Swap Mania

In an attempt to make more connections, get my blog out there and to get swag in the mail, I signed up for two swaps last month. It was A TON of fun picking out the perfect things for each of the ladies I got and to get stuff from them in the mail. I don’t know if I could be a religious swapper (because, well, I’m SUPER forgetful and tend to get in over my head), but it was a lot of fun doing it throughout this past month, since it was pretty chill for me over here in the Gwyn world. 

 The first swap I did was the Cara Box Swap hosted by the GORGEOUS Caitlin over at Wifessionals. I’m totally joining in again for December. Head on over to her blog to sign up for December. The theme for November was “childhood” and I was paired with Christina from Brown Town. We were supposed to do an adult twist on childhood and she did perfect. I, however, did not. I gave her completely childish things. She however, did a PERFECT job. For sleepovers, she got me PJs. For Lip Smackers, she got me lip gloss. For, sugar, she got me cookies to bake and some candy. For passing notes, she got me a note pad. And for fun, she got me an awesome pair of socks. Head on over to her blog to see the horribly childish things I got her. 

 The second swap I did was the Nail Polish swap done by Rachel at Lala Lists. I LOVE nail polish and this one spoke to me. I’ve done a GREAT job at not biting my nails like I usually do and it’s only because I pain my nails every other day. I was paired with Kisha over at The Glamorous Life of a French Housewife. She SPOILED me. She got me four nail colors AND some of the Sally Hanson rub on nail polishes AND a glass nail file (which works like a dream!). The nail polishes are Essie’s Smokin’ Hot (grey), Sally Hansen’s Magnetic Nail Polish in Electric Emerald (Green and THIS STUFF WAS AMAZING!), Sally Hanson’s Wedding Crasher (sparkly red), Sally Hanson’s Commander in Chic (peachy/nude) and Sally Hanson’s Salon Effects Laced Up (MY FAVORITE! Lasts over 10 days and I’m a nail bitter/picker). So much fun! 

 We’ll see if I can survive the holidays to branch out and find another swap or two to join.

November... via Instagram

So for November, I did the #30daysofthanks, but it fizzled out after Thanksgiving. Sad, I know, but I'm going to blame it on the drug induced coma from the turkey and the fact that I was high off of family time.

Here it is, the Gwyn's November... via Instagram:

I'm thankful for my body that I sometime exercise; I'm thankful for a husband who is going to be an incredible father; I'm thankful for a loving and funny mother-in-law and for Mia, who is now 1; I'm thankful for the truth, light, peace and comfort this book has provided me.

I'm thankful for my right to vote; I'm thankful for my husband and the time we spend together; I am grateful for the SUN!; I'm thankful for this little booger head, aka, Ry, aka Master Tutuiful, aka my niece.

I'm thankful for waffles and our cute cow butter dish; I'm thankful for all these 6 crazy rugrats who let me be their "mom" for a couple of hours; I'm thankful for no one laughing at my fruit turkey at my family's Thanksgiving dinner; I'm thankful for fun sisters who know how to party.

I'm thankful for my nana, who is the best role model and guide I could ever have; I'm thankful for the temple and the promises we made there; I'm thankful for minted making the cutest Christmas cards ever for me; and I'm thankful for my niece Olivia, who rocks paper mustaches with me.

Honestly, I normally don't like November or Thanksgiving. I really don't like turkey and November is just a pit stop between Halloween and Christmas. Not this year. I really thoroughly enjoyed it and was fully into paying attention to what I am thankful for and what matters most in life... family.

Hope you had a great and relaxing November before all of this Holiday craziness gets full swing.

Join me in my instagram adventure

@kayleegwyn

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Don't forget to give us your input on the books for the Blogger Book Club! And join us tonight for the video chat (its free, and fun and YOU WANT TO BE THERE!), 8pm EST. Email me at BrightandBeautifulBlog{at}gmail{dot}com and I'll add you to the list.

This Is Why I LOVE Them

This month I had a STELLAR set of sponsors. These ladies are magnificent, wonderful, delightful and all other cute and catchy phrases I could possibly use to describe them. Seriously though, I just adore these ladies and am SO GRATEFUL to them for letting me work with them for the month.

To show you how incredible they are, I thought I'd share my favorite posts from them this month....

Kim at Wanderlustee

Her, "Have you laughed today?" post is hilarious. Especially with the video at the end.

Alyx at Everyday is a New Adventure

Her, "Yahoo! Q&A thinks I'm an Idiot. The neighbor's magical night," post is one of those, "wow, I guess I'm an idiot too," kind of posts.

