Happy Birthday Baby Girl

This is going to be a very quick post but I wanted to get it up asap. Today is my baby girl's 17th birthday. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since I brought her home from the hospital. She was a healthy baby, with big pink cheeks and strawberry blonde hair.

I love you Baby Girl!!! Happy Birthday and stop growing up so fast, I'm not ready for all my babies to be gone yet. LOL






Christine Senter

Free Stuff Online

Like most moms, and everyone else, I'm a sucker for free stuff. I love freebies and freebie sites. The problem is that a lot of freebie sites you find today require something in return, which isn't much of a freebie. I don't mind filling out a few things for something, but I won't do the "just add cell-phone number here" thing. Hubby tends to get a bit snippy when cell-phone bill gets out of hand. LOL

Though I do check out a lot of freebie sites each week, my favorite by far is BestFreeStuffOnline.com. I really like the way this site is set up as it's easy to find just about anything and everything you want. Choose from free stuff for moms, dads, kids, pets, and much more.

Now I won't go and say that everything you find on this site is worth your time, because it's not. There's always a little chafe left over with the wheat. But there are a lot of free coupons and samples that can be found throughout the site.

Sign up for the free weekly newsletter and keep up with all the latest freebies added to the site. You never know when they'll add that little something you've been looking for longer than you can remember.

Christine Senter

My First Blogger Award

Okay, so I'm sitting here having a totally crappy day. One of those days where everything I touched turned to crap. No energy, no ambition, just a blah day. And the longer this day wore on, the worse it got. Household appliances going on strike, email messages that send my anger into the stratosphere, family issues that cause me to think about taking up a serious drinking habit. You know, normal Tuesday stuff (not).





Then evening roles around and I open my email to find something so unexpected that it actually gave me a new perspective on the day. Traci66 left a comment on yesterday's post to let me know that she's passed on a blog award that she had received. I've been honored with The Versatile Blogger award and I couldn't be happier. No matter how crappy my day had been to this point, it is way better now.

There are a few things I have to do in order to accept this award, but no problem. I'm thrilled to do it. The first thing is that I've got to write up a little something that to share with everyone. I have to post a list of 7 random facts about myself that others might not know. So here goes.

1.) I can eat an entire avocado in a sitting. I love them, with a little lemon pepper. Mmmmm, avocados.
2.) On the day I was born, out of the 6 babies in the nursery, I was the only girl.
3.) I've been writing since the 4th grade.
4.) I don't believe in aliens (little green men type), but I do believe in ghosts.
5.) I am the youngest of 3 girls....but I'm an only child.
6.) I've had the hots for Kiefer Sutherland since 1986.
7.) I'm a hopeless romantic, a serious pack rat, and a creative dreamer.

Okay, now the next thing I need to do to accept my award is to pass it along to 15 other bloggers. That could be a bit tricky as I'm not sure I know that many, and those that I do know have probably already won this award. But, I will give it my best shot.

The first person I have to give this award to is my friend Ruthi. Honey, I don't know if you know enough other bloggers to hand this out to, but you are one of the most versatile bloggers I know.

2.) The Girl Next Door Grows Up--She's awesome and I can't wait for her writing contest.
3.) Kimberly at Candid, Clever, and Cost-Effective
4.) Lynn from Midday Escapades
5.) Valerie from Let's Just Give It Away
6.) Michelle from Faith On Fire
7.) Kristin from Born 2 Be Mom
8.) Staycee from Survey Junkie
9.) Mellisa from Fun Saving Money
10.) Beth from Steals, Deals, and Life
11.) Alyssa from She's Mommafied
12.) Erika from Musings of a Stay at Home Mom
13.)Nicole from Colie's Kitchen
14.) Earthly Mama from Children Teaching Mama
15.) Nicole from Mama to 4 Blessings



Christine Senter

Free Diamond Earrings

I've never really been a fan of diamonds. I know, not very lady-like, but it's the truth. To me, they're boring and blah and not all that exciting. Now sapphires? That's a different story. I love sapphires---dark blue sapphires---my birthstone. *Deep Sigh*.

Anyway, I've been hearing about a site called DiamondEarring.org that are giving away free synthetic diamond earrings just for mentioning their website. Now, you'll notice that I said "synthetic". That means that these aren't the diamonds you find in the ground. These are man-made diamonds and aren't worth near as much as the real thing. BUT!!! In my opinion, these are much better because nobody had to tear up the Earth to get to them. Nor did anyone get hurt in the making of these diamonds.

Now even though the earrings themselves are free, the shipping and handling is NOT. However, for the small one-time fee of $3.77, they're all yours. Just post something online about the site and pay the S & H. That's it??? That's it.

