1000th Post!

HOLY MACARONI! 

This is officially my 1000th post on Beacon of Hope!

 One thousandth....

That number is kind of hard to wrap my head around. 

I am glad Blogger counts your posts on the side or I would have had no idea!

BUT...here it is!

My very first post was written in February of 2008. (HERE)

My 100th post was written in June of 2008 and was a giveaway plus 100 Things You Didn't Know About Me.  (HERE)

My 200th post was also a giveaway written in November of 2008 on Gratitude. (HERE)

Blogging has been good to me.  

Because of it I have a written history of most of the past seven years, though I took a little hiatus for a few years and didn't really blog at all.  That is about when Facebook came on the scene and it was much easier and less time consuming than blogging and so I did that for a while in place of this. I then realized that I missed writing.  And I missed recording my life events in this medium.  So I gradually came back.  I am have been faithful at it again for going on two years.

Because of blogging, I have taught many others how to blog through many speaking opportunities. I have presented workshops in many locations in the state and met some amazing people via this blog.  When I first started blogging and it was so new, I made so many amazing friends that were also bloggers.  But sadly, many of them quit blogging when Facebook arrived as well.  I miss them so much.  It was so fun to keep up with them and read their blogs as well.  It was fun while it lasted.  It was fun to read all the comments people would leave and track and see where people were from that read my blog.  And though I miss those days, I am also glad it is no longer that way because it was very time consuming. Maybe one of the best things blogging gave to me was when I won a year's worth of spa treatments by winning a contest and being named the

Sego Lily Blogger!  

Talk about a GREAT THING!  I was on TV, got about 30 FREE spa treatments and was pampered for an entire year because of that!  It was awesome!  You can read the post I wrote on this blog when I announced I had won HERE.  The Sego Lily Blog is still up and you can find many of posts I wrote HERE.  Just scroll down a bit and you will see them.  If you are interested in how I won and what that year was like, just search for Sego Lily Spa in my labels.  

Oh man!  That was one amazing year!  And all because I started this blog!

So many good things have come from this blog.  I am very grateful for it.  To celebrate I am going to make it my goal to get my first blog book published before the end of August.  I know it's going to be very time consuming, but it will be worth it.

A big thank you for those of you who read my blog!  I know I would do this even if no one else ever read it.  Right now my blog is mostly to preserve my family history and to record my life's moments.  So thanks for hanging with me!  

KEEP ON BLOGGING!

200th Post Give Away Winner!!!

200th Post Give Away!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Here is McKay drawing the winning name out of 85 entries! Note his amazing excitement! This was done in the car in the after school carpool because there was NO other time! So enjoy the ride!

John and Stephanie's Blog is the lucky winner of the:

CHOCOLATE INDULGENCE First Aid Kit!!!!

Look what the lucky ducks won!

This way cute chocolate sign ↓

This Spoon Lov'n Fudge!!!
mmmm...mmmm...mmmm!!!

FOUR VIOLET CRUMBLE Bars!!! Yum.......eeeee!!!

And last but NOT least...

These to DIE FOR M&M Premiums!!!!

Drool........

A big thank you to all who entered and left your WONDERFUL comments about what you were grateful for! I am grateful for each one of YOU!!!

Keep up on those GRATITUDE JOURNALS!

200th Post Give Away and Celebration!!!

My 200th Post Celebration!

It seems like I was just celebrating my 100th post! This one snuck up on me. I didn't realize it until I had already posted it on Sunday. So this post is technically 201. But who's counting?

I really wanted to do something unique for this one. I have been thinking and thinking but having a hard time coming up with something that felt right. I knew one thing for sure, there was no way I was about to do a list of 200 things about me (I am still recovering from the list of 100!) After some thought I decided to not only do a give away (because they are just FUN!) but to also dedicate this post to the POWER of GRATITUDE.

WHY gratitude? Well mainly because I think it is such a powerful tool that doesn't get the attention it merits.

How often are you grateful? Most people only focus on being grateful when something great happens in their life, and maybe on Thanksgiving Day.

I have learned that something as simple as just being grateful for what you have, rather than focusing on what you don't, has an incredible, almost magical power of creating instant happiness. One of the fastest ways to improve your mood or outlook is to count your blessings. When challenging trials or problems come into your life, being grateful for the situation in some way - even when you don't like anything about it- allows you to get through it with a more optimistic attitude. It really is true that every dark cloud has a silver lining. Behind every problem lies an opportunity.

But remember being grateful is a CHOICE. Even though there is usually a downside to each situation, there is also a positive side. The one you choose to focus on is up to you. When something happens, either good or bad, pause for a moment, think it through, and then choose how you want to feel about it. The more you choose gratitude, the happier you will be, mainly because you won't be obsessing over the negatives anymore. You can learn to use gratitude to transform your life.

Most of us tend to be in the habit of negative thinking. When we experience something painful or hard it tends to throw us into a negative state of mind. We then experience feelings of anger, disappointment, hurt, resentment, etc., never realizing that it doesn't have to be that way! We allow ourselves to stay in our negative frame of mind, which ultimately means we are allowing our experiences to choose our mind-set. Not consciously choosing our mind-set, is a choice in and of itself. If we want gratitude to influence our lives then we need to choose it. It's not an automatic response for most people. It is a conscious choice that we must make many times each day. Instead of allowing outside circumstances to determine your attitude, stop and tell yourself, "I choose to be grateful for_______." Then allow yourself to feel grateful.

Gratitude is a choice. Gratitude is an attitude. And gratitude is a habit. When we consciously practice being grateful for the people, situations, and circumstances around us we begin to experience more peace and happiness!!! So what are you grateful for right now?

Now for the contest!

I will be giving away a CHOCOLATE INDULGENCE FIRST AID KIT!

Included in the kit will be: (brace yourself!)

A box of my NEWEST chocolate indulgent treat! M&M's Triple Chocolate Premiums! Oh man! ♥

A jar of Spoon Lov'n Fudge (complete with the spoon!)

Mmmm...mmmm....mmmm!

FOUR Violet Crumble Bars! These are hard to find and the best chocolate covered honeycomb on the planet!


AND.....

This waaaaaaaaaaay cute Chocolate sign. It is about 16 x 8 inches and very cute!

SO hurry and enter and spread the word!!!

To enter:

♥ Leave a comment about what you are grateful for today.

♥If you want an additional entry then just mention this contest on your blog along with a link to mine and tell me you did.

♥For a third entry... start a Gratitude Journal where you write down 5 things you are grateful for each day and then leave me another comment before (before Nov. 11th) telling me you started one. ☺ If you already have one, then you are automatically entered again! Just let me know!

Limit to three entries per person.

~Winner will be chosen on Nov.11th~

Good luck!

And remember to...

BE GRATEFUL today!