We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We’re heading off to St. Louis where I hear I’ll be enjoying a white Christmas. Seeing that it was 63 degrees here in California today, I’m going to ask you all to pray that we come back alive. I’ve packed two pairs of long underwear, hats and gloves but you never know. I’m just hoping that the beauty of the snow will distract me from the frigid cold air.

Love to you all!

And now for the fun winners…

TOMS Shoes
Mom

FashionABLE
Heather Lux

GYB Movement
Sarah

Falling Whistles
Trisha

Krochet Kids
Sarah McCormick

I’ll be in touch soon for you to collect your winnings! Thank you all so much for joining in the fun! There will be lots of more giveaways in the New Year.

“Buy a hat. Change a life.” That is Krochet Kids’ tagline. I love it! We heard CEO and Co-Founder, Kohl Crecelius, speak at the Identity Conference we went to back in November. We immediately fell in love with their product and their mission and couldn’t wait to share about them with others. Definitely go check out their story, but here is their mission posted on their website.

MISSION
To empower people to rise above poverty.

VISION
To create sustainable economic development programs that support holistic growth of individuals and communities within developing nations.
To inspire the knowledge of a generation about their ability to bring change to a world that is in need.

VALUES
People: We desire holistic freedom for our people to grow and enrich their lives physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Our Product: We believe in quality, handmade products that not only bring comfort and style, but serve as a vehicle for social change.
Love: We believe actions rooted in love bring lasting and powerful change. Our model for love is that of the ultimate servant: Jesus.
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You know the deal by now! We give one winner a beautiful handmade hat and, in return, you join us in helping give back to the women in Uganda who make the hats.

How to enter:

1. Give someone else the opportunity to enter this giveaway by sending them a link to this post or sharing it on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment answering this question, “Krochet Kids started out as just a hobby. What is your favorite hobby?“
3. All entries must be received by 8pm PST on Friday, December 24th. Winner announced Christmas Day.

I must be honest, this gift really hits the heart. Here is the Falling Whistles story.

“Falling Whistles gives a small window into our world’s largest war. Originally just a journal written about boys sent to the frontlines of war armed with only a whistle, readers forwarded it with the same kind of urgency in which it was written and demanded to know – what can we do? The Falling Whistles campaign launched with a simple response – make their weapon your voice and be a whistleblower for peace in Congo. Read the story and buy the whistle. Proceeds go to rehabilitate and advocate for war-affected children. Share their story and speak up for them. Together, we’ll become the voice of a growing coalition for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

That’s their short story, but you must read the whole story. It’s shocking and heart wrenching. And it lead me to want to share their story too. With you.

Please join me in advocating for war-affected children. I’ll give you a neat whistle necklace in the process. But I doubt that’s your motivation. Their story is enough.

How to enter:

1. Give someone else the opportunity to enter this giveaway by sending them a link to this post or sharing it on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment answering this question, “What is your favorite non-profit and why?“
3. All entries must be received by 8pm PST on Friday, December 24th. Winner announced Christmas Day.

Are you someone who values education? Know somebody who does? This would be a great gift for you or them! Let me tell you what the GYB Movement is all about. Here’s what they say.

“Even with most public education remaining free, the cost of required uniforms is often too great an expense for struggling families, a burden shared even by developed countries like the United States. With 80% of humanity living on less than $10 a day, and the ever growing movement to mandate uniforms, education many times becomes a distant dream. Got Your Back has focused our efforts on eliminating this burden by distributing school uniforms around the world. Through supplying uniforms free of cost, we hope to offer a pathway for children to gain an education and a chance at pursuing a better, safer, and healthier life.”

Here’s the shirt I like most, but I’ll let the winner pick their own.

Ready to join us in giving a child a uniform so they can attend school? If you are, we’re going to give one winner a T-shirt in the process. Win, win situation!

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How to enter:

1. Give someone else the opportunity to enter this giveaway by sending them a link to this post or sharing it on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment answering this question, “Who was your favorite teacher in school and why?“
3. All entries must be received by 8pm PST on Friday, December 24th. Winner announced Christmas Day.

These scarves are so beautiful, I’ll definitely be giving myself an early Christmas present. And I might be nice and give that cute husband of mine one as well. But I’m still deciding if he’s been a good boy this year or not.

Let me tell you about FashionABLE. Here is how they describe their mission.

“Your purchase of a fashionABLE scarf creates sustainable business for women in Africa. Our commitment as a non-profit is the development of people — fashionABLE works with women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty. So, when you purchase a scarf you are providing jobs, and then we send the profits back to holistically rehabilitate more women. This is the beauty of non-profit…Scarves provide jobs, profits provide restoration.”

And here’s a great video explanation.

So here’s the deal. We buy the winner a beautiful new scarf, and the winner joins us in giving to women in Ethiopia. Doesn’t get more perfect than that! Who’s in?

P.S. To answer Heather’s question from yesterday — yes, you can enter to win every single day. And I hope you all do!

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How to enter:

1. Give someone else the opportunity to enter this giveaway by sending them a link to this post or sharing it on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment answering this question, “What is your favorite fashion accessory right now?” Guys, don’t be afraid to enter. I asked Vitaliy this question and his answer was “my man bag.“
3. All entries must be received by 8pm PST on Friday, December 24th. Winner announced Christmas Day.