I might keep these for myself, but then again, I might just give them to my daughter for Christmas or some other event. I haven't decided yet, but you can be sure that for $3.77, I'll be getting a pair of these myself. What can I say? I can't pass up a bargain especially if it's for synthetic diamond earrings.

Christine Senter

Brand New Blog Hop

I've done a lot of blog hops lately, but I've never gotten in on the very first of any of them. That is until tonight. I'm so thrilled about finding this and being in on the first round that I could just do backflips in my ergonomic chair.



This brand new blog hop is called the Cornucopia of Blog Hops and it was created to kick off the fall season. That's cool with me because this is my favorite time of year. Things start to change color, the temperature begins to drop a bit, and there's just something about a September/October sunset that makes me feel at one with nature.

The hostesses of this blog hop are:
Stacie from The Survey Junkie
Nicole from Mama To 4 Blessings
Erika from Musings From A Stay-At-Home Mom
and
Mellisa from Fun Saving Money
To get in on this blog hop, simply follow all the of the ladies mentioned above and add your name to the list. But Wait!!! There's more!!!
You also need to follow the weekly chosen blog. Each week one blog will be chosen to sit in the coveted #5 spot and for the very first week, that person is:
Jenn from My Delicious Ambeguity. Congrats Jenn for being the #1 person to hold the #5 position. LOL

So let's get this autumn party started and let's get to hopping. Have fun and make some new friends.

Christine Senter

Get Free E-books

Hey kids. Since getting my Kindle, I've found that the thrill of the hunt for a good book is as much fun as reading. But because I'm a poor kid, I've got to find books in my price range and for the most part, that would be free. So I've been looking for places where I can download free ebooks and I've found one that doesn't require any money of any kind (that I can find so far).

The site is called Get Free Ebooks and there are a lot of different titles for a person to choose from in both fiction and non-fiction genres. Most are available in PDF format, but there are also versions in EPUB, Kindle, HTML, MOBI, and many more. There are books on poetry, science fiction, science fact, history and the list goes on and on.

From the home page, you can also find a few free magazines to subscribe to as you can even upload ebooks to the list. But they have to be available free of charge.

Run over and check them out. There are enough different titles that there's sure to be something you'll want to read either on your computer, you iPhone, or on your Kindle.

Christine Senter

Secret Santa Blogger Gift Exchange

Attention fellow bloggers!!! I just found an awesome idea going on right now at Survey Junkie. This is NOT a giveaway or contest. This is a secret Santa gift exchange between bloggers. Sign ups will be taken through October 6th, at which time Survey Junkie and Simply Stacie will send out notices to all participants as to who they will be sending their Christmas gifts to. The price limit will be in the range of $15+ shipping=$20 give or take a few.




This is open to all bloggers in the United States and Canada. There will also be different categories for bloggers to choose as to what types of gifts they would like to get. This can include everything from home decor to books to jewelry. This just makes it easier for the Secret Santa to make your Christmas wish come true.

We may not yet be into October, but it's never too early to get ready for Christmas. Come on kids, let's go play!!!

Christine Senter

Paranormal Haven Halloween Party

I can't believe that it's almost October already. In my house, we refer to it as "the month from hell". Not because of Halloween or anything like that, but because we have a total of 11 family birthdays during that month. My hubby, son, and daughter are all three October babies. That doesn't include all the nieces, nephews, and cousins in there. Even my sister-in-law has a birthday during the month. But, I found something worth getting excited about for the coming month.

Starting October 1st and running through until Halloween, Paranormal Haven will be holding a month long Halloween party. What a cool idea. I'm pretty excited about it, but only because of all the awesome giveaways that will be going on. So far, the site has 25 different authors that will be participating in the event, as well as all the giveaways planned for the whole month. This going to be Fang-tastically fun.





So come on boys and girls. It's almost the witching hour and it's time to party. Head on over to Paranormal Haven and get all the details needed to enter the giveaways. There are a few rules, so be sure to read carefully. This will be a party to remember in the paranormal world.



Christine Senter

Monthly Blogger Writer Talent Showcase

Hey kids, I found the coolest little site last night and I thought I'd share. But before I had a chance to tell you about this awesome little site, The Girl who runs the site had the audacity to go and make it even better. You'll notice that I capitalized the The Girl and that's because that's what she's know by and her site is called The Girl Next Door Grows Up.



Most people know that I'm more than just a mommy who writes on her blog each day. I'm also a writer, a reader, a quilter, and slightly touched in the head. I put writer first because that's my first love, being a writer. I've been writing stories since I was in the 4th grade, but telling stories since I was old enough to use my imagination. So when I read that The Girl is going to start hosting a monthly link up on her site that's more about the writing than anything else, needless to say I was thrilled. Starting on Sunday, October 3rd, she'll open up a linky on her site where you can add your favorite post of that month. It can of any topic, any subject, whatever you want. But!!! You can only link to one post per blog/site.

