Wordless Wednesday: Gingerbread

Tell Me Tuesday: What kind of shopper are you?

Do you prefer to get your shopping/errands done in the morning, afternoon or evening?

Do you always go to the grocery store on the same day of the week?

Q1: I am a morning shopper all the way. It just seems the cashiers are a little more friendly and the traffic a little smaller (both on the street and in the stores). I love getting all of my errands finished before lunch. And some stores, if I dont make it there before lunch then I wait until the next day because I dont want to fight the crowds (like the grocery store on certain days).

Q2: Yes, I usually try to go on Thursday morning.

Marriage Monday: Attitude

"Most athletes would agree that winning is ninety percent attitude and ten percent hard work. If that is true in the world of sports, it is certainly also true in the world of relationships. What we think largely influences what we do. In turn, our actions greatly influence our emotions. This connection between attitude and actions opens a door of hope for all couples.

The most common mistake couples make is allowing negative emotions to dictate their behavior. By failing to recognize the power of a positive attitude, they fail to achieve their marriage's highest potential.

Circumstances are neutral--or at least they're common. Therefore, it is not what happens to us but how we interpret what happens to us (our attitude) that makes the difference between success and failure."

Gary Chapman

Things to think about (or discuss & comment on!):

Is it easy changing your attitude from negative to positive? (How about a positive to a negative?)

Does hearing this make you want to try harder the next time you feel yourself having a bad attitude?

What are ways you've found that have worked to help change your attitude?

Do you think being around someone with a positive attitude is contagious? (How about a negative one?)

Quotes in this post were found in The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman (Author of The Five Love Languages)

You can find my other Marriage Monday's here.

Christmas Angel Winner

Congrats to

Becky J

for winning the delightful Christmas Angel CD!!

*email me your address and I'll get it mailed off tomorrow!

Giveaway: Christmas Angel

I am so excited to get to share this AMAZING music with you. I've been a fan for a few years now and really think you'll love it too!

Archangel Records presents Christmas Angel

and I have one to GIVEAWAY to a lucky reader!!

Entries:

(Please leave a comment for each entry so I can be sure to enter your name for each item. Thanks!)

+1 Like Archangels Records on Facebook.

+1 Listen to any of their music samples and comment here and tell me which one you listened to.

+1 (daily) Tweet about the giveaway (If you want you can copy/paste this: "I just entered to win Christmas Angel holiday music CD by Archangel Records from @Cranberryfries http://bit.ly/uQgD2c .")

+1 Follow @Cranberryfries on Twitter.

+1 Follow my blog (Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs-both are --> to the right)

Terms & Conditions:

Open to US residents only. Winner will be notified via email within 48 hours of the giveaway. Giveaway will end Saturday, December 10, 2011.

**You can also order your own (or one for a great gift!) from Archangel Records.**

Also if you're going to be in Southern California area check out their concert series! They will be be joined by vocalist Robin Harper and pianist Marvin Goldstein as special guests at their Christmas concerts on December 16th and 17th, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are only $10 each, and will sell out quickly.

Marriage Monday: Chemistry

I was flipping through a handful of my books trying to decide what to share to day and this chapter caught my eye. I think all too often it's easier for a spouse/married couple to say, "I/we fell out of love" when it could be that they decided that working at their marriage was too hard or that 'the butterflies' just weren't there anymore when again, they might have just stopped trying to find those positive, happy feelings. Marriage takes work. And I love the way the first quote starts.

"Chemistry makes everything about the marriage work better. When it's present, people get along better, they work together more effectively, and they resolve conflicts with less pain. They not only want to be around one another, they also want to hold hands, sit together in one slightly oversized chair, hug, one another, and say all kinds of 'sweet nothings' to each other. Indeed, chemistry is fundamental to a great marriage."

"Chemistry between two people is responsive to mental and emotional processes over which we have tremendous control. That's right, you can make chemistry happen. If you don't feel the flutter in your heart for your spouse that you once did, if the magic is gone from your relationship, don't panic. You can change that! I have worked clinically with several couples in an effort to determine whether chemistry can be increased, and the results have been incredibly positive. I honestly believe that chemistry can be re-created."

