Giveaway & Destination: Inspiration Linky Party #17

Photo From Liz Curtis Higgs.com 

Hi everyone! Welcome to this week's Destination: Inspiration linky party! Before we get started, I want to remind you that we have less than two days for the awesome book giveaway on Teagan's Travels! The book is by Liz Curtis Higgs and I know you will love it! 

Do you want to experience the book of Ruth in a whole new way?  Liz is a fun, dynamic personality who has brought this well known Bible story to life. She leaps between past and present to show us a determination and boldness I never considered before! 

Liz Curtis Higgs is the author of over 25 books, with more than 3 million copies in print including her Bad Girls of the Bible series! Pretty exciting stuff and I can't wait to dive into my copy of this book after hearing her speak! Check out my Friday Five post for some great videos about this book. 

OK, so wanna win??? 

There are several ways to throw your name in the hat:

1) Become a follower using Google Friends Connect or Linky Followers. Leave  me a comment below letting me know you did so. 

2) Leave a comment! I love hearing from you and am dedicating more time to build a community. 

3) Post a status update on your blog or Facebook about this giveaway and let me know in a comment below!

4) Link up an inspirational post today! Leave me a comment letting me know you did!

The contest runs until 3:00 EST on Wednesday. I will use Random.org to select a winner. 

I LOVED reading all the amazing submissions on last week so on we go to a new Destination: Inspiration Linky Party! Show us what ya got! 

Passport to an Awesome 

Destination: Inspiration Party!!!

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*I  am trying to grow my little blog so I'd really be excited if you would follow me using Google  Friends Connect or Linky Followers on my sidebar!

*Grab my button and post it somewhere on your blog if you want to totally make my week.

*Link to your post instead of your overall blog address.

*We all love comments so spread the love to at least one other blogger.

Have a great week! 
Blessings,
Michelle

Friday Five: The Girl's Still Got It and Giveaway!

I haven't had a Friday Five in a while, so I thought I'd start it off again with a fun book giveaway!! I got the chance to hear Liz Curtis Higgs speak on Saturday night at She Speaks 2012. She is such a wonderful, hilarious, motivating speaker. You must check her out if you haven't heard her because you will walk away truly inspired. 

Photo From Liz Curtis Higgs.com 

So I can't WAIT to dive into The Girl's Still Got It: Take a Walk With Ruth and the God Who Rocked Her World! And now I am giving you the opportunity to WIN a copy here so read on!

Five Reasons I Love This Book: 

1) Liz is the author of over 25 books, with more than 3 million copies in print including her Bad Girls of the Bible series. And...I got the chance to hear her speak...and snag a big bear hug from her! How fun is that?!

2) Liz breathes new life and perspective into this story I bet most of us feel we already know. For example, I always thought of Ruth as quiet and obedient. Here, the author offers a look at Ruth's courage, determination and boldness. In addition, she casts a portrayal of  Naomi that I never considered before!


3) The bible study promises to leap between past and present to show us what God's message is for women living today through this story. 


4) Because this video trailer is pretty darn cool....




5) And because I will have lots of book giveaways coming up this fall. But only ONE book could come with a Righteous Ruth Rap!

OK, who is excited to check out Ruth in an all new way???? 
There are four ways to win so enter more than once:

 1) If you aren't a follower on Teagan's Travels yet, please sign up using Google Friends Connect or Linky Followers. Leave me a comment letting me know you did so and under what name. Or if you are already a follower leave me a comment letting me know you are back to check this giveaway out!

2) Leave a comment telling me what book you've really loved lately that inspired you in some way!

3) On Tuesday join my Destination: Inspiration linky party by linking up an inspirational blog post! 

 4) Post scoop about this contest on your Facebook wall with a link to Teagan's Travels! Leave me a comment here letting me know you've done so.

