Giveaway Winner!

It's time for the announcement we've all been waiting for!
Who won the giveaway?
*drumroll please*
 
 
And the winner is.....
 
Susanna!
 
Congratulations, Susanna! I sent you an email. :)
 
 
I don't know about all of you, but I really enjoyed this. I hope to do it again before long! Thanks to everyone who entered and who shared the giveaway.
 
..and just because every post could use this gif. ;)
 
 
 
 
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So Loved Shirt Giveaway!

 
I am very excited to announce that I am hosting my first giveaway! I have been trying to set this up for a while, but it took me a while because it is very important to me that whatever I give away supports my passion-orphan care. And so, I came to the So Loved shirt!
 
Here is the info about So Loved and how it was started. The description is from the site, Ni Hao Y'all.
 
"Created in 2010 as a way to raise funds to bring Esther and Poppy home (from China), So Loved was offered as a one-time-only t-shirt. But after Esther passed away  while still in China, we reconsidered, and wondered how we might be able to use So Loved in a way to honor our beloved daughter.
 Relaunched as a charity tee, So Loved is now sold with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit an orphan in China with a heart defect.  A child just like Esther.
In December of 2014, $2,200 was donated to Morning Star Foundation to fund the surgery of a child in their care. Morning Star will continue to be the beneficiary of all So Loved products purchased through July 31, 2015." 
I just love the mission of So Loved! You may be interested to know that the founder, Stephanie, is also the founder of No Hands But Ours.
For some nicer pictures of the So Loved shirt (this one turned out kind of blurry) including the back of the shirt, go here.  The winner can get this in either the women's or girl's size, in case it is to be gifted to a younger sibling or friend.  If you win, you will need to send me your name, address, and size. If you don't feel comfortable with that, then please don't enter.
Without further ado, here is where you can enter the giveaway! Let me know if you encounter any problems and good luck!
 


 
 
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Caption It Winner!

The winner of the Caption It Contest is...
Morning!
 
Great job, Morning! I love your caption.
 
 
Our other captions included...
 
"For honor! For glory!"
"You Shall Not Pass!" (I loved this one! But three people suggested it, so I went with one that was a bit less popular.)
"What's that I see in the distance?" (I wasn't sure if this one was for the first or second picture. If it was for the second one, that was the only caption it got, which is why I didn't put it up here.)
Hope you all enjoyed this! I know I did.
 
P.S.
Hopefully tomorrow something really exciting should be up on this blog! Be sure to check back.
 
 
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Books and Reading Tag


I was nominated by sweet Clara over at Reasons to Smile for the book challenge created by Noor at A Little Bit of Sunshine. Thank you so much, Clara! You all should go take a look at her beautiful blog.  :)

Here are the rules:

You must answer all the questions
Repost the picture with a link to Noors blog and the persons blog who tagged you
You may tag people if you would like, but it isn't required.

Now, for the fun part. The questions!

  1. 1. To be read in April? Well, April is about over, but I've been rereading a lot of books I've already read, such as the Millie Keith books and some Janette Oke books. I plan to read the Star Wars books and reread Narnia soon.
  2. 2. Book series you would like to see as a movie? Oh, hmmm...Millie Keith. I would LOVE to see some movies that are truly based on the Little House books made.
  3. 3. Overhyped book/author? Sorry everyone, I'd have to say The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. The first two were enjoyable enough, but even they didn't seem to be as good as they are hyped up to be. And the third one was just depressing and redundant. (Don't hurt me, please!)
  4. 4.  The best book series you have ever read? The Chronicles of Narnia is my all time favorite! I don't care if it's supposed to be a children's series. I love it so much! I also love the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
  5. Book to movie adaption that was really bad? As much as I love The Hobbit movies a lot of things were added to it that were not in the original book. I certainly wouldn't say it was "really bad" but the fact that there's one book and three movies should tell you something. :)
  6. Books that made you cry? LotR, and, and...so many others that aren't coming to mind at the moment. (Isn't that how it always works?)
  7. Book you are reading at the moment? I'm rereading one of the Love Comes Softly books. It's ok, not my favorite series, but still good. I'm mostly rereading it because I found it lying around and didn't have anything else to read.
  8. Book series that you just didn't like? Sorry, I can't think of one at the moment.
  9. Books you really need to read but haven't read yet? The Star Wars books, the last two Millie Keith books, and Summer Falls. (I know literally nothing about this last book, but in the Doctor Who community it was supposed to be written by Amelia Pond and the book is slightly featured in an episode).
Clara's question for me. My answer is in bold. That answer is me, but lately I haven't had any books to read that I've really been captivated by, so I haven't been reading as fast or often as I can if I have a great book.

On a scale of one to five how avid of a book reader are you?
1. Love to read! I read whenever I can get my hands on a book!
2. Reading is awesome, but its only something I do every few days.
3. Reading is enjoyable for me, but I go in spurts of reading all the time and not reading.
4. Reading is ok, but not my favorite thing to do
5. I detest books and only read them if I have to for school


I'm supposed to make up a question of my own, so here it is.

