Spreading the Love With Friday We're in Love: May 2013

I'm so excited to host the first of many link-ups to help spread the love in the blogging world! Here's the original post with all the details and rules, but since this is the first, let me recap.

- The world needs more nice thoughts in it, particularly on the Internet.
- Everyone has a blogger they love, whether it be their style, sense of humor, a particular post, etc.
- Every month I encourage other bloggers to share and publicly express your love for another 1, 2, or 3 bloggers.
- Valentine's is not often enough to express love, so every 14th of the month the link-up will happen where I want everyone to spread the love by linking their post.
- The button look like this, and the code beside it is all you need to copy and paste into the edit in HTML button to join up, grab the image, and link back.

<a href="http://fridaywereinlove.blogspot.com/2013/05/spreading-love-with-friday-were-in-love.html" target="_blank" title="BLOG TITLE"><img alt="BLOG TITLE" src="<a </a>





I'm so stoked to share 2 ladies with you today who I love and adore! Both of these ladies came into my life by meeting them at the AZ Blogger Meetup, and I just can't say enough about how great they both are!





Let me introduce you first to Ali, from Our Happily Ever After. 

Not only is she Disney's biggest fan, she's funny, smart, sweet, and completely genuine! I had the flu last week only to discover she had it too. It donned on me that if I could move I would offer to bring some 7up over, and she's someone I would feel totally comfortable asking to bring me some too! Seriously, we've met twice in real life, and I just love this girl and feel like I'd trust her with my child (when there is one)! Ali, thanks for making the Internet a better place and always being encouraging, strong, and confident in who you are!

My 2nd lovely lady I've mentioned before- Chrissy from Let Me See You Sparkle.  

I met her at the first meetup when she handed me a thank you card. I learned who she was by a sweet comment on Facebook- and I've never looked back! She serves and loves everyone she knows. She's so kind, so sweet, and so sincere! She has the most tender relationship with her boyfriend that is a joy to read about, and she'll remind you that there is good in the world with each and every post!

Some bloggers are even cooler in person, and let me share my love for these ladies by saying that both have amazing blogs, but you can't believe how much better they are in person! Thanks for becoming my friends, and for being constant favorite reads!

Okay friends, it's your turn, please join up by sharing your love, and linking up below!

Mega June Sponsorship Giveaway

*Click on Pictures to go to blogs. 

The Above Picture is the Giveaway Banner - Use it for Pin it and Blog it. 

 

 

 

I am extremely excited to bring you this post today! I've managed to put together a giveaway that I think will be extremely beneficial to bloggers of all sizes, content, and {insert any other way you decided to characterize yourself.} I love that this giveaway is for You as a Blogger, seeing as if you do not have a blog yourself; you wouldn't need some advertising space right? So the first; and only rule of this giveaway is that you must be a blogger. I have joined forces with 17 other bloggers around the blogosphere and we are all giving away a June advertising space! You have the opportunity to get YOUR button on 18 blogs in June for FREE! The advantages are endless {imagine how many new eyes will see your button}. This is a reach that I, myself, as a blogger would love to be a part of! We're talking hundreds of new subscribers! You don't want to miss out on this opportunity! Mandatory Entries: Following the bloggers whose blogs you could be featured on! Extra Entries:  There are a ton of extra entries that you could get! Pin it Entry: Grab the Giveaway Banner that you see on this post && Pin it! Make sure to include the link to your pin in order to get your entrees. Blog Post Entry: Write a blog post - You can intro it however you'd like. The only requirement for the post is that you include the Giveaway Banner in the post! You could post the Banner, and hit publish if you'd like. Just make sure that you include the link to your post. The Blog post MUST be strictly for THIS Giveaway. That's It! :) Get to Entering! Let me know if you have any questions! && Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

12 Months of Dates: May: Blockbuster Season Opening- Iron Man 3

We have had a super busy couple of weeks around these parts, which really challenged us to find time to date! A few weeks ago I went up to Utah to watch my sister graduate from BYU and help her drive her car back to AZ to start her first real job. It was great, I went to high school and college in Utah, and it's always fun to go to a place I once called home and see so many people I love. The only downside was missing my husband and our regular date time.

It was tough to do a weekend away from Jacob, followed by another weekend of him going on our church's annual Father's and Son's camp out. Jacob is amazing, and he and a few other guys with no children take some of the single mom in our church's kids with them so these kids don't have to miss out of experiences just because there isn't a father in their lives. He was out on Friday, and I had the AZ Blogger Meetup on Saturday (which was awesome- can't wait to blog about this soon!). It was another weekend apart.  

Then, this weekend we've helped some family and become parents for the weekend so they could go on an out-of-state on a trip. It's been a crazy couple weeks, and we've had to fit in dates on weeknights wherever we could.    

I didn't want to miss another 12 Months of Dates due to busyness, so we decided to alter the dinner plans and head to the movies at a theater closer to us.  

I feel like I have to explain my note- if you've read this post you know I get motion sickness only in movies and video games. Jacob is like most guys and really loves action movies, sometimes in 3D, but luckily he spared me the 3D, and we were able to sit really high in the theater to go see Iron Man 3.

We bought our tickets and changed our dinner plans to head over to Smashburger.  It's one of those not-quite-cheap-not-quite-expensive burger places, and it has some really delicious food with some unique flavors!  

 Jacob did the Avocado Bacon Ranch Burger with sweet potato fries- one we'd both recommend highly!  

