The Winners Are...

Well... my one-year anniversary contest has come to an end. There were 61 entries made throughout the summer so huge thanks go to all of you who commented on the various posts I and Emily (my guest blogger) wrote. It's been a fun summer and I'm still not done writing about it. I'm sure I'll run into the Fall when I'm done posting about our summer Seattle/Vancouver trip but that's how it goes. I'm behind on writing and I was told that to be a 'sensitive blogger' I should not overwhelm my readers with tons of posts all at the same time so I have to spread them out!

So...drumroll please.. the winners of my 'one-year anniversary of being a blog writer' contest are:

Valerie and Amos

Congrats to the both of you!!

BTW, Valerie was my winner from my last contest but since she commended 18 times this summer (the most out of everyone)  statistically she does have a greater chance of winning...again!! Amos came in at 8 comments... not too shabby I must say! Please contact me to collect your prize!

But wait there's more!
Some of you have been dying to know... where did we go?

I'm surprised no one got it. Heather was partially correct. It does look like Scotland but of course it is quite obvious that we are not in Scotland. But think some more... use that brain muscle of yours...

Here is one more picture that might give you the answer...

Ok... where do you think this place is now?

One last HUGE hint...

Any guesses now?!?!

My 1-Year Anniversary...

...came... and passed.. and I didn't even blog about it!. :(

So I have been officially blogging for one year and five days with a count of 155 posts. Not bad if you ask me especially when I had to be on hiatus for two months.

To celebrate, I'm doing another contest!  Yep...one very lucky reader will get to win something from me! No... let's make it two lucky winners! All you have to do is to comment on any post that is written  today through the end of summer, August 30. I'll randomly draw two different winners on September 1. (Multiple comments on one post only count as one! Got that... Jeff? )

Since it's summer, I'm working on a few posts. But first, my husband has to sort all the pictures.

Here is a quick preview to look for...

We've Got A Winner!

My randomly chosen winner for my 100th Blog Post Contest is...Valerie Clubb!

Congratulations my dear friend! Valerie posted the most comments of everyone during the month-long contest! She must have really wanted to win! And she did!

Thank you everyone for reading and commenting. I so enjoyed the comments and tried to respond to many of them.

Keep on reading and look for another future contest!

Oh.. what did she win? She won a $50 gift card to a store of her choosing!

Don't know about you but I always prefer to get a gift card to a store that I actually like shopping at. So my philosophy is if I'm getting you a gift, I want to get it at a place that you want to spend it at.  And most retailers almost always have a website where you can purchase a gift card online and have it either mailed or emailed to your address. Super convenient!

Hannah picked the name out of the bag. She was excited to read it was Valerie. You see, Valerie is actually her classmate, Laneya's, grandma. She only knows her as Laneya's Grandma. Laneya's mommy is Ariel who is Valerie's daughter.  Ariel was Emily and Hannah's preschool teacher when they were each 5 and 4 respectively. What a small world huh?

Their last Sunday at FCC 2005.

I, on the other hand, know Valerie as a precious mentor, and wife to one of our favorite former pastors at FCC, Pastor Daniel, who was our Adults Pastor. Both of them led an awesome FCC Marriage Conference in Santa Cruz many moons ago that we were privileged to attend. The Clubbs are still very special people in our lives.

So Congratulations again Valerie and I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Number 100

I can't believe that this is my 100th post!

It's been six months since I started this blog. This blog has been a wonderful opportunity for me to document my family's happenings and whatever is mulling through my muddled mind. It's been a great way of expressing my thoughts and opinions in word.

Thank you for taking the time to read my writings and commenting your thoughts on them. I am so appreciative of the two-way dialog. (Note: I sometimes respond to your comment with a comment from me so check back on that post you commented on.) I am also thankful that I am able to eventually make this blog (including your comments) into a book for my girls to read when they are all grown up.

As a thank you, I am giving away a BIG prize to one of you. Whenever any of you comment on any of my posts this month, I will submit your name in a drawing. The more times you comment, the more times your name is entered into the drawing.

Note that the comments need to be on a blog post. Some of you email me directly your comments. I appreciate your feedback but for this contest the comments need to be published on the blog to be eligible for the prize.

One month from today, I will randomly draw a winner! Good-Luck and keep on reading and commenting!

Just curious, besides my husband and daughter, who else has read all 100 of my posts? Pop me a 'I did!' if you have. (I don't expect many to have read all 100 so that's why I'm curious to see who has.)

No blog post of mine cannot not include a picture so I'll leave you with some pictures of our holiday gatherings:

Matthew's family at Christmas 2011

My family at Christmas 2011