My Dad, gone for 4 years

This week marks the 4th anniversary of my dad's death.  It's unreal to believe he's been gone for that long.   It seems like everyone who ever met him had a story about something he did.  When he was in the nursing home he once trapped an aide in the closet.  He caught the car on fire fixing it.  He was the best raffle ticket seller for the fire department because everyone knew if they didn't buy a ticket, Dad would embarass them over the P.A. system at the carnival grounds, so the best thing to do would be to buy a raffle ticket early on to keep him "quiet".  :)  (Of course, if you were buying only one and he thought you could afford more, he'd annouce you were cheap and buying only one!)

He was president of the resident's council at Heartland.  And before he went in the nursing home, he loved to cook for the men's prayer breakfasts at his church.  (I have a feeling that thanks to him, there might have been more breakfast than prayer going on!  I think he went hours before everyone else to start cooking for them!)  :)

Dad was a volunteer fireman for parts of five decades. 

Here are some photos of him:

Dad was about 16 when this photo was taken.

I was about five, and this is when Dad owned the monument business.  This is in front of the shop where he carved tombstones.

Dad showed an early interest in firefighing!  He was barely old enough to walk but was "toddling" about on the firetruck!

Dad always loved Christmas!

Eistein Yawning

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my digital camera.  It was under $100, takes great photos, has a lot of different settings on it, can take video, etc.  It also isn't the battery hog like some digitals I've had in the past are.  The only thing I dislike is the refresh rate.  It is SO slow.  Unfortunately that means I've lost some good photos in the year and a half I've had it.

I love my guinea pigs.  A guinea pig yawn is precious.  But it's also quick.  Usually I can't get a photo of a yawn, including with an old camera.

So, I was thrilled when Einstein happened to yawn just as I snapped this photo.

Goodbye, Charlie

Did you know PetCo does pet adoptions?  I didn't until May 2007 when we went in for some Carefresh and saw a little guy needing adopted.  His name was Charlie, and he stole our hearts.  We walked out with Carefresh, and Charlie.

He was a great pig.  We had three others at the time we got him, and all were older.  He seemed to know that they demanded more attention at the moment but his time was coming, and boy did it.  Near the end he would be out sitting on us well over an hour each evening.  (Some nights it would be more like 2 hours.)

He was always a happy pig, and until the last seven weeks (or is that wheeks) of his life, he was quite healthy.  He lived with three roommates, but needed to be seperated because they were starting not to let him eat as much.  He lived seven weeks by himself, with LOTS of attention from us.  Since he was alone and had been used to living with other pigs, I had to help take up the slack on his socialization. 

Charlie always enjoyed helping when he could with my contests.  He co-starred in a video I made for an eBay contest.  He was in a photo of "How do you tailgate" for a chip company.  He was even in The National Examiner.  That was a funny story.  I spread a Fisher Price Noah's Ark around him and captioned the photo "Charlie enjoys playing Noah's Ark."  When the woman called to tell me it would be printed she asked "Exactly HOW does he play Noah's Ark?"  (Um, okay, he's a guinea pig sitting in the middle of a Noah's Ark set, doesn't that give someone a clue?  LOL!)

I miss that little guy looking for food as I pass by (his last home was right by the kitchen and even if I went to fill up my tea glass, he still hoped for some goodie to be tossed his way.)

He was a good pig and will be missed.

Charlie Dickens

May 2007 - September 2010

My Las Vegas trip

I won a trip to Las Vegas from Home Shopping Network.   When I was in high school, a friend and I used to watch HSN by the hour over the phone.  (Let's just say when I got to Vegas, the HSN reps ate this story up.)  :)

I always wanted to be an actress when I was little.  That is, when I wasn't dreaming of being an English professor.  :)   The weekend in Vegas gave me a taste of television as HSN was taping.  My cousin went with me, and she commented on how peppy I was during the taping.  Even Bill Green, HSN celebrity, commented to me about how I was "perfect" during the taping.  My face hurt after the first session, I'll tell you that!  :)

When we landed in Vegas, I immeditately called my friend Chris.  She lives near Baltimore, which is only about four hours from me, but we've never met.  We've been on a message board together for about 12 years, and it felt like I knew everything about her.  My cousin joked about this, and she asked Chris' husband "Boxers or briefs".  Would you believe I answered correctly!  (When I say I feel like I know everything about them, I meant it!  LOL!)

Chris, Cathy, and I walked around the strip, and I saw a place that served Phillipino food.  I had just been saying on the plane I would love to have some again.  I taught English in China one summer, and often ate Phillipino food but haven't had any since 1998!  So, of course, Cathy and I ate there that evening.  I had pancit, a mano smoothie, and a Diet Coke (and in true Asian style, the lady pointed out to me where the lemon was located for my Diet Coke!  That is a habit I picked up in Asia, and I do enjoy lemon in my colas!)

