Bloggy Giveaway Hangover Anyone

Wow - over 800 giveaways this round. You know what that means? There are some serious givers out there that know how blessed a person is when they give. I'm still bummed that I missed out on this round (as a giver). Thankfully, we are once again healthy and next time, I'll have something fun planned I'm sure.

I did, however, manage to enter some giveaways. Wowza! There are gift cards, books, clothes, jewelry, toys...so many neat things to possibly win. My fingers feel like nubs and my kids are tired of staring at the back of my head. :)

Life is returning to normal as we hit the end of the giveaways. I've found some new blogs to read. Here are a couple blogs I am enjoying thanks to Bloggy Giveaways:

Marsha from Our School and Other Such Happenings has a gorgeous blog and she has a great sense of humor. :)

The Natural Mommy is another new favorite of mine. I can totally relate to her posts and love her writing style.

Thoughts from Miller Manor is fun to read and I love the look of her blog.

Now, I'm off to enter one or two more giveaways and then the kids and I have some friends to hang out with this afternoon. Bring on the girly chit chat and FOOD. :)

Where Have I Been?

We were hit hard by the flu here. Fevers, croup (it sounded like we had some barking seals in the house), sore throats, ear aches, runny noses, stuffed noses, chapped skin, sinus infections, headaches, chills, coughs, throwing up, sleep troubles...it has been loads of fun. I've been so tired, I've spoken nonsense at times lol.

We had to steam the kids, take them out in the cold air, give prescription meds, put Vicks on feet and chests, drink loads of tea, drink plenty of water, eat an immune boosting soup, take honey and lemon mixture, get lots of rest, pray, spend nights sitting up, spend days snuggling sick little ones - it's been exhausting.

I have felt anything but sassy for over a month.

Are we done yet? Not quite. In fact, I'd love to crawl in bed as my ears and throat hurt right now, but I've missed blogging and figured I should let everyone know what's up. Most of the kids are back to healthy. Hubby and I seem to be bring up the tail end of this fun round of the flu.

I will say this - there was a drastic improvement when I kicked the natural remedies into full gear. I'll share some of what I did for a works for me Wednesday post soon. :)

In the midst of the chaos here, my darling hubby bought my own domain for a dash of sassitude and I'm working on setting up a new wordpress blog for it. Only one problem, I can't seem to figure out how to get a second sidebar. If anyone can guide me, I'd be ever so grateful!

It's seriously slowing me down with the launch of the new site. I hope to unveil the new blog soon!

Tag, I'm It

I've been tagged by Tami from Tree Swing Reading for this fun meme.

The Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

The nearest book happens to be the one I just reviewed on my other blog, Penning Prose with Audra Silva: Taming Rafe by Susan May Warren.

Here's the snippet from page 123:

"From the colors and delicacy of the flowers to the landscape that can't make up its mind to the sky that seems to stretch from the first gasp of wonder to the next and beyond." She lay back onto the grass, tracing the clouds, in the endless ocean of blue. "Yeah, I like this place."

This was such a good book. Check out my review here.

I tag Charlyn, Jules, Bev (who needs to write a post this year), Pietra, and Heather. Leave a comment if you do it, so I can come check it out. :)

I'm a finalist!

This is a sticky note. Scroll down for current post. :)

I'm a finalist for the Most Evocative Haiku for the Haiku Buckaroo contest over on My Mommy's Place. My entries can be found here and here.

I had a blast writing these and entering, but I had no idea I'd end up a finalist. :) Mine starts with 'As the gray sky weeps...'

Go cast your votes for your favorite Haiku now before it's too late.

Anticipate 2008

It's the first day of 2008 and I've thought a lot about the new year stretching out ahead of me waiting to be filled with the splashes of color and beautiful prose that makes up my life.

I've decided this year is about giving myself to my husband in a whole new way. It's about finishing what I've started; some things I began years ago and some recently. It's about being true to who I am, the person God made, flaws and beauty combined. It's about using the gifts God gave me. It's about developing my talents. It's about being who I truly long to be and not caring what people think. It's about stepping out and not hiding anymore. It's about freeing myself to really live life, mistakes and all.

This is me, this is real, this is vulnerability.

Anticipate 2008 is about being true to self. It's about changing only to develop who you really are, not to please others. I don't know where the road will lead, but you're welcome to join me.

Keep an eye out for posts with the above banner. If you choose to journey along with me as we anticipate awesome things in 2008, grab the mini banner below and join me.



Link the banner to http://writingmom.bravejournal.com/entry/29614 so other people can find out about this challenge.

Ready to be the real you unmasked?

A New Year!

I hope everyone is bring in the New Year safely. We aren't doing much tonight, but I did give myself a whole new look for the new year.

Here's the before:


And here's the new look:




What do you think? Do I have sassitude?

Don't forget: tomorrow I announce the winner for the Starbucks gift card. :)

Where did this week go?

It has flown by and I haven't had a chance to post on here. I'm writing about my crazy and funny week over on My Meandering Mind, so if you need a laugh, check that out. The first story posted today.

I'll announce some giveaways in a bit, but for now, do you like reading? Marnie Pehrson has written a cute Christmas story about the true meaning of Christmas and she's giving it to you as a gift. You can read more about "Miss Humbug" including how to get your own free copy over in my sidebar.

I'm about a third of the way through and it is a cute and fun read so far. Enjoy and check back later for some giveaway announcements.

I'm also testing out some products and will be reviewing and holding some giveaways myself next week. Stay tuned.

The Spirit of Christmas

Amanda from Oh Amanda challenged her readers to write about what puts them in the Christmas spirit. Just thinking about Christmas does it for me. I LOVE Christmas. I think about the reason for the season, the gifts I'd like to get or make for those I care about, seeing the anticipation of holiday fun on my kids' faces, decorating, listening to Christmas music, planning our celebration with both old and new traditions...there is so much to look forward to.

This year, I've discovered the fun of bloggy giveaways! WOW - so addicting and exciting. That's one of the reasons I started this blog (and the totally fun name helped). I want to share that fun with others. Speaking of giveaways - check out Oh Amanda's CD giveaway here.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a wonderful day and even if today isn't a holiday, you can still have a day of thanksgiving.

Blog happenings

No post again today. I'm in the middle of a major blog redesign on my other blog. After a lot of hair pulling, I'm finally getting somewhere. I should have it done by Monday. :)

Then I can combine two of my blogs and have one less blog. I'll still have too many, but I should be able to knock another one off soon. :)

In the meantime, check out the happenings over on the sidebar. Lots of giveaways in progress.