Giveaway: Hand Stamped Necklace or Good Karma Infinity Necklace (Winner chooses) by Terrific "Tu"s!

 Stop by and give a big welcome to Marine Wife's new sponsor, Meghan, a MilSO who owns, makes and designs beautiful hand stamped jewelry pieces at Terrific "Tu"s!!!!

 Terrific "Tu"s is giving one lucky winner the opportunity to choose between one of three beautiful necklaces from her shop!

The first 3 pictures below are the necklaces that can be chosen from! ♥

From Meghan at Terrific "Tu"s: I started making TuTus and Bows for my daughter (who was just about to turn TWO, which is where I got the name!) to keep busy while my husband was in boot camp. It started growing into an amazing business, and I couldn't be happier! I have now started doing mainly hand stamped jewelery, but still offer tutus, hair accessories, military fabric accessories, lip balm, and much more!

Please stop by and view her Business Page HERE and Facebook Page HERE to see more of her beautiful items! 

I connected with Meghan when I came across this gorgeous Love Birds necklace on Etsy. I had to have it! I had our boys birthstones put on it and it is lovely!!

These are a few pieces of her work that I find beautiful as well:

Follow the Rafflecopter below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win!   
(Some you can enter daily for a greater chance of winning!)  

All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

Good Luck!

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Big Bloggy Giveaway for Ramblings of a Southern Belle's Birthday Bash!!!

 To Celebrate Ramblings of a Southern Belle's 3rd 40th Birthday a number of us lovely bloggers joined in to throw her an AWESOME Birthday Bash! 

Ad Space, jewelry, gift cards..... The list of "Amazingness" is on the Rafflecopter below! 

All of these WONDERFUL prizes will go to 

ONE lucky winner!!!

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Giveaway: Live Everyday Like He Deploys Tomorrow (ANY Military Branch) Wooden Sign by Boonie Stampin by Sherry

Please give a BIG  Welcome Back to Marine Wife's returning Sponsor, an Air Force Wifey & artsy lady who owns and makes everything at Boonie Stampin' By Sherry. 

Boonie Stampin' By Sherry is providing one lucky winner with a sign that says:  

Live everyday like he deploys tomorrow. 
With your choice of Military Emblem on the side!!!!
 

 

I absolutely LOOOOVE MINE!!!!

From Sherry: As a stay at home wife of an Airman, I wanted to do something to contribute to our family (besides all the jobs of a mom & wife). After attending a Stampin' Up workshop, I finally found a passion for something that brought me joy. Creating! It started with cards, then moved to other paper products and coasters. Then I got my husband involved and we started making signs. It was a perfect combination because he loves woodworking, not to mention all the cool tools he gets to buy, and I love the joy of creating something "just for you!" I strive to exceed all your expectations and look forward to helping you "MAKE IT PERSONAL"!

Please stop by and view her Business Page HERE Facebook Page HERE to see all that she has! 

These are a few of my FAV items from Boonie Stampin' By Sherry

Follow the Rafflecopter entry below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win!  
(Some you can enter daily for a greater chance of winning!)  

All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

 

Good Luck! 

 

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Giveaway: LOVE Gallery Wrapped Canvas 12x12 by Cali Posh Designs

Please welcome Marine Wife's newest sponsor Maryleigh, the wife to an Army National Guardsman who is the owner, designer and creator at Cali Posh Designs!

Cali Posh Designs has a beautiful black framed with red lettering 12x12 LOVE Gallery Wrapped Canvas up for grabs to one lucky winner!

Cali Posh Designs makes custom graphics, invitations and wall decor and more!

Please stop by and view her Business Page HERE and Facebook Page HERE to see all of her awesome products!

I like this and many other items she has created and made! Here are a few of my favorite from Cali Posh Designs shop:

 Follow the Rafflecopter entry below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win!  
(Some you can enter daily for a greater chance of winning!)  

All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

Good Luck!!!

 

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Bloggy Tip: How to add your link in a comment on any post!

I keep finding all these new ways that help us all out with our blogs that I just can't keep to myself and have to share!

Normally when I comment I leave my web address below when following a new bloggy friend or when commenting on a certain hop or fun question posts, but then the reader has to highlight the address, right click open link in new window or the other method of copy and paste it into a new tab. 

NOT ANY MORE!!!!

 Below is the code you add to the end of your comment. Replace the Black with any post URL you'd like your name to link back to or simply just your home page URL. 

Replace the Green with your Blog Name! 

Comment on your bloggy friends posts, add your modified code below your comment and HELLO linked name!!! :)

<a href="http://www.marinewifemommylife.com/">Marine Wife Mommy & Life</a>

 

Give it a whirl by commenting here. :)

How to Make a HELLO Bar on your Blog for Advertising, Sponsors or directing readers to a post you want to Highlight!

