An Ultimate Giveaway!

I thought this was too good to be true when I first saw it. I am so pumped about the giveaway Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting...
17 CDs- one from each of the artists represented on Wow Hits 1! How cool is that?! Not only are they giving this gift, but they are giving it to 20 people! So cross your fingers and head over there to sign up yourself. Good luck!

We Have a Winner!

The Blog Makeover Giveaway sponsored by RS Designs has now closed. Congratulations to our winner: Nancy at Sunny Island Breezes! Nancy has just started her blog, but has some great posts. Check out her site! I will also let you know when her new site is up and running. Thanks to all who participated!

Thanks again to Revka for donating her services for this giveaway! If you did not win, but are still looking to get a new look for your blog, or if you just need a button or a new signature, go check out RS Designs by clicking on the button above. Revka really has reasonable prices.

A Giveaway!

Last week was my one year blogoversary! I can't believe I have been blogging that long. It seems that I have had ups and downs in my blogging frequency and in the tone of my posts. But, it really has been incredibly therapeutic for me. All of your comments and support has been amazing! I just want to say thank you to those who take the time to read my ramblings. So, I decided to host a giveaway.

Many of you remember that I won my blog redesign from Revka at RS Designs through a giveway at After A Cup of Coffee...or Two. I was so excited. Now it is my turn to pass my good fortune along to someone else.

When I first approached Revka with the idea, she jumped on board immediately. I can't emphasize enough how easy it was to work with her! Thank you, Revka!

So, here it is...Revka is willing to give a $60 RS Designs' credit to be used toward any order totalling $60 or more. The winner can choose several small items, a pre-made template, a custom design, or whatever you would like. If you order something that costs more than $60, you just pay the difference.

To see the kinds of things she designs, you can look here.

Here are the rules. To enter, just comment on this post. You can get extra entries if you subscribe to my blog and/or post about this giveaway on your blog. If you don't have a blog, but want to start one, this is the perfect opportunity! I will be randomly selecting a winner this weekend. Good luck!

We Have a Winner!

I am so excited! My first giveaway is closed and random.org has provided me with the winner:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

12

Timestamp: 2008-02-15 23:31:33 UTC

So, the winner is...Stacey at The Truest Thing! Congratulations, Stacey! Get me your address and I will send the book to you next week.

Big Bloggy Move

***This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been posted. Thanks to all who participated!***

The day has come for the Big Bloggy Move! While I am not moving locations, I have recently gotten a new blog design. Most people have seen it already, but for those who have not, I thought I would show it off.

Many thanks to Christy who is hosting this party and who gave me my blog makeover in January. Also, thanks to Revka at RS Designs for doing all of the work on my design. She did an amazing job and was very easy to work with!

I wanted to give you a little insight into the design. Revka put a ladybug in the header and also in my signature. When we were picking out things for the nursery for our daughter, we decided on a design with ladybugs. Since that time, ladybugs have come to represent Sydney. Whenever we see one, we think of her. Having the ladybugs in the design is a reminder of her and a reminder of why I started blogging in the first place. Thank you Revka!

In celebration of the Big Bloggy Move and to thank you for dropping by, I am hosting my first ever giveaway: A Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. It contains over 800 slow cooker recipes. Along with the recipes, there are tips for using slow cookers throughout the book. It is brand new and in excellent condition.



Here are the rules:

• It is only available to participants in the US- sorry.
• You get one entry for commenting here.
• You can get another entry if you blog about this giveaway on your site.
• You can get two more entries if you subscribe to my site feed by either email or some other feed site.
• You must be willing to give your mailing address.
• Please leave some way for me to contact you if you win.

Check back on Friday evening to see who won.

Big Bloggy Move

I will be participating in the Big Bloggy Move over at After a cup of coffee... or two on Monday, February 11th. Although I am not moving my blog, I do have a new design (well, relatively new) that I want to show off. If you don't know about the move, head over to Christy's to check it out and see if your blog qualifies.

Also, come back on Monday and enter to win a brand-new Fix-It and Forget it Cookbook! It has over 800 slow cooker recipes! See you Monday!

February Pay it Forward

Are you interested in winning free books? Then Pay it Forward is for you! The rules are simple. You sign up for the contest and blog about it on your site. Then, if you win, you have to pass along a book of your own in a giveaway. I hope to participate with a giveaway of my own next month.

It is a great way to find out about new books and pass along your good fortune! Head over to Overwhelmed With Joy to enter and to find out about more Pay It Forward participants! I hope to win the book Austenland by Shannon Hale. It looks interesting. If nothing else, I will add it to my GoodReads list. Hurry! Don't miss out!

A Giveaway for Movie Tickets!