"Chemistry and the senses are closely linked. Understand this gives us a substantial amount of control in an arena where control is not easy to develop. In addition to the senses, chemistry is enhanced when our needs are met by someone else. It doesn't matter much what the need is that gets satisfied; the crucial thing is that a particular individual helps us get this need met. When this happens, the magic begins."

What are your thoughts?

Information from this post is found in:

Learning to Live With the Love of Your Life...and Loving It! Formerly titled The Triumphant Marriage by Neil Clark Warren, Ph.D.

You can find my other Marriage Monday's here.

Marriage Monday: A Free Session

The Healing Group is offering FREE counseling for one day only (in exchange for one item of women's winter clothing to be donated to the shelter).

Read more about the details here: The Healing Group blog or check them out on Facebook.

The FREE sessions are available on Nov 17, 2011 and I just checked and they still have a few slots available so dont wait, call in now!

30 Before 30 Bucket List (More than half way there...)

When I saw there killer prize offer over at Todays Mama I figured it'd be a good time to recap and check in on my goals.

I'm a little over 1/2 way through my 29th year on this planet and that means my 30 before 30 bucket list is on the downhill slide. Apparently I really need to kick it into gear.

1. Travel
2. Take a girls trip.
3. Take a cooking class.

trying to find one that fits my style
4. Finish writing my novel (I won NaNoWriMo last year but didnt finish the story).

currently in the process!
5. Sew 3 projects.

haven't even started. yikes
6. Pay off auto loan.

One more month!
7. Update family blog. (new posts at least twice a month & catch up from last Nov!)

oh boy, again haven't started, better kick it up

8. Video tape the family/kids more often. (My goal is at least 2 a month.)

maybe I should tell my husband and kids this one so they can all remind me.
9. Compile family videos into dvd home movie (at least one per kid for now).

big Nov/Dec project
10. Learn how to play the guitar that I've owned for three years now.

Got some info, now just need to sit and do it. Several times.
11. Read at least 30 books.
12. Write a letter every month to someone whom I admire.

I'm still going to count this if I do at least 12 before April. I've been bad
13. Make a quilt.

gathering info. I WILL have to recruit help on this one.
14. Redecorate Master Bedroom

I was hoping we'd be in a new place so this would be more probable. Not looking like it so this will be an after Christmas project.
15. Write in my journal (at least twice a month).
16. Read a Jane Austen novel.

Hoping to do in Dec after nanowrimo.
17. Begin learning Spanish.

Got the tools now need to do it. Hubby and kids want to do it too!
18. Travel somewhere in Utah I’ve never been to before. (Hopefully Zions, Lake Powell, Bear Lake)
19. Make and complete two months of exercise regime.
20. Plan and implement fun summer activities for the kids/family.
21. Get an updated family photo taken.
22. Organize (& dejunk) two rooms in my house. (Or 1 room and my master closet.)

I totally did this once but it's now been sixth months and I want to do it AGAIN so I'm not crossing it off just yet. :)
23. Plan a fun friend bbq party.
24. Practice my ASL skills with my children.

A little. Again I'd like to do more so I'm not crossing it off just yet.
25. Plan a fun trip for our 10 year wedding anniversary in January.

Ideas are in the works. Nothing booked yet.
26. Try at least 12 new recipes (attempt at least 1 new recipe a month).

More than halfway there! Found some good ones, others not good at all and a few others I need to tweek and try again.
27. Hand write a heartfelt thank you note once a month.

I've been doing this one.
28. Update the family's 72 hour kits & practice again emergency plans.

Maybe I'll plan to do this in February.
29. Print some of my photography and hang them in the house.

Waiting to get my photoshop fixed so I can enhance the photos I want to use. Hoping to have this done before Christmas as a present to myself :)
30. Celebrate turning 30 in style!

Probably gonna need some help on this one too.

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.

Everneath Book Trailer

Get ready. Get excited. It's almost here!

