Scenty Plush Buddy Giveaway CLOSED

Giveaway is closed! Congratulations to Jill M for winning!Are you a fan of Scentsy? Do you even know what Scentsy is? It's a safe, wickless alternative to traditional candles. It's also one of the most successful direct sales companies in the industry. I've watched my friend, Mendy, go from hosting a show, signing up to sell Scentsy, and now director in just over a year. She is loving her new addiction…SCENTSY. If you don’t know what to get that person that has everything, remember her this year and have it shipped directly to your house or your receiver’s house. If you need a fun job that smells terrific, then email Mendy at cmparmer@gmail.com for more info. A great time to join her team in time for the holiday sales.At Scentsy there is something for everyone~ even the sports fans in your life. How cool would it be to have your favorite team on the counter radiating your favorite scent?Here is Mendy show holding one of the newest creations~ a Scentsy Buddy. It's a plush companion with a zippered pocket that holds one of 15 fragrances. Fun for all ages!Mendy would like to offer one of my Diana Rambles readers a Scentsy Buddy of their choice. They will get to choose one of 6 Scentsy Buddies offered and a Scent Pak. Click the buddies below to see all the choices.This giveaway will go through 11:59 CST on Sunday, October 10th. USA only!! The winner will be announced and notified on October 11th and will have 48 hours to contact me. Comments are hidden as you need to fill out the form below to enter!

To enter this giveaway~

• Visit Mendy's website at http://nothingbutwickless.com and come back and let us know what your favorite Scentsy item is. This step is required and must be done to get any of the additional entries to qualify!

• Join Mendy’s Scenty Facebook Group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=143041382383464&ref=ts and leave a comment on the wall that you are participating in the giveaway at Diana Rambles. Please fill out the form for this additional entry.
  

• You can earn 2 extra entries by creating a new blog post on your blog about this giveaway. It should have a link to this giveaway here at Diana Rambles and a link to Mendy's Scenty site: http://nothingbutwickless.com Please fill out the entry form 2 additional times with a link to your blog post.

So that is a possibility of 4 entries. I will be verifying all entries and removing any that don't follow the rules. Please make sure you do the required first entry! **MAKE sure you fill out the form for each entry! This is how I keep track of your entries!!**

Form removed because giveaway is closed!

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Wordless Wednesday: A Girl & Her Dog

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PITB

I use PITA to describe things & people, but lately I've been experiencing PITB~ pain in the back. I've been having troubles with my back being sore before. I can't quite remember when the pain started, but there was a point about 4 years ago that it was so bad that I went to a Dr and had some PT. The PT was most helpful and I still use the stretches and exercise that I learned there to help cope when it is sore. I thought maybe I wouldn't have issues with my back since I've dropped a decent chunk of weight (15#+ ??) over the last 2 months, but it never seems to be weight dependent. I think I know what caused the issues this time~ laying in bed using the laptop. Sitting upright with my legs stretched out in front of me is killer. When we were remodeling I lost my work area. I haven't gone to set it back up but we do have a table set up in our bedroom. It's right by the window so this might be my new work spot. I just wish it had a prettier view! I am only really sore when I bend, twist, or lift. I can only sit in a regular chair (nothing stuffed) and I have to sit perfectly with my knees at a 90 degree angle. If I cross my ankles or sit crooked I am sore. I slept much better last night as I found a comfortable position that does not put pressure on my back. We also have a TempurPedic bed, which really helps with aches and pains. The soreness/pain seems to be centered around my lower back, but the Dr & PT think that it's weakness in my upper back that causes my lower back to compensate. I'll keep up the TLC and should be fine in a few days.

Do you have any reoccurring aches and pains that you deal with?

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Happy Birthday to my son!

12 years ago today my 2nd son was born (so was Google! LOL!) It's hard for me to believe my baby boy is 12 yrs old. I know he's not a baby anymore, but he will always be a baby in my heart. Parker is a very sweet and caring young man. He's begun to be very mindful of his responsibilities and we are very proud of him. Here are some fun pics of him from our trip to Alaska this summer. I think he's grown an inch since then!

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Survivor Recap

Since last night's episode of Survivor was so entertaining I am posting about it today. I think an appropriate title for the episode would have been Shoes & Socks & Weirdos, Oh My! How did they cast such loonies? First off, Holly just lost it. Why would she take the snails and dump them out? If she didn't want to eat any she should have just kept her trap shut and let them alone. Of course the others are going to say something about her for dumping their food. I think she was trying to stir things up. Looking for an easy way out. Of course Coach Jimmy comes to the rescue and convinces her to be strong and not quit. I don't think that Jimmy has a chance to win, but he sure is a good motivator!!

