Dolly Mama's Shelf Sitter Giveaway

Ok, you have to love this! This is a shelf sitter/ornament for Christmas, and I thought the perfect thing to give away for the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. Here is the info from the card that is on the box:

The ladies in this collection are purely fake. Any resemblance to anyone I know is not my fault!

Artistic Passion

Lets give ourselves the courage to keep going when no one else believes in us, the vision to be able to see past the fear to where beauty lies, passion for everything we do, truth in always listening to our inner selves and possibilities because anything is possible if we really believe. Lets give ourselves the gift of responsibility so we may have a say in our lives.

I think that is such a great statement!

To enter:

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment. I will keep this contest open until November 8, when I will draw a winner.

***Want a chance for some extra entries? Gain 3 extra entries by blogging about it - make sure to send me the link.

Good luck everyone, and thanks for visiting!

Want to win a free copy of Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst?

Hop over to The Book Czar for your chance!

About the book:

A suburban mom, her troubled daughter, divorced brothers, former child stars, born-again Christians, and some young millionaires have all been selected to compete on LOST AND FOUND, a daring new reality show. In pairs of two, they will race across the world to compete for a million-dollar prize.The only question is not only who will capture the big jackpot, but at what price.

Carolyn Parkhurst is also the author of the bestseller The Dogs of Babel.

The downfalls of apartment living

Do I miss our house? I do. Don't get me wrong, I love our apartment. Our house was built in 1917 and had a beautiful sunporch. Not much backyard, but enough for the kids to play. We had 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, hardwood floors in the living room and dining room, a large kitchen, etc.. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect by any means. It still needs some TLC but we just finished painting the downstairs and were planning on starting some other renovations when my hubby lost his job. You all know how the economy is. We had a pretty good idea that he was not going to find anything in town, and we had talked about moving for quite awhile anyway. With the house market crappy we decided to rent out the house if he got a job outside of town.

So, when he was offered a job in the Fox Cities we were thrilled! We had always loved that area and it gave us a chance for a fresh start. And, we were only about 1 hour away from most of our family (hubby has a 16 year old so we didn't want ot be too far away). My sister and brother-in-law said they would love to rent the house from us, so that was one problem taken care of. The apartment we found is in an EXCELLENT location! There is so much to do here it is amazing. We have taken the kids to something just about every weekend since we have been here. Manitowoc doesn't have things like that. We have vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, a computer nook, only two bedrooms though, so the girls share (which is ok for now). The thing I miss the most is being able to get them outside. There is a park across the street (it is about a block away or so) but with Grace going to school in the afternoons it gets hard to get there. So they are going stir crazy, which makes me go stir crazy, lol!

They are also wound up because we are going back to Manitowoc again and spending Friday and Saturday night there. They love staying by Nana and Papa and it means they don't sleep very well (they were up a little after 6 today). Combine that with trick-or-treating and it's going to be a long week:)

What's the deal with cell phones?

Ok, I know I am in the minority. I don't currently have a cell phone. My hubby has one for work and that has been fine, but with winter coming and having to take Grace to school every day, I have decided it is time for me to think about getting one.

We went to Radio Shack last night. I know that I want something along the lines of a Blackberry but there are just WAY too many to choose from. The thing that floored me was that Sprint has a plan that costs $100 a month. Granted, this includes unlimited EVERYTHING, but for what I would use it for this seems high. I do need to have access to my email, so right there puts me at a minimum $70 per month plan - maybe the $100 a month isn't so terrible?

We currently have our internet, phone, and cable through Time Warner as part of their bundle package. I am sure we can drop our phone, but don't know if the price will decrease - again, there is a reason they offer the deal with the bundle.

So, anyway. Can any of you give me some tips on what phones you like, and what provider you would suggest? Here are a few I am considering:

The BlackBerry Curve 8310 Titanium

The Motorola Q9c (love the color on this one)!

Samsung Instinct

Any suggestions?