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Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz – This is a story about how woman touched a man’s life. The brief period they had together and how it changed him. Then toward the end when they have the chance to be together again. It’s heartbreaking, close to perfect, and very relatable for me.

There is before her and now there is after her, and that is the difference in my life.

She made an impact, that’s for sure.

I’ll be honest and say that this book was a “right place, right time” read for me and I haven’t read it through in years, other than random highlighted passages, so I’m not sure as a whole how it would hold up for me. My hopes are high and I would like to say the same as before. The bits I have highlighted and underlined are surely just as beautiful. This is one of the few that I pull off the shelf over and over again, to remember where I was and why certain lines touched me as they did.

After dinner she was the first to go upstairs. I remained by the fire, poking the gnarled, slow-burning logs with a stick. Soon I heard her running a bath, the old pipes filling the house with their crotchety deliberations. I thought about the meal we’d just eaten and how afterward — contented, exhausted, quiet — we’d stood together at the stained white sink and washed the dishes. There were all the mundane aspects of her life about which I realized I knew little — how she put on lipstick, rode a bicycle, took a bath, opened a present, folded a shirt — and which appeared suddenly illumined now that we were here alone, living together: a series of prosaic firsts that felt like love letters and that I wanted to catalogue for myself as though they belonged to me.

I sat down on the landing, my back against the outer wall of my room, unable now to see any part of her. the floor was cold. The house was still. There were just her occasional liquid movements coming through the door like a private language.

I tried simply to be. To listen to the sounds of her.

*sigh*

There is so much here. Pick it up. Tell me what you think.

I was planning on including a list of books today, but this got a bit long. Instead I’ll be doing a series of installments. I’ve never been able to do a list of my “favorite” books because I always feel like I’m leaving something out or I change my mind. But these fit this particular category — the ones I return to. Take a look. You might like them, too.

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The designs are clean and elegant — nothing overdone or cluttered. They are perfect for me and my style. Another great thing about their cards is that you can choose designs by color. Last year I wanted one that evoked a sense of peace and calm. I think the muted tones I chose did just that. So it’s not only your typical reds and greens and frosty blues that they carry, but a wide assortment of colors to fit every taste and style.

Now we just need to have a new photo taken so I can get the ball rolling!

This year I’m excited to be able to give away 25 FREE holiday cards to three (3) of my readers!

TO ENTER:

• Hop over to Shutterfly and check out their Christmas and holiday cards.

1. Leave a comment here letting me know what your favorite design is.
2. Tweet about this giveaway.

• That’s all! You’ll be entered to win one of the 3 free packs of cards that you get to design yourself.
• One comment per entry! (Two entries available per person)

Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

Note: Comments not meeting the criteria for an entry will be deleted to be fair to the rest of the entrants.

Shutterfly provided me with a free pack of holiday cards in exchange for this honest review. But I love the company and how my cards turned out last year so I was planning on ordering from them again anyway Thanks, Shutterfly!

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With the change in seasons coming just around the corner, I am tasked with a very serious duty: burning up all of my spring and summer candle scents to make way for the delicious autumn and winter selections.

Spring and summer are not my favorite candle seasons. I prefer my candles with a touch of pine or holiday spices and they somehow seem out of place in the middle of bright, windy spring day or in the middle of one of our heat waves. If someone can figure out how to meld my favorites together into something that’s acceptable for warmer seasons, I’m all ears. Think — the Grand Canyon: warms rays of sunshine mixed with a cool breeze blowing out of the canyon, carrying a hint of pine.

Mmm. (Psst! Yankee Candle Co., I will work for candles.)

This year I did manage to find a couple that I really enjoyed.

Cottage Breeze – Like a day by the shore with the refreshing scent of cool salt air blowing across the dunes.
Early Sunrise – A new day dawns crisp and fresh in this clean lemony citrus scent with hints of ginger and tea.

Cottage Breeze has a slightly masculine scent that is fresh. Early Sunrise is one of my new favorites. It is light and fresh with just the right touch of lemon. The throw on this particular candle is fantastic as long as I make sure there are no ceiling fans going in the surrounding rooms. Gotta stay away from those drafts!

So while I am enjoying these scents, I’m ready to make way for their autumnal cousins.

Do you have any favorite fall scents? What about for other seasons? And for goodness sake, is it the ceiling fans that make the candles scent wane so quickly?

Yankee Candle Company does not know me, though I wish they did. My love of their products is well documented and borderline obsessive.