Then we switch to the young tribe and Nay goes nutty. She sure has an attitude. I actually started liking Fabio this episode. He didn't do any thing against Nay and she attacked him. He was smart at tribal telling Shannon to zip it! Kelly B was one tough competitor and Nay is just way too judgmental about her. She would have flipped if someone made the judgments about her that she made about Kelly B.

I have go to say that the young tribe is playing it smart from the get go. Usually the first boot from each team is the weakest or the craziest. While Shannon just kept spouting at the mouth and digging himself in deeper, he was a physically strong player. Both team's first boots just kept droning on and on at tribal and put nails in their own coffin. Shannon was so stupid and people were STUNNED by what he said to Sash and about New York. What a narrow minded idiot!

The other day I picked Chase as the winner. I had decided it was going to be a guy and I just randomly picked one. I think that Brenda has him under her spell AND Shannon called him out so I don't see him lasting. It might be my age (yup...I would be in the older tribe!) but I hope that someone from the older tribe wins. I really like Jill. Her little alliance with Marty could be a very good thing and could propel both of them to the end.

What did you think??

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Wordless Wednesday: Camo Pup

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Tues & Reality Wrap

I realize that I haven't posted much lately. Things are slowly shifting away from the kitchen remodel. It's not done, but we are awaiting the counter tops. No counters means no sink, so it's still simple eating around here. I've done a pretty good job of sticking to my low-carb diet. I've not done a very good job of convincing the family that they need to eat fruit & veggies with their microwave meals. I have a wonderful neighbor who lets me come over a few days a week to cut up my veggies, hard-boil eggs, and do some dishes. Dori likes to go over because she has fancy cable channels and can watch Nick.Last week we missed Survivor. We didn't know it had even started. When a friend posted SURVIVOR!!! on FB last Wed I asked if it started the next night. She responded that it was on right then. She's in PST, so we totally missed it and had no idea it has started. We watched online the next day. Survivor has gotten stale, so I am happy to see the changes this season. I love the young vs. old. I had no idea that was what they were going to do, so I was shocked when he said 'everyone 40 & older on one team and 30 & under on the other!' The medallion of power is quite interesting too. Old team messed up by not using it, but I think they will next week and the youngins will go to tribal. Goat woman was adding extra nails to her coffin by going on and on at tribal. We just wanted Jeff to interrupt and let them vote! Jimmy Johnson is an interesting pick for the cast. Not sure he will stick around very long. That Fabio kid on the young team is such a ditz!

No one really sticks out in my mind at this point as someone I really like or hate. In fact, I need to go look up who is on the cast. I always make a prediction of who will win after the first episode and my guesses as of late have NOT been good at all. So once again I will guess. I am going to say it's a guy this time. Looking at their thumbnail mugshots...I am picking Chase. We'll have to refer to this post when the finale airs in December and see if I am right.

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Kitchen Update

DH goes back to work tomorrow but I can say that he's done an AMAZING job with the kitchen over the last 2 weeks. We are now waiting on the counter and have some other small things to do, but we've been able to move most things back into the kitchen/dining room. This picture was taken on Friday.

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My Marching Kids

Last night was the first night of the season that my son's marching band wore their uniforms. The football team played the #1 team in the state and got slaughtered, but the band looked & sounded good. I created this little marching band uniform for Dori. She was so excited to match her sousaphone toting brother. Sorry for the poor photo quality!

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I am loving this moment...

Do you ever want a moment to not end? I know there are those special occasions or locations, but I am also talking about an ordinary moment. Right now is one of those. It's a nice cool morning and we have the windows open. Both DH & I are laying here (with our laptops) and Dori crawled in between us and fell asleep. It's so nice, cool, and peaceful. I am very close to falling back to sleep as if there isn't a care in the world. BUT~ this is DH's last day of vacation, he's got lots of homework, we need to go order the counter for the kitchen, I've got 2 blog installs to do, I've got to be somewhere in 2 hours...so this little bubble must pop. But I will soak the moment in, because I am sure things will be crazy busy hectic by this afternoon and I will have forgotten all about this moment.

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Reading Kingdom Giveaway Winner

Congrats to the winner, Diane B!

For those of you who didn't win please remember the coupon code of SITED for 25% off your monthly or yearly subscription.

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Wordless Wednesday: Dinner in a Bag

Can't wait for a fully functioning kitchen!

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Kitchen Renovation Update

I've finally downloaded pics off the camera and I'm going to update you on the renovation.