Marriage Monday: Remember & Be Strengthened

Remember the positive things in your marital history. Talk about them with your spouse. Remember celebrations (your wedding, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays), vacations, activities, everyday actions in your home where you felt loved, cared for, thought about. Draw strength from these times.

You can find my other Marriage Monday's here.


A shout out to my husband who proposed to me 10 years ago on Halloween night. Here's a picture of us after I said yes. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Pixar Sneak Peak

(This picture was taken in Emeryville California at Pixar Studios in September 2011.)

Micro Scribbles: Affordable Custom Designs

Check out Micro Scribbles for affordable custom designs.

You can see the examples of a woman, bat and reindeer at the different price levels and decide if your image would work into one of those categories. If you're looking for something more, that can be arranged too!

Click around the site and see how the quality, detail and color of each design changes with the amount you’re willing to spend.

Ideas for your micro scribbles needs: :)

• birthday card
• an image for blog post
• spice up your webpage
• an avatar (twitter, blogging, pinterest, any social media site really)
• coloring page
• school project
• newsletter
• iron-on (you know you want to stand out with your one-of-a-kind shirts!)
• stand out advertisement for your yard sale or bake sale
• scrap booking embellishment
• tattoo

You can check out tarl's scribbles for your illustration, animation, graphic design or general art needs.

*Different pricing available for businesses and branding.

Marriage Monday: Hand in Hand Combat

Not your ordinary hand to hand combat

.

Consider holding hands with your spouse when you have a tough decision, disagreement or important matter to discuss. The physical closeness may help you remember to be calm in your approach and understanding in your listening.

There may even be other side effects like keeping your voice at a moderate level, looking each other in the eye, giving each other your complete attention, etc. Can you think of others?

You can find my other Marriage Monday's here.

Marriage Monday: Habits to Cut and Habits to Nourish

I'm so glad to be back on track. It's been busy around these parts and I've thought often about you sweet folks who always were so nice to check in on my Marriage Mondays. Here's a quick one for you all to get us going again.


Cut out these seven bad habits and be sure to nourish these seven caring habits.

Deadly Habits:

1. criticizing
2. blaming
3. complaining
4. nagging
5. threatening
6. punishing
7. bribing

Caring Habits:

1. supporting
2. encouraging
3. listening
4. accepting
5. trusting
6. respecting
7. negotiating your differences

What are your thoughts?

Would you consider writing one or both lists to use as a visual reminder to cut out/encourage these behaviors in your relationships?

Information from this post was found in

Eight Lessons for a Happier Marriage

by William Glasser , Carleen Glasser

You can find my other Marriage Monday's here.

Introducing: Twilight Cliffs Notes (Animation)

Several years ago my husband thought he'd draw a little diddie in his free time. It ended up being a little bit bigger of a project then he intended but personally I think the finished project is pretty darn fun. So if you're interested in seeing a little movie go check out his Twilight Cliff Notes.

(Click title below)

TWILIGHT CLIFF NOTES

(or click this)

https://picasaweb.google.com/104483702904295291576/TarlSScribbles#5624796715751960658

Four by Eight

Eight Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Date night with my husband

2. 10 year anniversary (and planning it)

3. Halloween!!

4. Finishing my current read (Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins)

5. The weekend (any in general)

6. Bedtime. Haha.

7. My new church calling! (Primary Secretary)

8. New clothes.

Eight Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Did my run in the rain.

2. Created and wrote a newsletter. From scratch.

3. Killed a spider. You're welcome honey.

4. Read a book.

5. Cleaned and organized my sons room and half of my room.

6. Helped kids with homework. I like it.

7. Took my girls to Hip Hop. (Love that class.)

8. Watched 30 Rock. Hilarious.

Eight Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Sew fabulous things

2. Travel around the United States

3. Write a book

4. Make everyone around me happy

5. Eat vegetables without gagging. :)

6. Have a girls lunch every week

7. Decorate a house of my own

8. Read faster

Eight Websites I Visit Often:

1. Pinterest

2. Goodreads

3. Facebook

4. Google (g+, calendar, docs, etc)

5. City Library page

6. bank

7. mapmyrun

8. Pandora

Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

Dancing Birthday

So this was from a little while ago but I still wanted to share. My daughter wanted to have a dance party for her eighth birthday. My husband was super helpful too and compiled a cd for us with a bunch of really fun upbeat (and kid appropriate) songs. We had to have some great music for our dance party!