I will select a winner on Wednesday, August 1st at 3:00 pm EST using Random.org.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Blessings, Michelle

Fabulous February & Giveaway Prize Winner

Congrats to my sweet friend Robin who is the winner of the Unshaken book giveaway! Robin and I are Knottie Sisters Forever who met way back when we were planning our weddings. She is wonderfully talented and beautiful with a sweet husband and toddler boy of her own! Robin, your book is on its way with big hugs from me!

I am also trying to get in touch with Brittany McNamara who won our personalized recipe card giveaway. Brittany, you will love these so shoot me your snail mail and email address to teaganstravels@yahoo.com to claim your prize!

It was a fun and gorgeous day here where I wrapped up the week with a day of pampering from my very sweet, very thoughtful husband. I have to take a moment to say this isn't just because I am a slow moving pregnant mommy right now. He's always making me feel special in some way. I am still amazed by how lucky I am eleven years into our relationship. I love you Brian!

Today started with getting Teagan off to a mom's day out program. Then I got to hear the baby's heartbeat at my 31 week appointment! The latest gender prediction is: A GIRL!!! But it is right on the edge which just goes to show this is a true Kelly baby that is going to keep me guessing. Later I went for a lunch where I got to relax and not cut up anyone's food or try to figure out how to change a diaper in a restroom with no changing table. It's the little things that just make my day. I wrapped up with a prenatal massage, manicure and pedicure. Then I picked Teagan up and we had a great time catching the last bit of rays outside while playing with her buddy Roman who is just a few weeks older than Tea. He loves to visit his Gigi Suzy and Grandad Barry who live a few doors down. Tea was absolutely exhausted after the long day and so was I. We both headed to bed early leaving Dad to watch the recap of today's golf in peace.

But here I am, wide awake at 2:30 in the morning. The baby "wanted" Life cereal. Whatever will I do in a few months when I can't blame my cravings on this little one growing inside me? At any rate, I am typing on our new Dell Inspiron 17R and love it! It's been years since we bought a new computer and I love all the cool features. I am especially excited about the webcam and being able to Skype with family across the globe! Plus I got a great deal on Photoshop Elements. Hang with me through fuzzy shots and red eye a few more days until I get that loaded and sussed out!

In the meantime I am so behind in posting pictures from all our fun February events that I will break it into a few days to get caught up. This post features some of our playdates with friends!

Waiting for storybook time at the library. Teagan loves wooden puzzles right now. Isn't Jackson so adorable? I love this picture! I think Tea is thinking about stealing a kiss here... Valentine's Day: Delivering sweet messages to the kids on our street via her Smart Bike! Liam shared his wagon with her on this unsually warm day! Getting a push from Lily Sweet Caleb. You and Jackson are gonna break some hearts! Yep. The girls don't stand a chance!Don't you want to just scoop little Elsa up?
Oh cutie Grayson. Who could resist your smile? Teagan loved Roman's motorized bike tonight! Is it me or do they look like they could be related? Roman and his Gigi say goodnight. He's visiting all weekend so we'll play again tomorrow! Kade and Melissa are spending the night so it will be a super great day!

Last Chance to Enter Teagan's Giveaway!!

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope the sun is gorgeous where you are today. We had a great morning at church and then lunch out as a family. Teagan kept asking for "choco-mole" (guacamole). Now it's naptime and then we're heading outside to enjoy this weather!

That means I have just enough time for a super quick post to remind everyone that tomorrow is the LAST DAY to enter Teagan's First Blog Giveaway!!! I'll use Random.org to select the winner after 5:00 pm EST.

This gorgeous set of printed personalized recipe cards with the digital file included as a bonus comes to us from KaydenAshley! Check out my previous post for some more pictures of their offerings. And if you are on Facebook or Etsy be sure to see their latest addition, an elegant damask Easter collection.

