The Giveaway Results

I said Saturday morning, didn't I?

Hmmm. Lied, didn't I? Sorry 'bout that. I went to hear the Hubs speak this morning at a Disciple Now and then had to run a couple of errands, so...that's the reason for the delay. Alright, let's get to it!

The items...minus the gift card. The winner has to tell me whether she prefers iTunes or Amazon.

names, names, names. 36 in all.

cut, cut, cut

fold, fold, fold

shake, shake, shake

*AND THE WINNER IS.....

Congratulations, Mandy Sieja!

Mandy is a sweet friend from Brenham. I love this girl! So sweet. Always ready for a playdate. And funny, funny, funny!
Plus...I think this worked out perfectly, cause Mandy just had a baby...and if I just had a baby...I would want to be relaxing in my bath bomb bath, listening to David Gray and snacking on some gummy cokes. Sounds like a brilliant mommy-moment to me!

Alright, Mrs. Mandy...just comment or email me whether you would rather have a gift card to iTunes or Amazon. And, if it's okay, I would like to deliver your gift personally!...Any excuse for a trip to Brenham! :)

To the rest of my giveaway contestants...
**Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You're far to kind!
I had a blast reading your comments, and it was so fun to see who's been reading. Thanks for all your encouragement, your thoughtful responses, and thanks for playin' along! We'll have to do it again sometime!

Don't be a stranger, y'all! :)

* Denotes sections of the post that should be read in the deep Oprah "You're all getting a new caaaaaaaaar!" voice.
** Denotes sections of the post that should be sung like the Jay-Z song.
What?!
Yeah...I know Jay-Z songs.
I'm cool. I'm hip.

Tiny Confession

See, what had happen was...

Well, I was doing the dishes. And I was feeling a little sleepy, cause it's sooooo quiet in here, cause Casey is away at a meeting right now and Braelyn's asleep. Plus, also...it was like 10:00 and I was really regretting not doing the dishes earlier cause by 10:00 I don't want to be working anymore. So dish duty was feeling super chore-ish. Anyways, I just got to thinking a little bit...about the gummy cokes that I bought for the giveaway today. And I just thought...you know?...that maybe just like 2 gummy cokes would help me to do the dishes.

So I might have...maybe...taken out only like 2 gummy cokes. And ate them.

Okay three.

FOUR!

Okay FIVE! That's it! FIVE gummy cokes.

I know. I am so ashamed. They were so chewy and delicious. UGH! And what's worse is that the dishes are STILL not done! I had to stop doing them to come confess this to you.So yes...I stole Giveaway gummy cokes. I am so sorry and I assure you that this will not happen again. I WILL practice self-control in this matter even though the gummy cokes are going to be in my possession for 3 more days! I know I can do it.

Now, I will go tuck the gummy cokes safely away and return to the dishes. Thank you for your forgiveness. You are such good readers...and I do HAVE to say...WOW! Your comments have been amazing! Y'all are the sweetest! Really! I don't deserve you. But, you know...keep 'em coming! I just learned that blogger allows for 5000 comments per post, so no need to hold back.

Phew. Glad to have that off my chest.

What?! You haven't entered the Giveaway, yet? Oh, go here!

(And really...it was no more than six. Promise.)

So...I Love a Couple More Things

I LOVE...
1. a GIVEAWAY! This giveaway will, without a doubt be the best giveaway you've ever seen!! Tons and tons of my favorite things. Okay...3 favorite things actually. The giveaway will include:

- an iTunes gift card (or amazon gift card) for $10 for you to purchase David Gray's Draw the Line album which I love and you will love too. I promise! It is AWESOME and is one of my very favorite things!

(Okay...so you don't really HAVE to buy this album with your gift card should you be the winner...but really...why would you not? That would be so foolish and is not even worth discussing further!)

