Ultimate Blog Party 2009 – Oh YEAH.

Hello, ladies!! It’s that time of year again and can I just say – I’m So Excited. I love the Ultimate Blog Party as much (if not more) than I love the Bloggy Giveaways. It’s just a blast. A true blast! Through past UBP’s I’ve “Met” Robin and Lisa and who knows who else? It’s a load of fun.

So if you’re here from the party – welcome! (Stick around there’s a door prize!!) If you’re not, go check it out! Why? BECAUSE THERE ARE PRIZES PEOPLE. Oodles and oodles of prizes. And you don’t have to be a blogger to win them, either. They’re non-discriminatory. Well, unless you’re a guy. Unfortunately for y’all, the UBP is a Girl Thang. Sorry, guys. Hey, guess what guys? Y’all are welcome, too! It ain’t just a Girl Thang anymore!

I won’t keep y’all long because I KNOW there are tons of other party-goers to go meet! For fun, I thought I’d post some random things about me – things I had to come up with when I got tagged on Facebook a while back. I’d intended to post them at that time, but never did so I guess they’ll make good party conversation, right?

25 Random Things About Me

1. I nearly drowned in a lake when I was 4. I saw a boy go under water and so, standing in waist deep for me water, I did too. I did NOT know I was supposed to hold my breath, started flailing, floated sideways and couldn’t stand up for I dunno how long. Ok, so I don’t know how much danger I was REALLY in but it scarred me for life and kept me from learning to swim until I was 12. The memory is still very vivid.
2. I also nearly drowned at Wet’N’Wild in the 8th grade when someone accidentally pushed me under in the wave pool and every time I came back up for air I got swallowed by another wave. I actually got rescued by the lifeguard. All my friends wanted to know if he was cute but I’d been so scared I couldn’t even tell you what he looked like.
3. And yet I love swimming. But only in clear backyard pools.
4. I’ve never been to the ocean.
5. As a young girl, I used to dream of being a ballerina, or an ice skater. Whichever.
6. I never took dance and blame my bad dancing skillz on that single fact.
7. If walls could talk they’d tell you that I dance around my house while cleaning all-the-time. Mostly copying ballet-ish-like moves that I cannot name.
8. By the time I got to junior high I no longer wanted to be a dancer, I wanted to be a singer, and give concerts and sell albums. But I never admitted that to anybody because I felt foolish.
9. By the time I started college, I still wanted to sing and I started writing songs, too. I also spoke spanish fluently and thought that perhaps God intended to use me in music ministry in a spanish speaking country.
10. I can barely navigate conversational spanish these days. It’s true what they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it.
11. I wrote my first song around 4th or 5th grade. I don’t remember what it said, but it was about God and I remember singing it for my friends at a First Baptist Church lock-in I was invited to. They liked it so much that a few of us sang it for the group the next day in a little mini talent show thing. I don’t remember writing any more until High School.
12. I have never been on a mission trip.
13. I almost went on a mission trip to Mexico in the 8th grade, but cancelled it for some family event. I think I would have liked it.
14. I’d still like to go on a mission trip to Mexico some day, after the kids are older. I don’t feel drawn to go right now, and oddly enough, I don’t feel drawn to go anywhere else, either. But God could change that, who knows?
15. Also, Mexican food is MY FAVE – but I’m not sure how well I’d eat real Mexican food down in Mexico. I’m not fond of intestines and livers and other weird things.
16. Not being sure how well meat was cooked makes it impossible for me to eat it. Even when I cook, I have to thoroughly check out the meat before eating it.
17. Italian is my other favorite style of food.
18. I would TOTALLY love to go to Italy and could TOTALLY eat the cuisine over there. Hey – are there mission trips to Italy?? 😉
19. Growing up, the only detail I dreamed about when getting married was a honeymoon to Venice. (Which didn’t happen, but maybe someday for an anniversary.)
20. This was largely due to several Nancy Drew books that took place in Italy. Loved Nancy Drew and I still have a collection of hardback books to pass on to my daughters.
21. In high school, my favorite music was Nirvana, etc, and now my favorite music is Third Day and Skillet. Some things change. Some things only change so much.
22. I did actually have and wear (during H.S. and college both) a pair of authentic combat boots that I purchased at a Army surplus store. I still like boots. And they’re still mid calf or knee high. They’re just more feminine. 🙂
23. I don’t remember the exact date of mine and James’ first kiss, but I do remember that I basically dared him into it. After he alluded to it, but didn’t have the guts to follow through with it, I basically implied that he was too chicken to make him “prove me wrong.” I know, not the way I intend to teach my daughters to do things.
24. I KNEW I wanted to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him after hanging out and talking with him for 3 months and then dating for another 3 months. Still, we didn’t get engaged for another 14 months. We got married 6 months after that. I still want to spend the rest of my life with him. 🙂
25. Some days, coffee and God are all that carry me through the day. Mostly GOD. Every day, God is good, and I will never stop believing that.

