Vocation of Motherhood

Well since Tracy and Dawn are sharing their box of prizes for the day, I thought I would share mine. These magazines came in the mail today (Southern Living is a new magazine that Mom recently subscribed to). Today my dear friend Christine borrowed me this book.

Blog

Thank you everyone for entering and visiting my blog! Here is the winner, picked in random via my dear hubby:

#31. mamasbabiesx4

Congrats Melissa! Please email me your address and I will ship your lovely, brand-new book to you via Media Mail. Thanks again everyone and Melissa, I hope your family enjoys the book!

Well, here it is! A giveaway from my blog to bless someone else and to have some fun while I'm at it :). This past year I won something on a blog giveaway (a beautifully tailored quilted purse) so I know you'll truly a have a chance to win if you enter!

And how do you do that, you are asking? Well, you simply need to leave a comment below and in your comment, let me know what your favorite book is from my site here! You do not need to have a blog to enter, just a valid email address so I can email you if you win. And what exactly could you win? A beautiful children's art book!!! Yes, it is a brand new Usborne book called "A Children's Book of Art" and it is simply gorgeous (and educational!).

A Children's Book of Art is helpful for any child (or parent!) who has an interest in learning more about famous pieces, the artists themselves, mediums of art, etc. Here is a description from the website:

Over thirty of the world’s best-known, best-loved pictures have been chosen for this fascinating introduction to art for children. There are lots of facts about the artists and their lives, and how they created their work, to help beginners understand what art is and why people think it is important. There are also Internet links to recommended websites where you can view lots more pictures, play art games and create your own art online.
What is an Internet-Linked book?

Okay, so enough of that. You know you would like it so here are the nitpicky little rules:

Please, only open to residents of the US ages 18 and over. The winner will be chosen randomly from the all of the comments received on this post. The book will be shipped via media mail and the drawing will be held on Feb. 3rd, 2008 and posted here. When you're finished finding your favorite book and leaving your comment, please visit Bloggy Giveaways for more great giveaways!

There is a carnival going on over at Don't Try This At Home. The author of that blog also runs Blogging Basics 101 which has been so very helpful in my blogging. Anyways, she is doing a carnival to see why and how people blog. So here's my story:

How did you start blogging?

It all started with selling our business in 2005. For awhile I had a much needed computer "rest." Basically a time of decompression. Eventually I began to miss the daily interaction (especially e-mail, etc.). I also began to read a few blogs. Originally I found Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home by Elizabeth Foss and immediately fell in love with her blog. Real Learning is one of the absolutely best books on homeschooling, and mothering in my opinion, you'll ever read. Anyways, I started reading, reading, reading. I realized that although I am a passionate reader, I used to be in love with the process of writing even more. For years I've let that passion slip away... so I decided to start a blog since having more time after selling the business, mainly for the benefit of writing. My big excuse with starting a blog was to show pictures of our new house remodeling. A good excuse, don't you think?

However, writing a blog has also inspired me to do more, be more and become more in my mothering and in my faith. Hard to put into words but essentially, blogging has become a great outlet for me (it's cheap therapy!!).

Did you intend to be a blog w/a big following? If so, how did you go about it?

No, I did not intend to have a huge following and probably do not have one LOL. However, my passion for marketing/promoting (dratted business degree!!) will probably kick in sometime. For now I'm content to just try to publish the posts in the first place!

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

Mainly I wanted to keep a journal or scrapbook of sorts to share my favorite things and increase my love of Christ in the process. I love talking about living and loving my Catholic faith so this has been a perfect way to do that. I do not have plan as of yet, should do that. Maybe that would be a great idea for a Carnival hmmmm...

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

Originally I used it as an excuse to show far away friends and family our house remodeling with new pictures, etc. That was a great reason to start, but I soon realized that it was feeding my passion for writing again. Something I missed when we sold the business (writing articles, etc.). Now I get to write about much more fun stuff, like new products I've found, etc.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

All the technical stuff, how to increase traffic, etc.

Do you make money with your blog?

Does the 1.19 I made off of my Amazon affliate count? No, really, I haven't and don't expect to. My goal isn't to make money, it's to share :).

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

Hmmm... not really sure if they do or not! Haven't asked I guess. Friends more than anything are the ones that visit, which I absolutely LOVE!!!!! Their comments make my day!

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

That's tough... I feel new to this myself. This has probably been said a thousand times, but: 1. Write, write, write! 2. Put it in your email signature so friends and family can visit. In a nutshell, get the word out! That's how a lot of my friends visit.

There is a carnival going on over at Don't Try This At Home. The author of that blog also runs Blogging Basics 101 which has been so very helpful in my blogging. Anyways, she is doing a carnival to see why and how people blog. So here's my story:

How did you start blogging?

It all started with selling our business in 2005. For awhile I had a much needed computer "rest." Basically a time of decompression. Eventually I began to miss the daily interaction (especially e-mail, etc.). I also began to read a few blogs. Originally I found Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home by Elizabeth Foss and immediately fell in love with her blog. Real Learning is one of the absolutely best books on homeschooling, and mothering in my opinion, you'll ever read. Anyways, I started reading, reading, reading. I realized that although I am a passionate reader, I used to be in love with the process of writing even more. For years I've let that passion slip away... so I decided to start a blog since having more time after selling the business, mainly for the benefit of writing. My big excuse with starting a blog was to show pictures of our new house remodeling. A good excuse, don't you think?

However, writing a blog has also inspired me to do more, be more and become more in my mothering and in my faith. Hard to put into words but essentially, blogging has become a great outlet for me (it's cheap therapy!!).

Did you intend to be a blog w/a big following? If so, how did you go about it?

No, I did not intend to have a huge following and probably do not have one LOL. However, my passion for marketing/promoting (dratted business degree!!) will probably kick in sometime. For now I'm content to just try to publish the posts in the first place!

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

Mainly I wanted to keep a journal or scrapbook of sorts to share my favorite things and increase my love of Christ in the process. I love talking about living and loving my Catholic faith so this has been a perfect way to do that. I do not have plan as of yet, should do that. Maybe that would be a great idea for a Carnival hmmmm...

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

Originally I used it as an excuse to show far away friends and family our house remodeling with new pictures, etc. That was a great reason to start, but I soon realized that it was feeding my passion for writing again. Something I missed when we sold the business (writing articles, etc.). Now I get to write about much more fun stuff, like new products I've found, etc.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

All the technical stuff, how to increase traffic, etc.

Do you make money with your blog?

Does the 1.19 I made off of my Amazon affliate count? No, really, I haven't and don't expect to. My goal isn't to make money, it's to share :).

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

Hmmm... not really sure if they do or not! Haven't asked I guess. Friends more than anything are the ones that visit, which I absolutely LOVE!!!!! Their comments make my day!

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

That's tough... I feel new to this myself. This has probably been said a thousand times, but:

1. Write, write, write!

2. Put it in your email signature so friends and family can visit. In a nutshell, get the word out! That's how a lot of my friends visit.