This post will tell you how to make a MY HELLO BAR on your Blog for Advertising, Sponsors or directing readers to a post you want to Highlight!

Notice the bar across my page that says "Advertise with Marine Wife, Mommy & Life!!!" and the button beside it that says "Advertising & Sponsors"?

This can be customized to your color choice, to say anything you want AND have the button direct to any location you want!

I've come across several awesome blogs that have this neat feature on their blog and decided to give it a whirl last week. I LOVE it! But couldn't find a whole lot of information on it anywhere and had to go through the search via Google to figure out what it was.

An awesome feature to have as a blogger or web page to bring to light something you'd like to be noticed a bit more.

 Go to www.hellobar.com you can create an account for free or you can view it as a demo on your site before you register with hello bar.

Here's where I had trouble. Coding is a pain in the arse for me.... Their site shows where to place the code if you have a "basic" layout/code. But if you've hired someone on that is more tech savvy to make your page look great the location that Hello Bar gives you to put it in won't work, I looked for a reeeealllly long time, my eyes began to blur and I about gave up the whole thing in general...

My site was made by Munchkin Land Designs I adore her work! 

With it being made outside of blogger the coding completely changes.

 

Hello Bar's How to Deploy Site says this for Blogger users: Blogger’s deployment options is similar to WordPress’. You can have your Hello Bar show up on a single page by pasting your code snippet in via the Edit Html view. You may have to save the post while in the Edit Html view though as Blogger has a nasty habit of placing in <br /> tags where they aren’t supposed to be. Alternatively, if you want site wide exposure, you can go to the Design section of your blog and Edit HTML for the blog’s template. Just paste the code snippet in after the line that looks like: <body expr:class='&quot;loading&quot; + data:blog.mobileClass'>

Again, I looked forever for that coding it wasn't there..... Then I decided, that the code <head> looked like a good place to start.... Since it goes at the the head of the page..... Above the code <head> I placed my Hello Bar Code. Below is a picture of a blank space above the code <head>  That is after I hit enter a couple times, put the code in there and BAM! It worked!!!!! 

Well, if you decide to create one of these awesome features, hopefully this will help ease your pain and time with deploying it.

If you have any questions feel free to ask away!  Love ya guys!!

Sunday Social~ Back in the day....

Happy Sunday!!! Before we head out for the day I wanted to share hop on into the Sunday Social that has been around for awhile. I always see it up and have enjoyed reading my bloggy friends answers, just always forget to jump on board! Not this time though! High school memories......

 Those were the good ol' days!

1. Biggest Middle school fashion mistake:
Baggy pants, t-shirt and a leather jacket.... Yep I was that kind of tom-boy.... This carried on through high school on and off too.... 

2. Who were your best friends in high school? Pics?
My bestest friend who I've known since I was 2 went to a different school~ Jenna
From the same school, oh the trouble we caused..... Steph, Kat and Christen~

3. What was a typical weekend like for you in high school?
ROTC or Civil Air Patrol events. Working, swing dancing, beach, roaming the neighborhoods, swimming in the backyard, car shows, Disneyland, movies, mall walking/people watching/silly fashion shows. When I got a car my Junior Year..... I was rarely home, traveling to the beach, LA, SD, 29 stumps, mountains..... We had a blast!

4. Did you have any boyfriends/girlfriends? Tell us about that.
Yep, my oldest son's dad was my first high school boyfriend.... I broke his heart though... :( But we remained great friends, and he was my best guy friend throughout high school. Had a couple others that only lasted a couple months, one almost a year and the last one was Junior year that lasted until the end of Senior year.

5. Did you have any secret codes with your friends? Spill your secrets!
Not really. We could look at each other and know what was up, we did have a Girls ONLY notebook that we'd pass around a spill our thoughts into about anything and everything..... I still have that, it's in the attic :)

6. If you could relive one day/moment/experience from middle school or high school, what would it be?
Ooooohhhhh....... There are SO many great times to choose from!!!!! I really cannot pick just one.... There were moments with the whole group, part of and just one of the gal pals that were all amazing times. From beach trips, to river trips, to desert driving, to skidding into a mountain on ice, to cruising LA and tumbling down grass hills, to flying in a WWII plane, to concerts and ball games, to dances and fairs...... Yeeaaaaaaa, there are definitely times I miss those days :)

The Newlywed Game

1. Who does the laundry in your home, you or your spouse? Any good stories?
Mr. B: We both do. My wife shrinks my expensive designer clothes
Mrs. B: Both. Gas Chamber clothes are all on him though and he pisses me off when he puts his sweaty PT clothes on the floor.

