Ultimate Blog Party Wrap-Up

Wasn't that a fun party?! I want to thank all of you who stopped by and hope you enjoyed peeking around here! Also - thank you for so many sweet birthday and blogaversary wishes!! Welcome to my new followers and readers too!

I have been so blessed by the lovely people that have stopped by and commented! I do look forward to getting to know you all better. That's the fun thing about parties - making new friends! I ended up having company all week and could not party it up UBP12 style like I thought I would. I will gradually be making my way around and saying hello!

I suppose you want to know who won the $10 Starbucks card?! Drumroll...

Congrats to LaVonne @ Long Wait For Isabella !!!

If you're sad about not winning, I do have an ebook giveaway coming up later this week. :) Does that help - LOL? Thanks again for coming by!

Be sure to stop and smell the chocolates in your day ~ subscribe here so we can do it together!

Have a marvelous day friends!

Encouraging Bloggers ~ Giveaway Winners

Thank you again to all of you who have participated in or have been quietly reading my Encouraging Bloggers series!  I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have!  If you missed anything, just stop by the Encouraging Bloggers Intro post where I have all the links to the whole series.

And now - giveaway winners!!

Congrats to Kim @ Homesteader's Heart - winner of the journal, pens, and tea!!

Congrats to Sweet and Savory Eats (Ally) - winner of the Ebook Notes to Aspiring Writers!!

Thanks again everybody!  Keep on blogging - you never know who's listening and needs to hear your words!

Have a blessed day friends!

Pumpkin Posting Party Recap

Thank you all for joining me last week for my fun week all about pumpkin!!  I hope you enjoyed it and found an idea or two or a recipe to try.

If you missed any of it, you might want to check out:

~ How to roast a pumpkin
~ Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread
~ Pumpkin Recipes
~ Pumpkin Decor
~ Pumpkin Truffles

Would you like to know who won my little giveaway?

The winner is:

Susie

Congrats Susie!!

Don't forget to check out all the pumpkin recipes from Wednesday's post - there are some yummy links there (if you linked up a pumpkin recipe to Dessert Friday, I also added it to the pumpkin link-up)!

Have a fabulous Fall day friends!

Survey Results And A Winner

Thank you all so much for taking my survey and giving me some feedback!  I do so appreciate your wonderful comments and honesty!

Make your own free ecard

At first, I thought I'd just tell you the winner, but then I thought you might be like me and wonder how the results turned out and what others think about my blog (or blogs in general).

So I'll give you a summary...

~ 38 people took the survey!
~ 40% read through Google Reader, 21% come here directly, 18% read through e-mail, and a few come from various sources and links.
~ 63% read whenever I post (thank you!), 24% weekly, and a few less often.

Favorite types of posts?
~ Almost everybody said Chocolate!!
~ 2nd place:  Recipes
~ 3rd place:  Family
~ 4th place:  Faith
~ All of the above were chosen by half or more of survey-takers!
~ 5th place: Silly
~ 6th place: Decor
~ I was surprised to see that Reviews and Giveaways actually had several votes as favorite types of posts!
~  Least votes?  Buster the dog
     He is very sad...

But I'm pretty sure he'll get over it!  :)

~ Only 34% have linked up for Chocolate Fridays.
~ Other suggestions for linkups included recipes and homemaking.

Most annoying posts?
~ 1st place:  None (Yay!!)
~ 2nd place:  Long wordy posts
~ 3rd place:  Giveaways
~ 4th place:  Posts without pics
~ Only 1 or 2 chose others.
~ Nobody chose Very serious posts or Silly posts (yay again - LOL).

Bring back Tea For Two-sday posts?
~ 39% Yes
~ 33% Maybe
~ 28% No

Blog Design
~ 70% Cute (thank you!)
~ 49% Clean
~ 38% User-friendly
~ 32% Don't change a thing
~ Only 2-3 people with any issues.
~ Suggestion of adding some kind of Recipe search bar.

What brings you back?
~ Me  :)
~ Chocolate
~ Recipes
~ Light-hearted/Humor

Comments/Suggestions
~ Lots of very sweet comments - thank you so much!!
~ People want relationships.  If they're coming by and commenting, they want me (and other bloggers I'm sure) to stop by their blogs occasionally and comment. (I will try to make time to do that more often!)
~ If people are linking up recipes here, they would like to see other readers coming by and commenting on their posts.  I can tell you that the yummy chocolate posts that get linked up here do deserve a look and a comment if you have a chance!

I suppose you want to know who the winner of the $5 Starbucks card is?

It's Brooke!

Congratulations Brooke!!

Thank you again for taking the time to complete the survey - it really meant a lot to me!  And please don't hesitate to send me your comments and suggestions anytime!

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter Winner

Well somebody had to win the delicious Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter!  Was it you?

