Logan Wolfram

Enjoying Life for Dessert

Bird’s Eye View {Allume Devotional}

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I have heard this verse a million times. “Walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7) But I can honestly tell you that until recently, I don’t know that I’ve grabbed onto it very fully. I guess maybe I always think about life like a hike…that we trust where we’re walking without always having to know what lies around each bend. Oddly enough, I’m sort of ok with that. But recently, the Lord has been teaching me something different about this verse that I wanted to share.

As you all know, the past several months in my life have been a struggle to recover and move forward from my 4th miscarriage. This past Friday was my scheduled delivery date. It has definitely been a forward-moving crawl of progress, but I keep running into this place, this question… where I haven’t trusted what’s around each bend as easily as I have in the past. And the root question that I know is at the heart of it all is the Lord asking me, “Do you trust me?” I find myself honestly saying….”I’m not sure Lord….because look at all of this behind me.”

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To keep reading, check out what I wrote on Monday at Allume! (The story gets good….I promise!)

Giveaway Winners…FINALLY!

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Our internet has been seriously on the fritz this week!  So for those of you who were wondering about the giveaway winners from last week, they did get posted at the end of each post in the Rafflecopter box, but here’s a comprehensive list of you all who won! (I have contacted everyone, so you all should know who you are!)

Karen H. won the Design Consult and Vision Board from me!

Kim D. won the photograph from Bogle Photography

Taryn J. won her fav item from Rustic Elegance

Sara W. won the Red Letter Words art

Loran D. won the $125 Critter Keeper Party

Congratulations to all of you!!!  And thanks to everyone for playing!  Thanks also to our incredible sponsors who made my birthday week so much fun by giving away presents to some of my fabulous readers!

 

Critter Keeper {Birthday Week Giveaway}

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So, today is the last day of my Birthday Week giveaways, and ya’ll….it has been fun!  I’ve loved sharing the week with you.   Introducing you all to these phenomenal people and artists I’ve featured this week has been just the most fun!

I met Randy, the Critter Keeper, recently at a friend of ours’ son’s birthday party. Ya’ll….this was THE MOST FUN boy birthday party I have attended to date. (I’m sorry to all the incredible moms of other boy birthday parties we have been to.  Yours were fun, but this one was seriously, incredibly cool.  I’m even confessing I liked it more than parties I’ve done for my own kids.  So there…does that make you feel better?)

Randy has a knack for critters.  In my world, most of these critters of Randy’s belong in the “no way in hell that’s coming into my house” category.  But Randy brings them into your house….or your yard….and kinda makes you like them.  Now, I’m still having a few night terrors about roaches the size of a newborn baby’s foot, and watching my son holding a scorpion, but by the same token, I have found myself feeling kinda proud of the fact that I held a snake so large that when it squeezed my hand backwards, it hurt for the next 30 minutes.  Yes friends….I totally was chosen as the adult helper, and I got to hold the bulk of a yellow Burmese Python named Julius Squeezer.  Julius did squeeze…and even as I type, I’m feeling a bit of glee at recollecting my own general awesomeness to hold and to be sore from holding a snake this hard core! (PS. You’ll have to forgive that the pictures I have are totally cruddy….I didn’t realize we were going to a party that would be this cool, so all I had was my camera on my non-iphone phone.)

The official write-up about it says this….

The Critter Keeper provides memorable entertainment, education, and reinforcement of traditional values to children of all ages through “bug”-themed birthday parties, classroom presentations, and other venues where children can be introduced to critters. Kids love meeting Julius and Cleo, the albino Burmese python and boa constrictor; Flash and/or Skid, the iguanas; Mr. Beasley, the large Australian Bearded Dragon; Clyde, the Savannah Monitor; Rosy, the Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula, as well as other reptiles and arthropods from all over the world. Entertaining and exciting, surprising and sometimes a little scary, the Critter Keeper will captivate your children with interesting facts, entertaining stories, appropriate life applications, and of course, all his critter sidekicks.

Look at the kids’ faces above!  I know it’s a bad picture, but seriously, you can tell how engaged they are!  Let me just say this…

It was SOOO Fun!

All of us moms and dads there were just as captivated as the kids by Randy’s hilarious tricks and fascinating creatures.  I learned things I didn’t know before.  He taught us about snakes (did you know that on their markings if “red touches yellow it will kill a fellow?!),”  showed us bugs the size of your hand (which have been the source of my own personal eww-factor), as well as entertain the kids with magic tricks and general funness!  I watched almost all of the kids overcome their fears and hold scorpions, snakes, and even pet a hedgehog.  And then….I earned serious cool factor with my own kids as the grown up Python holder.  I AM AWESOME!  I hold pythons!

