Sponsor Feature - Brag About It + GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!!!

Winners are:

Comment number 91 & 144

CONGRATULATIONS Jess & Lacee!.  Please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prize of $50.00 gift certificate each to Brag About It :)

16 or so months ago I ordered my very first thing from Etsy.  I hadn't really heard of Etsy before blogging and once I did - I was hooked.  I searched "hand-stamped" and there was 379543278644 shops that came up.  While there are many beautiful shops and many many talented artists out there, one that stood out to me was Melissa at Brag About It.  I loved her designs and thought her products looked high quality and her prices were reasonable.   I had a few questions, so I contacted Melissa and honestly didn't think I would get a reply.  To my surprise, not only did she reply like virtually right away, but she was NICE!.  She was willing to answer any questions I had about her products, and direct me into the right direction to a listing that was perhaps more catered to what design I was looking for.  I was blown away by Melissa right from the very start and not just by her amazing shop, but by her even more amazing personality.  She was a business woman who cared about her customers and in my opinion that's a bit hard to come by.   I realized very quick that even though me and my order was only 1 fraction of her total customers and orders, she really did care about me.  So I placed my order. I got my order in the mail and was blown away again!.  Not only was it what I expected it to be, but it was better!.  So I went ahead and placed 3 more orders for my friends. >>>>>>>Fast-forward 8 months or so.  I've started my own blog and it's going pretty good.  I start thinking about Sponsors and Giveaways.  I contact Melissa asking if she would like to be part of my blog.  Even after my experience with her before and knowing how genuine and nice she is, I thought "She will probably say no because my blog isn't big enough".  Sure enough, I'm blown away again when she comes back with "of course Nicole, how's a $50.00 gift certificate to my shop.  Let me know what you need from me".   THAT my friends is how genuine and nice Melissa is.  She had faith in me.  She is the first one to message me if one of my blog posts is a bit of a downer asking if I am ok.  She is my cheerleader.  She is in my corner.  She is my inspiration that having a successful home business IS possible.   I am so very proud to have Melissa's button on my sidebar as a sponsor.  And without further adieu, I am happy to announce that today Melissa is offering not just 1 but 2 $50.00 gift certificates to her shop!.  That's 2 chances you have at winning something to her gorgeous shop! You can get lovely things like these:  

 All hand-stamped with Love by Melissa of course. Melissa has just introduced the Diamond Collection!.  Take a peek:  

Isn't that gorgeous?! Oh and she makes these super beautiful Christmas ornaments  

I have one my very own Christmas Ornaments

What a beautiful gift that would be to get a personalised Christmas Ornament!

Here's how you can win:

 Mandatory:  * Be a GFC follower of this Blog* Visit Brag About It and comment telling me what you would use your $50.00 gift certificate on* Follow Brag About It on Facebook *Follow Miss Mommy on Facebook
Facebook/Tweet/Blog about this Giveaway Purchase something from Brag About It and receive 5 extra entries!DISCOUNT CODE FOR 25% off is MISSMOMMY25 **Comment for each entry please** GOODLUCK!   

Goat Cheese Salad Recipe

It's officially summer here which means its BBQ and salad season.  There's nothing worse than having the oven on when it's 40 degrees outside!.   Even thought it's been cold the past few days i'm still in salad mode.
I LOVE this Goat Cheese Salad (as I call it), and we have it very often in the summer.
Here's what you need:
Mixed greensGoat CheeseDried CranberriesWalnuts, Pecans OR AlmondsBalsamic Dressing (Paul Newmans)

If you're in a rush (like I usually am), then buy a bag of mixed greens.  Already washed and ready - even better!
Throw in your nuts (whichever you choose), Dried Cranberries, & Goat Cheese

Then splash on your Balsamic dressing, toss and serve next to your fav dish!.  In my case it was my homemade Lasagna :)

Ok, so I haven't mastered the art of making it look pretty on the plate!.  But it tastes good!
I saw this salad the other day on A Turtles Life for Me and it looks delicious too!.  However, I have never seen those dried up onions here in Australia.  
What are some of your favorite Salads?

Tag-Along Thursday Blog Hop

Welcome to Tag-Along Thursday Blog Hop!  The wonderful ladies who host this Hop are: Nicole @ Miss MommyEm @ And Nothing Else MattersKatie @ Punkin Heads and Dooda LoosLena @ Mom 2 Memphis and RubyJen @ My Adventures Through MommyhoodLacee @ Mommas Like MeBeth @ Through The Eyes of the Mrs  What is this "Blog Hop?" Glad you asked!.  It's a super fun way to link up your blog in the section below this post and get more traffic and readers.  It's a fantastic way to meet new readers and new friends.  This hop is up once a month on the first Thursday of each month.   The rules of the hop are: Follow your hosts - by following the hosts it guarantees a follow back from all of us.  Leave us a comment letting us know you are a new follower and reader - we'd LOVE to hear from you and get to know YOU better.   The hosts are the first 7 blogs linked up in capital letters in the linky section.
Please follow a few others in the hop and leave them a comment saying you came from the Tag-Along Thursday Blog Hop :).  You never know what new friends you will come across and meet.   The most important rule - HAVE FUN!!. 
You can grab a button if you wish as well :)



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Don't forget that next week is the Tag-Along Thursday Facebook Hop!

