindsay Living Vegan
85% Off Ad Space using code BLACKFRI85

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5 Ways to Improve Your Self Esteem

Friends!

My dear, dear friends.

I am Sierra and I blog over at Sierra's View! I am so excited to be on Brooklyn's blog today to talk about something that is very near and dear to my heart.



Self Esteem.

Before you all have sigh a huge sigh of relief, I want to tell you that this something that needs to be talked about. And it needs to be talked about often.

I like to consider myself a confident person. Yet, there are many times that I am quite difficult on myself. I am my own worst critic. I find that I am looking at all of the negative aspects about myself rather than positive ones. I, sometimes, tend to notice things about myself that other people don't even see. I am so hard on myself, and I see so many other women being hard on themselves as well.
This needs to stop! So, let's talk about what we can do to help our self esteem. These are five things I have found that have helped me when I am struggling with my confidence.




1. Embrace being alone.
Often times, I find that being alone can sometimes be damaging. Alone time can sometimes lead to negative thoughts. If I could say anything about this aspect, it would be that when you are alone, enjoy it. Spend that time to write, to ponder, and to grow. A confident woman is someone who can do things alone and enjoy it.

2. For every negative thought, give yourself five compliments.
As a child growing up, my mother would make me say five nice things to my brother for every one mean thing I said to him. I hated it. But now looking back, I think it's brilliant. We have this concept of negative "Self talk" that gets into our brains often. Every time you find yourself saying something negative or mean about yourself, automatically say five things that you love about yourself. It seems awkward at first, but I promise, it works.

3. Do something every day for yourself. 
Go to the gym, take a walk outside, go to yoga, read a book, write on your blog, cook, etc. Do something everyday that makes you feel good about yourself; something that you truly enjoy. You need to remember through your crazy lives of children, jobs, husbands, school, etc. that you need to do something just FOR YOU. Building those "happy moments"--that's what I like to call them, helps you become a more whole and confident person.

4. Do not compare yourself. 
This one is the most challenging, in my opinion. We live in a world that is constantly comparing--our income, our homes, our bodies, etc. We each have different bodies, different struggles, and different strengths. Do not compare your weaknesses to other peoples' strengths.

5.  Remember Who You Are. 
Remember that you are a wonderful person. You are loved by God. You have so many wonderful aspects about yourself. Even if you don't believe in God or a higher power, always believe that you are a special person with wonderful gifts and talents. Always remember that.

Come stop by and say hi!!!

What To Do When Love is Waning

This morning while browsing Facebook I saw a link to an article that looked interesting. It said, "The No. 1 cause of divorce might not be what you think." So I clicked on the article. Read it HERE before reading any further.


Truth is, life gets in the way. We have crazy weeks at school, you buy a house and are busy unboxing everything you've collected in the past 15 months of marriage, one of us is cranky, people get pregnant and have beautiful human beings that they now have to keep alive, and don't forget making a living through work to afford life. Life gets busy.

What you put your affection, time and efforts towards is what will grow. We move toward what we focus on. If you aren't putting time and effort in your marriage relationship your love will wane. But the good news is, "If feelings of love are waning, they can be recovered." It just takes effort and focus.

I promise you that is true. Now go over HERE and read 5 ways to help your marriage when those lovey dovey newlywed feelings begin to wane. 


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