Category — Random Postings

Cherie over at The Wandering Peanut gave me this Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you Cherie!

Ok, so I’m to list six (6) reasons why I’m grateful and then pass this award on to six (6) other bloggers. So here it goes…I’m extremely grateful for:

1. Don, my husband of almost 22 years, who has graciously stood by me and encouraged me to follow my dreams and is an awesome father to our two wonderful kids.
2. Our kids who still give me hugs as soon as they get home and through their eyes I see a less jaded world.
3. The doors of opportunity that continue to open allowing me to work from home and be there for my family.
4. The good health of my family and friends.
5. All the support I’ve received from my family, friends and online buddies. Without it, I would not be where I am today.
6. Duchess - my cat who keeps me company throughout the day and always seems to know when I’m getting stressed.

I’m honored to give this award to:

1. Tori at Thoughtfully Simple
2. Jill at Cool Photo Ideas
3. Sarah at Ohana Mama Blog
4. Deanna at Mommy’s Idea
5. Erin at the Mom Buzz
6. Phyllis at Moms With A View

Be sure to check these awesome blogs out for yourself. I’m sure you’ll love them as much as I do!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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Wow! I completely overlooked my 100th post which was Beau-coup’s 4 day sale so I’ll celebrate on my 101st post!

For someone like me who struggles to write (give me a camera any day over writing), it is quite an accomplishment to know that I’ve already done 100 posts! I feel my writing has really improved and I’m finally finding my own writing style.

Thank all of you for stopping by, leaving some comment luv, entering the giveaways or dropping your Entrecard. I appreciate all the support!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working on a new look for my Free Birthday Treats website as well as adding lots of new free birthday offers. There are also a lot of new giveaways coming up from Lily on the Fly, Mighty Leaf, Zoobs, Karito Kids and Superstructs so be sure to stick around!

Many thanks,

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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I recently signed up for Gal to Gal’s 2008 Virtual Walk. Why don’t you join me? It’s a small donation of $5 and helps raise funds for Stage IV Breast Cancer patients and their families. You can certainly donate more if you’d like as well.

This is my gal that I created for the virtual walk using Design-her Gals.  I didn’t read the instructions well and could have customized her even more. Oh well…I do hope to see you all there!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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What would you do if you heard this?

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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Guest blog by Debba Haupert, Girlfriendology.com

 Sept. 21st, 2008, marks the 10th celebration of National Women’s Friendship Day (NWFD). The celebration day was created in 1999 by the Kappa Delta sorority to remind us to appreciate and celebrate our friendships. NWFD is a great ‘excuse’ to get the girls together and have some fun. While it might be too late to meet-up on the 21st, you really can celebrate this special occasion every day - so plan some fun events with your girlfriends!

Check out these ideas for great girlfriend get-togethers:

• Happy hour, dinner, lunch, brunch or any opportunity to eat, drink and be merry with your very BFFs. Plan a GNO with your favorite gal pals for a little ‘girlfriend therapy!’ Reconnect with your friends and spend an evening laughing away all your concerns.
• Mani, pedi, massage - the works! Grab the girls and head to a local spa or salon for some pampering together. Then ease back into the real world with an after-the-spa dinner together. Consider this: a recent study by Dove indicates that 70% of women feel prettier because of their girlfriends. So get your pretty on by spending time with your BFFs!
• Go old school and pass some notes (real paper) with your girlfriends - take a class together! Learn how to knit, cook, bead or speak French together. Take a scrapbooking class, go to a wine tasting or do yoga together. Spend time and learn together - it’s guaranteed that girlfriends make learning much more fun!
• Road trip! Autumn is a great time to go to an outlet mall or a fall festival. Celebrate Oktoberfest with the girls, there’s bound to be one close by, visit a nearby town for a fun weekend festival.
• For starters…start a book club, a gardening group, a gourmet girlfriends monthly dinner. Plan a way to see each other more often and have fun on a regular basis. And invite some new women to the group - the more the merrier!
• Start shopping! Remember when we got back-to-school clothes? Maybe we should start that tradition over for new fall fashions. Go shopping with your girlfriends. They always give the greatest shopping advice!
• Surprise! It’s a girl’s get-together! At an early celebration of NWFD this week, a group of girlfriends told me that they have a monthly surprise get-together. They take turns planning the super-secret event. An email shares the date, time and meeting location - but no one is told what they are doing. Everyone shows up and just participates in whatever the host planned. Find some spontaneous girlfriends and have fun!

