Winners & Roses & Getting Older

First, I'm excited to announce that the winner of the Green Giveaway is Ria Thurston from Life as a Wife!

Congrats, Ria!  Email me at sarahannsbonmot@gmail.com, and I'll get your bowl and sweet yellow towel!

Second, it's my birthday today!  When I woke up, I stepped out of bed to a trail of roses leading to our kitchen table where the husband had left me a card!  What a lovely start to my day!  I have the best husband ever!  He's made me so excited to be having a birthday!  Marriage is just so lovely!

Also, my birthday gift to myself was a new blog design!  I'm sorry if I'm making your head spin by switching it up again, but I just had to do it!  You don't have to switch out your buttons for me, but if you so desire, have at it!


<center><a href=http://www.sarahannrogers.com/><img src="http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad230/sarahannroger/button.png" /></a></center>

The only thing that could make this day better is a party with all of you!  We could eat cookie cake (since I like it better) and blow up balloons and play hot-potato.  Ok, so maybe not.  But we could hang out and have a blast.

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to!

Alright, so I don't feel like crying.  I just love that song.  Thank you, Lesley Gore!  I used to run around with my childhood bff, Allison (whom I have stalker-ish-ly tried finding on Facebook) singing this song along with "My boyfriend's back, and you're gonna get in trouble."  Yes, we were the cool kids.

First, it's my giveaway party.  Today at noon, the Green Giveaway closes.  Go get your entry in for this awesome bamboo bowl:

Also, tomorrow it's my birthday party!  I am not a huge birthday person, but my wonderful hubby is, and has wrangled me in to being super excited about whatever he is doing.  All I know is that we are eating dinner with my family tomorrow night and he's getting off at noon tomorrow to hang out with me!  A month ago, I didn't care much, but now, I can't wait!

(via)

If I could have somebody make you an invitation card, I'd choose Leigh, because she makes precious cards for her etsy shop.

I wish I could have a blog birthday party and you all could come!  We could pretend, right?!  Would you like to come celebrate my birthday tomorrow?

Change the World Tuesday: FIMRC

This week's feature came from my lovely, real life friend Rabun over at 500 days of wedding.

She just got engaged:

Aren't they cute?!

Anyway, this summer, Rabun is getting ready to go to Uganda with this organization:

This organization is amazing.  Rabun described it to me as more than just a help for children.  Now, they focus on whole communities.  She says:

They have done such a great job there setting up a Community Health Educator (CHE) system—empowering local men and women to teach and heal their own community to prevent & treat HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases that no one should die from.

 I fully support organizations that teach native people how to live and survive better.  If they can become self-sustainable, then the change is lasting and effective.

What we can do:
Donate to the cause.  You can even choose a specific project you'd like your donation to go to.
Go.  Be like Rabun.  Spend a summer or even a couple of weeks down in Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Nicaragua... If you can't go, encourage someone that can.
Run. I know that some of you run.  Count me out.  However, there is a whole site dedicated to marathons that raise money for this organization.  Check it out here.

If you haven't entered the Green Giveaway, make sure to do it soon!

Dirty hair, Dump Cake, and Granola...

1. We had a great couple over this weekend, and I made Ashley's (from 6 inches of ribbon) dump cake.  It was so good and only took three ingredients.  I felt so accomplished and our friends loved it!  I think Billy will be demanding it from here on out!

2. Almost every morning, I eat breakfast at work.  It consists of a cup of water and an Oat's & Honey bar from Nature Valley.  I don't know how nutritious this is, but to this non-breakfast-loving girl, it gets the job done.

3. I now have my Pandora set on a Kari Jobe station.  I'm now hearing a slew of breathy worship ballads that make my day just so much better (excepting the constant reminder that I will never have that voice).  I found this gorgeous song by Sarah Reeves.  Poor Billy has heard this song a good 10 times over the weekend (Sorry, Honey...)

4. When I straighten my hair, I don't wash it for about 3 days.  Sometimes 4.  For all of you straight, thin haired girls, you might think this is pretty gross.  But if you have thick, coarse, bunches of hair that could probably spread across 5 bald people, you know what I mean.  By day 3, I'm thanking my natural oils for finally kicking in and giving me shine.
If you haven't entered the Green Giveaway, make sure to do it soon!

Work It!

I'm trying to lose some weight.  Marriage has made me happy, and I keep eating.  And that, well, puts a little extra weight on.  When I say a little, it really hasn't been much.  It's just enough to make me feel off.  Therefore, I am trying to just live healthier!

Here's my strategy:

Zumba!  It's awesome!  I have been going and I think that I might go tonight for a second time.  I just love that I can forget I'm working out because we're dancing.  And before you get worried, I don't shake anything too much.  I don't think I have much of that rhythm, so I just do what I can while being modest.  And while turning bright red.  That's right - after even 10 minutes of working out, I become a tomato.  And it's not pretty.

Water.  I love my Camelbak, and it makes it much more fun to drink water.  I try to drink a few of those bottles a day, more if I'm working out.

Black.  Ok, so this doesn't make me thinner.  But when I wear black, I look skinnier.  It's tried and true.  It'll work for you, too.

One of the things I find about myself is that I need simple, applicable things to integrate into my daily life.  No crazy crash diets for me.  I'm an extreme person, and I might do really well for a few weeks, and then I might go the other way.  

What small steps do you take to live healthier?

If you haven't entered the Green Giveaway, make sure to do it soon!