What do you like?

Do you buy handmade items? Do you have a preference for them?

If so, what do you look for when buying handmade? Do you want things that have been locally harvested and woven or remind you of childhood? Do you look for clothing or more artistic things?

If not, what turns you off about handmade items? Do you think it's cheap if it doesn't have a brand name label? Is it too personal for you?

I'd love to hear your responses.

Busy, busy, busy...

The past few days have been a flurry of activity around this house.

We're trying to finish up homeschool for the year, and got behind when we were sick a few weeks ago. I've been working hard on advertising ideas and listing updates for my Etsy shop. The job search has taken up several hours (no news, yet.) I had some sort of volunteer activity every afternoon last week. Our Annual Boy Scout Yard Sale was this past Saturday, which took about 10 hours out of the day. (The Scouts make a killing off of this sale every year... Luckily, we had fantastic weather!)

Whew! It's nice to be able to take a breath this week. But, not for long. My yard is a mess. With the rain and other obligations I haven't been out to weed this year AND it's almost May. If I don't hurry I'll have more weeds than flowers.

As soon as I get it cleaned up a bit I'll post some photos of all of the things currently in bloom. My rose garden is so laden with blooms that several of the branches are falling over! What a wonderful fragrance to greet you in the garden...

Getting to know Etsy Day

Today is Etsy Day! Woohoo!

For those of you that aren't familiar with Etsy - it is an online marketing community predominantly for those of us that manufacture BY HAND.

Hundreds around the world form this cottage industry. With this kind of selection you're sure to find something uniquely original for yourself or someone else.

There are sellers of handmade paper goods, leather goods, original acrylics and photos, prints, jewelry - costume to fine, custom clothiers, etc... If you can dream it, they probably have it!

Click the button to find the treasures..

Special thanks to schugirl for this fantastic idea. This image is copyrighted to be used only for Etsy Day.

Lessons in Faith...

I was having a hard time sleeping the other night and God put it on my heart to read a little. I've been amassing a collection of books from the thrift store for awhile and until that night I hadn't made time to read any of them.

He led to me one about stories from the heart. This books contains snippets from various speakers and authors, some famous and some not so. I flipped to the section on Motivation.

I read the entire section and while all the stories resonated with me, two jumped out at me. One came back to me today.

*******

I volunteer for a local senior program in various capacities, one of which allows me to visit a client in their home and spend an hour with them once a week. I've recently been assigned a new person. We instantly clicked the first time we met. Today was our third visit.

While we discuss many things, all of our conversations come back to God. That's perfectly fine with me. He's the reason that I have time to spend with her after all! She is very insightful. She has had a trying time for that last several years, healthwise, which leads to learning faithwise.

Today, as we were walking the neighborhood, she asked a great question -

"If God has a part to do and I have a part to do, how do I know which part is mine?"

An answer instantly popped into my head.

"All of it is God's part. We're just His workers."

She hesitated briefly and asked her question again, this time stressing,

"Right but, what is MY PART? How do I know what I'm supposed to be doing and what I need to take care of?"

My answer again was,

"It's ALL God's. Our job is to be open to His will and do what He bids us to do. That's it! There is nothing else."

Her response,

"Right but, I can't just sit around waiting on God to take care of everything."

"I didn't mean sit around and do nothing. I just mean that it's our "job" to live our life in a way that whenever God calls us to assist Him, we do. Our job is to listen and follow the path that He sets before us."

Then this analogy came to me.

God is the Queen Bee. The Queen Bee is in charge of the hive. Wherever the Queen lands is where the hive is built. Her worker bees build the hive and wait for her to fill it with eggs. Once she has planted the "seeds" in the hive, the workers tend the eggs, feeding them and caring for them through the larva stage and until they're ready to become active members of the hive.

Worker bees serve. That's their only purpose in life. They take care of the hive and all of it's contents because the Queen needs them to do this work. She can't lay the eggs and tend to all of the work in a hive by herself and have the colony survive and thrive.

