Five Poetic Years

January 8, 2013 by Kelli

“Blogging is the new poetry.”

Author Unknown

This contest is now closed. I will inform the winners momentarily. Thanks for participating everyone!

Five years ago tomorrow I sat down at the computer and entered my first blog post. I did not understand blogging, but I am a natural crowd follower and all the cool kids were doing it so I figured, why not?

To be honest, I’ve often thought about going back and deleting most of those early blog entries because…well, because they’re pretty bad. It was clear I didn’t understand the purpose of blogging and in some cases I overshared while in other cases I just wrote poorly.

But it’s all a journey, isn’t it, and blogging is no different.

When I began this blogging endeavor, I had three children under five. Landon was weeks old and most days I blogged while he napped in a pack and play next to me. Fittingly enough, as I type this entry he is laying beside me on the chair. It is only 5:40 in the morning, but my children all have a sixth sense, which means that there is no such thing as early morning alone time for this Mama.

His legs are slung over the side of the chair, all gangly and skinny. He’s asking me how to spell DOG, CAT and FART. Awesome…

The passing of time is so easily measured when one blogs. Moments are recorded and sent out into the void and sometimes those moments contain a huge piece of your heart. If you’re lucky, the heart pieces that were entrusted to the internet come back to you a little more whole and infused with joy. That’s what you all have done for me this half decade. You’ve infused me with joy and returned my heart just a little bit bigger.

I’ve been fortunate these last five years to have cultivated a small, but dear, community of readers who are the good ones. You all are kind and encouraging. You love to laugh (particularly at my husband) and you’re not afraid to cry. You want to help others and you are always willing to bless.

Google Analytics tells me that on average, there are 10,000 of you who visit this site monthly. That’s not very much in the grand scheme of blogging, I know. My corner is small. But it’s a nice corner. It’s peaceful here. The sun shines and the grass is fluffy and warm. We all sit around the table and drink tea out of Mason jars and eat Nutella without gaining weight.

That’s what this space is to me. It’s peace. It’s a gathering of friends who get to enjoy the best parts of life with me. Even when those best parts are hard.

I don’t share everything about my life in this space. That would be weird. I share the good, mostly. I share the funny, the sometimes mundane , the deepening of faith and the always changing craziness that makes life so exciting. There are times in the last five years when I’ve considered throwing in the towel on the whole blogging thing, but then I write a post that resonates and I remember that this life journey is much better when taken together.

I don’t know what the next five years holds. Hopefully more blogging, more growing and a lot more laughter. I may even have a book for you all to read by the end of this year! Who knows.

Life is an adventure, isn’t it? A grand, grand adventure.

So…

I’ve decided to thank you all, my sweet readers, for walking this path with me. Especially the last few months as we’ve worked toward our adoption and as we now hang in the balance. I can’t tell you what it’s meant to know you guys have our backs. I have two awesome giveaways for today and tomorrow that I want to share with you all to celebrate five years.

Today, I am going to give away two $50 gift cards to Target.

Because if there’s one thing we have all agreed on over the years, it is that Target is The Promised Land (LEE!). So, leave me a comment for an entry to win $50 to the land of milk, honey and super cute, reasonably priced clothing. I will draw the two winners randomly on Friday, January 11 at 2:00 EST.

And come back tomorrow for a chance to win two more great prizes that I’m so excited to give away!

Now at the end of the week, I will only be able to give away four prizes, unfortunately, but NEVER YOU FEAR DEAR READERS! No one will walk away completely empty handed because everyone (EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU) who comments is going to receive a cyber hug, a cyber fist bump and five cyber high fives – one for every year I’ve been a blogger.

You. Are. Welcome.

So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment to win 50 smackers! Want me to sweeten the deal? Okay, sure! If you share this giveaway on Facebook, you can come back and leave a second comment for a second entry. If you share this giveaway on Twitter you can come leave a thrid comment for a third entry.

This means you not only have three times the potential to win – it also means you will receive 15 cyber high fives! I am nothing if not generous.

I love you all. I really, really do.