Day 5

Electrical lines & vent moved.Microwave plug moved.3rd layer of underlayment~
Day 6

Flooring installed
Days 7-9

Walls patched (plastic up to keep the dust down)~
Day 10

Chai Spice going on the wall!!Dated the remodel & put our names upThe kiddos & cousins signed the wall!First cabinet being put up!!You are ALL now witnesses to the truth!3 cabinets up! w00t!
Day 11

Pebble Path on the back wall~Chai Spice meets Pebble Path~Kitchen view~Microwave installed~Top cabinets finished on the one side and refrigerator moved into place!

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Renovation Update

Things have slowed down with the renovation over the last several days. Eric is in his last semester of grad school and has had a lot homework to do. We also had a very busy weekend, but it's back to work today! Since my last update the patching & repair of the walls has been completed and the flooring was installed. Today is painting and we hope to start putting in cabinets tomorrow.

I've order this fabulous light for the kitchen!I need to purchase the ceiling fan for the dining room. I also need to order hardware for the cabinets. We will have all the big things in place by the time that Eric goes back to work next Monday, but a lot of little things will still need to be done.

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Reading Kingdom 1 Year Subscription Giveaway CLOSED!

This giveaway is closed. Congrats to the winner, Diane B.

I recently discovered a great new website called Reading Kingdom. The site is designed for ages 4-10, it’s the only fun, easy-to-use online reading program that customizes itself to your child and teaches all the skills necessary to make your child a successful reader and writer. My 4 year old daughter wants to learn to read so I thought this site would be perfect with assisting in the process.

Getting started with Reading Kingdom was quick and easy. I created an account including information about my daughter and she was off and running in no time. Immediately she was drawn in by the graphics and was anxious to start. She was given an assessment based on her age, which had her identifying images and typing letters. She enjoyed it so much that she was bummed that she had to wait an hour between sessions. She went though the initial assessment several times before she moved onto the next part. An email was generated to me telling me that she had finished the assessment and said she was ready to begin training. The training has been a little more challenging for her, but she's really learning how to use the mouse well and type letters quickly. I have received a few emails with suggestions for helping her with the process. She is actually covering a few different sections right now which outlined in the Reading Report.The little icons next to each section tell you where your child is in the process. My daughter is having so much fun with it that she doesn't pay attention to the Reading Report. She just wants to play and has learned how to set a timer for 60 mins so that she can play again. She's on her way to her reading goal through play! You can learn more about Reading Kingdom here. Don't just take my word for it, read the testimonials.

Reading Kingdom would like to offer a one year subscription to one lucky reader of Diana Rambles or Sited & Blogged and a discount to everyone. You can use coupon code SITED for 25% off a year's subscription at Reading Kingdom. That is a $200 value for only $150. You can use the same coupon code for 25% off a monthly subscription too, so instead of $19.99 you pay $14.99.

To enter this giveaway (which ends 9/15) for a one-year subscription to Reading Kingdom~

Visit Reading Kingdom and take a look around the site. Let me know WHY you would like to have a subscription to Reading Kingdom. This step is required and must be done to get any of the additional entries to qualify!

You can earn 1 extra entry for being an email subscriber to Sited & Blogged. Email subscribe form is on the sidebar. Please fill out the entry form below 1 additional time for this.

You can earn 1 extra entry for an email subscriber to Diana Rambles. Email subscribe form is on the sidebar. Please fill out the entry form below 1 additional time for this.

You can earn 1 extra entry for posting the Sited & Blogged blog button on the sidebar of your blog. Copy & paste button code is on the sidebar. Please fill out the entry form below 1 additional time for this.

You can earn 1 extra entry for posting the Diana Rambles blog button on the sidebar of your blog. Copy & paste button code is on the sidebar. Please fill out the entry form below 1 additional time for this.

You can earn 2 extra entries by creating a new blog post on your blog about this giveaway. It should have a link to this giveaway (from either Sited & Blogged or Diana Rambles) and to Reading Kingdom. Please fill out the entry form 2 additional times with a link to your blog post.

You can earn 1 extra entry per day by twittering about this giveaway. Feel free to copy & paste this tweet Enter to win a year's subscription to Reading Kingdom at Diana Rambles: http://tinyurl.com/258gnss Please fill out the entry form below an additional time and include a link to your tweet each time you tweet. (up to 8 tweet entries)

You can earn 1 extra entry by posting about this giveaway on Facebook. I understand that I might not be able to see this status update, but I will trust that you do this! Please fill out the form an additional time and include your FB info.

So that is a possibility of 16 entries. I will be verifying all entries and removing any that don't follow the rules. Please make sure you do the required first entry! You will enter by filling out the Google Docs form below, not leaving a comment. Comments have been turned off for this post. This is a cross-post with Sited & Blogged and entry is the same for the both blogs. **MAKE sure you fill out the form for each entry! This is how I keep track of your entries!!** Giveaway ends Sept 15 at 11:59pm CST.

Giveaway Closed!

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