Up and Running?

Hello Lovies!

My new website is (mostly) up and running. It still looks pretty basic, but I'm working on the design. It may take me a bit.

The new blog location is:

www.aleshablessed.com

I'm super excited to be self hosted! Unfortunately, now that I'm with WordPress, Google Friend Connect is no more. *tears*

So if you follow me that way, please, please, please come visit and follow me via rss (once I get it up later today or tomorrow)!

That's about all for now ladies.

Be blessed

<3

Summer Fun Carnival

Hello my lovely followers!
I am STOKED! (wait...I don't use that word...)
I am SUPER EXCITED for today!
Below is a message from Danielle, who blogs at Blissful and Domestic, about an AWESOME summer blog part that I am invovled in.  So whether you are a mommy or not, we are going to have some great summer fun tips to share with you.
Here are a few of the AWESOME summer post ideas I have brewing:
1. Summer date ideas
2. Fancify (yes, its a word now) your flip-flops
3. BBQ Recipes
4. The summer party...how to
5. ....hmmm, what do YOU want to hear about?

Stay tuned, because not all of these ideas will appear on my blog.  I'll be guest posting around with these other ladies and they will be dropping by here to share their summer AWESOMENESS with you! Aren't you...well...just STOKED?
Me too!

So read on to hear more from Danielle and to meet these lovely ladies!



It is that time of year. The kids are out of school, temperatures are reaching all time highs, and we are faced with the dreaded question.....What do we do with those littles now? Well we have the answer for you. All summer long myself, along with 15 other awesome bloggers, are going to be helping you squash that Summer boredom that rears its ugly head about now. I have gotten 15 amazing bloggers together and we plan to help create and inspire awesome family memories this summer. We are all hosting a Summer Fun Party on each of our blogs. A place where you can link up all your own summer activities, kid crafts, and ideas. We will be featuring you guys as we go throughout this summer. We will also we hosting weekly and bi-weekly posts on each of our blogs with super fun and inexpensive activities and recipes for you to all do with those sweet littles of yours this summer. This summer will be full of non-stop fun!! Crafts, recipes, activities, summer bucket lists, and giveaways! It will so rock your socks! For real folks! I hope you will link up and follow your hosts, so you don't miss out any Summer Goodness over the next three months. If you follow, let us know, so we can return the favor. This summer is going to be a B-L-A-S-T and I am excited to have you join the fun with us!

Ready to Meet the Fabulous Hosts?

Here they are.....


Shannon @ Sew Sweet Cottage 


Marilyn @ The Artsy Girl Connection


Holly From @  'Lil Blue Elephant


Molly @ Just a Little Creativity


Jill @ Two Yellow Birds Decor


Shirley @ Motivated Mommy of Two


Athena @ The Stuff of Success


Sarah @ Alderberry Hill


Jessica @ Mom 4 Real


Melanie @ Bear Rabbit Bear


Heather @ Life As We Know It



Nicolette @ Momnivore's Dilemma 
The Classroom Creative


Kara @ Happy-Go-Lucky


Priscilla @ Thrifty Crafty Girl 


Alesha @ Blessed to be a Blessing


Danielle @ Blissful and Domestic

Now let's get to linking up and remember to check back each week to see what new summer fun has been linked up. I hope you will link up and follow your hosts, so you don't miss out any Summer Goodness over the next three months. If you follow, let us know, so we can return the favor.Oh and please grab a button. It would totally make our day!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/" title="Blissful and Domestic"><img src="http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc500/Blissful_and_Domestic/blogger%20buttons%20and%20banner/summerfunpartybutton-1.jpg" alt="Blissful and Domestic" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Shannon @ Sew Sweet Cottage Marilyn@The ArtsyGirl Connection Shirley@Motivated Mommy of Two Holly@'Lil Blue Elephant Jill@Two Yellow Birds Decor Molly@Just a Little Creativity Athena @ The Stuff of Success Sarah @ Alderberry Hill Jessica @ Mom 4 Real Melanie @ Bear Rabbit Bear Heather@Life As We Know It Danielle@Blissful and Domestic Alesha@Blessed to be a Blessing Nicolette@Momnivore's Dilemma Kara@Happy-Go-Lucky Priscila@Thrifty Crafty Girl

InLinkz.com

Instagram: New Product and #SheReadsTruth

Hello Friends!

