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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

The Liebster Award!!!

I never thought in a million years my little blog would get nominated for The Liebster Award, but, I have been!! Kathy over at the lovely Up To Date Interiors nominated me! I was giddy as a kid when I got her e-mail!

Be sure to check out Kathy's post about the Liebster Award HERE!

For anyone who doesn't know, the Liebster Award is specific to the blogging community. It's an award given from bloggers, to bloggers. There are several slight variations of the "rules" but we're doing the chain of 11's.

How it works:

  • Get nominated! (Woohoo!)
  • Share 11 facts about yourself
  • Answer 11 questions posed from the blogger who nominated you
  • Come up with 11 new questions
  • Nominate 11 new bloggers (with 200 or less followers. I'm a huge fan of BlogLovin so I'm using their stats.) 
  • Pose your questions to the newly nominated bloggers
  • Have fun and meet new bloggers!!




11 Facts About Me

1. I've been married for a little over 2 years now but I still like to consider myself a newlywed! He is my best friend, my better half, my rock. We've been together for almost 9 years.

2. I have a B.S. in Business Management from Liberty University.

3. I've collected over 1,000 four-leaf clovers in my life. And tons of 5, 6, and 7 leaf. I think even one or two 8 leaf ones!

4. The high school I attended/graduated from was across from a cow field.

5. I love all animals except copperhead snakes and monkeys. Monkeys are weird and they creep me out. Copperhead snakes are poisonous and have sent my dogs to the emergency vet 3 times. You'd better believe they're on my black list.

6. I just ran the Color Me Rad 5k and I had so much fun!! I highly recommend it, even if you're not a runner! I'm not much of a runner but I like to pretend.

Too bad you can't hardly see my AWESOME handmade tutu!

7. And by "ran" I mean jogged a little but mostly just power walked with friends and had a blast!

8. Running sucks...but somehow I sort of love it?

9. Our cat plays fetch. But our dogs don't

10. I've only been outside of the U.S. one time when I traveled to Nicaragua on a missions trip when I was 17. I had just graduated high school and everyone else was going to beach week but I went to Nicaragua to teach children in Vacation Bible Schools and deliver food to the hungry. It was an incredible trip that I'll never forget.

One of the many beautiful children we worked with. Look at little 17 year old me! Ahh!

11. Blogging has led me to form some of the most incredible friendships!! I never would have imagined that blogging would lead to that but it did and I am oh so glad. I am so thankful for a close-knit blogging group and the "network" we created as a safe place to grow together as bloggers and as friends.



11 Questions from Kathy at Up To Date Interiors 

1. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
     Honestly? Go pee.
2. Do you have any quirky talents? 
    I can form a cloverleaf with my tongue!
3. What inspired you to start a blog? 
     It wasn't really ONE thing but several things that eventually led to me opening up my little Blogger        account. After getting married, I began to use Pinterest like crazy and then I discovered the                    blog Young House Love, if you're familiar with them you understand! They also live in my city            which is pretty cool! They're incredible inspirational. A friend of mine had started her blog                      Attempts At Domestication about a year prior and she had nothing but good things to say about              blogging. I had also been toying with the idea after the insanity that is wedding planning. I would          always think to myself, "I should write all this down!" but never did. Now I can :)
4. What is your favorite hobby (outside of blogging)?
     Right now I'd have to go with gardening! I absolutely LOVE to watch my garden grow and                  flourish!
5. Do you have any pets?
    Yes! Two very old dogs, a 17 year old dachshund named Jill and a 14 year old beagle named Kito.       Also a gray tabby cat named Waffles. I also work at a veterinarian's office so it's pretty hard to not         bring home those precious stray puppies and kittens!

See? We get along!

6. How many places have you lived? 
    Four...well, technically three. Richmond, Virginia for a couple of years as a baby, then my parents         moved out to the country of Rockville, Virginia. After I got married we moved to Lynchburg,               Virginia but now we're back in Rockville!
7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
     In a beautiful house surrounded by many acres of land filled with organic gardens and animals and        my wonderful husband beside me.
8. If you could have any car, what would it be? 
    I'm not picky...I love my old-lady Buick Century! It's an awesomely reliable car!
9. What is your favorite meal?
     That's a tough one! Probably pollo loco at the local Mexican restaurant. It's delicious chicken with          cheese sauce and rice and beans on the side.
10. Make up or all natural? 
      All natural! I'll wear make up for special occasions though.
11. What is your favorite color combination? 
      Green and orange...they were our wedding colors and are now our kitchen colors.