After that, HSN sponsored a cocktail party, and it was fantastic.  The food was delicious (I wish I had known how much food there was going to be, I would have skipped my pancit!)  It was open bar, and I was able to meet some other winners I had connected with prior to the trip.  We had a fantastic time.  Then one of the ladies, her son, and I went to the casino.  The hotel gave us a $5 voucher to play in the casino, and I came away $58 richer from playing penny slots.

The next day was taping.  The first session was Wolfgang Puck.  Three different dishes that he suppossedly made were brought out, and they were amazing!  Then Joy Mangano and her huggable hangers.  (We all received gift bags which contained 12 huggable hangers, a Serious Skin Care robe, and a sample of Serious Skin Care.) 

Here I am with Wolfgang Puck

In between tapings, I visited the "Be An HSN star" booth to record a spot about how my friend and I used to watch HSN over the phone (hmmm, shouldn't have done that, I would have been interviewed second taping session.  Bill Greene pointed me out prior to taping and said to interview me.  Another HSN star said, "But she's already been in the HSN Star booth, we need to pick someone else."   (When I said HSN reps LOVED my story of watching over the phone in high school, I meant it!)  :)

Before I went in the booth, a professional make up artist did my makeup!

After my makeup was done professionally.

During the second session, there was an hour of Wolfgang Puck (which I enjoyed this hour immensely.  Again, more food, and I must say the man is hillarious!)  Then there was an hour of Serious Skin Care with Jennifer Flavin-Stalone (Sylvester Stalone's wife.)  Finally, Criss Angel did a 30 minute session selling his magic kit.  A friend of mine is a professional magician, so I was very much looking forward to seeing Criss Angel.  However, I was disappointed.  I realize he was doing magic tricks I could have done at eight years old, and it was an informercial, but he didn't engage the audience the way I expected.  I texted my friend right after that session and said that I enjoyed his show more!  :)

By the time that session was over, my friend Chris and my cousin Cathy and I went out for dinner.  Then we walked around the strip, went over to Chris' hotel and hung out for a while, and then Cathy and I headed back to the casino at our hotel.

The next morning, we flew home.  I will say, this was an extremely enjoyable weekend.  I loved the lights, camera, and coming home with more money than I took with me!  :)  Other celebrities I saw but didnt' get my photograph with were Tori Spelling and Susan Lucci.

Some more pictures:

Bill Greene, or as I thought of him "Guy Smiley". :)

M&M world.   Look at all that candy!

After recording my "Be an HSN star" spot.

Basics of Winning Sweepstakes

I think it's no secret I get slightly annoyed when I mention something I've won and I get the comment, "You're so lucky" or "I've never met anyone as lucky as you." The bottom line is I spend a LOT of time entering sweepstakes. Probably as much as a part-time job would take. Would you ever go up to anyone who gets a paycheck from a part time job and say "Wow! You got a paycheck. You are so lucky". Okay, maybe in this economy you would, but I think you can see my point. :)


Sweepstakes is a great hobby because you can spend a little time on it or a lot. And unless you're very lucky, you'll only see a few wins if you spend a little time on it. It's like the old saying "The harder I work, the more successful I am". The more I enter, the more I win.


That said, here's a few basics to get you started:


I highly recommend an e-mail address seperate from your personal one. I can't recommend gmail enough. I'll talk in a few days about blog giveaways, and you need a google ID for many of these, so I would say gmail is the way to go.


The next thing is always be sure and follow the rules. If it says one entry, don't try for multiple entries. There's more sweepstakes out there than any one person could ever enter, so if it's a one entry, just make your entry and move on to the next. Other things to watch for is eligibility. Some might only be open to certain ages, certain states, etc.


Be ethical. Don't enter your dog just because he has a name that sounds like a person. Or if you're in a voting contest, don't devise ways to cheat the system and get more votes than you are allowed per person.


A few things you need:


To do online sweepstakes, you need a computer. I highly recommend the site http://www.online-sweepstakes.com/ because they list so many sweepstakes, (as of tonight there are almost 8,000 different giveaways listed on this site.) I do recommend upgrading to premium if you enjoy it because the most "winnable" sweepstakes are only able to be seen by paying members. I also recommend the program "Roboform" (there's a free version of it that does NOT store passwords). It makes filling forms so much easier. Really a computer, and Online Sweepstakes is all you need to get started to enter online.


To enter snail mail sweepstakes you need a few more things. Envelopes. Stamps. Index cards. 3x5 papers. And I highly recommend a subscription to Sweeping America http://www.sweepingamerica.com/ This is a weekly sweepstakes newsletter and because it's weekly, new sweepstakes can be published very quickly. In the event of daily prizes, this can be the difference between winning and losing! So, I highly recommend it!


