Guest Post from Joanna of ModaMama

Today I get the privilege of introducing you to a lady of impeccable taste.  Joanna is a fashion blogger, an actress, a photographer and so much more.  I have no doubt that you will enjoy reading and looking at the style pictures on her Joanna's blog.  And you'll be inspired to spice up your wardrobe.  Make sure to stop by and read her blog.

Click to see full outfit post.

Guest posting is awkward.  It's feels odd to talk about myself, like I'm applying for a dating video: Actor, Tv host, photographer, sci-fi nerd, and boardgame geek, who can kill you with her bare hands from 12 years of Kung Fu training. Loves ruffled dresses and pretty, pretty shoes, and is recently obsessed with her Vintage-esque bike.  Contact me at ModaMama.

Click to see full outfit post.

Lately, I've been taking part in something called Dressember, where you wear a dress every single day in December.  Some do it for fun, some do it for the challenge or styling, and some do it for charity.  I'm doing it for a bit of all three.

Click here to see full outfit post.

I'd love to share with you a few ideas on styling dresses. First off, belts!  I can't get by without a few good belts, and I really suggest Forever 21 for really cheap and trendy belts to help you constantly change up your look.

Click here to see full outfit post.

Sweaters/shirts over/under dresses. I love doing this because it also lets me wear summer dresses all year round. This gives you a ton of versatility and you can literally create hundreds of looks by just changing that up.  Plus, when it gets cold, you really need to stay warm by practicing the art of layering.

Did I also mention tights?  Wool tights are my absolute must here in Toronto, Canada.  It gets really cold and there's just no way I could set my dresses aside.  So tights with wool in them are as essential as a warm jacket.

Click to see full outfit post.

Plus, you can do all of it at once - shirt under a dress, sweater over it, tights to stay warm, and a belt to finish it all off!

Click to see full outfit.

Finally, go with what you love.  My recent love, or obsession, is faux fur.  Specifically faux fur vests.  I absolutely adore it, and love the fact that I seem to be able to just throw this one over anything!

That's it!  Thanks for reading and I'd love it if you stopped by, followed me, or even just watched a Coffee Talk vid or two.  Take care!

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Guest Post from Kim of Singedou[b]t and a giveaway

Hello friends of All My Love for All My Days!  

I am excited to be here today!  Thanks Danette for letting me hang out out here with your lovely readers!

My name is Kim and I blog over at Singledou[b]t.  I've been blogging for about a year or so, give or take a few months.  I blog about lots of things from my faith to my hobbies.  

I've been going back and forth for a week now on what I wanted to talk to you about. There is just so much going on in my life. 

I thought I'd spend some time talking about a few of the things I am thankful for.  We are definitely in that season so it seems more than appropriate. 

MY LORD

I am Christian. I have been since I was 13.  And like any relationship, I've had my ups and downs, my tantrums and demands, my awakenings and heaping tablespoons of humility.  In the 23 years I have been a follower of Christ, I have never stopped believing that I follow a God who loves me beyond my understanding and who wants so much more for me than I could ever imagine.

MY FAMILY

I, like most people, have an interesting and often crazy family, though small.  I have two parents who are still madly in love with each other and who support their kids no matter how they might disagree with them!  I can't imagine two better parents!

MY CHURCH FAMILY

I have been blessed to be a part of many churches in my 23 years as a believer.  Each one taught me something new about my Lord and myself.  I am now part of a new church plant, Trinity Grace Church Washington Heights. I am amazed every day at how amazing these people are

MY BEST FRIEND

Like churches, I have been blessed with some amazing girl friends in my life.  My sweet roommate and BESTEST OF THE BEST is my sister at heart and in Christ.  I feel truly blessed to have her on my side!

MY ART

I am a fickle creature.  My attention span can often be small but some things that stay true to who I am and what I love is my passion for creating.  Whether its my photography, my knitting, or some other random creation I am working on, I truly love figuring out how things work and how I can create it myself.  

Now these are just a few of the things I am most thankful for!  

What are you thankful for?  I'd love to hear them!

To say thank you to Danette and her followers, I am offering a giveaway!  I am giving away an item from my shop.  

Winner's choice of:

~ An infinity Scarf

~ A set of dish clothes or scrubbies

~ 2 Swiffer covers 

or

~ 1 8x10 photo from City Girl Photography

So get to entering and stop by and say hi to me over at Singledou[b]t.

