Wordless Wednesday!

Giveaway ~ Fairy Wonderful!!!

We just finished making our appointment to get baby G's spring pictures done by a professional photographer later in April. Wouldn't baby G look fabulous sporting one of these tutu's for her photo?

If you have a little girl and love tutu's, OOAK headbands and hair items etc, I would highly recommend heading over to the New Age Mama Blog and taking your chance to try and win a $25 GC to Fairy Wonderful!

The Giveaway closes on March 9th, 2010 so make sure you enter today!

Shelly

My Giveaway Winning Stash!

I have been really busy the past 2 days so I haven't been able to update my wins until this morning. So without further delay, here we go!

In the photo above:

I won a case of Wataah (flavored water) so got 8 nice sized bottles. I opened one last night and think it tastes great...my only gripe is that it took well over 1 month to receive my prize from the company which shipping delay time I wasn't impressed with that.

From the Illinois Nut & Candy Company I won 2 chocolate covered marshmallow lollipop treats....hubby loves them since he is a fan of dark chocolate.

I won a book called "Sleep No More" which I will start reading next week.

I won a pink hoodie sweatshirt which is super soft and has a pretty retro design on the back.



In the photo above:

I won a super soft and I mean super soft night shirt from Bee Well Wishes and I love it! It is the softest nightshirt I have ever owned!

I won a $20.00 GC to Chocomize where you make and customize your own chocolate bars so hubby and I selected 5 different chocolate bars and I must tell you, they are fantastic! We are now addicted to them!



In the photo above:

I got a freebie 2010 Women's Health Calendar/Daily Planner.

I won a 1 lb. bag of chocolates from Cowgirl Chocolates and it's a variety pack of their delicious caramels. If you like a little spicy kick to your chocolate, these things rock!

In the mesh bag is the bracelet I won...a beautiful gemstone bracelet! Love it!

Finally...I won a handcrafted cosmetic bag from Sew Darn Simple :) I love it and it will be great for vacation time!

~ Shelly ~

Wordless Wednesday - Winter

Massive Icicles Here In PA!

Went out for a brief walk with my mom yesterday in the sunshine. It is still bitterly cold here in PA...but during the daytime we are getting up to the mid 30's which is slowly melting the 40+" of snow we got with the blizzards. However, it is still too cold here so icicles are just hanging all over the townhouse buildings. Some of them are measuring 3-5 feet in size! Geesh!!!



Stay safe and warm everyone!

Shelly

10 Things You Can Do To Help Seniors In Your Community

As we age, we often lose our physical strength, medical health, mobility and our independence. This is the case with the majority of Senior Citizens, living within our communities.

I would like for you to 'think' about this for one minute. When you finally reach your golden years, do you hope that others will be there to help you? I bet you answered that question with a yes!

The truth of the matter is, there are thousands of Seniors across the world that need assistance. Many of them have no family or friends available to help them. That is where you come in.

I would like to share 10 ideas with you, on how you can help the members in your community.

1. Summer Yard Work: Grass mowing, bush trimming, flower planting, and gardening.

2. Fall/Winter Yard Work: Rake leaves, shovel sidewalks, and plow driveways.

3. Meal Delivery: Volunteer with a local meals on wheels program.

4. Grocery Shopping: Offer to do their grocery shopping.

5. Medical and Dental Appointments: Take them to their appointments. Many Seniors lose the ability to drive safely as they age.

6. Gift Shopping: Take them shopping to the local department stores and malls.

7. Baking: I find that a lot of our elderly community members can no longer make homemade bake goods. Since I love to bake, I will often make pies, cookies, and cakes for them.

8. Pets: You can assist them with pet care. (walking the dog, vet appointments, grooming appointments, and picking up pet food for them.

9. Salon and Barber Shop Appointments: Offer to take them for their hair care appointments every few weeks.

10. Your Companionship: Many of our older adults are lonely, and just need a little bit of company. Once a month, spend an hour of your time just visiting with an older adult.

I believe in paying it forward. There are many things that you can do to help our adult friends, that doesn't require a lot of your time. I hope these simple 10 ideas have inspired you to volunteer your skills and time to help the Senior members, in your own community.

This article was written by Shelly Hill, copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved.

More Wins That Arrived Over The Weekend!

I am on a roll and loving it! I had some great things arrive over the weekend! I won an organizer (shown in the pic) which will be put in my craft/sewing/scrapbooking room...it will hold all of my little brads and eyelets etc. that I use for scrapbooking.

