My very first post was on April 9, 2009 and the title was Shooting Stars. Actually it wasn't all that bad. I am very proud of where I am today and I want to thank each of you for helping me along the way. I love your friendship, adore your comments and consider you my friends. (Blogiversary/Blogoversary ~ I've seen it both ways and I like this one in case you were wondering)
For a second entry to win one of the gift cards or the donation to a charity I would like you to go over & visit my blog For Your Tears then come back and leave me a comment. Tell me what the post was about. You don't need to leave a comment there, just come back over here to comment. I am very proud of that blog.
For a third entry and a chance to win one of the two gift cards or the donation to charity just leave me a comment as to what store you might pick and your favorite charity.
You need to be willing to give me your address so I can mail your gift to you or be able to give me a charity to send the donation to (other then your house!) You can leave up to 3 comments. The comments will not be separated into groups (you don't get to choose between winning a gift card or the donation) and the three comments will be randomly drawn.
Now wasn't that easy? Thank you for stopping over and sharing in my special day. Now I am going to go and have a toast with champagne ~ want to join me?
Debby
P.S. CONTEST WILL CLOSE ON MONDAY EVENING 4-12-10.
Posts
125 comments:
Congratulations! It's been a lot of fun getting to know you and reading all your posts! What a fun way to celebrate too! I would definitely join you with champagne if I had some ;-)
What a great post at For Your Tears! I can't believe you've sent out 190 handkerchiefs. You're ministry is beautiful! I like all the suggestions of things to do and say to someone who has lost their child.
For gift card ideas I like amazon, Target and Lowe's. And for charities I like St. Jude's and Heifer International (and probably a ton more that just aren't coming to mind right now.)
Thank you for the chance to win such great prizes and Congrats again on a whole year of blogging! :-)
Congrats on 1 year! How exciting ♥
wow For Your Tears is an amazing thing!Thanks for sharing the advice on helping others know how to support those that have lost.
gc
amazon, walmart...
The donation
national kidney foundation, st judes
Congrats on your anniversary! Woohoo! I feel like I need some champagne after this busy week, anyhow! Hehe!
Congratulations to you my friend! Isn't it amazing how quickly a year goes by. So glad to have met you!
MM
Happy blogiversary, Debby! It has been great getting to know you through your blog the last year. I'm so glad Headless Mom "introduced" us.
Just came back from For Your Tears. Such great advice on how to help others through their loss.
Hmmm For Giftcards:) I think maybe Starbucks? or Amazon?
A charity we like to support is the Canadian Cancer Society..there must be an American one too.
What a fabulous idea!
Congrats on your blogiversary! How exciting!!
Our whole family is participating in Walk Now for Autism Speaks, so a donation towards the walk would be fabulous! No one in our family is on the spectrum, but Emily has a couple of friends who are.
If it was one of the gift cards. I guess I would make it easy and say Wal-mart, thats pretty universal.
A charity of choice, that would be a toss up between ALS, or the American Cancer Society.
For Yur Tears is a wonderful ministry for Moms that have lost a baby to death. I have seen first hand how it has touched a life.
This should have been my first one, sorta did them backwards.
Congratulations on your one year and a wish for many years to come.
Wow! A whole year...where does the time go? Happy Ani!
Have a lovely weekend!
How nice of you to give us something when it is YOUR blogoversary! That's why we all love you. :)
First of all of course congratulations on your real blogoversary today. I know it can be hard work to keep a blog going and hope you will be at it for a long time yet!
wow!! happy blogiversary!! (blogoversary sounds so chicago politicsish)
i'm really proud of you. and look you have 220 followers! (i have a quarter of that and i've been at it since last january… not jealous, i'm just sayin'…)
i'm so glad to have met you and so happy to have a friend alllll the way over in ca.
hope things are working out well with your extra household members. i think about you often in that regard!
oh. the donation/gift card
as much as i would like $50 for myself, i just won a wicked nikon d40 yesterday, so i already have received more than i deserve.
i would donate to charity:water or to compassion international. i'd love to help them dig a well in haiti.
Now living in the Netherlands it can be a bit tricky for any American store certificates, but Amazon would be my best bet (for all those lovely Christmas films I haven't got yet). But the charity would have to be a children's charity like Unicef. Children all over the world deserve a chance and in the West most of us do get that chance (although not always the best one, granted). However in most African and even Asian countries children have to fight to stay alive on a daily basis, working from a young age and all. So, forget the Christmas films from Amazon, I got completely for Unicef!
