Well, apparently the end of June is the busiest time of the year next to Christmas.  The good news is that nobody was hurt during the Earthquake we had yesterday. Despite J’s school being evacuated, Hubby having to work double overtime and Apple and I having to pick up a few things that fell down we really didn’t suffer much more than some shaken nerves and a reminder that we are not immune to the ground shaking.

Before I announce the winner of the Swanky Paper Giveaway I have to say that Heather, from Swanky Paper, emailed me today after reading about my Blogiversary and offered to donate the cards for my giveaway.  How sweet is Heather?  Be sure to think of her if you are looking for some notecards or invitation, I do love her designs as much as I love paper.  Thank you Heather.

Now to announce the winner.  I used the Random.org generator and it picked comment number 1.

Shannon!

Go figure that A Crafty Mom who may be the only person I know who loves paper more than I do would win this giveaway.  Congratulations Shannon and be sure to enter today’s Giveaway.

Now onto today’s giveaway.  I am sticking with the wood/paper theme here and giving away one of Sharilyn’s Pocket Books from Lovely Design.  I ordered one a few months ago and just love it.  The pocket book is handmade, using  scraps of paper such as old maps, accounting papers, lined papers and many more.  The books are bound and covered in a gorgeous linen, I chose the Robin’s Egg Blue and use it for notes and reminders.  In between the pages there are little pockets with surprises and it just adds so nicely to the books. Sharilyn also has other great products.  I am eyeing the Address file, so that may just be my next purchase.

I will also add that Sharilyn is extremely busy and can’t even keep the pocket book and journal books in stock.  The next order should be ready in the next few weeks, so I am on the waitlist ready to order one for the winner the moment they are released. So your prize will not be delivered immediately but in a few weeks time.

For today’s giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment and tell me how do you keep all of your addresses organized?  I have two ways, my old daytimer and it’s address pages and my address book on my computer, but neither is truly complete so I need to make a decision and update on and get rid of the other. Contest closes at 6pm on Friday, June 25th where a winner will be randomly chosen from all entries.

My official Blogaversary is Friday, June 25th which makes it five years that I have been writing this blog.  Five years that I have been sharing with you at my little place in the blogisphere.  I know that some weeks I have a lot to share and some, not so much.  But, I also know that it has been great to get to ‘meet’ you all and share in your stories and lives as well.

I love that I have met so many wonderful people in real life through my blog.  If I had never dared myself to do this I would never have met A Crafty Mom, Andrea, Borderline Bonkers, Kami’s Khlopchyk, Secret Agent Josephine or Bethany Actually.  All of whom are just as wonderful in real life as they are on their blogs.

When I first started sharing, I did it as a lark.  I felt like I couldn’t just lurk and read others blogs without contributing a little something back.  Then, I kind of got hooked.  It became like an addiction.  I will be doing something and writing posts in my head.  Not all of them make it to the blog due to time constraints but, I see the posts or hear them while I am out and about.  And that was when I knew I was in it for good.  I can honestly say in five years that I have never thought of stopping and this blog has seen me through some pretty tough times and I am grateful for those of you who commented and helped me through them.  There are also times when things in life don’t go so well and sometimes that it when things go a little quiet here, because believe it or not there are things in my life that I don’t share with the whole world.

As a little thank you I will be giving away a few of my favorite things this week.  The Fifth Anniversary is the Wood anniversary (modern) or the silverware (traditional) since I am sponsoring my giveaways, I will stick with the more modern approach and go with wood.

So the first giveaway will be from Swanky Paper. I love Heather’s personalized notecards.  They are so fun and funky, I wish I had a set of each. The winner of this giveaway will get to choose either a flat notecard set or a folded notecard set from the personlized notecards. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what is your favorite way to celebrate an Anniversary (and it could be any Anniversary, not necessarily a wedding one).  Contest closes at 6pm Wednesday, June 23rd a winner will be randomly chosen from all the entries.

…but…

I am going to Blogher ‘10!

Someone talked me into it, I couldn’t have made this decision on my own.  I still don’t fully believe that I am going to go away for a weekend to a conference (read - WITHOUT MY CHILDREN!!).  When I talked to Hubby about it he couldn’t stop laughing.  He still thinks that blogging is just a way for me to waste time on the computer.  He told me to go and have fun in between his laughing fits.

