Business Card Give-Away

I remember in my first writing class I was told to have business cards when I went to conferences. Really, why? Because I was thinking what could I possibly put on one. I had nothing published, no website, no fax. Why would I really need them? I soon found out it didn't matter what was on it as long as there was some sort of contact information and maybe a mention of the type of stories you wrote. They were great to not only hand out to editors, agents etc, but also to hand out to other writers. I collected a great deal of cards from the first local conference I went to and have used them to maintain contacts.

As a mother I could use some business cards. I might come up with some fancy title for myself to put under my name like Artistic Director in Charge of Shaping Young Minds or maybe Queen of Multi-Tasking. But I really could use them because I could have my cell number and home number on them and hand them out to the parents of my kids friends or to the random lady I met in the Walgreens who wanted to come paint my house and put hay on my walls. Whatever the reason, I could use some mommy business cards.

Which is why I am so excited to announce another give away by



2 ,yes you read right, 2 of my readers will win:


500 Business Cards
Choose business card size: 2x3.5”, 2x3”, 2x2";
Choose paper: 14pt cardstock (matte or gloss coating) & 13 pt cardstock uncoated
Choose Color: (4/4) Color both sides; (4/1) Color 1 side , B/W backside; (4/0) Color 1 side, black backside
Shipping must be paid by Winner. Offer Valid for UNITED STATES SHIPPING ONLY.

Go over to Uprinting.com and check out their die cut business cards. Then leave a comment on this post as to what you might use your business cards for if you were to win. You don't have to have a blog, just leave me a way to contact you.

I will pick the 2 winners on Wednesday, Sept. 9th. Good luck!!

Anniversary Give Away

I can't believe it has been two years. Where does the time go? I believe my first blog was written on July 18, 2007. My little one was only 4 months old, Soph just turned 5, and Em was 7. It seems impossible that was just 2 years ago, but it was. I've written about daily life, shared funny stories, complained, celebrated, and grieved. Thanks to all of you who have stuck around and been my friend. It truly means the world to me.

In celebration of my two years of blogging Digital Room is offering a give away I'd like to pass on to you.

They are offering one free 18X24 poster print to one of my readers! If you need any poster printing or a custom print poster they are the ones to go to.

I'm thinking I'd like to have this picture that appeared on our Christmas card last year:

To enter the drawing just leave a comment telling me what picture you'd like to have enlarged. If you'd like to mention it in your blog post or twitter it or facebook it come back and tell me so I can enter you for more chances.

Thanks again for all your support with my blog!

**Whoops, I forgot to say that it ends on August 5th!

The Winner is...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and telling me some of your favorite foods to take to parties. I might have to get some of your recipes, they all sounded delicious.

I had ten entries and I put them into the Random Generator and came up with the number 6! Congratulations Cathy you are the winner, and if my hunch is right you live close by. I'll e-mail you tonight!

I can't wait to catch up with everyone after the holiday weekend. We've had a wonderful one filled with lots of celebrating. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow and I"ll post some pictures.

Thanks again to all who entered.

Peach Cobbler Recipe And A Give-Away!

Over at We Are That Family it's a special edition of Works For Me Wednesday. We are supposed to share one of our favorite recipes. I'm going to share Jan Karon's Peach Cobbler recipe. First let me say I love Jan Karon. Her Mitford Series was wonderful. Father Tim and his sayings have become a part of my vocabulary. And so when she came out with the Mitford Cookbook, I just had to buy it because it had all the mouthwatering recipes that she wrote about in her books. Which brings me to my give-away. I will give someone a copy of Jan Karon's Hardcover Mitford Cookbook!!

First the peach cobbler. I took this to a neighborhood gathering and everyone loved it. I felt lots of love that night. Later several people called and had to have the recipe and our annual neighborhood gathering was changed from the normal ice cream social to you guessed it a peach cobbler social just so they could have it again. Yes, it is that good. But let me warn you, if you use canned peaches I will hunt you down and well, no I won't do that. Please though, don't use canned peaches, it's summer splurge a little:)

1 Double pie crust or Pillsbury pie crust if you are in a hurry. (Jan's pie crust recipe is to die for but you'll have to get the book for that recipe...it's only fair!)

10 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, more for sprinkling on top
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

And if you have ancestors that settled Kentucky than you add a splash or two of bourbon. That's my addition by the way.

In a large bowl combine peaches, 1/2 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Let the fruit sit for 20 minutes (this is when I splashed the bourbon) In a small bowl, combine the flour, the remaining 2 cups of the sugar, the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, butter, and vanilla. Add to the peaches and mix well.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a 12X8 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Roll half of the pastry into another 1/8 inch thick large rectangle. Spoon half the fruit mixture into the prepared dish. Cut the pastry into 2 inch squares and place on top of peaches. Bake the first layer for 10 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for 5 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, lower the temp back down to 400F and spoon the remaining fruit on top. Roll the remaining pastry into another 1/8 inch rectangle and cut into 1 inch strips. Arrange the strips in a lattice design over the peaches (I was lazy and just did squares again). Sprinkle with sugar and bake another 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

I promise people will love you if you make them this. People probably already love you, but they'll love you more after taking a bite of this. Everything I have made out of here has been a hit. Not all recipe books do that for me.