Miki at Becoming What I Always Was

I wish I had a picture to describe this post, but I don't. So Instead I just used a super cute picture of her familia. Trust me, her "The time an old woman saw me naked," post is a MUST READ.

Sarah at Just the Two of Us

Her, "Today I am Thankful For... {My husband}," post reminds us all where it's at. Seriously, the cutest couple ever.

Samara at Wanderings of Miss Dane

Her, "Wisdom," post is the BEST reminder. Great words to live by.

Anna at Days When I'm Not a Nurse

Her, "My Baking Binge," post has the CUTEST looking cupcakes ever. I seriously want her recipe.

Jill at To Fetch a Pail of Water

Her, "Green Thumb?" post shows just how awesome this amazing friend of mine is. She not only gardens, but is flair bar tending too.

Marilyn at PinkBambina

Her, "Cross Country, and I'm Not Talking About Running," post is the start to her new adventure in a new town. Give her some love and support!

Kristen at This Radient Life

Her, "When Your Coworkers Raid Your Blog Pictures," post, is well, my favorite thing ever. She knows this. I know this. And, well you all now know this.

Alexis at Living the Wifestyle

Her, "Hello, There," post is the best reminder and heartfelt letter about blogging. I think I feel like this at least once a month.

Hopefully you enjoy their posts and blogs as much as I truly do.

Join me and the rest of the Blogger Book Club for the video chat tomorrow night. Don't worry if you didn't read the book or all of it. Neither did Alyx and I. We'll still have fun. 8pm EST. Email me if you want to join!

OHHHH and we're planning the next few months books now to prevent backlog on waiting lists for books, so help us out and give some suggestions! December is any book that you want to read AS LONG as it was made into a movie. Seriously, it's going to be LEGIT!

Mrs. Grinch & Gone Girl Blogger Book Club Review

It's already after Thanksgiving and this is how I feel.

See, the King and I live in this SUPER cute but INSANELY tiny. Like 500 sq. ft. tiny. Like It's only one room tiny. Like THE WHOLE HOUSE is like one room tiny. Seriously, I love it, but it's put me in a Grinch mood.

Why?

Oh because there is absolutely no room to put my Christmas tree up. The tree I had up until after valentine's day last year. That tree. With two people living in such a tiny place, there is no room.

So, what can you recommend for this Grinch to do, that will make her heart grow three times bigger with the love of Christmas?????

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The Blogger Book Club

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

To be honest, yet again, I haven't finished reading the book. I know, I know. I'm like the worst co-host of a book club ever. Let's be honest though. This book is in demand and I was forever on the wait list. I only got my hands on it a couple of days ago. Let me say this though. So far, it's great! The book is told through different points of view which I love. It makes it so much more interesting seeing both sides of a situation and to intimately get to know the characters through their own thoughts. Also, because I read spoilers, I know it's going to have a killer ending. A massive twist. SUPER stoked to actually get to that point.

Anyhoo, join us Thursday for the google hangout video chat on the book. It's so much fun and we would love to have you join in. Email me at BrightandBeautifulBlog{at}gmail{dot}com and I'll put you on the list. We'll be announcing how we are doing next month's book club. It's going to be different, exciting and you won't want to miss it.

P.S. I'm blogging from my iPad, you know, just in case this post looks busted! Don't forget to link up!

Happy Birthday X-Tina

Happy Birthday X-Tina.

 Crap, not that one.

THIS one:

Let's just say, I've enjoyed becoming super duper close with you these past couple years.

Remember that one time we made Joe pull over to get a picture in front of the Alabama state sign? Yeah, I'm sure he wanted to kill us because he was trying to hurry up and get us to Alabama so he could propose to you. 

Remember that one time you were at my wedding. This was the first leg in making us "official" sisters-in-law.

Remember that one time you decided to last minute get married/eloped? Yeah, that made us "official" sisters-in-law.

Remember that one time the other night when I left and I was all like, "Love you Olivia!" and then I corrected myself to say, "Well, I love all of you, but I love Olivia too."? Well, I just wanted to let you know (because I don't think I've ever told you) that I really do love you. Like a lot. And I am SO GLAD that you are my sister-in-law and best friend. Yep, I said it, best friend.

Here is to many more year, you almost 30 year old!

LOVE,

Kaylee

Your official sister-in-law.

A Half of a Year

Six months ago, I grabbed this man's hand, walked up to the House of the Lord, walked in as his fiancee and walked out with him as my husband and eternal companion.

 I cannot stress how wonderfully amazing, yet, crazy, but beautiful these last six months have been.

They have flown by so quickly, but at the same time I have cherished every moment of it.