(And to keep the government people happy, I will let you know that I am purchasing the gift cards to Target myself to give away. I have not been endorsed or paid by Target to write this post, but if Target would like to endorse or pay me, I wouldn’t argue so…)

Filed Under: Blogging, Giveaway, Life Tagged With: Blogging, Blogoversary, Five years, Giveaway, Life is grand, My readers rule!, Target

Day of Silence

December 18, 2012 by Kelli

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: Day of Silence for Newtown

Sometimes I wear something beside Yoga Pants…

December 3, 2012 by Kelli

Today I am over at Together in 10 sharing the fashion tip that keeps me feeling confident and comfortable as I drive my smokin’ hot minivan around town. Join me there?

Thanks.

Happy Monday!

ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FASHION I LEARNED FROM MY DAD

Well hi there! I’m Kelli, wife to Lee and mom to Sloan, Katya, Landon and a precious daughter in Russia who we hope to bring home next fall. I chronicle the daily joys and hilarity of motherhood and life on my blog, Minivans Are Hot.com.

There are a few important things you should know about me before I set forth to write this post on style. I drive a minivan (which, given the title of my blog, it would be weird if I didn’t, wouldn’t it?). The day we purchased said minivan I was fifteen months pregnant with my third born and I was certain that I’d just surrendered my youth. I saw sweats, frizzy ponytails and oversized t-shirts in my future.

In short, I was overly hormonal and a total drama queen.

I’m five years out from commiting to the dreaded minivan and I can proudly say I haven’t worn a single pair of sweats out in public yet. Yoga pants? Every. Day. But those are practically the hip mom on the run uniform, right?

Right?!

Read the rest at Together in 10.

Filed Under: Blogging, Guest Post, Together in 10 Tagged With: Fashion blogging, I'm not wearing yoga pants today, Together in 10

Stuff I think you should know

November 8, 2012 by Kelli

There are a few things I’d like to get out there and not a single one of them relates to the other. So consider yoursevles forewarned – this post is random. And I’m including bullet points so that my Type A friends can get excited.

– First of all, the election is over. I’m not sure if you heard or not. Maybe where you are no one’s talking about it? Because where I am every. single. person AND their grandma’s second cousin’s best friend’s are discussing the results. Me?

I’m kind of over it.

It’s over and done and the decision has been made. It wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for, but we don’t always get what we want now, do we? Time to put on our big kid undies and forge ahead. Here’s to hoping we can move forward in kindness and without all the doomsday predictions, name calling and gloating.

The world isn’t going to hell in a handbasket. Not today, anyway. The only response that we can fall back on now is prayer. We must pray for wisdom and protection. We must pray for Israel and for our troops. We must pray for the plight of the unborn and for an immense intervention over the President and the decisions he must make.

Pray and cooperate where you can cooperate. Fight the battles worth fighting, but do so with respect. And realize that our country is headed in a different direction. Perhaps some of you are happy about the direction we’re headed. Maybe some of you aren’t happy about it. Whatever side you fall on, fighting won’t make it better.

We still have to figure out how to get round rolls on square pegs. Maybe we could work together a little more?

And in the end, we’ll always have Nutella. The day that is removed from the shelves is the day we pack our handbasket…

(I’m kidding, by the way. I know there are more serious things than Nutella, but by nature I am an optimist and a glass half full kinda gal. I’m like a cross between Tigger and Rabbit, with a tiny bit of Piglet thrown in for good measure. Please don’t send me nasty emails. Kumbaya, eh?)

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– Let’s lighten things up. Did you know that a brand new style blog has launched. It’s written by Mom’s for Mom’s and guess who is one of the Style Maven Mama’s featured?

ME!

Did you guess right?

Wait, why are you laughing? I’m stylish! I have pink hair. And really, come on…YOGA PANTS ARE A STYLE!

Anyhoo…it is a FUN site put togehter by FUN people and will be a place that inspires you to look your best and to have FUN. (The caps lock makes it all seem so much FUN, doesn’t it?)

Hop on over to Together in 10 and get some style inspiration in ten minute bites from some lovely ladies of the web!

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– I’m still posting on my new website. I have some posts churning, but I need to let them stew a bit. I’ve found it is much more to my (and your) benefit if I sit on posts now and again to make sure that those are words I really want the whole wide world to read.

Or, ya know, the 17 people who visit this blog. Whatever.

KelliStuart.com is up and running. Boom!

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– I worked out today. I know that’s not very exciting, but it happens so rarely these days that I feel like it deserves a little recognition.