We’ve officially just finished up our second year in business and that is reason to celebrate. We want to thank all of our clients and all of our faithful blog readers by enjoying 5 Days of Christmas which really translates into 5 Days of Giveaways. That’s what Christmas is all about — giving! But the gifts we’re going to give away don’t stop with you.

We’ve chosen 5 different organizations we’d like to highlight this week that sell products that give back. These are definitely great Christmas gift ideas so feel free to be inspired to do some of your own Christmas shopping.

So every time you enter a contest, we get to give to you. And by winning, together we get to give to someone else in need. Isn’t that great! So let’s get this party started!

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On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…a new pair of TOMS shoes!

If you aren’t familiar with TOMS shoes, here is there slogan. “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.” Here is the video that explains precisely what they are all about:

Want to give a child in need a new pair of shoes while winning a pair for yourself? Then enter to win!

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How to enter:

1. Give someone else the opportunity to enter this giveaway by sending them a link to this post or sharing it on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment answering this question, “What is your favorite pair of shoes and why?“
3. All entries must be received by 8pm PST on Friday, December 24th. Winner announced Christmas Day.

Well, today is Tuesday which means it’s date night for us. I gotta keep this short! So…the winner of the $15 Starbucks gift card is Liz Kausteklis. It’s fun having a fellow photographer be a winner. Go check out her blog here. Congratulations Liz! And thanks again everyone for all your sweet comments. We love hearing from you!

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Even though it was a great idea and a good argument, the winning image by number of votes was Option One: Best Replica. It seems the majority loved how similar the two were. It is pretty neat to see the similarities between the generations. One of my favorite comments from the contest was from Joanna who said, “I vote for #1 because they look so shock­ingly sim­i­lar! Go genes go!” Vitaliy and I are still cracking up at the thought of her cheering on genes.

And since I love saving the best for last. No really, I love saving the best for last. You can ask Vitaliy, I have a whole routine about how amazing the last bite on my plate has to be. He thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous. I find it to be absolutely crucial! Back to my point — it’s time to announce the winner of the Starbucks gift card.

In a random drawing, the winner is AMANDA MUELLER!!! She said, “The first pic­ture, being so close to the orig­i­nal and the sweet face. It’s great.” Thanks so much, Amanda, for coming to hang out with us and sharing your opinion. We loved hearing from you.

Thank you all again for participating and for sharing so much love with baby Charlotte and her family. I bet they have absolutely adored reading all of your kind words. I look forward to the next contest. Have a great weekend!

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Dave and I have been together for three and a half years, so when he asked me to marry him on December 18, 2009, there was no hesitation in my mind to say, “YES!” (although I was choked up crying and couldn’t verbalize it right away!)  The setting was perfect: romantic, simple, and so “us.”

We were snowshoeing around Badger Pass in Yosemite National Park in the late afternoon, with no particular destination in mind.  Eventually we came to a beautiful overlook of the snow-covered Yosemite Valley.  While I was looking out at the view, Dave, still wearing snowshoes in 2 feet of fresh powder, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  He placed a beautiful family heirloom – his great grandmother’s engagement ring – on my finger.  Completely surprised and shocked, I nodded “yes” since I was crying and couldn’t speak yet.  Apparently nodding was not good enough for him.  He asked again, obviously wanting a verbal answer!  It was all perfect.

Unbeknownst to me, Dave had also packed two glasses and a small bottle of champagne.  We celebrated with a toast on the mountain top.  Then, with the sun setting in front of us we hiked down the mountain back to the car.

The attached picture was taken at Badger Pass, Yosemite California, while we had our champagne toast.  Dave had promised my sister-in-law that he would have a camera and would record the actual moment that he proposed.  Fortunately for me this picture was taken a few minutes after, so I had a little time to compose myself (although not really).

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Stephanie and Dave’s story resonated with me for two reasons. The first item that caught my eye was that Dave gave Stephanie his great-grandmother’s engagement ring. I absolutely love the idea of an heirloom wedding ring which is why I was given my grandmother’s engagement ring and then her wedding ring when we married. Nice job, Dave! The second item that just cracked me up when I read it was, “Apparently nodding was not good enough for him. He asked again, obviously wanting a verbal answer!” The reason this is so funny to me is because when Vitaliy proposed to me, I answered him “yes” but in Ukrainian. He looked at me confused and asked me a second time. I answered him again in his language thinking that it would be so sweet for him. He still looked confused and hesitated, so I exclaimed, “Yes! Yes! I will be your wife!” Finally, he smiled and put the ring on. Later on that evening, I asked him if I was saying the word incorrectly in Ukrainian and he just didn’t understand me. He answered me, “No, you said it perfectly. But marriage is a major commitment so I wanted to hear you say it in your own language so you knew for sure what you were saying yes to.” Still cracks me up today.

Stephanie and Dave, we really enjoyed reading your story. We can’t wait to meet you and photograph the two of you! Congratulations and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love,
Vitaliy and Candace

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Giveaway Details:

Who: Nominate yourself or a friend.
What: Email engagement story and a picture of the two of you.
Where: Winner must be located near San Francisco Bay Area or Sacramento Area.
When: Nominations must be in by January 28 at 11:59PST. That gives you two weeks!
Why: To celebrate love and make someone’s Valentine’s Day very exciting!

***UPDATE: Deadline extended until January 31st at 11:59PST.***

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I thought this picture was perfect for this post. This is a sneak peek from a wedding we photographed last year with Teresa Halton. We’ve got so many amazing weddings to post that we shot with Teresa in 2009. Can’t wait to share them all with you!