hello November

(image via pinterest, lindsey ocker photography)

This really is my favorite month.

I never actually knew that until recently, when my little girl asked me what my favorite was.

I reflected on it for a minute while curious eyes stared at me for an answer.

"November. November is my favorite."

I reflected on that answer again later...

Because it's Parker's birthday (the 5th), my favorite day of the year.

Because it's the start of pretty colors outside.

All things Thanksgiving meal.

The Aggies are still playing football.

It's the start of the weather finally feeling cooler.

Boots.

Holiday season that includes lots of family time.

The air just smells fresher.

Giant piles of leaves for little people to jump into.

The start of "birthday season" for our entire little family.

Scarves.

Pumpkin Cake.

Roasting marshmallows around our fire pit.

Pretty picture taking.

Planning Christmas and birthday gifting
Fires in the fireplace (we are having our first one tonight!)
Yummy smelling Fall and Winter candles.

Just all of it, really.

and then I reflected on why I am loving THIS particular November...

Because we are now just 10 weeks our from meeting our new baby boy.

Because it means cool weather after a warm last couple months.

Parker and I are dreaming together about different things (business and personal),

and actually seeing some of those things come to fruition.

Tiny boots, for my ever-growing girls.

New spiritual family we get to do life with weekly now...a huge answer to prayer.

Friendships that have gone deeper...another answer to prayer.

Noone in my family has been sick yet. (this time last year was tough for us all)

God showing me how His words over me really do NOT return void.

Cute Fall dresses for my girlies.

Healthy pregnancy.

The excuse to wear leggings, giant sweaters, and uggs every day, because it's cold and because, well, pregnant.

Our marriage feels more connected than ever.

Making some big decisions about future education for our kids is being confirmed.

This month I feel "capable"...with His strength.

and last but not least, freedom to eat more fun Fall-ish food, because again, pregnant. :)

Whether you love this time of year or not, I pray that you find the blessings around you.

That the next few months of cold and holidays and family (and sometimes more stress), would draw you closer to the Lord.

That you would just stop and breath in the crisp, beautiful, created-for-you air.

Happy November, y'all.

Sweet Potato Brownies. mmmmmm.

Yummy for this time of year...

I thought I would share one of my FAVORITE desserts with y'all today, again. :)

And no, we aren't eating Paleo at the moment (hello, preggo life), but this is a great recipe if you are OR aren't!

Enjoy and Happy Friday!

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this is a DELISH paleo-friendly (and great Fall) dessert you will make like all. the. time.

trust me, it's good. :)



SWEET POTATO BROWNIES

what you need:

1 sweet potato (baked)

3 eggs, whisked

1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted

1/3 cup raw honey

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (Enjoy Life brand is best, but I used Nestle Dark Chocolate)

3 TBSP Coconut flour

2 TBSP unsweetened Cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Bake your sweet potato. I bake mine on a cookie sheet for about 1 hour at 425 degrees.

Poking some holes in the potato will help in bake...and also make your little one feel like she's helping. :)

After potato is baked, peel off the skin (it should slip off pretty easily), and mash it up in a large bowl.

(now you can turn oven down to 350 degrees.)

whisk your eggs, and melt the coconut oil.

add all the wet ingredients (coconut oil, eggs, honey, and vanilla) to the mashed up potato.

mix well.

add in all the dry ingredients (coconut flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and cinnamon)

mix well.

now stir in those chocolate chips. yumm.

Pour it all in an 8x8 baking dish, and bake for 30-35 minutes on 350.

And get ready for your kitchen to smell like heaven.

let them cool just a bit...and ENJOY this delish dessert.

oh, and feel great about yourself that you are enjoying (aka, eating a whole pan of) this yummy, processed-sugar-free, gluten-free, paleo dessert.

you really might eat the whole dish, no lie. :)


{I found this incredible recipe on my favorite Paleo site, PaleOMG. 
She has GREAT recipes that I use ALL the time...check it out!!}

a hard-working man and a little hiker

My husband, Parker, is one of the hardest working people I know.

(Bear with me while I brag a minute. I have no shame in bragging on my man!)

He throws himself into what's before him, even when it may not always be what his heart is wanting to be doing.

He is an incredible daddy and husband. he mentors other men and walks closely with several "brothers", he owns his law firm with a few other partners, where he does law, brings in new business, helps manage a growing practice, he always has his hands in entrepreneurial dreams and deals going on, he answers the phone to people needing counsel, even when he really doesn't have the time, and he is a dreamer.

He is obedient to what is before him and is a very organized and efficient person.

He speaks truth to me and to our children, and always points us to the root of things so that we can really work through our hearts with the Lord.

He hasn't given up on me all these years, though sometimes he probably should have.

He loves people well.

Especially his family.

And especially his girls...

and this one in particluar is quite the Daddy's girl.

His Abigail, his "bug".

Yesterday, in the midst of being super busy and trying to balance it all...

he took his girl "hiking".

Needless to say, she had the BEST time.

Quite an adventure, I heard.

She loves her Dada.

I imagine these won't be the last "hike' pictures I share of the two of them!!

(I love you Parker, you are an incredible man. Abigail is blessed you are her forever hiking buddy!)

Tsu : a new and beautiful way

If you haven't already heard of the new social media site that is currently launching, then you will hear it from someone soon enough, I'm sure of it.
I'd love to be that someone, as I am a big believer in this new network of social media!

It's called Tsu, pronounced "sue", which they say means "ideal" in Japanese.
That's because the founders truly feel this is the ideal way for social media to happen.
And I could not agree more.



