Lifehouse Anyone?

I've entered to win tickets to see Lifehouse in Seattle on November 23rd and you can too! Click here to see this giveaway on the blog of Daring Young Mom.

Good luck!

Suze ~ The Blog Stalker

I stalk quite a few blogs.

Some I find from stalking other blogs.

Most of these blogs are about crafting, sewing, DIY, cooking.

They inspire me and allow me to dream that "someday I'll do that project" or "bank that one in the idea pot".

Well about a month ago I discovered the ultimate blog.

A girl named Ana and her obsession with furniture.


***Flashback to the past.......


I took a semester (well part of a semester, cause I moved early that school year) in 10th grade of woodworking. It was something that I wanted to try and I ended up loving it. It totally freaked me out (all those power tools and their POWER) but at the same time I loved what you could create with wood. I love the smell of lumber and to this day, one of my favorite smells, is a "home store" lumber section. Anyways since my woodworking days in highschool, I always knew that one day I would do something with wood.


***Back to the future.......

Knock-Off Wood is a blog dedicated to people who dream of expensive furniture from over priced catalogues/retail stores, but can never afford it. Actually it's more of a, "why on earth would you EVER pay for something like that, when you could build it yourself", kinda blog.

The blog author, Ana, is a stay-at-home mom and with a wonderful talent for looking at a piece of furniture and being able to not only making it look exactly like the original, but also making up the plans for everyone in the world to be able to make it themselves.

She has totally inspired me to do exactly what she's done and that is create.

As soon as I'm back on my leg again, I plan on creating something that she's designed. Well at least it will be on the list of things I'm going to do.

Dan's being very supportive in this and he's ordered me some books on woodworking. What a hunk! Thanks again Lovey.

Anyways right now Ana's celebrating her 1 millionth hit on her blog. She's only been blogging for just over 100 days and her blogsite has been hit over a million times. Can we say genius?

She's giving away a $50 gift card to either Lowes or Home Depot if you leave a comment on her post.(Make sure you say that I referred you, cause if you win, then I'll get a Gift Certificate too!) Check out her site and be inspired, like I've been.

Also check back in the future for my own projects that I've built. The first one I plan on doing is this bench for my entry way. To think I was going to spend about $200 at Cost Plus World Market for one. I just couldn't justify it, but it was exactly what I wanted for my entry way and couldn't find it cheaper any where else. Well now I plan on building my own. Stay tuned!

Give Said The Little Stream....

Okay so this is really another blog post about, yet another, giveaway. I promise I will write about more than just giveaways in the future, but for now, this is all I have the time for. (I'll explain in a later post...)

Anyways this giveaway is YOUR chance to win, one of 11 things!

Check out Or So She Says.... blog for your ways to win!

I should really say don't even bother, cause I'm going to win, but I'm really not that mean.....okay so maybe I am, but I can be nice sometimes. Plus I'll be one of 11 winners, so really you DO have a chance. See, aren't I nice?

Win Hilary Week's New Christmas CD!

I love Hilary Weeks. I love her music, her lyrics, her inspiration and her wonderful personallity. I had a privilege of seeing her at Time Out For Women in Seattle earlier this year and she is so awesome. I could go on and on about her, but I won't.

I've been stalking her blog lately and she's giving everyone a chance to win her new Christmas CD. Not only that, but the grand prize includes 2 Christmas CDs and a book.

Here's the info from her blog:

Write a blog or post on Facebook about my new Christmas Cd, Christmas Once Again, and I’ll enter your name into a drawing for a chance to win a free Cd!

Three Grand Prize Packages - Includes all of my Christmas products: Christmas Once Again Cd, Christmastime Cd and God Bless Your Way book and Cd!

Seven Prizes - Includes: Christmas Once Again Cd!

There are 10 chances to win! You can enter as many times as you’d like by blogging and Facebooking about the new Cd as often as you want. (Don’t get on your friends nerves though…) Each time you blog or post a FB, please inlcude the following link to my website or Deseret Book’s website.

http://hilaryweeks.com/moreinfo.php?SKU=1021

http://deseretbook.com/hilaryweeks

Feel free to include a picture of the album cover and any comments you think would help spread the word and get people excited about it! Then send me an email at hilary@hilaryweeks.com with your name and address and your name will be entered into the drawing. The contest ends November 29th - giving you enough time to listen to your new Christmas Cd if your name is drawn! Anyone who wants to help spread the word is welcome!

