you guys know that i am cheap by now, right? ;-) well, one of the ways we are able to live as generously as we desire to is by using swagbucks gift cards not only for the things we want for "fun" (think target runs and amazon movie purchases as well as my weekly or so trip to starbucks) but also for birthday and christmas gift money. last year we used swagbucks gift cards for approximately 65% of our holiday gift spending. when you have an extended family as large as ours to buy for that is HUGE!
clearly swagbucks is something i love. i understand that it's not for everyone, but for those of you who would like to try it i'm writing this post to let you know thati have exciting news and a great opportunity for all of you to earn bonus SB -- enough to get a free $5 gift card!
any of my readers who signs up for swagbucks.com through my link here between now and june 30th is eligible to get a 500 SB bonus! that is basically a free $5 gift card JUST for signing up through me. in order to get the bonus automatically*, you must also earn 1500 SB by July 14th. note that since this is an exclusive offer, you must sign up through this link and earn 1500 SB in order to get your 500 SB bonus. if you sign up elsewhere, or only do one of the two steps, the bonus unfortunately will not be available to you.
so how do you get that 500 SB bonus? simple: you can earn SB from any of the earning activities found on the homepage or top bar of swagbucks.com (shop, search, watch, play, answer, discover, daily crave, NOSO & daily poll). i am also ALWAYS available by email to give you more tips on how to earn. i actually have a pretty effective system that you can use with whatever time you have, whether it be one hour a day or ten! if you haven't started earning with Swagbucks yet, now is a great time to sign up and check out all the different ways to earn Bucks -- all so you can get a bunch of free gift cards.
* Please note that it may take up to 14 business days to credit your account once you have earned 1500 SB.
**ALL links in this post have been linked so that you will receive the signing bonus...so don't worry about clicking on the wrong one! :-)
coming {very} soon: a few recipes that i've been making during the last few months of silence. also, more "only in lora's life" moments, more silly lists, more memories, and a couple of serious thoughts. maybe ;-)
here's a few snippets from actual texts i've either received or sent over the past few weeks...taken completely out of context and with no explanation. because, you know. why not?
ohmygoshaldihadfrozenFRIEDPICKLES
i did NOT sign up for rabies
currently following a truck that has the bumper sticker "some days all i want is to be a missing person". dark. but thought you would appreciate it.
we'll be creepy but healthy!
apparently i was on the jumbotron while texting you that. oops.
CINNAMON!
autocorrecting my prayer isn't cool, phone.
why do you think toto was so insistent on blessing the rains down in africa?
go punch her
hope you're not sequestered
my crazy runs deep
do you have those moments where you think "if anyone read this conversation they would seriously question my sanity"? yeah. guess i've just presented you all with evidence ;-) anything random in your messages that you'd like to share? :-)
exactly one month ago
nearly 4 years (3 years and 11 months) after finding out i was losing my home
we signed papers and became homeowners
anthony for the first time
myself given a second chance
the loan is not in my name. we aren't yet done rebuilding my credit from the horrid hit it took way back then. but my name is on the deed
i feel like it's come full circle. that i am being given back in buckets what was taken from me. so grateful that redemption is a part of my journey. so thankful to have a place that's really OURS. and the timing of this and so much more is not escaping me.
i'll show you photos of the inside once we get unpacked. so in approximately 6 months ;-)
but here we are in front of our adorable house!
and here is anthony giving emi her first tour of our new digs. thankfully, she approves because we aren't leaving here for awhile!
it's my birthday, and i want to write
i want to spill out words all over the page to tell everyone how amazing, how hard, how blessed, how difficult, and how wonderful life has been since the last time i wrote in this place
and at the same time, i feel like it would be ridiculous to
that year (almost) is done
and i feel like even though we did so much living during that time
if i couldn't find the time to chronicle it then, well...there's really no reason to write about it now.
so here's the very short version of life since last july: it happened
i laughed (a lot), cried (not as much) and the majority of the time was amazing.
truly.
i am very blessed to live this life.
i'm not saying i'll never tell you anything from the past few months...in fact there are some posts aching to be written about recent events. but i will have no regrets if i don't get every word out. after all, i was living my life...
but this blog is a part of that life. which is why i'm here.
i do hope that this post will launch me back into blogging. i miss it. i miss the connection across the screen and the way there is really community between posts. i plan to begin the rounds again, visiting blogs i love and have missed almost as much as i've missed writing here. i plan to write here, the good, bad, ugly and beautiful that i have always spilled out in my little corner of the interwebs.
but i know that life, it happens.
i know that i won't be here as much as i'd like. even if i'm here daily.
i know i won't comment on every post that moves me, even when i desire to.
but i'm not done here. by any stretch of the imagination. so if any of you are still reading this little blog, i'm back...in some capacity at least.
i miss you all, and can't wait to visit your lovely blogs soon :-)