The beautiful mailbox a friend painted for us!




11 Questions for The Fabulous Blogs I Nominated

1. What's your favorite attribute about yourself? (Physical, personality, etc)
2. Would you rather go camping in an RV or under the stars?
3. What is the worst meal you've ever made? 
4. If money was no object, where would you travel first?
5. Did you have an embarrassing nickname as a kid? 
6. Chocolate or vanilla?
7. What inspired you to start your blog? 
8. Do you have any kids? Pets? 
9. What is something that you do every single day? 
10. What is your favorite season and why?
11. What is your most favorite post you've ever written? Link it up too! 



Blog Nominees!

1. Tracy at Oh the Things We'll Make
2. Kathy at Simple Clean Living
3. Cortney at Daily Pea
4. Kristen at The Earthy Mama which is formerly Rethink Simple
5. Joyce at The Skinny Pear 
6. Kelsi at Vintage Kids | Modern World
7. Denine and Daniele at We Know Stuff
8. Kristine at Real Food Girl: Unmodified 
9. Tara at We Got Real
10. Stephanie at Naturally Mindful
11. Loriel at Healthy Roots, Happy Soul 


I can tell you right now that you will LOVE all of these blogs! They are all wonderful friends of mine and they put out some fantastic posts!! Be sure to go visit they're blogs and of course "like" them on Facebook!

Again, an enormous thank you to Kathy of Up To Date Interiors for nominating me!! I'll update this post with each nominee's post link as they complete the Liebster Award "rules."


Till next time,
Catherine





Friday, May 2, 2014

Apothekayla the *book* {GIVEAWAY} [Closed]

Happy May everyone!

What? You don't remember me?

It's me, Catherine! Blogger behind Happily Ever Crafter. I know, I know...I took a LONG hiatus for the holidays. My last post was December 18th and it is now May 2nd! Ouch.

Well you see, what had happened was...

I decided to take a break for the holidays and while we were dealing with the craziness of moving. Then just overall life happened, and after that I've had very busy work schedules. I've been working a seasonal evening job while trying to find a good day job. I was even working 70+ hour weeks for over a month. Let's just say, that was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Things seem to be settling down now but it's still busy! Although I can't guarantee I'll be back consistently for another short while, I'll do my best! Work, work work! It feels good to be back, though...I've missed you guys!!



And now, to celebrate my return to blogging AND a blogger friend of mine's birthday...I have a fantastic giveaway for you all!


My lovely blogger friend Kayla, the wonderwoman behind Winterstead and ApotheKayla, just launched her very first book! It's called ApotheKayla: Year One: A Beginner's Guide to Making Holistic Health and Beauty Recipe and we're working together to bring you all this wonderful giveaway! One winner will receive an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the book! 

So this giveaway is celebrating three awesome events! 

1. Kayla's birthday is today!!! 
2. Kayla just launched this awesome book!
3. My *triumphant* return to blogging!


Hemp paste is just one of the many awesome recipes you will get if you win (or buy!) the book!


Who wouldn't love some luxurious, homemade, all natural shaving cream?? This book is chock full of recipes that will have DIYing all your health and beauty needs in no time! 


GIVEAWAY DETAILS!
  • Prize: One copy of ApotheKayla: Year One: A Beginner's Guide to Making Holistic Health and Beauty Recipe
  • To enter: Follow the prompts on my Rafflecopter widget below! The more you do the more entries you get!
  • Starts: Friday, May 2nd, 2014
  • Ends: Friday, May 9th, 2014 at midnight
  • Limited to U.S. residents only, sorry! 
  • The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Saturday, May 10th, 2014! 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!
  • Kayla will be signing the winning book and shipping directly to you if you're the winner! 

Now all you have to do is follow the Rafflecopter instructions below to enter!! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck! 

CONGRATULATIONS TARA B.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered!!!


And hey, if you feel like you're Bad Luck Brian and just want to go ahead and buy your own copy, you can head over to Amazon and get yours! Plus, it's never too early to shop for Christmas presents! This book is a great addition to any home that's becoming more and more 'crunchy'!

Didja miss me? I missed you!! What's been happening in your life in the fabulous year 2014??

Till next time,
Catherine