The winner is...

sejotess (e-mail provided)

Congratulations!!

If you didn't win, you can always stop by Tropical Traditions to order some goodness for yourself!  They have great sales regularly and you can watch for free shipping offers too!

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

Wired Whimsy Giveaway Winner

Thank you all for making my birthday so enjoyable last week!  Turning 40 was fun!  Maybe I can turn 40 again next year - HA!  :)

And thank you to Wired Whimsy for making such a cute chocolate set - the necklace, bookmark, and purse charm!!  I'm so excited that one of you will have a matching set!

And the winner is...

Alicia

Congratulations Alicia!!

If you didn't win, I'm sure you can find something sweet to order for yourself from Wired Whimsy!  She's in the process of listing several new items!

Have a wonderful day friends!

Crafts By Manuella Giveaway Winner

Thanks to all who entered the Crafts by Manuella giveaway for some sweet baby booties (custom color and size)!

Aren't these some of the cutest baby booties you've seen?!

And the winner is...

Silver Pansy Designs

Congrats Silver Pansy Designs (Karen)!!

If you didn't win, you can always stop by Crafts by Manuella to purchase adorable baby booties, beautiful blankets, American Doll sweater sets and more!

Have a lovely day friends!

Ruffles and Fringe Giveaway Winner

Thanks for entering the Ruffles and Fringe giveaway!  And thanks again to my "models" for helping show off Nicole's lovely headbands!

And the winner is...

Charlotte

Congrats Charlotte!!!

If you didn't win, you can go order a pretty headband for a gift or for yourself from Ruffles and Fringe!

Have a wonderful day friends!

Godiva Giveaway Winner

Obviously you all enjoy the Godiva!!  Glad I could share the Spring collection - if you happen to purchase something, I wouldn't mind a bit if you shared with me - LOL!

Here are the cute and yummy Godiva items one of you will be enjoying soon!

And the winner is...

Kathy C

Congrats Kathy!!!

Thanks for entering everybody!  

Have a lovely day friends!

Misty Kristy Designs Giveaway Winner

Another Etsy giveaway is over!  Thanks to all of you who entered!

One person gets to enjoy the set of these pretty black and white decorated folders from Misty Kristy Designs!

And the winner is...

Comment #7:  Lori Ann

Congrats Lori Ann!!!

If you didn't win, you can order yourself some pretty new folders to get organized by going over to Misty Kristy Designs!

Have a lovely day friends!

Designed by RJ Giveaway Winner

Hope you're all having fun with learning more about Etsy shops and entering giveaways!  The giveaway for the cute Bitty Earrings from Designed by RJ is over.

And the winner is...

Comment #1: Lisa

Congrats Lisa!!  And no, that's not me, it's Lisa from Dusty Thorn Farm!

If you didn't win, you can always order yourself something cute from Designed by RJ or RJ Charms!

Have a great weekend friends!!

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Winner

Thanks for entering my giveaway and glad so many of you are interested in coconut oil!

The winner of the Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is...

Comment #5:  Julia

Congratulations Julia!!

Thank you to Tropical Traditions for such a generous giveaway!

Valentine Cookies Winner

Thanks for entering my Valentine cookie giveaway this week!  Don't forget that you can stop by Kelly's Cookie Co. on Etsy and order Valentine cookies to be delivered to someone as a gift!

 

And the winner is...

@AMagicMommy 

Congratulations!!

Did you all remember to celebrate World Nutella Day yesterday?  I'll let you celebrate all weekend!  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Giveaway Winners & Holiday Happenings

Good Monday morning to all!  Since my family was sick all last week, I am so glad to start a new week!  How about you?

Would you like to know the winners of the Chocri customized chocolate bars?  Too bad you couldn't all win, but you can watch the Chocri blog for the launch date so you can get your own chocolate bars then!

The 2 winners are:

Beth

quiverfil

Congrats ladies!!  I'll be sending you the necessary info.  And thank you again to Chocri and to Carmen!

And now we should talk about holiday things on blogs.  Let's not even say how many days are left until Christmas, 'cause for me it's NOT enough - LOL!  But you should know about a few fun things to check out while those days are ticking away.

Today begins Holly Jolly Week at Homesteader's Heart!  So much fun!  She has Christmas crafts there today and there are giveaways too.  Go check it out!

The Christmas Tour of Homes will be happening at the Nesting Place on December 14th!  That means you (ahem - *I*) still have time to decorate and take pics to link up that day!

On Fridays in December at The Inspired Room, you can link up your holiday posts for Holiday Linky Fridays!  I'm sure you'll find all sorts of good stuff!

And there is a Christmas meme going around.  You can find examples at Musings of a Housewife and Blessed Beyond Imagination.  Feel free to join in the fun!

