A New BlogHop: Friendly Friday: Come and Make Friends!

Something new has come to Blogville:  Friendly Friday!  Last week, as you may know, was the last week of Friday Follow.  I received an email this week from Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier, inviting me to join three moms who have taken the initiative to start up a Blog Hop that they are calling "Friendly Friday"!  I am including their bios below, knowing that you will want to meet them.


But, first, let me tell those of you who haven't met me yet, who I am!  If you know me well, you can skip down and read about our three hostesses below!

I'm So Glad to Meet You!
I am a SAHM, wife,  and Homeschooler, though my teaching days are completed, as my "children" are now 24 and 20.  We are blessed to have them still living with my wonderful husband and me at home.  My passion is to help and encourage young women, wives and moms to fulfill their God-given role, and I love to write, so this blog is my way of doing it all.
Specific themes that I have written on which you might enjoy (click on the links):

•  Hospitality Series: Click on Hospitality on the linkbar above for all the series or start out with "The Ghastly Guest"  and "The Goldens"

• Love and Marriage (Mondays Now on Wednesdays) Series: "Belittling and Henpecking", and "Doing Those Little Things Around the House" are recent posts; also, you'll find interviews; How and Why the subject of Courtship applies to you as a mom of little ones; Ways to teach young children about Godly love and marriage and great resources to use.   (Grab my button on the sidebar to let people know about this series!)

• Timely Tips on Tuesday  (Everything helpful: from organization, to scheduling your prayer time, to child-training, to running a home, to tips for you as a mom to littlees)

• Food Friday (Clicking here will take you to all my Recipes: Every Friday I share a tried-and-true recipe that you'll love! And don't miss Rob Barrett of "Cooking for Dads"--you'll love his cooking show, and recipes--here!) 

• Look for me to be featured next Friday, May 28, 2010, with a recipe on Fabulous Food Friday over at Kel's blog, Between the Lines!

1. So, get a cup of coffee, tea or a glass of lemon water, and click and read some of what is on this site. 
2.  Please let me know you came by and tell me what you're thinking.
3.  And, last but not least, please Follow or Subscribe, but only if you really value what you read here. Put my button on your sidebar and tell your friends--Thanks!

And now, here are the bios of our three hostesses:



Thanks, Mail Carrier!  Well hi, I'm Xenia. I apologize right off the bat that your brain is wondering how in the world to pronounce my name, but I'll just blame my mom for wanting me to be unique. Try not to let the X throw you off, it's Za-knee-a, with the stress on the second syllable. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's nice to meet you! Here at Thanks, Mail Carrier, my wonderful husband, 3 and 1-year-old daughters and I love the vrooooom sound the mail truck makes when it heads down our block. Who doesn’t get excited about receiving mail and wouldn‘t like to know what the best products are that they could have their mail carrier deliver right to their door? I love knowing that the information I give to readers helps peak their interest and hopefully aids them in becoming a better consumer and I take a lot of pride in my thorough, honest reviews of items of all kinds. When we're not trying out great new products, my girls and I love to spend time with good friends and fit as much laughter into the day as possible. Stop by anytime and say hello!

The Frugal Novice  Hi, I'm Christi. I'm 28 years old, and have lived in Texas all my life. I'm a Christian and love the church family we've found in our town. I do advertising sales and design, and do a lot of freelance work on the side. I'm married to Brian, a graphic designer, and we have two adorable little boys - J, who will be 3 in August, and C, who turned 1 in April. My other "baby" is our 6-year-old miniature dachshund, Josie. I love spending time with my friends and family, baking, crafty things, shopping (for bargains), and working on fixing up our 1972 house bit by bit. I've had a family blog since 2007 when J was born, but started The Frugal Novice more recently after my mom encouraged me to give it a try. I love blogging and all the friends I've made through the process. I started my blog focusing solely on ways to save money, but quickly decided that if I'm going to write I want it to be about all sorts of different things I love, so it's expanded a little since its start. :)