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– I have some big ideas churning around to have a little fun around here while raising money for the adoption. Several friends of ours are currently in country (or have recently returned home) to pick up their adopted children and can I tell you that every time I see a picture of a little one wrapped in the arms of her new parents, I fall into fits of ugly crying?

I long for that day. Who is she? Where is she?

Pray for our daughter, please? Cover her with the wings of your prayerful protection until the day when we can reach her.

Okay – so that’s all for now. Come back tomorrow for a fun little review/giveaway.

Jiggety jig.

(The weather is so chilly right now, I just feeling like jiggeting wherever I go. Jiggety jiggety jig!!!)

PS – How are you doing right now? You’re praying for me – how can I pray for you?

Filed Under: Adoption, Blogging, politics, Random Tagged With: Adoption, Election 1012, Random, Stuff I think you should know, Together in 10

Kitchen Adventures: A Guest Post

October 21, 2012 by Kelli

So I think it’s safe to say I won’t actually have posted 31 times in my 31 Days Series. I felt very…shaky this weekend. I was a little stressed and jittery and just needed a few days away from the screens. I needed to step back, take a deep breath and simply remind myself that I can.

I can do this.

I can survive this (adoption paperwork).

I can step away if I need to.

It felt so good.

Today, I get one more day to breathe. I’m going to let Shay talk to you instead. Shay and I “met” over the phone about a month ago when I did a bit of social media consulting for her. She has taken the advice I had to offer and run with it and I couldn’t be more impressed.

Shay is pretty newly married (she’s been married a year *sigh*) and, well she’s just adorable. This post made me laugh out loud because, um…I was so there. No joke, I once turned the wrong burner on on our stove…the burner with a tupperware of cookies on top of it.

Have you ever tried to get melted plastic off of an electric burner?

(hint: it’s impossible)

Shay is sharing her own kitchen adventures and what she’s learned in this first year of cooking for two. Make her feel welcome, will you?

Hi there, I’m Shay, popping over from The Pocket Buzz to join Kelli for 31 Days of Believing I Can. Last month, my husband Adam and I celebrated our one year anniversary. It was a great year, and as you can imagine, we both learned a lot about ourselves and each other.

Before getting married, I’d been at college and on my own for about six years, so I’ve had some time to experiment in the kitchen. The reality of it is, though, Adam is a better cook. It comes more naturally to him; thankfully we make a great team. And in the last year, our kitchen has produced some great meals (mostly his doing), and it’s also produced some great memories.

For example, to celebrate Adam’s birthday I decorated the house and made french toast from scratch. The decorating part, I seem to have a handle on. The cooking part…not so much. I turned around for one split second and the dish towel sitting nearby somehow leaped into the gas burners on the stove and caught fire.

How’s that for birthday candles?

I was really trying to out-do myself for this birthday and make an angel food cake (his fave). What I didn’t realize about this particular cake is that it rises quite a bit. As in…they can nearly double in size when you don’t have an Angel food cake pan. Now I know. And to this day, we still have a bit of angel food cake batter in our oven.

Last week, we made lasagna to take to a friend. It’s a tried-and-true family recipe of Adam’s that’s beyond delicious. As I went to put it in the fridge, something came crashing down on me. Unbeknownst to me, there was a huge glass serving bowl sitting precariously on top of the fridge. (Mind you, I had set it up there.) It hit me on the head and fell to the floor. I was in shock and Adam was just glad it wasn’t the lasagna. I had a good headache after that one.

Now, enter Pinterest–where thousands of people post anything and everything. My saving grace has been the recipes with photos, and often step-by-step instructions. Finally, I just decided that if I wanted to be a better cook, I was just going to have to cook. And recipes on Pinterest helped me see that I could.

It’s been a journey. And I still have mess ups. But now I have a whole repertoire of recipes that we go back to again and again. It’s also given me the guts to try new things. I just have one piece of advice: before you cook for a family gathering, make sure you’ve tried the recipe at least once. Otherwise you may end up with only once-baked-potato casserole instead of a twice-baked one.

Trust me–it’s not nearly as good.

If you’re not on Pinterest yet, I’d highly recommend it. One thing I wish I’d done to start with is to be make my categories more specific. Instead of just a Foody board, I now have a Breakfast Board, one just for Sweet Treats, and an Actually Made This board for the recipes we’ve really tried.