BLOG | PHOTOGRAPHY | TWITTER | PINTEREST | ETSY | FACEBOOK

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Guest Post from Jenn at My {Not So} Glamorous Life

Have you ever met a person that you feel like you just instantly connect with?  They are always supportive.  Always kind.  Always supportive.  Well, that's Jenn to me.  I asked Jenn to guest post today and she agreed.  I know you will enjoy her.

Make sure to stop by her blog and follow too.

Hello Friends! I am so honored to be guest posting today here on Danette's lovely blog. Danette has just been TOO sweet to me since we've "met" one another. I truly value my relationship with her.

When Danette invited me to post on her blog, I knew almost immediately what to write about. Faith, of course!

In my 30 years, I can assure you that my faith has been tested. It has been tested many times.

As a very young adult, my faith was tested when at just 19 years old I was told that I had Premature Ovarian Failure (aka early menopause) and that I would never have "my own" children. And I thought many times "How/Why would a loving God do this to me? How/Why would a loving God take away from me the one thing I've always dreamed of?" And yes, I questioned God's plan. My heart was so full of pain. But HE was there, the whole time. And, needless to say, He had other plans for me. While I did end up with an infertility diagnosis (PCOS), it was not quite so devastating as my original diagnosis. God was still speaking.

During my 2nd pregnancy, my faith was tested with a complicated and high risk pregnancy. Gestational diabetes, abnormal ultrasounds, and at the end, insufficient amniotic fluid. I was scared, especially when the ultrasounds were abnormal. And I thought many times "How/Why would a loving God do this to me?" What would I do if there was something "wrong" with my baby? But there wasn't. God was still speaking

Somewhere after that, my faith was tested when my marriage hit a rocky point. I felt so lost. So confused. But God gave us the strength to grow our love instead of walking away. Yes, God was still speaking.

A little over two years ago, when my 3rd child was born (yes, THREE kids that at one point I was told I'd never have!) my faith was tested again in one of the most profound ways yet. My little girl was born with special needs. She was born with a condition that wasn't caught on the ultrasound. A condition that she wont "outgrow", that there isn't a cure for (Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. Say THAT three times fast!). And once again, I questioned His plan. Many, many times I thought to myself "How/Why would a loving God do this to me?" It took me some time to see that it was okay. That this obstacle was a blessing in disguise. This little girl, and her condition, is a gift from God. While I don't question that at all, I wont pretend we don't still face many challenges. But I have peace knowing that God is still speaking.

About a year and a half ago, once again, my faith was tested. Really tested. My mom had a mass on her brain, and had sudden and traumatic emergency brain surgery. About a week later, the pathology report came back and she was given a diagnosis of a rare form of cancer called Primary CNS Lymphoma. I found myself wondering again "How/Why would a loving God do this to me?". Her young life still had too much left in it! God COULDN'T take her from us, we weren't done loving her yet! Oh, the tears I cried. The tears we all cried. The fears we endured. Hearts full of pain. What a long road our family traveled in those months. But, God blessed us with Dr's that can help heal. And he led my mom to one of the best Cancer Centers in the country. And she got the best treatment. And she's been cancer free for a year now. In fact, she celebrated her 1st Birthday yesterday! (Check out the my blog for that!). And the reason why she celebrated was because God is still speaking!

That's a little bit about my journey, and my struggle, with faith. And I'll tell you now, my faith is stronger than it has ever been. He has seen me through all of these trials. While I know that there is more to come, I have finally discovered that I can give it all to Him, and take peace in that. What a blessing!
I have learned that you should "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." ~Gracie Allen. Why? Because God is STILL speaking

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2–4 (ESV)

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Guest Post from Brit at These Happy Times

I've only barely met Brit from These Happy Times, but I've quickly found that we have much in common.  It always feels good to find those people you would have shared culture with. 

I know you are going to love this lady so be sure to stop by her blog.

Hi. I'm Brit & I blog at These Happy Times.  Sharing on Danette's blog today has me feeling like I'm in high school and I'm hanging out with the cool kids. I just love her blog and am really excited to be over here today. You should know that sharing my heart is the reason I blog. It is impossible for me to not write about what God is doing in my life or how he is working to grow me as a person. Along with this, naturally I tend to write about the two most important men in my life. Noah, our little man who is 2, and Johnny, my sweet husband.