Congratulations! What an accomplishment! If I were blessed enough to be chosen, I'd love love love gift cards to either TJMaxx/Home Goods or Amazon or Kohls or Hobby Lobby... I could go on forever. My favorite charity is St. Judes & Arkansas Children's Hospital - as a young Grandmother, children are close to my heart. Be blessed!
i love the picture of the polar bears hugging.
i found this list of suggestions for helping someone deal with the grieving process to be so helpful! i emailed you about a friend who is grieving and living life in the NICU for now… such a tough place. i'm hoping they name them soon. i'm all about them being KNOWN.
thanks again for this wonderful ministry, deb!
Happy Blogiversary!!! Congrats and I wish you many more years!!!
For Your Tears is about your ministry in helping grieving mothers by sending handkerchiefs. What a great ministry and the support suggestions are amazing. As you know a friend lost her 2 year old daughter a month ago, it's difficult to know what to say all the time, but she knows that I am there ANY time she needs to talk.
I love Target, but I will likely ask that you donate to my favorite charity The Layla Grace Foundation.
Happy Blogiversary Debby!!!!
You have been such a support to me. I am so glad that you are blogging!
I LOVE that you posted about how to care for someone that has buried a child. How wonderful! I hope that millions of people read your blog and become educated. It would make such a difference.
To answer your question, I love Target but I love The Ronald McDonald House or Childrens Hospital LA even more.
Hugs,
Trisha
yay for 1 year! and this is such a neat giveaway!
Happy day, friend! (Don't enter me! Give this generous gift to someone else!
The For Your Tears post was about tips to help support those that have lost a child. and it was a great post
oooh - I would probably pick target. woohoo. And as my charity - probably March of Dimes or my local Family & Children's Services.
what a great giveaway.. such a great bloggy friend!
have a beautiful weekend!!!
Congratulations! Sooo glad you decided to blog..and what a GREAT giveaway! You are really something!
What wonderful advice you give..no one can understand the heartbreak these loving parents are experiencing and your advice to all of us was well thought out and beautifully written - thank you!
OK..what store...PetCo..or PetSmart and the charity? SPCA or a local Humane Society...
You're a doll :-)
HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY! :> )
Gift card.....I would probably pick Home Depot or Lowe's. There is so much I would love to do in my yard; mulch, plants, trees, etc.
My favorite charity would be for Breast Cancer. My sister, Vickie, passed away back in 2002 from it, after a 4 year battle with the disease.
Blessings~
Laura
You always make me laugh with Skye's antics. she is just like my dogs always getting into trouble!! Congrats on 1 yr blogging.
Beautiful post on for your tears. What a beautiful thing you are doing to comfort the lives of so many women. I had no idea you have sent out 190 handkerchiefs.
You are a BLESSING!!!
I have read most of your For Your Tears posts. You send me a hankerchief shortly after we lost our daughter Cadynce and it touched my heart to know that someone I have never met cares so much to do such a thoughtful thing.
I would pick Barnes and Noble because I got their eReader for Valentine's day and I need more books on it.
And my charity would be March of Dimes.
My hubby was born at 26 wks in 1977 and was not expected to live, coupled with losing Cadynce it's something that is important to me.
Congrats on the Blogaversary.
1st entry
Happy anniversary! So sweet of you to give gifts when you should be getting them!
2nd entry
'For your tears' was about your ministry in helping parents (mothers) who lost their children, which is an awesome ministry! Very helpful advice too.
3rd entry
I hope this is okay, but for a charity, I would help my friend Mary Beth. Her husband is an alcoholic, and he makes her life hell. He purposely wrecks all the things she has decorated her house with. He swears at her, and threatens to kill her. He has guns in the house, so I am scared to death for her! She won't leave him because he has cirrhosis of the liver, and she's worried what will happen if she's not there to give him his medicine. In the meantime he's still drinking heavily.
So I would give her the $100 (since she has no spending money of her own, and he won't give her any).
If I win gift cards, I would choose Walmart. That way she can buy food or clothes, or whatever she needs.
Either way, Mary Beth would receive your lovely gift!
Wow - 1 year is am awesome thing!! I have been blogging for just over a year too! It is a wonderful thing.
Your other blog really touches my heat. Your suggestions on what not to say when trying to comfort someone are so wise!
The gift cards... Walmart, Target, ect...
The donation... Alzheimer’s assocation in memory of my mother-in-law for sure. They do great things. We try and participate in the walk whenever we can.
Happy Blogiversary! Has it been a year already? Your giveaway is so generous--you're the best!
Congratulations!!! Happy blogiversary! I love reading your blog and it has been great getting to know you better.
Woo hoo on being 1 year old! Congratulations!
Great giveaway! I would love to win. Pick me.