And if you want to trust this kitchen-novice to give you some recipes, here are a few that have worked really well for us:

Crock pot Chicken Tacos Three Ingredients + a Crock pot = my kind of meal (we actually served this for a mexican dinner with friends. It was a hit.)

White Chicken Chili is great for a cold day. It makes great leftovers, too. (We served this as an afternoon snack on Christmas Eve last year. Success.)

French Dip Sandwiches are also made in the crock pot. These were a hit, too.

Thanks for humoring me today and letting me share my kitchen stories. Surely I’m not alone. Here’s to another year of continuing to learn that I can, in fact, cook!

Take some time to hop on over to Shay’s blog, The Pocket Buzz, where she shares all her techy tips and tricks and gives you a heads up on some great deals! You can also follow her on Pinterest where, clearly, amazing recipes await you.

And if you’re interested in consulting with me on how to grow your blog and your social media presence, or if you would like to guest post on Minivans Are Hot (indeed), feel free to shoot me an email! kellistuart00 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Filed Under: 31 Days, Blogging, Guest Post Tagged With: 31 Days, Cooking, Guest Post, Pinterest, The Pocket Buzz

Toilet Paper Tales: A Political Parable

October 4, 2012 by Kelli

In seventh grade, I sat in the musty gym of Crestview Middle School for yet another pep rally. This time, we were to hear speeches from the nominated candidates for Class President. There were three current eighth graders/soon-to-be ninth graders who were running for the coveted title of Crestview Middle School Student Body President.

Of the three I only remember one of them.

Her name was Tracy Something and she had the most amazing permed hair (early nineties, friends – we all had permed hair) and her bangs were teased into a perfect flower on her forehead. She was the epitomy of cool and her looks alone already had my vote. But then she took to the microphone and gave a speech that brought the house down.

“As your student body president,” she shouted into the mic, “I promise to make changes around this school, starting with the bathrooms.”

*cue hearty applause*

“I promise to get rid of those terrible square toilet paper holders and have them replaced with round ones so that the toilet paper actually unravels for us all!”

Screams. Applause. Laughter. Foot stomping.

This was good stuff.

You see, the toilet paper holders were a nuisance. They were square pieces of metal, so the round rolls of toilet paper were shoved onto the square holders making it impossible to actually unroll the toilet paper. You had to unravel it, one square at a time, and given that it was paper thin 1-ply toilet paper, this was often a cumbersome and annoying task.

Needless to say, Tracy Something got voted in and when we came back the following year, I fully expected to see her promised changes. On the first day of eighth grade, I went to the bathroom only to be disappointed. The toilet paper holders had not changed.

“No worries,” I thought. “Tracy Something promised to have these replaced, so I’m sure she will get it done by the time the first quarter is over.”

But she didn’t. In fact, I rarely heard or saw from Tracy Something at all that year. And all year long, I continued to unravel my toilet paper one square at a time, continual evidence of a promise unkept.

Last night, I watched the Denver Debate and listened as both condidates made promise after promise, but I’ve learned a thing or two since eighth grade. I’ve learned that political promises only take you so far. A political promise is just a game for votes. It’s a high stakes guessing game where each candidate tries to assess what will garner them the most support.

They are promising us round toilet paper holders, and to sweeten the deal, they each guaranteed we’d have at least 2-ply toilet paper.

Promises don’t mean a lot in politics. I get that. I watched with amusement as every Obama supporter on Twitter screamed “ROMNEY IS A LIAR!” (I know they screamed it because they used ALL CAPS!) And on the other side, Romney supporters bellowed “NO WAY! OBAMA IS THE LIAR!” (I know they bellowed because they used ALL CAPS!)

Could it be that both are lying? Could it be that both are making promises that will be impossible to keep and they know it?

Let’s all share our toilet paper with one another – that’s the American Way!

No! I promise you’ll each have your own share of toilet paper and you won’t need to share it unless you want to!

I’ll give you 2-ply! But only if you make a certain amount of money. If you make too much money, I’ll have to use your toilet paper to help everyone else!

I’ll give you 3-ply! And I’ll create toilet paper factories around the nation so everyone will have all they need and more!

