Surprise Package

The dogs were being the good guard dogs that
 they are and were raising the roof this morning!
I go to see what they are barking at and see the
Man in the little Brown Suit getting back in his UPS truck.
Okay, I'm thinking, 'what did I order now'?
I look out on the porch and there sits a box.
I pick it up and think, it sure is heavy.

What a nice surprise!
I open the box to find these Shirley J products.
I won the giveaway over at "What Ever Dee Dee Wants"
And I am sure excited to try these products.
I've never had them before.
I have a baby shower on Saturday.
I will be taking some of the food.
I will use some of these products and let you know how things turn out.
I love entering to win things on blogs!
I've been a very lucky girl and won many different things!
Hope you are lucky today!
Smiles!

We Have A Winner

Someone needs to teach me how to take a picture of my computer screen so I won't have to use just my camera, please :)

The winner is Elizabeth!

And this was her comment:

Elizabeth said...
Okay....At first, I was going to make something up.....but the truth is......I have NEVER grilled anything. But I love grilled stuff....for some reason the grill intimidates me. I, for sure, need that grilling cookbook....so maybe I can learn how to do it! :)

Congratulations Elizabeth please email me your address and I'll drop it in the mail today :)

Thanks y'all for your comments and for playing along.

888 plus a Giveaway

This is my 888th blogging post.

That just really slipped up on me.

A good surprise, don't you think?

So that being said,

It's "Grill season" and so I'd like to do my part in

helping you to be a pro at the grill with this fun cookbook!

~~~

Now is the time to speak up and quit being just a lurker :)

I know you have been here anyway and I am glad that you stop by each day and it doesn't bother me at all that you don't leave a comment but I'd like to include you in this giveaway, okay?

~~~

So leave a comment and tell me what your favorite thing to grill

or eat that has been cooked on the grilled.

Announce a winner on Wednesday morning, 5/19/10

Make it a GREAT Monday.

I Want

This book!

Connie is celebrating her one year Anniversary of blogging.

She's having a great giveaway.

She is giving several things away but this is what I really want.

If I don't win it, I think I'll buy it :)

The GRAND's and I love to cook together.

We would use this.

Pop on over to Connie's blog and join in on the giveaway.

She would love to have you come and comment.

Happy Saturday!!

The Winner Is...

The redneck Sweetheart pulled a name out of his hat and the winner is...

Ellen!!

I was surprised because Ellen won the Pecans I gave away last year!

She is one lucky pecan lady!

Congratulations Ellen!

Thanks everyone for playing along.

Giveaway!

How many of you plan to do any baking for the upcoming holidays??

How would you like to have some of these wonderful Georgia Pecans to add to your favorite recipe?

Well just leave me a comment as to what you would do with these pecans if you won.

Be prepared to even share a recipe :)

I hate long drawn out contests and seeing as you need these right away let's end this contest tomorrow, Wednesday night at 11:59 P.M. I'll announce a winner on Thursday morning November the 12th, Okay?

Easy as Pie, even Pecan Pie!

Have at it!

Don't be shy, I know you come by and check me out and never leave a comment and that is a-okay, but if you want a chance at some pecans then come out of the closet and leave that comment.

Thank you and good luck.

Oreck giveaway!

Over at Vanilla Joy, she is having a great giveaway for an Oreck Gold. Oreck's are wonderful and worth the effort to sign up. Hurry, it's over on Thursday night, Sept. 3rd. Check her out! Click here.

Winner and Stamps

As most of you may or may not know, stamps went up starting today, two more cents! They will now cost you $.44 cents!

*

Last week I celebrated my 500 post!

I know, Shock and Awe I know,

I'm as surprised as you are!

*

I promised a little giveaway or something to celebrate. I don't like long drawn out giveaways so I decided to use the list of my followers and just use random org and let it pick a winner.

(This is how I won the William Sonoma gift card a month or so ago. "Our Best Bites" just chose one of their followers and that was me!! You remember, I bought that yummy Madagascar Vanilla with the gift card.)

*****

***

*

So with out further ado,

I'm giving away a sheet of Forever Stamps!

And the winner is "Cherie"

Congratulations Cherie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is up with blogger and my pictures disappearing from my posts?? Is this happening to anyone else and how do I fix it?? UGH... Happy Monday!

And the winner is???

Thank you to every one who played along with my contest! I appreciate the support!

I did this the old fashioned way and used a hat!

My beach hat!

The princess niece did the pulling and so blame her if you don't like the outcome, not me!

For a closer look.

Congratulations Wendy!!!

Giveaway

I few weeks ago, I won a William~Sonoma gift card from Kate and Sara's blog "Our Best Bites"! It was so sweet of them to have a surprize giveaway by just picking one of their followers and that was ME!

This is what I got with my card.

"Nielsen-Massey Vanilla"

from the island of Madagascar.

But I also got a little 1 oz. bottle

for one of you my

Bloggin Buddies!