I just had to share about the Critter Keeper with ya’ll!  I realize that this giveaway isn’t going to work for you if you don’t live in Upstate SC, because Randy only does shows in the Upstate (think Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson metro areas.)  Honestly though, I just personally had such fun at this party, my kids had a blast, and it’s so much different than anything I’ve been to before as well.  I think it’d even be fun to have a bunch of families pitch in and have Randy come for a super special surprise for your kids and a bunch of their friends too!  Normally, to book a party with the Critter Keeper is around $250.  He spends a solid hour entertaining and teaching, has time for kids to pet and touch a lot of the animals, and also spends some private family time before the party with the birthday boy or girl (so they can investigate the critters a little more closely before the festivities begin.)

Randy has agreed to give away 1 party to a lucky Life for Dessert winner at a hugely discounted rate!  Instead of $250, he’s allowing me to give a party away for just $125!  50% off of the regular price.  Now, I realize all of you like winning something completely free and clear, but Randy has to feed and care for these animals, and transporting them is no small feat either.  It’s a big deal to haul all these guys around and to put on the incredible show that he does!  You will LOVE the Critter Keeper…and $125 is a steal for this fabulous show!  Enter to win below!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS.  The winner from the Rustic Elegance giveaway is Taryn Jones!  Congratulations Taryn!  Looks like you need to figure out a space to put the Salvage Chic Message Board that you loved!!

Also, I’ll be announcing the Red Letter Words and Critter Keeper giveaway winners on Tuesday.  Ya’ll all have a happy Labor Day holiday weekend!

Red Letter Words {Birthday Week Giveaway}

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I first shared with you guys about Red Letter Words over a year ago when I first discovered Dee and her incredible gift for making words into art.  Since that time I’ve collaborated with her for my decorating projects, and her work has played an integral part in most specifically an Opthamology office that I decorated here in Greenville.  We had the best time coming up with loads of custom prints for Southern Eye Associates!  I tell you what too, those custom prints have made all the difference in the overall aesthetic of the office!

Check out a few of them!

This particular print was custom-made using the name of the practice, but orienting the letters to resemble a Snellan Eye Chart used in ophthamology for an initial vision test.

I also had the idea to use a bunch of eye related words in the lobby areas.  I’ll be honest and say that much beyond words like “retina, cornea, eye, and pupil” I didn’t know any good eye words.  We had to enlist the help of the docs for these babies, but they sure did turn out great!  Um…can someone please tell me what a YAG is?

We also created prints focusing on the locations where the doctors work. We made one print highlighting different areas of Greenville and a couple more with the international locations the doctors have visited to serve.  This group of docs is incredible.  Check out some of these locations they’ve gone on mission trips to do surgeries and eye exams.

 I LOVE the Greenville print ya’ll and even have one in my home!  It’s chocked with places around town that are familiar and notable.  If you have ever visited Greenville or have lived here, then this list is most certainly familiar to you!  And…bonus is that even if you don’t happen to be the winner of today’s giveaway, but you’re in love with this Greenville print, you should still buy it!  A portion of the proceeds of the sale of each Greenville print will be donated to Southern Eye Associates’ non-profit organization called Surgeons for Sight that provides free surgeries and eye exams to the needy both here and abroad!

Dee has way more awesome stuff on her site ya’ll.  Oh have mercy…here are a few more of my all time favorites!

Ahhh…. I LOVE that!

I’m a fan of scripture in my home anyway, and Red Letter Words makes it so lovely, and eye-catching, and tasteful looking. As much as it does for my decor, it does more for my heart to walk by and be reminded of the truths and encouragements that God has for us in Scripture.

Red Letter Words has loads of beautifully printed scriptures to choose from! Seriously…lots!

Maybe you wish you had a print as awesome as the Greenville one, but you’ve never been here or heard of it….not to worry, Red Letter Words has an entire Travel Collection!

There’s even a collection inspired by hymns and songs…..

 

 

 

 

 

Whatever you’re looking for, there are plenty of beautiful things to choose from. And if she doesn’t have what you want, not to worry, as you’ve seen above, Red Letter Words does phenomenal custom orders!

Dee is SUPER AWESOME and has agreed to give away 1 print of your choice valued up to $195!

WHOOP WHOOP! Have some fun looking all over the Red Letter Words website and then let me know which print you’d want and what size!  (This giveaway is open to US residents only and does not include custom orders)

Happy Entering!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS. Southern Eye images above were take by and used with the permission of Kim Deloach Photography ( I just love that woman!)