Not shown in the photo is the 2 coupons I received from the folks at Oreo for 2 FREE full-size packages of Oreo Cookies...which we redeemed yesterday at the grocery store..saving us $8.00!

Shown in the photo is an adoreable Princess Onesie that I won for my gd Baby G. Come early summer, she will be sporting her new Princess Onesie!

Also show in the photo (look close) is my package of Days Ago Timers that I won which are magnetized timers for the kitchen...yeah!

Shelly

~ Happy Valentine's Day ~

I am pretty excited about Valentine's Day this year...this is my very first Valentine's Day as a grandma! Baby G was sweet enough to give me and pappy a Valentine's Day Card and a box of chocolates :) I then took a picture of her and will be scrapbooking the card and photo. It is hard to believe that my precious little grand daughter is 8 1/2 months old...time flies!

Hubby and I decided to spend a quiet day at home because the 2 blizzards we just had have totally worn us out. I am preparing a romantic Italian Meal for 2 later on...his favorite 7 cheese lasagna, salads, homemade breadsticks and I made a strawberry cheescake.

I hope everyone has a very romantic and fun Valentine's Day with their loved one(s).

Shelly

Giveaway - Enter To Win An Adoreable Kinders Doll!

Have you ever seen these cute dolls known as the Adoreable Kinders yet? If not, you really need to go check them out. I have a 9 month old grand daughter who already loves dolls...especially soft-bodied dolls and I know she would just love one of these Kinder's Dolls!

If you would like to try to win one, you need to hop on over to the Second Time Around Blog and enter. You can earn multiple and daily entries! The giveaway ends on March 4th, 2010.

Good Luck!

Shelly

~ Kidorable ~ I love their cute products!

Have you checked out the Kidorable web site yet? If not, you really need too! I first saw Kidorable's products online about 3 months ago on various mommy blogger web sites and since that time, I have been in love with the fairy line of rain gear for little girls. I am now on a mission to win a few items for my little grand daughter.

While surfing the mom blog sites, I found several Kidorable Giveaways that you might want to enter.

Mint Green With Envy ~ Ends 2-24

Mommy 2 Two Girls Blog ~ Ends 2-17

Unconditional Mom Blog ~ Ends 3-1-10

Giveaways 4 Mommy Blog ~ Ends 3-15-10

As I find more Kidorable Giveaways online, I will update this post...so please bookmark it or follow my blog.

Good Luck!

Shelly

~ Down East Basics ~ Giveaway's Around The Blogosphere!

I am absolutely in love with the type of products I am seeing on the Down East Basics Web Site and I have been entering various Down East Basics Sponsored Giveaways around the Blogosphere...hopefully some day soon I will win one so I can try out a fabulous piece of clothing from Down East Basics! Here are a few that I found.

Familylicious Review & Giveaway Blog Exp: 2/20

Mint Green With Envy Blog Exp 2/12

Second Time Around Blog - Ends 2/28/10

So head on over to these ladie's blogs and take a chance...you never know...you could end up winning!

Shelly

Nature At It's Best

If you look close, you can see Rhett (cardinal). Rhett and his woman Scarlett have lived in my backyard for the past 3 years!

After getting slammed by 2 blizzards in just one week...we are finally having some sunshine...It is still very cold and frigid outside but at least the sun is shining. I am hoping our temperatures come up a little bit so we can slowly start to melt this 40" of snow that we have...we don't want the temperatures to come up too quickly as it would cause too much melting which equals massive flooding problems.

Anyway...today I threw out some birdseed for the birds and I threw out some bagles and bread that I had since I can't wade out into the yard yet to fill their feeders so I threw all the goodies onto my patio. Within minutes, numerous visitors came to feed.

This is a photo of a gray dove who wasn't afraid of me and came right up to get a bite to eat.



Now check out this squirrel...squirrel's and I don't get along too well as they like to destroy my bird houses and bird feeders...this idiot squirrel kept chasing away the birds until he was done eating...geesh, I guess he wears the pants in the squirrel world & everyone had to wait their turn.





So now that mother nature has destroyed everything on my patio...I guess the squirrel and birds will just complete the mess LOL

Shelly

Score! The Mailman Arrived With My Goodies!

Finally our mail service is back after being down for several days thanks to the 2 Pennsylvania blizzards. Today was a BIG SCORE Day! Here is what I received today:

I won a $20 GC to Affordable Scarves and picked out 3 scarves (one for me, my daughter and my mom) and they are super soft...feels like cashmere they are so soft! LOVE those scarves!

