Wanna win some free diamond earrings?

No.
Really.

Go over to this link and click like.  If you click share too, you'll be entered twice! Gene is giving away a pair of 1/4 tcw earrings.   No catch, just spreading the good cheer.

See, he's a way bigger softy than he looks!

Hurry, deadline is Saturday night!

And the winner is ......

Winner of the very pretty ruby and diamond ring donated by my hubs is .... Ms "Geek Details"!!

Ms Geek, please contact me with your address and we'll get it mailed to you!
Stay tuned for more contests!

{Apparently I love exclamation points!!!}

A giveaway - because you are awesome

And because I'm in a giving mood today. Maybe it's because my feet are freezing and I want to feel all warm and fuzzy again - you know, how summer makes me feel (heavy sigh). Gene gave up one of his rings from his etsy shop, Cease Fire Heirlooms, for a giveaway!

Everyone together:
"Thannnnks Gennnne!"

Refurbished 10K yellow gold ring with lots of Diamond accents surrounding an oval ruby.

Cluster arrangnment with oval and points design.

.15 ctw of diamonds, 12 total.
White diamonds, not enhanced.
.2 ctw ruby, not enhanced deep pink color

This ring would easily sell for over $250 in retail establishments.
Size 7 and in fine condition.

******

So what do you have to do to win??
Well, you can enter 3 ways:
1. Leave a comment here.
2. Push the "follow" button on the right.
3. Post a link from your blog to this blog.

That's it, so you can TRIPLE your chances to win. Anyone can enter including family or friends. Please do not leave more than one comment, I'll know and I'll spank you with a sock full of rocks if you do. I'm all seeing all knowing (I'm a mom). If you link up from your blog, you post that link and can use that link as your comment here!

You must also check back to see if you are the winner which will be given away Friday night!

Now.. GO! ENTER! WIN!

Drumroll please!!

And the winner of the "guess the weight" of the "final secret" post is....

Please don't kill me.
I totally didn't rig this.

My sister Torrie! LOL.

I swear I didn't bring in a ringer. Torrie reads my blog semi-regularly, and when I mentioned that my family/friends NEVER entered, well she took it personal.

She apparently cheated by using the "pyschic family connection" thing that me and Amber have going on, and guessed 3780 pounds. The answer was - 3773 pounds! She already called and asked, so she already knows that she will get a gift card for $37.73!! So there was no fooling her. sigh.

Thanks everyone for playing along, you are fun and awesome! I love how you humor me with my weird contests :)

Another weird contest coming soon. I dunno what it is, but I'm sure it will involve channeling Jingles for the answer.
:p

Don't forget!

There's still time to enter our "final secret" contest! You have until tomorrow evening to get in your guesses.

And the final secret is ....

Remember a few days ago, me sharing a few deep dark secrets with you? Well, I promised a third one, and I'm here to deliver. You'll want to read the *whole post*.

So basically, the best way around here to get something done, is to mention in front of my *fifteen-year-old* how much something bothers me. He's one of those kids that cleans his room without you asking, takes care of the chickens, or when I come home, he'll have spent 6 hours working on the chicken coop in 98 degree weather - and I never asked.

Yes, those kids exist.

The other thing I can do, is to say this to my husband: "it's important to me". This will pretty much guarantee that he'll do whatever it is I'm asking, even if it's begrudingly. In turn, I use this phrase pretty sparingly. I know when not to blow a good thing.

So the other secret, the other pain, the other pile of ugliness hanging out in my yard was this:

No, not the chicken coop, the pile of crap in front of it.

What is it? (Besides a toilet and some wire of course) Well, we bought this house 3 years ago - almost exactly. This whole thing was a spur of the moment purchase. We weren't looking for a house, and we hadn't saved up for a down payment, closing costs - *anything*. My brother-in-law just so happens to have his real estate license, and because I had said something in passing, he brought this property to my attention on a Saturday. By Sunday, we had put in a contract.

Long story short, the process to close on the house (it's a HUD repo) took about 3 months. It was a pain and a nightmare, but on the up side, that gave us time to save up a down payment and closing costs. Seriously, we did it in 3 months. We worked overtime, we had several garage sales, sold some stuff on ebay, we did it.

Did I mention we had to pay for a roof too? Yeah, it had to be done immediately because most of the problems this house started at the roof, and what's the point of putting in hardwood floors, when the roof is just going to leak on them right?