God put us here to work for Him, to tend His treasures and help grow and sustain His colony. That is our "job", our purpose in life. All of the rest is moot. When God calls us to serve, we should serve, because He asked. Without God the entire hive is in danger of dying off.

My new friend thought about that and digested it. When we arrived back at her home she talked to me about a lack of faith. What she got out of my thoughts was that she had a lack of faith where God was concerned. She prays many times a day, reads the bible regularly, and has been a Christian for well over 30 years. How on earth could she have a "lack of faith"?

Into my head pops one of the stories I'd read a few days ago. I read it. I liked it. I thought I'd understood it, until that moment. This is a synopsis of the story -

There was a pastor of a church in an area that was having a severe drought. There were hundreds of parishioners in his flock. Many were farmers and in desperate need of rain. The pastor decided to hold a special prayer meeting that coming week to pray for rain.

Preparations were made and the event was on schedule. The day arrived and the pastor was milling around the grounds. They had decided to hold the event outside and all of the chairs were set up and waiting. Something wasn't quite right. He couldn't put his finger on it.

People began arriving. They had a good turn out. Still, something was wrong. About that time the pastor noticed a little girl heading his way. He noticed her because she was carrying a large red umbrella. A smile came to his face. He began to look around at the crowd and the chairs. He knew exactly what was wrong.

No one ordered a tent. No one else brought an umbrella. You see, these people were gathering for a good reason. They were praying for a good reason. But, only the little girl had the faith that God would answer.

******

Two weeks ago I would've answered that question differently. These past few weeks have been a test in my faith. How far will I go? How far does my faith carry me? Do I fully trust in God to care for me when I'm on His missions?

I guess I haven't. I mean, I do at times but, when I'm cutting it close I try to take over the reigns and take control of the situation myself. The reigns aren't mine, they're God's.

I can go to church every Sunday, attend Bible study, volunteer at church, and memorize every line in the bible but, unless I open myself to His will and have faith in Him to guide my path I'm no better off.

Today, I have faith that God will answer and whatever answer He gives me will be the right one for my life. So, will you be the pastor or the little girl with the umbrella?

The Job Search...

Just thought I'd let you know how the search is going thus far. This morning I sent out 3 resumes. 2 are for jobs that I saw this past weekend on Craigslist and the other was a recent listing in our paper.

I considered sending out the resumes Monday morning but, thought that Monday is ALWAYS a busy day for applications. Perhaps waiting until Wednesday may garner some time for an extra look at mine...

Job Prospect 1 - Helping Developmentally Disabled youth to learn and master new skills over the summer, possibly extending into the fall.

This would fit right in line with my continued desire to serve, while providing an income. Double stars in my book!


Job Prospect 2 - Working in a local church office, elsewhere in the community, maintaining records alongside a large staff.

It fits into the working for a non-profit category. Not so great on the having a direct effect on peoples lives. One star.


Job Prospect 3 - Delivering ordered supplies to inmates in the local jail.

Definitely something I hadn't thought of before. It's serving the community and assisting at-risk people. Although my influence on these people would be limited, multitudes can be said with a smile. Double stars!

Just after applying for these positions my dear Mother called to ask for my e-mail address (she was at work.) Mom works at her church office, part-time. ( I think this helps offset the expense for the sock fetish...) She announced that she had just received a posting for part-time help at a local church of the same denomination. The kicker - this church is 6 blocks from my home! Woohoo! This gets four stars - I can walk to work, serving MY very own community, for a non-profit, and get paid. I don't think life could be any better than that!

I'm thinking that since this was an inner-office type posting that I will be one of the first to apply. Definitely a good thing!

Ya'll keep your fingers crossed for me, PLEASE...

Misci - My Pre-50 list

What's a Pre-50 list? According to my new buddy, Thomas, I need a list of things to achieve before 50. This all came about earlier this week from my post about Memories and Regrets. If you guys didn't see his comment, please read it.