Healthy Home blog  Hi! I'm Charla, definitely the oldest of the three. In fact, I'm Christi's mom, and I can tell you that it's such a blessing to have a daughter who is also one of my best friends. Here are some things about me: I'm not only a Christian wife, mother of two, mother-in-law, and grandmother to Christi & Brian's two precious little boys, but also a teacher. I taught school in the Texas public school system for 19 years, and this past year I've been doing substitute teaching, hope to get a full time teaching job again in the fall. I was encouraged and motivated by our son (who's a college student) to start blogging back in the summer of 2007, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, the money helps out, but what I value most is the connection to all my blogger friends. :) My favorite thing to do? Spend time with family!

Of course, you have to be discerning, as always, but from a cursory look at these three ladies' blogs, I really appreciate their emphasis on being moms, and I have looked at some of the products that Xenia is reviewing and I can see that they will especially appeal to wives and moms at home, and you will like Charla's recipes, and Christi, her daughter, is a mom of littlees just like a lot of you.  So, check this new bloghop out and see if it's a good thing! 
I hope that we will all get to meet a lot of new friends!

Friday Follow: I Am So Glad You Stopped By! Welcome New Friends!

Mark May 25 on your calendar!

That's when I will be featured on Fabulous Food Friday

by Kel at Between the Lines!

Welcome, Old and New Friends!  Introduction to you who don't know me:
I am a SAHM, wife,  and Homeschooler, though my teaching days are completed, as my "children" are now 24 and 20.  We are blessed to have them still living with my wonderful husband and me at home.  My passion is to help and encourage young women, wives and moms to fulfill their God-given role, and I love to write, so this blog is my way of doing it all.
Specific themes that I have written on which you might enjoy (click on the links):

•  Hospitality Series: check out "The Ghastly Guest"  and "The Goldens"

• Love and Marriage (Mondays Now on Wednesdays) Series: "Belittling and Henpecking" (this week's post); interviews; How and Why the subject of Courtship applies to you as a mom of little ones; Ways to teach young children about Godly love and marriage and great resources to use.   (Grab my button on the sidebar to let people know about this series!)

• Timely Tips on Tuesdays  (Everything helpful: from organization, to scheduling your prayer time, to child-training, to running a home, to tips for you as a mom to littlees)
•  
• Food Friday (Clicking here will take you to all my Recipes: Every Friday I share a tried-and-true recipe that you'll love! And don't miss Rob Barrett of "Cooking for Dads"--you'll love his cooking show, and recipes--here!)

So, get a cup of coffee or tea or a glass of lemon water, and enjoy looking around and reading!
I also really love meeting new people, so please let me know you were here and I will try to visit your site, also.  Follow or Subscribe me, and Grab my button on the left, if you like what you see here!

Now, the way it works is you write a post with the image above in it, telling a little about yourself and how to link up. Go to Midday Escapades or One2Try and get the code and include it in your post. Then link up at one of their sites.  (Linking on one links to all, so you only have to do it once.) Then follow the hostesses and visit as many of the other participants as you want, leaving a comment (and following, if you want), letting them know you came through Follow Friday. When someone comes to your site, go back and visit theirs and reciprocate by following, if you want. They're adding perks, but the main perk is the opportunity to meet other bloggers who may have something in common with you, that you'd never know were there any other way.

(If you need more details, go to one of the three hostesses' sites on the list).

Disclaimer: Like everything else in the world, don't leave your discernment at home. 

Check back here later today for another great recipe on "Food Friday"!

Winners of My Very First Blog Contest and Giveaway!

Yay! to All of You!!

First, here's how I did the drawing:  Due to the fact that the number of contestants was manageable, and it was fairly easy to do a drawing without using an outside random generator, I decided to save the money, and do the drawing myself.  I used index cards and assigned one card for each entry of each person, (and assigned a number to each entry), writing on each card a small number in the corner. I shuffled the cards thoroughly, and cut the deck, and used a different system for drawing the winner each time I drew, (counting from one end and then another, I counted out cards equal to my age, my daughter's favorite number, the perfect number 7, half of the number of index cards, etc., and the card I came to next was the winner).  During the whole time of the drawing, my eyes were closed. After counting out the cards, I drew a card, all with my eyes closed.