The point to this story is, that by the time we paid for the closing costs, the down payment, and the roof, we were tapped. OK, not like our rent check was going to bounce, or we were eating ramen for the next 90 days, but we were skimming the bottom of the bucket. Because of this, when we ripped off the roof, we knew we were not going to be able to afford *at that very second* to pay for someone to haul off all the construction waste. It was going to cost several hundred dollars, and in the grand scheme of things, I needed toilets worse.

There was a cement pad there, (remember me talking about the fire in the last post?), well this is where the old garage was before. It's where we decided to put our chicken coop, and it made a great spot to "temporarily" dump construction waste thinking in a couple months we'd borrow a truck and take it to the dump.

Then it got bigger, and bigger and HEAPING. There were those pesky toilets (the former owners broke them all before they left), all the shingles, paneling strips from the walls, and then later we added more from when they put on the foundation.

Sadly, the road to hell is paved with good intentions - and lazy asses.

We just kept putting it off. Trust me, it was a suck job. I was slowly chipping away at it. Every time I had an empty bag from the chicken feed, I'd fill it with crap and put it out for the trash man... and O.M.G. that was just the most redneck sentence ever.

So back to the day we're all outside, and watching the chickens. I say something about how the shed is embarassing me, as does the pile of CRAP. *e.m.b.a.r.a.s.s.i.n.g.* Everyone takes note. Tanner painted the shed. CHECK.

The a few days ago - Wednesday ironically is anti-procrastination day according to flylady - Gene out of the blue told me to rent a truck. I did some research, found a coupon code, and 1/2 hour later was picking up a moving truck.

It only took about 2 hours in the heat with lots of breaks but viola!:

Oh, I know it's not the taj mahal, but lord, it's soooo much nicer to look out the back door. Those chairs are our chicken watching chairs, and the old tub is our temporary "end table" for drinks. LOL. I am already talking to Gene about putting pavers on it and buying a nice patio set.

Yes, my chicken coop will have a deck. No lie.

There was one casualty in the process..
ME!!

I was helping unload and made the mistake of standing behind Gene. Like any good center, he snapped the shingle (football) into my left eye. I totally saw it coming. It was scary and dude I was so upset I thought maybe my eyeball was going to be hanging out of my head.

In reality, all that ended up happening was I walked around like a pirate for one day, and used a lot of eye drops. I did pull some asphalt out of my eye and that's the most bloodshot it's ever been.

I will now stop talking about it because my eye is starting to water thinking about it.
(I have issues)



Now for the fun part...
I've decided to give away a gift card to Home Depot, Lowes, whatever store works for you - one penny for every pound that we took to the dump. They weighed us, so I know exactly :)

All you have to do is guess the weight!

Here's the rules:
1. Only one guess per person - I know things, I'm all seeing and there's hell to pay.
2. You MUST come back to claim your prize - I'll post the winners here next Friday night
3. Anyone can enter, even family or friends (although they never do!)
4. Closest person wins - this is not price is right, so you can go over. (my husband makes up the price is right rule and it annoys me lol)
5. Aren't chickens cute? I just wanted to say that.

Here's a couple hints.
1. The pile had shingles in it - they were crappy shingles, not the nice ones we put back on the house. The roof covers around 1600 square feet of house.
2. We also threw away a washing machine.
3. There were 2 whole toilets. *eyeroll*
4. Isn't this just the coolest white trash contest ever?

I'm anxious to see your guesses!!

PS - I think I'm done living a lie now. I feel cleansed (pun intended)

Practical suggestions for Mother and Housewife

Somewhere, in my recent past, I picked up up an antique book. Now, I can't remember exactly when, or where it was, but I saw the title, and figured it would be good for a few laughs so I brought it home.

Now there is a title that's just begging to be exposed to the daylight of 2010.

From amazon: "The secrets to how to be a successful mother and housewife are finally revealed in this faithful reproduction of the 1910 classic! Everything a woman needs to know, from how to keep a well-ordered house and take proper care of the family and husband, to personal upkeep and good manners, to proper vocations for the unmarried woman—it’s all here in this invaluable resource that no modern woman should be without."


Now THAT, my friend, is an intriquing intro. I know there has to be some invaluable material in here.

For example under "The single woman":

"Household employments, such as cooking, needlework, etc., as vocations for the unmarried woman, no less than the married, need only be mentioned here, as their appropriateness for the girl at home is obvious, and they are fully discussed elsewhere in this series. It should be suggested, however that the greater leisure of the unmarried woman enables her to try experiments in these subjects while the married housewife is too fully occupied by the routine of her duties to undertake them. Indeed, if a woman become a notable cook after marriage, it is often a sign that she is not a notable wife and mother."

