Tiny Prints...I think I'm in love!

I just visited the Tiny Prints website for the first time today to look at Christmas Cards and...I think I'm in love. Perfect timing too with Christmas being right around the corner and all.

Now I usually procrastinate when it comes to buying christmas cards, or any holiday cards now that I think about it, but I absolutely LOVE getting cards. I love to display my cards on the wall right next to my tree. Usually by the time christmas is over I have a wall covered in cards.

Looking at the beautiful selection of cards available I can easily picture any of these gracing my wall during the holidays. One of my absolute favorites is called "Fun Filled Christmas" and as you'll see in the pic it's just perfect. Enough space for pics if you have a larger family (there's five kids in my house), and the message and design are sweet and simple.

I can't wait to put in my order for our Christmas cards this year, something tells me ours are going to pretty special.

Tiny Prints provides simple, modern, and unique stationery from Christmas cards, New Years cards, party invitations, and address labels to thank you cards. Once the holidays have come and gone, Tiny Prints will still be here to fill your stationary needs with their exclusive designs from the nation’s top designers. All year round, you’ll fine business cards,birth announcements and even custom wedding invitations. Come try the easy card personalization, a powerful preview engine and top-notch customer service and paper quality for yourself. With Tiny Prints by your side commemorating every holiday and momentous occasion is a cinch!

Disclosure: While I will be compensated by Tiny Prints for this post, the above is my true and honest opinion.

I've finally returned...

I've missed my blog. I was so proud of myself when I first started. Posts were coming pretty regularly, I felt inspired. But then, I started working full time and my poor blog was neglected. I would think to myself everyday, "Today I'm going to write an amazing post" and then I would fall asleep, or I would forget or I just couldn't seem to find the time.

Now I suddenly find myself a stay at home mom again. Which means I can take a couple of hours a day to give my blog the attention it deserves. I'm so excited! Now I just have to figure out what to write about :)

Pretty For Spring Blog Hop Winner....

And the winner of the Lia Sophia Raspberry Splash necklace valued at $98 is......
Dominique S!! Please be sure to email me your contact info at missmilliesays@yahoo.com so that I can get your gift out you! Congratulations!

Letting go of a friend....

Friendships can be such fragile things. One word or the wrong action can damage a friendship forever. It's almost like breaking up with a lover, I think. You share your most intimate secrets, spend tons of time time together, fight, break up. You get where I'm going with this right?

Sometimes the friendship just becomes toxic and you have to break loose. It suffocates you. The negativity becomes a constant presence in the relationship and you have to make the difficult decision to let go of a friend...

I had to make that choice last year, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The loss was so painful, because all I thought of was who am I going to talk to now. Who will listen to me when I celebrate my good days, or when I just want to bitch and moan about the kiddies and hubby? Who else will be brutally honest with me when I'm in the store fitting room trying something on and I ask if my ass looks to big in this dress?

Lucky for me, fate put some pretty amazing women in my life around the same time I had let go of this friendship. It didn't make the loss hurt any less, but having these women in my life taught me what healthy friendships SHOULD be.

Do you have a toxic friendship in your life? It can affect you more than you know, and you deserve better...

Pretty for Spring Blog Hop and Giveaway! April 18-22

I'm so excited. I'm hosting my very first giveaway as part of the Pretty for Spring Blog Hop hosted by The Howard House Reviews and Giveaways. This promises to be lots of fun with some pretty cool prizes. So be sure to check out the other great blogs participating.

My giveaway is being sponsored by me this time around. I am offering a lovely piece of Lia Sophia jewelry from the retired collection. It is the Raspberry Splash necklace with a retail value 0f $98.

So here's how it's going to work:

1.Mandatory entry: Follow me via GFC - which you can find on the sidebar.(1 Entry)
2.Follow ME on Twitter(1 Entry)
3.Subscribe to my newsletter via email - on sidebar (2 entries)
4.Tweet about the giveaway at least 2x a day (2 entries)
5.Leave a comment on blog letting me know you how you entered (1 Entry)
6. Have fun!!

1. www.howardhousereviews.com
2. www.familyapprove.com
3. colorcrazedart.blogspot.com
4. www.mottmottdeals.blogspot.com
5. www.missmilliesays.com

I was that kid...

So I was just reading a beautiful piece written by OldTweener on her blog, and it made me cry because it brought back some unwanted childhood memories for me. You see, I was one of the kids she speaks of in her post. One of the kids who stayed away from the other kids in school because I was always teased, or tripped, or hit when I ventured to close.

As I stated in one of my prior posts, I was severely abused as a child. On occasion I showed up at school with bruises. My mother couldn't be bothered with buying me new clothes so I usually wore clothing that was too small and nowhere near what all the kids were wearing.

I was the kid who no one wanted to play with. The other kids thought I was weird, too much of a nerd. Some of the kids knew what happened in my house, and didn't want to be involved. Not once did a teacher or school counselor approach me and ask if I was ok, if things were ok at home. No one wanted to get involved. The one time a neighbor finally called Child Services, my mother and her friend convinced the Social Worker that nothing was going on.

They left, and my hell continued.

I used to wish that one day a Fairy Godmother would show up and whisk me away from all the hurt and pain. I wished upon every star I saw shooting through the sky and I prayed every night. But nothing changed...