One thing to know about These Happy Times is that I'm pretty honest about life.

 The good. The Bad.

Honestly, sometimes in life we get into a funk. Have you ever been friends with the funk? If you haven't then count yourself lucky. However if you have met the funk you know that it isn't the loveliest place to be. The funk usually means you just feel blah, not yourself, and perhaps life hasn't been too kind. A few weeks ago we found ourselves in the funk. We received difficult news and our home was hit with the flu. Sometimes life is this way. Not everything is wonderful all the time.

Not even for believers. Not even in blog land. 

Guess what? We have the choice to either stay in the funk or to try to put some pep back in our step! Today I thought it would be fun to share how I climb out of the funk get happy! 

After about 4 days in the funk it was just too much. 

So we made the choice to get out of the house & the funk!

That night we had dinner on the living room floor (ordered pizza), we piled into the Durango (my version of a mommy van), and turned some fun music to have a dance party around town! 

My man held my hand tight here & there.

We dropped by the store to grab chocolate & coffee.

Then we hit up all the best stop lights in town to sing way too loudly and danced like crazy! Once we got home we put Noah to bed and danced some more.

So lets review the 4 Steps to get Out of The Funk!

First, make the choice to change your mindset.

Second, eat junk food.

Third, listen to loud music.

Fourth, have a dance party with someone fun! 

Hope this helps the next time you find yourself in the funk. 

I would love to hear from you & hope you come by to say hello!

~Brit

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Guest Post by Kristin from Tales from the Nook

Hi guys! I'm Kristin and I blog at Tales From the Nook. I'm so happy to be here today guest posting for Danette! She's a pretty rad gal :) Ya know what I really love about Danette's blog? It's REAL. And that's hard to do in the blogging world. So today I thought I'd talk about just how personal you can get when you blog.

I've gotten into some pretty personal stuff over at TFTN. And to be perfectly honest with you all, I constantly struggle with putting my life out there for all to read and see. Many days I think I should just stick with outfit posts and giveaways. But that's not why I started blogging, and that most likely never be what Tales From the Nook will become.

The thing about putting your heart out there and talking about the things that are hard to talk about is that you never know who you are inspiring. And it's not that I feel like I'm a super inspiring person. But, there very well could be one reader who was struggling and doesn't feel alone anymore.

source

I've connected with so many people through blogging who are going through similar struggles as I. And to me, that is such a valuable connection to make. For me, there aren't many people I can talk to in my every day life who are going through the fertility struggles that I am going through. And I've gotten emails from strangers that read my blog and wanted to just hear my story and talk about it. And that's a comforting feeling, knowing that someone you don't know IRL just wants to support you. 

The same goes for my new linkup that I've bee hosting. It's called Change Your Life, and it's a weekly linkup where you can come share your progress on changing your life. It can be anything, weight loss, relationships, whatever you want to change. I'm here to support you! 

So tell me, how personal do you get in blogging? Does it make you uncomfortable to talk about certain things in your blog? Do you put it all out there or keep it non-personal? Come talk to me on my blog or my twitter! 

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Apples

source

I love this picture.  Apples are one of my favorite fruits and as I've been told, "An apple a day keeps the doctor at day."

Today I'm guest posting for Jessica at The Lily White English Rose.  Check the post out and check Jessica out too.  It's a pretty sweet diy craft.

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A is for Autumn (and Anxiety)

Hi, I'm Brooke from The Intentional Momma blog. I want to thank Danette for having me! She is such an encouragement to me, and I'm thankful for her!

As an educator with a toddler at home, I am constantly dreaming up new activities, and today I am sharing my newest educational freebie--my A is for Autumn Color-and-Trace preschool pack! Featuring apples, ants, and acorns in autumn colors, your little ones can practice tracing, counting, coloring, and matching with this super simple printable mini-workbook.

As for me, the A-word that I find myself facing so much as an adult is the word anxiety. I find myself worrying so often! A verse that I must constantly reflect upon is one you probably know. But I'll leave you with this one other printable, also in autumn colors, in hopes that it might be an encouragement to you if you tend to be a worrier like me!

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Say Hello to Misty from Monkeys and Tutus!

My name is Misty and I blog over at Monkeys & Tutus! I am an Army Wife stay at home mommy to 3 kids under 3! My blog is a compilation of all the fun and chaos that goes along! Here are my 3 crazy beautiful babies!

