The winner is...

Michelle from Big Blueberry Eyes!

Random.org picked a great winner, as she is a military spouse just like me!

Congratulations, Michelle. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the relaxation with a baby coming soon!

Email me at afteracupofcoffee (at) gmail (dot) com

The Bloggy Giveaways Carnival!

*************Comments are now closed. The winner will be announced just as soon as Random.org picks you.**************

I know I'm putting this post up early, but any minute now I'm going to sneeze so hard that my eyeballs pop out, and then I'll really need a nap. So welcome to my giveaway!

Today I am giving away this Starbucks mug, filled with a LUSH bath bomb and a $25 Starbucks gift certificate! All of my favorite things. To enter to win, leave a comment and tell me:

If you had to choose between a nice, relaxing bath with no interruptions, or a nice hot cup of coffee (or tea) with no interruptions, which would you choose?

This contest will close and the winner will be announced on Feb 1st, and is open to residents of the US or Canada only.

And don't forget to come back on Monday, February 11 for The Big Bloggy Move. There will be more prizes!!!


Check out the other giveaways!

But wait, there's another giveaway!

If you are willing to spend just a little money for your blog, then this is the giveaway for you!

Girly Blog Designz has offered to give away a $25 credit towards ANY purchase! This means you can purchase a custom WordPress design package for only $50 instead of $75. Or a completely custom header for only $10! Check out all her options here.

But this offer is for just one of you! So check her out and leave a comment on this post if you are interested! I will close comments on Friday night and announce the winner on Saturday!

Giveaway Winners!!!

The winner of a Platinum Package by Blue Yonder Design is not-so-deep Denise!

The winner of a Gold Package by RS Designs is Tiffany at Snapshots of Life!

The winner of a custom header by Simply Southern is ChristiS at Blah Blah Blog!

Thanks everyone for entering! Don't forget that Blue Yonder Design and RS Designs are BOTH offering $10 discounts if you place an order with them soon and mention this giveaway! Megan has the winner for Jennisa's Bloggie Designs up at her blog. Jennisa's designs are only $25!

Also, don't forget to come back on Feb 11th for The Big Bloggy Move! You can debut your blog or visit some new blogs for the chance to win prizes! My new design is already in the works, and it is sooo cute! Karen at Swank Web Style is doing a great job on it, and also did my current blog design!

Congratulations, ya'll!

Win a Big Bloggy Makeover!

We have two THREE FOUR different contests for you today! Megan is giving away a free, custom Blogger design by Jennisa's Bloggie Designs! Here, I am giving away TWO custom design packages, one by Blue Yonder Design and one by RS Designs! Also, scroll down to the next post to enter to win a custom WordPress header by Simply Southern.

To enter the giveaways for Blue Yonder or RS Designs, just leave a comment on this post. And make sure you visit Megan and enter her giveaway for a free Blogger design! The winners will be announced on Monday, January 7th, so be sure to check back and see if you've won.

Here are the details:

Blue Yonder Design is offering one free Platinum Package! And for those of you who don't win, she is also offering a $10 discount! Just mention The Big Bloggy Move or After a cup of coffee...or two to receive your discount. See examples of Jen's great designs here. Plus, Jen has offered to help you move your blog to a new platform if you are moving!

RS Designs is offering a free Gold package. Revka is also offering $10 off your order of $20 or more for those who don't win! Check out some of Revka's great work here.

And don't forget about The Big Bloggy Move! On February 11th be here to sign the Mr Linky and debut your new blog. Or check out all the new blogs for a chance to win prizes. For all the details and to grab the code for the button, click here. Spread the word!

Good luck, ya'll! And get your move on!

Win a Bloggy Header!

Want to have a custom look for your blog, but don't want to worry about any fees?

Betty of Simply Southern has offered to create a custom header from one of your photos, or she has a large supply of nature photos (or you can probably find nice ones on istockphoto.com or even flickr). She will add any text you want and she can install it for you or if you know how you can do it yourself. There are no WordPress fees associated with this, so it is absolutely free! Check out her blog for an example.