I hope all of you enjoy your Monday and any Christmas plans that you're working on today!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Giveaway Winner

Happy Tea For Two-sday friends!  Thank you to all of you who entered the Golden Moon Tea giveaway!  Glad you enjoy tea!

The giveaway winner is...

Renée aka Mekhismom

Congrats Renee!!

I always feel the need to console those of you who didn't win - LOL!  So I wanted to let you know that there is another Golden Moon Tea giveaway that you can enter!  My friend Katie over at Frugal Femina is hosting a giveaway for a tin of Golden Moon Tea and her giveaway ends 11/26/09 - you still have time to enter!

Have a lovely Tea For Two-sday!

Giveaway Winner And Making My Home Sing ~ Planning

Remember the fabulous Paperspring giveaway?  There is a winner!  The winner is...

The Real Me (Kim)

(I know, I know - I promise you that I went to Random.org and put in my comment numbers and it came back with #1.  I personally think that Kim has found a way to hack into the Random.org site, but that's just me.  LOL!  :)  She is my friend so I can talk about her like that...)

Congratulations Kim!!

Now the 25% discount for Paperspring.com is over, but my U.S. readers can still get a 15% discount on all products through the end of the year!  Just use code "stop4C15" when checking out.  And they always offer free shipping!



I love joining in with Nan at Mom's The Word for Making My Home Sing!  I thought it was about time I get back to making my home sing since Thanksgiving is approaching!  Hubs helped make it sing by renting a Rug Doctor this weekend.  So nice to know that carpet, rugs and couches are nice and clean!  Just in time for Thanksgiving guests!

I was doing my planning for Thanksgiving.  Once I have the menu planned, I schedule out what to make on which day in order to get everything done in a timely manner with the least amount of stress.  Believe it or not, that means I will be preparing some things Monday thru Thursday next week!  We eat in early afternoon on Thanksgiving day so our travelers have plenty of time to relax after the meal before driving back.  That doesn't leave much time on Thursday to prepare food, so the more things that can be made ahead of time, the better!

As I was spending time planning out which dishes to cook on which days, I realized something.  If I didn't do all that planning for the meal, things would not go smoothly.  Some dishes wouldn't even be made; things wouldn't be ready on time; I would be constantly stressed out.  Hmmm...so why would I think that keeping up my household would be any different?

Without planning my household duties - not everything gets done; things don't happen in a timely manner; I am constantly stressed out about it.  So I have some planning to do.  I'm still trying to decide just how specific I need to be and what will work best for me.  But I will start with a list of all the things that need to be done this week and split it up among the days.  We'll see what happens!

Do you follow a specific housecleaning schedule or do you just do what needs to be done automatically?  Do you just list out what needs to be done each day as it comes?  What system works best for you?

If you feel like making your home sing by cooking yummy stuff, you might want to check out all the recipes that were linked up last week for Tried and True Thanksgiving Recipes Week at What's Cooking At My House, or Tidymom's Love The Pie party going on today, or the virtual Cookie Exchange at Frugal Creativity!

Go see what's making more homes sing at Mom's The Word today!

Have a great Monday!

Fall Fruits Festival Giveaway Winners & More Giveaways

What a fun week it was last week! Thank you all so much for all the visits, comments, and great recipe links!! Be sure to go back and get all the recipes if you haven't (you've got to click through to my blog to see all the recipe link-ups!): Pears (12 recipes), Pumpkin (24 recipes), Apples (15 recipes), Cranberries (16 recipes), and Chocolate (14 recipes) - and check out the recipe I created and posted at Frugal Femina: Coffee Blondies With a Shot of Chocolate (sorry, I'm just so excited that I was actually able to make up a recipe and it turned out yummy!)!!

Want to know who won all the good stuff??

Pear-themed giveaway: The Real Me

Pumpkin-themed giveaway: Charlotte

Apple-themed giveaway: Sandi (I need you to contact me w/ your info!)

Cranberry-themed giveaway: Karen K

Chocolate-themed giveaway: knit1kids4

Congrats to all the winners!!

Now - if you didn't win, don't be sad! Get even by entering some of these other great giveaways my friends are having! Feel free to list more giveaways in the comments!

Homesteader's Heart: Coffee, chocolate & recipes

Blessed Beyond Imagination: Fall wreath

Real Life: Flirty Apron

Mom's The Word: Blog Makeover

A Soft Place to Land: DiscHangers

Frugal Plus: Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms cookbook

Frugal Creativity: $60 Paperspring gift certificate

Like a Warm Cup of Coffee: Red Letter Words art

Have a fabulous Monday my friends!!

Giveaway Winner

Thank you for the entries for the Paperspring giveaway!! I suppose you would like to know who the winner is...



After generating a random number, the winner is:

Kathy C.

Congrats Kathy!!! You'll get $60 of your choice of Paperspring products!