Thomas, thank you for reading and caring enough to respond. What a precious person you are and how fortunate are the people who are lucky enough to be able to know you personally!

*********

We all have moments of regret stemming from memories of times past. A few days ago I was having some of those "remember when" moments. The moments turned into a great big "What in the world happened?" and "What am I doing with my life?" day. The day has now morphed into a "How am I going to get back on track? And do I even want to..." week.

It happens, right? No big deal.

This past year meant many changes for myself and my family. I felt a strong calling to serve my community more and, in answer to that call, left my full-time job of ten years. It wasn't something I did lightly. A lot of thought and planning went into the move. I even had some ducks lined up to tide us over, as we weren't in the perfect financial situation.

Unfortunately, the first duck flew off without the full payout, which left us with unanticipated bills remaining. The second duck was rejected and is basically dead in the water without further funding. The third duck laid a multitude of eggs, which all fertilized, and left us with more unexpected bills. You see where this is going....

In the midst of the duck saga, my son decided he wanted to be homeschooled this year due to many issues during his first year in middle school. The issues were leading to health problems and were changing him into someone he didn't even like, so I readily accepted the challenge. This was a large goose, come to roost...unexpectedly...

My dedication to the community has never wavered in all of this. It has actually grown stronger. As a family, we spend about 35 hours a week volunteering in some capacity or another. About 20-25 hours of that is mine, in an average week. This is such a bright spot in my life and a wonderful area of growth for my family. I would hate to give it up.

I'm stuck. I'm torn between an obligation to provide for my family and the heartfelt obligation I feel to serve God completely in this area. My prayers are continually answered with the feeling that I need to continue in my service. However, my faith is wavering on where the funds will come from to sustain us.

The sales at my store on e-Bay have dropped to almost nothing. My Etsy shop has yet to garner a sale. And I keep pushing. I'm afraid that if I wait any longer we may lose everything we have, which truly isn't all that much. Yet, that said, I'm even more afraid that I'll fail God in the quest He's given me.

So here's my baby steps to a "Pre-50 list" -

• Continue serving God and His people to the best of my ability.
• Search for and secure a part-time job as fast as possible.
• Continue praying for guidance.
• Continue homeschooling my son in the fall, because I feel it's the best education we can give him.
• Continue promoting my Etsy and e-Bay shops for another 2 months. If things don't pick up, I'll have to stop spinning my wheels there.

This post is not about pity or sympathy. It's about reality. It's about choices all of us face daily and how we choose to handle them. Do we get up and dust ourselves off or wallow in the dirt wondering why we keep getting dirt up our nose?

Is this the right answer for me? I won't know for a few weeks but, it's a chance I have to take or risk losing a roof over my head. Sadly, when I say that, I'm mentally confronted with all of the verses in the Bible that tell me that God will provide. So, am I misinterpreting my calling or not trusting enough??? That's a million dollar question...where's Miss Cleo when you need her?

Disclaimer: There were no ducks or geese hurt in the writing of this post!

Memories and Regrets

I was over at my Mom's last night and happened upon one of my sisters' high school yearbooks. We're three years apart, with her being the oldest. Her last year in high school was my first. The yearbook that I found laying out was from her Senior year. Naturally, I picked it up and started leafing through it.

I'm not a person that leans toward sentimentality, so this is not something I do often. Honestly, I only owned this one particular yearbook and threw my copy away sometime back. High school was not my favorite period in life. I was a rebel to say the least and my interests led me in other directions, but that's another story!

Browsing through these pages brought back so many memories. About half of the people pictured had been in Middle school with me and many attended the same Elementary school, as well. Some I hadn't thought about in years and a few I still see from time to time.

As these memories came rushing back, I was struck by how vivid they were. Some seem like they occurred just yesterday. The reality is that my freshman year was 19 years ago! That hit me like a ton of bricks - almost 20 years have passed since I began high school. I have officially spent more time on this earth as an adult than as a child...ouch! I'm old!

When did this happen?

Where did the time go?

What have I achieved?