2. If your spouse had to eat at one restaurant for the rest of their lives, what would he or she pick?
Mr. B: Food.... This is like a loaded f'in question right here.... There is never one mainstay no matter what mood she's in that she'll eat.
Mrs. B: Chef's 105. (Where we went for our reception and anniversary).

3. Are you or your spouse better at cooking? Any good stories?
Mr. B: Oh I'm better at cooking.... Let's see what story do you want, the rice pilaf that tasted like poop because she left the spice pack out, or the welcome home cake that was a muffin shaped rock....
Mrs. B:...... He is.

4. Which one of you is more concerned about their "fashion"?
Mr. B: I would say she is for the most part. Me I'm good with a North face shirt, pair of Sevens pants, Patagonia, and my chucks.
Mrs. B: Depends on what's going on I guess.... I'd say he is, unless we're going to an event then I can never find anything decent to wear....

5. Ideally, if you don't have them already, when does your spouse want to have children?
Mr. B: N/A
Mrs. B: N/A {We have two awesome boys}

6. Who planned dates when you were dating? And what was one of your favorites?
Mr. B: I didn't know anywhere around here, so she mainly planned them. New York City for Thanksgiving.
Mrs. B: I did. My favorite was Jamestown over Easter, when I first met his family.

7. What's been the toughest part of being a newlywed?
Mr. B: Having a baby after 9 months of being married, deploying a month after getting married.
Mrs. B: Still learning how to live "together" and not independently.

8. Who is the best with the finances?
Mr. B: Her.
Mrs. B: Me.... I track every little penny....

9. Who is the strict one?
Mr. B: We share that responsibility.
Mrs. B: ...... I'd say I am.... He's lax on a lot of things.

10. What will you plan to do for your first anniversary? Or if you've already celebrated your first anniversary, what did you do?
Mr. B: Chef's 105 for dinner
Mrs. B: Chef's 105 AND was able to drink since I wasn't 2 weeks preggers!!!

BONUS QUESTION: Assuming you were expecting something a little special for Valentine's Day (as in y'all planned on doing something, giving something, etc), how did your spouse do? Share it! Again, PG people, please.
Mr. B: We had s*x, but I had to work for it, I just traveled 17 hours and she was complaining that it was 230 in the morning and had a rough day with the kids and was waiting up for me the entire time....
Mrs. B: SMH..... He did great, drove up 17 hours and walked up at almost 3am with champagne, a card, roses and a pandora bag (that had a charm with the infinity symbol on it).... But ya I was exhausted.... ;)

Mr. B: Next question. 
Mrs. B: That's it. Only 10 questions.
Mr. B: Well damn, I was just getting into this and usually I don't like these question games...

Prayers for Charli~ An Army Vets Little Girl

This sweet little girl & family needs our help!! Charli has gone through so much over the past year alone it is heart breaking. I cannot imagine the heartache of seeing one of my own little boys undergo so many medical procedures... She truly is beautiful & strong!!! Her daddy, Brian Keith Williams, is a 14yr Army Vet and a current Police Officer in TX.... But their travels to the hospital 3 hours away, many overnights in motels and medical expenses are through the roof...Mommy cannot work because Charli, their youngest daughter, has to have 24hr care. Dad's paid time off is gone..... If you can help to give anything to their family, to the Father who gave so much to our Nation who is reaching out to care for his family, for his sweet baby girl, even one dollar, I know how grateful they would be..... 

If money is tight and you cannot help out monetarily, PRAYERS are free and can provide an amazing outcome for Charli and her family.

For donations of ANY amount please Click HERE.

From the Prayers for Charli Facebook Page:

I would like to introduce my self. I am Brian Williams. I served 14 years in the Army and I have spent the last 7 years employed as a police officer in Wichita Falls, Texas.

I have spent my life serving and protecting our citizens and Country.

I can’t, however protect my 2 yr old daughter. She will be 3 on July 21 2013.

My baby girl Charli was born 3 weeks early. We spent the first week of her life in the hospital for medical complications. Over the last 2 years we have been to the E.R numerous times for the same issues: high fever and vomiting. During one of our visits, the E.R. Dr. on duty (thankfully) had the foresight to run more than the routine blood work. It was discovered that she had an elevated liver count (over 10000 in her AST ALT counts - the normal parameter is only 50). Her liver had basically stopped working .We were care flown to Cooks Children Hospital in Fort Worth 2 hours away. Cooks was/is a Godsend. The Doctors there did more extensive testing and found that Charli will likely need a transplant. During the testing they also discovered that her #2 vertebrae is floating freely (not attached to her other vertebrae). This is a whole different issue. She needs to have this fixed before the disk slips and paralyzes her. She is now in a neck brace until this can happen. The kicker to this is she can’t have her neck surgery until her liver is fixed…kind of a catch 22. The liver is one of the main organs that helps fight infection and controls clotting.