She picked out the colors all by herself. Then I had a ball coming up with things to decorate with. We had red vines, cinnamon bears and sweedish fish to snack on while we danced our hearts out. I also had red musical notes and black footprints decorating the walls.


We came up with a lot of fun games with such a broad theme. A few:

• The kids had to do relay races like carry a cinnamon bear on a spoon from one side of the yard to the other BUT they had to do a whatever dance move the person shouted out and they had to be the quickest.
• I lined them all up in two rows and had them do over their shoulder and through their legs with a balloon. When it got to the end of the line the last person had to dance to the front of the line. The first team to have everyone dance was the winner. We actually did a few variations of this because the kids were having fun like, switching kids on teams, having to spin the balloon around their middles, etc.
• We had an entire living room packed full of red and black balloons. I filled up about 10 other colors of balloons and then made a chart that corresponded. For example blue=do the twist, yellow=sprinkler dance, green=disco. I played music and when I stopped it the kids all had to grab a colored (non red/black) balloon and do that move.
• Inside each of the (non red/black) balloons I had a small paper. On it was written an instruction. After we played the above game everyone chose a balloon and we went outside. The kids had to try to keep their balloon unpopped the longest. When theirs did pop they had to read the paper and do what it said. Ex: 'Do 4 cartwheels and say Happy Birthday each time.' or 'run touch the fence then find the birthday girl and say 'Dance baby dance!'

I usually always try to make Tarl draw something for the kids birthdays'. :) Usually we do pin the __ on the __ but this year he drew her a great personalized poster. (After the party we hung it up in her room and she loves it!) The morning of her actual birthday this was on the front door. I'd also made about two dozen signs (all having to do with the number 8) that we hung up all over the house for this milestone birthday.






I looked for a long time, trying to decide what exactly to put on the cake. I decorated the house in musical notes and dancing feet so I figured the cake would look good with disco dancers. I realized after the fact I should have outlined them but I was too tired so I just let it be. I think it still turned out ok though.

Michael Vey WINNER

WINNER

of Michael Vey

The Prisoner of Cell 25

by Richard Paul Evans

Comment #2

Jacob!

Congratulations!

Hey Jacob, send me an email or comment on this post so I can get in touch with you about redeeming your prize!

Wordless Wednesday: Mountain Fishing Kids

(This picture was taken by me at Silver Lake in Brighton in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah in July, 2011.)

SHARK WEEK!

Anyone else excited for shark week? It's almost as exciting as Christmas around here!

I need to get me one of these hats!

Michael Vey ARC Giveaway!

My computer is working now!! (It still needs a new RAM but at least it's functioning now so I can get back to business.)

In celebration of this glorious occasion I thought it'd be fun to give away an ARC.

Michael Vey The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

From Goodreads:

My name is Michael Vey, and the story I’m about to tell you is strange. Very strange. It’s my story.
To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen-year-old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. But Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Electric powers.

Michael thinks he's unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor also has special powers. With the help of Michael’s friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up this way, but their investigation brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric children – and through them the world. Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers, and friends if he’s to survive.

To Enter: Leave a comment

For extra entries:

(please comment for each additional entry)

+1 Tweet about the contest (up to once per day, you can copy/paste this if you'd like:

"I want to WIN an ARC of Michael Vey from @Cranberryfries http://bit.ly/rh7fPc" )

+1 Share it online (facebook, blog, email, etc)

+1 Follow my blog (or twitter, or facebook)

+1 For a creative reason of your choosing :)

Contest will close August 3rd, 2011.

Heist Society Winner

Sorry for the super long lag of announcing the contest winner folks. My computer is broken so I've been trying to get a hold of one I could use. Without further waiting

The winner is

ANNA (Peachandblue)

Congrats!