One more thing - it would be great if you include a link to your blog so we can share in the fun post! And if you post on Facebook and know how many friends you have - let us know!

Blog to you soon,

Hilary


You can also download a Free Song from the album. I'm not sure how long they'll have this available, so make sure you download it NOW! You can find it here.

Who Wants A Nummy Treat?.....For Free?

One of the blogs I stalk follow is called Gourmet Mom On The Go. She has nummy treat & food ideas and I love to pretend dream fantasize I could be just like her. But do I ever do anything about it? Of course not. But it doesn't stop me from following. Well her recent post is a giveaway of Toffee from the company English Toffee Anytime. Just follow the link and you can enter to win yourself. I'm feeling lucky lately and I want me some TOFFEE! Wish me luck and good luck yourself!

I Won! I Won! I WON!!!

(*Insert victory dance)

Woot woot!

Woot woot!

I found out yesterday (and it was confirmed today) that I was one of the 2 winners of Rachel Ann Nunes' latest novel, Saving Madeline.

I was SOOOO happy that I thought I'd brag blog about it.

In case you're wondering what I'm talking about go here.

I'm so excited.....and I just can't hide it! (Isn't that a song?..........no.....no.....I don't think so)

Don't forget to pick up your own copy of the book Saving Madeline! Follow the links to buy!

Amazon.com or Deseret Book.

An Interview With Rachel Ann Nunes

*Pictures and Bio info are from Rachel's Website.

For those who know me well, know that I praise and absolutely adore an author named Rachel Ann Nunes (pronounced Noon-esh). She is the best-selling author of romance and women's fiction, including the novels Fields of Home, Eyes of a Stranger, and the popular Ariana series. She also wrote the award-winning picture book, Daughter of a King.

I got hooked on Rachel when I was about 20 yrs. old (OMGOSH nearly 13 years ago!) and I picked up a copy of Ariana: The Making Of A Queen at a Deseret Book store. When I started this book it had been only a few months since I had returned to my LDS faith. I consumed the story of Ariana; her trials as well as her conversion story and it inspired me to become a better person and to find my own testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since that first book I have owned and read almost all of Rachel's 29 published works (multiple copies too.....as I lent them out and never got some back!). Each of her stories had me so engrossed that I sometimes had to remind myself that the characters weren't real (I have too wild of an imagination).

Rachel started out as an author for the LDS market, but in the last few years she has written good, clean fiction for the world market. It's great to read about all of the characters in an LDS setting with conversion stories that inspires one to look at their own life and conversion, however it has been refreshing and comforting to know that her stories that don't have an LDS theme to them, can be just as entertaining and inspiring as those that promote faith in the lord Jesus Christ.

When the opportunity arose to be a part of a blog tour to help promote Rachel's latest novel, Saving Madeline, I totally wanted to be a part of it! In fact I thought I wouldn't have the time to do this, but since getting off Facebook, I have more time to blog and so the opportunity was available without guilt. Now the purpose of this blog tour is both to promote and to excite. You see if you leave a comment on this post, you will be entered to win a copy of this book. FOR FREE! Anyone who knows the thrifty me, knows that FREE is the best kind of deal you can get. What's the catch, you ask? Gee, umm........all you have to do is leave a comment, so pretty much the catch is you have to take about a minute of your time and leave a comment. Sounds pretty darn simple, eh?

Even simpler are the links I've provided to go and read the synopsis of the book. It's that easy! Click the link or even click the picture of the book. It's even easier than those Easy buttons from Staples.

I forgot to mention that if you visit other sites that are participating in the blog tour and leave a comment on their post about Saving Madeline, then you have even more of a chance to win the book. Check out Rachel's blog to see who else is participating.

Well anyways onto my interview with Rachel. I decided I'd ask her 10 questions. Here are my questions and the answers she gave me.