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A few weeks ago I was given a chance to try out an updated version of My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software. If you know me, you know I’ve never entirely been on board with scrapbooking, but these past few weeks as I played around with the My Memories software I found myself enjoying creating pages for family photos. Digital scrapbooking is something that I can get behind because there’s not nearly as much excess paper being used in the process.

I decided to use the software to create a greeting card. That’s one of the fun things about My Memories — it’s not only for scrapbooking. There are many different ways the software can be used and I’m only on the tip of the iceberg.

I used one of their scrapbook designs and place a simple photo of my grandparents inside. This would be great for an anniversary card and I know that both of them would appreciate the thoughtfulness behind the personalization of the card.

My Memories has a lot of features that traditional scrapbookers will probably find very appealing. You can add embellishments to your pages just like you would in a traditional paper scrapbook and the company offers many of these for free with the purchase of the software. Along with the embellishments come many professionally designed album templates that even the most inexperienced scrapbooker (ahem, me) will find easy to use. And they’re beautiful to boot.

The number of free design elements that are offered with the scrapbooking software are some of the main things that appeal to me. While there are plenty of affordable designs available for purchase on the My Memories website, there are many already included with the software. Great news for those of us without an unlimited budget for this sort of thing.

My favorites in the free professional album templates are the “photo only” variety. I’m a minimalist when it comes to displaying photographs (partly why traditional scrapbooking hasn’t ever appealed to me) and I don’t like other things cluttering up the page and distracting from the beauty and composition of the photo itself. These photo only templates are exactly what I like to work with and I can’t wait to (finally!) put together a nice wedding album to give to my parents.

I’m hosting a giveaway for the My Memories software (value of $39.97) that will last until 6pm Central on Monday, August 29th. There are a couple of ways to enter.

• Visit My Memories and comment here telling me which Digital Scrapbooking Kit is your favorite.
• Follow My Memories on Twitter (and leave a comment here telling me you did so)
• Like My Memories on Facebook (and leave a comment here telling me you did so)
• Like Miss Wisabus on Facebook (and…you know the drill )
• Share the link to this blog post on Facebook
• Subscribe to Miss Wisabus (subscription link on the sidebar…leave a comment)

Each comment counts as an entry. Make sure to enter a working email address (it will not be shared or posted). Winner will be drawn randomly after the contest closes and contacted immediately.

My Memories has kindly offered a promotion for readers of MissWisabus.com. When you purchase a copy (available as both a digital download and CD version) of My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software and use the promo code STMMMS30877 you will receive $10 off the cost of the software (retail $39.97) AND $10 to spend in their digital store. This is a great deal! If you don’t win the giveaway, please check out this offer. I think you’ll like it!

So, here I am, a (digital) scrapbook convert. Who would’ve thought!

My Memories provided me with a complimentary review copy for the purpose of review. All opinions are honest and my own.

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About a month ago, my husband and I celebrated our second anniversary. What a great second year it was. Both of us celebrated another year at our jobs (keep in mind, the day after we got back from this little trip–on our actual wedding anniversary–Kevin found out that he’d sadly lost his due to cuts), the birth of a nephew, and a number of other milestones. We were looking forward to this weekend for some time and I was excited because Kevin had researched and planned the whole thing himself.

*pause for the collective “Awwww…”*

I know.

Our accommodations were cozy and beautiful. Kevin had booked us a night at in the Royal Master Suite at the Arcadian Inn in Edmond, OK, just a short drive from our location south of the metro.

The decor was elegant, but comfortable. I loved the wall of Gibson prints. It reminded me of my Aunt Jewel who had a lot of the prints spread throughout her house.

They must have heard I was coming, because they set out the Keurig.

Oh, wait. They did know.

The bed was glorious. I really need to call them and find out what kind of sheets they had on there because MAN OH MAN. That was the best night of sleep I’ve had in a long time and that says a lot when you’re traveling. The pillows were fabulous as well. I was so glad to find that because most of the time when I stay in a hotel the most disappointing factor is the squishiness of the pillow. They had a fine assortment here that would suit every taste.

The room had the most beautiful shower and a jacuzzi tub. I. LOVED. THE. TUB. Over on the vanity were a number of complimentary bath items and I am NOT talking free shampoo and a bar of soap. There was a salt scrub, an oil treatment for your hair, and the most divine smelling bath salts. I really enjoyed my soak with those and was pleasantly surprised to find that when we checked out they included a complementary sachet of the bath salts. How sweet!

With all that said, there was one thing that stood out from everything else.

The breakfast.

One of the amenities at the Arcadian Inn is their candlelight breakfast. Whenever you check in you tell them what time you would like to take breakfast and the next morning, right on the dot, you will be served promptly without intrusion. They announce what you’re having and then leave you to it. With your peppermint infused hot towels. Ahh.

