5th Bloggy-versary & A Contest

***Contest is open until April 17th 2010***

Wow – I can not believe that I am blogging since 2005. What a ride it has been – ups and downs that’s for sure 🙂 – First off, I want to thank my loyal readers. You have stuck with me through the full and not-so-full years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to do something special for my big 5th bloggy-versary…

…so I am holding a contest, which I had mentioned in my last post (still open for comments until midnight, March 26th).  I rambled for months about a photography book I am planning on self-publishing. The tentative date is set for May 20th, 2010. Thanks to Jill Carter at Crossway, I have the official permission to use ESV Scripture passages.

Although I have the cover designed, I need your help with the main title of the book. Leave you suggestion using MckLinky. The contest will be open until April 16th midnight AZ Time with the winner/winning title announced on April 17th. The prize? The winner will receive a hard-cover book of my first-ever published photography book 😉 (value at $35).


I am really giddy about this book. Thank you so much for stopping by today. Remember: you too can dream big when you give your dreams to Him…

In Search Of…

***Comments now closed***

Philippians_4…Encouragement Scripture passages for the photo-book that I will be releasing in May 2010.

The subtitle of the book will be “Encouraged Through His Word”. I would like for you to leave me one of your favorite Scripture passages that encourages you when you have a rough day, week, month. Which Scripture passage do you ‘cling’ to? For me it is Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

So, what is in for you, you may wonder?!? I will draw a random contributor from this post to receive the first soft-cover print of my photo-book ($20 value). The mini contest will be open until next Friday, March 26th (my 5th-bloggy-versary date).

The title of the book is yet to be determined. I plan on having another contest for the title of the photo-book starting Friday, March 26th. So, I hope you will come back next week to find out more about the title contest. Would you also spread the word about these contests? I would greatly appreciate if you would mention it to you friends and family 😛 .

Have a blessed Sunday afternoon and a peaceful coming week…

Thankful Thursday ~ Random

“The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.”
~ Psalm 28:7 (ESV)

This month we are meeting up at Laurie’s blog “Women taking a Stand” sharing our thankful hearts — hop on over to meet up with other thankful hearts 🙂 …

I am sorry that I missed out last week on sharing my grateful heart with you all, but life has been a little crazy (again). Not that I am not thankful, I give Him thanks daily…

This week I want to give another shout-out to my sweet friend Lori. Our friendship truly has kept me sane for the past 3+ years. Too bad that we are 1,823 miles apart from each other. Sure, I have friends locally, but Lori is more than a friend; she is closer to my heart than my own sister. Not only do I share my deepest hurts with Lori; she also sets me straight (in love) when I am off the course with my thoughts and feelings. She indeed is my ‘Titus 2‘ woman (yeah she is much younger in age — but much wiser) — thank You Lord for placing her in my life…

The other day as I was shopping for some household items at Target, I picked up a package of ‘value socks’ for my beloved. When I got home, my sweetheart was beaming, because the last package of socks we picked up from a different store, where actually hurting his feet (long story which I might share on a later date). When I locked at the packing, I noticed something really neat – MADE IN USA. Do you know how rare this is to find clothing made in the US?  Very rare (another post for another day)! Target – I am thankful that you started carrying clothing made in this country – maybe other chains will follow you and thus bring jobs back to this country.

As many of you know I love photography. Yes, I said ‘love’…photography gives me a creative outlet. It helps me to capture the beauty God has placed around us and gives me relief from the day-to-day stress. Soon I will be asking for your help to create my first photo-book that I will be publishing through Blurb. I want to shout out a deep-down thanks to Jill from Crossway to send me the written permission to use ESV Scripture passages in my book. Jill – you rock and I am thankful for your help.

Last, but not least I am thankful for you, my dear readers. You have made the past 5 years of blogging fun, but challenging. You have helped me to grow, to reevaluate me being here. You have challenged me to step out of my comfort zone many times. Which in turn helped me to be real – honest about who I am…So thank you from the bottom of my heart…

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: a thankful heart is a joyful heart…

Thank you Lori!

Not only did my sweet friend Lori from Lori’s Reflections create a new business logo, she also redesigned my website (click on the image to take you to my website). Lori, thank you from the bottom of my heart to work so hard over this past weekend to get my website up and running. BTW –  my beloved thinks my new website is groovy 😉  .