I’ll give you the softest dang toilet paper you’ve ever known! Then we’ll join hands and sing Kumbaya because I’m gonna make the world a better place!

And on and on it goes…

Listen, I understand that politics are rough. It’s a tight little dance a politician must do in order to stay true to what he believes and still make The People happy. No politician will ever be able to follow through with everything he says he will. It doesn’t matter if he’s a Republican or Democrat.

The system is set up in such a way that no president can keep his promises.

We have square holders and round rolls. That’s all we’ve got! So we do the best we can do with what we have and at the end of the day we realize that our toiliet paper will probably never unroll on it’s own. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have someone in the stall trying to unravel it for me.

So I’ll think about and remember Tracy Something and her awesome hair. I’ll listen to the issues with an open mind and I will vote based more on facts and less on emotion because in the end, I know that I will still have to unravel my toilet paper one square at a time.

And I’m honestly okay with that.

I’d rather take care of my own messes anyway…

*disclaimer: I am not trying to start a fight, nor am I trying to be cynical. In fact, I find it all amusing at this point. Let’s all have a good laugh together, ‘kay? We can even sing Kumbaya if it would make you feel better…

*disclaimer two: I realize this seems like I’m veering away from my 31 Days topic, but actually I’m not. This month is all about me embracing confidence and shunning self-doubt. Normally I would be afraid of making you mad, so today I’m believing I can have a little fun with politics without angering the internets.

Filed Under: 31 Days, Blogging, politics

On Being Intentional, Believing in Miracles and Punching Insecurity in the Face

September 26, 2012 by Kelli

My husband, God love him, is ornery. He takes a sick and twisted amount of delight in scaring the s*&$ out of me on a weekly basis. While I am busy turning out lights, whispering prayers over sleeping babes and shutting down the house for the night with grace and love, he is plotting evil.

I walk around the dark corners and he acts upon his wicked ways, jumping out at me from the shadows. And I usually yelp in terror and, more often than not, pepper my reaction with a four letter word or four, because honestly, when my heart skips like and that and my senses jolt and buzz I cannot be held responsible for the words that come out of my mouth!

(It is for this reason that I hold firm to my belief that my mansion in heaven will be bigger and shinier than his. And will be stocked with Nutella while his will be stocked with only radishes…and haggus.)

Insecurity does the same thing to me. I can be moving along, calmly taking care of business, then BOOM! I round a corner and insecurity is there waiting to steal my joy. Where moments ago I felt confident and secure in my path, insecurity works to instill doubt. I walk forward with trepidation, fear dictating which way I will turn.

Left unchecked, this fear can begin to order my steps, filter words spoken and limit opportunity.

I left last weekend for dotMOM with a lot of doubt and insecurity. I was part of a group of bloggers brought in by Lifeway for the conference and from start to finish it was everything I needed right at that moment. I entered completely unsure of myself and my abilities and I left with a fresh perspective about why I do what I do, and with the knowledge that there are some amazing people in this world doing amazing things.

I felt immensely loved all weekend by the other bloggers in attendance. They laughed with me, spoke wisdom into and over me and gave me all the courage to believe that this path that we’re on as a family – this path of adoption – is right. It’s good. It’s going to be great.

Every time I turned around this weekend, I met someone who has adopted and oh the grace they shared with me. They didn’t sugar coat things, they didn’t make it seem like sunshine and roses, but they did tell me that the process is beautiful and good and worth all of the effort.

I learned to be more intentional in all areas of my life. More intentional in parenting, more intentional in blogging, more intentional in wife-ing.

The amazing Jen Hatmaker in her sassy dress and boots...

There are so many women who blessed me this weekend. My roommate, Stacey, poured wisdom into me…and coffee. She bought me coffee in the mornings. I mean, that’s not why I fell in love with her, but it didn’t hurt, you know?

Jessica rushed up to me when she heard our adoption story and told me she wants to help. Then she spent the rest of the weekend making me smile and feel special.

Amanda encouraged me to be more intentional in mothering.

Jen amazed me with her grace and sweet, calm spirit. She’s raising quadruplets, people! Boy quadruplets! It exhausts me just thinking of it.

Erin and Brooke speak directly to the hearts of mother’s of boys. Nish keeps it real and tells it like it is and in so doing requires you to stop and think about this journey called faith with a little more depth.