Congrats on your blogaversary, Debby! Time flies, doesn't it?...Christine
I went to For Your Tears and was very touched by the post. My cousin lost her 19 year old son in a car accident. I get choked up just thinking about it. I was always amazed by her, but watching her go through the grieving process and continue with her life has made her one of my heroes.
If I picked a store it would be Target. If I picked a charity it would be KIVA.org
Congratulations!!! Happy blog bday Debby!
You know I love visiting with you and you have been an encourager to me too!
I also went to your other blog and really loved the post. We have a 3 year old and I cant fathom losing a child. A good fried of mine and his wife lost their young son a few years ago and it was devastating. And you are right, NO ONE should say "at least you have other children."
shudder.
Oh, and I do a significant amount of charity work so I would use the giftcard for Amazon or Nordstrom. :)
I am grateful for the list you provided us today...a mom that works with my daughter lost her only daughter to a drug induced suicide two weeks ago. She was pregnant with a little girl and had a husband and 4 yr old son. Just tragic. I will use your advice in speaking to her and try to be a light for her in some way. Thanks so much!
If I were to win your anniversary giveaway I would like to make a donation to a very young group called, Mercy Uganda.blogspot, a non profit ministry to women and children in Eastern Uganda. I will provide their information to you at that time. Thank you so much for your generosity!
I am praying to win!
Happy Blogiversary, my friend! I'm so glad to have had the chance to get to know you through your blog. :)
Just came back from your For Your Tears site - you have some absolutely great advice! And I'm amazed that you've sent out 190 handkerchiefs so far...you ROCK! :)
Congrats sweetie! A $50 gc to any grocery place would be a HUGE help these days :). Debby you're so sweet!
Debby I headed over to For Your Tears and as always you had me in tears what a great post as always!
For the gift card, Target always works. :) And for the charity, I would choose National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (http://ncadv.org/).
Any Kroger I think you have them there Fred Meyer or QFC, heck any grocery store I'm not picky :).
I actually read your other blog post before I read this one. I loved it. More people should learn how to be around grieving parents and your advice was wonderful. God Bless you as you continue to help others. *hugs*
Congrats on your blogoversary..
I hope you stop by again to win those peeps.. I have really enjoyed getting to know you, your family, and Skye.. Thanks for being such a great blogging friend.
I really liked this post..
wwwforyourtears.blogspot.com/2010/03/if-only-heaven-could-wait.html
It made me smile with pride because you are so kind to do that for those Women and families..
For the card I would like either Wal-mart or Target..
I would really go for Target..
For the Charity it would be for Breast Cancer or to use for your wonderful site..
Thanks again for having such a wonderful giveaway..
Have an amazing weekend..
Happy Blogiverary! The For Your Tears post was about grieving mothers. Grief is one of my specialty areas in my practice, so it's an issue I'm very aware of. target is the most practical, and I like the International Rescue Committee, which helps people (especially women) in oppressed countries.
Happy Blogiversary! What a great giveaway!
I love the suggestions on your For Your Tears blog on comforting someone. It's really nice to know what to do if you're unsure.
For gift cards I would pick either Amazon or Walmart. Can my charity be the Christian radio station that I listen to? I love donating to something that gives not only me but others such encouragement!
Happy Blogiversary Debby! You are great!
Your post on For Your Tears was about your ministry and how to support.
The store I would pick would be Motherhood Maternity b/c I really want some new maternity clothes!
The charity I would pick would be Little Hearts Big Smiles.
Congratulations on your 1 year blogiversary Debby!!! Here's to another year of successful blogging and more friends than ever!
My goodness! If I had known a give a way would get this many comments, I may have done one long ago! Congratulations!
Your post on For Your Tears was so touching! The list is invaluable....I have a friend who lost her 5 year old to leukemia many years ago....and a year ago in March lost another grown child! I well remember her saying to me, please talk about Josh....he may be gone, but he's still my child!
The handkerchief is a good way to communicate to a family that you're thinking of them....in fact how thoughtful to give them a tear catcher.....190 is great! Thanks for that practical info.
There are many deserving charities. I'm all for the humane society....but currently, Mercy Uganda, the mission that I write about, is in desperate need of funds to help some who are in need of medical treatment. It is amazing what $50 can do in Uganda compared to here! Also, I personally know the people who go to Uganda and know that whatever monies they get go 100% to help actual Ugandans!
You're having a great blogiversary!
I am so proud of you. You have really accomplished great things in a year's time. And I am thankful that you consider me a friend. Whenever I see a giraffe I think of you (just like we were in real life buds, huh).
