Okay, friends. I just have to tell you about Ebates (not eBay, but eBay is cool too)!!

Ebates is a shopping site that gives you up to 26% cash back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 1000 stores (Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Sephora, Buy.com and Expedia are just a few). Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!

So far, I've received $40 back since October. They just send me a check in the mail every 3 months. LOVE IT!!!

If you sign up with Ebates today, we'll each get a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase! Woohooooo!!

Click here to sign up:

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=HJHnjUTI8Oeef7n%2FNkyt%2FA%3D%3D

Happy shopping! :o)

Carolyn

My friend, Kyle O., just emailed me this great quote by Stanley Hauerwas. May it be a blessing to you, it was to me...

"Adventure requires courage to keep us faithful to the struggle, since by its very nature adventure means that the future is always in doubt. And just to the extent that the future is in doubt, hope is required, as there can be no adventure if we despair of our goal. Such hope does not necessarily take the form of excessive confidence; rather, it involves the simple willingness to take the next step."

And here are some pics from my recent adventure to the Grand Canyon. "One step at a time."

Looking to buy a cute Christmas gift? Every year I make a handful of scarves and sell them for $20-30 each. They are warm, snuggly and definitely can make an outfit "pop." :) If you're interested, let me know!!

Please read the below blog entry first. But here is another song about hope by Sara Groves that I love!!!
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It Might Be Hope, Sara Groves

This song by Sara Groves deeply resonates with my heart! This past week, I was talking with a friend and I took a moment to reflect on the last several years of my life. You all who've been on this journey with me can attest to the roller coaster it's been (I'm learning that life is one big roller coaster!). Seasons of shock, grief, anger, peace, hope, joy, etc. etc. have rolled in and out, but if I could recap the main seasons it would be these: Grief, Healing, Hope.

The below song (the song that's playing now) perfectly describes the state of my heart. Over a year ago, I had faith that my heart would heal and that I'd have renewed hope, but I didn't know when it would actually happen or what I'd feel like. Now, my faith has turned to experience! I know it's taken time and healing is a process, but I can confidently say that my heart has climbed the mountain of grief and lies on the other side of it!!! Hope, trust, and faith have been restored and renewed. Like this song says, "Thank you, Lord!" And thank you to my friends and family--I would not be able to celebrate this without you!

So, here are the lyrics for ya...
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Something Changed, Sara Groves
Something changed inside me broke wide open all spilled out
Till I had no doubt that something changed

Never would have believed it till I felt it in my own heart
In the deepest part the healing came

And I cannot make it
And I cannot fake it
And I can't afford it
But it's mine

Something so amazing in a heart so dark and dim
When a wall falls down and the light comes in

And I cannot make it
And I cannot fake it
And I can't afford it
But it's mine

Dictionary.com is awesome! I first started using it just to look up words online or use their thesaurus. Then I discovered that you can sign up to receive a Word of the Day email. In addition to the definition, it gives you three examples of how the word is used in a sentence and the origin of the word is also given (very helpful!). So, for those of you who'd like to improve your vocabulary, you should check it out! :0)

Here's today's word...

CURIO \kyoor-ee-oh\, noun - a valued, novel object; an object valued as a curiosity, often a collectible.

One example sentence: Tensions in his parents' home in New York and summer visits to his Boston grandfather left impressions that became, over time, fragmentary memories tinged with sadness-as when he recalls, in Redburn, the melancholy longing provoked by the miniature glass ship displayed in his grandfather's curio case. --Andrew Delbanco, Melville: His Life and Work

Learning is fun! :)