Leave a comment on this post to enter for a custom header!

Free Custom Blog Designs on Jan 1st!

Don't forget, on Tuesday, January 1st Megan and I will both be giving away free custom blog designs!

FREE!

The giveaway will close on the 6th with the winners announced on the 7th.

We're leading up to The Big Bloggy Move on February 11th! If you are starting a new blog, moving to a new host, self-hosting, or redesigning your blog, then join The Big Bloggy Move! I'll put up a Mr Linky so that everyone who has a new or redesigned blog (as of December, so everyone who got one for Christmas can join) can sign up and debut their blogs. Megan and I will both be hosting prizes, and anyone else who is interested can host prizes also. It's a great way to spread the word about your new blog as well as find some new blogs and have a chance to win something.

Spread the word!

Copy this code to grab the button:
<a href="http://afteracupofcoffee.blogspot.com/2007/12/big-bloggy-move_19.html" title="big bloggy move2 by christyofwoc, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/2122309820_c0ed6222a1_m.jpg" width="171" height="240" alt="big bloggy move2" /></a>

Shh...it's a secret...

***UPDATED***

THe giveaways are now open! Click here and here to enter.


This is not the giveaway post!

Isaac (part 14)

With the ballroom dancing class, BSU activities, and just hanging out, something had to change between Isaac and I by the spring semester of my junior year.

It was time to fish or cut bait, as romantic as that sounds.

Believe it or not, we decided to stop spending so much time together.

Neither one of us ended up liking that option very much, though. We liked each other too much by that time.

Actually, we had gone way beyond liking, so we took the idea of dating very seriously. We knew that we were headed for marriage. Since Isaac was ROTC, I had to really consider whether I could marry someone who was in the Navy and had to deploy.

I decided he was worth it.

We also realized that the earliest we could get married was about two years. He was on a five-year program, thanks to a few changes of his major and an unfortunate semester of rebellion that resulted in a few failed classes.

So we laid out some ground rules to guard both our hearts and our bodies.

One of those rules was that we wouldn't tell each other that we loved each other.

And we didn't say it.

At least not until I almost died.

A welcome home contest ***Updated***

AND THE WINNER IS...(if you are my husband, stop reading now!)

We have multiple winners!

First, lifeasamama for "All I want for Christmas is my daddy." This is the one that we're putting on base.

Then, I decided to award a second place giftcard (smaller amount)to Emily because I love her handprint idea! We're going to add handprints to our sign.

Finally, for third place, I loved seven's coffee-themed idea, and I'm going to use it on my blog for an announcement when he gets back.

If the three of you could email me your addresses, I'll get these cards out to you within a few days and you should have them before Christmas.

For an honorable mention, I also loved Jean 1's "Santa Baby, hurry down the tarmac to me" but Isaac is getting off a bus and "hurry off the bus to me" just didn't have the same ring!

Thanks for playing!
*******************
I need help! And I will reward you for helping me.

Not all of you. Just one of you.

One of you will receive a shiny new $25 Starbucks giftcard for helping me.

It'll help keep you warm as you Christmas shop.

Or you can be lazy and regift it and then there's one less person you have to shop for.

I'm all about helping you get through the Christmas season.

All you have to do is come up with a slogan for our welcome home banner for Isaac.

Because I think "Welcome Home Daddy" might get lost amongst the other 200 welcome home daddy signs.

And my creativity seems to be buried under all the laundry I need to do, or with all the weeds I need to pull, or maybe it's in one of the boxes I need to unpack all before Isaac comes home.

(In LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!)

I will announce the winner on Dec. 12th, or if I can't decide, I will post a poll let you vote.

Good luck, ya'll! And thanks for your help.

The winners are...

For the frame...windycindy...but I don't see an email anywhere on your link! Contact me with your address.

For the Starbucks...Gibee! I sent you an email already.