I would love to win the 100 dollars to give to Jackson's family (his link is in my blog post for today) to cover medical bills for his brain tumor treatment.
Hugs Debby!
Oops! I sort of combined requirements one and three. Consider this one of the entries LOL!
Oh Debby, I was touched by your post and the suggestions that you offered. It is wonderful that you have mailed out handkerchiefs to grieving mothers but it saddens me thinking about the 190 suffering moms. God bless you and your ministry.
I can't enter as I'm from "the other side of the border where the polar bears roam the streets" - LOL! - but I just wanted to wish you a very happy Blogiversary! Congrats!! Here's to many more wonderful blogging years xxx
wow! congrats!! maybe i should do something ..my 1 year will be the 16th! u have inspired me! hehe
thanks for giving away something on ur 1 year!! :)
that post was really touching!! u have helped alot of mothers with the handkerchiefs and the support!
i learned alot ..i wouldnt know what to do or say to someone and wouldnt know if what i was doing was right or if they want me to say anything or leave them alone..so i hope i dont ever have to use this info but if i do thank u for letting me know
target .. walmart.. amazon.. B&N..
oldnavy anything would be fine
and my charity i would have to research and pick a good one maybe one that doesnt get alot of support
something to do with kids or cancer or maybe helping women or teen moms ..i might have a hard time picking this too
Hi, Debby! I have my Google ID now, so I can comment! April 9 is actually a great day to begin blogging as it is my BD!!!! I love your blog and congrats on your big day!
I actually read For Your Tears 1st tonight, and I love your new look. I always love seeing my Meredith's name on there. Tonight, I read about things to say and do for the bereaved (& things to not say or do.) My least favorite thing that was said to me when Meredith died, was that I could have another baby - said by the DOCTOR!!! Glad you are educating people.
Debby,
First of all I stopped by For Your Tears first before coming here so it was some great advice and tips on dealing with grieving parents which I loved.
Congratulations on a whole year of blogging and can't wait to get to meet you one day and perhaps Skye too!
Don't forget to stop by my blog for a last chance opportunity to join in some book giveaways. One ends tomorrow. They are on my side bar to the right.
Love and Hugs ~ Kat
Debby,
In addition I think if I won, it would be for Target, I think I shop there more than anyone else. If it were for donation, then it would be for my fellow blogger, Tabitha at I Choose Bliss that I highlighted who is disabled and doing great works for God in helping out others in her ministry.
Love and Hugs ~ Kat
My favorite store is Walmart, and there are so many charities I like, it is hard to say. I would say Emmazing Grace Foundation, but I will instead say FARA.Candy stacks founded EGF after her baby girl died of prematurity complications. Candy wanted to provide burial clothes for babies who may not have had something small enough to wear, and also pay babies' burial costs and marker costs for those who needed help. However, in the last year EGF has taken a backburner because Candy and Jason's daughter, Hannah, has been diagnosed with an rare,awful condition called Friedrich's Ataxia. It was noticed in preschool when her teacher noticed she walked a bit differently, and was diagnosed when she was a 1st grader.Candy and her husband struggled to have the family they have, and they also have a little boy. As much as I could use a gift card, if I won, I would want FARA to have the money to find a cure for Hannah and others like her.
I got your comments, and sooo appreciate them. My friend is encouraging me to get started and your tips will certainly help. I love your blog, For Your Tears - the orchids really got my attention (I love growing them) but the content touched my heart. You are a true blessing! Keep up the heartfelt ministry.
Congrats on your blogoversary! I love the charity idea...may steal that one for my next 'versary'
That's a wonderful ministry...I've visited there before....handkerchiefs for the sorrowful.
I guess I'll say Target....I have college kids and should own stock there.
My Charity...World Vision.
Based on what others have left- I'm guessing that I need to leave three separate comments... So- one- I am glad that you found my Pause blog- and I found your Tears blog- and then found this blog. Such fun! Didn't know what a blogaversary is- but I guess I've had some too. What a fun idea- I'd do it but with not a lot of followers (on my personal blog) it would probably be dumb... I ramble... (sorry)
I love the new look of your 'Tears' blog- I haven't checked in there for a while but do have a link to it from my 'pause' blog and a link to this blog from my 'days' blog... (www.dorandays1.blogspot.com- had to take it off my profile because of a student that keeps finding it...)