I won a 1lb. box of Endstrom's Almond Toffee which my hubby is already enjoying. He said it tastes fantastic...I am allergic to almonds so he gets to enjoy it all to himself!

I won a $50 GC to Eden's Fantasy so I decided to use that on a black velvet burn-out night gown...its long and slinky...love it!

I won 3 bottles of perfume oil from Lemon Lollipop and that Pina Colada one is fantastic (wearing it right now)...I feel like I am in the tropics!

I won a pot of Mango Scented Solid Perfume from The Cream Perfume Company and its a HIT with me...love the scent of that.

I won a Swarovski Crystal Bracelet that is all glittered out and sparkles...love it!

I also won a crystal necklace which I forgot to take a picture of.

Over all....a great mail day here at the H household! wootwoot! I am saving a lot of these wins for birthday and christmas presents...so they will get stored in my big rubbermaid tote.

Shelly

Snow...Snow...and more Snow here in PA

Well...this has been some winter here in Southern PA...that is for sure! We got hit with a blizzard Friday and Saturday and had 23 1/2" of snow in 34 hours. It then decided to sucker punch us while we were already down and another blizzard moved in at 3pm yesterday...we have never had 2 blizzards 4 1/2 days a part here in my area before...we are unfortunately breaking all kinds of snow records around here.

On top of our 23 1/2" we have almost 18" of fresh stuff and it's still snowing! We are under blizzard warnings until late tonight and we got howling gusting winds which are drifting the snow another 1 to 2 ft! ugh!

Here are some photos:




This was around 10am this morning...you can barely see our solar outdoor lights around our back patio and the snow is 1/2 way up the shepards hook that holds one of my bird feeders.



This photo is of my patio at 11am this morning...its now 3:30 and looks even worse.



Take a lot at that snow on my patio now...geesh! You can barely see our patio table and it's 1/2 way up covering our canopied swing.





I will update with some new pics later today...maybe...if I can open my front door!

Shelly

- Wordless Wednesday - Loving The Grandbaby!

Recipe For A Happy Marriage

Recipe For A Happy Marriage

1 c. consideration
1 c. courtesy
2 c. flattery, carefully concealed
2 c. human kindness
1 gallon of faith in each other
2 c. praise
3 tsp. pure extract of "I am sorry"
1 c. encouragement
1 small pinch of in-laws
1 reasonable budget

Toss well with a lot of hugs and kisses, and a generous dash of cooperation.

~ Author Unknown

More Fabulous Giveaway Wins!

The mailman has been bringing me all kinds of fabulous things that I have been winning online via giveaways...I can not tell you how much of a blessing this has been since money has been tight with helping our 24 yr old daughter financially to raise our first born grand daughter.

I don't blog about my giveaway wins until I actually receive the prizes as sometimes some sponsors back out and don't follow through. I am blogging my wins so that at the end of the year...I can look back and see what I won :)

Okay here we go:

I got Love In 90 Days book from Chaotic Book Reviews Blog. This is a fabulous book about finding love in 90 days and I gave it to my daughter yesterday! Looks like it will be a great read for her.

Today I got this beautiful dress for Baby G that I won from the Glimpse Product Review & Giveaway blog. The dress is made by Cotton Cupcake Design Shop over on Esty. I picked out a size 18 months pink dress with an embroidered cupcake on the front...I think it will be fabulous for baby G to wear to her birthday party in late May.

Shelly

About Me

My name is Shelly Hill and I am a 43 year old wife, mother and grandmother living in Central Pennsylvania. I have been happily married for 25 years to my soul mate Sam. We have one beautiful daughter who is 25 years old and a grand daughter who will be 2 years old in May 2011.

I am a professional ghost writer, paid blogger and article marketer. I guess you could say that I love to write but that is not my only passion in life. I also enjoy various forms of crafting like scrapbooking, crochet, card making, paper crafts, beading, sewing, quilting and cross stitch.

In my spare time I enjoy cooking, baking, canning and traveling!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

How About Some Pearls!!! Win Yours Today!

My birthday is in the month of June so my birthstone is of course...the pearl! I must say...I do love pearls but I don't own very many of them. One of the things I love about pearls is that you can find them in a wide variety of colors these days...ranging from white, ivory, silver, golden, lavendar, peach, pink and even green!

While browsing around online, I found several mommy bloger web sites that are hosting giveaways for Pearl Paradise where you can enter their giveaway and hopefully win yourself some gorgeous looking pearls!