I am nervous and excited at the same time.  I look forward to meeting fellow bloggers from around the US as much as I look forward to learning how to take my blog further if I want to.  I know that this is my little fun space, just for me, but wouldn’t it be nice if I could take it farther and make it something more?  No? Yes?  Who knows.  Either way I think it will be a fantastic opportunity for me and my partner in crime to get away and chat with other crazy bloggers.

Who will we see there, are you going?  And worst of all… what am I going to wear?

Life is continuing at a fast pace here, but I thought I would share two great things for today.

I have a new sponsor here at the Beach.  Please welcome Tiny Prints.  I was so excited to be contacted by Jessica because I love Tiny Prints and the designs and layouts of their cards.  I have been asked several times be clients to provide cards for their birth announcements and as much as I love designing them, sometimes it is just better to leave that to someone else.  Thankfully, Tiny Prints offers a wide selection to choose from.  They ship both in the US and Internationally, so us Canadians can enjoy their product as well.  Feel free to drop by Tiny Prints to check out their cards for your next special occasion.

Now onto my recipe. I was busy today getting caught up on some of my baking.  I had to make my annual Rum Balls.  Now, these are not for the faint of heart, neither are they for children.  They contain Rum and lots of it.

Rum Balls

3c.  Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

1     can of condensed milk (I use Eagle Brand)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. Rum (I use Appleton Jamica Rum)

• Put condensed milk and chocolate chips in a large microwavable dish.
• Melt the mixture in the microwave (2-3 minutes at 50% power. This may vary depending on your microwave)
• Stir Mixture, if the chocolate is not completely melted, increase time in microwave.
• Once the chocolate is melted and it is smooth after stirring, add vanilla and then the rum.
• Stir until the vanilla and rum are completely absorbed in teh misture.
• Cover and chill 2-3 hours or until firm.
• Shape into 1 inch balls.
• Roll in desired coating (eg. chocolate powdered sugar)
• Store tightly covered in refrigerator.

Serve. And Enjoy!

Not that long ago I decided to stop my BlogHer ads. Not that I minded the ads, but I really wasn’t getting much from them, and instead I was missing out on other opportunities because I couldn’t participate due to their advertising policies.

About a month ago, I picked up a Sponsor for my blog, Uprinting.com.

They sponsor my blog, which helps pay my hosting fees and in addition they offer giveaways every month or so and I can choose whether or not I offer them to you. This is the first one I am participating in and will see how you guys like it.

Since Photography is one of my favorite things, and so many of you are also fabulous photographers I thought this would be a great giveaway to participate in. UPrinting is offering myself and one of you an 18×24″ digitally printed high-gloss or demi-gloss poster. Two of the products offered by Uprinting is Poster Printing and Custom Poster Printing which allows you to print one or many posters at a time.

All you have to do to win one is leave me a comment and describe which photo you would pick to have blown up to poster size.  This is the photo I am going to send in:

It speaks to me of summer, one of our favourite places to go and be together as a family.

So let me know, which photo would you choose?

Contest closes August 6th, Winners will receive their coupon code via email on August 7th.

*Giveaway is open to US/CAN residents. Ground shipping of prizes is free, but there is a $5 handling fee that must be paid by winner. UPrinting reserves the right not to print obscene or offensive materials.

All designs submitted in the form of a giveaway may be used by UPrinting for online marketing and promotional uses. The designs will be used solely as examples and will not be printed or commercially distributed.

Once again life has taken over and I have had not enough time for me.  This is not surprising considering it is Summer and the kids are home all day, but it is surprising because it has rained non-stop for like a million years, or so it seems.  Today is actually sunny and we spent the morning outside until J saw too many wasps, then he was done.

Last Thursday I had the amazing opportunity to meet real live Ottawa Bloggers at BOLO.  I did post about going, but I was still a little nervous.  I have spent four years blogging in my family room and knowing that most of my readers are out of town or out of the Country.  I write what is in my heart or on my mind, but I don’t usually go out and meet locals because then it takes my blogging out of my family room and into the real world.  At the same time, this was the next logical step for me.  Since I have been reading more local bloggers and they have been reading mine, it seemed like the right time to do it.  And I got to go out for an evening without my kids.

