Monday, November 18, 2013

Advent Preparations

We received the candles for our Advent wreath a few days ago.  I'm making a list of Advent and Christmas books to get from the library.  I'm planning a few simple crafts for the season.  And most of all, I'm making a dent in my Christmas shopping (and my St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucia's Day shopping).  My goal is to be done by the start of Advent (two weeks away) so that we can anticipate Christmas with reverence and without stress.  We have a modest budget this year, but I'm still making an effort to buy from small businesses.  While that may mean less gifts, that also usually means that the gifts I do buy will be high quality, unique, and personal. 

We're also making sure our gifts include donations to charities near and dear to my heart.  I recently signed up as a consultant for Lilla Rose (beautiful, high quality hair accessories) with the purpose of making some extra money to sponsor an aging person.  So far, I've made enough each month to be able to sponsor Juan Jose, an 86 year old widower in Ecuador. 

If you have it on your heart to shop small business, please take a look at my sponsors below and when you visit my blog in the future, won't you take a glance at the right sidebar to see if anything catches your eye?  If you are looking for a worthy cause to take up during this time of giving, Brett is in great need of not only monetary donations, but also prayers and people to share his story so that his future parents might find him.  And if you're a mom of a little one in diapers, there's an app for you to keep your holiday errands just a little more sane. 


http://peacefulwaters.org/brett/
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/diaperpedia/id589928993?ls=1&mt=8
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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tat-a-girl/178188182367889 
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Free shipping with code MESSYWIFE through December 14th.
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If you run a charity or small business yourself, I'm offering free ad space for the months of November and December.  There are still a few slots open, but once they are all filled, you can still sign up now for your free ad, which will start as soon as an ad space opens up.  See more info on my sponsor page.



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