this is our happily ever after

Day 4--Easter Faves

Easter is right around the corner and although we don't have kids I still like to create Easter baskets for Brian and I.  There are always a few things that are MUST haves in the Easter basket/Easter bucket each and every year.

1.Peeps

2. Reese's Egg(s)

3. Jelly Beans of some kind

4. more chocolate, preferably dark

5. a gift card

Today's giveaway is an Easter bucket filled with Peeps, a Reese's egg, jelly bean shaped gum, dark chocolate eggs, and a $15 Starbuck's gift card...You could say this is a SWEET giveaway.

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment with your name on this post (if you want to, tell me what your favorite Easter candy is...mine are Peeps)
  
• Whether you read this blog every day or this is your first time to stop by you are eligible to enter.  You don't have to live in Houston to enter...I'll mail your gift :)
  
• Your comment must be posted by noon tomorrow, Friday, in order to win
• I will use random number generator to select a winner

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!!!

Day 3 Winner

The winner of Life Interrupted is Becki McAuley, who I know is going to be super excited!!!  Becki and her husband Greg are our Life Group leaders :) 

Becki, let me know when and how I can get this to you.  You're going to love it!

Check back after 2:30 to see the next giveaway...it's a sweet one :)

 

Day 3- Life Interrupted

There is no better word to express how I feel about the most recent season of my life than INTERRUPTED.  I'd been on a roll with writing, we were hours away from putting our house on the market, and as far as we knew God might have a baby for us any day.  Then, I went and broke my wrist and well, you know the rest of the story...life was interrupted.

Ironically enough the week before I broke my wrist I had gone to Lifeway Christian bookstore to purchase Prisiclla Shirer's book One in a Million.  I was told at check out that if I pre-purchased her new book, released March 1st, that I could get One in a Million free.  FREE always sounds good to me so I prepaid and almost forgot all about it...until I was cleaning out my wallet last week and found the reminder. 

Obviously if I bought another copy and am giving it away you know I like it... A LOT!!!  Priscilla uses the story of Jonah to create a modern day connection to ask the question, are Life Interruptions really Divine Interventions? Today's giveaway is Life Interrupted and a mini book called The Simple Life

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment with your name on this post (if you want to, tell me who your favorite author is)
  
• Whether you read this blog every day or this is your first time to stop by you are eligible to enter.  
• Your comment must be posted by noon tomorrow, Thursday, in order to win
• I will use random number generator to select a winner

Thanks for playing and good luck!!!

Cookbook winner

The winner of the Southern Living Quick and Easy cookbook is MICHELLE TANNER!!!!  Michelle I'll bring it to FPE tomorrow :)  Congrats!

Next giveaway will be posted around 2:30 today

Day 2--for the love of cooking

Today's giveaway is also related to something I enjoy and missed during my recovery--COOKING!

I'll definitely need some physical therapy before I'll be cooking a lot, but I did manage to cook last night which made me happy.

I love Southern Living Cookbooks and this one is a doozy!  Over 600 quick and easy recipes!  Everyone needs a stockpile of quick and easy recipes for their busy lives and this huge cookbook fits the bill.

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment with your name on this post (if you want to, tell me what your favorite cookbook is, but you don't have to in order to win :)
  
• Whether you read this blog every day or this is your first time to stop by you are eligible to enter.  
• Your comment must be posted by noon tomorrow, Wednesday, in order to win
• I will use random number generator to select a winner

Thanks for playing and good luck!!!

Day One winners

The winner of the clipboard/to do list is Katy Gump!  I'll bring it to church on Sunday Katy!

and the winner of the Vera Bradley notebook is Jennifer Allen!  I'll bring it to FPE this week Jennifer!

Congrats ladies!!  Tuesday's giveaway coming soon!

 

Giveaway: Day 1--the WRITE stuff

Giving/receiving gifts is one of my top 2 love languages, so it seems appropriate that I give my blog readers some love now and then.  Ever since Kelly's blog giveaway I've been looking for a reason to GIVE.

I WILL BE HOSTING A DIFFERENT GIVEAWAY EACH DAY FOR THE NEXT WEEK!

Today, in celebration of having the big blue cast removed, I want you to celebrate with me the gift of being able to write.  Writing, using a pen, marker, or pencil always will be a huge part of my daily life.  I cannot transition to making to do lists on my phone or ipad.  I still use an old fashioned planner.  When writing devotions, I write them by hand, and I'm one of those people who still sends cards and letters to people...and I'm not talking e-cards and emails only. 

