Francine Rivers Giveaway!

Thought I would share with all of you about the Francine Rivers contest! I love her books and I know they have touched many people's lives. Here are the details:

The Francine Rivers Facebook page is well on its way to reaching 100,000 fans. To celebrate this milestone, we’re giving away some fantastic prizes!
Until April 4, you can get a free e-book of Leota’s Garden. You don’t even need to own an e-reader to take advantage of this special offer.
Visit one of these sites to download your free e-book:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Sony
Christian Book Distributors
We’ll also be holding a drawing with these prizes. (Each prize listed is for the regular, non-e-book edition.)
Grand Prize—complete Francine Rivers Library
Subsequent Prizes –
First Place Prize (1)—1 copy each of Her Mother’s Hope/Her Daughter’s Dream
Second Place Prize (2)—1 Mark of the Lion boxed set
Third Place Prize (3)—1 copy of A Lineage of Grace
Fourth Place Prize (4)—1 copy of Sons of Encouragement
Here’s how you can enter for a chance to win:
You must complete one or more of the following actions:
- “Like” the Francine Rivers Facebook page
- Invite at least 10 friends to “Like” the Francine Rivers Facebook page (using the “share” link of Facebook or through e-mail).
- Share this contest on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook page.
Fill out the form below to let us know which actions you completed. Each action counts as one entry.
We’ll choose the winners at random and announce them after the Leota’s Garden e-book giveaway ends on April 4!
Any questions? Leave them as a comment on this blog post.
Thank you for participating!



Click here for the link!!

P.S. Please share with me if you enter the contest!!

A Little Less Wisdom and a Jaw Bra

So, Friday was the day I lost some wisdom...that is, my wisdom teeth! All four of them!!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...I definitely had myself kinda worked up into a nervous wreck (hmm...maybe it's all that Grey's Anatomy I've been watching lately...), but before I knew it I was done and ready to go! It wasn't even an intimidating surgery room...more like a small doctor's room with a dentist chair! Again...I had myself all worked up thinking it was more intense that it was going to be.

Eric has been a wonderful husband taking care of me and when he had to go to work on Saturday my momma stepped in and did her fair share of mom/nurse duty. Along with all the great care, I had some of my favorite people in the world come and visit me on Saturday! Rachel and Maggie came by, complete with a carton of Blue Bunny Monster Cookie ice cream (!), as well as my sister, brother-in-law, and sweet nephews, complete with lots of snuggles, kisses, and smiles. Those kinds of things can make anyone feel better. Sully fell asleep in my arms, which you don't get that chance very often from him. It was like it was his gift to me...if anyone can sympathize with surgeries it would be Sully! And Hurley was very sweet...when I was laying on the couch he came and laid his head on my legs and just stayed there for a while...whimpering a little as if he knew I was in pain. So sweet.

Sorry to disappoint, but I have no pictures...I figured you could all do without a picture of my teeth (yes, I am one of those people that wanted to see them, but no I am not one of those people that will keep them or make it into a necklace as Eric suggested). And no lovely pictures of myself recovering, complete with my "jaw bra" as Rachel called it (lol...I guess that's what she was told it was). All I have to say is I love the jaw bra. I do however have some funny comments I wrote on facebook when I wasn't quite "with it" and there are a lot of misspelled words as my mother so humorously pointed out to me :) So if you're friends with me you can check it out to get a little laugh...(I talked about how the laughing "gass" was great....).






P.S. Have you had your wisdom teeth out? What was your experience?

Borders going out of business sale :(

I love Borders!! For some reason I have always liked it more than Barnes and Noble...but, sad to say that if you haven't heard already...the Borders in West Des Moines is closing.

BUT I guess what makes up for a store closing are the awesome sales!

Hurry in everyone to get first picks! I don't know for sure when it is officially closing (thought I heard someone say in May), but I do know for sure the sales have begun!!

feelings about the past week

negatives:
-sinus infections are NOT. FUN. i have never in my life had such a headache or seen so much green snot. after a week and half of what i thought was the flu, i was able to get some antibiotics to punch this
infection in the face.

-allowing my child to watch entirely too much tv while laying on the couch and praying for relief. the girl who never sits still, will immediately sit on her bottom and watch the entire episode of "Calliou" without moving. not my finest week of parenting, that's for sure.

-the in-between weather that's been happening lately.  once the last bit of snow melts, i am ready for summer and i feel like it's taking forever to be warm again. 80 degrees, please hurry up....


positives:
-feeling thankful for peyton's grandparents:) they allow me to indulge in a little "me" time every once and a while. in this case, it was going to the doctor two times in one week, but i was alone, so that counts as "me" time, right? ALL of p's grandparents are always very willing to take her off our hands and we are so thankful!
-spending time outside and enjoying our football field of a backyard.