The morning we were there they served a quiche (I can’t remember, but I believe it was tomato and bacon), a fruit salad, and waffles with their famous vanilla-butter sauce.

If all I could eat for the rest of my life were those waffles and that vanilla-butter sauce, you would not see me complain. It was the best thing I have ever tasted. Go get some now.

The fruit salad was so fresh. Full of melons (honeydew and watermelon), grapes, and kiwi, it was topped with a dollop of some type of berry yogurt that added just enough tang. Delicious.

But the waffles have my heart. Still.

If you are ever in the area and need a place to stay, or if you just want to get away for a weekend, this is a great place to go. Close enough to the metro that there is plenty to see and do, you won’t regret spending some time at the Arcadian.

They don’t know who I am. I just really, really liked this place!

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• The Adorkable Life
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• Aura j o o n
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• Oceanic Wilderness
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• Simply Created by Cole
• Teaching Tuck and Ty

So, even if I am in the running for Worst Blog Commenter in the History of Blogs — know that I love these ladies.

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“But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15

That is the theme this month at (in)courage. I love it and the ministry they have as a whole. This verse and overarching theme resonates with me a lot right now as my husband and I look to the future and the changes that we expect in the coming year. Life, it’s a’changin’, but Joshua 24:15 says it all.

I was so excited to be offered the chance to review one of DaySpring’s products for (in)courage this month. I’ve long been a fan of DaySpring products — long been as in, my mom has been one of those card sending ladies for as long as I can remember. And I love it. I long to do the same thing. I just have to remember to put things in the mail. Ahem.

DaySpring has a number of gorgeous wall hangings on sale during the month of May that would make great gifts or a beautiful addition to your own home.

The particular product that I received for review is one of my favorites — the “My Beloved” frame.

It’s one of my favorite verses and coupled with the beautiful frame, I just love it! I haven’t found the perfect place for it yet, but I’m sure I will soon. The charcoal color looks great in my living room and the finish and font give it a very modern look that fits perfectly with my decor.

So, I guess you get the point that I love this frame, right? Good

And because DaySpring is being so generous, I have a $35 gift certificate to give away to one reader!

TO ENTER:
Leave a comment stating you’d like to be entered in the giveaway.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each entry) :

• Like Miss Wisabus on Facebook.
• Like DaySpring on Facebook
• Tweet about this giveaway mentioning both @MissWisabus and @DaySpringCards in your tweet. Example: $35 DaySpring giveaway hosted by @MissWisabus, courtesy of @DaySpringCards! http://bit.ly/k90fX7
• Comment telling me how you would spend the $35 gift certificate in the DaySpring Store

I’ll draw a winner randomly on Monday, May 16th.

DaySpring provided me with this product free in exchange for a review. The opinions are 100% my own. Affiliate links used.

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The other day, Miz Booshay posted about a site called Pinterest where you can collect and group images for just about any purpose you can think of. Being that I suffer (not so quietly) with a mild case of OCD, all I could think was TAKE ME THERE NOW TO THIS CATEGORIZING PARADISE. I had to wait for an invite, but finally the day came and I was hooked, let me tell ya.

On a completely unrelated note, looking at Miz Booshay’s blog always makes me want to produce red-haired children. Not that I haven’t always wanted red-haired children anyway, her photos just make the situation all the more desperate. I mean my hair is medium-dark brown (but looks like red hot fire in the summer sun) and my husband’s hair is black. I know that somewhere between the two of us, that genetic composition is possible, but highly unlikely. Ah well.

Back to Pinterest. This thing is fab. It helps me exercise my desire to collect while preserving the density of my pocketbook. Who could say no to that?

So, if you’re on there, add me. If you’re not, you can head on over and request an invite (I might still be able to send out invites, not sure) and let the fun begin!

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I was going to send out Christmas cards. And not just any Christmas cards. I wanted some of those cute Christmas photo cards that most of my family usually load up with pictures of kids and dogs and in one case, a classic car. Last year I finally had two very special things to include in our card — a husband and a dog

Last year, I went with a different company. I was impressed with the finished product, but this year I’m going with Shutterfly. The options that they have now are really beautiful and capture just what I want to send out to family and friends. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to do a Christmas card or a New Year’s card, but we’ll see. (The dog is headed to the groomer today and if the cut turns out nicely, we may do a little photo session right here in the living room!)

If you haven’t checked out what Shutterfly has to offer right now, head on over! They have some awesome deals today (lots of 20%) and I’m not sure how long that lasts.

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly http://bit.ly/sfly2010

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