I drew for the three most valuable prizes first, from most valuable to least, in order: in other words, everyone was in the drawing for the most valuable prizes. Then, after those three, all the prizes were pretty much the same value.  I numbered sticky notes with the numbers of the remaining prizes, and with eyes closed, mixed them up.  Before each drawing, with eyes closed, I shuffled (I'm always accused of overshuffling), and cut the deck.  Still with eyes closed, I went through the process mentioned before, for drawing a card.  After each drawing, still with eyes closed, I reached out and picked a sticky note, and attached it to the card.  I didn't know until the very end of the drawing which numbers (or in other words, which people) had been picked.  After all the sticky notes (prizes) had been drawn, and attached to an index card, I wrote down the number of the prize, and the number of the winner next to it.  Until this moment of typing the following list, I still have not actually looked to see who won what.

Here are all the winners!  Congratulations to all of you!!

The first three prizes drawn, in order by value:

Nicole at Help! Mama Remote won Beauticontrol's Detoxifying Body Facial (valued at $41)

Steph at Mommy of 2girlz won Giorgio Eau de Toilette (.13 fl. oz.) and Body Moisturizer (1.6 fl. oz.) (valued at approximately $15)

Kel at Between the Lines won "No Greater Joy, Volumes 1-3", by Michael and Debi Pearl (valued at approximately $14)

Then, the rest of the prizes (all valued at approximately $10 each):

Alyssa at Days to Remember won "To Train Up a Child" by Michael and Debi Pearl along with the Magnetic Notepad and matching Recipe Cards

Heather at Fields of Heather won the Bath and Body Works products (Gift card)

Jen at Be Thou Exalted won "The Excellent Wife" by Martha Peace

Colette at Jamerican Spice won the eGift Card for Amazon.com

Rachel at Finding Joy won the "Pick Your Level Weight Loss Pilates DVD" with Ellen Barrett

Amber at He who watches over you will not slumber won "Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman

Susan at Susieqtpies Scraps of Life won "Wrestling Prayer" by Eric and Leslie Ludy

Again, Congratulations to the Winners! 

and Thank You so much to all who entered!

 

Important Notice To the Winners: (I will be contacting you by email, if you gave me the information, or I was able to find it, or I will be commenting on your blog to let you know you won).

If you are a winner,  you have until Thursday night, April 22, 2010, 10 PM CST, to contact me at faithsfirmfoundation@embarqmail.com with information on where to send the prize (your name and address), or I will draw another winner for that prize, and announce it here on my blog.  After receiving information on where to send the prize, I will send  you a confirmation email, and let you know when I have sent the prize.

Welcome to the 2010 Ultimate Blog Party and My Very First Blog Contest

Welcome to all who are arriving for the Ultimate Blog Party! Old friends and new--you are all welcome!
This is my first time participating, and I think it's going to be good.  For those who are new, let me introduce myself (if you are an old friend, skip down to see how to participate in the UBP and also My Very First Blog Contest):

I am a SAHM, wife and Homeschooler, though my teaching days are completed, as my "children" are now 24 and 20, though still single and living with my wonderful husband and me at home.  My passion is to help and encourage young women, wives and moms to fulfill their God-given role, and I love to write, so this blog is my way of doing it all.  
Specific themes that I have written on which you might enjoy (click on the links) are my

• Hospitality Series: check out "The Ghastly Guest"  and "The Goldens"
• Love and Marriage (Mondays) Series: just completed two fabulous Courtship Stories! (Grab my button on the sidebar to let people know)
• Timely Tips on Tuesdays (Everything helpful for you as a mom to littlees)

 So, check them out!
I also really enjoy meeting new people, so please let me know you were here, so I can get to know you! I hope you enjoy the UBP, visit some wonderful blogs, enter my contest, and stop back here often, so you don't miss a thing, as I will be announcing prizes daily!