Wait.
What?

So I guess if I make a mean meatball and handmade rolls for dinner (yesterday), I suck at being a wife and mom? I'm sorry, I'm lost.

Girl... hold my earrings.


Later on, in "The Wife" section of the book:

"Now it is the woman who is tempted to marry for economic reasons, to be certain of material support while she exercises herself in those household avocations and social pleasures which constitute the main activies of women."

OK, now we're talkin.

"This is a legitimate consideration only when the interest of the man is also taken into account."

Hmmfpt.

"Marriage to a man whom she does not love is a crime for any woman; giving falsely the offerings of love for material things is harlotry even though legitmated by vows and ceremonies."

Girl, did you just catch what she threw at you? She called you a ho. A big old scanky ho. Just because your really old, rich husband bought you new boobies and a Hummer.

Oh no she di'n't. Honey, lemme hold your earrings.

But just then, on the next page, the author makes a really super valid observation. I'm sure you will concur.

"A woman should not expect to find a perfect husband."

Sing it girlfriend!

"Indeed , her chief usefulness to him will in her strengthening his weak points, and cultivating his right inclinations until the are confirmed habits."

Uh-huh. We all that "training" nowadays. I'm still untraining him from his old wife, and then I'll start the retraining process. Damn I should get a discount!

But then the author goes on to say, " Yet in this work she should realize the imperfections in herself, and respond to the similar aid he gives her by his example and suggestions."

Suggestions?
Sugestions?!

I don't need suggestions! kthxbai. Whoever wrote this was a serious turncoat. Girl is supposed to have our backs. Sheesh.

"Mutual aid is the great bond of marriage, as it is all of human relations."

You know what, maybe it's not *all* bad advice after all.


And being the good housewife that I am, and still on my decluttering mission, I think it's time for this book to find a new home. An unofficial, official mini giveaway.

If you would like to have this book, just shout out in the comments that you would love to see it show up on your doorstep. I'll post a "winner" (I had to use quotes, sorry) on Sunday night - appropriately enough, Father's Day.

However, please don't give it to your mother-in-law or worse, daughter-in-law. Your husband's ex-wife tho, game on. Better yet, send it to your ex-husband's wife! Just send me the details of the fireworks.

Oh, and some popcorn so I can watch.

(I have a mean streak today!)
(meh)

Tree Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the earth day tree is #4 from the top of comments... Jen!

Jen, email me your address and your tree will be sent off to you asap.

Happy Earth Day friends! Let's celebrate!

{I truly had to resist the urge to put a chicken photo here}

Something really awesome happened a couple days ago. I had been outside, trying to work on the concrete on the chicken coop (that's not the awesome part. That's the sucky part) and when I came inside, there was a message on my answering machine.

It was from a reporter from the St. Joseph News Press (which is a town about 45 minutes from me). You see, Ken, the reporter, was working on an article for Earth Day and wanted to do a story about me and my nature photography.

Of course I said yes.
Duh.

So I tried to vacuum up as much chicken dust as i could, and I moved the ducks to the dining room table, and the chickens rolled to the dining room in their playpen.

Man chickens kick up a lot of pine shavings. My vacuum is full!

First Ken came yesterday and he's a really neat person. Very much a newspaper guy. Did I ever mention I used to work in a newspaper? There were 7-8 Kens there all the time so it was like visiting with an old friend. Right as he left, the photographer showed up, and I actually ended up spending more time with him than Ken. We talked about motorcycles and cameras. He has gear that makes me drool.

But we've talked about how you don't need expensive gear right!?
Right? :(

That's what I keep trying to tell myself anyway.

Sooo... Today is earth day, and the article came out. I got up at 7:45 to 5 text messages from my husband telling me I was front page news.
Above the fold.

He's very excited.
I am too. ;)


So anyway, If you've read here long enough, you know that I try to celebrate Earth Day like other holidays too. Only there's no gift wrap cuz dude, that wouldn't be earth friendly would it?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not a certified tree hugger, although I do hug my trees when they actually live. Sadly a few trees are not getting hugs this year. Each year I set one or two small goals for myself that makes the earth a little bit better place than it was before. One year I started recycling, then I set a goal to plant more trees (15 trees later...), I also started a small compost pile (very recently!), and I use reusuable bags - when I remember them. grrr.

This year I'm going to do a few simple things. First, I'm going to actually USE that compost and get my beds really going around the house. It's a slow process but we're getting there. I'm still wondering how I will save my flowers from free range chickens, but that's another post for another day.