I'll email you to get your address so be on the lookout!

Everneath ARC Winner

Before I start I just wanted to make sure you all knew about the new Everneath facebook page. Go check it out so you can see sneak peaks of the book every Tuesday and Thursday!

On to the winners!

Thanks so much for everyone who entered to win the ARC of Everneath by Brodi Ashton. Windy and I gathered all your tweets and comments and avatar picture changes and the whole nine yards and used random.org to help us pick a winner. So without further ado here's what you really want to know.

The winner of the EVERNEATH ARC is....

LESLI LYTLE!

Windy and I also put together a fun little box of goodies of Everneath awesomeness for a runner up. And the winner of that is....

Alicia Gregorie

We will be in touch with the winners.
A huge thank you to Brodi for giving up one of her ARC's for this contest.

Pinterest: Pretty Pretty Pictures

I had a friend on facebook ask what all the new fun toys were so I thought I'd do a little blog post about them. Today's installment will be Pinterest. (Look for Rockmelt and Google + coming later.)

Basically it's a beautiful collection of things you like. The pictures link back to webpages so it's like favoriting things or adding quicklinks or bookmarks only the layout is pretty instead of like on your toolbar.

Here's a little what's what.

Click on the images to make them bigger (in case you can't see the small print).

+ Create boards to reflect your own personal style, interest, and activities.
+ Just like so many other pages, you can follow your friends (you can even pick and choose what boards you follow so if you dont care about a specific board you dont have to follow it, or have it show up in your stream.)
+You can set it up to email you when people add you or repin your things. If you turn off that feature you still have a stream you can see if you're interested.

+

+re-pinning is super easy. You can go to your friends pages and repin straight from the picture by just hovering over the picture and finding the option pop up. Or you can repin it straight from your main stream page.

+you can see what your friends have said about their pins and also go straight to the webpage where they pinned it from (if you need to go back to get details or more information).

Do you Pinterest?

What things do you like or not like about it?

Let me know if you want an invite!

Fireworks & Everneath ARC

What's your favorite firework? My favorite is for sure the parachutes. My sisters and I used to have a blast with these in highschool and we'd buy boxes and boxes and just try to out catch the other. Now that we have kids, well the tradition is still alive and kicking. We started off our weekend celebrations with a trip to the pool Friday morning and a family BBQ Friday night for some 'daytime' fireworks. My sister brought FOUR boxes of parachutes and we had several smoke bombs (the kids enjoy running around with those suckers). All in all a wonderful start to our weekend of parties!


Last night was supposed to be the end of the #everneathARC contest, BUT due to popular demand, the continued influx of entries, Windy and I decided to EXTEND the contest another few days! So NOW you have until Tuesday, July 5 at 5pm Mountain time to get your Tweet on! Go check out the deets HERE or HERE! And remember, if you don't win the #everneathARC, you could still get lucky and win yourself a whole load of EVERNEATHy goodies! GOOD LUCK! ( And big ol' fat thanks to Brodi for being such an awesome author support of the contest!)

Glow Stick Camping

A few weeks ago we took the kids camping and I thought it'd be fun to take a few glowsticks for each kid (since they didnt each have their own flashlight). They had a blast putting on skits for us and having dance parties. Here's their police officer skit.

Uncommon Criminals Signing (Heist Society Giveaway)

I think we're a little spoiled here were I am as we have an INCREDIBLE library with the ability to host huge/awesome events. This latest one was no exception. They brought in the fabulous Ally Carter author of the Gallagher Girls series (which I am on a waiting list for the first one at the library) and Heist Society (so fun!) and her most recent Uncommon Criminals (sequel to Heist Society).

Me & Jenni waiting in line to get in. Like I said the library is able to host a huge group, I think last I heard it was Ally's largest group at over 200+ people.

I love booky people! Friend, Me, Rachel, CA, Tawnya

Jenni (Jenni Elyse), Emily (Emily's Reading Room)

Ally's motto is to just leave out the boring stuff so she stood up to speak to us and just jumped right in with Q&A. It was SO fun to still get to hear all her stories and get almost an entire hour of fans questions.