- a couple of bath bombs from LUSH. These little babies are an explosion of luxury in your bath and a new favorite thing! My mom-in-law gave me some for Christmas and now my bath is not complete without one! So...really, I just need to get some more for myself, so I thought I'd toss a few into the giveaway while I was at it! :)

- finally, your gift will include a bag of Gummy Cokes. What?! They're delicious!
Justin Hyde is to blame for getting me hooked on these yummy gummies. When we were over at his house for New Year's Eve, he had a ginormous bag of gummy cokes and I...well...I probably ate my weight in gummy cokes. I think that officially earns them a spot on the favorite things list.

There ya go. That's the giveaway.
It's blowing your mind, isn't it?!

I LOVE...
2. my readers A LOT! and I especially love it when they comment!
What?! Don't look at me that way!

Yeah...this is a shameless attempt for comments. So what?!

If you have a blog you love comments, too! Don't try to deny it!

Anyways...now that I'm done being accused of begging for comments...I would like to ask you nicely to leave a comment. How else do you expect to win this super awesome giveaway, missy?

So, if you are a faithful reader of The Beautiful Meantime, or just an occasional reader, or heck, even if this is your first and last time to ever read my blog...to enter into the giveaway you must drop me a comment telling me something that you love.

Got it?

A comment about something you LOVE = A chance to win the most awesome giveaway that ever was!

You have till Friday to enter the giveaway. I'll choose a winner Saturday Mornin'! Good Luck!

And all joking aside...I really do appreciate you, readers! Thanks for letting me share my life with you. ;)

I Love...

...well...I just love us!

I love that we have fun spending the day together.

I love that pizza makes us crazy happy.

I love that we believe it's never too late to practice modeling.

I love that we eat ice cream with our whole heart. Even blue ice cream.

I love that we believe it's never too early to practice modeling.

I love that we can never have too many smooches.

I love that we never tire of twirling.

Never.
Ever.

I love that we are not ashamed to groom one another in public.

Yup...I love us.

Thanks for sharing these 14 Lovey days with me. It has been a fruitful exercise for me to be on the lookout for sweet blessings that the Lord gives me each day. Sadly...they are too often over-looked. It has reminded me what a kind and generous and delightful Father I have, and that He knows no end of showing His love!

Happy Valentine's Day!
And I do have a little post-Valentine's Day business to attend to...so check back 'round tomorrow! :)

I Love...

...taking an hour and a book and soakin' it up in the tub.

I Love...

...reading with B.

Can I still snuggle up in her bed and read to her when she's 15?
What about 18?...Cause this is one of my favorite things in life and I don't ever want to stop doing this!

When she's married though, we will really have to cut it down to once a week, maybe.
Well...twice a week at the most. But that's it.
Don't want the son-in-law thinkin' I'm a psycho.

I Love...

...date night. I love it a lot!

The hubs and I do our very best to take a date night once a week. Our night is Friday. Sadly, we are not on our date tonight because the hubs is sick. But all is not lost! We will still spend some intentional time together snuggled up on our very cozy couch. Also, there might have been some trash-talk regarding a potential game of Scrabble, but that could have just been my silly, girlish imagination running wild.

I've mentioned before that I would like to share my thoughts on why married couples should be dating as often as they can. And I still really do want to share those thoughts...if fact, I spent the last 30 minutes attempting to do so...but, there is just too much to say and I write way too slow to both persuade you to the habit of date night AND participate in my own date night tonight.

So, the hubs wins out...as he should, and you, I'm afraid will just have to continue living in deep, agonizing anticipation of my profound and intriguing date night blog post.

I Love Not...

...that my loves have been sick. :(

They basically spent all of Thursday right there.

Yes, she is eating soup in my bed. I know. Risky. Not sure what I was thinking. Luckily, it worked out. I didn't have to sleep in chicken noodle soup.

And we will not discuss how long my daughter spent on PBSkids.

Thankfully, they are both feeling better today.

Can't say the same for about half of Christ Community Church, though!
The flu is making the rounds. UGH!

And don't worry...I do have a Love for the day. I'll be postin' that this evening.
Hope you are well!