They have been full of good times, and the obligatory "bad."

They have brought us even closer and helped us REALLY get to know each other.

They have made us strong and selfless.

They have made me love him more than I ever thought I could.

I am the luckiest, just like that song we danced to at our wedding said.

King Benjamin, you make me the happiest.

You make me smile.

 You make me laugh.

You make me realize how wonderful my life is, now that you're in my world.

Happy half a year amor. It's been the best, but lets make the next six the best yet!

Friday Letters

 Dear Kaylee (myself),
You are fine the way you are. Your weight? Just a number. Your hair? It's a pretty shade of brown. Your clothes? They keep you warm. You're one lucky gal, doncha know. You have an INCREDIBLE husband who loves you and strong families to help you. You're lucky. Don't forget it.
Love, me.

Dear King (aka Hubby),
I don't deserve you. Really, I don't. You are so patient, loving, kind, selfless, humble and amazingly cool. Only you can do out laundry and change your Jeep's "shoes" (tires and wheels) at the same time. ONLY you. You are my one true love, my everything and my best friend. So glad to have you to love on.
Love, your creature.

Excuse our blurry picture. The flash ALMOST killed us. Plus we were super tired. P.S. that's PinkBambina!

Dear Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II,
Thank you for being so kind to have a 10 pm showing last night so I was able to come into work today only looking like half a zombie. Also, you were amazeballs. No, really, you were. We had a noisy theater last night and three quotes from the crowd really summed you up:
".... yeah, wit da popos." - in reference to the Voltori
"..... INCEPTIONNNNNN!!!!!" - in reference to your CRAZY AWESOME TWIST
"CHEATER!" - in reference to your beautifully done credits, including K-Stew.
Love, a secret twihard.

Dear Weekend,
No one can appreciate you as much as this gal. I'm really enjoying our renewed friendship and I cannot wait to see what you have planned for us next! You're the best friend a gal could ever have. Really, you are.
Love, this lazy gal.

Dear Bookshelf, Ottoman, Futon and Box Spring,
Next time I decide to skip through the house in the dark, high off of gal time, please, PLEASE, pretty please just move out of my path so I don't trip/bang/fall over all four of you at once like I did last night. I know you all though it was funny, but seriously, NOT COOL man, not cool.
Love, my bruised and banged up leg and knee.

If You Were Deserted On An Island...

This month I decided to start networking my blog again and to get back out in the blogging world to not only meet new people but to help our blogs grow. This month has been a little rough and trial/error have been my bestie along the way. 

With that said, I wanted to change up the way I do sponsorships/ad swapping a bit. The whole point is to get to know these gals more personally and to share my loyal readership (aka, you lovely people) with them. I honestly don't swap ads with someone I don't think my readership would like and I don't swap ads with anyone I don't feel is genuine and in love with blogging.

From now on, I'm going to do two little sponsor posts. This is the first, which will include horrible pictures of these ladies (because I was stupid and forgot to ask them for one, so I blog stalked to get pictures. SORRY LADIES!), an answer to a question and their social media links. The second post (towards the end of the month) will be me sharing my favorite posts of theirs from this past month.

Any suggestions? Comments? Want to be apart of this for December? Contact me at:

BrightandBeautifulBlog {at} gmail {dot} com

Without further ado... the question this month was:

"If you were stranded on a deserted island, what one celebrity, food item, song and other random thing would you want to have?"

Kim from Wanderlustee

I decided to not grab a picture of her, but the aftermath of Sandy, which she survived in good 'ole NYC.

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"I would bring Channing Tatum, chips and guac, the song Dachshund and my nook"

Alyx from Everyday is a New Adventure

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I never got around to asking Alyx the question of the month, but she is so hilarious, I bet it would have had you rolling on the floor laughing. She, Kim and I co-host the BBC (Blogger Book Club). JOIN US!

Miki from Becoming What I Always Was

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"If I were stranded on a deserted island the celeb I would bring with me is Howard Stern. Seriously. He would make the whole thing entertaining, and if he were missing someone would definitely find us. 

The food I would bring is... feta cheese. I am obsessed with feta. It tastes so good on everything. You'll probably be eating some really nasty stuff while stranded so why not sprinkle some feta up on there?? :)

My song... I'd bring would be The Cinema - Picasso. That song makes me happy and keeps me energized or it can put me to sleep. I would need a sleep song.