To participate in the UBP, go to 5 Minutes for Mom, (bloggers and non-bloggers can participate and win prizes), follow the instructions, link up, and enter to win one of the many wonderful prizes listed on the prize list! (I donated a $25 E-gift certificate for Amazon.com to the list!) During the week I will be visiting blogs, looking at prizes, and listing my top picks, if I am to win, below.

My Very First Blog Contest:
Faith's Firm Foundation is 1 year old and I just welcomed my 100th Follower, so, besides participating in the Ultimate Blog Party, I am simultaneously hosting my very first Blog Contest to celebrate!  I am still working on possible donations of prizes and deciding on the best ones to give, but suffice it to say there will be prizes that you would enjoy winning!  There will be at least one prize per day for the 10 day contest!
Among the prizes you could win will be:

• "The Excellent Wife", by Martha Peace
• Bath and Body Works products
• To Train up a Child and
• No Greater Joy, Volumes 1-3, by the Pearls
• Pick Your Level Weight Loss Pilates, Workout DVD with Ellen Barrett
• "Wrestling Prayer", by Eric and Leslie Ludy
• and at least one Gift Card for Amazon.com
• and More!
• New Prize added Friday: "The Five Love Languages", by Gary Chapman
• New Prizes for Monday and Tuesday: Giorgio Eau de Toilette (.13 Fl.Oz.), Giorgio Body Moisturizer (1.6 Fl.Oz.)
• New Prize for Wednesday: Kitchen Gift Set: magnetic notepad and 12 matching recipe cards with hand-tied ribbon, with Deut. 16:15 imprinted on it
• New Prize added Thursday: Beauticontrol's Detoxifying Body Facial (Thank you to my wonderful consultant, Sandra Mosey, for this prize donation! You can order Beauticontrol's fabulous products on her site, linked above)

I will try to announce a new prize each day, but will hold the drawing for all prizes after the contest closes. (I will announce the winners, but please be patient with me, because it is my first contest, and depending on the number of entrants, it may take me a little while to enter all the email addresses.)
Here are the Entry Rules for My Very First Blog Contest: (Leave a separate comment on this post for each thing that you do)

• The contest officially begins at 8:00 AM (CST) Friday, April 9, 2010 and ends at 11:59 PM (CST) on Sunday,  April 18, 2010.
• Winners will be selected randomly through Random.org
• Contest is open to all persons 18 years and older, living in the U.S. and Canada.

1. (required) Leave a comment on this post, including your email address, for the random drawing and so that I can notify you if you win. (You may contact me through my contact information at the top of the page, if you prefer not to leave your email address in your comments.)
2. Post about this contest on your blog with a link back to this post for an additional 2 entries.
3. Share on Facebook or Twitter for an additional entry.
4. Follow (or comment that you already are a Follower) for an additional 3 entries.

So please take a look around, read some of my past posts, and Enter My Very First Blog Contest (please help me make it a great success)!  I hope to meet many of you, so please leave your blog url, if you have one, so I can come and visit you, too!
Have a wonderful time at the Ultimate Blog Party!

There are many wonderful prizes to win, but here is my list, should I be so blessed as to win!
Well, of course I would *love, love, love* to win the
Grand Prize of a Toshiba Laptop

Then, I would like the
$100 eCertificate to Restaurant.com from Amy at Earnest Parenting
A $50 Amazon GC from Robyn at Our Homeschool Home

Then, I would like any of the Gift Cards/certificates to Amazon, WalMart or Target.
And, the Hilton Garden Inn stay.

Announcement!!

Wow!!  How exciting!!  100 Followers!!

To celebrate, I want to do something special, but I haven't decided what it will be, so stay tuned--I will definitely let you know!!

Thanks for your faithful

readership,

encouraging comments,

and

friendship!

My dear followers

Each one of you is very special and I pray for you.

Philippians 1:3-4:

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,  

always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy."

Thank you for being my Fantastic First 100 Followers!!!

Blessings,

Wendy