So if you want this little 1 oz bottle of your very own just leave a comment and tell me what you would use this vanilla for?? Easy enough. I really don't like long and drawn out contests so it will be over on Thursday night midnight PST. I'll announce a winner on Friday morning. Okay, Play Ball!

Nielsen-Massey Vanilla
Only the best vanilla from the island of Madagascar is intense enough for Nielsen-Massey, whose extract has long been the choice of bakers and ice cream makers. (This vanilla is known as “bourbon vanilla.” The term dates from the time when Madagascar and several other vanilla-growing islands were under French rule and were called the Bourbon Islands.) Made from selected vanilla pods in an exclusive cold-process method, the extract has a rich, intense flavor. The vanilla beans are whole 7” pods, each equivalent to approximately 1 tablespoon of extract. Convenient to use, the pure vanilla paste contains flecks of vanilla bean seeds. Use this superior-quality vanilla to enhance baked goods as well as custards, cheesecake and ice cream.

Pay It Forward

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me during this year.

When and what will be a surprise!

There's a small catch though....Post this same thing on yourblog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in.

Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift.

*Don't forget to post this on your blog first,then come back and leave a comment on this post!*

Unusually Busy

Well my Friday started off my winning weekend by winning a prize from Our Best Bites!!

Kate and Sara have a wonderful food blog that I love and have cooked many things from their recipes. You've just got to check them out. It was their blog Anniversary and they were giving prizes to celebrate! And they drew my name, and I won!!

And this is what I got!

A 25.00 gift card from

Williams and Sonoma!!

Whoo hoo! I can't wait to spend it.

I'll let y'all know what I got.

Thanks again Kate and Sara

Harry and I left town around noon and this was our first stop in Jacksonville, FL. I took my sewing machine for a tune up. We were able to pick it back up on the way home Saturday. I can't believe that it sews like it's a brand new machine and it's 33 years old. It's only had 3 tune ups in all those years. It's a 'White', and the company is no longer in business. Shame.

We hit Orlando traffic right around 5:00.

Awful!

But a short visit here was worth it all.

Soon as we were thru in Ikea, Trav and Jordan met us in the parking lot and then followed us

here to eat supper.

Good food and good company.

After eating we went to our rooms

for a great nights sleep.

Yes! we had one of these for breakfast!

Poor Harry didn't get one.

Got to do a session with Trav and Jordan.

They were celebrating their 3

wedding anniversary and

1st Temple anniversary.

Wonderful!

Just miss seeing you, Papa.

Got some lunch here as we headed
back home, again, delicious!

Incountered more of this

because of this.

Saw lots of these groups.

And all I needed was a Hog and a black leather vest and I would have joined them. It was an awesome day in Florida. Not a cloud in the sky and 79* You don't have to wear a helmet in Florida and I'd say about half didn't have one on. Hair flying in the wind. Oh well...

But it didn't make for much fun driving on I-4 and onto I-95.

After picking up my sewing machine we got to the other side of Jacksonville and stopped here for a few things.

Spent to much money.

We got home around 7:30 and look what showed up 10 minutes later!

These little munchkins!

They missed us or maybe we missed them and they came to stay the night with us.

They slept really good due to the fact that they had been to the Jax Zoo with mama and Captain all day.

I sure felt the fact that we changed to daylight savings time!

ugh...

But we did get to church on time.

Needless to day I didn't do much of anything yesterday afternoon. Well, I did bake two loafs of wheat bread but that was about it.

Hope you had a slower paced but fun weekend.

Designer Lunch Tote Giveaway

Over at 5$ Dinner.com

you can enter to win

one of these cute

lunch bags!

click here

Tasty Tuesday

I won this cookbook from Katherine of Smoky Mountain Cafe. I was excited to get this cookbook. It is filled with over 200 quick and easy dinner recipes. By the end of the day I'm always looking for something fast and easy. So this was perfect for me. Thanks, Katherine!

Over on Candy's blog she gave this helpful hint about Chicken. Since chicken is on sale this week she suggested a Bulk Cooked Chicken.

Easy recipe for bulk cooked chicken

3- 5 pounds chicken pieces

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 stalks celery

1 small onion

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about one hour. Remove from heat and let cool. Shred chicken (discard skin and bones) and place in freezer safe plastic bags. Will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Chicken Stock

Candy also suggested, packaging the meat in quart size freezer bags for an easy addition to your recipes. They are great for those “throw together” dishes calling for cooked chicken . Much cheaper than rotisserie and tastier than canned chicken! Oh and the stock is wonderful for soups and stews.

And The Winner Is??

Big Red EP

Now when I looked at who won this contest, I was really excited. Her blog was one of the first ones I ever read and I still visit nearly every day. She's been my inspiration. She has recently celebrated her 1000 post! Wow! I love her photography work. She's good with a camera. And the real reason I was excited is that she bakes all the time and I know that she will really use these pecans to brighten someones day. She is one of the most thoughtful people I've never had the opportuinity to meet in person, but one day I hope to! Congratulations Ellen, I've got your address and I'll drop them in the mail today. Enjoy!

