My 100th Post Contest!

A week between posts.

Busy, busy time in our lives. 

So 2 posts in 1 today.

A 2 for 1 deal!

My 100th post, complete with 

my 1st contest giveaway. 

And my contribution to 

Mockingbird Hill Cottage's 

"A Favorite Thing" weekly check in. 

I started this blog on 

September 3rd, 2011. 

It's taken almost 2.5 years for me to 

reach 100 posts. The first year, I wrote 

exactly 35 posts. Ironically, in 2012, 

I wrote exactly 35 posts. To date,
for 2013, I have now written
30 posts. I think I'll beat my high 

of 35 for this year. 

My first contest, complete with a 

giveaway is small but manageable.
I hope you'll join in! 

I have selected a brand new, tiny 

but cute, picture frame. It measures 

approximately 2 inches x 3 inches, 

with the picture slot smaller. It is ceramic, 

with hand painted flowers 

and a plastic protector that covers 

the photo. Bonus feature: it has a strong
magnet on the back so you can hang it in a 

variety of places. 

To win, please tell me how long 

you have been blogging, 

why you started blogging,  

how long it took you to 

reach your 100th post and 

how you find the blogs you love to

read now. Briefly tell me why a blog 

catches your attention and what you 

like to see to keep reading. 

Leave a comment below and 

I'll randomly choose the winner 

on Sunday, March 3rd, 2013, 

the 2.5 year anniversary of this blog. 

If it's a sunny day, I may throw in an 

extra bonus item to sweeten the deal. 

Keep your fingers crossed for 

a sunny day in Canada!!

Now on to our next post within the post. 

For my contribution to "A Favorite Thing",

the most incredible charity shop purchase

we've made to date. 

Special on so many levels. 

Almost 24 years ago, our home was

gutted by fire. A fire set at midnight by 

our foster child, who had an idea in his

head that if he had come into foster care

because he had done something wrong, 

maybe he would get sent home if he did

something wrong. We were getting ready

to have our youngest son at the time

christened on the weekend, 

a small baby just 6 months old.

Foster child admired the Christening gown, 

worn by many family members and our

beloved children as we laid it out that night. 

Hours later, he woke us up to tell us that
the house was on fire. We fled, unharmed
and grateful for the warning. Many of our
precious items (photos, wedding and baby
videos, family heirlooms) were saved or
untouched. But our precious
Christening gown was gone. It was, as the
fire inspector discovered later, the
item that foster child lit to start the fire. 

We did have our son Christened, years later,

when our next youngest baby was born. But

we never found another gown, until Friday. 

Working a bit later than usual, we almost

didn't make our weekly Friday afternoon

trek to the shop. Sneaking in just a

short time before it would be closing,

we rushed thru, finding a few

lovely items and paying before

they called the closing announcement.

We bid our farewells and 

walked towards the door. 

And there it was, tucked behind the 

wall, a small piece of lace catching my 

eye. My husband was almost out the 

door and I quickly grabbed his arm, 

then grabbed the gown. Silky, creamy

and oh so soft. But as I held it tightly

in my hand, I was sure I would turn the

price tag over and reveal a high

figure. To our great surprise, the

tag read just $20. What??!!

Without question and just a 

glance to each other, we rushed up

to the counter. Everyone began to 

comment on our "find" and we

beamed! If only they knew what

this beautiful, not a mark on it

gown means to us. 

Thanking everyone, we gathered 

it in our arms and left the 

shop, our hearts beating and 

our smiles getting bigger as we

headed towards our home. 

It took more than 20 years but

we found our perfect heirloom item. 

Our kids are too old but our newest

granddaughter will be the first to 

wear this special dress. And from

there we will pass it along to the

newest family members as they

arrive, on the day their name

will be proclaimed as official. 

Every family has a story to tell.

Part of ours will be how this

Christening gown came into

 our lives. Discarded by another

family, ours saw the precious

meaning behind the lacy, 

silky creation.