Ready for a quick recap of this week?

New listing on my Etsy Shop!!!

Go check it out!

Have you heard of #shereadstruth?  It is an online community of women reading God's Word together and encouraging one another in Him. If you haven't already, go check out the website (SheReadsTruth.com) to learn more.

You will be blessed.

Travis and I finally hit our savings goal and treated ourselves to an iPad! Yay! We've been planning this since we got married, so it's pretty exciting to have it now!

(We got the 32 GB iPad 2 with Wifi only...for those of you nerdy enough to care. It only took about 4 hours of conversation for us to come to that decision. =P )

My yummy lunch!

(Read about it)

I did a mending project for my sister! More to come on that one...stay tuned. ;-)

Why not turn an everyday, rushing-out-of-the-house dinner into a fancy, I-feel-like-I'm eating-out type dinner? It's simple. Just grab a wine glass and a slice of lemon to add to your water and you're set.

(HINT: You'll probably drink more water than normal too!)

And while I'm at it with odd drinks...I might as well drink the water leftover from steaming the brussel sprouts....

And then after church that night, we out for "fancy dessert" with our dear friends Timothy and Amanda.

<3

(The desserts were incredible btw...can you guess which is mine? Haha!)

 More #SheReadsTruth! Praise God for all He has been doing in my heart through this study!

Wearing a hair bow from the shop!  I LOVE it...in fact, I'm wearing it again today.

And finally...today I reached 100 followers! Woohoo!

Thank you all for your awesome support!

I never would have thought this blog would grow this fast. #blessed

Giveaway!

No. I'm not hosting my own giveaway (yet), but the awesomely sweet Brooke from Covered in Grace is! There are 5 prize packages and all of them are awesome! Go enter and if you look in prize package C, you'll notice that I am giving away a handmade rosette headband from my shop! Check it out!

Announcements!

Sponsorship is Here

So I've been thinking about it for a awhile...and I'm going to launch in.

Would you like to sponsor Blessed to be a Blessing for the month of May?

Here's what I'll do.

5 Button Swaps - Goes to the first 5 (approved) bloggers to comment on this post

You will all be featured in a single

"Swapper Feature" in the middle of the month

5 ad spots for sale - $5 for a 200x150 ad on my sidebar for the first 5 (approved) bloggers to email me {alesha.tobless(at)gmail.com}

 (first month sale price!)

You will have the opportunity to participate in a giveaway at the end of the month on my blog.

And you will receive the opportunity to guest post on my blog for additional advertisement time.  =)

So start creating your SUPER COOL buttons and leave me a comment!

I am so excited to have you all sponsor me this month!


Go Check Out my NEW SHOP on Etsy
Crafting4Him

I'm super excited about this.  More products should be coming in the following weeks, but this is what I have for now!  =) Yay!  So fun.


Be blessed!
<3

Eleven (I got tagged!)

Hello Everyone!Two weeks ago, I got tagged by the wonderful and sweet Brooke from...

She is truly super sweet and I love her blog!  Go check her out!
So here are "The Rules"

The Rules:

*Post these rules

*Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you

*Create 11 questions of your own to ask the people that you're about to tag

*Tag people and link them with your post & let them know they've been tagged!

See? Isn’t that awesome!? Such a great way to get to know each other & make some bloggin’ friends :)

So here are her questions for me!

