600th Post and a Giveaway!!!

It's almost too crazy for me to imagine, but when I signed in to blogger tonight, I realized that this short, little post I was planning was actually a pretty big milestone!  Somehow, this is my 600th post!!  Can you believe that???  As it turns out, I have turned this little "hobby" into a regular part of my life (well, some weeks it's  more regular than others!).  And for some reason, lots of people I do and do not know, continue to read my random thoughts and updates...all 600 of them??  That seems so wild to me, considering I started this blog because we thought it would be a good way to keep our long distance families up to date, with pictures and descriptions of what our life is like.  Now, I keep lots of people up to date and this blog has really become like a family scrapbook for us.  My DREAM is to have this blog printed and bound each year, so that we will always have it to remember these years and all that the Lord has done and taught us.  So much of our life has been chronicled here, for better or for worse, and I'm so thankful I was brave enough to sit down one night and figure out exactly what a blog was and how it works!  Occasionally I will go back in my own archives and read what I wrote for the last few years.  Is that weird??  I do it because it's so fascinating to me to see just how God answered so many of our prayers or how He used different things in our lives to paint the picture we see today.  Maybe that's why I love journaling so much...I love the gratitude that pours out from a little self reflection.  It's so easy to think God has forgotten me or that He isn't working in my life...But when I see how He uses the good days and the bad days and somehow makes them all work together, I know that He is always working and always faithful to complete what He started in me. 

Soooo, thanks for all the sweet comments and encouragement so many of you have taken the time to leave me for these last few years.  I've been blessed by them at least 600 times!  It amazes me to think of some of the sweet relationships I've made with lots of you, people I've never actually met in "real life" but through our blogs and the thoughts and cries of our hearts, I feel like I've known you for years!  I love how God has used blogging to do that in my life. 

In light of that and because this is my 600th post, I don't think I should let this post just pass me by, I think I should celebrate with a little giveaway!!  Why not, right??  Because I just ranted and raved about how much I love to journal and because it's such a wonderful part of my personal walk with the Lord, I would love to give you...

A beautiful journal

From my favorite store Archiver's

Along with a set of my absolute favorite pens...The Sharpie Pens. 

If you've read this blog for very long, you know that I have an obsession with sharpies and I am IN LOVE with the Sharpie Pens.  They are basically all that I write with!  I especially love to use my sharpie pens in my journals...they just make all of my thoughts and prayers look so much prettier on the page!!  Ha Ha :)

So, I would love to send you these things that are a regular part of my life and my time with the Lord most days.  I use my journal to record my thoughts and insights about what God is teaching me through His word, what's happening in my life and what I'm struggling with.  I pour lots of myself into my journals and it's been a wonderful way for me to develop my prayer life in a more authentic way.  If you are the winner of this giveaway, and if you DON'T have a Bible, please let me know that so I can send one along too.  It would be my pleasure to send one to you.  Journaling is such a wonderful way to strengthen your relationship (or  begin one) with God.  It's an easy way to have a conversation with Him and to see Him working through you.  I know you're going to love it!!

Sooooo, are you wondering how you can win this giveaway??  I'll make it very easy for you.  Just leave me a comment with your name and email address and tell me how you found my blog and how long you've been reading.  Just because I think it will be fun for me to read that!!  If you've been along since the beginning or if this is the first time you've found me, let me know.  I always get a kick out of seeing the people I know and don't know yet, who end up here! 

Now, in other news, we are still in Texas and today was a hard/sweet day.  Travis did the funeral service for his Grandma and he did a wonderful job.  I was very proud of him.  It's a privilege that he's been able to do this twice, for both a Grandpa and a Grandma.  I was thinking about that today and realizing that what a special honor he has, that not many people get, to do something so hard and so sweet for the people who have loved and help raise him.  It's always emotionally draining and we both felt the immediate release of all that pent up stress.  Now we are able to just relax and enjoy some much needed time with our family.  I've been taking lots of pictures but I forgot to bring my usb cord with me, so all you get tonight is one picture I took with my cell phone!

Miss Ava is making her Texas-born and raised Daddy proud this week, eating some barbeque brisket like it's going out of style!!  She is having a blast with 8 of her little cousins following her every move and passing her round and round.  We did run into a little snag today, when after the funeral and while driving around so she would fall asleep, she instead decided to throw up all over her cute dress and her freshly washed car seat.  You can imagine the fun we were having, while standing in the Texas heat, cleaning up vomit and trying not to repeat the occasion ourselves.  It was almost more than this pregnant woman could take.  She seemed to be fine immediately after and hasn't missed a beat tonight, but I can now smell the traces of vomit every time we get in the car.  Perfect. 

When we get home, I will share our pictures and announce the winner of the giveaway!!  You have until Friday to enter so tell your friends and play along!!  Can't wait to see who you all are!!