Where is my life going from here?

The truth is that I'm not sure when it happened. Honestly, I feel like I was running around without a care in the world a few months ago. I can see the results of my life daily in the lives of my children but, what about the rest?

Have I achieved the goals I had set for myself in school? Not really. I veered off track quite early by becoming a teen mom at age 15. Before that time I was sure that I would be a world traveler and possibly take over the world one day. (As you can tell, I didn't lack confidence!) I always felt that I would be financially set by age 30 and ready to live my life solely for my own entertainment.

The reality:

• I haven't been outside of the U.S.


• I lost the confidence I once had somewhere around 18, settled for less than I should've many times over, and only recently regained this strength - through the grace of God.


• I'm in my early 30's and am far from being financially set.

Am I disappointed? A little. I wish I'd had the strength and courage long ago to continue on the path of my dreams. I wish I'd taken more time with my family and children to enjoy life along the way.

However, I've discovered that I've grown through these experiences. I no longer care about big houses, fancy cars, or plush living. I just want to be happy, healthy, and have time to serve others!

Many of us are faced with disappointments and discouraging factors daily. I think what matters the most is how we handle what we're given. Do we let these disappointments drive us off course or do we learn from them?

Where am I going from here? I'm not sure. I haven't attempted to make a plan in over 5 years, which is far too long. This is something I'll be working on this week - my goals, personally and familial. I challenge you to do the same. It's harder to be driven off track if you have a current map of the trip you need to take!

The Beach Trip

We did it! We made the trip to the beach Monday, safe and sound.



The morning began with a light, misting of rain which continued for the first 2 hours of our trip. We stopped 30 minutes into the trip to grab some breakfast at McDonald's. Yum! Nutritious! Somehow Mom ended up with a monster sized cup...



Thus began the humor in our trip. I brought along my son's school books, some crochet projects, and my newly aquired set of Trivial Pursuit cards. Did I tell you that I found a complete, original Trivial Pursuit set for $1??? Fantastic yard sale find!



These provided several hours of entertainment!

Upon arrival at Myrtle Beach, SC we proceeded straight to the Easy Spirit outlet store, off 501 near the old Waccamaw Pottery. Mom could hardly wait to procure her now famous socks! (They are Level 3 Athletic socks. Before you look on the Easy Spirit website, let me save you some time. They aren't listed!)


I headed off to browse the clearance section at the back of the store while she stocked up on socks. Before leaving I mentioned that the shoes were buy one, get one half-off (on top of their already lower than retail prices!) Mom said, "I don't need any more shoes, Danita. I have plenty."


When I came back to the counter 3 minutes later she had snagged 2 pairs of shoes and 6 packs of socks. What woman can resist a shoe sale, I ask you? The cashier was so slow ringing us out that Mom added 2 more packs of socks before she finished. They were on sale, too!

We visited the Reader's Digest store a few doors down. I'm a book fanatic and they had some tantalizing cookbooks in the window. Did I tell you about my cookbook collection? I have many... The best part was the educational section. Being a homeschool mom I'm constantly on the look out for educational material. We found an American trivia game, similar to Trivial Pursuit, for $7! Need I tell you what we did on the ride home? For some reason, a lot of Mom's answers were Cassius Clay. Never knew he was that involved in science and art...

After our brief shopping experience we headed up the road to Calabash, NC. It's about 1 hour from the south side of Myrtle Beach. Our tummy's were grumbling just in time for a visit to Tony's. Didn't I tell you she'd stop there?


It was a little crowded inside so I didn't photograph our food. Mom had her standard Steak and Cheese sub and I was in heaven with my House Special baby pizza. It's basically like a Surpreme pizza from Pizza Hut but, has many more black olives. My son, Caleb, waited to eat his breakfast biscuit after shopping. He wasn't hungry when we arrived at Tony's. Poor fellow. He missed a delicious meal!

The ride was pleasant, for the most part, and there were several bouts of laughing so hard that we almost peed our pants.