The link-up will be live for a total of 48. After that, The Girl will read each and every post and choose one that she likes the most. The person behind that post will win a prize for the month and be featured in the following month's link up. Cool, huh?

There are a few rules to follow, but they're not all that bad. First and foremost, you've got to either follow The Girl on GFC or subscribe to her newsletter. If you don't happen to win on a particular month, please be kind enough not to leave nasty comments as they'll be removed and you will never be forgotten. If you've got more than one site like I do, you can link to one post on each site.

Now for the part that makes this way cool. Right now, The Girl has a killer giveaway going on as a way to help promote her new link-up. She's giving away a $50 Visa gift card. That's like getting free money and who couldn't use a little free money these days. Check out the post and see how many different entries you can get in on.

For all the giveaways, contests, and link-ups I've run across in the past few months, I think this is one of the best. It might just give me the incentive to start writing again and see what I can come up with. And for those who have a little something to throw into the works, The Girl is always looking for prize items and/or donations to give out. If you've got something you thing would make a great prize, get in touch with The Girl and let her know.

So come on kids, let's get our creative juices flowing and get ready for a whole new link-up idea.


Christine Senter

Download Free Ebooks

I'm quickly becoming addicted to my books again. Thanks Andrew!!!!! And though I've found some great read all over Amazon.com, I just found a site where I can download free ebooks without feeling guilty. The site is called Free-Ebooks.net and the title says it all.

Okay, let's cut to the chase. If you want a few nice reads a month, this is the place to go. There is a free subscription, but it only allows you to read all you want from the site and/or 5 downloads per month. There are 3 other paid options that allow you unlimited access to all the free ebooks on site. You can either pay a monthly fee of $9.95 or a yearly fee of $37.95. Or you can just bypass the monthly and yearly fee by purchasing the lifetime access rate of $49.95.

Another side to this site is the fact that as an author, you can get your own works published right on site. And though you are actually offering your work free of charge, there is a button that can be added to your book's page that allows others to leave a "donation". You only need a Paypal account and you could be calling yourself a published author. But it's important to remember that you can't charge a fee for your book.

For me, the basic free subscription is plenty for now. Maybe in the future if I find that I need more than 5 downloads a month or want to add some of the reads to my Kindle, then maybe I'll go for the V.I.P. subscription, but I want to really check the site out a bit more before I make that decision.

Christine Senter

Just a Quickie Post

Hey kids, it just dawned on me that it's almost midnight and I still need to get something posted over here so I don't lose out on my NaBloPoMo thing. I've actually just been sitting here getting lost in my own little online world. And now it's like 10 till Midnight and I have nothing but idle babble to add with you.

So please excuse me while I get back to what I was doing. I'm listening to some tunes, including The Time Warp (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Yeah, I'm just an old hippy type of person. I actually loved that movie and still watch it every chance I get. If you've never watched it, I highly recommend it to anyone who's into the whole paranormal genre, and enjoys a bit of odd-ball comedy thrown it. One of Tim Curry's best movies EVER!!

Ok kids, I have to hit publish or I'm gonna be in deep and I want this all to be done on the level. I couldn't live with myself if I cheated. LOL Have a good one and I'll throw something out later today.

Christine Senter

I Almost Got To Be Cool (But Only For A Minute)

As you well know, I won a Kindle last week and I've had a ball with it ever since. But some really cool things have been happening to me ever since. I've become a huge fan of Bitten By Books and am picking up some ideas for future reads from them. I also joined their Ning group called The Blood Bank. Way cool group and some nice reads in there.

Well, here's the cool part. Last night I got a friendship request. You know me, I'm all for meeting new people and making new friends. So I hit the accept button and didn't think much else about it. Until.....

Last night I ran over to check my email for the ump-teenth time and saw a thank you message from the person who had requested my friendship. I took the time to really look at his page and realized that it was Andrew E. Kaufman--Best-selling author of While The Savage Sleeps. Now I'll be honest and say that I have not read this book...yet. After checking out Andrew's website and reading some reviews and a couple blurbs, I had to have this book. And the really cool part is that there is a Kindle edition of the book. So I bought it.

I sent a quickie message back to Andrew to say thanks and that I'd checked out his site and purchased his book. I figured that would be the end of it and I wouldn't hear back from him. But he wrote back and not only thanked me for the purchase, but asked me to send him a message after I read it and tell him what I think. Me??

Since I was a little kid all I've ever wanted to do was become an author. I still do but I've gotten so broiled in the writing-for-online-hire game that my stories have taken a far back seat to my daily routine. I think that's why I'm getting back into reading again. Maybe it will spark that desire to head back to writing fiction again. I never wanted to write non-fiction, but now that all I write.