I heard amazing speakers like Jen Hatmaker who encouraged us to push our children toward courage. Don’t hover over them. Safety isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “I don’t want to be the reason my children have chosen safety and comfort over courage,” she said.

I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Vicki Courtney who later encouraged us all at the conference to be aware of the dangers of media and how the internet, with all it’s goodness, can also be a crutch to both us and our children. “You need to lighten up from trying to be the perfect mother,” she encouraged.

There was so much good that came out of last weekend, so many wonderful people met, so much laughter and praise. But perhaps the moment that impacted me most came late one evening, after we had raised our arms in worship together. I met Amanda Jones, a fellow Compassion Blogger and a sweet woman with a deep heart for Jesus.

Amanda and I spoke of the adoption and the many times I sit back in doubt. Will God provide? I say with my lips that He is bigger than the funds needed, but do I believe it with my heart? As we spoke, Amanda reached forward and grabbed my hands. “Can I pray with you?” she asked.

And she did. And I believed.

And just like that, all insecurity fled and I came home filled with…peace – ready to face the dark corners and excited to see what comes after each next step.

What are you facing that insecurity threatens to ruin?

Filed Under: Adoption, Blogging, faith, Family, Grace, Life Tagged With: Adoption, dotMOM, friendships, insecurity, me and my thoughts

When life tangles

September 12, 2012 by Kelli

Life is messy.

It tangles and weaves and chokes and hurts.

But somewhere in the tangle, beauty springs forth.

A cool breeze on a stifling day.

A blanket of snow on a frozen ground.

A tender giggle when the tears threaten to fall.

God has woven so much beauty into this world, but…

Sometimes you have to look through the tangles to see it.

Life is busy and the busy leaves us tangled.

So many plates spinning and every last one threatening to drop.

Can we catch them all?

Can we keep up the spinning?

Can we weave through the tangle?

Sometimes it takes a conscious slow down to stop the spinning.

Then we can see the beauty.

A deep breath on a hectic day.

A good book when the laundry climbs.

A phone call to a dear friend instead of a clean kitchen.

There is beauty to be had in the tangle.

Do you see it?

Can you weave through the tangle today?

Leave the plates to spin on their own for just a little while.

Take the time to breathe and see the beauty.

Tangled, beautiful mess.

Filed Under: Blogging, faith, Family, Grace, Photography Tagged With: Business, faith, Life, Motherhood, slowing down

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

September 11, 2012 by Kelli

The winner of the American Girl six book Caroline Abbott book set (try saying that five times fast) is:

Number 17: Bethany says: “This is my official Facebook entry comment. Boom!”

Thanks for entering everyone! I wish I could have given every single one of you a copy. This is why I don’t do giveaways often – the inability to please everyone just about does me in.

Have a FANTASTIC Tuesday. Go outside and soak in a little vitamin D! Ride a pony! Eat some Nutella! Search for the end of the rainbow! Pet a puppy! Sit in the silence! Put your toes in the sand! Listen to the ocean (surely there’s an App for that)! Dance to some good music! Kiss a baby! Kiss your spouse!

There are so many possibilities!

Filed Under: Blogging, books, Giveaway, Product Reviews Tagged With: American Girl, Caroline Abbott, Giveaway, Happy Tuesday

Remember

September 6, 2012 by Kelli

Would you consider sponsoring a child from Compassion International today? Your small investement yields huge rewards and gives children freedom from extreme poverty and the confidence to dream.

Would you do me a favor and just take a peek at this page? Look at these children and pray for each one by name. As you pray, would you open your heart to being the one who steps out in faith and gives them a hope for a future?

It’s blogging month at Compassion International and bloggers across the internet have chosen to unite their voices to rally for hope. Extreme poverty is not the end for these children and those of us who are blessed with abundance have the opportunity to take part in miracles. Having travelled to Tanzania with Compassion just four short months ago, I feel like the words and the memories are still so fresh. The smiles and the laughter of the kids still rings in my ears.

I listed every post from my trip to Tanzania here so if you would like to learn more about how child sponsorhip can change a life, look through those posts and journey back through the dusty roads of Africa with me.

If you have any specific questions about Compassion International or how sponsorship works, feel free to ask them in the comments or to email me at kellistuart00 (at) hotmail (dot) com. Thanks, everyone!