The "500 Post" Giveaway

We had an awesome week at VBS. The girls are exhausted, though. I had to wake them up after napping more than three hours today and they still wanted more sleep!! I can't wait to post some of the photos and video from this past week, but first I wanted to do a "500 posts" giveaway. My counter says that I have officially reached 500 posts (ok, many are due to the fact that I used to group photo uploads and post multiple sets on a single day), but I have been blogging for two years now, I have far too many printed pages to count and I thought this would be a perfect time for a giveaway.

I started this blog to journal Mia's adoption and share photos of our journey with friends and family back home. (Unfortunately, I had no idea what a blog was when we traveled to Russia for Leila's adoption. I only wish I would have had one back then.) I have always scrapbooked, but I really liked having another creative outlet for keeping track of our lives together. Months after returning from China, I loved going to meetings or running into friends and hearing that people were still reading it, but I really kept doing it more for me than anyone. (Well, for my mom and mother-in-law, too.)

It wasn't until earlier this year that I "unhid" (is that a word?) my blog and started reaching out to meet new people, reading other blogs and really grasping what this whole blogging world is all about. I still love the immediate gratification of posting pictures and journaling our day's events, but now I love it for so much more than that. Over the last few months, I have met some really amazing women and have been incredibly blessed by the friendships that have developed.

I have "met" so many strong Christian women that inspire me. One of the blogs that has touched me on so many levels is Bring the Rain. If you have not yet read this, I really encourage you to do so. Start at the bottom and gradually make your way to the top. Angie and her beautiful family have faced significant loss this year and in the midst of her grief, she glorifies God in the most eloquently-written posts that I have ever read. God is doing amazing things through Angie and I believe this blog is just a launching point for what He has in store for her. Angie's very talented husband, Todd, has a Christian band, Selah. They have some truly wonderful songs, including one of my favorites, "All My Praise." So... please leave a comment and you'll be entered into the random drawing for two Selah CDs: Hiding Places and Bless the Broken Road. If you are reading this and I haven't yet "met" you, I'd love to. Now is the perfect time to introduce yourself - you could win something!! :-)

I'll post the winner next week... along with those VBS photos.