I came across this blog, somehow (I don't remember the links that got me there). But, I am really excited about the giveaway! Jackie is giving away Two Fandango Movie tickets just in time for Valentine's Day! You have until next Friday to enter, so go check it out!

I Won! I Won!

I did not think that, with all of the people entering the Bloggy Giveaways this week, I would actually win...but I did! Thank you to Celly at Busy at Home for hosting her giveaway! I won a One Year Bible: New Testament in New Living Translation and five encouraging notecards from Hype Stripe. I am so excited! I have recently started looking at different translations while doing my personal Bible study and have enjoyed the NLT, but did not have one yet. Now, I guess I do!

A Cookie Giveaway

My friend, Nichole, is hosting a giveaway over at her site. She is starting a Cookie of the Month Club where she will send a batch of homemade cookies to one lucky winner each month. Her reasoning? She and her daughter enjoy making cookies, but she does not want to eat them all. So, she decided to share the love. The cookie this month? Dark Chocolate Chip cookies. But hurry! You have to sign up by noon today!

Yet Another Giveaway!

I really love giveaways, don't you? Here is one over at 5 Minutes for Moms. It is for a Insignia® - Pilot 4GB Video MP3 Player with Bluetooth Technology donated by Best Buy. Head over there to sign up for it today!

My New Blog Design is Beautiful!

I am so excited! My new blog design is up and I love it!

Revka at RS Designs was amazing while working with me. She took all of my input and did exactly what I asked. She was very easy to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to redesign their blog.

You don't have to do a complete redesign if you don't want to. She does have some pre-made headers or templates that you can purchase for a reasonable price. Drop by her site today to see what she has to offer!

Thank you Revka!

Thanks again, also to Christy at After a Cup of Coffee...or Two for the giveaway that made this design possible!

Electronic Decluttering Challenge

I am a clutterbug! I can't help it. I am afraid to throw things away because "I just might need that some day. As soon as the trash goes out, I will need it." While that has not ever happened to me~ I mean, how can it happen when I don't throw things out~ I irrationally cling to the fear. Lately, I have been looking this fear in the eye and beating it! I have cleaned out so many things~ not just cleaned, but thrown!

Yet, I still have clutter. Apparently, throwing away things I have had for ages is not enough. I have placed (at my mother-in-law's suggestion) a basket on/under my coffee table for clutter that I want to do something with soon, but just don't have time yet. Hey, you may think this is enabling, but at least it is not all over the room or covering my table anymore!

I have also started going through the mail immediately and dealing with it. This has greatly helped stop clutter in its tracks, before it even begins.

But, I have not even thought about electronic clutter~ too much, at least! Marcia over at Organizing Queen issued a great challenge recently. She challenged her readers to go through cell phones, computers, and blog feeds and clean them up! For the details of her suggestions, go here. Not only has she issued the challenge, but she also is making it a contest. One participant, drawn at random, will win a set of household organizing files.

Well, I did it! It took a little while, but I sat right there and started. I started with my cell phone and cleaned it up. I also cleaned out the files on my computer. This was not too hard as we recently wiped our hard drive. At that time, I cleaned it out, but it was surprising how much clutter had built up in a few short months!

Then, it was time for the internet. I tackled my email first. I took my inbox from over 100 messages (well, groupings of messages since I use gmail) to only 39! Then, it was on to my bookmarks. I had done this recently as well as it was in utter chaos! However, again, I was surprised at how many I deleted. I mean, I anticipated 3-5, but I went from 73 bookmarks to 57! Boy, they add up fast.

When it came time to tackle my blog feeds, I just could not do it. I have 40 feeds that I subscribe to. I just have not read enough on some of them yet to say I don't want to read them any more. Is this a disease? Maybe, but it is one I don't mind having.

What about you? Are you up to the challenge? You have until Jan 25th to sign up!

I won!

I can't believe it! I won the blog makeover contest over at After a Cup of Coffee or Two! I will be getting a new design by Revka over at RS Designs. Be on the lookout for my new design! I can't wait. I am soooo excited!

More Contests!

I just signed up for two contests that I found over at An Island Review. Both of them are for books. Go check them out:

Carp(e) Libris is giving away Delta Pearls by Judith Bader Jones. It is a collection of short stories based in Missouri!

Vader's Mom is giving away A Soldier's Promise by Cheryl Watt. This is a Christian Fiction novel that looks to tug at your heart.

Good luck!

A Blog Makeover Contest!

I am so excited! I always get excited with contest/giveaways. I just signed up for a blog makeover over at After a Cup of Coffee...or Two! I hope I win one, but if I don't win, I hope you do! So, head on over there to sign up!

Even if you don't sign up, you should check out her blog. The design is great! I plan on scouting it out.