I am so thrilled that Danette asked me to do a guest post for her! I have been debating on what to share with you all and after my manic Monday I learned some important things about blogging and some great life lessons in return and that's what I'm going to share with ya today.

In the past month I have been working really hard to grow my blog and make it something that people would want to read, a place other toddler mommies can go to find fun ideas and I have poured my heart and soul and a ton of time and money into making it just that.

Monday while looking at my stats I saw something weird, I had noticed it before but wasn't really sure and when I did some investigation and then got really freaked out. It basically looked like most of page view were coming from a referring sight that turned out to be a Russian Porn site! As you can imagine I had a total freak out mostly because I post a lot about my family, lots of pics of my kidos etc. Long long long story short (you can read full story here) I had that massive freak out only to find out it was just what is known as referrer spam! In the complete haste of my panic I went a little crazy! I deleted every post that had a pic of my kids on it.  I spent hours taking down pics of my kids from everywhere and I was on the verge of shutting down the blog.  I made twitter posts, facebook posts and a blog post saying I had been hijacked by pervs and I was shutting it down.  I felt sick and distraught and thought my blogging life was over.  (cue dramatic music, ha) In my crazy hasty overreaction not only did I delete a lot of important posts, a lot of hard work and spend countless hours worrying I ignited fear in a ton of people because believe it or not, a ton of bloggers have this crazy referrer spam in their stats site.  Luckily I had a lot of amazing support and people that helped me find the solution.  I was overwhelmed with the sweetness of my readers.  I got links, posts saying don't quit and lots of help to calm my irrational fears!


The purpose for me telling you my crazy story is two fold. First, if you notice 'pregolum' or anything like that in your referring urls or sites ignore it! Do not click on it :)  Its just stupid spam. Referrer spam (lots of links and info on referrer spam here) Clicking on it only makes more spam come in and makes it worse. The more you click the more you get. The more you ignore it the less you will see it.

Second, it taught me a valuable lesson about hastiness, mercy and grace!

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,

nor to be hasty and miss the way. (Proverbs 19:2 NIV84)

Ignorant zeal is worthless; haste makes waste. (Proverbs 19:2 MSG)

Proverbs 14:29 Amp
He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is hasty of spirit exposes and exalts his folly.

Those verses pretty much sum up what happened to me! I was very 'zealous' if you want to put it that way!  I was passionate about the reasoning behind my madness and hastiness.   Untimely I was worried about the safety of my kids but there were a lot of different ways I could have handled it. A lot of easier ways that I could have taken care of things until I had time to do my research.

Proverbs 29:20 Amp

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a [self-confident] fool than for him.

The same goes in many areas of most of our day to days.  From small things to huge things, if any of you are like me, its all to easy to jump to the bad conclusion and run with it before knowing the whole story.

Its easy to fly off the handle at someone in traffic, its easy to judge the lady screaming at her kids in the store, its easy to get mad at someone for being late, its easy to think the worst instead of assuming the best in every day situations even when we don't know the whole story.


Did you ever hear the story about the man on the plane with 3 loud rambunctious kids and he is just sitting there not even paying attention to them.  The other passengers are getting angry because the kids are being awful.  Another passenger finally says something to the man about needing to control his kids and he says I am sorry their mother just died and I am still in shock and I have no idea how to tell them.  

Of course the passenger (as well as most people reading this) have a total paradigm shift.

Same goes with someone cutting you off in traffic, someone being unnecessarily rude to you etc.  Its much easier to be hasty and get angry with out knowing the situation. 


I learned a valuable lesson in being hasty and my readers taught me a valuable lesson in mercy and grace.  It would have been so easy for them to just say ok and unfollow and be done with it or to say omg shes crazy and way to over reactive but so many of them reached out and offered support. 


Every day we do things that go against God, be it little or large, we all sin and we all fall short of His glory but He is always right there offering us grace and mercy.  How sweet is it that no matter how hasty we are in our day to days Gods love and mercy are always new.  

Matthew 5:7 Amp

Blessed (happy, ^[a]to be envied, and ^[b]spiritually prosperous—^[c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!

Thank you, Danette for the wonderful opportunity to share some ramblings from my heart!  

Thank you, Misty!  I appreciate Misty and her willingness to guest post.  Don't forget that tomorrow is the launch of the Blue Jay Boutique!  Hope to see you then.

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