For the give-away tell me what your favorite thing to bring to a gathering is in the comment section. If you blog about this give-away on your blog come back and tell me for another entry. I will post the winner to this give-away on Sunday!

Happy Eating.

The Winner is...

Thanks to all of you who entered my poster print give away. Next give away I will run for a longer period of time, to give more people a chance. Tonight's winner was picked using the random integer.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:1
Timestamp: 2009-06-09 03:13:29 UTC

So the number one post is:Lisa
said...
I have a picture of the three boys at the fishing dock at M.K. Brown Boy Scout camp that I have been dying to enlarge and hang. Thanks for the chance to win!
June 5, 2009 2:47 PM

Congratulations Lisa, that will be a neat picture to have!

Go to U Printing to check out all their items including their canvas prints.

Give-Away Time!

I'm so excited to have a give-away for you all today. In honor of Father's Day, which is just a few weeks away U-Printing blogs has graciously given me a 18 X 24 Poster Print to give-away to one of my lucky readers. Wouldn't that be an awesome Father's Day gift. They have wonderful poster prints and canvas prints you need to check out.

I think I'd pick one of the girls, like this one:

or maybe I would have one of the photographs that WB had published in Texas Highways magazine enlarged. It will be a tough choice.

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment about what picture you would like to have enlarged. For a second entry post about it on your blog with a link back to me. Come back and leave another comment telling me you've done this so I can enter you twice! The contest will end Monday at 7:00 Central Time. Oh, and I'm sorry but they will only ship to US/CAN residents for this give-away.

My friend Sasha at the formally Cherished Moments, but now has moved her blog to Small Town Mama is giving away Total Pamper Box filled with decadent items. She lives in Australia, which is where I would live if I didn't live in Texas. So go to her blog and enter. Plus, you'll want to hang around because she is the sweetest person and makes all sorts of homemade items!

Good luck!

Free Poster Print ....

Hey, did you all hear that Connie over at Smockity Frocks is giving away a free 16 X 20 poster print. If you haven't had a chance to sign up hurry over there and leave a comment!!

Strange Happenings

On any given day I am bound to walk outside and find some strange occurrences. The two large pots (the one's we spray painted) by my door have bulbs planted in them. Every morning the bulbs are scattered around the sidewalk, not eaten on, just scattered. I peer outside a least a dozen times a night and I've never caught the bulb digger in the act.

Sometimes I find what we called UCP (unknown critter poop) on one of our pathways. This always leads to a very imaginative discussion on what may have left it. Sometimes we can identify tracks left behind, sometimes not. The huge paw prints must belong to the wolf or mountain lion that lives over the canyon or maybe to the labs across the way!

But sometimes I follow a trail of unusual relics...

Bamboo sprouting paint brushes...

Dried goards and pliers...

Yucca stems out to dry, more bamboo, rocks...

Spears....which always seems to lead me to this....

And the winner to Wednesday's Give Away is...Doreen at Treasured Giveaways. Thanks everyone for entering, I'll have another soon:)

WFMW- Beach Towels and Give Away!

I have been so off my game recently and in order to apologize for my lack of posts I'm going to have a give away! But first I want to share my WFMW tip. A couple of years ago I started acquiring colorful beach towels at the end of the summer season when they were on sale. By acquiring I mean snatching them off the clearance shelves and racing to the check out. I couldn't help myself. I just love a good deal and who wouldn't love a giant towel with bright green frogs all over it?!! WB asked just want we needed all those towels for. If I had replied "because they're so pretty" or "well, it's a good deal", he would have told me I didn't need anymore. He is not swayed by deals or prettiness when shopping.
Anyway, I thought really quickly and responded: "Well, not only will it be great for our trips to the pool, but I've decided the girls will use these as their bath towels." When he looked at me strangely I quickly added, "They are nice and long and will completely wrap the girls up when they get out of the shower. Plus, we'll know exactly which towels are theirs and which are ours. We won't have to share." Sharing is really not a problem, but it sounded good at the time.
He nodded his head and proceeded to ignore my half a dozen towel purchases over the next several months.
And I didn't tell WB this, because he just wouldn't get it, but these towels look really nice hanging in their bathroom or on the wall hooks in their room (I sort of picked towels that went with the decor, WB wouldn't get that either!).
Anyway, that is my tip for today. Beach towels for kids bath towels. And in honor of that I'm giving away a ten dollar gift card to TARGET. I purchased most of my towels there on clearance and I'm happy to report they have really held up and kept their shape and color!! All you have to do is leave a reply and a way for me to get in touch with you. I'll pick the winner on Saturday.

Head over to Shannon's for more WFMW tips!!

*Thanks everyone for your great ideas about beach towels and for entering the give away...I'll post the winner soon!

