1st Blogiversary! Celebrating with a GIVEAWAY! [Closed]

I've been expressing my love for you guys all week already and today I want to show it by having a giveaway to celebrate my first blogiversary!!

I'll be giving away a roll on bottle of Solace oil blend from doTERRA essential oils along with a lovely handmade hot/cold corn pack! 

"What in the world is Solace and why do I want it?" Well, let me just tell you why! 

Solace is an awesome oil that is a blend of 11 therapeutic grade essential oils that is the perfect blend for women! Solace includes clary sage, lavender, bergamot, Roman chamomile, cedarwood, ylang yland, geranium, fennel, carrot seed, palmarosa and vitex. 

What that means for us as ladies is that during hormonal points of our lives (menstrual cycles, menopause) we can have a natural form of relief. No more Midol or Advil in this house! 

I've used it twice now and I can honestly say that it really helps alleviate cramps! I simply rolled it across my abdomen a few times and relaxed. Within an hour I was feeling significantly better. It was a beautiful thing. Truly. 

I will definitely be using Solace for a long time and would recommend it to any woman! 

For more detailed information about Solace, check out this site. You can apply the roll on anywhere you feel discomfort or simply inhale it. I really enjoy the smell. It's like an herby-citrus smell. I think most people would enjoy it!

This beautifully handcrafted corn pack was loving made by Rachel, the lovely doTERRA consultant who is making this giveaway possible! She has other adorable patterns and sells them. This pack goes hand-in-hand with Solace! How many of us are guilty of breaking out the heating pad when Aunt Rose comes to visit? Instead of using an electric heating pad, I can now just pop this gem in the microwave for a bit and then I have a nice hot compress to use while getting a foot rub. Yes, he really does give me foot rubs! 

How cute is that pattern? I love it! 

So needless to say, I'm excited about this giveaway because it's for products I really enjoy!


And hey now, no nasty comments about doTERRA or similar companies. After a lot of research I don't think that one company is necessarily "the best" or really even that much better than the other. Essential oil companies are wonderful advocates of healthy living and that's OK by me. You're totally free to maturely discuss different opinions but leave the mud-slinging for another day. Thanks!


DETAILS!

• Prize: A 5ml roll on bottle of Solace oil from doTERRA and a handmade hot/cold corn pack
• To enter: Follow the prompts on my Rafflecopter widget below! The more you do the more entries you get!
• Starts: Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013
• Ends: Wednesday, October 16th, 2013 at midnight
• Anyone can enter!
• The winner will be chosen at random (from random.org - a random number generator) and announced on Thursday, October 10th, 2013! I will e-mail the winner to confirm. If I don't get a confirmation within 48 hours I will have to choose another winner, so be sure to check back here and check your e-mail!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my first post of this week and fill out my blogiversary poll! I'd love to get to know you guys!

Good luck!

Till next time,

Catherine

Disclaimer: I have received the above products for my own review and use but all of the opinions above are my own! That's what you'll always get from me...honesty! I was also not paid for this review/giveaway. 

1st Blogiversary! Past, Present, and Future

One year ago today I wrote my very first blog post. Don't judge me. I didn't know anything about blogging at that point! 

You guys have been here through it all. Even when I tried to make bread for the first time and failed miserably.

And then when I got it right and made amazing bread!

It's been a long and wonderful road with a huge learning curve. But I really have enjoyed it all! Through joining blogging networks, connecting with other bloggers and even meeting a few of my fellow local bloggers! I had no idea what I was getting into when I started but now I couldn't even entertain the thought of quitting! 

I've now published a total of 211 posts! Wow. That's a lot of blogging! Here are some of the most popular/favorite posts. 

My MOST popular post was actually my husband's first post! His cardboard helmet tutorial got an astonishing 5,570 views! Halloween's coming up soon and this would be an awesome DIY costume for kids an adults alike. 

My second most popular post was my DIY pallet garden for under $20. It rounded out the year with 3,728 views which is still huge! 

The 3rd most popular post was my Magic Eraser toilet cleaner Pinterest fail and 4th popular was The Walking Dead workout! Is anyone as excited as I am that the next season is about to begin?!? 

My most popular Pinterest pin was the recipe for my homemade garden fresh salsa! 

Followed by my homemade no high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup! Both of which are so delicious that you'll never buy those things from the store ever again! So if you haven't pinned them yet, go for it! 

I'll wait. 

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, just click HERE! 

What Happily Ever Crafter post is YOUR favorite? You can choose from the ones above or the archives on the right sidebar. 

It's really neat to look at my most popular posts and realize they're all totally different! 

Our anniversary trip to Williamsburg, Virginia

And finally...drumroll please! My total pageviews for my very first year of blogging...

39,463!!!

For you seasoned bloggers that may seem like chump change but I am blown away! My very first month I had only 180 pageviews. I guess that's decent considering I didn't tell anyone that I started a blog!

Every month has shown exponential growth and it's so cool to watch! I owe it all to you guys for liking, commenting and sharing my blog! I can't forget my incredible blog networks either, you can check those out on my sidebar. 