End of the day totals-

2 pairs of shoes

8 packs of socks - 2 pair per pack

1 photo box

1 American Trivia Game

3 McDonald's breakfasts

1 pack of bubble gum

1 Steak and Cheese sub

1 House Special baby pizza
half a tank of gas

Thousands of smiles


Can you think of a better way to spend the day?

Happy Easter!

Greetings from "the Easter City", as Winston-Salem is known the world over.

Our Easter Sunrise Service in Historic Old Salem is a memorable event. Parishioners gather with thousands of others to celebrate the resurrection of Christ in our quaint graveyard. This morning, people from all walks of life will begin gathering about 4:30am (some start earlier) in anticipation of the event.

The graveyard service here began in 1732 with a small gathering of brethren. The brethren chose to celebrate the resurrection of Christ by meditating and singing in this graveyard, known as God's Acre. The service has changed very little since 1772. Many other American Christian sects take their Easter service traditions from this early beginning, here in Winston-Salem, NC.

Traditional Moravian churches in America feature a brass band. The Salem Congregation of the Moravian Church, Southern Province, witnessed their first brass band well over 200 years ago. This first band had 6 members. Today, there are an estimated 400 members from the 12 churches that make up this congregation.

Salem Brass Band, circa 1862, courtesy of the Moravian Archives

The Salem Congregation churches are centrally situated in the heart of Winston-Salem, radiating from the downtown area. For hundreds of years, the brass bands from these churches have braved the chilly and, occasionally, icy air to announce the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Beginning around 2am on Easter morn, the bands would begin a walk around their respective neighborhoods to herald the coming sunrise and awaken parishioners for the Easter service. Traditionally, the first chorale is "Sleepers, Wake!"

Trinity Moravian's 1st Brass Band, 1922, courtesy of the Trinity Moravian Archives

Upon awakening, the parishioners could follow the band from their neighborhood directly to Salem for the large ceremony. Sort of a Pied Piper scenario, for families! Once arrived in Salem, the gates of the cemetery would open at a designated time, currently 6:30am. The crowds would make their way to the highest point in the cementer (which now overlooks Downtown Winston-Salem) to await the rising sun. The brass band would continue to play periodically during this liturgical service.

Over the years, the neighborhoods surrounding these Salem Congregation churches has changed. The band participants have aged and noise ordinances have been established, therefore the neighborhood serenades have diminished significantly. Fortunately, I live in one of the few remaining neighborhoods that do participate. There is nothing comparable with being lulled gently awake by the sounds of a brass band on Easter morning! Your heart awakens with a song and first thoughts of the Lord...

He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!

What are your Easter plans?

It's a good thing...

Since I've been sick and resigned to the couch this week, I've watched more than my fair share of television. I'd thought I'd share a terrific idea with those of you that probably had better things going on this week!

Tuesday, on Martha, Jackie Manzolillo (she's married now and has another last name that I can't remember and the Martha Stewart website hasn't updated) shared a recipe for putting designs on to Easter eggs with printed silk fabric. This is the second time Jackie has shared this with Martha audiences. The first time she used silk ties and this week she used silk scarves.

Jackie stated on the show that this was a recipe used by her grandmother and other family from Germany. It was the method they used when she was growing up. Germans are famous the world over for their holiday celebration methods.

Silk Tie Easter Eggs

From:
Martha
The Martha Stewart Show

*******
Materials and Tools:

Small- to medium-size raw eggs
Glass or enamel pot
Silk ties, blouses, or boxers, cut into pieces large enough to cover an egg
White sheets (or pillowcases or old tablecloths), cut into pieces to cover silk-wrapped eggs
Twist ties
3 tablespoons of white vinegar
Warm water
Vegetable oil
Paper towels
Tongs or spoon

******

How-To:

1. Cut silk into a square (or a piece) large enough to wrap around a raw egg.

2. Wrap a raw egg with a piece of silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Silk can still be used if it doesn't fit perfectly around egg.