I also am going to take better care of me, because well, I'm part of this earth too and by golly everyone is stuck looking at me, I should do my best to give everyone a better view. This might entail me venturing into the organic section of the grocery store.

I'm going to try to travel less (not drive to town every stinkin day).

And lastly, I'm going to help you celebrate too.
Wha?

Yep, I'm going to give you something!!

Yay free stuff!!

Last year for Earth Day, I gave away a tree, and this year I'm going to do it again! I'm going to give away to one person that comments a Royal Empress Tree. They are quite entertaining and supposed to be fast growing. Last year, one of mine was growing an inch a day!

I picked this tree because it's hardy in most zones, but you should check out the map to make sure it works for you. If it doesn't we can always send it to your mother in law as a mother's day gift. SWEET.

To enter, you must follow these rules:
1. Leave a comment and tell me your plans for the weekend.
2. Enter only once. I'll know. Trust me. Violations will get konked with a sock full of rocks.
3. Come back and see if you were a winner!

Winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Monday!

RAK = Random Act of Kindness

It's been a while since I gave anything away. I was doing some reorganization of my scrapbook room (which will never ever never ever end!!) and decided I don't use my eyelets enough. Why? Because I have glass top table and I'm too scared to set an eyelet on them. Oh, and I don't have one of those fancy cropadiles so I don't pound with a hammer.

So anyway, I did something that a few years ago, would have made me gasp with disgust.. I mixed together the ones I wanted to keep in one jar!! I have a little project I'm going to share with the organizer later.

So anyway, I decided to part with about 80% of my "collection" (I'm gonna guess well over 1000), and that includes lots of shapes hearts, pumpkins, ghosts, stars, bunnies and eggs, but the cutest is the snowman!), eyelet snaps, regular 1/8" eyelets in every single color, micro eyelets galore.

Only thing you have to do to get them, is just let me know that yourself, or you and your friends will use them. If you want, you can even put them in a pretty jar (or 7) and give them to your scrapping girlfriends as Christmas presents. I won't tell! So those of you out there with a cropadile, that makes punching lives easier, are fixing to get a treat!

I'll pick one person on Wednesday! Enter only once, and be sure to leave a place I can get ahold of you (like your blog or an email).

Oh, and if you don't have a setter, just let me know, I probably can scare up an old school setter (that you use with a hammer!) for you.

Giveaway winners... and a tangent.. and a song.. and some memories.. you poor, poor dears

Hellooooo.

I bet you thought I forgot you. That would be impossible, I NEVER forget things. Ever.

srsly.

stop laughing.
shaddup.

whatever.

ANYWAY... I need to announce the winners of the "In Honor of me honeymoon" giveaway. First off, thank you all for those that entered. There weren't a lot, but *that's ok*. I don't need your love and adoration to feel validated and accepted. No really *sniffles* I'm ok.

*deep breath*

But first, I must bore you with a story.

Do you remember Dr. San Guinary? Well, If you were from Kansas City, probably not, but he was an Omaha legend. He had the creature feature on Saturday nights. I honestly remember barely nothing about him except that he would have kids do carnivals for Muscular Dystrophy. You could call, and order a kit, and it would have all kinds of neat things you could do to raise money.

I always wanted to do it.

My mom was a fuddy. Sheesh mom, quashing all my fun as USUAL.

Anyway, some of the neighbor kids, the Sharps, (RIP Sandy) had one and I remember every kid in town being at their house, IN their house, running around making messes, eating their food.
Bless their parents.

Oh.
I get it now.

They had a big jar full of money, and for a nickel or a dime or whatever, you could guess how much was in it and the winner won some prize.

I was probably 5 or 6 at the time, and I made my guess. They made the huge mistake of telling me I came in SECOND and won nothing. That has stuck with me ever since. I have just had too much trauma, a bunch of tears, a little therapy, 674 foot rubs and 63 gallons of ice cream.

And I still have not forgotten it.

So, in honor of my honeymoon, {that retraced steps of my childhood accidentally}. I had a giveaway, that traced the steps of my childhood {accidentally}.

(because blogging is the new therapy - dude that stuff is expensive!)

But instead of screwing #2 out of a gift, I'm giving #1, #2, AND #3 a gift.

The rest of you have my undying love and devotion.

Oh no... a tangent coming on:
"So I'd like to know where, you got the notion
said I'd like to know where, you got the notion
To rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby
rock the boat, don't tip the boat over
rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby
rock the boat-t-t-t-t"

Whew... sorry.
It's a 70's flashback kinda day.

