GIVEAWAY WINNER and a look back on my first year.....

In honor of my 1 year Bloggiversary I am announcing YVONNE, come on down.........you are the lucky winner of Jaden Hairs Steamy Kitchen Cookbook and a Redletterwords 12x12 cafe mount print!!!

Yvonne, you can find my email in my profile over yonder....send me an email with your full name and mailing address and Dee at Redletterwords and Me/Myself/&I will send you your print and cookbook.

Every time I do a giveaway, I hate picking a winner. I procrastinate, a little bit, take lots of deep breaths. Go to the bathroom 5 times. Get a snack. Why? I think it's because I hate to pick just one winner. I want you all to win. I always hated being the team captain in gym class too, so much pressure!

I absolutely loved hearing what each of you enjoy serving your guests. I wish that I could come sit down with each of you and eat every single one of the meals you described.

It's been an amazing year. I will never regret listening to my heart and my friends and starting Strawberry CAKE. Thanks to all of you who encouraged me to start writing. I love cooking, and it turns out I don't mind writing either....so in that another blog was born.

I will never forget how I actually felt just before I clicked on the "publish post" button for the first time. I thought I was going to puke. I was so worried that if someone would happen to read my blog, they would scrunch up their face and shake there head and never return.

I just revisited my first month of blogging. Jeez-Louise....I didn't even post a picture, well because we still had dial up! And my camera stunk! Way back then (1 year ago) if I were to post a picture it took about the time it takes me to make beds, fold a load of laundry, and unload the dishwasher to post one stinkin' picture! Kenny gave me a new camera for Christmas and shortly after that I started using an air card to get a faster connection...kinda...if the wind wasn't blowing and the sky was clear, I could upload a picture or two. I live in Michigan, remember, the land of wind and clouds. It took a trip to the Ranch for me to figure out the joys of satellite internet. The day I returned, I was on the horn with a satellite service , and they were here the next day planting a giant dish outside in my shrubs....hey! a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

A bowl of barfy looking pumpkin seeds was my first post that included a picture. You would think I would have gone for something a bit more appetizing....like perhaps a picture of Strawberry Cake.....nah...let's take half a day to post a picture of slimy seeds. I told you I'm a numb skull.

It's interesting to see what posts received the most reaction from readers. Of course all of the Sheila & Ree posts were very popular. My highest traffic was on this post, because Ree gave me a shout-out on her Facebook page....and my blog went BEZERKO. We were on a road trip out East at the time, my phone started ringing off the hook. I was ignoring it....I was on vacation. Finally I answered to a freaked out Big D, gasping for air and trying to tell me Ree had given me a shout out on Facebook. Hokey Pete!

This post also got a bit of a reaction.

Some of my recipes that people seem to feel strongly about are:

My Favorite Mac-n-Cheese

Saturday Morning Traditions

Cobb Guacamole

Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins & these Donuts

What really matters, is not the volume of comments or visitors to my site, but when someone, says, "thanks, you made me smile today". I gotta tell ya those comments get me right in the tear ducts. I really, really feel blessed to have you all in my life. Thanks for reading. Here's to another year!

Cheers!