And the Winner Is....

To show that this contest was above board and completely legit, I photographed the actual drawing. If giving away $25 worth of books from CBD doesn't say "I love you", then perhaps my willingness to photograph myself this way does.

Here are the names - all seventeen of them - in the bowl. I typed them out, cut them evenly and folded them twice.Then, I stirred them around vigorously - and I got such a clear picture thanks to my hubby buying me a brand new 10 mega pixel camera for Christmas. I was actually moving when I took this!! Thanks, Honey!♥
Then, I reached in without looking, and asked my husband to take this stupid photo of myself - all in the name of honesty - and I drew out the winning name:


Can you see it?? No? You can only see my horrible looking fingers? Sorry 'bout that. The winner is Heather!!!! Heather is a sweet lady whose husband is currently deployed in Iraq. Thank you, Heather, for entering my FIRST giveaway! Just go to CBD, select the books you would like, and email me your order and your address. Email me at valerie@graceinhope.com

Thanks so much, ladies, for taking time out of your day to read my blog. Thank you for entering! I absolutely loved reading your favorite books!
Here are some books that I will be reading thanks to your suggestions:

Pride and Prejudice
First, We Have Coffee
A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael
Passionate Housewives Desperate for God
White Chocolate Moments

I will have to have another giveaway soon...it's sooo much fun!!!

Times Up!

Thank you all for entering my giveaway. I will be announcing the winner tomorrow, so stay tuned!!

Happy New Year!

Because of You

Have I told you all lately that you are the reason I keep a blog? YOU! Think about it: if you didn't stop by and read, then what would be the point of hammering away on this keyboard? If you didn't drop by, even occasionally, then what reason would I have to spill my guts online? If you didn't want to know about my family, then what good would uploading photos do? If you didn't comment, then where would I get my smiles from? Okay, I do smile a lot already, but a good many of those smiles come from you.

To say thank you to you faithful readers, yes, all four of you, I am doing something special. I am hosting a give-away! Yes! My first one, EVER! (I'm a little nervous.) The New Year is upon us! I know you all are eagerly pulling out your journals or notebooks to jot down your New Year's Resolutions - I've got mine already written. I just love the feeling of a fresh, new year. I love getting brand new, crisp calendars and writing down the events for the New Year. I love making goals and starting over. One goal gets re-set every year: "read good books." I love to read! It can be fiction, non-fiction, and even juvenile reading - as long as it's good literature, then I'll read it.

I love to read, and I know many of you love to read also. I am giving away a book or books, up to $25 (not including shipping) from Christian Book Distributors. All you do to enter, is comment on this post telling me what your favorite book is. That's it! The winner gets to begin 2009 with a new book - on me!

The contest ends 10:00 CST, January 1, 2009. The drawing takes place on Friday, January 2, 2009 (my 11th anniversary) and will be announced that day. The winner will be asked to email me with the URL of the book(s) from CBD, and their mailing address.

My favorite book (outside of the Bible, of course) would be Anne of Green Gables. And Tuck Everlasting. Oh, and I like the Love Comes Softly series of books. And Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, too. Did I say liked reading biographies? No? Well, I just love a good biography.
But hey, that's enough from me!

What about you?