Supporting Handmade - Shop Link up

Can I get an AMEN?!!
Are y'all supporting Hand made this christmas season?
I sure am!.  What a better gift not only for the seller, but to receive a one of a kind handmade item!.  
Here's a list of my fav Handmade Sellers:
Heather from Just Love.ly ThingsHeather sells these gorgeous hair accessories

I have one of my very own

Em at Simply Nothing ElseEm sells these gorgeous ruffle camera straps!

Bonnie from Pink StitchesYou can get these awesome iPad cases and Crayon Rolls (stay tuned for a giveaway coming up here soon {wink})

Melissa at Brag About ItMelissa designs and hand stamps this beautiful jewelery.(BIG Giveaway from Brag About It coming VERY soon)

Summer at Made By Munchies MamaSummer crochets these gorgeous hats for babies - how cute are they?!

And of course - MISS MOMMY SHOP!
You can get pretties like these:

If you have a shop please go ahead and link it up :)

Tuesday Ten - 12 {I am ___ right now}

{I am posting this early so that you can perhaps follow my prompts for my Tuesday Ten and link it up}

Welcome to the 12th week of Tuesday Ten.  

If you're new here - Hi There! :)

Tuesday Ten is a link party about your posts of ten of anything.  It can be ten things you love, ten places you want to go, ten things you want right now, ten people you love etc....ten of anything really.

I love this because it gives me a chance to get to know my readers better and meet other bloggers.  It also allows all of you linker uppers (yes, I just made that up) to see eachothers wonderful blogs and meet new bloggers as well :)

Rules of linking up are:

Please place my button on your page so others can link back and see other posts.  You will find my button to the right of my blog page.  ---------->

Please "like" your favorite Tuesday Ten post by clicking the "like" button underneath the thumbnail.  I will do a small feature on the post that got the most "likes" each Tuesday so be sure to vote for your fav.

Also, please click on others link ups and comment so we can all share some love.  We all love comments don't we??!!

Last week the post that got the most likes was:

Check these ladies out!


This week is going to be a bit different because I am going to see if y'all want to follow along with my prompts and link up.  I got this "I am" idea from Salena at A Little Piece of Me.  You can read her post here.  

If you haven't met or followed Salena - you want to head there right now!.  Trust me when I say that you want Salena in your corner.  She is the biggest cheerleader and such a reliable inspiration to me.  She is what I would call a very dear friend of mine.
Ok - back to Tuesday Ten :)
I am _____ right now:
I am - Tired.  Tired of all the craziness that's called "Life"I wonder - What my girls will be when they grow upI see - The negative in things alot.  I'm working on seeing the positive firstI want - To impact people lives in a positive wayI pretend - That things are ok a lot.  I try not to let on just how homesick I really amI worry - That I am not a good enough mom to my girlsI cry - When I think of my family back home and how much i'm missing out onI hope - my girls grow up and do something they love and find loveI dream - of being 100% happyI feel - Alone.  A lot.
Now let's see whatcha got!!!

Our History {Part 6}

Read Part 1 hereRead Part 2 hereRead Part 3 hereRead Part 4 hereRead Part 5 here

It finally happened.  I was pregnant - when we least expected it to happen.
We spent the next few months soaking in all the family time we could get before Hubs left.

Hubs left in March of 2009 for Australia while I waited for our Permanent Residency Visas to come through.  

Being pregnant caused a bit of a delay and a hiccup as I couldn't full-fill the chest x-ray requirement.  They ended up waiving that until after I delivered.  
For the next 3 months it was decided that Eve and I would move in with my parents while we waited.  
Eve and I settled into life living with my parents easily.  It was familiar to me obviously and Eve has the best relationship with my parents and sisters.

 I soaked in all the time I could with my mom

I took Eve to the Port Dover Beach and enjoyed my last 3 months in Canada.  I didn't know when I'd be back again.  

My Grandma, mom, sisters, Eve and I went on a 2 night little holiday to Great Wolf Lodge.

My belly grew too

I awaited early June when Eve and I would be re-united with Hubs.  This was going to be so good for us - we were going to be financially secure and happier in Australia, right?
Part 7 coming soon