Soo... back on task...
The actual amount in the jug was $271.03. I was expecting more. You think the woman at the bank ripped me off? I did see "Public Enemies" while I was in Colorado. Down with the banks! Oh, and I have a crush on John Dillinger now.

You know, when I started this post 14 hours ago, I meant for it to be like, 2 paragraphs.

OK, First place winner of all the wildflower seed, which I really want to keep for myself now, is: MCB! She only missed it by $14.31
Second place is Brittney, she was off by $69.97
Third place is CeeCeeDee, she was third closest and missed by just $82.97.

So if you all could send me your name, address, etc to lana at ceasefirestudios dot net, I'll send you off your prize!

Almost all of us agree that there should have been more money in there. So I think we should stage a revolt and march down to my bank and demand $14.31 more!! Who's with me?

Anyone?
hello??

Don't forget the giveaway!

Don't forget ppl, I have a giveaway! There's only a few entries so your chances are good.

I'll be posting this afternoon/this evening. It's Monday, the busy day with laundry, errands and aimless blog surfing.

Win a bike. cool beans.

I like to visit blogs, when they visit me. I've found some really awesome stuff this way. I checked out a recent poster's(to the contest) blog, (thanks Suz and her mom!) and found her neat blog.

She had a link on her blog to a cool contest, and I wanted to pass it along to you guys.

You can win a cargo bike. How cool is that thing!? I know Tanner would love something like that for his paper route. LOL. I don't live close enough to town to carry my groceries home in it, but it'd be fun to ride I'm sure.

Click on the above logo for more details!

A story, and a giveaway because I can't give you a gift without boring you to tears first.

When I was a kid, my parents used to drag us around to auctions all over the country. Now this is not your Sotherby's auction where everyone knows where everyone stands on price, and you're paying $12,000 for a scarf once worn by Jackie O. Nope, this is auctions where you have to be as skilled at listening for the price, as the auctioneer is skilled in his (or her) fast talking.

I'll be honest with you. They were almost always unbearably boring. That's probably why I don't go to auctions now. Who wants to wait around for 7 hours to find out that one thing you really wanted had an opening bid of double what you were willing to pay.

I save all my excited bidding and over spending for ebay.

So anyway, when I was around 7-ish, my parents went to an auction and bought me this:

Seems like a sucky gift eh?
I didn't think so. You see, I had been saving pennies since I knew what a penny was. Everyone gave them to me. I guess they all thought they were worth nothing, but I, in my wise 7 years, knew that 10 pennies made a dime, and a dime could buy a piece of candy. If 10 pennies can buy you a piece of candy, what can 3000 pennies buy you???

Many days in the summer, we'd dump the penny jug, just to see how much money was in it. We'd spend hours making stacks of 10 pennies, in rows of 10 stacks. I would ALWAYS cave and take my money to the bank before it was full to the top.

The older I grew, the more I'd throw in nickels, and then dimes, and now, I put in everything from my pockets. I also for the record, steal Gene's pocket money from his bowl when he empties his pockets at night. Oops. ;)

A few years ago, we decided that we'd save our pocket change, and use it for our honeymoon when we got around to that point. We didn't get super serious about it (the change or the honeymoon) but when we remembered, we'd put our change in there.

In the past few months, it grew closer and closer to the top of the jug. In all my *super young and youthful* years, I've never filled it to the top. NOT ONE TIME! I was excited at the prospect that it was close. Then, Gene got a new van at work, and brought home a box of change from his old van (he keeps tons of pennies in there, but won't let me have them. grr). Now it's only a couple inches from the top. I'm gonna make it!!

THEN...

Gene says last Thursday, "let's go on a honeymoon." And I say "What the...?" and then yes. Then he reminds me we have the honeymoon jug. Woot! (forgotten found money!) I called the bank, yep, they'd exchange it that day, so I pulled out some ziploc bags and started dumping.

Unfortunately, change gets stuck in the throat of the jug so you have to stick your finger in there to get it unjammed and moving.

This kids, is why you don't put change in your mouth. YUCK. God knows what diseases were crawling on my finger. (this is where my Mother-in-law gets all woozy heh).

Off to the bank I went, and in a very short period of time, they had it counted. Like, minutes. It would have taken us kids the entire day to count that. *sigh*

So because I was gone for a week, and really didn't get a chance to post, (did I mention I want a laptop.. like NOW), I decided to buy you guys a couple souvenirs in Estes park!