** Adding Tuesday’s winner at 8:30 this morning, but this is HILARIOUS!  I swear to you that all I did in the rafflecopter widget was to click on the button that makes it pick a winner.  Hilarity is that Rafflecopter selected Kim Deloach (my portrait photographer friend) as the winner of the Bogle Photography print!  Got to love people of the same profession admiring one another’s work!

Bogle Photography Fine Art Photos {Birthday Week Giveaway!}

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I kicked off the week with a little present o’ fun from me to celebrate my life and birth, but now on the date of my actual birth, August the 28th, I’m gonna throw back to my childhood for some gifting greatness.

I met Jeff Bogle at some point between 1st and 3rd grade at Oakwood Elementary school in Hickory, NC.  By 3rd grade, I somehow managed to wrangle him into becoming my first “boyfriend” for a few weeks even.  It was pretty serious for an 8 year old ya’ll….I gave him a present!  I don’t remember if it was Christmas or Valentine’s or his birthday….but at some point, my mom let me make Jeff a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and my dad gave me a mini wooden Lane cedar chest to put them in.  Jeff told me he still keeps his keys in that box years later!

I bumped into him randomly, a dozen or so years ago, when I was visiting and he was living in Vail, CO.  Was fun catching up with an old friend, and he even offered to teach me how to snowboard.  Poor Jeff has the patience of a saint, because the man witnessed me slide down an entire mountain on my butt or on my face with a snowboard dragging behind.  I tried, really I did….but it didn’t happen for me.  To this day, I have never tried snowboarding again. #MassiveFail

Maybe it’s that same level of patience though that has taught Jeff how to stop and appreciate the things around him, or maybe it’s the adventurer in him that has drawn him into photography.  Whatever it is, Jeff Bogle has clearly found his calling behind the lens of a camera.  Whether he’s waiting for the right moment to capture sunlight pouring through the trees, or noticing the way a stream bubbles across mossy rocks, Jeff manages to capture nature and life at it’s finest.

In both perspective and technical skill, Jeff’s work has caught my eye for sure.  He’s spent time photographing all over, but his pictures in and around the Blue Ridge mountains and beaches of the Carolinas are certainly among some of my most favorite.  He graduated from Brevard College with a B.F.A. degree in Fine Arts, with an emphasis in photography, and for the past 12 years has recorded a myriad of images – from snowboarding’s elite in the heat of competition, to political rallies, family gatherings, business functions, and the outdoors. If you ask me (or anyone else who’s seen his work), we’ll tell you that Jeff is one talented fella!

And since ya’ll now know that I’m a gifter too, I wanted to do something for this old friend of mine to spread the word about his business and talent.  I’ve always been pretty clear that if I don’t believe in something, I won’t advocate it… but I do believe in Jeff and his work, and I thought you all should take a peek!  It’s only August, but certainly not too early to begin thinking about Christmas gifts.  Or maybe you love this area of the country and want to look at the beauty of the outdoors from inside of your home.  Or, maybe you’re like me and appreciate beauty when you see it and want to put it on your walls.  Lucky for us, Jeff is willing to make that happen for one lucky winner!  And if you don’t win, Jeff is offering 20% off of all print purchases through the end of this month! And did I mention that each print is signed?!

Check out a little sampling of his work ya’ll…..soo gorgeous!

I could go on and show you more….really I could, but I don’t want to completely spoil the surprises in store!  My personal favorite one is called “Follow the Blue Ridge,” and you’ll have to look for it when you check out his website!  Trying to decide where I want to put that one in my house….LOVE IT!

Jeff is getting super generous on us ya’ll and will allow one lucky winner to choose one of his prints from the available sizes (up to 12″x18.”)  My new handy dandy widget below will guide you through the contest entry process!  Share away too friends!

And, how about this….instead of even wishing me a Happy Birthday today, share the blog around SocialMediaLand for me?  Or also, I’d love to hear in the comments below….what’s your favorite Life for Dessert post ever?  One that made you laugh, or made you cry, or taught you something new….I’d love to know the post that sticks in your mind!

Thanks friends!!!  And Happy Contest Entering! (Don’t forget that you still have a little bit more time to enter the giveaway from yesterday too!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Custom Room Design and Vision Board {Birthday Week Giveaway}

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Tuesday of this week is my birthday!  Whoop whoop!