As soon as I finish reading Andrew's book, I will be doing a post about it here. I have to finish the one I'm on now, Kiss Me Deadly by: Michele Hauf, before I start a new one. I had planned on another book, but While the Savage Sleeps has taken that place.

So tell me, what are you reading???

Christine Senter

Upcoming Mega Giveaway Events

Thanks in part to BlogFest and Blogmania, I've become seriously addicted to these mega giveaways.  It's not about finding the cool things to try and win, it's about trying to get in on as many giveaways as possible in a short amount of time.  There's something about being under that much pressure that gets my motor running and my desire to party till I pass out.

I've been watching a few of my favorite giveaway blogs for signs of future mega events and I've found a few that are already beginning to announce their next blog parties.  And from the looks of things, October could prove to be a HUGE month for giveaways.

The first one I want to talk about real quick is the Ultimate Christmas giveaway party that will be held between October 5th and will end on November 12th.  This giveaway is being hosted by Survey Junkie, Little Yaya's, and Review Retreat.  I don't have a lot of details on this one just yet, but head over to any of these ladies blogs and get signed up for their newsletters so you'll know when the big event starts and all the giveaways happening with them.





Another giveaway extravaganza coming in October is the first annual Scare & Share being held by Mommy Wants Freebies and All Aboard The Review Train. These girls already have quite a few sponsors but are still accepting more. If you're interested in becoming a sponsor for this giveaway, let either one of the girls know. You can find their contact information on the giveaway post. This event will start on October 1st and end on the 10th.




And I just received notice about this one a few moments ago. Children Teaching Mama is having a special event going on throughout the month of October. The event is spotlighting Mama-Owned Businesses and will be only about businesses owned and operated by moms. This is going to be a huge giveaway event as the site will be posting a new giveaway every day of the month. That's awesome. Go check it out and get signed up so you can get in on some of the cool giveaways that will handed out.



That's all I have for right now, but if you know of another event getting ready to happen, or happening right now, let me know. I'd love to tell everyone I know about it and come by and get in on it myself. Good luck to everyone and let the October games begin. :)

Christine Senter

I Got My Kindle

It's here!!!  My new Kindle showed up at about 9am and I've had an absolute ball playing with it already.  It took about 2-3 hours for the battery to completely charge, and from there it was a matter of getting it registered with Amazon.com and downloading the few books I had already downloaded to my Kindle For PC.  I also found a couple more titles that I wanted to check out and they were each a free book.  One book is called "Kiss Me Deadly" and the other is called "His Lady Mistress". Along with the others I've already downloaded, that should tide me over until I can add a few more funds to my Paypal account and get the books I really want.

So far, I'm totally impressed with my Kindle.  I didn't have any problems figuring out how to get it started.  Once you plug it into an outlet or your computer to charge the battery, there are instructions on the Kindle on how to go from there.  If you can read, you can figure out how it works.  I'm still learning how to work my cell phone I got 6 months ago, so don't think I'm some kind of gadget genius.

As time goes on, I'll give updates on how it works and maybe even some of the books I've read thanks to my Kindle.  Yeah, I'm a little excited about this.  Not only did I win a really cool prize from Bitten By Books, it showed up on my doorstep on my birthday.  Life is grand.

Christine Senter

Follow Me Friday Week #18

Hey Ya'll.  Thought I'd put up another blog hop for you guys to get in on.  I've done this one before and it's one of the easiest to follow because when it comes to the rules; there are no rules.  Kinda cool, huh?  Okay, there are a few guidelines, but it's nothing we can't handle.

I found this one on the site of Still On The Verge and if I can handle this one, anyone can.  Basically, we do up a little post about the blog hop, kind of like this one.  Then we add the event button to the post, then start blog hopping.  The code to the button can be found at the website.





Follow as many or as few sites as you want. But remember one thing, you don't have to follow someone back if they follow you, but it good manners to do so. It's all about having fun, meeting new people, and sharing all the things we learn as go through life.

Thrifty Thursday Sites Needed

I'm going to try and do something a little different. One thing I've really come to love about all the giveaway sites I've been visiting is the amount of posts and blogs about living on a budget and being thrifty and frugal. I'm totally all for that as a mom and a wife. I may not have small children anymore, but I still have to keep my family going from day to day. That being said, I still like having nice things around the house and have the appearance that I'm not a homeless person. LOL

So here's the thing. I'm looking for bloggers who specialize in blogging about thrifty crafts, living thrifty, thrift store finds, or anything else that can help others save money and reuse things they already have lying around the house. If you have a site like this and would like to be a featured site for Thrifty Thursday, please feel free to leave me a comment on this post or send me an email at: sapheyerblu@gmail.com.