I found the most cutest shop EVER, called "Granny Gingham" and easily could have dropped a grand in there, but Hmmm.. something tells me hubs wouldn't be all that happy about that. Instead I found a couple things that frankly I want to keep for myself. LOL

The first prize is a bag of wildflower seeds. I knew it was perfect when I saw it because it has a goldfinch on the cover! It's by company called "Potting Shed Creations". It's filled with seeds like the California Poppy, Blue Flax, Black-eyed susans, Partridge Pea, and a ton more. It covers 100 square feet, which is like, .01% of what I'd need. LOL. I want a whole 1.5 acres of wildflowers... ahh.

I just have wild weeds.

I thought that wasn't enough, so I have 2 second prizes.

They are glycerine hand therapy fro Camille Beckman. This company has been around forever, in fact, I wanted to carry their stuff when I had my shop back in 19-dickety-2.

One is passion pear, and the other is french vanilla. They are little, about 1/4 of an ounce, but they fit in your purse or pocket nicely for a little extra boost when you need it.

Now, how do you win? Well first, you have to:

Guess how much money is in this jug.

ACK!

Closest gets the wildflower seeds, second gets the first choice hand cream, and third gets the one left.

Here's the rules:
1. Leave a comment with your guess. You can only enter one time. I'll know, so don't do it 7 times. Not even a guess under your "grandma's id" on your computer, blah blah. I'll know. Trust me on this.
2. Anyone can enter, even friends and family.
3. You must come back to claim your prize.
4. I'll announce the winners next Wednesday evening. It'll be a nice end to your hump day!

Here's a couple hints:
1. It's more than $50.
2. It's less than $1000
3. It's a nice mix of all coins.
4. It wasn't all the way full!! *sob* I had about an inch to go.
5. I caught my husband stealing quarters out of it and gave him a tongue lashing.

now GO!

P.S. Potting Shed Creations and Camille Beckman did not sponsor this giveaway. I did. In fact, they probably have no idea that I exist. *sob* Wouldn't it be nice if they knew I *heart* them, but alas, they do not. *sniffles*

P.P.S. Over there -----> On the right, you should click "follow me" because I plan on having regular giveaways now! At least a couple a month if not more. How will you know? Oh the humanity!!!

The winner is.....

"Cecelia---Sis---Mom said...
The pool, popsicles and ice water. LOL

Cece"

Mz Cece...

Congrats! Email me your address at: lana at ceasefirestudios dot net and I'll get your box of wonderfulness out to you asap!!

Patting self on back!

woooohoooot.

Guess what folks? No. GUESS!

You've been tolerating me not
only for exactly 2 years,
but exactly 500 posts!

Go me!

I'm really proud of this blog, and proud of sticking with it for so long, and proud of the things that I've shared (and restrained myself from sharing lol).

Sooooo... In celebration of that, I'm going to be giving away a cool box of goodies this week! It's going to be packed with Stuff Lana Loves! Many of these things, I've talked about, or shared here, and I want you to know why I love them to. Hint: scrapbook goodies, kitchen goodies, and a couple special surprises.

To enter, all you have to do, is leave a comment letting me know your favorite ways of beating the heat this summer! Cuz srsly, we need ideas.

I will announce the winner on Friday. Only ONE ENTRY PER PERSON... spread the word, anyone can enter. You have to come back to check to see if you're a winner.

That's it. See how easy and agreeable I can be?

Project 365 - a free template

I had a request from a reader, that does not do digital scrapbooking (and to be fair, neither do I), for a template so that you can do this at home, old school scrapping style.

You can use the template below and print on any colored cardstock you wish, add your own cropped pic, and journal by hand. Cut on the line and add to your page protector. If you wanted, you could line them up perfectly, mount them on one sheet of cardstock (I'd use cheap stuff) and put them in a regular page protector. You could even print them out on 8.5 x 11 scrapbook paper. You'll probably need to pick something light colored and simple. Experiment!

You have 2 options for the file above. You can either click on it and save the file to your hard drive to print out when you need.

Or, you can right click and "save target as" and save the pdf onto your harddrive.

The pdf will probably be easier for you if you are computer challenged. If it will not let you download, the bandwidth has been used for the month, either use the other file, or come back in 30 days. Please don't email me and ask me to email you with the file, figure out why your printer isn't working, explain what pdf means or any other complaints... remember.. I still *heart* you. :p

It's free to use, please do not distribute, for personal use only. Feel free to share the link to the blog.