Seriously she's adorable! Cute dress, cute accent, she just seems like we could be friends and go out to lunch. (I wish! Haha.)

A few videos for you to enjoy:

Ally tells us how she decided on Hale's name on her last visit to Utah.

(Sorry the end of the video is shaky, I was laughing and gasping, haha.)

Ally Carter on how she manages her time so she can write.

GIVEAWAY:

Enter to win a SIGNED copy of Ally Carter's Heist Society.

FYI I'll use random.org to pick a winner so please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Mandatory Entry:

Comment w/ your email address so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries (pick any or all):

+1 retweet this "I want to win a copy of @OfficiallyAlly Heist Society from @Cranberryfries http://bit.ly/msHbNH"

+1 friend me on Goodreads

+1 follow me on twitter @Cranberryfries

+1 follow @OfficiallyAlly on twitter

+1 follow my blog

+ 1 friend me on facebook Debbie Cranberryfries

+2 share this contest on facebook (include link)

+2 share this contest on your blog (include link)

Other info:

Open to US residents only.

Contest will end July 9th.

FYI Two other contests!!!

**You can also enter to win Ally's latest book Uncommon Criminals over on my friend Jenni's blog by July 9th.

**Enter to win an ARC of EVERNEATH from Brodi Ashton (ends June 30th).

Photography Winner

The winner of the Black Iris Photography shoot is.....

Megan B!

Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for entering. And huge thank you to Black Iris Photography for the great photo shoot and prize package!

Pinterest. Almost like a game.

Man that pinterest stuff is fun!

Do you pinterest? Come find me!

Author Interview with BRODI ASHTON (ARC giveaway!!!)

A couple of weeks ago Harper Collins (Balzer Bray) contacted me (squee!!) and offfered me an interview with the hilarious Brodi Ashton, author of the upcoming Everneath (released Jan 2012). Of course I did a little happy dance and promptly wrote the nice gentleman, Michael, and told him I'd be thrilled and honored. So dear friends you're in for a treat!

ABOUT EVERNEATH:
EVERNEATH is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: a 17-year-old who's been banished to the underworld escapes to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in the real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever.

Add this one to your Goodreads | Shelfari

Preorder it now Amazon

ABOUT BRODI:
Lives in Utah with her husband and two young boys, who still have no idea why she's at the computer all the time.

She received a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

She blogs several times a week and always manages to make me laugh out loud. I have often been heard referring to her blog as my morning comic strip.

Q&A

-What was your favorite part about the journey of writing Everneath?

I loved exploring a different voice in the narrator Nikki. If you read my blog, you know I don't take things very seriously and I like to laugh, usually at myself. But Nikki's story would not have been well-served by that voice. I had to stretch myself as a writer. I couldn't think, "What would I do in this situation?" I had to put myself in Nikki's shoes. It made her come alive for me.

-Is there a particular scene that you loved writing or just gave you that feeling like, 'yes, this is why I love writing!'? Can you reference it enough without spoiling it so that we can know when we read it later?

Yes, I can reference my favorite scene! It was the first scene I wrote, in Chapter 1, where a girl returns to school after she's been in this horrible place. The rumor mill is going full swing, but she still chooses to go back to her school, and face the people she left behind. The tension in that scene was what drew me to the story, and despite several rounds of revisions, very little has changed in that scene.

-What's been one or two fun things you've gotten to do since/because of signing on with a publisher?

I got to go to New York and have lunch with my agent and editor! The whole time, I nodded and pretended I was listening to the conversation, but really I was thinking, I'm having lunch with my agent and my editor. This is the life.

Okay, I may have said it out loud a few times too. I was all, "This is my agent. And my editor." and the waiter was all, "Umm... I asked what you wanted to drink."

-What was your favorite book you read in the last year?

Oh man, that's a tough one. How about WHERE SHE WENT, DIVERGENT, BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE... to name a few.

