Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Happy Roses
It's those silly little things that make us happy. That causes us to jump off the ground, clap our hands, smile and maybe squeal when we're trying to laugh. We're that happy where it's difficult to control our reactions and instead we tend look quite silly. I absolutely LOVE that feeling! Today, as I walked Peanut outside, he ran to our Rose bush that has been sleeping since last Fall. I say Fall because they wouldn't stop growing (awww... I know!...). Our first rose has began blooming and it's all because of the Love that is inside and outside of our home. This Rose bush is really happy and showing the world how healthy it is, showing itself off. So here I am showing her off to all of you! ♥
Monday, May 30, 2011
I love my eyes: Spread {your} love
This evening I linked up with a fabulous new feature this week called Spread Your Love. Right when I saw the title I was hooked, of course! Some lovely women put this together to help us see our true beauty. This is the week of sharing with all what you love about yourself. ♥ So swing on over and then take a picture of what you love then spread the word.
I love my eyes.
My eyes are green.
Green is my favorite colour.
There are 3 freckles in my left eye.
I love my freckles.
I'm Irish.
I love that I'm Irish.
It shows through my
green eyes and freckles.
We are all very unique; however, many of us women share a commonality. We tend to be in secure and do not feel confident at times to show off our lovely features. We are scared to be judged. When someone compliments us we turn red, because perhaps we don't know how to take a compliment. That needs to stop. We are all beautiful, each and every one of us. We bring something special to those around us. We bring our love and beauty inside and out. So shake off those insecurities and look yourself in the eye (in the mirror of course), then pick something that you just love about you and share it with the world ♥
Beauty & Love!
My friend, Li and I had gone together to see Sherry at her home and we had a really nice visit. Sherry was in high spirits and smiling the entire time. We made her laugh, and she did the same for us. She reminds us every time we see her how beautiful life is, and I keep telling myself that each day with every decision I make. She's a genuine person, probably the most I've ever known.
As we left her house, Li and I made our way back to our town and took a bit of a scenic route. Immediately, this house that I've seen so many times throughout my life appeared in the distance. Li asked if I've ever seen this house before, I commented how it's spooky but so beautiful and I love how they never fixed it up, because it must have so much history. She agreed and asked if I've ever seen the 500 lb+ bull in the back. That I had not seen. Matter of fact I did not know if anyone even lived in the house. You'll see in the bottom left picture there is a bull, there were actually 3 but that was the only one standing up. They look small in the picture but they truly are monstrous!
There was also a man in the yard fixing up the gardens. We saw a sign that said 'Fresh Eggs for Sale'. That also was new to me as I never knew that someone lived there, nor that there were these huge bulls in the back, or they they sold food. I fell even more in love with this home as we stood outside Li's car and continued looking across the yard.
It's the little things in the life, (or big things if you look at the size of that bull) that are always there, that we seem to pay very little attention of, then one day someone opens up our eyes and it creates a bigger picture than ever before. Yesterday was this for me. I'm happy with all the emotions this weekend has brought that I've found more beauty and more love around me. I hope you do too!
The 'Love Stone' that I put at the cemetery last year for my Grandparents and Uncle.
Reminding me where the Love in my family originated from. ♥
Reminding me where the Love in my family originated from. ♥
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sponsor Love: June
June is only a few days away and I don't know about you.. but I'm ready ♥ This past month Love is Everywhere has been honored to have all the wonderful, inspiring and beautiful sponsors that you will see on the left side of the page. I wanted to share with you all of the information, if you are interested in sponsoring. Sponsoring is for anyone with a blog. I love being able to spread the word ♥
*New* Large Ad: 200x150 pixels - $20 per month / $55 for 3 months 
Small Ad: 200x75 pixels - $10 per month / $25 for 3 months
Small Ad: 200x75 pixels - $10 per month / $25 for 3 months
Each includes:
*Location on the top right side under Sponsor Love.
*A feature that you can write up with links, pictures and information about you and your blog.
*You also have the option to do a Giveaway during the month you are sponsoring!
*If you are a continued sponsor we will work to give you additional exposure each month with a fun Q&A feature!
*All ads will be rotated throughout the month in each category to give each blog equal exposure.
If you would like to be Sponsored on Love is Everywhere feel free to email me at LovewithKatie@gmail.com
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sending a Message your way!
