Beautiful New Friends and a Gift Swap

I've only been blogging for about 9 months, but already it has brought so many amazing opportunities and people into my life. And by far my favorite aspect of this blogging world is the beautiful people I have had the pleasure to get to know and become friends with. One of those wonderful people is Nina who writes over at hugsandlattes. If you don't already follow her blog, I highly recommend it. She's a great writer and hilarious - seriously though, the amount of times I've literally laughed out loud at her posts is slightly embarrassing...

You know those people who exude passion in all they do? That's Nina. We've only briefly gotten to know one another via email and our blogs, but everything she talks about from her super Christ centered relationship (#goals) to her time with family or her desire to help bring aid to victims of human trafficking is so clearly filled with excitement and passion and you can't help but to get excited yourself! 

Nina and I were paired together for a Christmas exchange this year and I could not be happier having her as a partner. The real gift of the swap was getting to know a fellow blogging on a level deeper than just comments on posts or a 'like' every once in a while. (Super cheesy, I know. But it's true, so just go with it.) And after spending a while more intentionally getting to know each other, it was so much fun to pick out gifts that I thought she would really enjoy as well. 

I realized about a day too late that I had given her my address at school rather than at home (fail), so I spent a good chunk of my break excited to know that it would be waiting for me once I flew back to California. Even though I knew it was coming, it was still such a treat to arrive back to some good old fashioned snail mail. It was like a second Christmas! 

I opened the package right away and inside found some of the most thoughtful gifts and a beautiful card. 

From the inspirational cards (which now reside right on my desk) to the handmade scarf (how did she know of my obsession?!) and oh my goodness the buckeyes! She definitely nailed it with this box of goodies! 

My favorite gift was probably the gorgeous oil diffuser along with the lavender oil (my favorite). I mean, how stunning is that?!

Nina, thank you again so much for the beautiful gifts! You've been such a joy and I so look forward to continuing to grow in our friendship!

I cannot encourage forming blogging friendships enough! Whether you reach out through comments or email, take those steps to connect and begin to build some new relationships. There are so many beautiful people with great stories and shared passions out there. Just say hi! I promise it will be worth it!

Peace,

Sarah