Thursday, May 30, 2013

Gem of a Give-away...or Give-away of a Gem?

           Are pearls gems? I wasn’t sure, so I googled the question, and one source identified them as “organic gems.” That works for me. And these organic gems happen to be nestled in a silver  wire nest with a mama bird hovering above. (I’m sure it’s the mama, as hovering over our babies  comes naturally to us.) Bird and nest are attached to a silver chain, the creation of Jill Gladfelter of DreamRose Design. She designed it for my niece Amy Bird to sell in The BookNest, her book “nook” in Springfield, OR.
            Now that you have all the information about what’s being given away, I’ll tell you why.  If any of you have followed my posts since March of 2012, you know I entered this whole blogging experience Screamin’ and Kickin’. I like—make that love—to write but didn’t want to commit to a blog. Many reasons fed my reluctance, but the main one was fear. What if I shared some of the zillion thoughts rattling around in my head at any given time and no one really cared? What if I bared my soul and no one read my words? The night I launched my blog, I clicked “Publish” with trembling finger and trepidation. The next morning, I checked my stats and discovered I had thirty-three hits. Yes, thirty-three!!! I was thrilled. Even if those hits came from men in Russia needing wives or insomniacs mindlessly surfing the net, at least my blog hadn’t died from loneliness during the night. And from there it started to grow—slowly and steadily—to the point I recently passed my 10,000th hit. (Actually, over 11,000 by now.)
            Okay, okay, I can hear the virtual snickers. I know some bloggers get that many hits in a day...an hour. But I don’t do this for a living, I’m not selling anything (except my book), and I’m not Gwyneth Paltrow. All I know about “search engine optimization” is that it exists. So for me, 10,000 hits is a personal goal realized. I’m breaking out the bubbly and the noisemakers and celebrating. I’m also giving away this necklace as a way of thanking followers, readers, and all those who clicked on “baby boomers exercise” and didn't find the useful exercises for baby boomers they were expecting.
            Now for the how. If you’re a follower, your name is already in the drawing. If you make a comment (i.e. share a personal goal you’ve achieved), your name goes in. If you’re a follower AND make a comment, your name is in twice. If you sign up to follow me, your name goes in once. Sign up AND make a comment, name goes in twice. The deadline is June 17, 2013.
            Hope to hear from you, and again, thank you for making blogging a gem of an experience for me! 

 

           

23 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Dee Dee! I want that necklace. It reminds me of the various robin nests around our home. My family and I love to watch the mama and daddy birds care for their baby robins. It is amazing to watch them grow, learn to fly, and leave the nest. It is also a steady reminder that I'm doing the same thing with my own babies. That will be my greatest achievement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandi, I agree that raising our children is probably the most important--and probably the hardest--job parents will ever have.
      I'm glad you are observing a nest of robins because the "eggs" in the necklace nest are robins-egg blue!

      Delete
    2. I noticed! That's why I want it so badly.:)

      Delete
  2. Yea 10,000 - congrats! I certainly can relate to the trembling finger - can't tell you how long it hovered prior to actually landing on "publish" for my first blog post. I have progressed to simply trembling with no hover - which means I must be getting closer to 10,000!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trembling with no hover--that's an accomplishment in itself. Your blog is so clever and so packed with good advice, I know you'll hit 10,000 in no time.

      Delete
  3. That's awesome news Dee Dee! I would love to have that necklace, absolutely beautiful. My greatest achievement, so far, is getting my writing career rolling. I fought my muse for so long and never thought I'd see the day. But here I am about to publish my 2nd novel. :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations, Jennifer on not only one but two published novels! That is an amazing accomplishment, and you inspire me with your dedication to your craft. Can't wait to read the second novel.

      Delete
  4. What a fabulous story (and personal interpretation) of the necklace, DeeDee! Love your idea, and totally relate to your fears about blogging. Planet Blog is a fascinating place to travel through, but also intimidating. :) My most recent achievement of note was following through on re-calibrating my life with the goal of putting personal priorities in sync with how I spend my time. It's still a work in progress, but I've come a long way in the past 11 months. Cheers to all of us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers to all of us, indeed! I'm a fan of anyone who faces fears and takes on new challenges. And I think re-prioritizing our lives is one of the biggest challenges of all.

      Delete
  5. What a clever way to ascend to 20,000! I remember us wrangling with the WIFI in Panera not that long ago trying to understand the blogging thing. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Lisa, as I was writing that post I reflected several times on our meeting that day. Also, in my Screamin' and Kickin' post, I credited you to being the inspiration and impetus behine my blogging endeavor. Thanks for insisting that I do it!

      Delete
  6. Ah, I love that necklace.

    The biggest goal I have achieved is finding a way to work from home so I could spend more time with my child (now children). Wow--it was hard trying to work full time, play with the baby and get him to bed, and then work on my "side gigs" until I collapsed at night. It's still hard work, but I now have the flexibility to hang out at the zoo during the day and work after the kids go to sleep.

    That mama bird and her nest speak to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nicci, I can't tell you how much I admire what you have done. Launching a successful writing career AND a family all about the same time is an enormous accomplishment. AND you still find to read our book club selections! (And probably a lot more than that.)
      Amazing.

      Delete
  7. I need that necklace!

    I would have said that the biggest goal I have achieved is running my first half marathon at the OKC Memorial Marathon. A lot of training miles and mental preparation lead up to race day. But now I'm not so sure. I feel changed by my son's recent injury. A personal and spiritual metamorphosis is taking place. My son said yesterday that more good than bad has come from this experience. Maybe the real achievement is an openness and desire to take a very stressful and traumatic event in my life and find the treasures within the experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I teared up at your son's response to his injury. He is very young to have such wisdom. As for you, yes, times of difficulty do tend to change our priorities. Another example of how God can use all things--even the bad ones--"to work together for good." I admire your spiritual strength.
      I also admire your physical strength. A half marathon is very impressive!

      Delete
  8. Congratulations Dee Dee! I have come out of lurkdom for the necklace!

    My greatest accomplishment is being a good mother. I didn't have a very good role model, and as a mother of two NICU miracles, I feel pride in their eyes and smiles everyday, even though they are already 10 and 13.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yay! So glad the necklace lured you out of lurkdom. Being a good mother is an accomplishment to be extremely proud of. It sounds as if you had to overcome many challenges but are reaping the rewards of your loving commitment. Thank you for signing up as a follower and for lurking around my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats, DeeDee. And, as always, great post. I've started to look at the great accomplishments on a day-to-day basis. For example, today, I made three breakfast casseroles for my family reunion next weekend. Not a GREAT big deal, but big enough for me on this very lazy Sunday. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heather, a very wise way of looking at accomplishments. Sometimes an entire goal can seem overwhelming, but working toward it in daily increments makes it more realistic and achieveable.
      And THREE breakfast casseroles--definitely a GREAT BIG DEAL!

      Delete
  11. So proud of you and your marvelous blog, Dee Dee! Like a duck to water, I say . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A duck to water? Yes, that's where I am now, Sonia. But when I began, it was more like a CAT to water!
      :-)

      Delete
  12. Sheesh! Do I really have to discuss a goal in order to have a chance at that necklace? Okay, since I don't blog, I've been entering writing contests. Money motivates me so that's a goal achieved in small numbers. Monetarily, I've not surpassed the big win of 100 lbs. of ground beef in a drawing held by my rancher/dentist. Have you priced beef lately?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, Martha, you didn't have to discuss a goal. I just put that as an example for a comment. That said, I think you've accomplished some amazing goals. I know you've won a lot of those writing contests, and 100 lbs. of ground beef is quite a haul!

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.