Midnight in Paris

These are the last of our vacay pictures.
We had the best time together, and as much as I love my day to day life with my baby boy and hubby….it was so nice to get away just the two of us and reconnect.  I think every couple needs special time together because it’s so easy to let your kids take priority and put your spouse second.  I know we both had the best time and we are already planning our next trip together!
I love traveling, minus the jet lag…..it’s a great experience.  I hope over the years we can see lots more of the world together.  With Connor boy too!
Enjoy the last of our travel pictures & I hope you enjoyed our journey through England & Paris 🙂
Notre Dame


The next day we visited Montmartre in Paris.  It is where all the artists hang out, there are lots of local stores, and a beautiful chapel on the hill.

French onion soup for lunch

It took me awhile to find an artist to draw a picture of Connor from my phone.  Apparently that is frowned upon.  But this nice guy did it for me and I was so excited! Yay!  Now we have to get that thing framed eventually…it’s a beautiful picture of Connor.

FYI- My purse is from 31 gifts!  If you buy from Kodi you can get one too and some of the money will go towards Amber and her boys 🙂

I hope ya’ll are having a great week!
xoxo friends
Becky

Love & Loss

In life when you lose someone you love it makes you re-evaluate your own life.  You think of how you are really living each day.  You kiss your husband and kids a little tighter.  You start to pray to God more than you have been….and should have been.


And once the numbness wears off you go back to living life the way you were.  It’s sad but true. 


I remember when I lost my Papa a couple years ago it took weeks to start feeling “normal” again.  Then I slowly realized he wasn’t here anymore and he wasn’t coming back.  The loss I felt in my heart wasn’t as fresh as it once was & I began to fill my life with other things.  Anything to take the place of thinking of him not being with us.  


That pain turns to acceptance. I eventually realized he was much better off than I was.  He was in Heaven.  A much better place than I am at!  Everyone is going to die, it’s a fact.  It’s going to happen.  We aren’t promised tomorrow.  It’s just harder when that someone is taken so young or unexpectedly.  There really isn’t an explanation for why this happens???  All I know is God has the ultimate plan.  He knows and foresees EVERYTHING beyond our own understanding.  We don’t know his plan for our lives, but He knew…..even before we were knitted in the womb. 


Thank you all for your love and support for my dear friend Amber.  I have only known her for a couple years, but her friendship has meant more to me than she probably will ever know.  She’s a stronger person than I am.  I would be in the bed in the fetal position if anything happened to Terence. 


She’s shown such strength and grace during this time.  She’s a strong person and great mother.


I have had a couple other wonderful ladies contact me in regards to helping Amber and her family.  I’m not sure what’s going to happen.  I know Brett had just started a new job, and I’m not sure if his life insurance or any of that had kicked in yet.  I just know they could use any help you feel called to give.  A meal, a hug, a prayer….anything!  They are all felt.


Kodi has graciously offered to donate her 31 Gifts commission towards Amber’s family.  You can place an order HERE on her site.  Once you place the order please email Kodi directly at kodibevelle@gmail.com and let her know it’s for the Maddux family.
There is a monthly special for a mini utility bin for $8 when you spend $31


Also Cecily has offered to donate her profit for the month of April to Amber’s family. She is a skin care and beauty consultant for Artistry which is a brand of Amway Global. Her website is HERE. Anything purchased through the month of April she will lovingly donate.

You can also still donate to a fund I’ve set up below.

Just hit the DONATE button.

 

The Love of a Stranger

My heart has been aching for my friend Amber.  If you read my post yesterday you know she lost her husband, Brett, at the age of 27.  She has a 4 month old little boy and a 3 year old little boy.

She is one of the strongest people I know so she will get through this!  She is a great mom and always puts her boys first.  She’s one of the best friends I’ve made here in Texas and has always treated me with so much love.  And I love her…..

At Drybar last week we had the best time!

Some of the best times I’ve had since moving to Texas have been with Amber and her family and friends.

