Blogiversary Giveaway!

I really cannot believe I've been blogging for a year. I rarely stick to anything longer than a few weeks, so this is a huge accomplishment for me. I have at least five journals with 3/4 of the pages empty-a commitment I just can't keep.

That's what this blog has become to me. An online journal that is read by tons of other people. I've struggled over the last year knowing I don't know everyone who is reading this. But I've grown to not care. These are my thoughts, passions, feelings, emotions-no matter what anyone's opinion of them may be.

Reading back over the posts of the last year has been such confirmation that this blog was a good decision. I read the posts I wrote while in the midst of infertility and am reminded of the struggle in a way that wouldn't be possible without this blog. I read the posts I wrote in my early pregnancy and realize how much I've already forgotten and how far away it seems. And I seriously cannot wait to write this little baby's birth story, knowing that s/he'll get to read it someday and learn how s/he came into this world.

When I go back and read my earliest entries, I have lots of comments from real life friends and family. I miss those. Shameless request-could ya'll go back to commenting, please? It's good to know who is reading and I value your thoughts. Pretty please?

And to those friends who I don't know in real life-thank you! Without the commenting and support and encouragement from all of you-I wouldn't have stood a chance at keeping up with this blog for an entire year. Don't ever leave me :)

And to those lurkers out there-as a blogiversary gift to me would you click "follow" and join in on the comments! Please and thank you!

I realize that this blog is about to take a significant turn in a few days or weeks (or moments... come on baby! January 31st is a great day to be born!). I'll go from someone who is waiting for a baby to someone who is actually raising a baby. I don't want this blog to become entirely about this little miracle or even solely about motherhood. I want to it to stay the same-my quest to be more like Mary. My journey through my own life and trying to keep God as the center. The ways I go about doing that will change and most certainly revolve around learning to be a godly mother, but I still want to keep my focus.

With that said, I'm going to celebrate my blogiversary with something completely unrelated to babies, Mary, God, or blogging!

My sister-in-law Kate is incredibly talented. She could give Martha Stewart a run for her money and probably will someday. From scrapbooking to floral arrangements to sewing-she is creative and extremely good at what she does. She's started her own small business and sells clutches, purses, and diaper bags on Etsy and at local craft fairs. Lucky for my readers, she's offered to give away one of her beautiful clutches to one of the commenters on this post!

Here's a small sample of what she can do:

So how do you enter this contest you ask? There are two things required of you:

1-Go to K8 Made's Facebook page and Etsy store. Browse her collection of purses, clutches, and diaper bags. Come back and leave a comment telling me which one is your favorite. Yep-you must follow the links to enter. No cheating and mentioning any of the above clutches.


2-Along with your favorite item, in your comment you must leave a prayer request for me to pray for. The prayers of my friends, family, and fellow bloggers have been such a source of peace and grace throughout the past year. I want to thank you by praying for your intentions specifically. I also plan to print out the list and offer up the pain of labor for your intentions. (If you'd like to make your prayer request privately, email me at morelikemary at gmail dot com)

Male readers-please leave a comment too! You can always give the winning purse to your wife/girlfriend/mother. And if you really don't want the purse, please leave a comment with your prayer intention and mention that you don't want to be in the contest.

So there you have it, tell me your favorite K8 Made item and what you would like me to pray for. I'm not putting an end date to the contest just yet as I'm hoping to be on a blogging hiatus and happily consumed with birthing and nursing my sweet baby soon. So just leave a comment as soon as you can and be on the lookout for a future post with the deadline. The winner will be selected randomly and will get to choose any CLUTCH from the K8 Made Etsy site.

Happy Blogiversary!