And the winner is....

.....lucky number 8 (generated via random.org). I would take a screen shot to prove it, but I have no idea how to do that! Anyone??

Congratulations, Amy!

Amy said...

Ooh, I am a sucker for stationary! Cute stuff!
I cool down by taking a dip in the pool and then enjoy one of my favorite summertime desserts, Strawberry Trifle-so light and delicious!

June 29, 2009 4:38 PM

Amy is actually a real life friend....which makes it an even sweeter victory. I can't wait to see what she picks out! I figured out how to link y'all directly to the stationary pages on Danielle's gorgeous freshly updated website. Click here to check out her children's stationary, and click here for the personal stationary. Don't forget...

Everyone (whether you entered the contest or not) can receive $5 off any stationary design this week by mentioning that you heard about it here on my blog. Oh, and Danielle is having a giveaway of her own (you have through today to enter). So, head over, check out all her beautiful designs, and make something your own. She is always coming up with something new, so check back often. In fact, in the last 24 hours, she has a great new product that you HAVE to check out! Very cool and affordable for all you bloggers out there!

Gotta run....

I have toenails to paint (Lucy's), breakfast to cook (Greer's), and coffee to drink (MINE)!

Praying you have a beautiful day....

Giveaway Day!

It crept up on me this time! Summertime is hectic and hot downright miserable in my humble opinion. That's my excuse! But no matter, here we go....

Click that cute little button up there to read the long version. Here's the short one....

Times are Tight!

You probably have friends who have lost their jobs, or others who can't find one. It is impossible to turn on the TV, read the paper, or surf the web without hearing about what a bad state our economy is in. We are all cutting back in one way or another, and many of us are trying to find ways to make a little extra money.

I have friends who have small businesses. Some of them have been around for a while, and some of them are brand new. I want to help them, and that's what these giveaways are all about! Each month or so, I will highlight a friend's business. It will give them a chance to show off their stuff, and of course....

Give Something Away

I can't tell you how excited I am about the giveaway today! Blog Designer Extraordinaire, Danielle, is in the process of expanding her business to include all sorts of cool design products. One of her newest items is stationary (she also offers invitations and recipe cards and business cards)....


For those of you wondering who I'm talking about, Danielle designed my blog. Everything you see here is her handiwork (minus the photos of my precious children, and for their beauty, I give all the credit to my awesome God...but I digress). She is immensely talented, and I am honored to call her my friend. We talk all the time and knowing her makes her work even more beautiful to me. If you're in the market for a blog makeover, she's your girl.


Amazingly talented, gracious, easy to work with, brilliantly creative, and fun.....you will NOT regret a single minute of it!


So, let's help her get her newest venture (print work) off the ground. The winner of this contest will receive a free custom stationary design (select one of her gorgeous children's or personal templates and make it your own). Just look at what she came up with for my friend Corey as a gift for her new arrivals!





Danielle will design it, upload it to VistaPrint, and then you can go and order your own prints...the design of the card will be the prize. If you haven't ever used VistaPrint, it's really easy and user friendly (and quite affordable)!

I have already decided that I will go to Danielle with all my future stationary needs....her work is unique and amazing, and her prices are way better then what I can find around my parts. Best thing? I know I am supporting an amazing woman whom I call a friend. What could be better?!


Soooooo....how do you enter?


It's simple! Just leave a comment. One comment per person, please, and have fun browsing through her work. And don't fret....


Everyone is a winner for this one! Danielle is offering $5 off any print design if you order in the next week and mention that I sent you! How's that for a giveaway!




I'll announce the winner on Tuesday morning....so voting will be open till I decide to close it. Comment away (and if you want to make it useful, tell me your favorite Summer cool down tip or activity....we are dyin' round here!).

Giveaway Winners!!!

Promise a better post later, but wanted to announce the winners!

Winner #1:  Jill

Winner #2:  Kristin

Winner#3:  Chickie

Yay friends!  I couldn't have picked a better bunch.  Y'all are the best.  And Jill, this is your pressure....you better get that blog up girl!   

Email me your order of preference for the earrings, and I will let you know which pair you'll be getting!  

My biggest hugest (is that really a word?) thanks and welcome to all of my precious readers/followers/supporters/tweets/blogmies/prayer warriors....

I love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Now go, and buy some jewelry!!!  You will LOVE Natalie's stuff.  

(p.s.  if  you didn't get me a birthday gift yet, I totally love the Copper ones)

Times are Tight Giveaway - 2nd Edition!

***Update***

Still time to enter!