Give-Away Winner and Dancing Fairies

I asked my Random Integer Generator to pick a number between one and five for my give-away. She was a little shy this morning and refused to have her picture taken so I asked her to hold up the number of fingers, she refused. But she did agree to this:


She counted out the number using her breakfast raspberries. So the winner is number four , who just happens to be my friend over at The Fritz Facts! If you'll just send me your address I'll get this right out to you. Thank you to all who entered and I loved reading about your useful tools, gave me some ideas.

Now for the Dancing Fairies. Yesterday they performed a dance where:

The good, resting fairy

had to deal with this mischievous, out-of-control fairy.

So the good fairy dusted off her wand

spun around and around chanting "No, no Sissy."

While the third fairy ran from the paparazzi refusing to comment on the whole situation.

Hanging Shelves And The Give-Away

Whenever I hang pictures, shelves, etc. I usually end up with one side a little off balance. No matter how much I try to keep it straight it ends up slightly crooked. WB always shakes his head and grins at me when such a simple task turns into a major headache for me. Whatever, I know I am horizontally challenged. I can say it, I'm a big enough person to admit my flaws, well, this one at least. And even sometimes WB needs a little help hanging things:

This is the look he gives when asking, "Like this?"

Now he wouldn't have to look at me that way if he had used my give-away. Actually he has one but he does not consider himself horizontally challenged so he doesn't use it. But I find it very handy. It's.....

And it's wonderful. It sticks to any surface and projects a red laser line across your wall up to 50 ft. Just stick it to your wall and hang away, easy and fast.

So here's the deal. To enter just leave a comment telling me what tool helps you out around the house, because I'm sure if I don't have it I need it! If you don't have a blog that is fine just leave your e-mail so I can contact you. I'll draw a winner on Saturday morning!

Winner of Bloggy Anniversary Give-Away

I am happy to announce the winner of my anniversary give away was Mrs. Smockity! WB was disappointed that he was not eligible:)

This is how I picked the winner.

My Random Integer Generator:

I numbered the posts 1 to 5 and my random integer generator picked 3!

Thanks for everyone who participated and who reads my little blog, you are loved:)

My Heart is Full of Joy And A Give Away!!

Thanks everyone who particpated in my anniversary give-away, I'll announce the winner later today:)

First of all let me just say that I did a little happy dance today when I went to our mailbox and what should appear but a tiny green envelope from Em. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been quite so excited about a letter. Soph wanted to open it and so I waited patiently while she tore open the letter then handed to WB to be read. And guess what? She is having an awesome time, in fact she mentions that little tidbit twice. She said she slept really well and that she passed the swimming test so she gets free reign of the pool. Praise the Lord, my baby is not just surviving Girl Scout Camp, but thriving. I shall rest easier tonight:)

Now on to the second order of business I promised a give away in celebration of my 1 year anniversary. I've been negligent, as Little One broke out into some sort of terrible rash that left us sleepless here at Cotton-Top Hills for several nights. And we've been just a tad clingy and grumpy and Little One has had her moments too:) But here it is, finally, the give away and then maybe I'll get a chance to catch up on my blog reading because I'm wondering what everyone has been up to these last few days!! Okay, back to the give away. I really wanted to find a great thing, and lets face it a not too expensive thing since we just had to replace a transmission and load up our AC on freon, and I went through several ideas and settled on this...a year subscription to BABYBUG Magazine.
This is truly the neatest magazine for kids 3 and under. They are full of colorful illustrations, rhymes, and short stories. They are very sturdy and I still have the magazines I got when Em was little. Now I know some of you don't have little ones at home, but maybe you know someone who does and you could pass it on to them. I promise you, whoever gets this will love it. Em was reading by the age of four and I know that this magazine helped to instill a love of reading at a very early age.
So here's how to enter. In the comment section tell me your favorite book or story you remember as a child. Then make sure I have a way to reach you if you win. If you don't have a blogger account you can still enter, just post under anonymous. I'll leave the contest open until Saturday, July 25th at 9:00 AM Central time. That sounds so official, I almost feel like I'm giving away one of PW's Kitchen Aid Mixers instead of a magazine subscription. Anyway, thanks so all of you who care enough to read my posts and make my day with your comments. It truly is a bright spot in my day!!

It's a Giveaway!!

**The winner is The Dukes Family, congratulations. Thank you everyone for particpating! Since this was so successful I plan on giving away more in the future so check back!!

*Comments are now closed I will be posting the winner shortly.

Look what's going on this week... a giveaway carnival!! I am so excited to be joining in this time. Since I love pictures I am giving away a 30.00 gift card to Shutterfly. I love this site. You can make calenders, gift items, valentine cards, and even books. To enter just leave a comment below. A winner will be randomly picked on Saturday, Feb.2nd. My friends across the ocean are welcome to join. Just check back here on Saturday to see if you won!

My Memorable Moments Monday Post is up right before this entry, be sure to check it out:)

Oh, and if anyone could help explain to me how to get the button on my post I'd be so very tickled!! * Thank you Linda and Jen, it worked!!