In time, I'd like this to become one of those things that everyone else patiently waits for each Thursday.  So please, if you want to be a part of this, let me know and we'll get started.  I'd really like to put up the first post next week, so get in touch with me asap and feel free to pass the word around to the rest of the Mommy Bloggers.  Let's pass our thrifty ideas to everyone else and show the world that the only problem with the economy is that most people don't know HOW to shop.  

Blogmania Uber Giveaway Party

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, a new blog party starts out at 12:01am on September 15th and runs through 12:00am on September 16th. This one is called Blogmania and there are over 100 sites that are holding giveaways over the next 24 hours. And the best part is that many of these sites are giving away not just a few little things, but prize packages that can be worth as much as $1,500 or more.

I'm thrilled about my Kindle win, but I'd love to win something from this blog party as well. I wouldn't expect something as awesome as my Kindle. I'd be happy to announce that I'd won a T-shirt or a book mark or anything along those lines. But the thing is that most of the sites involved in this blog party are giving away way more awesome prizes than that.

I have to be honest and say that this is the first time I've ever done the Blogmania party so I don't know all the in's and out's about it. But I do know where you can go to get started. Run over to Survey Junkie's site and there you'll find an entire list of sites that are participating in the Blogmania party. Join as many giveaways as you can in between now and this time tomorrow and maybe you'll be the next winner telling the world about you're cool new items. Oh yeah, and don't forget that the Prize Goddess over at Bitten By Books is giving away another Kindle. You could be her next winner!!!

I Won The Kindle!!!!!

Ok, I can't hold this one back until later this evening. I won one of the BlogFest 2010 giveaways. And it was one of the coolest ones. I wrote a post the other day about the Amazon Kindle WiFi being given away by Bitten By Books. Well, I'm very happy to announce that I was the lucky winner.

This isn't just something very cool for me, Friday is my birthday so this is like getting something really awesome for my birthday this year. LOL. I'm thrilled beyond words.

But, I do want to let everyone know that this isn't the last Kindle giveaway being held over at Bitten By Books. They are going to give away another one for Blog Mania which will start on September 15th. I'll be doing a write about that one tomorrow. There will be more information posted about the upcoming giveaway on the BBB site, so head over there and find out what else is going on. After all, they don't bite over there, much.

Admirer Mondays Week #11

Hey kids, it's time once again for Admirer Mondays.  I kind of like this little blog hop as it just seems friendly to me.  Don't know why, I'm just saying.  This blog hop is put on my Krista at Heavenly Savings and Brandy at Giveaway Blogdom.  I love the fact that they have a "question of the week" to help give everyone something to break the ice and I will be answering said question on this site.

Question: How do you like your eggs?

Personally, I like them turned into an omelet. In the real world, I'm a waitress in a tiny Mom and Pop cafe. And every morning for breakfast I have a 2-egg, ham and cheese omelet smothered in green chili and a piece of french toast OR an order of wheat toast. (I think I just made myself salivate).

Anyway, the main reason I'm posting this is to add my 2-cents worth to this week's Admirer Monday. The rules of the game are that you've got to be a follower of the 2 girls mentioned above, and whoever the lucky winner of the coveted #3 spot. This week that person is The Frugal Free Gal. Congrats to the winner.

Now, the next trick is to make sure that you have the Admirer Mondays button added onto your blog. I put mine right up there at the top of the page. First of all, it matches the decor. And second, I want to make darn sure that they see it if and when they ever come a-knockin'. You don't have to post the button to your site, but if you don't you won't be in the running for the #3 spot.



Finally, just add your name and site to the list. From there it's just a matter of going from site to site and meeting some new people. Though it's not required, it's just good manners to return the follow to anyone who's following you. And if you do follow someone, be kind enough to let them know. And also, if you happen to have an Adult Site, you MUST mark your site as much in the list.

That's all there is to it. Don't be shy, go out and meet some people. But most of all, have fun doing it. Happy Admirer Monday to one and all.

Get Your Giveaways Listed

Hey kids, just wanted to shoot out a real quick one tonight.  I just read this and wanted to pass it along.  Heather at Living on Love and Cents is starting a huge giveaway list is looking for giveaway sites to add.  There are categories for daily giveaways and a section for those that happen everyday.  At the time of this posting, there aren't a lot of sites, but a few.  Run over and see if you're site would be a good fit.  Or head over there and see which sites you already know about, and see if you can't find a couple you didn't know before.