I'm wishing you all a safe, fun, memorable and very wonderful weekend! Live it up and don't forget to smile! ♥
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Awkward and Awesome Thursday!
pictures taken by The Man
Awkward:- Feeding ducks with Charlie at the park. We had bread leftover from dinner and we broke it up in pieces for all the mamas and babies. What we forgot about is that the bread was buttered so our hands got quite greasy.
- Seeing the Crossing Guard in her car since school was not out yet. She was passed out with her arm extended out the window. My first thought was... 'Uh oh, she needs to wake up..' My second thought was... 'Maybe she's drinking on the job?' My third thought was.. 'I hope she's okay!'.. Then I proceeded to honk my horn once and I saw her jump up. So she's okay but may be a little grumpy with the kiddos!
- Going to the soda machine to grab a drink and putting all the change in, just to realize your 10 cents short.
- When you go to wipe your face with a towel that the cats just laid on. Talk about fur city all over your face.
Awesome:
- Getting to spend time with our besties Alisha and Ryan before they leave this weekend for San Diego. We're going to miss them and the little one like crazy but it's great to have the quality time we have had this past week.
- It's Memorial Weekend.. so that means 3 days! Woo hoo to long weekends!
- Talking to one of my favorite cousins from Illinois on the tele. I love him!
- Having a date with Charlie. Beginning with ordering pasta, eating it at the park, then ending with Dairy Queen ice cream cones. He's the best ♥
- Receiving two gifts from friends this week. One being beautiful flowers to put in a pot on our deck, the other is a book called 14,000 things that make you happy. I will be sharing some each day if I remember!
Sharing a Love Story ♥
Our story is not unlike many love stories. Future Papa and I met in high school. I thought he had a cute smile. We started dating our senior year. I guess you could call us high school sweethearts!
We went to college and spiraled further and further into love. After we graduated, we got married!!
We got real jobs. We were giggly newlyweds! We adopted an unrefined dog.
And now, we are having a baby! But we aren't pregnant...we are adopting a child from Taiwan. And we couldn't be more excited!
The first thing people usually ask us is if there is something wrong with our baby-makers. As far as we know, there isn't! :-) We feel called to adopt. To welcome and love a child without parents. To make him or her eat their veggies and clean their room. Currently, statistics state that there are 147 million orphans in the world. We can't save them all. But, we hope to make a difference in the life of just one.
Our story is a story overflowing with love. The love we feel for this little baby is nearly indescribable. Our family aches for the little one who is meant to be in our family. And we would love for you to be a part of our love-filled journey! As most people are aware, adoption is expensive. There are fees associated with our application, country, home study, legal documents, notarization, translating, background checks, fingerprinting, travel, visas, and more. Is your head spinning? Because mine sure is!!! We'll certainly be writing checks to our agency, but our money will also be flowing into our local and state governments and various institutions in Taiwan (like the orphanage, courts, etc.). Airlines won't fly us around the world for free, doctors need paychecks to buy their kids dinner, and social workers like money to buy a cute top from time to time.
How can you be a part of our love story? By participating in The Twenty for Taiwan Campaign. Basically, the idea began as this: if 1,250 people each donated $20.00, our fundraising would be over. Finished! Kaput! Exciting, right?! If you are reading this, you can make a real difference! For the cost of one dinner out, you can help give an orphan a home. For the cost of one shirt at the mall, you can help a husband and wife become a mommy and a daddy. So, please consider donating just $20.00 and joining our love story! And after you do that, write about us on your blog or make this post your facebook status for a day! It would mean so much to us. We can't wait to have a toddler in our kitchen on Saturday mornings, eating pancakes and getting sticky fingers. We want to see how high we can swing on the playground. We are looking forward to snuggling on the couch after bath time, before bedtime, reading a book. Many of you already enjoy these moments with your child (or children). Will you help our child get home? As of now, WE ONLY NEED 1,200 MORE PEOPLE TO JOIN THE CAMPAIGN! Will you make this number 1,199 by donating just $20.00?
TO DONATE, CLICK HERE AND SCROLL DOWN TO THE PAYPAL BUTTON: http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/p/donate.html
We would love for you to follow our adoption journey through our blog: http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/
We would love for you to follow our adoption journey through our blog: http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/
Much love,
Future Mama
All stories will be archived here. We would love to read your story so if you would like to share please visit for details ♥:
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Our Home.
♥ We have a beautiful Bay Window, that you can see from the picture. Peanut and I fit perfectly, and the two small side windows cause the most pleasant breeze to hit us both.