All I ask of you, is to take an extra minute as you go through your day and pay attention to the children and teens you may encounter. Don't be the one to see something is wrong yet not do anything about it. Sometimes just the simple act of asking "Is everything ok" can make a huge difference. Whatever you do, don't just walk away if you think something is wrong.

Take a second to do something. Make a difference in a child's life.

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

So excited to be a party of the Ultimate Blog Party this year. How much fun is it to discover all these great blogs and make new friends in the process?!

A little about me. I am a happily married mom of 5 children ages 5, 12, 14, 16 and 19 who keep me insanely busy. Add in a full time job at a local non profit and and now blogging which I am enjoying immensely. My blog is pretty new and is pretty much about my family and  life in general. I will be adding in product reviews and giveaways soon.

Be sure to visit me again as I'll be part of the Pretty for Spring Blog Hop April 18-22nd and will be hosting my first giveaway. See you soon!

Purging....

I've been struggling with today's blog post for the past couple of days. It's a hard topic for me, yet it's so important to me. I want to finally write a book, not just any book, a story about me. I have no expectations that millions of people will read it and I will become insanely popular. That's not what I'm looking for. Closure, cleansing my soul, finally laying my past to rest...that's what I'm looking for. If my book is able to help heal others along the way, then I will be happy.

You see, I want to write about my life thus far. I am a survivor of child abuse. No matter how hard I try to forget that...I can't. It's always a part of me. It affects my everyday life whether I want to believe it or not. It affects my decisions on how to raise and discipline our children.

I have literally blocked out whole periods of my childhood. Sometimes the pain is too much and I don't want to remember. But it's important that I do. Because by remembering what happened to me, it reminds me that the cycle has been broken. I chose NOT to do the same to my children. I CHOSE to not spank my children. I chose to be the mother they need and not a mother they would grow to hate.

Now the time has finally come to tell my story. I know the process will be difficult, I'm already crying as I type this, but it's oh so necessary. I hope you
all will join me in this journey.

Pretty For Spring Blog Hop!!

So I'm pretty new to blogging as you all know, but lucky me, I get to be a part of the Pretty for Spring Blog Hop hosted by The Howard House Reviews and Family Approve

I am ridiculously excited about this and as a participating blog I will be hosting a giveaway of Lia Sophia jewelry. (Pictures will be posted next week).Because this is The Howard House Reviews first blog hop, she is keeping it relatively small, so the first 15 blogs to sign up will be in. It promises to be lots of fun. So be sure to join us April 18-22!!

At our table...

Dinner at our house is mind boggling to say the least. It's pure chaos with some food thrown in. With 5 children and a crazy husband it is anything but quiet or "gasp" relaxing. But guess what? I wouldn't trade it for the world. Just last month, we didn't even have a kitchen table big enough to fit all of the members of our household around. Meals were pretty much grab and go hide in a room in front of a tv or a video game.

Finally, this year when our taxes came in, we decided to invest in a big pub style kitchen table. All 7 of us can actually fit around this thing at the same time!! We actually have real conversations about what happened at school and work or wherever else we may have been on that particular day. We also have conversations about the craziest, silliest things imaginable. Someone usually ends up laughing so hard they either squirt liquids out of their nose, choke on food or almost pee their pants, which of course if any of these things happened would send everyone into a fit of giggles all over again. I have been known to laugh so hard I end up crying at the table.

Let's not forget the nights when we have intense conversations at the table. Debates over politics, religion, bullying. The fact that African American or Latino history is barely even taught in schools in my city. Any topic is open for discussion and these discussions usually end up with everyone talking and yelling over each to get their point across.

Dinner at our table has helped us reconnect as a family and has become my favorite part of the day. So pass the chicken, and can I have a side of giggles with that please?

http://www.socialmoms.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=writing+prompt

Being the mom of 5 wonderful yet very wacky kids ( like I have room to talk) ages 5, 12, 14, 16 and 19 is exhausting most days. Then throw in a husband, who I call my 6th child ...lov ya hon... and a full time job in a small non profit and it's a recipe for chaos. Now, and don't ask me why, I've decided to add something else to the mix. I've decided to try my hand at blogging in hopes that I can be successful at it.

Now, if you were to meet me in person, you would quickly find out that I LOVE, LOVE to talk. My husband makes fun of me all the time. Trips to the grocery store are sheer torture for him especially on Sunday mornings. It is almost always guaranteed that I'm going to see at minimum 2 people that I know, and, that I am going to engage in a long conversation in the middle of the aisle. I have been know to strike up random conversations with strangers while standing on line. I just can't help myself! My poor husband, will either A.) patiently stand by until either myself or the person I'm talking to runs out of steam or, B.)he'll get tired of waiting and will wander off until I finally finish.

By starting this blog, I can finally talk as much as I want to random strangers who will hopefully enjoy my ramblings, and keep coming back.

Please come back...

And it starts...

I have finally decided to take the leap and start a blog. Only took me a couple of years to finally do it. At this rate, it'll probably be 5 years before I finally start that book I've always wanted to write. Ok...maybe not 5 years. I should probably work on my time management skills. 


Welcome to my world. Can't wait to share the craziness and occasional silliness that is my life with all of you. Don't mind the sarcasm and sassiness ( think I just made that spelling up) along the way, I like to keep things interesting.