The future of this blog is completely unknown. I have goals but I don't know where exactly this blog will take me. Here are some of those goals for the next year of blogging.

1. Reach 1,000 views a day.
2. Reach 1,000 likes on Facebook (currently at 391!)
3. Schedule Facebook posts ahead of time.
4. Get back to consistently posting (good content) up to 5 days a week.
5. Write those posts ahead of time and schedule them. AKA "Get with the times, Catherine."
6. Cook and craft more for better posts.
7. Try more things from Pinterest and share about it!
8. Earn a little money through the blog and buy my own domain name (plus make the blog beautiful and functional!)
9. Connect with YOU better and attend blogging conferences (like this one I'm attending on October 26th!)
10. Be open to constructive criticism and change. 

So here's to the first of many years of blogging! 

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the first post of the week and fill out my blogiversary poll! I want to get to know my lovely readers! 

Till next time,

Catherine

1st Blogiversary! Amazed and Confused

Wow it is incredible to think that it has been ONE YEAR since I began blogging! (Ok technically it's tomorrow.)

I never thought that my little blog would be where it is today. And I never thought I'd enjoy blogging as much as I do either!

Blogging has become this amazing journey of discovering my desire to write and share my thoughts with others, connect with people across the country (and world!) and learn more about myself in the process. It has inspired me to cook more, grow more, create more, adventure more, and overall live a better life.

Gracious, how did I even get here?

A drive to share my experiences with others and YOU.

The main thing that makes blogging incredible is YOU. My beautiful, sweet and smart readers! Ok and you fellas are handsome, caring and intelligent ;-) Can't leave out the guys!

Blogging would be pointless if it weren't for the readers. Whether you're simply looking for a delicious and healthy recipe or you're a die-hard blog reader or a blogger yourself, you're so important.

So to kick off my 1st blogiversary week, I want to say THANK YOU to my lovely readers and now, I want to learn a little more about you!

For fun I'll post my answers down below the poll! I look forward to reading your responses and I'll work on making fun graphs (did I just call graphs "fun"?) later in the week!

• I am in my 20s (25 to be precise).
• I am a lady.
• I am a veterinary receptionist.
• I rent a townhouse.
• I live in Virginia, USA.
• In my spare time I do all of the above except sing (I try, but fail) and shop.
• My life would not be complete without my spouse and my pets mostly.
• My least favorite social media site is a a 6-way tie. I like Facebook and that's about it.  Ok Pinterest is super addicting too.

Speaking of Facebook, have you "liked" my Facebook page yet? If not you can click HERE to do so!

You can also follow me on Pinterest HERE.

No question today, just fill out the poll if you have a moment, please and thank you!

Till next time,
Catherine

My first 5k - Rachael's Paws and Purrs

I did it! I did my very first 5k! 

Ok I definitely didn't run the whole thing, most people didn't...but I completed a 5k! 

Pre-race smile in the chilly morning. Still felt fairly confident at this point!

And we're off! Runners first, run/walker combos in the middle (that was us) and walkers in the back.

Speaking of walkers...who's excited for The Walking Dead to come back on in October?! This girl!

The course was on the Blackwater Creek Trail in downtown Lynchburg. It was a beautiful day with no humidity and cool temperatures on this gorgeous trail hiding just next to the busy downtown life.

"Quick, act like you're running hardcore!" 

The bridge over the water was so pretty! Here's another "action" shot. That's my husband and a friend of mine in the picture. 

We ran a handful of times but none of us were fully prepared to run the entire thing. We power walked the rest of the time. Most importantly we had a great time! It was so much fun and all the pups that came had a great time too. 

Most of the finishers waiting for the last walkers.

Giving out trophies and medals to human winners and dog winners! Not to mention they had great prizes for the raffle portion!

Here's us as we were leaving. I'd like to title this photo "We finished!" but I think "Look at this mondo bag of fruit we got!" fits better. They had tons of food leftover and just told us to take it...so we did! We've got enough bananas and apples to last a couple weeks! Runner up title: "Oh joy the sun is right in my eyes."

And I'll call this one "We did it! Now let's celebrate with some Chic-Fil-A."

Up next...the Ashland Berry Farm Pumpkin Run that benefits the Hanover Safe Place! Saturday, October 5th in Hanover, Virginia. Come join me!! 

I'm thinking to keep myself motivated and to have a new goal always ready, that signing up for one 5k a month might be a good idea. Or insane? I haven't decided yet. 

We're deciding on our November 5k now. It's between the Glowstick 5k on Sunday, November 3rd in Fredericksburg, Bottom to Tap 5k on Saturday, November 9th in Richmond or the Children of Our Hearts 5k on Saturday, November 9th in Lynchburg. 

I couldn't find any nearby 5ks for December, though. Too cold?

Tell me about your first 5k! If you've never done one, what's holding you back? If I can do it, so can you! Know of any good Richmond/central Virginia 5ks? What's the most fun 5k to do?

Till next time,

Catherine