My favorite charity is St. Jude- but I also would love for money to go to the HUGS (Healing Understanding Grief Support) group in our hospital. The group is a passion of mine and helps bereaved families- from things for the families to take home for their angels- to just provided 'real' kleenex- not the sandpaper style... as a recipient of the love that group has shown/ I will always be a part of it and pay it forward... unfortunately I was not the first to lose a baby- nor will I be the last... :-(
And now for comment number 3 (your 100th on this post... WOW!) I would say Target or Costco are fun stores that I shop regularly at... (though I think the charity give away is a sweet idear!) You are a blessing! What fun that it is to have 'met' you!
Hugs-
Laura
www.momentsofpause.blogspot.com
www.dorandays1.blogspot.com
Not to much time to write today(I"m blog speed reading trying to get cought up for the whole weekend in five minutes). Congrats on your bloggerversary!
Whoo-hoo!!!!! Happy Anniversary to you!!!! Happy blogaversary to YOU!!!!!
190 handkerchiefs - that like SO ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A gift card from Target or Walmart would also ROCK!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Blogoversary! I've just found your blog recently but I look forward to the next year with you.
thank you for your words of encouragement. Just today a friend gave birth to a baby girl. She is having problems breathing and has been diagnosed with spina bifida (all very unexpected). At this point we can only pray.
I hope I can be the kind of friend you are in difficult times.
A gift card to Trader Joe's would extend my grocery budget.
What a great day to have an anniversary (same as my wedding anniversary)! =) Congrats!
I love what you do over at For Your Tears. Thank you for all of the suggestions. As a wife of a man who has lost a child, those are very valuable to me.
I have several favorite charities but I would have to say number one is March for Babies.
As for gift cards, I would have to choose good old Target!
It's your blogiversary? Congratulations and have a happy,happy one!!!! Here's to another year!
Debby, thanks so much for reminding me of your giveaway! With my new job AND being a SITS Featured Blogger last week, I feel like I haven't had a chance to visit some of my favorite bloggers!
Happy Blogiversary! I love that first post of yours. You have such a beautiful view out of your bedroom window!! You lucky girl!
Debby, you have a heart of gold. And your "For Your Tears" blog shows how big your heart is!
Your compassion for women that have lost a child is huge. Thank you for the wonderful advice you have given all of us as to how to help reach out to someone that has lost a child.
Beautifully written...
I have lost one too many loved ones to Cancer. A donation to the "American Cancer Society" is always welcomed.
And shopping at "Target" with gift cards is always fun!
Now, how about that champagne!
We'll raise our glasses and have a toast...
Congratulations and may you have another wonderful year of blogging! And thank you for being such a wonderful blog friend!
I agree with JAM...a donation to the American Cancer Society would be wonderful. I've lost family members to all kinds of cancer, not just breast cancer.
A gift card to Target would also be wonderful! :)
I just read your post at "For Your Tears" where you offer wonderful ways to support someone who has lost a child, and you also gave information on The Compassionate Friends....
I hope you had a great weekend!
hey Debbie...YEAH!!! Thant is awesome you have been blogging for a year!!! Good job sticking with it! Your giveaway is so generous too! WOW!!! You have a big heart! I want to go back & read your first post now...I'll see you there :)
WOWEE!!! Congrats and what fantatic prizes. American heart Assoc. is dear to my heart!
Wow, congratulations. You are an inspiration to others. Your "For Your Tears," makes one think. Thank you for that. You are so generous with your give-aways. I honestly can't think of any stores. I would rather give to a worthwhile charity than get something for myself. I know that if I had a gift certificate, it would be used for someone else. I like donating to HSUS or even
Doctors Without Borders. In the wake of Haiti, the doctors have saved lives and helped those who were injured.
Debby, I came to your blog first because the phrase “just breathe” drew me in. It's my own personal motto. And after seeing how alike we are, I couldn't stop from coming back. I love your blog. Your For Your Tears ministry is an inspiration to me. It touches my heart to know that someone is doing this out of the kindness of their heart to heal other hearts. I would love to start a ministry similar to this. I'm still working out the details on what I could offer to people in need. My favorite charity is the Make-a-wish foundation, because every child needs to feel like they can wish on a star!
Congrats on your blogversary !!!!
Caroline
I just love your blog For your Tears !! How nice of you to help so many. It really is great. I wish so much when I miscarried that I knew about so many things out there. You really are a gift from God !!! Love you so much.
Caroline
Gift cards from Walmart or Target
Make a wish or My Very Own Angel , March of Dimes.
Caroline
Thank you everyone for your comments. The contest is now over and I hope to have the winners posted on Thursday. Good luck to everyone and thank you for sharing in my one year Blogiversary!!!!
Well, Happy Anniversary! I look forward to another year of reading.
I think your first post happens to coincide with the day we found out I was having "babies" instead of a baby. I meant to post on it, and then got distracted with my conference.
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