1. What is one of your quirks that other people find endearing?

Ummm...endearing...  My husband loves that I sing and dance around the house when I'm happy. =)

2. Room, desk, car...which one do you clean first?

Kitchen?  Does that count?  I am constantly cleaning the kitchen. Then our room and the bathrooms...my car kinda comes in last.

3. If you could take a month long vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would go "back East".  I would visit WA DC, NYC, and civil war historical sites.  And it would be amazing!

4. You have the entire day to yourself, what do you do with it?

Blog, craft, read my bible, cook myself something delicious.  Maybe read Harry Potter (I'm about to start book five!!!). And eventually I'd get bored and want to see people.  I don't do very well without other people around. =)

5. What is one of your favorite childhood memories?

Playing dress up with my sisters and friends.  We would spend all day in imaginary lands with each other.  It was awesome!

6. What is your favorite post/topic that you've written? Tell us about it.

I'm going to cheat and list one in each category:

• Cooking - White Chicken Pasta - I love this cause it was entirely my own recipe and it tastes so yummy!
• Crafting - Warmers - Once again, entirely my own designs and so fun to wear!
• Thoughts/Faith - Really, all of them.  But probably the most personal to me was the post We have All Eternity - I wrote this out of the sadness of seeing people leave and move away and know that someday would probably be me.

7. Why did you start blogging? How has it evolved?

I've toyed around with the idea of starting a blog for years.  I wanted a place (other than my journal) to get my thoughts out and to share with others what I was thinking and learning.  Especially in regards to my faith.  I finally started a blog after I started following some crafting blogs and creating things of my own.  The conversation in my head was like, "I can do this just as good as they can.  I should share my stuff.  I've always wanted to start a blog.  I could just combine the two ideas and write about my faith and my crafts.  Is that weird?  No one else does that..."  Well, shortly after I started my blog, I discovered all sorts of other bloggers who do exactly that!  =)  I am not alone!
It has only been 4 1/2 months, so it hasn't had much time to evolve yet.  But stay posted...it is evolving soon!  (How's that for a teaser?)

8. What is the last book you read? Would you recommend it?

Well...other than the AEA Instructor Certification Manual...I last finished Harry Potter Four.  And YES!  I would totally recommend it!  I think J. K. Rowling is an incredibly talented author and I love reading her work.

9. What is your perfect pizza topping?

Sausage, mushroom, and olive...with pepperoni too.

I also love white sauce pizza with grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes, and spinach.

10. What song has been inspiring you, or been stuck in your head, lately?
Stuck in my head - "Washed by the Water" by Need to Breathe

Encouraging me - "Remind Me Who I Am" by Jason Gray

11. If your present-self could go back and give your past-self advice, what would it be?

I would tell myself to go to God and to pray hard for my pride to be dealt with.  I would help myself understand grace better and I would tell myself to STOP BEING SO LEGALISTIC.

Now the Questions from Me:

1. What was the first artist/band that your started listening to/following when you were young?

2. Cats or dogs?

3. (Stealing from Brooke)  What is your all-time favorite blog post?  Why?

4. What was the first blog you started following?

5.  What refreshes you?  What place or thing do you go to when you need to be refreshed?

6. What is your favorite age of child to be around?

7.  Favorite coffee or tea drink?

8.  What is your go-to meal when you need something quick and easy, but still good?

9. What book has most influenced you in your life? Why?

10. What is your favorite color?

11. If you could move anywhere permanently, where would you move and why?

And...drum roll please...I am tagging these AMAZING bloggers.  So excited to hear your answers if you choose to play along (no pressure though). =)

Annelise from Aunie SAUCE

5oh Wifey

Amber from Life...Unscripted

Katy from Sweet Verbena

Erin from Sweetness Itself

Gussy from Gussy Sews

Elise from Elise's Pieces

There you go!  Hope you all enjoy this little bit of randomness...and if anyone else feel's like it, go ahead and leave a comment for me answering these questions! I'd love to hear your answers!

Be blessed!