Meet & Tweet Twitter Hop + GIVEAWAY!

I heart Thursdays! I love the opportunity to meet so many new friends.

Exciting News! Starting this week, giveaways will be included with the Meet & Tweet!

This week I'm raising the bar just a little more....

If we can get to 300 link up's, one lucky person is going to win 

250 custom business cards for their blog. How cool is that?!

Now let's get this PAR-TAY started! 

Ready to make new Twitter friends?
Sweetness, just follow the rules.

RULES:
Link up your Twitter account, not your blog.
Follow your host and co-hosts. {The first 8 in the linky.}

HOST: Laura from Our Reflection

Thanks so much to my amazing co-hosts:
Amanda from The Pretty Pinhead

Natalie from When Shutters Click

Elizabeth from According to L

Sophie from Bagatelle Designs

Dalayna from Pointing Up

Ashlee from Growing Up A Thomas

Rachel from lalaLists

Loving this hop? Shout it out to all your friends!

The more the merrier.

Tweet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interested in being a co-host?

Email me for details at momsgonnasnap@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for linking up today!

Hope you've had fun and made some amazing new friends.

Save the Date! Next Hop: 8/16

Grab a button and add it to your blog!

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Wore: Being Brave

I have a fashion comfort zone and bright colors are not part of it. There's that voice in my heard that loves a new look or a new color pallet but it constantly telling me it's for someone else, not me. Many of you don't know that I had a weight problem growing up. Middle school age was the worst. I was the fat kid. Not that I got teased a lot, but I filled my own mind with so many negative thoughts. Things like I wasn't good enough, that I wasn't smart enough and I was ugly. To this day I still get haunted by those childhood memories.

If I'm being honest, I have a fear. I will not leave the house without makeup. I've made it a shield to the world. Honestly. I ask myself how something as simple as makeup can make such a huge impact on my day-to-day life, even my emotions. It does boost my self confidence and makes me feel pretty. Without it, I feel vulnerable, weak and exposed.

Then I remind myself, God made me in His image. My body is borrowed while I'm in this world, that everything I am, and everything I do, is for Him. His word says:

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:2

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Little by little, I am breaking this mold that's been effecting my life for over 20 years now. I'm easing into it with a splash of color. Now if my daughter wouldn't have put this outfit together for me, I would never in a million years put these two bright colors together. Aqua and coral? Oh my. She told me to trust her, added a scarf, earrings and some flats. Guess what? I really liked it!

{Wore: Tee & Scarf - Wet Seal ||  Skirt & Earrings - Styles || Shoes - Local shoe store}    I wore jeans, t-shirts and Uggs everyday. Not anymore. I encourage you to break out of your fashion comfort zone and try something new.
What makes you feel vulnerable? Linking up with What I Wore Wednesday. 

Kim from Singledou[b]t + GIVEAWAY

Hello, my name is Kim from Singledou[b]t

I am so excited to be guest-posting here at Our Reflection.
Its my first guest post! (Let me know how I did. :)

I am a single, Christian, woman living in New York City.  

I am a "struggling" artist.  By struggling, I mean I love to create but 
I am shy so my art often takes a back seat.  I love photography, writing, knitting, 
cooking, and creating.  I find life in finding ways to create or recreate.

Grilled Zucchini Roll

My blog was started over a year ago as I felt an itch to leave my 9-5 and pursue my artistic passions. 

  Most days my blog is centered around my faith and what I am learning.  Other days its focused on what I am creating.  My heart and goal for my blog is to share what I am learning, whether its in my creating or from my faith in the living God.  Often times, I am processing out loud and love to hear how others have learned from similar experiences. Blogging is a way for me to channel my creativity, an outlet for the things that I am passionate about.  

I love to learn. I love to find new ways to express myself.  One thing I want to see come out of being a part of blogging communities is having a fresh perspective on the world and the lives around me. 

I'd love it if you stopped by my little corner of the World Wide Web.

SINGLEDOU[B]T 

You can also find me here:

ETSY | TWITTER | PHOTOGRAPHY |  PINTEREST | FACEBOOK

 I'm also giving away $15 towards my shop as well as some ad space on my blog.

Take a look around, get acquainted.

MY SHOP

Thank you for taking some time to get to know me.

THANKS, LAURA for letting me join your lovely community!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Diesel & Juice: Product Review + GIVEAWAY

So here's a post I've been meaning to write for a while. This fantastic portrait was done by Michele from Diesel & Juice. She has done such awesome work, and I can't wait to see what she has in store for the future!
God has gifted her with such an amazing talent! This giraffe is the portrait I received which I LOVE. My little girl's favorite animal is giraffes, so you can imagine how happy she was when we got this in the mail! The detail in her work is just stunning... 

Michele really is an animal lover and she is thrilled with each and every custom order she gets! She doesn't only try to capture what the animal looks like, but their personality too. Her passion is animals, but she does other objects too. She draws them on her computer through a program called Adobe Photoshop, and though it may be time consuming, her final prints can leave you breathless. 

Want to know more about Michele and her work?? You can visit her blog here and her shop here.
So guess what?!?! You now have the chance to enter a GIVEAWAY to win a $10 store credit towards any illustrated portrait from Diesel & Juice's shop! Ready?? GO!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When God Calls

Hey Friends! Happy Friday!

Today if we were on a coffee date I would have my new favorite Starbucks drink in hand: Tall Skinny Peppermint Mocha. It's so amazing. I would open my heart and share my story about why these guys are so important in our lives....