We have several ways to win and your odds are pretty darn good as this is our very first contest. Thanks to those who are new to Teagan's Travels in the last few days! A BIG, hearty Texas and Irish welcome to you from our family! I'll be back to posting regularly this week. In the meantime, here's the scoop on how to win:

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
The giveaway period runs from February 14, 2011 and ends Monday, February 21st, 5:00 pm EST! There are several ways you can increase your chances of winning including:

1. Become a follower of Teagan's Travels (worth 2 entries, my favorite way)

2. Visit KaydenAshley's Facebook page and "Like" it, come back here and tell me which product caught your fancy! (worth 2 entries)
www.facebook.com/KaydenAshley

3. Vote for Teagan's Travels on Top Mommy Blogs (you may do this daily using the button below, just leave a comment letting me know you've done so, worth 1 entry a day). You just click the button and go to the site. Once you are there the vote is counted, you don't have to type in our name or anything. Easy-schmeasy.

4. Visit KaydenAshley's Etsy page and make it a favorite. Leave a comment here letting me know you've done so (worth 1 entry)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KaydenAshley?ref=seller_info

Happy Birthday Sweets!

Today's post is dedicated to my husband, Brian (a.k.a. Swwweeeeeeeetttts!!). Happy February 15th Brian! This marks our eleventh year celebrating your birthday together!

People ask us how a lad from Ireland and a Texan ever came together. I have my very romantic version of the story and of course, you have your own funny side! The long and short of it is that we both relocated to Colorado for our jobs within a month of each other. When I arrived I knew very few people and was the only female in our office until a beautiful girl from Ireland moved out via Boston. Anne-Marie, who incidentally also has a birthday today (Happy Birthday AM if you are reading!!) and I became fast friends and shared a loft apartment together. We credit her as our match-maker and the rest is a happy history!

I feel so blessed to be your wife, Brian. There is so much I admire and love about you including your persistent optimism, sense of humor, and your ability to do well at just about anything you put your mind to. I love the way you adore a good old fashioned debate and will take the opposite side simply for pleasure and to keep the conversation running, along with your analytical side which has taught me ever so much to see the world in a completely different way. I marvel at your ability to remember obscure facts and numbers. If we ever do get caught on Cash Cab we'll be certain to risk it all on a video bonus! And I doubt anyone could question your love of soccer, rugby and especially golf. You have such an intense passion for that game and it makes me very proud of your dedication, yes, even on a busy weekend!

But most of all I love the way you make those around you feel loved. You are intensely loyal and forgiving even when I do something really stupid. Your greatest joy is in being a dad and I see evidence of this in each and every day. Thank you for making me a better person.

And now for a trip down memory lane with some of my favorite pictures (at least from the few that escaped our recent hard drive crash!):

I love this picture of you and your big sister Joyce!

You and little sis, Ita! Loving the wellies!
You, Joyce, Keith and Ita. In this picture you look so much like my own sister Melissa looked at that age! How wild is that?
One of our first New Year's together.

In New Zealand and Australia for our fourth anniversary (of dating). You've always been a huge All Blacks rugby fan and it was so cool to be there during the World Cup! I thought for SURE you would propose there...but no, you had me wait one more month! In the end you knew I would want my family to be there for the big moment and waited for our trip home for Christmas!

Then we were engaged for 1.5 years before actually walking down the aisle. Though this conservative approach to tying the knot drove me to distraction at the time it was well worth the wait! I married my best friend.

At April's wedding. I was a bridesmaid one month before our wedding. She returned the favor in May!

You, your Dad and one of your closest buddies from home, Gere. Exploring the mountains in Colorado.

I love this picture of you at your brother's wedding in Cork, Ireland. That was a magical day and you look dashing!

I had to end this post with a golf shot. This has to be your absolute favorite pastime and possibly where you are happiest? I love you to bits Brian and hope this year of going from a three person family to four is one of our best!!

- Mouse.

REMINDER FRIENDS:

Don't forget about our first giveaway! There are multiple ways to enter to increase your chances of winning between now and Monday so look at yesterday's (February 14th) post for more scoop!