I went with the classic burger with blue cheese and sweet potato fries. And sometimes I pull faces while Jacob changes camera settings.  

We were amazed how packed the theater was, even 4 days after opening! We waited in line and eavesdropped on a few conversations from some die-hard comic book fans. A few little gems from waiting in line: 

"If they made an Ice-man movie even I wouldn't go see it"  

* uproarious laughter

"I met her in person. Then she smiled and it was such a turn off"

- Comic enthusiast in tight Marvel t-shirt

- Polite comic fan couple trying to hug from different spots in line and reaching out to do so (I think people would have let you butt in line should you ever read this)

Yes, it was a treat to stifle laughter around so many enthusiasts who just were so excited to see Iron Man 3 for the first or second time. I love passion- the world needs so much more of it! 

We were lucky to see this one at a Cine-Capri- the largest theaters in Arizona. They formally welcome you to the show and the size really is remarkable! 

I must say the movie exceeded my expectations! The plot was well written, the character flaws will only make you love Robert Downey Jr. more, and the special effects were quite remarkable on this one! We laughed a lot, we were entertained the whole time, and I didn't even come close to barfing!  

Spreading the Love with Friday We're In Love

I've been thinking a lot lately about the joys of the blogging and how much love I feel from this community.  I've made friends I never would have met otherwise, I've learned to actually look somewhat decent in make-up (nothing short of a miracle- trust me!), cook, express more love, and be inspired many other countless ways.

A few years ago I made a resolution to not hold back nice thoughts.  Sometimes it's telling a random stranger how pretty she is, that I like some one's shoes, that their idea is so smart, or that I appreciate them working a holiday so I can enjoy their venue.  Everyone needs validation, and if you think someone is awesome, why not tell them?  The world needs more love, and I honestly believe it's those small expressions that make all the difference!

It hit me, Valentine's Day is only once a year, and doesn't the world need some declarations of love more often?  Shouldn't this be more like once a month that we dedicate some time to express love and adoration?  And then this crazy idea for a new blog series was born!

Every 14th of every month I'm going to host a link up called "Spreading the Love with Friday We're in Love."  Every 14th I'm hoping other bloggers will join me in expressing their love for another blogger- or two, or three.  All you need to do is create a post featuring 1-3 bloggers who inspire you, declare your love for their blog, a specific post, or them as a person.  Write a couple sentences validating them, and then link up so others can share in the love-fest.  It's that simple!

I'll be hosting my first link-up in 6 days- on May 14th and will continue to host one every month. Maybe I'll be the only one, maybe a few of my friends will join, but I have high hopes to continue to make the blogging community a very connected, loving, positive place to be!  Mark your calendars, we're only 6 days away!

The 39 Steps

It's no secret that we really like plays. There's something there that is missing in movies, and it's just great to see talent live!
It's also no secret that we like free things. When our family friends told us they were moving and unable to finish out their tickets at the Hale Center Theatre in Gilbert, we were more than happy to take the tickets they offered us and get in a free date!  I'm asked often tips for dating on a budget, and one thing I have to say is to get to know your friends and your parents friends and their interests. We've been really lucky to have some season ticket holders for sporting events, plays, etc. offer us some tickets once in a while, just by telling people how cool it is that they do these things regularly.  Our dating budget loves it, and we sincerely appreciate the generosity!

We were given tickets to see Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps- a murder mystery with a lot of comedic twists.  Hitchcock really knew what he was doing and saved his sense of humor for this play adding just enough creepy and . The acting was also pretty amazing as there are hundreds of characters and only 4 cast members.

Thanks again to our friends for the tickets, and thank you Hale for a very entertaining date night!

April Cara Box

Have you heard of the Cara Box?  I stumbled upon it about a month ago, and I wanted to be a part of it!  Here's the gist: you sign up and agree to send a themed package with at least 5 items to an assigned blogger, and you get one in return!  It's such an amazing experience to meet two bloggers you never would have met otherwise from other parts of the country.  The theme is also awesome so you know you'll send and receive different types of things every month. This month the theme was Earth Day, which provided a fun challenge.

Imagine the excitement to find this baby on your porch:

The lovely Jenna of Freckled Fashionista was matched up with me and did an amazing job sending me some amazing items!  Her card was also so sweet and so thoughtful.  I felt so lucky to get to know her!

Seriously, so stoked to start an herb garden for all the cooking we do, plan some date nights on the recycled notebook, use my new mini water bottle on a run, and pack some snacks in this amazing lunch bag for a date.  Not to mention, I put on the "green" nail polish the day it came- great choice, you rock Jenna!  Thanks for making this such a fun experience- you totally nailed things I love! 

I felt equally lucky to get Aleshea at Glitz & Grits- a true Southern girl whose blog cracks me up!  You won't read better voice, trust me!  To read her post check it out HERE!

Thanks Wifessionals for doing this, and seriously, every blogger should participate in at least one- so much fun!

Guest Posts and a Winner!

A few awesome things this week: 

1. We have a giveaway winner!  Congrats Ellen C., Katie should have contacted you about this :)

2. I've been a guest-posting maniac this week.  Two written in one week kept for a busy Camille!  They are both date related and questions I get often:

- Check out Trendkin for my advice on getting dressed for some of those dates the stump you what to wear.  

- Check out some plans we have for date night when we have kids.  For those who struggle to fit it in this one is for you!