Not being able to write these past 6 weeks has been a frustrating and discouraging.  Writing is cathardic for me, journaling has been therapy for me in the storms of life...and not being able to put my thoughts, feelings, and emotions on paper during this trial has been challenging.

Today I decided to give two things away

#1- A clipboard and coordinating to do list notepad--I'm a to do list junkie and I typically create a weekly to do list and keep it on one of my many clipboards.

#2- Who doesn't LOVE Vera?  I've used a Vera Bradley notebook as my prayer journal for a few years and I love having room to take notes, write prayers, and document how God is working.  Plus it's spiral bound which is a must have in any journal! 

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment with your name on this post (if you want to tell me what your favorite restaurant is, but you don't have to in order to win :)
  
• Whether you read this blog every day or this is your first time to stop by you are eligible to enter.  
• Your comment must be posted by noon tomorrow, Tuesday, in order to win
• I will use random number generator to select a winner

Thanks for playing and good luck!!!

showings, strawberries, and bluebonnets

Showings

I woke yesterday morning with a bit of anxiety about our home being shown for the first time.  As one who has never moved from one house to another I'm finding this whole process to be bittersweet.  Bitter because I adore our house, we have made so many memories in this house, everything in this house was hand selected and decorated by yours truly.  Sweet because I know that this is God's plan, Brian has a fantastic job with an equally fantastic company, and I know another house awaits us.

While we expected 1 showing this morning, we ended up have 3 total today.  The last family stayed for 45 minutes which Brian and I believe is a good sign.

Strawberries

While the house was being shown Brian and I went to Frobergs Farms in Alvin.  I didn't think about it being strawberry picking season which resulted in big crowds, but it was fun nevertheless.  I took a few photos with my point and shoot and look forward to taking our kids there to pick strawberries someday.  We didn''t pick strawberries, but we did buy some fresh picked ones that we'll enjoy this week.

Bluebonnets

I saw a large grouping of bluebonnets a couple miles from our house while we were driving to Frobergs.  When I returned home, I grabbed my camera and went back to take some photos.  Bluebonnets are the state flower here in Texas and blanket the sides of interstates to country roads this time of year.  

Check back tomorrow...if my cast comes off I'm hosting a week of giveaways here on my blog!

 

our house is a very, very, very fine house

with two cats in the yard.....are you singing yet?

Here's the link to view our home, which is now officially for sale.  The Realtor needs to change the square footage to 1965 and change out a picture or two, but otherwise we're legit

update 3/24: there's now a video you can see :)

I will miss the gorgeous sunsets!

 

ten on tuesday

1. Spring has certainly sprung here in the South.  Our yard looks lovely which is perfect since our Realtor is coming today to take photos of the house and yard.  If you remember he was supposed to come about 5 weeks ago, but I guess God just wanted us in this house a little longer.

2. Next Monday is the day the cast comes off!!!!!  I can hardly wait to write and get a much needed manicure...and cook...I can't wait to cook!

3. Kelly had a great post on using coupons the other day...and who doesn't want to save some money these days.  I used 5 coupons yesterday and saved $7..that's two drinks at Starbucks!! 

4.  Another thing regarding coupons is that if you do have a Target that you shop at Target also has coupons that you can print off.  I actually printed off a $2 coupon for a swimsuit and a $2 coupon for a dress in addition to food coupons.

5. I think in celebration of getting my cast removed next week I'm going to plan a week of giveaways. 

6. We have a for sale sign in front of our house (sniff sniff) It's not a seller's market rather a buyers market....so although we likely won't walk away with a huge profit we hope to be able to find and buy a larger home and get a good deal! 

7. Just discovered this FABULOUSLY CUTE online shop that specializes in personalized products. I could spend a small fortune on her designs! 

Be still my paper loving heart!

Can you even imagine planning your week on this?

8. Becky Higgins has a great video on her blog about what Project Life is all about.  There's also glimpses of her gorgeous home...seriously gorgeous!  Of course if I had created project life and branded myself the way she has I, too, could live in my dream home! 

9. Speaking of Project Life...I'm ready to get back to it!!

10. We've read that AT&T is buying T-Mobile which thrills me because maybe now I'll get an iphone!