♥ It belongs to Charlie and me. My best friend who also happens to be the greatest man in my life. The cherry to my sundae... The curtains to my window.... The microwave to my popcorn... okay you kind of get it :)
♥ It was move in condition, really. The people before us remodeled the entire house. Best part of it all is that the living room and kitchen is green. Yes, my favorite colour!
♥ Our kitties have so many cool places to hide and venture off too since they're deprived of the outside.
♥ The sun does not hit every window, which at first you would think... 'that stinks..' but it doesn't. I like having some rooms that only have shade, it keeps it cool in the summer and nice for the eyes when they need rest.
♥ We have a sweet counter in the kitchen, that I like to call our breakfast nook even though it does not look like one. I guess I don't know exactly what a breakfast nook looks like? Lol.. I just like saying it I suppose..
♥ All of our friends and family say that it's so comfortable being here, they feel at home. I love that!
♥ We have a lot of hardwood floors. The home I grew up in had wall to wall carpeting, I always dreamed of hardwood floors one day :)
♥ I can sit on the couch with all the windows open, no TV on and just hear all of the birds. I know there's birds everywhere, but I feel that they're singing just for us and our home only..
♥ It's petite, we really don't have a big home at all. I'll have to do a post with pictures one day. But it's a ranch and it's so cute. I love calling it petite, because it is. We all fit in here so it's just the right size!
♥ I feel safe. That's what makes a home complete. That feeling of security, which I finally have being here.
I love our home.
Sharing a Love Story ♥
Today I share with you a beautiful, young couple in love. So very in love! You'll read about how they met as well their future plans together. Love is powerful. Keep on spreading it ♥
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ryan (my boyfriend/Fiancee) met at a university we attended 7 years ago. At the time, we were both dating other people. We had 2 classes together and I used to get pretty annoyed with him bec whenever the professors would ask questions, he was always eager to answer. Being the keener and nerd that I was, with him answering every question in class drove many students crazy, including myself.
Well we started talking once because I sat by him and asked him for his math textbook to check a question. He whispered something with his friend - he thought i was hitting on him. But I wasnt (we still disagree to this day) on that. As we got to hang out more and more into the semester, and having lockers in the same hallway helped lots to get to know each other. My goodness! Was I wrong? He was the nicest guy I had met in a LONG time. There was a mutual understanding between us that we got along, but it couldnt be more than that bec I was seeing someone else.
The guy I was dating at the time - cheated on me with my best girlfriend at the time. I was heart-broken. Lost a guy and my best friend with it. Ryan supported me throughout this hard time. I wanted to drop out of school, things were crazy at home bec my parents were mad (mainly my mom) at me that I dated a guy like him (Well I didnt know beforehand what him and my best friend was planning behind my back!) but Ryan mostly kept me on track. He constantly reminded me education is important and maybe things happened for a reason and that maybe I would meet someone better, little that I knew I would fall head over heels in love with this guy. I remember hanging out even more than usual at this point in time. We even studied together at the library after classes and friends had started commenting - if we were dating yet?
When school ended, I went back home over summer - 2 months to India and Ryan and I would e-mail each other every week and set phone dates but bec of the 12 hours time diffeernce, we only got to talk for 5 minutes once.Thats when we both knew that we were more than friends. We both told a mutual friend of ours - Tanya and she ofcourse told both of us seperately that we had liked each other. Well when I returned from India back to Canada, Ryan asked me out with a blue rose. Just so you know, I am a "blue-fanatic" annd had told him on randomnly once that I don't think I have seen a blue rose. Well, him and his grandma got together and searched in many flower stores to look for a blue rose. They found one and first day back to school, he asked me out. And guess what? I said no! and didnt even give him a hug. I didnt think my parents would EVER ACCEPT US! I thought about it for about 3 weeks and he had told me that he would date other girls if I couldnt make my mind. I remember thinking to myself - I dont know if this will work but I cant let him go either! It just felt so RIGHT to say yes!
