a new direction... for now

We've had such a wonderful and magical Christmas.
It's amazing how fast it comes and goes.
I can't wait to go through all the pictures I took and share them :)

But in the mean time I've had a few things I've been thinking about and thought I'd share
Earlier this fall I thought I'd try taking my blog a step further and do some ad swaps.
I've gotten to know some amazing women this way!!
I've gained some sweet sweet follows who I appreciate soooo much!
However with work, my health and my little family...
I haven't been able to dedicate as much time and effort to it as I would have liked too!!!
Starting in the new year I'm going to step away from sponsors.
It may be for a little while, it might be for quite awhile...
But the beauty of it..... It's my little place

I can't begin to express how excited and grateful I am for all the love and support I feel from the bloggy world.
I love each and every comment I receive.
Thank you for all the smiles you bring to my face!!
I hope to continue getting to know everyone of you!

a penny for your thoughts

Every now and then I lack motivation

For example: It's winter... work is slow.... and I have no motivation to work.

Mitch agrees with me.

I'm eager for my holiday break to come.

-----------------------------------------

Sometimes I have lots of thoughts rolling through my head

and I can't formulate them into writing.

It's slightly frustrating.

----------------------------------------

So I've heard rumor that Google is canceling Google friend connect

I don't know what I think about it.

I blog for myself

BUT 

I love my readers! 

I love receiving each and every comment

I love knowing there are people who read what I have to say.

I'm going to try bloglovin

Please feel free to follow me there

:)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

what are you going to do when GFC is no longer on the side of your blog?

Black Friday and a Merry Indie Christmas

I spent my morning at home and in bed.

Mitch and I decided to forgo Black Friday shopping.

{except we totally waited on our computers last night to snag a lighting deal on Amazon}

Crowds really aren't our thing.

I was even productive at one point today...

Cezar got a bath

{he smells so yummy now}

I finally vacuumed the crawl space for Mitch

did the dishes

and made room in our fridge to thaw our 20lb turkey for Sunday.

Mitch got off a bit early this afternoon

so we headed out to see if we could pick up a few deals on Christmas goodies.

We checked a few things off our list :)

Now for some bloggy love.

I'm not the most crafty or make it yourself kind of person.

BUT 

I do appreciate all the darling, amazing, talented ladies who have such fabulous shops.

I look forward to shopping them....

*hinting to the hubby*

and getting to meet some new bloggy friends!

Happy Black Friday

and welcome Christmas season!!

{Bloggy Party}

Friday I had butterflies all day. I thought about what I would wear, hoping I'd hit it off with everyone...

it felt like a giant blind date with lots of darling women who I may or may not bloggy stock.

I kissed my hubby good bye at 4 and wished him luck on the YM campout.

Then hurried and got dolled up.

As I drove up to Dear Lizze's in Highland I couldn't help but be slightly nervous.

It was amazing!! 

I loved meeting each of the ladies and getting to know them a little better.

It has been a very long time since I've spent an evening with lots of darling women!

Best girl's night in a very long time!!

All the darling ladies who came!

Kylee, Me and Meredith

Our wonderful hosts Ashely and Gentri. 

They were amazing!

I also won the Yogurtland gift card!! HOORAY!

Me and Megan. 

She is absolutely darling and it was fun to meet one of my sponsors :)

After we wore out our stay at Dear Lizze's

we decided to head over to Kneaders for dinner. 

FABULOUS!!

Wonderful food and fantastic company!!

I'm so grateful that I was able to spend the evening with such incredible women!

I hope there will be many more bloggy parties in the future! :)

Getting to know me:: A - Z

A. age :: 24
B. bed size :: king baby!! :)
C. chore you hate :: cleaning the bathroom, not a huge fan of dishes
D. dogs :: Jake and Cezar
E. essential start to your day :: Ice cold Pepsi
F. favorite color :: Teal/Blue and Pink
G. gold or silver :: Silver
H. height :: 5'4"
I. instruments you play :: I used to play the piano
J. job title :: greenhouse manager @ Vineyard GC, wifey, mamma to my fur babies
K. kids :: fur babies - Jake & Cezar

L. live :: Happy Valley, Utah
M. maiden name :: Taylor
N. nicknames :: Holly Dolly, Dannylynn
O. overnight hospital stays :: none yet

P. pet peeve :: Chewing with mouth open, neighbor's dog pooping in my yard....
Q. quote :: 'If there is one thing you could learn from me it's to never

spread yourself to thin' - Grandpa Holdaway
R. righty or lefty :: right
S. siblings :: Peter, Abby, Savannah, Faith and Hope

T. time you wake up :: Usually about 7. If I'm lucky 8 or 9 on Sundays

U. university attended :: UVU
V. vegetables you dislike: brussel sprouts

W. what makes you run late :: miscalculating the time I have to get ready
X. x-rays you’ve had :: Only at the dentist
Y. yummy food :: My favorite is Cafe Rio's Pork salad. Pizza, Salad, Pulled pork....
Z. zoo animal favorite :: Penguins!!!

{400}

BIG news folks!!!
This is my 400th post!!
Wow!
Thanks all my darling readers for taking the time to read my tid bits and leave me sweet comments!! I sure appreciate you all!!

It's 10 o'clock, I'm laying here watching the news, Mitch is dozing, and silly Jakey was being 'super' sneaky and crawl all the way to the top of the bed... {he knows he's not allowed on the BLACK sheets (black was Mitch's idea!)} the look he wore cracked me up! So instead of scolding - I snap a picture instead {notice Mitch trying to sleep}

Anyone on Instagram?? It's a new addiction :) I love seeing all the photos! We should be Instagram friends!! Look me up - dannylynndayley!!

Good night

Dreaming of...

I came across this charming little Etsy shop, Mel V designs and I am dreaming of this darling camera strap cover!! She has SO many cute ones!! And if you love them as much as I do, check out Little Miss momma and use the coupon code there to pick up a 25% discount :)

Valentines day is coming.... hint hint honey :)

{my secret}

As I sit down to blog I always want to keep things real. However, how real do we ever really get?! Most of us would rather keep the ugly out of sight and I do a fair job at it here. As I was reading through blogs today I came across this --

"Most of what we post is the good, great, and fantastic things that are happening in our lives. This will obviously not give an accurate representation of what our lives are really like: usually mundane, uneventful, routine, etc... "

So I would like to make it a goal to be real {plus this is the closest thing I get to a journal}. Now everyone has secrets. Some are simple, silly, embarrassing, scary, hurtful and the list could go one.

{my secret} is that I suffer from cold sores. I HATE it. They are painful, ugly and I am embarrassed by them. I was finally able to get some medicine for them (I love insurance). Unfortunately I didn't have my purse on me saturday when Mitch and I were out, so I wasn't able to catch my outbreak in time :( So now here I am feeling self concious and trying oh so very hard not to pick at it. sigh...

{golly I'm pale... I need some sun!!}

** Do any of you have something your embarassed by?

Sneak Preview...

I LOVE blogs... I love writing on mine... reading other blogs... Mitch thinks its weird... but I enjoy it :) One of the blogs I love is the wife of a guy I went to highschool with, Gillian. I love her blog!! The other day I was reading it and one of her goals for the month was to get pictures done of her and Kevin for Christmas cards. I posted a comment and was wondering if she was willing to trade hair for photos :) The answer was yes and I was SUPER excited to meet up with them this evening and be their photographer. The lighting was perfect!! I had a blast! They are the cutest couple and it was so obvious they were head over heels in love!! I couldn't have photographed a cuter couple!! Thanks Gillian!! Now to editing :)