My random item would be... a helicopter. So I could get home :)"

Sarah from Just the Two of Us

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"I would bring:

    Celebrity- Melissa McCarthy (from Bridesmaids) Because she would make me laugh about being stranded.haha

    food item- Raspberries

    Song- The Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine

    Random thing- My cute husband :) "

Anna from The Days When I'm Not a Nurse

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"I'm HOPING its an island with fresh water and a food source...sooooo I'd want to bring Leonardo de Vinci because he could invent anything else I might need."

Jill from To Fetch a Pail of Water

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Special shout out to this lovely lady: She is a GREAT friend of mine. She's BRAND SPANKIN NEW to the blog world. Please, go give her some blog love!

"I would bring Andy Sandberg, crunchy peanut butter, the song Grey Street by Dave Matthews and knitting needles."

Marilyn from The Pink Bambina

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Also, a personal friend. Love on her too please. She is in transition from moving to Utah from here :(

"Um....Martha Stewart, apples, Muse-Starlight and can my other random item be an airplane so we're not stranded anymore? Martha because she can make ANYTHING, apples because they can be sweet and filling."

Kristen from The Radiant Life

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She pulls of the Beibster look well. huh?? She was sick this day, but this picture makes me smile.

"I would bring Mindy Kailing, because she's sweet and hilarious; bulk rice and beans because they don't go bad, they're nutritionally complete, and easy to cook; "Call me Maybe" because that song just makes me so darn happy, and if I'm going to be stranded I need to be happy; and a blanket. I can not sleep without blankets, no matter what."

Alexis from Living the Wifestyle

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I didn't get her question either, but this girl is just so dang lovable. Probably one of my favorite bloggers in a while.

Hopefully you enjoyed getting to know these ladies, and you actually might be surprised at how much you LOVE them. I sure do and am so blessed to be getting to know them better.

Oh, and for my answer to the question:

"I would bring the good 'ole Michael Scott Dwight Schrute Mwight, pita chips and hummus, Bulletproof by Sia and tiki torches, because, it will be a party y'all."

Ta ta until tomorrow!

Weekend Wrap Up

Lucky me! I got a long weekend due to Veterans day. It was INCREDIBLE to have yesterday off to get to just be a normal human being again.

Friday night, the King and I hit up the other Gwyn's house (aka my sister and brother-in-law's casa). As I walked out of our house to head over there, I realized that it was freezing. And all of my "winter" clothes and jackets are still in our storage unit. Problem. The King used his problem solving skills and gave me one of his flannels to wear (he wears a lot of flannels).  We drove around waiting on our pizza to be done and found ourselves in a neighborhood that had MASSIVE houses. This got us thinking about how these people got their money, which turned into us trying to figure out how to become millionaires. Once we actually rolled up to the other Gwyn's house, Christina  my sister-in-law, was wearing Joseph's (my brother-in-law's) flannel. Must have been something in the air, making us all wear flannel. That, or we are just a huge men's flannel wearing family.

Saturday was full of being lazy, walking around the park with the King and babysitting the two cutest little ladies in Windermere. Last time I baby sat them, we watch Titanic, per their mother's request. Apparently they learned a bunch about the Titanic, found out there was a movie and demanded to see it. Well, the younger of the two (who didn't show any signs that the movie was freaking her out) has been having night terrors ever since. Oh, and while they were playing house, the younger sister said, "why can't you be a nice mom??!!!"  The older sister then said, "listen daughter, you're lucky to have a mother. Some kids froze in the ocean with their mothers!!!!" My advice: wait until they are at least 13.

Sunday was another lazy day (BLESS the lazy days!!) of church and movie watching. Also, the King and I got into a really silly argument late at night. I honestly cannot even remember what it was about (see, we aren't perfect!). Well I decided that I was going to go blow off some steam next door to our house, at the park. At midnight. See, we live in this nice area, next to Eatonville. We get some shady people walking through. I got spooked at one point (well, because I was sitting in a dark park alone) and as I was walking back to the house this guy in a hoodie tried grabbing me and kept saying, "hey little mama, you got a sec?" I yelled, "NO!" and ran back into the loving arms of my husband. Why I walked away in the first place, who knows. Home (and safety) is wherever I'm with him.

And finally, yesterday, my sister, niece and mom came to visit me. For like the first time ever. We hit up Panera for lunch, Ulta for makeup, the park next to my house to play with my nieces and Jeremiahs for some dank Italian ice. 

I cannot get over having my weekends back! They are such a needed break from the weekly grind.

What did you do this weekend? Anything I should totally be jealous of?? 

Also, for all the BBC (Blog Book Club) readers out there, don't forget that we are reading "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn! Can't wait to video chat and link up at the end of the month. Also, email me or comment with your email if you'd like to be added to our email list (trust me you do).