Origami Owl

Most people, or at least most women, have heard of Origami Owl. 

They know a seller, somebody who owns one, or have been invited to a jewelry party.

What you may not know is that Origami Owl was created a few years ago by a young high schooler trying to find a way to make and save money to buy her own car. I bet she never dreamed that her little high school side job/hobby would be a huge company before she was 25!

The awesome thing about Origami Owl lockets are that you really truly can customize them to be as unique as you want it to be. They make great personalized gifts to literally anybody and look beautiful when worn! Origami Owl lockets are empty double sided clear glass lockets with different charm options you can chose from to "tell your own story", show support to a cause you care about, or just make a theme you like. The lockets come in three sizes: small (about the size of a dime), medium (about the size of a nickel), and large (size of a quarter). All lockets have a hinge open so you can swap your charms as often as you like, and a built in magnetic clap to keep it closed.  There are many categories of pre made charms to chose from including: birthstones, causes, animals, music, travel, hobbies. There are dangles to hang from the locket loop, chains of different length, and pre-stamped plates.

I love my lockets! One (not pictured) holds my brothers ashes, the other I cut down a photo to use as the background and the charms represent my family and our story. So far I have a heart shaped October (birth)stone the represents my wedding anniversary, a hummingbird as that is what my husband uses as a nickname when writing me letters, a rainbow that represents the babies we lost to miscarriage, and an amethyst birthstone that represents Little Jedi's birthday. Once the Rebel Princess actually arrives I will add her birthstone to the locket but as of now I don't know if she will be born in June or a few days later and be a July baby.

I am offering ONE randomly selected winner an Amethyst birth/accent stone that they can add to their own locket. If you don't have a locket yet don't worry, just leave a comment and I can help get you in touch with a designer that can help you get one going! 

Follow the link HERE to enter!

Long Family Weekend

Family adventure weekend three.
Thursday afternoon it started snowing, and snowed consistently till this afternoon when the air heated up about 32 degrees and it started raining. We sat at our table and watched as the large tree in the park just had large chunks of ice fall and crash down.

Dada came home early from work Thursday afternoon, we went to the grocery store and picked up a few things (just incase the snow became to heavy to drive in).  That afternoon we just stayed in and snuggled watching a few movies and drinking hot chocolate.

We spent most of the rest of weekend playing in the snow, the Little Jedi enjoyed it so long as it wasn't extremely windy and his hands weren't cold. I busted out the snow suite and jacket that he got for Christmas and he was toasty warm while playing in the cold.

We stopped at Mount Talber Park Friday afternoon while it was snowing and walked back to the little creek we visited the week before. 

It's amazing how quickly and drastically the snow changes how things look.

Halfway There

This pregnancy has absolutely been blazing by. 

I don't know if it's because things have been so busy with moving then the holidays and traveling. 

Because we didn't announce the pregnancy till the end of the first trimester, or because I have Little Jedi to run around after and take care of but at 20 weeks I can say it is just flying by!
 That means there is just about four months left till we will be welcoming our Rebel Princess, I don't feel like that's enough time to get everything done that we need to do to prepare for her arrival. 

To get in every moment with our Little Jedi just being our baby and center of attention. 

And he is growing so fast! We will be celebrating his second birthday in just a few days, then February is half over...didn't the year just get started?! 

I feel more frazzled thinking about being a "first-time-mom-to-two" than I felt when just waiting for Little Jedi to arrive. I know that I am not alone in that feeling though. Most mothers I know acknowledge feeling anxious or not ready for bringing baby number two home, not being ready for the shift that takes place in the family. Thank goodness they all agree and confidently declare that it is all so totally worth it! 

See my lovely Origami Owl locket? My husband put it together for me! Keep watch for a short review and small charm giveaway with in the next few weeks. Also don't forget to check out the current Star Wars family (car) decals giveaway going on.

Star Wars Family Car Decals Review/Giveaway

A few months ago I purchased an original set of Star Wars family car decals from thinkgeek.com.

Well we finally got around to putting them up and oh my are they cute! I know some find family stickers to be "lame" but, it's not for everybody and if you don't like them well then don't put them on your car. 

The original set includes double characters from all of the originally released Star Wars movies. Including: Boba Fett, Han Solo, Slave Leia, and Luke Skywalker; there is also a "Scum and Villainy booster pack" which includes: Jabba the Hutt,  Tusken Raider, Greedo, a Wampa and many more. So you have many, many options for which Star Wars character you want to represent you while you drive around.

For our own family stickers we chose: Obi Wan for dada (because of the beard), Padme Amidala for me, young Luke for the Little Jedi, and young princess Leia for the Rebel Princess (her sticker will not be put up till she is born in June or July though). 

Application of the stickers was so easy. Just wash the area of your car window where you wish to place the stickers, peal them from the plastic backing, gently place them on the window and use a credit card to smooth out all the air bubbles (I still need to do that). See, easy! No tiny pieces to have to mess with or try and get to line up properly, just stick it and go!

So, for our first "Little Jedi, Rebel Princess" giveaway and because I have so many extras I am offering for you to have your own Star Wars family decals of your choice no matter how big your family is! The giveaway starts today and ends Friday morning, please follow the link below (I cannot get the widget to load) to enter, good luck!

CLICK HERE TO BE REDIRECTED TO ENTRY FORM

Mnt Talbert Park

Family adventure weekend two.

It was an absolutely beautiful day today, the sun was shining and the air was cool and crisp.

After lunch we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather (and I wanted to just get some current photos of the Little Jedi and try to show of one of the new outfits I just got him). So we stopped to check out Mount Talbert Park, which is just a very short 5 minute drive from our house. 

Despite many of the trees being bare of their leaves, it was a truly beautiful area. 

We started walking down the path just little the Little Jedi explore and climb, we crossed the bridge and took a detour from the hard path over to a shaded area with a creek running through it. 

It was so beautiful and peaceful, we decided to have a picnic in that spot sometime next week.
If you are in the Portland area I definitely recommend this as a stop you make!