LoveMy2Dogs: October 2012

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Accidentally Amish by Olivia Newport ~ Book Review

Title: Accidentally Amish (Valley of Choice Series - Book One)

Author: Olivia Newport

Publisher: Barbour Publishing

Publish Date: Oct 1, 2012

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Amazon's Deal Of The Day is My Favorite Kitchen Storage Container!

Gold Box Deal of the Day: Over 40% Off Lock&Lock Food Storage Container Sets

One of my all time favorites things in kitchen items is the Lock&Lock Food Storage Container Sets, and today they are Amazon`s Deal of the Day for October 25, 2012.

Lock&Lock BPA Free Airtight Container 36-Piece Set/18-Containers, Capacity 40.2 Cups

My Mother-in-law bought me my Lock & Lock's a few years back from QVC and I have to admit that I love them. I use them just about every day and I have thrown pretty much all other storage containers away except for a few that I don't mind having to send leftovers home with other people. I won't send stuff home with others in my Lock & Lock's.

Lock&Lock BPA Free Airtight Container 32-Piece Set/16-Containers, Capacity 96.2 Cups

These would make wonderful Christmas presents for anyone, trust me! If you don't have them.....you will love them!!! I don't think that you could ever have enough of them, or at least I know that I can't.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Friends Paying It Forward $100 Giftcard #Giveaway!

To kick off Crazed Mind's 2012 Christmas Gift Guide I wanted to share. Share with you and share my friends. And I am doing this by hosting a $100 Gift Card giveaway! I mean what gift is better than friends helping out friends. And gosh, who can not use an extra $100 to help out with the Christmas budget?

You see when I first started this blog I had the help of a very good friend, Nessa of Texas Housewife. She spent so much time with me sharing the ins and outs of blogging and social media. Little by little I grew. Then I shared with some of my friends and they did with theirs too. That is how this whole community grows so. We meet others while hopping from blog to blog and before you know it we have been sharing our lives for 3 years now.

Well when I first started out every single new follower was the most exciting thing. IT was like Christmas every day. So I wanted to do just that....make Christmas every day for others. So with the help of my friends and then add in the friends they want to support we came up with Friends Paying It Forward.

It is really easy. Just meet the following bloggers. Then enter via the Rafflecopter below. We ask that you leave a blog comment here. That you follow the friends via GFC (that is the Christmas part!). Then you can follow also on facebook or twitter if you wish. It will give you extra entries. Oh and of course you can tweet! That is an extra daily entry! On November 1st a winner will be randomly chosen. They will be notified and when they respond within 24 hours they will win $100 gift card via pay pal or through the mail with a Visa or Master Card gift card of their choice. The physical gift cards may be broken down into two $50 cards.

So meet my friends!

The Adventures of Scotty & Me

and of course you know me, Crazed Mind.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today is National Coming Out Day!



October 11, 2012 is National Coming Out Day: Today is National Coming Out Day! Observed every year on October 11, National Coming Out Day promotes civil awareness about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues and lifestyles. October 11 is the anniversary of the second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which took place in 1987. Over half a million people participated in six days of demonstrations and activities.

National Coming Out Day is celebrated in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Participate in a local event, post a Facebook status, or wear a classic gay pride symbol to show your support!

Image and information is from Punchbowl.com

Monday, October 8, 2012

Material Witness by Vannetta Chapman ~ Book Review

Author: Vannetta Chapman

Series: A Shipshewana Amish Mystery

Publish Date: 9/4/2012

Publisher: Zondervan

Description

Tragedy strikes on the opening night of the Fall Crafters Fair when a woman is killed in the parking lot of Daisy's Quilt Shop, and the only material witness is one of Melinda Byer's boys. The investigation takes a more bizarre turn when detective Shane Black becomes convinced the killer was actually after Callie.

This time it's a madman loose in the largest crowd of the year, and he's looking for something or someone. If they can't figure out what, one of Deborah and Callie's close circle of friends may be next.

Masked identities, antique quilts with hidden messages, an Amish boy whose handicap makes him stronger, one brave dog, and a possible hidden treasure ... this time it's nonstop action, danger, and a dash of romance.