February 8th Status:
this is just a laundry list of what has gone on since July 2012.
3 care flights from wichita falls to cooks children's hospital in fort worth.
2 and half months in the hospital
25-30 round trip s driving from Wichita Falls to Fort worth (250 miles) for Charli's appointments.
Sara quitting her job to take care of Charli.
Charli has endured countless viles of blood drawn
spinal fusion surgery
liver biopsy
skin biopsy
has been under anesthesia several times
I have used up all my sick and vacation and worry if I will even have a job once this is all said and done.
mortgage and utility companies just dont give a rats ass about anything other then there money.
I am on the verge of losing my house.
I wonder if i will come home to no electricity or water.
I cant pay bills because i have to hold back money to travel back and forth to fort worth for charli's appointments. Sara cant work because Charli needs 24 hour care.
I am grateful the city of WF helped me back in Oct. but that money went to just catching up back then.
to top it all off we dont have answers on what is wrong with Charli.
i know when we get released in the next day or so that we will be back in 3-4 months for another extended stay. We keep a suitcase packed because we know that at any moment we could be back on a care flight to come back to cooks.
I am stressed and on edge. I am sorry if i take it out on any of you. I am sorry i get grumpy. I still try to smile and pretend life is great and i am not worried.
I know everything is in gods hands and he will see that Sara, Charli, Randi and i are all taken care of.
I hate asking my family, friends and complete strangers for help but i have no choice.

From Charli's Daddy:

I am asking for all prayers we can get, and if anyone wants to help financially we will be forever thankful!

Any funds that are not used to cover medical expenses for Charli will be donated to Cooks Children Hospital, so I will be paying it forward to help others in need.
Any amount is helpful from a penny on up and adding us to your prayer list doesn't cost anything and one can never have too many prayer warriors.

I ask that if you can’t help in any way that you pass on this link to other family, friends, coworkers and even your church leaders.

Thank you all for your time and support.

Average cost for liver transplant is $577,000.

Giveaway: Military Love Trinket Bracelet (1 for each Military Branch!) 5 WINNERS from Gambizzle Jewels

Please welcome Gambizzle Jewels, owned, created and designed by Betty, an artsy wife to a US Navy Vet!!!

Gambizzle Jewels has provided FIVE beautiful & unique Trinket Bracelets of each Military Branch to giveaway to FIVE wonderful friends!!!

Trinket Bracelets pictured below have been specially made for this giveaway!! BEAUTIFUL!

Please stop by and view her Business Page HERE Facebook Page HERE to see all that she has!

Gambizzle Jewels makes sooooo many beautiful items to show off your Military Love AND for those that just LOVE pretty jewelry!!

These are only a FEW of my favorite pieces..... There are TONS more that I ADORE! 

Follow the Rafflecopter entry below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win!  
(Some you can enter daily for a greater chance to win!)  

All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

Good Luck!

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Wordless Wednesday~ Baby B's First Self Feeding of Spaghetti!!

Giveaway & Review: Picture Dog Tag from Hearts & Heroes!

Please give a warm welcome back to, Hearts & Heroes, that is owned and operated by Leanne a sweet and amazing Army Wife!

Don't recognize the name Hearts & Heroes? Her shop was previously known as Hunleaxo Hairbows and with the help of some amazing friends and fans she has renamed her shop Hearts & Heroes!!! 
Very sweet and fitting I say! 

In celebration of her shops new name Hearts & Heroes is giving one lucky winner a chance to win a Double Sided, Personalized Picture Dog Tag! 

What a great gift this would be for yourself or loved one anytime of the year!!

REVIEW:
I received ours in the mail last month! It is absolutely beautiful!
The pictures have a thick piece of plastic over them held securely in place by the dog tag silencer.
My husband will wear this with his dog tags when he is away in the field and/or during his deployments, a little piece of home will be with him no matter where he is at. ♥

Please stop by and view her Business Page HERE Facebook Page HERE to see all that she has!

 

She also makes personalized photo bracelets & gorgeous bows for Adults and that special little girl in your family!

Follow the Rafflecopter entry below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win!  
(Some you can enter daily for a greater chance of winning!)  

All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

Good Luck!

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Awesome Cartoon Drawing by Papered Memories

I love giving credit to awesome work done, especially when it is done by a MilSO!

I won this drawing by Ashley at Papered Memories in an auction that was being held on Facebook! I was so excited that I had won! 

Cool thing was, she lives just 15 min away! She's one of the sweetest and talented ladies I have met.

She draws portraits. cartoons, tattoos and more!

We gave it to our oldest for his Valentine's Day gift and he LOVES it!

Can check out Papered Memories HERE to see her work!