Kindle WiFi Giveaway From Bitten By Books

Well, I've spent most of this afternoon and evening joining as many giveaways as I can through the BlogFest 2010 party.  Honestly, I'm having a blast but I'm still under 30 sites total.  I look through the public list of others who are working on the giveaways and many of them claim to have already joined in all 254 giveaways.  What I find amazing is that I've found a few sites that haven't even listed their giveaway for the BlogFest yet, so how can these other people have joined in???  Oh well, I'll just keep plugging along at my own pace and pray I win something.  Even if it's just a couple of bookmarkers, I don't care.  I just wanna win something.  LOL

In my pursuit of entering all the giveaways listed with BlogFest, I did come across one that really struck me as being above and beyond the call of a basic giveaway. This is a prize that's worthy of being called a BlogFest Prize. The awesome webmistress at Bitten By Books is giving away a Kindle handheld WiFi reader. That's WAY awesome. I have the Kindle for PC's installed on my computer and I've been reading a few things here and there. But to have one that I could actually take to bed with me would totally make my day.

I love paranormal fiction.  It's quickly becoming one of my favorite genres in just about everything I read or watch on television.  Not horror, I think the two are completely different.  I don't like all the gross stuff, but I want the hidden mystery.  Not just a who-dunnit, but a who-dunnit/when-did-it-happen/where'd-the-dead-guy-come-from type of book.

Go get your name in the hat and see if you can't win this awesome Kindle WiFi, or any of the other great giveaways going on now through midnight EST Sunday.  You never know what you'll win, or how often.

BlogFest 2010 Giveaway Extravaganza

Hey check this out. Effective immediately A Journey of Books is hosting one of the biggest blog carnival giveaways I've ever seen. Granted, I've only been a part of a couple other blog carnivals and it was a couple years back. But!!! I'm not joking about the fact that there are a lot of blogs involved in this one. It's amazing.

Here's the gist of the whole thing. I found out about this from one of my favorite book giveaway sites, Dark Faerie Tales. From there I headed over to the BlogFest 2010 page and got the details. Each blog entered into this carnival is hosting a giveaway of their own. DFT is giving away a huge prize of at least 95 books. I may never have time to write another blog post again. LOL

Also, there is a Tracking Page where you can go and register and keep track of the number of sites you visit. Something was said about a grand prize at the end of the whole thing for the person who visits the most sites. You can also choose to keep your tracking list private or you can show it off to the whole world. Which I did because I'm an attention junkie. LOL

This blog carnival started at 12:00am EST on September 10th, 2010. It will end at 11:59pm EST on September 12th, 2010. That's 72 hours entering giveaways and working on winning as much as you can. And there may even be a grand prize in there somewhere for visiting the most sites. Don't know all the details there, but sure will be fun to find out.

Gift Card Giveaways

I love gift cards. If the occasion ever arises and anyone out there wonders what to get me for any particular event or holiday, gift cards. I don't care to where either. It could be to a store, a restaurant or drive-thru, a flea market, an online book fair, whatever. I save all my gift cards that have small amounts on them. Even if it only has a few cents left on it, I keep it. One year I did most of my Christmas shopping with a fist full of gift cards and a cashier who probably wanted to choke me. LOL

In honor of that poor girl who had to endure my shopping spree, I dedicate this list of gift cards being given away from various places. First of all, however, I have to thank Jen from Great Blog Giveaways for having such an awesome site. I found all of these card giveaways via her site. I highly recommend subscribing to her newsletter as she's got some killer giveaways listed.

Anyway, here's some of the gift card giveaways being held right now.

The team at Life360.com is giving away a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card. The only requirement to entering this giveaway is that you leave a legitimate comment on any post on the site. Every time you comment, you gain one entry into the giveaway for the week, with a total of 10 per week allowed.  This round will end on Friday,  9-10-10.

In case you don't win the Life360.com contest, you might try your hand at winning the $20 Amazon.com Gift Card being given away at Shibley Smiles. This card is being sponsored by GiftZip.com. This company makes it easy to send gift cards to friends and family all over the country, and the world. You can have your choice of physical gift cards or e-cards. It makes shopping for that hard to buy for person a lot eaiser. There are a lot of ways to enter into this contest, so run over there and get in on it while you can. This giveaway ends on Friday, 9-24-10.

Finally, check out this site I found through Jen's site. It's called MyCardz.net and this is kind of a cool idea. Each day this site gives away a gift card to one commenter. To enter, simply sign up and leave a comment. Only one comment per member per contest. Most contests last only 24 hours, but some last a bit longer. As soon as the contest is over, the comment section is closed. Then, one lucky winner is chosen from the comments.

So there you go. A few places where you can go and try to win yourself a gift card. We all love having a little extra money, but when it's free to begin with, it's just that much more fun to spend.