Suze: How old were you when you started writing novels? and how old were you when you had your first novel published?

Rachel Ann Nunes: I was seventeen when I first started writing novels. I'd just given birth to my third child when I really became serious about it. I was twenty-nine shortly before my first book was release, the month after my fourth child was born. I had a book and a back born in the same year. I'd been writing seriously about two years.

Suze: For most of your career you've written mainly for the LDS audience. However in the past few years you've decided to branch out to other markets. What made you decide to do that?

RAN: At one point I wrote a lot of conversion stories, and one day I just felt could go on to other stories. That I needed to go on. Most authors in the LDS market are writing stories where people find the gospel, but there is a large number of our people who would like to read other kinds of stories. Clean, compelling novels that encompass many types of plots. Also, I hoped to reach other people outside our faith who are searching for good quality literature that doesn't force them to skip pages because of questionable content. I'm not saying I'll never write another LDS novel, but I must go where the muse takes me, and I feel this is the right direction for me at this time.

Suze: I know you write from home and you're a SAHM, so tell me this, how do you balance it all? What gives you sanity?

RAN: I don't sleep or clean my house. Just kidding. Basically I just write each day as much as I can until the novel is finished, stopping to do whatever I need to do for my family. When I don't get the chance to write, I'm cranky and irritable, so writing actually seems to keep me balanced. I do have to make choices and prioritize. I don't go out a lot with friends, I don't shop, I'm not a stickler on having the house perfectly clean all the time, I assign all the housework to my kids as chores, I don't garden, and I'm hit and miss at exercise. I try not to let even good things interfere too much because choosing carefully gives me more opportunity to do what I love and spend more time with my children while they're young.

Suze: Being the parent of adopted children I enjoy reading your books that include the theme of adoption. Where do you get your inspiration or ideas about adoption?

RAN: I've had several friends who've adopted children, some from other countries, so I've learned a lot over the years. The rest I researched.

Suze: Where do you get the inspiration for your plots & characters?

RAN: Authors usually get their ideas from five different places--personal experience, what they observe/overhear, research, imagination, and inspiration (or the mythical muse). I use a combination of all of these in each of my books. As a plot develops in my head, it just won't leave me alone until I write it.

Suze: Okay now to a more geeky question. I know for a fact that we're both Stargate SG-1 nerds (I being the bigger nerd of course). Now tell me which Stargate character can you relate to the best? (Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, Teal'C, General Hammond, Colonel Mitchell or Vala?)

RAN: Ha. Probably Samantha, though I'm nowhere near as smart as she is or as good with a gun. I wish I could be more like Vala, Jake, or Mitchell, though. I think they have a lot more fun. But speaking of Samantha, I ordered Amanda Tapping's new sci-fi series, Sanctuary, being released this month, and I've never even seen one episode.Who's the bigger nerd now?

(Hmm......probably still me, Rachel!)

Suze: What is your biggest indulgence (besides chocolate!)

RAN: Reading books. I love reading. I also love to travel, but mostly that isn't relaxing with all these children tagging along. Some day I'm going to travel everywhere. I'm also going to learn how to scuba dive.

Suze: If you were forced to make a career change and HAD to choose another career, besides being a mom & an author, what would you be?

RAN: I wanted to be an attorney when I was younger. That field still really interests me. Then again, I think it'd be fun to be a radio personality. Hmm.

Suze: How much wood could a Woodchuck chuck, if a Woodchuck could chuck wood?

RAN: As much wood as his little stomach could hold without upchucking.

Suze: What has been your most favorite novel/book that you've written?

RAN: Always the one I'm working on. Always. It's the best!

There you have it folks! My interview with one of my favorite people in the world. Now don't forget to leave a comment so that you can enter to win your very own copy of Saving Madeline. If you can't wait to win it, you can buy it here. Stay tuned for my review on the book (at a later date). This contest ends September 25th!

Oh and BTW my answer to the Stargate question is Jack O'Neill....("that's 2 L's"). I'm always clueless to things and always wanting to get down to business. Plus I'm pretty HOT too. Although there are days when I wish I could be like Vala.