Shabby Apple contacted me to see if I’d like to offer a giveaway featuring one of their lovely items.

I said sure! I’ve never worn anything from their site, but I’ve seen lots of giveaways and figured you may like to enter too.

I had to choose an item to giveaway which was difficult. I know what I would like but it’s hard to know what someone else may like you know?

I’ve chosen to give away the Kanani  dress from Shabby Apple an online boutique of women’s dresses. It looks so pretty for spring and summer–easy to dress up or down.

This giveaway is for US addresses only.

To enter:

1. You  MUST like their Facebook page. Then leave a comment here with your facebook name (in case you win!)

2. Go to their site Shabby Apple and pick an item you’d love to try from their collection. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to the item you love.

If you’d like bonus entries you can tweet about the giveaway or put it on your Facebook status. You have to come back here with a link to your tweet and leave a comment (or how will I know?) Limit 1 tweet or Facebook status per day.

You can copy and paste this tweet–

Enter to win A Dusty Frame’s Shabby Apple giveaway. http://adustyframe.com/2012/01/27/shabby-apple-giveaway/

Giveaway ends Thursday February 2, 2012 at midnight Pacific.

Shabby Apple is offering you a code dustyframe10off — 10% off any purchase on their site! It expires 2/25/2012.

Here are some links I found this week–if you have some favorite links or favorite links post let me know!

Single serve snack cake

Pioneer Woman’s pantry suggestions

25 handmade gifts for boys

Vanilla Pudding Sauce–it looks like they use this on pancakes

A list of seven letter words so you can win at Scrabble or Words with Friends

50 questions to ask your spouse on date night

A friend of mine is a doula and she posted this– you may find it interesting. For a TV show, a man went through simulated labor–it’s totally an appropriate video–he makes some interesting comments!

Interesting history tidbit–President John Tyler still has a living grandchild.

James and I got a Kindle Touch for Christmas. I seem to be using it more than he does, but he’s interested at least. I’m the bigger reader around here.I wanted to get it to encourage him to read a little bit more–we’ll see if my plan worked. I’m reading more at least! (haha not sure if me reading MORE is good or not!)

I am a book lover and have been for years. I really wasn’t sure what I would think about it. I can tell you that I absolutely hate sitting at the computer trying to read e-books (we have a desktop).

I already had Kindle for PC and had accumulated a few free books, so I transferred an Amish type novel to it and started reading. Guess what?

This crazy book lover doesn’t mind it at all.  It’s easy to read and obviously not as heavy as lugging a book around.

I almost always have a book in my knitting bag or take one along to appointments or James Tae Kwon Do class. The nice thing about this is I can take lots of books and the weight in my bag doesn’t change.

I don’t think I’ll ever abandon actual books. I don’t think the Kindle is a replacement for books. I think it’s just a great option for reading on the go.

I don’t like that you can only share it one time with another Kindle owner–I think I’m right about that–only 1 share. And you can’t sell your copy when you’re done.

For a thrifty online seller that part bothers me a bit! However, I’ve only purchased one book so far and I have nearly 75 free books since Christmas.

Publishers seem to offer current books free for e-readers once in awhile and I’ve found quite a few! Also the classics can be found for free on Amazon.

Here are some blogs  and facebook pages I found to find free e-books. I don’t have time to search for free books everyday, but I can certainly follow blogs and grab the freebies I’m interested in.These blogs usually list several per day. I only take books I know I am interested in and will read someday. I don’t grab them just because they are free–some of them aren’t appropriate or interesting to me.

Here are blogs to follow:

Free Kindle Books and Tips

Pixel of Ink

Pixel of Ink young readers–their opinion of appropriate books and mine are different, but you can find a few now and then.

Amazon’s list of free Kindle books–found some gems!

On Facebook follow:

The Literature Lady

Inspired Reads--most of these are Christian authors (Hey, I just found one when I clicked on the link to post it for you!)

This is a list of tons of books in our Ambleside curriculum, but they are just great classics–anyone can enjoy them.

Another list: Free Children’s Classics for your Kindle–tons of good books!

I wanted to find a cover for it–especially since it gets put in my purse or knitting bag. They aren’t cheap and I didn’t really want to spend anything. I started looking for knitting patterns but didn’t find one I wanted.

I was cleaning out my craft stuff and found an afghan square I knit and never got any further. I looked it over and measured it and decided to make a Kindle cover out of it. All I had to do was whip stitch it closed. I added a knit pin in matching yarn and voila a free Kindle cover! All of this yarn is recycled from sweaters too. It’s not quite perfect–it’s a hair too long and just slightly narrow at the top but it works.

Earlier this year, I reviewed my first book by Mel Starr–A Trail of Ink. You can read that here.

Kregel Publications offered his next book for review and I decided to join in. I received Unhallowed Ground and dug in.