If you want to just go check it out now, you can click on this link.
(you have to be "invited" to join...think, Pinterest. :) )
http://www.tsu.co/sarah

 Let me start by saying this real quick, so you know where I am coming from 
(because if you know me, you know I am not a huge "pusher" or "promoter" of things)...
but Parker and I truly believe in this. 
We were fortunate enough to be brought in by a good friend who has had his hands and efforts pouring into this site since he heard about it while it was still in its Beta version. 
After much due diligence and research (I AM married to a lawyer!), 
as well as seeking some wise business counsel, and lots of prayer together,
we decided to jump full force into backing this new site.
And we feel so much peace, and even joy about it, and are excited about sharing it now with everyone we know!

It's funny,
As much as I love social media, and use it daily...I never thought I'd be totally immersed into spreading the word about it, and actually be excited to spend my time and efforts on helping to build this network. 
But with this...I love working on it, and sharing about it...
why?
Because it is done right.
The RIGHT way social media should be done.

let me explain.

You probably love your Facebook and Instagram accounts as much as I do, and I am not speaking against them.
What I am going to try and explain, is that there is just a better way.
 (I'll try to be quick and simple, track with me here)

So, you know all those ads over on the side of Facebook?
Those advertisers get paid by the number of eyeballs that are driven to their ads/buy their stuff, right?
So, those companies pay BIG bucks to Facebook to be seen on all of our "walls".
(about 12 billion bucks this year)
And WHO is it that is driving the traffic of eyeballs to look at those ads?
YOU are. We are. I am.
(and I am not just talking about if you actually click on those ads, which let's be honest, I hardly ever do that...the advertisers just want to be seen. Just like a billboard.)

So to the big question.
WHO is keeping all the money that advertisers pay for people to look at them?
The big guys are, that's who. Facebook.
That's why it is worth Billions. 
yes, with a B.
And again, who is driving the traffic, providing the content, building the network larger, so that more eyes see those virtual billboards?
yep, WE are.
So a kind of blunt way to look at it?
We are employees of Facebook (and Instagram, who Facebook owns).
hmmmm.

I'll let you re-read that if you need.
ok did it sink in?

So now, let me tell you what the awesome people at Tsu have done about it all.

They have taken a different approach, in that the company (Tsu) is only keeping 10% of all the revenue from ads.
And the other 90%? 
It is being distributed to the content providers, the ones who drive the ad dollars...US.
Why would Tsu.co not keep all the ad revenue?
Because they recognize that the content providers are the ones creating the value!
Genius and honest, if you ask me.
A pretty beautiful way for things to be done.

So what do you have to do to be a part?
Create an account, that's all!
The only difference between this and other sites is (like I mentioned above), you have to be invited by someone already in the network.
Oh, and that you get PAID!!  
I'll invite you again at the end of this post! I want you in on this, friends!
It's free, and it even has an awesome app you can find in the app store.
(PS i LOVE the app, it's so simple yet has a ton of features. Very clean feeling too, which I love!).

Once you join, all you have to do is just post.
Post like you do to any other site! Share pictures, articles, random things...
not anything you aren't already doing!


And then build your network.
Invite your friends with your own "shortcode" (the link of your profile).
Invite as many people as you want, the bigger this network grows, the more advertisers will pay to be on it! And the more advertisers pay, the more the content providers get paid...
aka, money in your "bank".

One thing to keep in mind as a bonus of this, as you build a network...
The bigger the content provider, the more followers they bring in, right?
So that means, be thinking of who you may know that has a large following, whether it's a person, a celebrity of some sort, a business or whatever.
The more followers who "sign up" under your code invite, the more potential you have to make money!
It sounds a little network-marketing-ish, but believe me, it is not.
(been there done that!)
...this is actually the opposite...the money goes to ALL the content providers, not just the big ones.
 ie. some big names are already on Tsu, like the rapper 50cent. (so cool!)
So not only is 50cent gonna make a ton from his millions of followers that will follow him over, but the guy that invited 50cent to join will also make a percentage of that.
So awesome, right?

oh, and speaking of 50cent, and the other celebs on Tsu...be watching for a media day very soon!!
This thing is going to blow up once they all announce they are on!! woot!!

And as far as your bank goes, there is so much to tell you about that.
Pretty awesome stuff that you can do with the money you earn.
(get a check sent to you, "transfer" money to other friends in the network, donate it directly to a charity with the click of a button, or just leave it there and watch your royalties grow!)
I've already made a little money, y'all...and with only 1,200 people on the beta version of the site!
Imagine what it could be like with 120K people on, or 12 million, or...you get my point.


So I am ending this with some important things y'all should check out...

first of all, here is the invite to join and make your own account.
http://www.tsu.co/sarah

(and once you make your account, you can get to the FAQ's through the setting tab, and that has a ton of good info to help understand it more!)


So, have I convinced you?
If I haven't that's ok, because I fully think that when this thing catches fire, you will see that you should be on it too! :)
We truly just want all our friends to be blessed by this amazing new network and platform.
So, thanks for listening.

And please, do not hesitate to email me personally if you have any questions or want more info.
ourhopereclaimed(at)gmail(dot)com.

I love you all.
Welcome (or Come on over!) to Tsu!! 

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** if you have already been invited to join by someone else, then please, by all means, use their code and not mine! I want everyone to be blessed here!**

(the button below will be over on my sidebar, it will take someone directly to my code to sign up!)



 

maternity photos

While I was in Seaside, one of my best friends Danielle, who happens to be an incredible photographer, did a maternity shoot for me. 

I am so excited to have these pictures of this beautiful little miracle inside me...

 God is so good.

photography by Danielle Burkleo

Thanks, Danielle. These mean the world to me.