-watching a little girl fall in love with the outdoors. she's always asking to play outside and many times will cry when she has to come in. her favorite activity? following after birds, finding little rocks to sort and watching all the neighborhood dogs. i can't get enough.

-the first big rainstorm of the season. my husband was beside himself excited. while the rest of central iowa was hovering in their basements during the tornado warning, he was standing outside, looking around with a giddy smile on his face. he's got a thang for weather and i love that about him.

-i love logging into our bank account and seeing a much larger sum of money than there was yesterday. tax returns are wonderful:)

it's been a roller coaster of a week and i'm feeling happy about life. who's with me?

Hurley

Hurley is my first baby. And he's a big baby! Take a look for yourself at how he's grown...

Then...

and now...

I need to fix his eyes in this picture!

He's currently around 80 lbs and is only 10 months!!

I always wanted a dog growing up, but a hamster was the closest I ever got. After meeting the dog that Eric grew up with, I fell in love with black labs. We played around with the idea of getting our own for a while, but it wasn't until this past summer when we happened to stumble upon labs for sale that we really considered the idea.

I was so excited to get our puppy. I couldn't wait for all the picture perfect moments such as going on walks, playing, snuggling...but it was that first weekend after getting him where I got a dose of reality and just a little glimpse of what it would be like to have a baby. Don't get me wrong...I loved the little guy but I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Puppies are hard work!! I found myself sleep deprived, exhausted, and overemotional. Seriously, I good reminder of how I'm ok with waiting to have a baby for now! It has definitely been a good first step toward preparing for having kids. That is something I want more than anything and am so excited for when the time comes...but for now, I am absolutely content with having it be our small little family of three. He's teaching me a lot about patience and selflessness.

Although it hasn't been the easiest road (and he's still a puppy with lots of energy!), it has been a fun ride and he is a blessing to us. Of course, the potty training and transitioning of now sleeping out of his kennel and in our room at night helps! He has provided us with so much joy, laughter, and love. He is our buddy and there is nothing better than always having someone that's excited to see you when you come home. He is loyal and has the best little personality. Ollie (our nephew) is in love...he made Hurley a valentine before anyone else! It's so much fun when our little guy provides joy for others too. My favorite moments are when he lets me just sit and kiss and kiss and kiss his soft and floppy ears.

I'm excited for the moments and memories to come. I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell you in the future. For now, thank you Hurley for helping me be a better person and for starting to groom me for motherhood :)

The day we got him!!

Hurley and mommy on my bday this year.

P.S. What special buddies do you have in your life? Tell me stories!! Any helpful tips are welcomed as well! :)

Febreeze for your hair.

One of my secret weapons as a mom, is that I don't wash my hair everyday.  It allows me to spend less time getting ready every other day and helps me accomplish other more important things. However, I recently cut myself some bangs and started noticing they end up getting greasy by day two of no wash.

About two weeks ago, I was watching TV and saw a commercial for Tresemme's dry shampoo that's specifically made for your hair on days you don't wash it.  It refreshes the locks and takes the grease out.  I picked it up for a few dollars at Target to try it out.

It is now one of my favorite new things!  I'm surprised at how well it works and how it keeps my bangs from looking greasy.  If I use too much, it can give my hair this powdered look but after a few days of testing out the product, I have figured out how to use it more.

So, just in case you're looking for a way to save time or look a little less greasy-- try this! And let me know if you like it! :)

P.S. Here's another post I did on a bunch of my other favorite hair products.  

apple crisp deliciousness

here's a yummy recipe to try if you have time....i had been craving apple crisp for a few weeks (since Brandon and i watched something about it on the food network channel), so i thought i would have a go at it. this is huge for me, because if i am going to spend time making homemade dessert, it's gotta have chocolate in it.

well not this time..


here the recipe i followed:

Carmel Apple Crisp

	Filling		Topping
8-10	large granny smith apples; peeled, cored and sliced	2	cups brown sugar
2	Tbs. lemon juice	2	cups flour
2/3	cup sugar	1	cup instant oatmeal
1/3	cup flour	1/2	cup chopped walnuts
2	tsp. ground cinnamon	1	cup butter; melted
3/4	tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4	tsp. ground cloves
3/4	tsp. salt
1	(12 oz.) jar carmel sauce

In a buttered 12" Dutch oven add apples and lemon juice; stir to coat apples. In a separate dish combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt; stir to mix. Pour dry ingredients over apples and stir until apples are well coated. Spread out apples and pour carmel sauce over the top. In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and walnuts; stir to mix. Using a fork mix in melted butter to form coarse crumbs. Spread topping evenly over apples. Cover Dutch oven and bake using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 16-18 briquettes top for 60 minutes.

 and now for the pictures....
happy wednesday!

this bad boy is my pampered chef apple peeler. saved  me at least 30 minutes of peeling and slicing!

right outta the oven. all the caramel had bubbled up and risen to the top.....uhg, SO GOOD.

add a little ice cream....and voila!