Normally, I read female authors, but I liked his last book. This one is good too.

In this book, Hugh and Kate are newly married and settling into their cottage. The town bully is found hanging in a tree and it’s ruled suicide. Hugh sees a few things to lead him to believe otherwise and so begins the book’s struggle.

Does he just let it go? The man was everyone’s enemy!

Does he do the right thing? He is a man of integrity.

What is the right thing?

I enjoyed the conflict and resolution in the book as well as the general story. Mel does a great job using the medieval language while making it understandable.

From the publishers:

The fourth adventure of Hugh de Singleton, medieval surgeon and detective,finds Hugh investigating what seems to be a suicide of one of the town’s scoundrels and his longtime enemy.

Though at first reluctant to pursue a mystery that no one else sees, Hugh and and his new wife Kate set out from the town of Bampton only to follow the clues back in order to discover which of their friends committed the murder

About Mel Starr:

Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren.  www.melstarr.net

**Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from Kregel Publications for purpose of review.

A few weeks ago, I got a message on Etsy asking to use one of my photos in a magazine in The Netherlands.

Hmmm sounds a little fishy to me. They sent me a link to their blog and said I could watermark the photos for online use.  I decided to give it a try. The worst that could happen is they steal the one photo (not watermarked) and print it for themselves.

The editor sent me a list of questions for an interview and said they’d send me a magazine when it was printed.

It arrived today.

It is SO pretty. It looks like it would be something like House Beautiful or something like that. There is a big Ikea ad on the back so I know it’s not a rinky dink magazine.

The interview appeared in their blog. I put it in a translator site and I don’t think it quite came out clear–but nevertheless, I think this is great!

Lee was off all last week due to work being done on his truck. This was the most time he’s been home since last September when he started trucking. It was nice having him home and I’m sure God will take care of us on the week without pay (;0 !)

That anti-freeze bath he took a week ago was due to this problem, so hopefully it’s going to be all taken care of now.

I’m thankful for our car. It’s been running well and starting even in the cold–much better than that 1 car I used to have!

We’re going to need a newer car pretty soon. If you think about it you can pray that we’ll find a good affordable used car when the time is right.

What about you? Any blessings lately?

My sister shared this song the other day. I like it!

A cute computer desktop organizer–red, polk a dots–who could ask for anything more? I downloaded it yesterday and love it!

Homemade Valentine ideas

Homemade Laundry Soap--I’ve tried it before but this looks a little different. I made a 1/2 batch since there are only 3 of us. I’ve used it on 2 loads and like it so far. Other than grating the soap, it’s just stirring dry powders together–easy peasy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies--they say they are perfect.

Cute idea for painting with little ones.

I had a discussion with someone about blogging and the question was asked, “What does it profit us?”

I thought about that with this blog.

Well, I’ve had some ads, some free products for reviews, some gifts (ok lots of gifts) given to me by you wonderful people. That was tangible profit.

But I think that what I profited/profit from THIS blog, is that your prayers, advice, caring, and friendship helped carry me through this ugly trial.

Really.

As I thought about that this morning, I realized that was God’s purpose for me to blog. I remember shaking inside before I hit publish on my first post but I knew God wanted me to share our story and His work in our lives.  I think that one of His purposes for this blog is to share that, but I also think another purpose was to gather support for me.

Wow–pretty cool!
Thank you doesn’t seem a big enough word–but thank you!

Each night, at bed time, we cuddle in bed.

We say our prayers. His latest AWANA jewel required him to pray for a teacher, a friend, and a missionary.

This was good. I had tried before to show him how to pray for others but it wasn’t quite clicking.

Thanks to the AWANA project, he has established a habit of praying for others.

I enjoy listening to him take his petitions before God.

The other night he prayed. His prayers always include the heartbreaking phrase,

“Please help my daddy to come home.”

Then he prayed for his Sunday school teacher, his friend that was sick, my friend that is on deputation to Japan.

When he was done, he said, “When is daddy coming home?”

We have this conversation often. He knows that we don’t really know yet.

I said, “I know you’re sad. That’s is alright to be sad. Mom is sad. Dad is sad. You are sad. But what are we learning about God?”

His cherubic face was nestled on his pillow, with his cowboy blankets pulled up to his chin.

He looked up at me with his precious sparkling eyes, and said, “He is good.”

I was blown away. My little boy hurts as deeply as we do. Perhaps more.

Yet, he too knows that God is good. That God is caring for each of us.

I know that this time in our lives is a trial. We are tired, weary, and worn.

We are broken. All three of us.

However, I am so thankful that God is showing himself real to each of us. God loves a my son enough to impress on his little boy heart that God is good.

God IS good.

We sing a little song at Sunday School.

My God is good, good and he loves me.

My God is good and he loves me.

My God is good. My God is good.

My God is good and he loves me.

Yes he is.