(Sorry the resst of you didn't win. You can blame

the man of my house, do not blame me!

He did the picking of the number.)

Thanks for playing along bloggin friends!

300 Post Giveaway!

Can you believe that this is my 300 Post!!

Wow, where has the time gone?

How is it the 3rd of November already?

I lost all of July, August and September.

I'm so far behind that I'll never catch up.

And knowing me, I won't even try.

Maybe if I'd have seen this

movie, '300' it would have made

a really cool giveaway on my 300

post, but... I didn't see it and it's

Rated 'R' and I try really hard

not to watch 'R' rated movies.

So you aren't going to win

it here at my blog, sorry.

So... I still need something to

give away to you few readers so that

you can help me celebrate my

300 post! I've thought and

thought as to what to give.

Finally it came to me,

I mean it really came to me

on Friday night.

My sweet MIL gave me my first bag

of this years freshly shelled

and fresh off the farm

Georgia Pecans!

on Friday night, for trick or treat!

Now these are a cherished possession

and I would only give them up for you

my very BBB!

(best bloggin buddies)

If you would like to win these

wonderful Georgia Pecans

just leave a post and tell me what

you would do with these.

You know with Thanksgiving and

Christmas coming up soon what

would you do with these little tasty gems?

Now if you are a lurker and

are still afraid to leave a comment

then just e-mail me at gigigriffis@bellsouth.net

and I'll but your name in the pot for

you. Let's see, lets end this giveaway on

Tuesday night November 4th

at 12:00 PM! Join in the fun and

Good Luck!

We Have a Winner Folks!

And the Winner is

#23 Prudence

I used Random.org to pick the winner.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 23
Timestamp: 2008-08-09 09:15:05 UTC

I gave every one a number in the order you commented. A few of you commented several times, but that didn't help you win. I only put your number in once. :)

THANK YOU EVERY ONE FOR PLAYING ALONG. I GOT SOME GREAT SUGGESTIONS ON SOME NEW BOOKS I WANT TO READ. MAYBE WE'LL DO IT AGAIN SOON. I LOVE CONTEST! HOPE YALL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

08/08/08

A Special Date

August 8 is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years). There are 145 days remaining until the end of the year.

The date is not only catchy but the number 8 is also considered very favourable in Chinese culture. The Chinese pronunciation for ‘eight’ (ba in Mandarin and paat in Cantonese) sounds similar to the word for ‘prosperity’ (fa in Mandarin and faat in Cantonese). The more eights involved in a couple’s lives, the better chance they have for luck and wealth (so get booking!). Numbers play a large role in choosing a wedding date for the Chinese (many Chinese couples are given a selection of auspicious days on which to marry). I read somewhere yesterday that there were 9000 weddings planed in China today.

This applies to any special event in Chinese culture. In fact, the summer Olympics in Beijing will begin on 8/8/08, at 8:08 p.m.

Along with the good luck associated with the number eight, 8/8/08 has a few other factors that might make it a desirable day to get married. August is always a popular month for weddings and when the numeral “8″ is turned on its side, it becomes the symbol for infinity — a fitting motif to represent the beginning of a marriage! I was wondering how many people will play those numbers in the lottery today? I just thought those facts were interesting!

Don't forget to sign up for my 200th post give away in the blog below this one. It ends tonight at midnight EST. Join in the summer fun!

200th Post Contest

Hey yall, this is my 200th post!

So time for a little give away.

I thought since I posted about

Charles Martin yesterday, that

I would offer the winner one of his books!

Your choice! Just leave a little comment

on who your favorite author is and I'll draw

a name on Saturday morning and

post the winner. Lets end this contest,

midnight EST Friday, 08/08/08!

Now I know that most days I have 20-25 different visitors. Some days even more. But most days only 5 or 6 of you leave a comment. Now is the time to come out of the closet. If you still haven't figured out how to leave a comment then e-mail me and I'll post one for you. Come on, play along it's not that hard and it can be fun, especially if you win! Good Luck!

And The Winner Is....ME!

This came the day every thing hit the fan.

I've wanted to post this sooner but here it is!!

Scrappy Sue had a contest.

It was her 100th post giveaway and all I had to do was read her blog and leave a comment. Check here to see the cute way she chose the winner! ME! Yea!

This is a picture of the package

that came in the mail!

Look where Scrappy Sue lives!

That's right, New Zealand!

Isn't that cool?

So my package came in the mail
yesterday! (7/15) She mailed it June 20th.

It took almost a month to get to me.

When I opened the package

this is what was in it.

A post card of where she lives.

And this little package

wrapped so cute.

And this is what was in the cutely wrapped package. A New Zealand key chain and magnet. And the most delightful Cadbury Chocolate candy called Buzz. It's marshmallow covered with a thin layer of Carmel and then Cadbury chocolate! They were really good and light. If I lived in New Zealand I'd buy them all the time. Thank you Scrappy Sue! Now I can't ever say I haven't won anything before. Because I won this and it's fun being the winner!