3. Place the silk-wrapped egg in a piece of white sheet, pillowcase, or old tablecloth and secure tightly with a twist-tie.

4. Place the egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot. Fill pot with water to cover eggs completely. Then, add three tablespoons of white vinegar.

5. Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 20 minutes (longer if you don't plan on eating the eggs).

6. Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool.

7. Remove silk from cooled egg.

8. For shiny eggs, wipe with vegetable oil after completing step 7.

******

Resources:

Silk goods such as ties, blouses, and boxers can be purchased at rummage sales or thrift stores. Silk can be reused on eggs.

******

Now, I'll add on some of my own thoughts.

• This would be a great time to go through your husband's or sons ties and get rid of some of those "too stained" or "to hideous" to wear jobs. The same thing goes for your closet - out with those silk scarves that you've never worn and aren't likely to.



• Pick some prints with unusual designs or bright colors. They transfer unbelievably well!


• You can line up smaller designs just right on the egg and they will carry over perfectly,so test out a few of these.


• DON'T coat the eggs with oil if you want to eat the eggs. Use an edible wax coating if you must have shiny eggs. You can pick this up at some craft stores or rub the eggs lightly with wax paper.


• Use this method as a lead in to learning more about German or Eastern European culture. Kids love hands-on learning lessons!


• Don't forget about reusing the egg cartons while you have so many readily available. I did a post about ideas for them in December.

How much better can you get? No stained fingers, no stained table or counter, no finding play clothes for the kids to dye in, and you can potentially recycle old clothing! This truly IS a good thing...

The photos used in this post were taken by Jean Mac, not Martha Stewart, Inc. Hopefully I won't get sued for anything!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My dear mother's birthday occurred this week. She made it back from Germany just in time to celebrate! Unfortunately, I've been unwell since Saturday night and wasn't able to properly celebrate the day. Hopefully that will be rectified this coming week as she has requested that we take a jaunt down to the beach for a few days.


This was the conversation -

"Danita, would you like to go the the beach next Monday? I want to go back to get more socks."

Side note on the sock story - One of Mom's best friends has a beach house and they went down the weekend before she left for Germany. There are many outlet stores in the area and they hit a few stores while there. She found "the best socks I've (she's) ever owned in my (her) entire life" at the Easy Spirit outlet. Upon her return and subsequent use of the few sets she picked up at the beach, she visited the local Easy Spirit store only to be told that the socks were very popular but not an item that they carry here in town due to space limitations. Don't you hate it when that happens?


Back to the conversation...

"Mom. Are you seriously going to go all the way back to the beach for socks?" Additional unspoken thoughts - This trip is about 4 hours, with no traffic and not even considering the gas expenditures - FOR SOCKS.

"Well, yeah. I told you I liked them and I can't get them here. Remember, I tried."

Okay. I'm vocalizing my thoughts, "It's a 4 hour ride and a lot of gas."

"Uh-huh," she replies, not batting an eye.

After a few moments of thought I uncover the suspected true plot. "You want to go to Tony's, right?"

"Uh, well, we can..." imagine the largest, cheesiest grin you've ever seen in your life and insert it here, "Or we can get some seafood."

A few years back she discovered what she considers to best the best little pizza shop in the world, right on the North Carolina coast - Tony's. Every time we ride anywhere remotely close to the area she wants to stop. Does she get pizza? NO. She gets a steak and cheese sub. Alright, I confess that it's a pretty good sandwich, but 4 hour ride good? Hmmmm....

"But, I really want those socks!"

"Right, Mom. Socks."

Here I am turning the lights out to save the world from Global Warming.

Here's my Mom, riding 4 hours in an SUV to buy socks and a sub.

Am I going? You betcha! It's time with my Mom...and that matters more than all the rest.

**********

For tangible gifts, I picked up this cute little Duke Blue Devils "Dammit Doll" by pghpatchworkgal on Etsy. (By the way, it can also be changed to a Darn It doll for those of you that are more sensitive to wording.)