From there, it's up to you to decide how much time you want to spend on entering. I won when I'd mail 10 entries a month, but my wins were few and far between and usually very small.


Also, keep in mind, it often takes time to see results from this hobby. The rule of thumb used to be six months, but I think it's probably less than that now if you consider instant wins as well as how many win notices come by e-mail these days. But, if a few months go by and you don't see a win, you can't get discouraged if you actually want to win. You need to be persistant.


Not everyone is cut out for entering sweepstakes hard-core. And that's okay, we all have different personalities. However, there are some sweepstakes that I think are worth it to the person interested in freebies to enter because if there are a huge number of prizes, that increases your chances of winning! So, in the cases of those, I would recommend everyone be persistant in a few sweepstakes with lots of prizes because after all, who doesn't love freebies, and who doesn't love them more when you WIN them?


Finally, if you are a winner, being polite is nice. If you're on a trip win where you interact with sponsors, don't get together with a group who enter regularly and discuss other wins. If you win tickets to a ball game where the sponsors will see you, don't wear a t-shirt advertising a competitor's product. Thank you notes are a nice gesture, even if sent over e-mail.


Sometimes those of us who enter have a bad reputation because sponsors think we just want things free. But we are also people who buy products. I actually switched brands of bread because they have so many giveaways. I figure why not support a company who gives so much stuff away? I've tried new products because of winning. I won some Laughing Cow cheese once, and I'd never had it before. I have some in my fridge right now because I loved it! I can many times tell you who sponsored giveaways. They do it for advertising, and it works!

Media Kit for Books, Bargains, Blessings

Hi!  I'm Jenn.   Thank you for your interest in Books, Bargains, Blessings.  I love to share products with my readers when I believe the product is of value and when it fits within my niche as a lifstyle blogger focusing on frugality and making money online, family (including adoption), and being a faithful believer.

Please contact me for rates, and more information.

Stats:

7208 Twitter Followers

2371 Facebook Friends

2000 Pinterest Followers

1444 Facebook Fans

753 Instagram Followers

67 Klout Score

I just started a newsletter.

When I run a giveaway, I promote it everywhere I can without spamming.  I link up on nearly 100 blog linkies for giveaways, and I post in several Facebook groups that allow such.

Companies I have worked with include: Reed & Barton, Gorton's Fish, Purex,  Catholic Family Gifts, Farm Rich Foods, Waterbrook Press/ Random House, Tyndale Publishing, TinyPrints, My Comfort Cross, Propeller Network,
MyLoveBook, Discovery House Publishers, Campus Book Rentals, and others.

I am part of the U.S. Cellular Better Moment Blogger Brigade.

My $121 Garage Sale Experiment

In November I did a special sign up deal with a new checking account and got a bonus of $121. I haven't spent that $121 and decided I'm going to see what I can buy with that at garage sales. I do sell some stuff on eBay, so hopefully I can make some money and get a bunch of useful stuff in the process. I'll be blogging about my finds, both good and bad.

It's not QUITE garage sale season here yet, so I hit a couple thrifts. Here's what I found ($8 spent):

a shirt I really like
2 local commemorative plates
1 crock (possibly Christmas gift for my aunt)



I figured that was it for the day. Well, I'd seen a wheelchair for $25 at a garage sale. I have been wanting one for mom for a while, but she doesn't like the idea. As it is, she has arthritis in her back and refuses to use a wheelchair because she says it's like giving up. I told her that it would be for occasional use only. Like when we were in Virginia Beach last year and we both wanted to see the National Aviation Museum, but we both missed it because she couldn't walk and I hated to have her sit in the car while I toured it. I told her just for mueums. (Which really is what it would be for at this point.)

Well, a few hours later she said if it was still there when we passed again, I could get it and she'd use it. It was, and as I walked up the porch, I asked the man, "Would you take $20 for the wheelchair?" He jumped up and was more than happy with $20.

He started showing me the features. I thought it was ye ole average wheelchair. The foot rests come off. The sides come off, and to make it easy to get in and out of a car, the wheels even pop off! Wow!

I THOUGHT he said to me it was $240 new. Mom thought he said it was $2400 new. I thought Mom was hearing things. I looked it up online and Mom was closer than I was. This wheelchair sells for. . .



(This isn't the exact wheelchair, but one almost like it I found online.)

And it sells for EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS.

I'm so excited and I hope Mom will use it to do a few things. She rarely does anything now because she has such a difficult time walking and so she just stays home a lot. I hope this encourages her to do a little more! And of course if she doesn't, it's $20 spent.

The man was thrilled we bought it, and even said to Mom, "I'm glad it's going to a good person". (This was at an estate sale for his father. Estate sales are always sad, but the man seemed to really be happy that it will be good for Mom.) :)

So total spent so far this garage sale season: $28.