Beyond the fun, the laughter and the shopping treasures, here’s the real benefit of time spent with your gal pals. It reduces your stress, and positively impacts your health, happiness and longevity. So, make plans to spend time with your girlfriends and tell, or at least show, them how much you appreciate their friendship. Make memories together. Laugh. Cry. Then laugh some more. September 21st , or any day of the year, life really is better together - with your girlfriends!

Debba Haupert created GIRLFRIENDOLOGY - the online community for women based on female friendship. Inspiring semi-weekly podcasts, videos, blogs, contests, reviews and more can be found at www.girlfriendology.com. Join in the appreciation and celebration of the wonderful women whose friendships make us healthier, happier, less stressed, live longer and even feel prettier. Thanks girlfriends!

In memory of loved ones lost, well-wishes to the survivers and prayers to our troops.

I just entered the contest yesterday and would be honored if you all could find time to vote for FreeBirthdayTreats.com.

Support Free Birthday Treats in the 2008 StartupNation Home-Based Business Competition

Thank you!

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This week just wasn’t a very productive blogging week for me so in an effort to get back into the good graces of my readers, I’m posting this video sure to make you all smile. It’s even taped in my hometown, Anchorage, Alaska!

Here’s a peak at some upcoming posts:

• My first book review: Discovering Your Inner Samurai by Susan L. Reid (giveaway too!)
• Tiny Prints Product Review
• SuperStructs Castle Set giveaway
• New Birthday Freebies & Discounts Finds

 Off to start writing. Ta-ta for now!

 To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit my website, Free Birthday Treats.

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Being that today is my birthday, I’m doing some self reflection and focusing on all I’m grateful for in my life, but nothing brings this home more than a recent comment on an international blog about my website, which is a nationwide directory of businesses offering birthday freebies and discounts. There are over 2,000 listings and it continues to grow for which I’m grateful because in these difficult economic times, I’d like to think I’m helping millions save money while celebrating their birthdays. 

A Russia blog sharing business ideas, recently added a post about Free Birthday Treats and the single comment left stated, according to my pal Google Translation:

This is simply tremendous! How cool that people aspire, dream, invent the benefit! We have such little in Siberia, BUT THEY HAVE!

Wow! We do live in a land of abundance and I frequently overlook my many blessings. After reading a recent guest post on Zen Habits “Three Truths to Help You Create a Life of Gratitude”, it made me realize I wasn’t expressing my gratitude for all the wonderful blessings in my life.

With that being said, thank you to all my subscribers and supporters of my website, blog and me. To my family and friends thank you for loving me for who I am, but most importantly, thank you Lord for my blessings.

Yes, kids do get arthritis and based on recent numbers about 1 in 250 have been diagnosed with some form of it. My son is one of them. He has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthrits (JRA) also known as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and Juvenile Chronic Arthritis (JCA).  Not that anyone is trying to confuse you…

In 2003, he was diagnosed which can be tough to do. It started with his right knee being very swollen and he was slow to get moving in the mornings. It wasn’t until after seeing three doctors that we got the news and I found out that his right wrist was basically fused together. He was put on 7 tsp of Ibuprofen a day, plus a small dosage of Methotrexate. However, he had a flare up two years later and was put on Enbrel injections. I consider this a miracle drug because within 6-8 months he had no symptoms other than a leg length discrepancy. So in December of last year, he was able to go off the Enbrel…what a joyous occasion! We were very fortunate to have had only a $40 a month co-pay, but without medical coverage it is $1600 a month!

I found out yesterday that he has had another flare up and needs to go back on Enbrel. I’m thankful we caught it early this time, but I should remind all the moms…listen and act on your intuition. I thought his knee looked swollen again, but wrote it off as hot, humid weather.

I’m sharing his story because arthritis in children is often overlooked and misdiagnosed. We need to create more awareness to fight this devastating disease. For more information visit the Arthritis Foundation. They have local chapters and provide many resources for families and the kids. Kids Health for parents also offers some great info about JRA.

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