What was the first book you really loved?

There it is! I nominate:
Elizabeth @ Whimsical Thoughts

I think I got everyone! I've never had that many blogs to list before. If I forgot to put you down or you just dropped by my blog for the first time, feel free to go ahead and do it. Please send me the link to your post! I'd love to see your answers. :)

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Spring Photoshoot

Hello everyone! I have some exciting things in the works for this blog, and I plan to post the winning caption from my last post, but today I'm sharing a photo shoot my mom did with me. I needed some updated pictures of myself, so I put on my Easter dress and off my mom and I went to the tulip fields and a few other places. It was so much fun!
I don't normally post a lot of pictures of myself, but this one time I am. Thanks, Mom, for these pictures!
 


 
 




 
I had to include some pictures of the tulips. They were so beautiful! My mom took these pictures, too.
 

We tried a few other locations as well.




 
 
 
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Wednesday and Caption It!

Yesterday was such a fun day! I got to spend time hanging out with some of my favorite kids, Susan from Liberty's Girl and her brother and sisters. The day involved running outside in the sun playing with giant bubble wands, Road to Avonlea, hot chocolate, more running outside and playing tag, cuddling with the cutest two year old, and just talking and hanging out. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. :(
 
I am now stealing an idea from my mom and my friend, Tabby. I'm doing a caption it for my little nephew's birthday (he's turning 2 years old today). My mom took these pictures and posted them on Facebook asking for captions, and I figured I might as well do the same. Borrowing Tabby's idea, my favorite captions get put on the pictures. So caption away! ;)
 
 
Isn't he the cutest??
 
 
 {Update: and the winner for the top picture is Morning with her caption of, "For Narnia! And for Aslan!" Unfortunately, we only got one caption for the second picture, so we don't have a winner.}
 
I'm sorry this post is so short! I'm hoping to post The Liebster Award soon and I'm also trying to plan a giveaway, so that's my focus right now. I'm hoping to pick up the pace soon! :)
Also, would anyone here be interested in both reading and participating in a Guest Post Week if I were to host one? If you would comment your thoughts below, I would really appreciate it.
Hope you're all having a lovely week!
 
 
 
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New Blog Design!

As you can see, my blog has a new look!
As much as I loved my design done by Brittney, I felt like I wanted something more. I wasn't planning on actually having it redone until at least a year after I started the blog. But when I noticed there was a blog design sale going on over at Eve's Garden of Designs, I decided to order the English Garden Design. I liked how I would get to pin to a mood board, and when I saw a list of all the things the design package included, how could I say no?
On Easter afternoon, I placed my order! Eve did such a wonderful job of working with me, and I absolutely love everything she did.
If you're looking for a new design and have a little extra money to spend, I totally recommend Eve! And, her designs are still on sale for 50% off for the month of April. So go check her out! She also has premade templates, which are cheaper, but very pretty!
Farewell to my first design! You, too, did a wonderful job, Brittney!
Also, I plan to get a reader's survey posted soon, in hopes to spice my blog up a bit. If you know a good way of doing this, please share! I would so appreciate it. :)

 
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He is RISEN

 
 
How can it be, the One who died,
Has borne our sin through sacrifice
To conquer every sting of death?
Sing, sing hallelujah.

For joy awakes as dawning light
When Christ’s disciples lift their eyes.
Alive He stands, their Friend and King;
Christ, Christ He is risen.

Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
Oh, sing hallelujah.
Join the chorus, sing with the redeemed;
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.

Where doubt and darkness once had been,
They saw Him and their hearts believed.
But blessed are those who have not seen,
Yet, sing hallelujah.

Once bound by fear now bold in faith,
They preached the truth and power of grace.
And pouring out their lives they gained
Life, life everlasting.

The power that raised Him from the grave
Now works in us to powerfully save.
He frees our hearts to live His grace;
Go tell of His goodness.

He’s alive, He’s alive!
Heaven’s gates are opened wide.
He’s alive, He’s alive!
Now in heaven glorified. 
 
Happy Easter!
 
 
 
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Blog Extras & Good Friday

We went to the Good Friday service at our church yesterday. It was really good! Some friends of ours went with us. Here's a group picture my mom took.
 
 
I've decided to try experimenting with something new; a few simple blog extras! I'm going to be offering to add a few things to blogs.
 
  • Blog Buttons (for Wordpress and Blogger)
  • Scroll To Top Buttons (Blogger only)
  • Basic Pin it Buttons (Blogger Only)
  • Customized Follow By Email widgets (blogger only, example in the sidebar of my blog. I didn't do my own email widget, but I have since figured out how to.)
  • Social Icons (Icons are designed by others, but I can add them for you)
  • (Possibly) customized search widget
So just tell me which of the above you would like, and I will get it going for you! I may or may not ask for some small attribution on your blog.
 
I can do headers too, but they won't be super fancy. If you want, I can send you some example headers.
 
If you want me to add anything to your blog, you can contact me by commenting below or by emailing me at ctaft914@gmail.com.
 
 
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