Comments will be closed at 4:00 (ish) CST

Thursday, April 30th

Don't miss out on the fun!

I'll announce the winner sometime later this afternoon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Want to know the story behind the

Hold it Up to the Light Times are Tight Giveaway!?

click here for the long version !

Here's the short version....

Times are Tight!

You probably have friends who have lost their jobs,

or others who can't find one.

It is impossible to turn on the TV, read the paper, or surf the web

without hearing about what a bad state our economy is in.

We are all cutting back in one way or another, and

many of us are trying to find ways to make a little extra money.

I have friends who have small businesses.

Some of them have been around for a while,

and some of them are brand new.

I want to help them, and that's what these 

giveaways are all about!

Each month or so, I will highlight a friend's business.

It will give them a chance to show off their stuff, and of course....

Give Something Away

This month's featured friend is an amazingly talented girl.  God has gifted her with stunning beauty, a great husband (all the way from Australia), precious children, and the voice of an angel.  She comes from a beautiful family, and is amazingly funny, too.  Best of all....she loves her some Jesus!!!  

Natalie recently discovered a hidden "crafty" talent (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree), and this self-proclaimed "Hot Mama" is makin' a business out of it....and boy has it taken off.  Buyers all across town are snatching these up, and she is quite busy trying to keep them stocked.  I hear she is loving it, though, and I wouldn't want my readers to be behind the fashion times!  

Wouldn't you love to say you were one of the first to sport such awesome ear candy?  

Japanese Bamboo

Tropical Punch

Simply Sophisticated

For this giveaway, there will be 3 lucky blessed winners.  I will rank them using random.org.  The #1 winner will pick her favorite, the #2 winner will choose from the other 2, and the #3 winner will get the pair that is left.  Clear as mud?

"How do I enter", you ask?

Doing any of these things will score you a vote:

Leave a Comment (Anonymous Comments count TOO!)

Tweet about it

Blog It (feel free to grab the Giveaway Button to use in the post)

Follow my blog

Follow me on twitter

Just let me know what all you did by leaving one comment per entry, and I'll tally the votes sometime Thursday morning.  You could potentially win all 3 pairs if you play your cards right....

Look for the winners on Thursday afternoon/evening!  In the mean time, check out Natalie's Etsy site for LOTS of other designs.  I have my eye on several pairs!!!  Aren't they adorable!?

Coming One Week from Today!

I decided to start a little monthly giveaway during this past Lenten Season.  Next Wednesday, April 29th, will be the next installment, and I hope you'll check back and join in!  It's all about friends helping friends helping friends!  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just click on that button up there to read about it from the beginning.  Remember that the posts are in reverse order, so you may want to skip to the end and read them backwards. 
Gotta run....Greer is finally waking up from her monster nap.  That girl is a fah-reak of nature when it comes to sleep.  Seriously!  Remind me to talk to her pediatrician about it again tomorrow when we go for the 15 month check up.  It is seriously insane! 

All Good Crazy Things Must Come to an End!

Well, today was the last day of our beach vacation for Spring Break 2009....


I must admit, I am pretty pooped! I aim to be real, y'all, and I would be lying to you if I said it was all giggles and roses! It was tough at times, going it alone (without my precious husband that is)! All of the discipline, packing, unpacking, sunscreen applying, meal preparing, entertaining, Greer chasing, etc, etc, was pretty much up to me (and I would be lying if I said that I did it all with grace and poise). I would also be lying if I didn't tell you that I am a bit nervous about the ride home tomorrow. I pray it goes as smoothly as the trip down did, but at least I know who'll be there to meet me on the other side. I am dying to see you Chris!


One of the little blessings of this trip was having my sister Erin (aka Aunt Becca) and her boyfriend Landon down for most of the trip. They were awesome helpers and I think that if they hadn't been here, well, I would have completely lost my marbles! We had lots of fun, and we were so sad to see them go today! Thanks guys....we love you!


In fact, I think Greer has found her new favorite person in the whole wide world....

Sorry Landon, I think you're a bit too old for my sweet baby G!

(but don't they make a cute couple?)

We decided to make the most of their last night (especially since Erin lost a good two days to a horrendous stomach bug...). We headed over to Baytowne Wharf for dinner and ice-cream - and some awesome live music! Greer couldn't stop herself, y'all, that girl has some sista in her soul! You have got to see her dancing...it is absolutely hysterical. Promise I'll catch it on film some day soon!



And today we managed to make it to the pool not once, but 2 times....it was actually pretty warm. I feel like the kids had a great time - despite missing their Daddy. He better get ready...we're gonna cover him with some major hugs and kisses when we finally see him!