I bit the bullet and said yes! We dated for 3 years - happiest days of my life. And I had Ryan coming over to my place sometimes to "drop off my textbooks" or as Ryan - the nice white guy from School come over for movies on a weekend - it felt like my parents liked him but that was all "as a friend". We also had his parents over for some East-Indian food for lunch. That all was part of the "Strategy" to introduce both sides. This was all nice, we had high hopes that it was time to tell my parents and we were hoping things might not be as worse. Well, were we wrong? The minute Ryan and his family came over to ask my hand for marriage (thats how its done traditionally in India), my dad didnt say yes or no. He said he needed time to think. My dad had asked me if it was possible for Ryan to get to learn some Punjabi - my native language. I talked to him and we said yes, he will learn it and I remember we spent all our summer evenings learning the language from youtube. God bless youtube! Luckily for us, the university he was doing his masters at, started offering Punjabi language classes and he enjoyed them immenself. He can make sentences now! He has come so far :) I am so proud of him!!
With all that was going on, the hard phase had started and I have to say it was (and still is) the HARDEST thing we went through as a family. Times were tough, I had to quit a great job that I had gotten into, Ryan was doing his masters and was super stressed out. My brother couldnt handle the stress at home and had dropped out of school. It was all a bad phase. I dont remember how many nights, I cried myself to sleep and felt guilty that everything was my fault. I would pray everyday to god to make this work. Some days, I just wanted to run away from home and end all the drama. But Ryan and I made committment to each other to make this work and do it the "right" way. We didn't want to run away and wanted to have their blessings and love. Ryan is my rock and always will be. I am very sensitive and emotional but he is very strategic and thinks from his brain. It makes us very different individual but works like magic as a couple!
Fast forward 2 years of this tough phase, Dad flew to India to talk to his extended family and introduced the idea of marrying into a different culture. I am such a PROUD daughter of my DADDY to take such a big step against his family wishes and support me! I owe him one for letting me choosing what's right for me and supporting me for it. I respect him so much, I dont have words how much I love him. My mom is having harder time accepting it, she is very traditional. And I try to accept that.
But the good news is - We are kind of planning an Indian wedding next year in Feb 2012 in India and then come back to Canada for a summer Canadian wedding. Nothing is set yet but things are in much better shape.
Thats my love story, crazy but we are so in love. I cannot wait to start to live our lives and grow old together and spend our 20's, 30's ...........and 80's, 90's together. Now I need your best wishes and prayers to make this work for us - come follow me along on my journey at my blog :)
You can visit Nav at:
All stories will be archived here. We would love to read your story so if you would like to share please visit for details ♥:
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sponsor Love: Lady M & Yeah, That's Macho and Tough
Hi Love is Everywhere Readers! It is lovely to meet you all! My name is Monique from blog Lady M!
I started my blog originally because I had a love of fashion and I wanted to make the most out of my wardrobe! I am a university student full-time so it is hard to be able to afford a large wardrobe, so I am slowly learning how to make the most of the wardrobe I already have!
I would love for you to join me on my journey!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*Do you have any features you created on your blog? Each Tuesday we have a Tutorial Tuesday. We usually cover a fun, easy, and inexpensive craft. Although, one day I locked myself out of my car so I gave a really lovely tutorial on how to do that. I also have a Friday freebie called Happy Free-day that includes some sort of printable free for everyone to print off. This last week was an inspirational printable that deals with one of my favorite quotes.
*What do you want to do with your life, do you have a passion for something you’re working towards? I would love to be a stay-at-home-mommy-graphic-designer-web-developer; fighting diapers by day and fighting HTML by night. I also would love to play soccer everyday and sell my jewelry in a cute little shop somewhere.
*Is there something you do to ‘de-stress’? Normally I go for a run or Facebook and blog stalk people to no end. Only one of those things is productive, can you guess which one?
*Do you have a funny/embarrassing story you’d like to share? In the past month I have locked myself out of the car and my house three times. I also have locked myself just out of the house like 2 other times. I have become VERY good at crawling through my window.
*What is a perfect day in your eyes? Everyday that I get to be with Husband is a GREAT day. But, I must tell you that today was probably the most perfect day ever (I'm really glad that today happened so I could tell you what a perfect day is!). It started off with a 5k that I ran and Husband took pictures at. Then, we went to the farmers market to buy some super awesome raw honey, produce, jewelry, and other odds and ends. We continued on to get breakfast and stopped by the animal shelter to play with the kitties. Afterwards, I took a nap with my own kitties while Jared watched Dilbert. Out to dinner we went for my mommio's bday and then home for some movie watching on the projector screen. Seriously, I'm full of ice cream and sunshine, and today has been a day of unicorns and rainbows.
You can visit Cody at:
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