Well that was fun! Here, have some Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and a cup of coffee – both favorites around our house. If you don’t believe me, hop on over to my coffee blog ~ For the Love of Coffee. I’ll be giving away a little something there as a door prize so head over and check it out! Oh… that’s right, regular readers – another blog! I’ve been working on this for several weeks now and I’m ready to throw her out to the public. What do you think?

Around here, I’ve started the habit of doing semi-regular series’ about every other month. The first was my Advent Event back in December. It was a lot of fun and crammed full of lots of information and I met several good bloggers through it. I’m pretty sure that’s how I met Kristi. But I could be wrong… The second one was a series on How to Blog – for beginners and intermediate bloggers alike. It, too, was packed full of useful information. Coming soon, this series will be featured on Digital Bliss, a cousin channel for Inspired Bliss – at which I occasionally write. I’m sure there will be another fun series coming soon, just stay tuned for it! In the meantime, I began a new carnival a few weeks ago called “TGIF!!“ in which I offer links to goodies, free stuff, neat things and other coolness that I collected around the internet for the week. Feel free to join in!

** The giveaway is now closed. **

Congratulations to Jessica from Reflections of a Princess! You’ve won!

Well, I suppose I’ve kept you long enough. But first, the door prize! On top of giving away a free custom graphic for the UBP, I’m also giving away a second custom graphic as a door prize (you can choose between a sidebar graphic or a Twitter background.) In addition to a small selection of free graphics here, I also offer custom graphic design and blog makeovers. All you have to do to enter is leave one random thing about yourself in the comments. That’s easy peasy, right?

But if you want additional entries you can also:

• Tweet about this post and leave a comment with a link.
• Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter i.d. (Or tell me if you already do.)
• Subscribe to my blog and leave a comment saying that you did. (Or tell me if you already do.)
• Stumble this page and leave a comment saying that you did.
• Each of these need to be in separate comments if you want separate entries!! A random comment number will be drawn on Friday, March 27th at 12pm, CST. PLUS – Tuesday, March 24th is my daughter’s 6th birthday and there’s a good chance I’ll have something fun going on that day, too – hint, hint!!

And when you’re done browsing around here – head back over to the party and mingle. Bye for now!

P.S. The UBP prizes are really great. They’re all great, and I’d be thrilled to win something. My favorites are:

• 58 – Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer Provided by: Moms Who Think

• 19 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores Provided by: Shoot-Me-Now

• 21 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores Provided by: Agoosa – Funny Name, Sound Advice

• 22 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores Provided by: Beginner Baby Blog

• 119 — 2 Life journals (one for you, one for a friend) to guide Bible reading and study Provided by: Mom’s Toolbox

• 49 – Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD and The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook: Budget Friendly Meals Your Whole Family Will Love Provided by: Pudget: Losing Weight On A Budget

• 68 – $30 gift certificate to Christian Book Distributors Provided by: A High And Noble Calling

• 26 — $30 gift certificate to Target Provided by: Little Miss Hannah

• 40 — Boca Beth Grande Bag Provided by: Boca Beth LLC

• 28 — Toddler Apron from LoLo Craft Provided by: LoLo Craft