Lynn did the most amazing job pulling it all together.  You would have thought she organized events for a living, a truly wonderful, well organized and completely on schedule event.  I had the opportunity to show my work, which was amazing for me as well.  I brought an album of weddings and portraits.  And I brought three frames one with a single poster, one with shots from farms around Canada and another of beach shots.  It took me two weeks to pull it all together and I was happy with the work I presented and happy to have the opportunity.  Thank you again Lynn.

In other new and exciting things that are going on for me, I have been asked to review a book.  I don’t think I have done this before, at least not officially, so I am looking forward to this new step.  And I have been asked to display some of my photos in a local coffee shop.  When this actually comes together, I will be sure to blog all about it as I am very, very excited.

I am terribly remiss in writing this post and I cannot believe that Thursday is almost here. But, I don’t want to go another day without saying that I will be attending, reading and displaying my photos at Blog Out Loud on Thursday.

Lynn from Diary of a TurtleHead had this great idea of a little bloggy get together.  Where we would meet at a café and read some of our posts.  Well, it has turned into a much larger event than I at least anticipated and I think it will be lots of fun.

At first I asked if I could just show some of my work.  I am not one to do public speaking normally (well, not usually something I have written.  I have been known to sing Carols in meetings and teach people about computers when I really barely knew what I was talking about), but Lynn is persistent.  She kept encouraging me to read one of my posts so I finally agreed.  I am going back and forth between a couple of posts so I don’t know yet which one I will share.  But, I have been pulling together some of my photography and look forward to bringing it there.

If you have no plans for Thursday night, drop by and see us at Raw Sugar Café, 692 Somerset Street West from 7-10pm.  I am secretly excited to meet a few people I have known through blogs and to have yet another evening out.  Now if only Hubby would join me.  Not likely, he’s not much of a blogging kind of guy.

Photo of Graduation Pops I made for J’s class, seemed like a fun way to say Congratulations!!

Sorry this one didn’t get up first thing this morning, but as usual just before leaving for a trip we discover something not working in the truck and I have spent the morning running, and I mean running around.

Congratulations go out to Lynn!!  You won my Blogiversary Giveaway! I will be contacting you shortly for your snail mail info.

I was trying to think of something personal to give away for this year’s blogiversary (am I even spelling that right? not sure) like a family photo shoot, but when I realized that many of my readers are far away from our Nation’s Capital that just wouldn’t be fair.  I mean it would be if I could afford to fly to where ever you live, but I am a SAHM so I cannot afford the airfare at this point. Instead, I opted for four of my favourite things.

This little package contains four of my favourite things, five if you include the pen.

You Deserve This by Cake Beauty.  I received this as a gift from my eldest Sister last year for my birthday and my hands and feet have thanked her ever since.

An Ecojot notebook.  The same one I carry around with me all the time.  Who am I kidding?  I have about five of these throughout the house, all for different things.  One in my purse (small one) for notes, one in the diaper bag, one on my nightstand to write the library books I get in it, one in the gym to keep track of my workouts, one for photography to write notes about a shoot, and one for writing when I am in the mood for working on my novel.

Sephora by OPI nail polish in Casting Call.  I love OPI nail polish and this one is a nice shade of mauve, perfect for summer toes.

A set of four note cards that I made myself and carry in my Etsy Shop.

And an added bonus of a pen.  I had to include it because it matched both the notebook and the cards and I love the fine tip when I write.

And I just realized that three of the four items are made in Canada, so I am thankful to be giving away some wonderful Canadian goodies to one of my wonderful readers.  Because truly, you are all fabulous.  I know I started this blog to give something back for all the blogs I was reading, but I never really thought that four years later I would still be blogging and actually loving it.  I know that once in a while my posts are a little less frequent, but that is only because I am just simply hanging around the house and there is only so much to say when you don’t leave your backyard.  I have met some truly wonderful women (and a couple of men) in my blogging adventures and hope that it will continue for many years to come.

So without further ado, I will ask you to leave a comment and tell me why you blog or don’t blog?

A winner will be randomly chosen on Tuesday morning, the last day of June.

*This giveaway has been furnished completely by me.  I have tried and tested all of the products and they are truly things that I love. 

Yesterday, technically marked my four year anniversary of Blogging.  I didn’t actually go live with any posts until August, but I did start to write it on June 25th of 2005.

I have a little plan in the works on how best to celebrate my fourth Anniversary, but I haven’t got it all together yet. I just couldn’t let another day pass without actually acknowledging the fact that I had been doing this for four years.

Stay tuned.