I am so happy that my kids have the opportunity to come down to this very special place. The memories we all have here are a part of our history and I know they feel like it's their home away from home....just like I did when I was growing up.

Thanks again, Charcey and Papa!

We had a great time!

````````````````````

And now...for the most important business of the day!

Who's the Winner of my 1st Times are Tight

Giveaway???

Congratulations BRANDI!

I'll be contacting you soon to get your address!

Hope you enjoy the album....I'm jealous

For everyone else who entered and supported me, a big heartfelt thank you to you, too!!!

I feel so loved and supported, and can't wait to see where this thing goes. Don't forget to stop by Janice's Etsy Store (the link will stay on my blog under Giveaway Participants)....I know she will be getting lots of new business! Love you Janice!

I'll be having another giveaway sometime in mid April (and I have participants lined up through the Summer, too), so stay tuned. Feel free to keep the button up on your blogs....I'll keep all the details up to date!

Gotta go pack a little more....I can't wait to get up and drive HOME!

Night, Y'all!

Times are Tight Giveaway - 1st Edition!

***Update***Since it's our last day at the beach, we're gonna be pretty busysqueezing in every ounce of fun we can today.I probably won't announce a winner till this evening, so if you happen by here today (Thursday), go ahead and leave a comment for a chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by!

Want to know the story behind the

Hold it Up to the Light Times are Tight Giveaway!?

click here for the long version to read all about it!

Now, here's the short version....

Times are Tight!

You probably have friends who have lost their jobs or can't find one.

You can't turn on the TV, read the paper, or surf the web 

without hearing about what a bad state our economy is in.

We are all cutting back in one way or another, and

we are trying to find ways to make a little more money.

I have friends who have small businesses.

Some of them have been around for a while and are struggling a bit, 

and some of them are brand new.

I want to help them, and that's what this idea is all about.

Each month, I will highlight a friend's business. 

It will give them a chance to show off their stuff, and of course....

Give Something Away

If you've been reading my blog this week,

you know that we're on vacation at the beach (YaY).

We have had a wonderful time, and I have tried to 

capture everything with my brand newcamera.

My first featured friend is giving away something 

that I would LOVE to keep for myself...especially after this week!

When I asked Janice to join in, she was so excited.

She has been a unbelievably amazing scrapbooker for 

a long time, and she just opened up her own Etsy Shop!

Her specialty is stamping, and I am so impressed with what she can do!

Please stop by and check it out, and know that you are 

supporting a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife, friend, and

Child of God

when you support her with a purchase.

Janice is a gem, and I love her so much!!!

And for all my awesome readers, this is what one of YOU will win...

 

A pre-made scrapbook, just in time for your next 

Beach Vacation!

It has lots of pages ready to fill with all your happy memories...

you don't have to be a scrapbooker extraordinaire (like Janice)

to love this one!!!

Wanna Win It?

Here's what you do....

To enter 1 time, just leave a comment

and get extra entries for 

Following My Blog

Tweeting About It

Following Me on Twitter 

or Posting My Button on Your Blog!

Make sure you let me know what all you did when

you leave a comment (if you already Follow Me Here or on Twitter,

I'll make sure to give you those votes....just remind me)

and thanks for supporting my friend!!! 

If you want to enter, but don't have a google account,

you can just leave an anonymous comment.  Just make sure you 

let me know who you are!

Voting ends tonight at Midnight....

I'll announce a winner sometime on Thursday afternoon, 

so make sure you stop back by to see if you won!

P.S.  If you have a business you want to promote, email me!

It's Coming Soon....Really Soon!!!

March 18th, to be precise!!!

Grab the Button, Tell All Your Friends

Tweet about it, Link it from Facebook,

Blog about it!

And if you don't know WHAT the heck 

I'm talking about....

Click the cute little button below for all the details!

Times are Tight....an Introduction!

This Lent, I am striving to be more intentional.  I want to be a better wife, mother, disciple, and friend.  I feel God calls us to put our faith into action, and I have been looking for a way to do that. 

We are living in tough times (unless you've been living under a rock, you know just how hard these times really are)!  In my quiet time, I have asked God "why?" more times than I can count.  I keep asking Him to guide me in how I should respond to the needs of so many dear friends who are struggling in this economic downturn.  I can pray for them, and believe me I am, but I want to do more.  I am called to do more. 

Some of my friends have started small businesses that are threatening to go bust.  They've taken up a craft (or brushed up on an old trade) and are selling their creations on eBay and ETSY.  They are working hard to sell books and clothes and hairbows and paintings and scrap-books and burp-cloths....whatever it takes to make ends meet.  Some of them have lost their jobs or are worried about losing their homes.  We are living in very scary times, but through faith in our wonderful God....anything is possible!

