Update! I won the essay contest!

I mentioned that I entered a contest for a "Mothering Moments" essay on 5 Minutes for Mom. They announced the winners today: here. They picked 10 winners. Mine was the first on the list: "Motherhood is when your child’s birth mother recognizes your authority over your child."

When I *knew* I was mom...

After years of infertility, I didn't feel like a Mom as soon as I brought my son home from the hospital. Unlike most moms who have 9 months to prepare, we had two days. Literally, 48 hours. From the time we first heard about a newborn baby boy, until we took custody of him--was exactly 48 hours. On the way home, we kept expecting to see police lights behind us telling us there was a mistake--this baby was not our son. Over the next few weeks we bonded with him and our love for him grew more every day. But the feelings that we were just long term babysitters---and that the dream would soon end. One day, when Chewie was about 2 or 3 months old, we were visiting his birth mom, Helen. Helen was playing with Chewie on the floor. A friend came over to meet him. After a few minutes of playing, Helen asked, "Are we allowed to take him outside?" At that moment, I knew--beyond a shadow of a doubt---that I was him mom, and he was my son. Forever. It was 9 or 10 months later before the judge made it official. But I never questioned my role again.

5 Minutes for Mom challenged bloggers to share a motherhood memory. They are also giving away a bunch of prizes.

Trip Part 4: Food and Fitness

The next in my series of posts about my trip to California.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I have been working hard to lose weight. My first mini goal was be under 250 (from 267) before I went to California. I made it (and then some). My last weigh in before I left was 246.4. (Which also put me at 20 pounds lost!) I did not walk or do weight training the week of the trip---or while I was gone.

I decided before I left that, while I was not going to overboard, I was not going to be particular about my eating. I would make heathy choices when possible, but I wouldn't stress about it.

On Friday, while hubby and I were in Albuquerque, we had Chinese food at PF Changs. I'm sure the crab wontons weren't the healthiest choice, but we did have brown rice instead of white rice. :) Laster we visited a casino. They had a self-service (FREE!) soda fountain. I got a very small (12 ounce, maybe?) glass of Pepsi. I had about 5 or 6 small sips. I couldn't finish it.

On Friday morning, our "continental breakfast" was Dunkin Donuts. I picked one and ate about half. When I got off the airplane, Cinnabon was calling my name at the terminal. I shared a 6 pack of minibons with my sister. (We did drink low fat milk with them!) At lunch, I had a few drinks of my niece's Pepsi, but I drank water all day. At the BBQ, I avoided all of the soda and beer. I snacked on fruit and nuts all day.

My biggest splurge was dinner on Saturday night. I had two Strawberry margaritas and a slice of birthday cake. I didn't eat much of my dinner. (I usually eat at least 2, if not 4 tortillas with my fajitas. I didn't even finish one. And I left most of the meat.)

My first weigh in at home was 247. I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any. Sounds like a success to me!

The Bloggy Carnival is over and....

Using my own random number generator (aka, "Honey...pick a number between 1 and 70) I have winner! {drum roll please.....]

World's Greatest Mommy (sorry I can't find a first name). I've sent an e-mail and will get that out to her.

Thanks for stopping by! Please come back and see me.

I won a couple of things myself! :) From Michelle at Big Blueberry Eyes I won some wedding scrapbook supplies. From Cayce at An Uncluttered Life I won a copy of The Bathtub is Overflowing but I feel drained by Lysa TerKeurst.. From Denise at You Never Let Go I won a box of customizable fruit snacks. I will get to customize a box of fruit rollups, and they will send them to my house! (How cool is that?!?) From Valerie at Cats and Coupons, I won a coupon for a free pack of kids Yoplait.

Updated: I got two more winning e-mails!
From Amy at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31. I won an autographed copy of Joyce Meyer's The Secret of True Happiness. From Angela at Life with One Busy Boy, I won 2 books: Simple Abundance & Something More both by Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Updated again: 2 more wins!
From Karen at Thrifty Moms I won a Cooking Light Complete Cookbook. And from Lisa at The Laundry Tree, I won a sample of SoapNuts.

Trip Part 3: Flying Feelings

As I mentioned in my last post, this was only my second flight. I loved it. As I was flying to California and looking out my window I had a thought. How could anybody fly 35,000 feet above the earth and not believe in a Creator or "intelligent design"? The landscapes and clouds are just beautiful. Of course, some of what I enjoyed was manmade. The patchwork quilts created by roads and farm lands are absolutely beautiful. I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at God's creation from an airplane window. I think I took about 200 pictures on each trip.

33Miles sings a song called, "There is a God".


There’s a beauty to the dawn, a rhythm to the rain
A silence in the soul that I just can’t explain
There’s a breath of life I breathe, a beating in my heart
A magnificence, a scary sense of what lies past the stars
Beyond what we can see behind the mystery
I know that it could only be

(Chorus)
There is a God; this is the proof
That all around the evidence is speaking the truth
From the center of my soul to the edge of the universe
Creation is crying out believe it or not
There is a God

Trip Part 2: Flight plan

My trip to California was only my second time to fly. (The first time was last May.) I loved flying! This time, I flew on ExpressJet and had a great trip. The flight was about 2 hours. They served a meal (bagels in the morning flight; sandwiches on the evening flight.) Each seat was equipped with Free XM Radio.

They fly out of quite a few cities:
Albuquerque, NM; Austin, TX; Bakersfield, CA; Boise, ID; Colorado Springs, CO; El Paso, TX; Fresno, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO; Long Beach, CA; Monterey, CA; New Orleans, LA; Oklahoma City, OK; Omaha, NE; Ontario, CA; Reno-Tahoe, NV; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; Spokane, WA; Tucson, AZ; Tulsa, OK

They have no middle seats. The left aisle has 1 seat. The right aisle has two seats. So there are no "sandwich" seats. I was on the left side, so I had both a window and an aisle seat. The planes are small jets (about 50 passengers?).

Here is the plane I flew on leaving Sacramento:

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

A few months ago, I had so much fun visiting blogs in the Bloggy Carnival, that I decided to join up this time. I scoured my house to find a prize worthy of this carnival. I decided on a box of "stuff". :) How is that for original? The box will be an assortment of full size cosmetics (at least 3 products) and at least a dozen sample products. I'll dig deep and pull out some fun stuff. The cosmetics will have a retail value of about $15. I'll add something for every 25 comments I receive on this thread.

Here is what's in the box so far:
* Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hard as Wraps Polish
* Jane Colorless Translucent Face Powder
* Jane Sheer Protection Formula (SPF 15)
* Various samples

The rules:
Please post a comment below. Bonus points if you post something relevant to my blog. (i.e. something that sounds like you read at least one of my posts!)

Sorry, only US addresses. (I am on a budget!) If you win, please be patient. I work full time and I have 3 very busy children. It might take some time, but I'll try to make it worth the wait.

I mentioned the Revolution Money Exchange on a previous post. I did some research to find out more about it. I found this site to be very helpful. Information

Want free money?

I just heard about a new service (similar to Paypal) called Revolution Money Exchange. When you sign up, you get $25 deposited in your account. (Mine was there immediately!) If you follow my link and sign up, not only will you get $25, but I'll get $10.