I LOVE birthdays!  Love having them, love creating parties for them, love giving presents, and admittedly, I like receiving presents too.  I’m a gifter.  As in, it’s one of my love languages.  Even when I get an invitation to something that says “no gifts please,” I totally disobey.  I think about the person and the kinds of things they like…and I have the best time choosing and giving them a present!  The end of one year and the beginning of a new one is something worth celebrating!  And I think presents are pretty celebratory!

So, celebrate we will this week with presents here on the blog!  I’ve picked out some of my favorite artists and people to share with you.  They’re all joining in the spirit of gifting, and each day, we’ll give away something from their collections to a lucky winner!  Would love for you to share the blog and the giveaways with your friends as well!  Spread the love!!!

So here’s how it’ll work.  I’ve found this handy dandy new way to host giveaways that’ll be in the bottom of each post (thanks Rafflecopter!)  It’s easy to enter, and it’ll help me keep better track of everything.  I’d love for you to like Life for Dessert and all of these fab-o artists this week on facebook, and for sharing on your own facebook pages, twitter, and however else you like to share… that’d be just extra awesome of you (as well as gain you extra entries!)  Help a girl out…share the blog as a present to me for my birthday??

Each giveaway will run for 48 hours.  I’ll announce the winner the day after each giveaway ends and you’ll get 48 hours to claim your prize!  It’s going to be fun fun fun!

To kick things off, I’m going to get in on the fun myself!  I think ya’ll know by now that I work as an interior decorator (secondary to being a full-time mom.)  I’ve had the pleasure of decorating nurseries, kids rooms, living rooms, dens, bedrooms, bathrooms and offices.  Basically, if you start to think it, I’d love to help you create it!

Once long ago, I heard a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that said “A love of beauty is taste, the creation of beauty is art.”  I LOVE beauty, and perhaps as much as I love it, I love to help other people achieve it in their own homes.  I would love to help you make a room that reflects your personality, style and taste.  It’s nothing for me to put my own spin on something, but to create something that feels like you….that’s my greatest achievement in design!  So…that’s what I am going to do for one lucky winner!

Here are a couple of vision boards and spaces that I’ve created for different clients! (So you know what you’re getting into.)

If you win, we’ll have a consult (as in, we can email or call) to discuss your room and ideas.  I’ll get some info from you, and then I’ll create a design vision board especially for you!  No strings attached…just a fun, free-and-clear design consult and vision board!  I love doing this and I will love to engage with one of you readers in this super fun and creative process!

Enter to win below!  I’m so excited and I hope you are too!

*In case you happened to notice the incredible typography artwork in the Southern Eye Associates office pictures above, make sure you come back every day this week, because you just might be able to snag some of that eye candy for your own home one day! 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Everybody Needs Counseling….

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Gonna warn you…this post contains some content that isn’t exactly rated PG.  If you’re under the age of 18….just know, you’ve been warned.  This is real life.

Time to break the silence around here.  Sorry about that.  This year on the blog has had longer periods of silence, and honestly I’m ok with that.  It’s been a full year.

So pretty much, if I’m being honest, the silence boils down to feeling kinda sad here lately.  I wish I could tell you that the events of this March have long but left my emotional being, but they haven’t.  And while the rawness of the loss is mostly gone, the lingering pains still crop up.  Still paying medical bills months later from 2 D&C procedures is a bitch.  At least I finally fit in all of my pre-pregnancy  regular clothes.  I have friends who have turned up pregnant over the past couple of months, and while I’m truly happy for them, the “surprise” pregnancies fall hard on this aching heart.  I should have been having a baby this time next week.  Instead I just have an appointment with the OB just to figure out…what’s next for me?

There’s wreckage left from all of the loss too.  It’s not just an empty womb and empty bank account, it’s tons of other stuff too.  Emoting my way through all of this has been hard, and for my husband who is a logical thinker, we often find ourselves on different planes.  It creates tension in a marriage when you lose 4 babies in 5 years…even if your marriage is a good one.  Sex gets out of whack when you are pregnant in November and then miscarry shortly after.  Then if you turn up pregnant and puking right after that for months on end, it’s not like the ol’ libido is really in full swing.  Add to that 2 anesthesia induced surgical procedures and 3 weeks of complications to that, and you get where I’m going here….months of a screwed up sex life.  Any married person will tell you….that stuff is important for both of you.  So then, needs aren’t met and frustrations with one another ensue.  And not just about sex, but about how to relate, how to grieve, how to move forward.  So many questions…so much to figure out…so few answers.