So ladies...if you love gorgeous pearls...head on over to these blogs and enter today!

Good Luck,

Shelly

A Few Snow Pictures from Snowy Pennsylvania

Well, I didn't get out too far as we have 23+ inches here but the good news is that it has finally quit snowing! blah!!! What a mess! Our county, city and state is under a state emergency so everything is shut down.

I am hoping that tomorrow I can get out and try to get some pics of the snow in our neighborhood but for now, these will have to do!

It took over 2 hours to shovel out both of our vehicles.



The snow is all piled up on every tree and bush...some tree limbs are starting to come down because of the weight.



We cleaned the snow off of our canopied swing at 7am this morning...so from 7am until 1pm this afternoon...this is new snow on top of it! ugh!



Shelly

Go Away Snow!!!!

Here in PA we are getting clobbered with the big 2010 East Coast Blizzard...23" and counting! I hope to venture out later on and get some photo's as its just incredible to get this mount of snow in less than 24 hours. It is still snowing as I type this and the winds are howling.

We are under a County, City and State of Emergency so everything is closed and shut down all across our area :( Today is one of those types of days to stay in, have a cup of hot cocoa and do a few crafting/sewing projects that I meant to get to earlier this week or perhaps a good book.

I did receive 2 new books in the mail yesterday that I won online...one of them is about healthy dating relationships so I am giving that one to my 24 yr old daughter and the romance novel is for me.

This morning when I got online...I found 4 winning email notifications from giveaways I entered recently...must be my reward for putting up with this PA awful weather.

Shelly

Wordless Wednesdays - I Love My Prims!

Morning Started Off Rough...But Got Better!!!

As some of you know, I suffer from a rare genetic disease called Porphyria. The past week has been extremely rough for me with trying to get some of my chronic pain under control...so I have gotten just a little bit of sleep during this time. Last night I was totally miserable and my morphine just wasn't working so I spent a good deal of my night laying in bed and watching movies.

To make matters worse...we got more icky snow overnight...I am so ready for winter to be over and spring to get here!!! So...after having a really bad night...My day doesn't start off too hot...the leaky drippy sink is getting on my last nerve, my telephone has been ringing off the hook with nonsense callers and so forth.

Finally something good...the door bell rings and it's Mr Fed Ex man with a package. I take my package and hit the sofa again. I open it up and its my giveaway win from Carolina Pad! yeah me! I won an entire package of goodies from them through a giveaway they sponsored over on the Coupon Clippin' Mommy Blog.

Inside my package was: A designer composition pad, a 1-subject notebook with the cutest cover on it, a beautiful 3-ring binder, pretty designer subject deviders in girly colors, a pack of glitter pencils and a nice writing pen. Yeah me! Since I am a writer...all of these things will come in handy.

I hope everyone is staying indoors and warm today!

~ Shelly ~

Giveaway - Enter To Win A Beautiful Stella and Dot Necklace!

If you love jewelry...especially gorgeous jewelry you need to check out this fantastic giveaway over on the Mint Green with Envy blog for this beautiful necklace from Felissa Hadas with Stella & Dot! Oh my....its a stunning piece! I can see it being worn dress up (evening out), to the workplace office or even out on a dinner date.

You can earn daily entries and the giveaway ends on Feb. 16th, 2010

Good Luck!

Shelly

Thank You Mr. Mailman!

Today my Mailman came bearing some wonderful things for me. I have been entering a lot of giveaways...mostly baby and new mom ones so that I can help my daughter out who is a single mom of an 8 month old.

Here is some of what Mr. Mailman delivered today:

From a giveaway I entered over on the Familylicious Blog - A Hipster Bib for baby G. The one we received is a green color with cute red little lady bugs on it. Baby G is going to love it!

From the Island Life Blog (can't find the link right now) I won 2 coupons so that I can redeem them for 2 FREE full-size popsicles of my choice at the store. I hear fudgesicles and creamsicles calling my name!

From the Lucky Canuck Blog I finally and yes finally....won a Flirty Apron! I have been entering every Flirty Apron giveaway I could find the past few months trying to win a Flirty Apron and finally did! I chose the chocolate brown with blue print apron.

I also received 3 romance novel books that I won from a few book giveaway blogs since I enjoy reading...however, my mom walked off with one of those books earlier tonight.

The other packages I received were items that I am doing product reviews for on two of my other blogs.

Overall...fantastic mail truck day!!!

Shelly