My thoughts

My first thought was that this is not the typical Amish book for me. I have never read an Amish mystery book but this one had me from the beginning. When little Aaron Byler witnesses the killing in the parking lot of Daisy's Quilt Shop while he is waiting on his siblings to return from looking for the lost wallet the mystery begins. This book again shows how the Amish community comes together and I mean not only the Amish. Their English friends come together with them at their time of need. There will be everything from murder to hidden treasures to lots of investigating.

While reading this book it will have you looking hard at the book waiting for the next thing to happen and then you will have a sigh of relief and the next moment you will be on the edge of your chair again as you are reading page after page.

I did not realize until after I finished reading this book that is was a part of a series, that is how good this book can stand alone. Now, I need to go and read the rest of the series.....backwards.

Images and Exerpt are from NetGalley.

I was not paid for this review, I did however receive a copy of the book for my Kindle from NetGalley. The opinions of this book are mine and mine alone.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Giani Granite Review and #Giveaway

This is a guest post review and giveaway from my friend Amy, from over at The Fibro Frog!! I think this is actually pretty awesome and I can see me doing this in my kitchen on my boring white counter tops.

The Fibro Frog is excited to bring you this review and giveaway compliments of Giani Granite! I was not paid to provide you with this review and giveaway, but I did receive a free granite paint kit in my own color choice to use and base my review off of. I chose the Chocolate Brown kit. Let me tell you, when I received my kit I was sooo super excited to try it, but then I was also sooo scared that I'd mess it up LOL. I kept procrastinating using it, for fear I'd have a really messed up bathroom sink! Finally, I forced myself to set a date for the review and giveaway to go live, so that I'd have to use the paint and stop procrastinating LOL. See, I'm not a "crafty" person, nor am I a "handy" person around the house. All of my anxiety though, was for nothing! This kit was so easy and fun to use! My daughter, Courtney, helped me to sponge on the minerals and even she said "Wow, this is actually fun to do"!

Looking at the kit, I thought that there wasn't any way in the world that I'd be able to make my plain ole white bathroom vanity top look like the granite looking countertops in the photos. I'm actually really impressed though! Here's a photo of what My bathroom sink looked like before the Giana Granite Paint.

My daughter and I walked into the bathroom and looked at my clean, nice whit vanity top, then looked at each other and kind of giggled. We had the can that said Step 1 Primer and shook it up. When we opened it, we both peered into the can, then looked at each other. Courtney said "It's black?" Yep, it was black. As we were applying it, we kept giggling and saying how we better not mess it up or we were going to be in big trouble! Here's a photo of it after we'd applied the primer:

We had to let that dry for 8 hours. After the 8 hours it was time to apply the 3 cans of minerals with the sponge. We had the option of doing all one color and letting it dry, then doing another color and letting it dry, then finally applying the last color or we could just do small areas and apply one color right over top of the other color. We chose to do the latter. Courtney hit on one side of the sink, and I grabbed the other. Here's what it looked like before we applied the final top coat:

We had to allow this to dry for at least 4 hours before applying the top coat. Two coats of the topcoat is pretty standard to use, and you can't do over 3 layers. We chose to do 2 coats. I absolutely can't believe it, but it looks GREAT, it looks like GRANITE, and I did it myself! If you love the look of granite countertops but you don't love the price, then the Giani Granite Paint is most definately the way to go! Here's a photo of the finished product. -And I want to apologize to you all that I can't get a full shot of the sink as in the very first photo. I sold my backup camera and had to let the kit lens go with it. Therefore, all I have a big zoom lens to use and my bathroom is pretty tiny. I couldn't get a full shot.

On the far corner, I believe you can easily see how shiny the top coat made it. It truly does look like granite! Like I'd previously stated, I chose the Chocolate Brown kit to base my review off of. What is so great about any of these kits though, is that you can totally customize how much of each color you want to show through. You can even go back and add some more of the black primer to have it show through more. So someone else may purchase the same Chocolate Brown kit that I have, but there's may look lighter or darker then mine. It's totally up to you how heavy you apply the colors! I highly recommend the GIANIgranite Kits!

Now, if you'd like to enter to win a FREE kit of your own, enter on the RaffleCopter form below! This contest is open to U.S. residents and the prize will be shipped directly to the winner from Giani Granite, once I provide them with the winner's name, address, phone number, and the color of the kit they'd like to receive!

All entries will be verified so please make sure that you do what's asked of you, if you hit the "enter" button!

a Rafflecopter giveaway