I Love...

...this precious souvenir that lives in my coat pocket.

In 2005, I went on a fabulous trip to London with the hubs. We went in the winter so I got this wool coat for the trip. Those little tickets in my pocket were our day passes for the Tube for one of the days we were there. Luckily, I didn't throw these two away and I discovered them in my coat pocket after we got home. Well, I just loved the reminder of our sweet time in London so there they've stayed these 6 years. Each fall, when it gets cold for the first time and I put on my coat, my hands inevitably make their way into my pockets and I find this little treasure. It makes me smile every time I feel them in my hands.

Sigh...

I loved that trip.

I Love...

...a kick-bootie bargain.

I walked out of the ladies' room at Macy's today and right in front of me was this shirt. Normally I would've kept on walkin', but I happened to lift my eyes just a bit and saw that this little number was hanging on the $4.99 rack.

Well, I'll try that little baby on for $4.99!

Now it's home with me.

See how it's kinda lacy?

I like it. It's kinda different from what I usually wear.
For $4.99 a girl can try something a little different, ya know?!

I Love...

...a quiet moment.

I don't always get all the quiet moments that I would like...but today it was very quiet for many minutes and I loved it!

Off to get the girl!

I Love...

...finishing a time-consuming project.

I first saw the idea for this wreath here, and completely fell in love. Then, recently, I saw a tutorial on how to do the little felt flowers (google: How to make a felt rose) and went to work on making my own. These pictures aren't great (the flash was making the colors look crazy) and for some reason I still like the Etsy shop ones better...but I still like it.

So...Question:
Which wreath do you like better?

Wreath with fabric flowers and buttons.
or

Wreath with a googillion felt roses.
(Keep in mind that the colors look better in real life AND I think I can get better at making this wreath...like the Etsy ones!...I hope!)

I was just wondering what you thought for future wreath-making. There are so many seasons and holidays in which my front door is naked, so I am on a bit of a quest to remedy that embarrassing situation. ;)

I Love...

... my new wall art.

I walked into my room and saw that I had a new art arrangement above my bed.
I heart it. I really think it completes the room.

Who needs Pottery Barn?! ;)

I Love...

...a day out with the girls.Flower girl dress shopping. (Yup, she's the flower girl in another wedding!)
Wedding shoe shopping.
Fancy dress shopping.
With 2 of my favorite girls on the planet.
What could be better?!

Snow Day

For the last few days we have been preparing for snow...and it's a good thing too, because take a look at THIS!Just look at all that snow. It boggles the mind to see snow like this in Texas. Everywhere you look...white! It's a wonder that we even have power.

So what do two Texas girls do with themselves on a snow day?
They bake.
Valentine's chocolate cupcakes.
From scratch.

Here we have a little quality control.
Ding! They're done.
Break.
For a princess make-over and for lunch (while cupcakes cool).
Turn on a little bakin' music.
Look closely, Mandi. This is for you. (You're right! I dig her!)
Okay...back to baking. Time for frosting.
Ahhh. And there they are, the lovelies.
You know, I'm not sure where we'd be without this sweet reward...or the continuous coverage of the Ice Storm of 2011 for that matter. We are counting our blessings, I can tell you that!
And while we are on the subject of blessings...thank goodness I bought a 12-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper at the store this week, cause going to get one at Sonic today would be completely impossible...well, with all that snow. So...phew! That could have been B-A-D!

Finally...enjoying the fruit of our labor. Y-U-M!
So cupcakes got us through the afternoon. (When you stop a lot for dancing, baking can take quite a while. We had Beyonce on...so...naturally we had to get our groove on.)

I guess for the rest of the day we'll just stay hunkered down until some of this snow clears. You know, snow is fun from time to time...but I just don't think I could live where it looks like THISall winter long.
Cause honestly, I'm getting a little cabin fever here and my hips will not appreciate any more baking!

Stay warm, y'all! ;)