After much prayer, I have decided to start a Giveaway Carnival where my friends can advertise, network, and get personal about their business, their story, and their faith.  Oh, and of course....

GIVE something AWAY!!!

It's a win-win-win-Win situation, friends!

(you, them, me...God)

Do you (or a friend) have a small business you want to advertise (for free)??  Please send an email my way (megan@holdituptothelight.com)!  There are a few stipulations, but my ulitimate goal is to have a giveaway once a month or so.  I can't wait to see what God is going to do.  We should be up and at it mid-March! 

Oh, and one more thing....  

Can you help me get the word out???  

For now, the best thing you can do is grab my button over there and post it on your blog.  It will link your friends back to my story, and get them involved.  Who knows, maybe one of your readers will become one of my featured posters!!!  It's like the ultimate in "Paying it Forward"!!!

Thanks so much friends....

I am so excited to have you along for this ride!!!

7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9: 7-8

The Best of Intentions

I have so many things running around in my head right now that I don't really even know where to begin. I had every intention of having this post ready to publish on Ash Wednesday, but that just didn't happen. Because my children have been sick this week, things have not gone as expected.

I didn't expect to have to change around my work schedule and work on Ash Wednesday (a day I was really looking forward to spending in prayer and fasting. But I was happy to spend time home with my kids when they needed me). I didn't expect to have such a busy day at work yesterday that I couldn't even pause for 2 seconds to reflect on the meaning of Ash Wednesday (much less eat lunch sitting down....such is a nurse's life), and I didn't expect to be so dog tired last night that I couldn't type a single word. Nope, I just couldn't do it last night.

Today has been just about as busy, but I am much more refreshed. 2 doctors appointments and 3 kids home from school makes for a hectic day. We ended the evening with massive meltdowns (well, not Greer...she really is the perfect baby), but now they are all snoozing away. I'm just thankful that everyone is feeling better, and that we actually got to get out and enjoy a beautiful afternoon. So, today is the day for me to fill you in....I didn't want too much time to go by without telling you my plans for Lent (and something else totally awesome that I have up my sleeve).

In Lentens past, I've just given up something random, something physical (and basically meaningless) ....one time it was chocolate, one time coffee, one time I drank nothing but water and milk. I have to tell you, I don't remember getting a thing out of those Lents (although I'm sure that at the time I convinced myself otherwise). There was just no point to it. After a few days, it wasn't that big of a sacrifice, and I didn't replace it with any real substance....I didn't use that time to focus on my relationship with my Father in Heaven.

This Lent, I am choosing to focus my attention on my intentions....confusing enough?

Let me break it down this way....

Intentional Prayer....I am choosing to take more time for prayer. I tend to pray when I have nothing else to do, or when I'm in a place where no one can disturb me (driving alone or in the shower are my 2 favorites). I want my prayer life to become more of a sacrifice and more of a priority (you know, sometimes I don't get a shower every day)! We'll see where that one takes me.

Intentional Time Management (specifically online)....I am finding that I am getting some great spiritual substance from many of the blogs and other websites I follow, but I also waste my time on a lot of junk. If I don't feel like something I am reading is really feeding my spirit, I am going to quit reading it...and try to find something more productive to do with my time online. If I run across a great post that is discussing Lent or Easter, I will link it at the top of my Right Sidebar....I already have a couple there that are worth a look. If you run across something great, please send it my way (my email link is under my profile).

Intentional Parenting....If I'm being perfectly honest with you, I would tell you that I don't spend enough time nurturing my children's spiritual souls. Sure, we say our blessings and our evening prayers, but I could be doing so much more....I'll let you know how that is going in case you may also be looking for ways to go deeper with your kids. I really want them to understand what this season of Lent is all about and I think they will get WAY more out of Easter (I know I do).

Intentional Marriage....We will celebrate our 9th anniversary in just one week! I am so blessed to have this man in my life, and I know it could be so much better. We're going to work on that one together.

Intentional Friendship....This one is a biggie, because it is truly my "faith in action" during Lent (and hopefully beyond). God has blessed me with some amazing friends, and I just want to give back to them in a way that is bigger than I could possibly imagine....the best part is, you get to be a part of it, too!!! I can't wait to fill you in on all the details....

Coming Soon....