Congratulations to both of you!

It's Fall, Ya'll

****Comments are now closed****

The winners will be posted this evening!

And no, I didn't die of embarassment, as someone asked. But the sleep deprivation in this house has reached critical levels, and stringing together coherent sentences has become very hard and so I haven't posted much lately.

So instead of trying to come up with something to post about, I'm just going to give away some free stuff.

First, I am giving away a $10 Starbucks giftcard! Just think of all the caffeine that could buy...well, ok, it's not much, but still.

It's coffee.

And it's free.

I am also giving away a cute little photo frame. And I mean little! I think the picture it holds is about 1.5 inches. Here is what mine looks like, with my kids' Christmas photo from last year:

Only you get your own all wrapped up in bubble wrap and without my kids in it.

Just in case you wondered.

Anyway, leave a comment saying which prize you'd like to win and then head over to Bloggy Giveaways for more great prizes! And remember to leave me a link to your blog or your email address if you want to actually receive your prize. And this giveaway is only open to addresses in the US or Canada (that's to give you a chance to win, Ange!).

Happy fall, ya'll.

I'm going to take a nap now.

Back up, back up, back up

If your computer has ever completely crashed and you lost everything (and I have TWICE) then you know the importance of backing up! 5 minutes for mom is giving away three portable hard drives, the perfect thing to back up all your pictures and files. Head on over and check it out!

A break from my break

I'm taking a break from my blogging break to let you all know that you need to check out the giveaways at 5 minutes for mom! They are giving away a $100 gift certificate to Land's End and a brand new HP Photosmart A626 Photo Printer! Go leave a comment and enter to win.

Since I'm here anyway, I have to tell you what happened yesterday. We were getting in the van and Chloe and Luke both went around to the passenger side to get in. I was putting Audrey in her car seat on the driver's side and went to put the diaper bag down on the floor of the van, and almost set it on...a black widow in a web!

Thank God Chloe and Luke went to the other side because it was right where they put their hands to climb in.

And it was mean! It went right into attack mode when we tried to kill it.

Needless to say, I've been a little twitchy while driving since then!

The winner is...

JennyB! But I don't have any way to contact you. So hopefully you check back with me. You get your choice of cups. Each one has the coffee picture on it, but there are three sayings to choose from...

-A morning without coffee is like...something...without something else.
-Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
-Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee.

Let me know which one you prefer!

The bloggy giveaway!!!

***UPDATE*** Comments are now closed. The winner will be announced this evening around 5pm central time. See ya then!

It's here! Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting the bloggy giveaway. To join in the fun, I am giving away an "After a cup of coffee...or two" mug! You can choose from three designs. And don't worry, if you like the mugs but don't win, you can buy one for yourself (or your 50 closest friends) on my sidebar.

Good luck!

Oh, and if you actually want to win, make sure you leave me your email or blog address so I can find you! The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, July 27. This giveaway is open only for those in the US or Canada.


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Could you use $300 in free groceries?

5 minutes for mom and Horizon Organic are giving away $300 in free dairy products!!! To enter to win go check out 5 minutes for mom!

Oh! Somthing to write about!

I have had some serious writer's block lately, but this is definitely worth posting!

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting a bloggy giveaway carnival!

Lots of free stuff.

All at the same time.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Check it out at her site, and check back here next Monday!

Now I just have to think of something really good to give away...

Win cool stuff!

Have you checked out the great contests over at 5 minutes for mom? They are giving away a ton of stuff between now and the 4th of July.

I've already entered for some mommy business cards and a CUSTOM swimsuit from Land's End (who makes my absolute favorite swimsuits, so I really want to win that one!)

Go check it out, maybe you'll win something!

A tutu for you, too!

5 Minutes For Mom is giving away this super cute tutu from Tutu Fantasy. Head on over to sign up to win, and check out all the other cute tutu designs at Tutu Fantasy! I think Audrey is going to get one of their costumes for Halloween this year!