-You've got a pretty hilarious sense of humor. Have you always been funny? or To what do you credit it? (it's just how you grew up? your family? your friends? you found it during college)?

It was these strange "magic beans" I bought from a door to door salesman in 1997.
Okay, that's not very funny. People are going to read this, and be all, "Seriously? That's not funny. Say something funny, harpy! Make me laugh!"

-What would be better, eating lunch with Rafa or hitting the NYT bestsellers list? :)

Eating lunch with Rafa! And then getting a text that I hit the NYT list. Just kidding. I really can't think about stuff like that. It would make me crazy. So, definitely, lunch with Rafa. And perhaps some afternoon delight. Just kidding, Sam. I love you.

Thanks for the chat Brodi! I'm looking forward to this winter when I can get my hands on a copy of EVERNEATH!

EVERNEATH ARC GIVEAWAY!

Brodi has kindly offered up one of her coveted ARC's for Windy and I to giveaway so pay attention to the rules folks so you can make sure to enter.

Here's what to do in a nutshell:

**Get the part 1 tweet from me (below) and part 2 from windy and tweet it. Everything else is just extra pudding. :)

Mandatory entry:

Have a Twitter account? Good. No? Better get one, or else you're gonna miss a chance to win your very own Brodi Ashton-signed ARC of EVERNEATH! Here's all you've gotta do:

Take the first half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from below:

Part 1: "I can't wait to read @BrodiAshton's EVERNEATH in January, but"

Go get the second half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from Windy's blog.

Go ahead, I'll wait for you to collect both pieces.

Back? OK. Now, put them together and go TWEET IT!!

Easy-peasy right? Of course it is!

Extra entries:
Now, if you want some extra chances to win ... there's a few things you can do, and NO, you do NOT have to keep track of your points or come back to us with an email or anything like that. If you just do any of the following things, we'll take care of all that hard math, counting and adding and stuff for you!

+1 following either of our blogs (+2 if you follow both) - new and old followers, same number of points.
+1 commenting on either of our #everneathARC blog posts (+2 if you comment on both)
and the big one ...
once the cover is revealed and available on the PageTurners blog you can get
+5 for changing your Twitter avatar over to the EVERNEATH cover and leaving it up for the next week! (we'll be spot checking - no work necessary from you other than the switch over)

And don't think the ARC is all we've got up for grabs! If that's not enough for you, there's an awesome second prize as well containing oodles of EVERNEATH-y goodies! You won't be disappointed!

This contest is open to all US residents only (sorry international friends) through Thursday, June 30 and we'll be announcing the winners on our blogs Friday, July 1.


*For more EXCLUSIVE! (part 2) Q&A with Brodi check out Windy's blog.

*For the official cover launch stop by Page Turners blog (It's soooo pretty)!

Black Iris Photography: Photoshoot Giveaway

You could win this FANTASTIC photo package:

• FREE 1 hr photo session (includes any type they offer: engagements, bridal, boudoir, maternity, newborn, family, missionary, senior)
• CD of the images
• Full copyright

Black Iris Photography is kindly willing to travel between Brigham City and Provo.

Find them:

Blog: Black Iris Photo | Facebook Fan Page: Black Iris Photography

HOW TO ENTER:

(I will use random.org to pick a winner so it's in your best interest to leave a separate comment for each entry.)

Mandatory Entry:

Like Black Iris Photography and then come back and tell me you did.

Additional Entries:

+1 (one daily possible entry) comment on any post on the Black Iris Photo blog.

+1 (one daily possible entry) tweet this: "I want to win a free photo session with Black Iris Photography on @cranberryfries blog http://bit.ly/j8EvDX "

+2 entry: Notify your friends on facebook by posting a new status update with a link to Black Iris fb page.

+2 entries: Email at least 2 friends about this contest

+2 mention this contest on a current blog post

Contest ends June 25, 2011.

**If you would like a photo session and you don't win, anyone who entered can get 40% off ANY portrait session! Just mention Cranberryfries blog sent you! Wow thanks Black Iris Photo!

Special thanks to my friend Jenni who introduced me to Carlee and Eric!