I feel called to help out in some way.  I know it’s going to be a long, hard road for her and both boys.  If you feel called to help in any way you can contact me at beckylbranch@gmail.com.  I also wanted to set up a donation fund for Amber & the kids.  Even if you can only donate a $1 I know it will help a lot with their future. 

 

( every penny will go towards Amber & the kids)

We love you Amber and are praying for you and the boys!
Also- My sweet friend Shannon has offered to donate all her commissions from her Scentsy sales to go towards helping Amber and her family.  You can visit her site HERE.
I know they would appreciate any donations you feel called to give and you’ll get some lovely Scentsy items in return.  Thank you Shannon for your kindness sweet friend!
You can also visit Amber’s blog HERE and leave her a comment or words of encouragement.  I know she would love to read them.

Rest in Peace Brett

URGENT CALL OF PRAYER :
Please pray for my precious friend Amber and her family right now.  Amber is one of my best friends here in Texas.  I actually met her a couple years ago when she found my blog.  I encouraged her to start a blog and she did HERE.  You may also recognize her because she went with me to the Drybar event last week.  It’s hard when you move somewhere new and don’t have a lot of friends.  Amber and I hit it off immediately and I am so thankful for our friendship and the love she’s shown towards me and my family. 
She means a lot to me……
Her husband Brett recently took a job about 5 hours away.  He’s in the oil and gas business and you travel  where the money is.  So they visited on the weekends together.  Amber drove to see Brett with the boys this past weekend.  On her way back home she got a call from the hospital saying Brett had been in a car accident.  A lady ran in front of his motorcycle…..he died of blood loss yesterday from the accident.  I can’t believe he’s gone.  At 27 years old. Gone.
Amber has a 3 year old son named Kylon, and a 4 month old little boy named Kayden. 
Please pray for healing for their family and that God would give them peace during this time. 
My heart is aching for them and I know they can feel all your prayers right now…..
I know she’s still in shock and a ton of things are running through her mind right now.  Pray for peace and understanding.  We don’t know God’s plan and why things happen, but I do know everything happens for a reason and everything will work according to God’s will.
Amber and Kylon last year :

Amber and I love Starbucks :

Brett last Halloween….silly goof!

This picture was taken a couple days ago during their visit together :

Kylon
Kayden
PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY TODAY IF YOU GET A MOMENT.
I love them to pieces ……

Sneakpeeq Giveaway!

I wanted to tell you all about a cool new site called Sneakpeeq.


Sneakpeeq brings you new discoveries every day, from gourmet foods to home products to accessories and apparel at prices so low they have to keep them private.

I recently joined Sneakpeeq and with my first purchase I got these beautiful Amrita Singh earrings FREE!  A $75 value-just by joining! 

From exciting new products by brands you already love, to awesome products by brands that we know you’ll love (once you meet them), sneakpeeq is your destination for discovery! Shop with us and share something amazing! Our mission is to bring you the undiscovered at scandalously low prices.

In addition to introducing all things you love, we’ve hidden tons of fun badges and price reducing rewards beneath the peeq button.    

GIVEAWAY ALERT!

Sneakpeeq is giving 20% off your next purchase just for entering, plus one winner will get a $15 gift card!

Enter the giveaway by clicking on this link: ENTER HERE

(Please leave me a comment & email letting me know you signed up!)
winners will be announced on my blog on 4/6/12

Girls Night Out at Drybar

Last night I had the BEST time!  I got invited to a blogger event hosted by PlumLife and Drybar.  It was awesome ya’ll!  They were the best hostesses and treated all of us like royalty.  It’s so nice to have a night out and get pampered and it was great to meet other local bloggers as well! 

We had to do this first…..
 Belvedere Vodka drink bar
 The atmosphere was so relaxing and I just love that chandelier 🙂
Watching chick flicks

 My hair after
 Amber’s hair after
 Thanks again PlumLife and Drybar!  We had the best time!

If you haven’t checked out PlumLife yet you need to STAT.  It’s an awesome tool to organize your life.

“Whether you’re managing your busy life or many other people in your life, PlumLife keeps all the details in check and in one place. Finally, one tool that does it all…manages, schedules and communicates. That’s what we call a “PlumLife!”