Subscriber Wednesdays

I've done several blog hops on this site, but up until now I'd never heard of a subscriber hop.  Yet, that's just what this one is that I found on Let's Just Give It Away.  Most blog hops work in conjunction with Google Friend Connect.  But this one is about subscribing to the RSS feeds of other bloggers via their email subscription.






Being someone who's been in the blogging field for several years now, I know how important it is to get people to sign up for your feed. It gives your site more authority and builds trust with search engines.

The rules of the game are easy. Subscribe to the hostesses and leave them a message telling that you've done so. Then add their button to the site you're listing. Remember that this is a subscriber linky. You need to subscribe to the email RSS feeds, not just follow them on GFC (although you can do that too if you want). Nor should you post about your current giveaway. There are other linky lists out there for those.

Finally, just make sure to subscribe to the blogs of your choice. If someone else comes to your site and subscribes to your site, be kind enough to do the same. It's just good manners, but it's not required.

The hostesses of this link up are as follows:

***Let's Just Give It Away***

***Cristin is Coupon Crazy***

***Mia Ma Miah's Diaries***

***Admundsen House of Chaos***

***Still On The Verge***

This is a great way to see those Feedburner numbers go up.  Not to mention the fact that you'll have new readers interested in your latest contests, giveaways, and reviews.  

I Just Became A Lady

I just found a cool site aimed directly at women bloggers. Introducing the Lady Bloggers Society. This is for all lady bloggers whether a stay at home mom or a home business owner, or even a little of both. There are all kinds of posts aimed at the female blogger, including writing tips and networking opportunities.

When I first started in the blogging industry, it was mainly an online version of the proverbial Boys Club. Now I'm not saying that in a bad way as I learned a lot from those boys. More than they'll ever know. But over the past few months that I've been playing with the giveaway sites and contest blogs, I've felt like I found my niche--my calling.

The Lady Bloggers Society is basically a single blog that all female bloggers can sign up with. Simply add the blog button to your site and fill out the registration form. In the works are a Lady Bloggers radio show and a free blogging session. And best of all, the creator behind this brilliant idea isn't just a lady who likes to blog, she's a mother, a writer, and runs her own home business. She knows what being a Lady Blogger is really all about.

If you're interested in meeting other lady bloggers and sharing ideas, this is the place to go. It doesn't matter if you're a college student working on finding your niche, or just a mommy bloggers who's looking for sales and coupon deals, you're a Lady Blogger and it's time you joined the Society.

Paranormal Books Giveaways

It seems that just about every giveaway site I visit is nice and pretty and kid friendly and perky.  It's like Disney land on steroids.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the sweet and friendly, but I also like a little variety in my diet.  The same goes for my giveaways sites and Dark Faerie Tales is one of my favorites.

I did a post about one of their other giveaways on a different blog a couple months ago.  The reason I like this site is because there is a whole slew of paranormal book reviews, trailers, and and more.  I love a good book and I love the paranormal.  Not the horror genre.  I like stories about vampires and ghosts and witch hunters.  Throw in an ancient flavor and you've got the recipe for a fun evening at home, at least for me.

One such book is called Queen of Shadows. This book by Dianne Sylvan isn't your typical vampire novel.  Here the vampire doesn't regret his ascension into the vampire's world, he accepts it.  He the leader of his sector and has found a way to seamlessly blend in with humans.  The female lead is a woman who's not your typical romance novel heroine.  She's a bold and brave woman who's succumbing to her own psychic abilities, and it's taking her to the very brim of madness.

This is one of those types of books that I could totally sink my reading teeth into.  One of those books that makes you late for work because you were up all night to see what happened next.  My favorite kind.  And here's the kicker.  You can win this book at Dark Faerie Tales.  I had to give it a shot as there was just something about it.  Maybe my psychic abilities are taking shape.  Oh wait, I spelled that wrong.  That's my "psychotic" abilities are taking shape.

So head over and check out this and all the other paranormal book giveaways going on right now.  If you love curling up with a good romance, this probably isn't the place to go.  But if you like a good romantic novel with a paranormal twist, (or any type of paranormal fiction), this is the place to see.

Sunday Giveaways at Midday Escapades

I'm starting to see a lot more blogs adding whole pages of giveaways to their sites.  This is way cool as it makes it easier to find the best giveaways without having to search all over.  I told you about a site yesterday that does it every day, but now I want to tell you about a place that does this every Sunday.  That site is Midday Escapades and is hosted by an awesome lady named Lynn.

I first met Lynn when she and 3 other webmistresses were hosting one of the Friday Meet and Greets.  Though this blog hop isn't going on anymore, I still enjoy Lynn's blog.  I also love the design of her blog.  Very classy with just a hint of Parisian influence.