So, in the spirit of authenticity, I’m now telling you that I’ve been going to a counselor.  And it has been SOOO good for me.  I realized that as the mourning still continues, and my own frustration with needing to cope needs to be in a healthy place.  Truth is that sometimes we just need someone else to weigh in and pray through things with us.  My husband and I are going to spend a week in a counseling program in Colorado this fall focusing on our marriage.  My mom asked why we were doing this if we’re not in crisis mode, and my reply, “Wouldn’t it be better to do this when you just know things aren’t as you want them to be, rather than waiting til you get to crisis mode?”  Um…yes….that.

So here’s what I want to say about all of this.  In my humble opinion, from time to time, baby loss to life crisis to a state of the down-in-the-dumps….I think everybody can use a little counseling!  No person is perfect and no parents are perfect, and the truth is that we all walk around carrying a set of “issues.”  Some may seem heavier than others, but we all know, we’ve got at least a carry-on sized bag of emotional luggage we tote around with us.  Sometimes we may be able to work through things ourselves, but I’ll be honest and say that the times I’ve gone for really intensive prayer counseling are the times I’ve seen the most breakthrough.

I also personally don’t think that all counseling is created equally.  Some seem to pull out your issues and give you a pack of bandaids to put over them…never really getting to the heart of the matter in the end beyond just exposure of it.  The kind of counseling I’ve been doing, and highly recommend, is sort of similar to what’s called Theophostic Prayer Counseling.  There are other effective programs out there, but for me, getting to the root of feelings I have and then praying through them has been phenomenal.

It’s been a hard year.  Really good in some ways, and there has definitely been some neat fruit in my life from all of the hardship, but for right now as I creep up on the due date of that baby we lost I find myself emoting a bit more than normal as well.

Next Tuesday is my birthday and Friday was the date we’d picked for my csection.  Mixed emotions within the week for sure.

And because I would rather spend time on a celebration than a mourning, I’m going to have some fun on the blog this coming week.  I have a handful of artisans I love that I’ll be telling you about, as well as giving some of their product away, throughout the week.  And if you’re local, I’m going to give away some interior design time with me as well.  So while this year has had it’s share of mess, I’m determined to start my 35th year (I’ll be turning 34 on Tuesday) with focusing on turning that mess into something beautiful.

There is a really neat story that I’ve been wanting to tell you all about that too, so stay tuned for that before we kick of next week with fun and giveaways.  I’d sure appreciate you all spreading the word about this coming week of Life For Dessert Birthday Fun to help me and to share about these people I just adore both personally and creatively!  Can’t wait to share them all with you next week!

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Life in the Real World

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My dad forwarded me an email the other day and I loved it.  SO SO TRUE!  I figured it was good enough to share here.

Bill Gates gave a speech at a high school about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school.  He addresses how feel-good, politically correct teachings have created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept has set them up for failure in the real world.  These things are so true!

I’d love to hear your thoughts at the end in the comments section as well, about what you’ve learned in the real world that they never taught you in school.  What nuggets of wisdom do you hope to pass along, teach your kids, or would tell a high school student given the chance now?

Rule 1 : Life is not fair – get used to it! 


Rule 2 : The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem.
The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.


Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.


Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss 


Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping:
They called it opportunity.


Rule 6 : If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault,
so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.


Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were: So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room..


Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
*This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.


Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters.
You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.
*Do that on your own time.


Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life.
In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.


Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds.
Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Call Out The Greatness {Allume Devotional}

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Three times over the past month I have heard the phrase “call out the greatness” used with regards to building others up. Once it was in the context of marriage, once in reference to training our children, and once regarding other churches within the body of Christ.

Third time is a charm… but being the obtuse individual that I sometimes am, I have finally caught on that there’s something the Lord has for me with this idea.

Calling out the greatness in others

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Keep reading the rest of this post over at Allume!  I this this is one worth jumping sites for sure!

Journey to the Top {Allume Devotional}

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“Ever wonder where you’d end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash?” ~Robert Brault

My family went to the mountains for a couple of days this weekend. The weather was a glorious 20 degrees cooler than at home, and the sounds of crickets and tree frogs lulling me to sleep was just the peaceful respite this soul needed.

On Friday morning, we decided to take a short hike up to a rock face that overlooked the lovely mountain town of Highlands, NC down below. We started off with the end in mind. We weren’t 100ft into the 3/4 mile hike when my 2 year old stopped to pick up a “cool rock.” To me it looked like a piece of gravel, because it was, but to him, it was something valuable. Another 100 ft and we were stopping again…this time for a curled up dead leaf…wildly valuable goods indeed. Our pace continued like this…starting, stopping, starting, stopping. I could feel the tensions rising from both my husband and myself as we exchanged glances that said, “This is going to take FOREVER!”

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Hop on over to Allume to read the rest of this week’s post!