Do you know Someone?

a Blog that I follow and a facebook friend is doing an amazing thing this holiday season. Read about it here: http://elisemarieliptackphotography.blogspot.com/

Elise is going to bless someone this year- someone who really deserves and needs a reminder of their family and be reminded of the JOY. Someone who has struggled- someone who might be forgotten... Do you know someone?

Please go visit Elise's blog and read about how to enter someone who really will be blessed!!

Happy Holidays

HP TouchSmart Giveaway over at MckMama

http://mckgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/12/hp-touchsmart-giveaway.html

From MckMama's site - here is how to enter over on her site:

One of you is going to be able to win your very own HP TouchSmart 600!!!!!!

Yuppers, BlogHer and HP have teamed up to allow MckMama to give one away to one of you!!!! click here to read the other reviewers.

You have five chances to win!

For more information, see the official site here.

And here is how it goes, if you'd like to try to win your very own, brand spanking new HP TouchSmart.

1. You may leave a comment on this post to get one entry.

2. You can Tweet or Facebook about this contest, linking to my blog, and then leave another comment here saying "I Tweeted!" or "I Facebooked!" for a second entry, leaving the link to the Tweet or Facebook update.

3. You'll get a third entry if you blog about this contest, link to my blog, and leave yet another comment saying "I blogged about it," leaving the blog link.

This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older. The contest runs from today, December 9, 2009 until Christmas Eve. Winners will be announced then after having been selected via random draw and will notified by e-mail. Once I announce the winner, you will have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.Please see the official rules here: Official rules

The Language of Love & Respect Book Review

This book is a retitled paperback release of Cracking the Communication Code.

Dr. Eggerichs explains that men speak the language of respect, and women speak the language of love. He also presents an easy to use approach for how husbands and wives can learn to speak each other's languages. He talks about the three cycles of marriage: The Energizing Cycle, The Crazy Cycle and The Rewarded Cycle, and gives strategies to prevent getting stuck in "The Crazy Cycle." It can be quite repetitive, but the lessons inside are invaluable to a strong marriage.

"The Language of Love and Respect" is a very good book. Dr. Eggerichs is easy to read and the applications he suggests seem realistic, and his writing style is peppered with wit and relevant anecdotes. The book is written like a good reference manual, where someone could pick it up, select a principle to briefly read, and understand it in a few short paragraphs because following each of the typical introductory paragraphs, Dr. Eggerichs includes several stories to further explain the presented concepts to his readers.

Eggerichs also explains the chairs/couple concept to explain this difference and what males and females must do in order to communicate with each other better. These concepts, as well as the TUFTS concept are presented in a clear, understandable way that makes them easy to internalize and use in real life.
I recommend the book but just take your time and try not to go through it quickly.

A Different Christmas Poem

Someone forwarded this email to me and I just had to share.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then thesure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble,

I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts…

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light

Then he sighed and he said, "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice.

I'm here every night."It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.”

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

“I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,

Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,

To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN30th Naval Construction RegimentOIC, Logistics Cell OneAl Taqqadum, Iraq

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m Thankful for You
Thanksgiving is the appointed timefor focusing on the good in our lives.In each of our days,we can find small blessings,but too often we overlook them,choosing instead to spend our timepaying attention to problems.We give our energyto those who cause us troubleinstead of those who bring peace.Starting now,let’s be on the lookoutfor the bits of pleasure in each hour,and appreciate the people whobring love and light to everyonewho is blessed to know them.You are one of those people.On Thanksgiving,I’m thankful for you.Happy Thanksgiving!
By Joanna Fuchs

Nicholas Landon Jewelry giveaway

Visit http://nicholaslandonjewelry.blogspot.com/ to enter

we are giving away ONE of our nautical code necklaces to celebrate our new store!
here's how to enter,
1-first entry, leave a comment of a neat way that you celebrate the Thanksgiving season or share a sweet blessing that you have received.

2-second entry, blog about the thanks-give-away…

3-third entry, follow as a treasure...

...thanks-give-away will end at midnight on November 25th...and is open to the world!
...everyone has a place that they treasure in their heart…perhaps the location of a wedding, a proposal, favorite vacation, birth of a child or homeland…now you can wear that treasured place close to your heart in nautical code…so it can remain as special and unique as you remember it…

Book Review- The Noticer

I just finished reading a fantastic book I want to recommend to all of you. Its called The Noticer, by Andy Andrews. Andrews does a fantastic job of interspersing real life advice through this story of an older gentleman named Jones...not Mr. Jones, just Jones. Jones makes his way through Orange Beach, Alabama, showing up unexpectedly when people seem to need him most. His kind words and practical advice fix many problems, including saving marriages, getting homeless young guys moving toward a positive future, and helping a dying man to make peace with his life. It was a great book, a fast and easy read...but with very good advice about dealing with people. Jones reminds us that our circumstances are a matter of perspective...we be down and out, or we can see the challenges we are facing as the valley we walk through before we climb the next mountain.

The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective by Andy Andrews soon to be published by Thomas Nelson is a quick read that packs a powerful punch. I had not heard of or read anything else by Andy Andrews, but it will not be long before I read more of his books.

Packed within the pages that tell the stories of these characters are some thought provoking one-liners. Andrews uses the characters to reveal these one-line truths about life and the perspective we should all have. A few quotes that were most memorable to me included: * Worry... fear... is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us. * Remember, whatever you focus on increases. * Many of life's treasures remain hidden from us simply because we never search for them.

Once you pick it up you won't be putting it down. - go get it today!