If you're having a giveaway this week and want to get the word out, head over to Midday Escapades and get yours listed.  There are very few entries at the time of this posting, so hurry and get your name on the list.  Remember to add your Blog's Name, Prize, and the End Date.

While you're there, be sure to add yourself to her Google Friend list and subscribe to her RSS feed.  You'll be glad you did.  She's got a great blog and is always hosting a cool giveaway or 2 herself.

Blog Giveaways

Well, I was looking for a neat little giveaway to post here and came across a site I hadn't visited in some time.  The site is called Blog Giveaways and that's about all this site covers.  They post a daily section about different giveaways going on around the web, as well as a few of their own.

In order to have your own giveaway added to the list, you simply let the webmistress know and she'll get it posted.  Want more people to check out your site?  She also offers advertising space on her side bar for a small fee.  And this would be the place to get seen as she has well over a thousand Google friends.

For those who are always on the lookout for a new giveaway, this is the site to get hooked up with.  She's got a huge list everyday.  Not just giveaways that are restricted to the United States and/or Canada, but she posts about International giveaways too.  It's a neat little site, not too over the top or frilly.  In fact, compared to some giveaway sites, it's rather plain.  But that's okay.  There's nothing to take away from the basis of the site and that's all the cool giveaways that can be found there.

The Big Bang Theory VS. The Genesis

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.  Now, the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.  (Genesis 1:1-3)

For centuries, scientists and astronomers alike have been pondering on how we came to be.  Most Christians believe that God snapped his fingers and the Heavens and Earth we know today came to be.  Scientists have chosen to believe that a massive explosion in space, dubbed the “Big Bang”, was how the sun, planets, and galaxies formed and that the entity known as God had nothing to do with it.

Has anyone considered the thought that when God snapped His fingers, He created the “Big Bang”?  There has been plenty of evidence supporting the scientists.  Yes, there was an explosion out of which our solar system was born.  And yes this phenomenon took several billion years to play out from the initial energy cluster to the time the first signs of life began to appear.  But to a God who created space, energy, and time, several billion years is the same as a few minutes to us.

Maybe God knew that we would go looking for answers and purposely created the universe in a way that we could comprehend and see as being logical.  The Bible states that God said, “Let there be light”.  Well wouldn’t an explosion of such power and magnitude make light?  The answer is yes and lots of it.  Our sun, like all the others stars in the universe, came from that explosion causing “the light”.  We’ve also learned, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, that space is full of light.  I honestly believe that if scientists and religious leaders would at least listen to each other, they might find out that they’re both on the right track.

There is no denying the fact that the “Big Bang” took place and that physically, this is how the universe was created.  So why is it so hard for some people to believe that it was because God had wanted it to be that way?  Every religion in the world, both modern and ancient, have creation stories.  Each claims that their chief god created everything from nothing.  Scientists have speculated that there wasn’t much going on in space before our celebrated “Big Bang” occurred.  It was just a vast expanse of darkness.

These same people expect the rest of the world to believe that we were all, at one time, nothing more than algae, floating across a primordial ocean, following the tides to the lands edge, to one day become upright, walking human beings.  Why is it that they can except this theory with such vigor and still claim that God had nothing to do with it?

I firmly believe that God created all that we see today.  He created the Heavens and the Earth.  He created all living things, current and extinct.  And, it was God who brought it all into existence.  In essence, God is the Genesis behind the “Big Bang”.

September Blogging Challenge

Happy first day of September to all.  This is the beginning of another beautiful month and I can say that because I have a birthday this month.  I'll be old and decrepit.  LOL.  Anyway, I've also thrown my blog into the NaBloPoMo ring.  For those who don't know what that is, it's National Blog Posting Month.  I did it last month on one of my other blogs and actually managed to post every single day.  Whoo Hoo.  This month will be a real challenge as I've thrown this blog and the other blog both in.  That means I've got to try and keep each blog updated daily throughout the entire month.

The theme for this month's challenge is ART.  That's an awesome topic for me, but not because I'm so dang artistic.  Hardly!!!  I do consider myself a creative person, but not artistic.  However the two go hand-in-hand so I'm going to have fun with this theme.  Now, I just have to make sure I add a post each day to both blogs.  That's going to be the hard part, but if I put my nose to the grindstone, I can do this. 

So let's see how this goes.  If I work this just right, I can do this-plus still write my articles-plus work on my quilts-plus still keep up at work.  Yeah sleep is way too over-rated.  I'll sleep in October.  No wait, that's the month from hell (11 birthdays between the 1st and 31st).  I'm telling ya, if this year doesn't end pretty soon, I may have to throw myself into traffic.  Let's hope one of the tractors that cruise down main street are doing more than 6 miles an hour.  LOL

Happy September!!!!!!!!!!