Photo from pghpatchworkgal's listing on Etsy

Mom LOVES Duke. She's been a fan for years. She follows them in football and basketball. I do hate that her birthday is just shy of the main basketball season, but football season will be here before we know it!

The little tag attached to the doll has a rhyme about the uses. Basically, you use the doll to fuss at the team. You can beat the doll or throw it at the TV when your team makes a bad play, neither of which would cause any damage to anything. Of course, this doesn't make the best example for small children, but my sister and I are both grown...use it with relish Mom!

Next...

Two weeks ago I found an aluminum pound cake pan at the Goodwill exactly like my mother's, from the 60's. When she saw my find she immediately instructed me to find her one, too. Mom makes the best pound cakes and has requests for them often at church functions and from family. Since she says that this is the only pan she can make her pound cakes in, and you can no longer find these lightweight aluminum ones in the store, she only makes one at a time. I found two for her while she was gone!

Do you think that picking up some gifts at Goodwill will make up for the ecological damage we'll do next week on the beach trip????

I'm a winner, too!

Some of you may be asking, "What on earth was this girl doing up at 6am on a Saturday?"

Well, the Chick-Fil-A's in our county had a giveaway this morning. People camped out overnight to be the winners of Free Breakfast for a Year.

Mind you, I was NOT one of the people braving the chilly overnight temperatures to win. I still can't believe people do that. What on earth would drive someone to camp out overnight to win something or garner a "good" deal? We see it on TV all the time - iPhones, Walmart Black Friday specials, concert tickets, etc... Oh! Sorry, I got of subject.

Anyway, I saw the commercial on TV earlier in the week and then again last night just before the 11 o'clock news. For a fleeting moment I thought I might run over there this morning, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Surely, sleeping in, for a change, would be better.

This morning my brain woke up, without any assistance from an alarm, at 4:50am. My first thought was, "Hey, what time is it? I think I need to get up and go to Chick-Fil-A!" I rolled around for a few minutes, attempting to quiet my mind to no avail. Rising with a smile, I turned on my computer to make sure I had the right information and headed on over.

I arrived around 5:30am, at a lesser known Chick-Fil-A, and attempted a quick head count. Sure enough, some of those people had pitched tents, many had brought folding chairs, and as I walked up they were tossing a small football around the circle of hungry Chick-Fil-A lovers. I registered as number 45!

Fantastic! I didn't camp out overnight, or get up at some truly crazy hour (I know, I know. This is a matter of opinion.) But, I won. Here's a photo of my goodies:

What did I get? A Chick-Fil-a fan with a cow face, a calendar with additional coupons, a t-shirt (because who doesn't need another t-shirt????), a miniature cow, and FREE BREAKFAST COUPONS FOR A YEAR! Woo-hoo!

Oh! Almost forgot. This is my nifty bracelet...just in case I lost my number.

The million dollar question...

Who won????

At 6:30am, Saturday, April 4th, the winner was selected from the 14 valid entries. (Sorry, anonymous, the cut off was 4/3/09 at midnight, Eastern. But, thanks for trying!)

Here's the process:

Jotting down the names from the entries

Clipping the names apart

Into the pot

And......back out

Drum roll, please....dadadadadadadadadadadadadada

........................................

Hooray, Anne Marie! Congratulations. I hope you put them to good use for many years to come!

The cloths are wrapped

and ready to go. Just need to get your address and they'll be on the way.

Thanks to all of the people who took time to enter and browse my blog. So sorry there could only be one winner. If you're interested in purchasing any of my other cloth sets or handmade creations please visit my store on Etsy - La Vida Dulce.

Natural Laundry Soap Giveaway

Wild Child Naturals is having a giveaway for Natural Laundry Soap - hop over and check them out when you have a moment!

Trip to Germany

As reported the other day, my mother and daughter are in Germany for the week. I've shared some photos on my Facebook page if you'd like to share in the journey. The photos have been shared by their tour guide. The one above is in front of a building in Dresden...enjoy!