Now remember - you're all really winners because you get 15% of off your order from Paperspring!! Just use code "stop4C15" and it's good through 12/31/09!

Have a wonderful day! Since tomorrow is the first Friday of the month, it's Dessert Friday! Bring a dessert post (with or without chocolate) by to link up!

Giveaway Winner & Other Giveaways To Enter

Wow - I can hardly handle the originality and creativity of that blog post title - LOL! Good morning friends! First, I just want to say that I really enjoyed all of your comments yesterday! Glad you said what you felt like sayin'! :)

I suppose you want to know the winner of the Life Verse necklace! It was the last person to enter - that was the random number picked! Isn't that cool?! The winner is...

Nancye

Congrats Nancye!!

Now, now - I don't want the rest of you being sad for the rest of the day. The least I can do is share several giveaways around the blogosphere! Go and enter! This is not a comprehensive list by any means! If you know of a great giveaway that I didn't mention or are having one, leave the info in the comments!

~ Blessed Beyond Imagination: My friend Kathy is having a giveaway for the cutest measuring cups EVER SEEN!! You can go look, but no need to enter 'cause I really want to win these - LOL!

~ 5 Minutes For Mom: They are having a 10 Days of Disney Video Tour and giving away 10 gift bags full of stuff - worth over $200 each! Wow!

~ Keeping The Kingdom First: My friend Alyssa is giving away a Lunch Builder Prize Package - not only does it include an ipod Shuffle, but it also includes a $65 Walmart gift card! I'm sure you could find a use for that!

~ Reviewsings (Musings of a Housewife): Jo-Lynne has a great package of Sun & Earth natural cleaning products to give away! You get 4 different products (along with 1 refill) to try!

~ The Inspired Room: Melissa has so much lovely Fall stuff, including several examples of using gilded items for decoration. She actually has a gilding kit to give away! Now you can try it out!

~ Frugal Creativity: Melissa often has giveaways and this is a very cool one! It's for a PUR Flavor Options Pitcher! Not only does it filter the water, it gives you the option to add flavor to your glass of water - too cool!

~ Really Working From Home: Marilee is celebrating the Grand Opening of her site with LOTS of items to giveaway! I'm sure you'll find something you like!

~ Frugal Plus: My new friend Jill along with Shawn Ann have lots of giveaways regularly. Just stop by and look at the top of the right side bar. All the giveaways are listed right there for you! There are currently 11 - wow!

See all the fun you can have?! Again, these are only a few of the giveaways out there that I happened across while hopping around. Feel free to let us all know about more!

Have a fabulous day and be sure to stop back here tomorrow for Chocolate Friday! Bring your old or new chocolate posts with you so you can link them up and share the chocolate!

Circus Tickets Winner And Questions For YOU

Well first we have to announce the winner of 6 fabulous tickets to Ringling Bros And Barnum & Bailey's opening Sacramento show at Arco Arena on 8/27!! So exciting!!

Drumroll please...And the winner is:

Jill

Congrats Jill!!

Now if you didn't win, but still want to go to the circus, here are the show dates and discount ticket info:

Thursday August 27th: 7:00pm
Friday August 28th: 11:00am, 7:00pm
Saturday August 29th: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm
Sunday August 30th: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm

You can get a 4-pack of tickets for $44. Use promo code MOM when purchasing tickets at Arena Box Offices, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Enter code in the “MC Promotion Box” on Ticketmaster. Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Not valid on VIP, Front Row and Circus Celebrity seats or combinable with other offers. Service charge, facility fee and handling fees may apply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now I have a couple of questions for you.

First - last year I had Pumpkin Potpourri Week in September. It had recipes, opportunities to link up, and giveaways. It was a big hit! Should I have another Pumpkin Week this Fall with all new stuff or should we try something new? Like a week of Apples? Or something else? I want to know what YOU want! Please comment and let me know (even if you've never commented before - I won't tell anyone!)!!

Second - I would like to know what you're thinking of the blog these days. What things keep bringing you back? What do you skip over? What do you want to see more of? Anything bothering you (you can even leave an anonymous comment to tell me)? Anything that you absolutely love? Please let me know! I blog for me, but I also blog for YOU!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for reading! Thanks for your support and your comments! I do hope my blog gives you a little break from your stressful day.

Hugs and air kisses to you all! And if that is just too mushy for you, then handshakes and nods of the head to you! :) Oh - and chocolate!! How could I forget the chocolate? Stop by tomorrow for Chocolate Friday with a special guest post! And link up your chocolate posts so we can all share the yumminess! <----Now see, that might be something you comment about - maybe I am too demanding. I didn't even say please! :) <----Or there, too many smiley faces might be a pet peeve of yours.<----Or bad grammar.<----Or too many arrows.

I might be scared to read these comments...