I don't know about you, but I love Christian music. Air1 and KLOVE are the only stations that that play in our car. When I hear my kids singing lyrics of praise rather than the "other" types of music they could be signing, it melts my heart. In August I've set a new goal for myself, to "bring back my blog" to what I originally intended it to me. One of these things is helping out others so when this opportunity arose, I jumped in head first. 

The new and upcoming Christian band FORA, has an amazing heart for the Lord. They were blessed just a few short weeks ago with an amazing record contract so they can begin to record their first full length album to help spread the Word. They've come up against a few road blocks. One being a lot of venues don't want to let a "Christian" band play. I guess that shouldn't have shocked me, but it totally did. Even our local fair won't let them play because they specified themselves as a "Christian" band. 

The second being funds. Honestly it takes a over $1000 to make their new album but they've come up with a pretty awesome and unique way of making it easier. It's called Kickstart. Please take a moment and click HERE to check it out and watch a short 30 second video they created. How it works is they were given 30 days to raise $1000. It's all or nothing. They raise the $1000, they keep it all, they don't reach their $1000 goal, they get nothing. 

This is how YOU can help make a difference. Not only to help the band, but to all those who listen and are encouraged by their music. I'm only asking you to give up one cup of Starbucks, one fast food dinner, one gallon of gas. Pretty please. If you only knew how much this mean to my heart. Why this is so important to me, to us as a family? We weren't always a Christian family. Yes we believed in Jesus, but even Satin believes in Jesus. That didn't make us Christian. We weren't living by God's commandments, we didn't read the bible, and we didn't attend church. We went through a life change. Our kids were growing up quickly, and our hearts called us to church. For the first time in years, we walked into the chapel. You know who was on stage? You know who's music captured our hearts? Who's music we felt God speaking to us through? These guys. Their music changed our lives and we wouldn't be where were are today without them. That's why we are so passionate about this.

I'm asking for your help to promote this. To get everyone excited and talking about how living the Christian life and listing to music that strengthens your spirit, can really change the world, one person at a time. I'm asking you to watch the Kickstart video, really listen to their music HERE, check them out on Facebook and Twitter {shout outs would be phenomenal} and I would love it if you could write up a blog post with your support. But time is of the essence so I'm asking you to do this quickly.

The good news is we still have 7 days and we have only $665 to reach. The minimum to donate is only $1 and if you read the right sidebar on the Kickstart site you'll see tons of perks you get just by donating. You can win t-shirts, CD's, digital records before the CD actually releases, and much more. 

To my special blog friends, everyone who donates will receive an autographed poster {which will be worth bucks someday when they make it BIG}. Cool right!? Just comment below you donated!

Thank you friends. Hugs.

Linking up for our weekly Coffee Date with Rags to Stitches.

Meet & Tweet Twitter Hop!

I heart Thursdays! I love the opportunity to meet so many new friends.

Last week we had a record breaking turnout with over 200 link up's! AMAZING!

This week I'm raising the bar just a little more....

If we can get to 300 link up's, one lucky person is going to win 

250 custom business cards for their blog. How cool is that?!

Now let's get this PAR-TAY started! 

Ready to make new Twitter friends?
Sweetness, just follow the rules.

RULES:
1. Link up your Twitter account, not your blog.
2. Follow your host and co-hosts. {The first 8 in the linky.}

HOST: Laura from Our Reflection

Loving this hop? Shout it out to all your friends!

The more the merrier.

Tweet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Co-Host spots for August are now available. Interested?

Email me for details at momsgonnasnap@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for linking up today!

Hope you've had fun and made some amazing new friends.

Save the Date! Next Hop: 8/2

Grab a button and add it to your blog!

<div align="center"><a href="http://our-reflection.blogspot.com/" title="Our Reflection "><img src="http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/_laurahernandez/MeetTweet-2.jpg" alt="Our Reflection " style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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Who's Laura?

Hello friends & Happy August!

I love this time of year. Leaves are starting to change, fall decorations start to emerge, 

school is about to begin, and Starbucks will soon be serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes. 

Lately I've been blessed with the opportunity to meet and mingle with many new bloggers. I realized it has been a very long time since I did a post about myself. I know I'm occasionally posting things here and there, but if you are new, welcome. I want you to know the real me. The real person behind the screen. The person with feelings, fears, and who loves to smile. Laughing is the best medicine, right?

My name is Laura. When I'm not writing my blog, working full time, being mom and 

wife, I'm a lifestyle photographer found here Laura Hernandez Photography.

A few things you would want to know about me if we were friends is that...

- My favorite candy is blank licorice.

- I can't wink.

- I love the colors yellow and grey. Kinda obsessed. 

- My weakness is anything Oreo.

- The only thing I ever order from Starbucks is a tall skinny peppermint mocha.

- I've given birth twice, both labors under an hour long.

- My husband and I rode down the isle of our wedding on a tandem bicycle.

- I'm a horrible speller. {thank goodness for spell check}

- I want to learn to play the piano.

- I have 3 tattoos and I'm working on my 4th.

- I live to one day hear the words of Matthew 25:21 "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Do you remember what you did on January 1st of this year?

Some of you may, some may not. This is the date my little blog was born.

It took me long enough to just choose the name. A lot of prayer went into this one.

A lot has changed since then. I know its only been half a year but I've grown as a blogger.

I have also seen a lot of changes in the blog world, and not all of them I'm happy with.

I know I can't change others, and I'm not trying to if that's them.

For me, August is a fresh start. Seriously. 

Focusing on my writing again. Things on my heart I want to share and not being to timid to write them.

Major changes to my sponsorship opportunities starting September 1st.

And most important, leading by example.

What are you planning to do to improve the blogging community your part of?