Giveaway: Creative Creations By Cristin

**This giveaway is closed**

It's my first giveaway! Yay! And... I'm doing 4 this week!

Today's giveaway is a total blog makeover from Creative Creations By Cristin! The makeover includes a Header, Sidebar Headers, Custom Navigation Bar, Custom Sidebar Header Graphics, Blog Button and Code, Custom Signature, and a Custom Background.

Go check out Cristin's page and see her lovely designs.






The purpose of this giveaway is to raise money for my trip to Haiti in August. We will be working in orphanages, schools, and helping in the relief effort, and in the meantime sharing the love of Jesus with a hurting people group. The total trip cost (including airfare) is $1600.00 So every dollar helps! But you don't have to donate to enter the giveaway. Here's what you do:

1. Comment on this post. That's all! Automatic entry.

For extra entries:

2. Subscribe to this blog by RSS feed or subscribe by Email

3. Follow me on twitter AND tweet this giveaway.

4. Donate! Click the button on the upper right side of the blog, or go here to make a secure credit card donation through Pay Pal. You will get 1 extra entry for ANY AMOUNT donated. After that, you will get extra entries for every additional $5 donated. You don't need to tell me how much you donated, just THAT you donated, and I will be able to check on Pay Pal.

***UPDATE*** 6/1

5. I'm adding step # 5, because Cristin has been genrerous to offer $1 to every person who follows her blog. So if you do, you'll get an extra entry into the giveaway!

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You only need to comment once and tell me what you did. :)

This giveaway is open internationally. It will remain open until Midnight on Monday, June 7th. The winner will be announced on Friday, June 11th.

Thank you so much for participating! Come back tomorrow for another giveaway - it's not just for bloggers. :) Then come back to read about my trip to Haiti!

**This giveaway is closed**



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The Help

I just finished reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. It was so good. It made me think, laugh, cry, and think some more. I wanted to share on of my favorite moments from the book.

The first time I was ever called ugly, I was thirteen. It was a rich friend of my brother Carlton's, over to shoot guns in the field.

"Why you crying, girl?" Constantine asked me in the kitchen. I told her what the boy had called me, tears streaming down my face.

"Well, is you?"

I blinked, paused my crying. "Is I what?"

"Now you look a here, Eugenia - Ugly live up on the inside. Ugly be a hurtful, mean person. Is you one a them peoples?"

"I don't know. I don't think so," I sobbed.

Constantine sat down next to me, at the kitchen table. I heard the cracking of her swollen joints. She pressed her thumb hard in the palm of my hand, something we both knew meant Listen. Listen to me.

"Ever morning, until you dead in the ground, you gone have to make this decision." Constantine was so close, I could see the blackness of her gums. "You gone have to ask yourself, Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today?"

The book is amazing. If you haven't read it already, do it. You won't regret it.

P.S. Check out my new sponsor, Lisa Leonard Designs! Lisa creates beautiful, unique handmade jewelery. I've been reading her blog and admiring her jewelery for months, and it turns out we know some people in common! Small world. Come back next week for the chance to win a gift certificate to her lovely store!



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News

Well, ladies and gents (ok, mostly ladies)... it's happening. I'm going to Haiti!! This August I'll going on a week long mission and relief trip to Haiti.

There is a lot of work to be done on my part, mainly fund raising. I'm in the process of navigating my way through the murky waters of social networking as it relates to fund-raising. To be honest, PR has never been my strong suit. But I'm going to work my butt off to raise the funds, because I believe God is calling me to get out there and serve in the trenches. (Different trenches than the ones I've been in the last 6 months.)

So... be on the lookout, because in the near future I'll be hosting my first giveaway(!!) which, if all goes to plan, will be the first of several. I'm hoping the euphoria of cool, free stuff will lead to a general spirit of generosity in the air, and I'll get some donations to the cause. :)

More details soon, but I would love if you would pray for me in my preparation for what is sure to be an amazing trip. And come back soon for the chance to win some loot!

P.S. In other news... I'm going to be a bridesmaid again!! Dress number 6 on the way to 27! :) Congratulations Kimi and Mike!



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Dancing Machine

If you don't know my best friend Arletta, you can read a bit about her here. She moved to New York a few months ago to continue pursuing her dancing career in the big apple. I wanted to share this fun video, even though it's not, according to her, "the most artistic or creative thing I've ever done." It's still super fun. It's very hard to see her, but if you want to try she's the tiny one in the red shirt on the far right in the front row. :) Enjoy!






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A Big Thank You

A huge thank you to Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup Of Coffee! In exchange for purchasing a (very cute) pair of earrings in a giveaway contest she was having for her blog, I got a half hour of free blog consultation from Sarah Mae! She probably didn't know, because I remained cool and calm, but honestly I felt like I was talking to a celebrity. :) She was extremely encouraging, and had loads of helpful suggestions for improving and growing my blog. Go and check out her blog if you haven't already, because it's a lovely place to spend some time, and even before the consultation, I had learned a lot from her, and you can too. So thank you, thank you, thank you Sarah Mae! I so appreciate your time and thoughtful suggestions. I can't wait to meet you at Relevant!

Look forward to some exciting changes to Adventures of a Small Town Girl, coming soon.




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Not a Mother... and Mother's Day

I've been pretty absent from the blogosphere this week. The last couple of weeks have been pretty weird in my life. I had a bit of a health scare, which I was trying to remain calm about but was actually pretty freaked out. The anticlimactic conclusion was that they don't know what's wrong with me, but it's (most likely) nothing serious. In the meantime I got some bloodwork done (which is my least favorite thing on the planet.) And an ultrasound. Yeah, the kind where they put the gel on your belly and look at your insides. Only instead of my uterus, it was my gall bladder. And instead of a baby, there was just some bile. (Sorry to be gross.) I had no idea the affect this process would have on me, but it made me really sad. No baby. No husband. No boyfriend to hold my hand. Thanks for the painful reminder, universe.

So, I'm doing ok now. I'm happy that I'm not dying or anything, which my wild imagination was concerned about. I still have my amazing family and my amazing Jesus. Last week I went to see my friends in SLO and it was an extremely relaxing mini-vacation. And wow, do those girls make me laugh. I'm back to reality now. I'm still thinking about being a foster mama sometime soon, because my life needs to go somewhere. However, it's not likely that I can afford to do that... So if you wanted to pray for me, that would be oh so appreciated. For direction, and guidance, and answers. Thank you friends.

Also, Happy Mother's Day to my sweet Mom who came to my anti-climactic doctor's appointment, "Not because I think there's anything really wrong with you... Just, you know, for support." I didn't really believe her, but it turns out there's nothing really wrong anyway. :) Thanks for the support Mom. I love you.



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Blog Award!

Thanks so much to Melissa (a.k.a. Miel Abeille) at Reminder List for giving me my first blog award! The Prolific Blogger Award is described this way:

A prolific blogger is one who is intellectually productive, keeping up an active blog with enjoyable content. After accepting this award, recipients are asked to pass it forward to seven other deserving blogs.

So, I happily pass the award to...

Linda at Thoughts On These Things

Julie at DUTCHbeingME

Michelle at SomeGirlsWebSite

Alicia at Confessions of a Snowflake

Stacey at 29 Lincoln Avenue

Rachel at A Steady Rain

Kristy at Learning As They Grow

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