I hope you had as much fun guessing as we did putting this thing together! I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time. And you should the pics that didn’t make the cut!!! WOW!

Did you guess which picture was mine?

Those bangs! Those pre-braces teeth and those eyebrows….. Gotta love the early nineties right?

Anyway,  there were so many of you who were soooooo close to guessing all the DIY bloggers correctly, but finally one person got them ALL right :)

Please meet the winner of the Before They Were Bloggers Contest. 

We thought it would be fun to share her picture from when she was a kid. This is far too cute to be considered awkward :)

Sara from Mom Endeavors

And now… the moment you’ve been waiting for… here are the match ups.

A. Pretty Handy Girl

B. Decor Chick

C. All Things Thrifty

D. Tatertots and Jello

E. The Lettered Cottage

F. Infarrantly Creative

G. Sawdust Girl

H. Funky Junk Interiors

I. The Idea Room

J. DIY Showoff

K. The Shabby Nest

L. Not Just a Housewife

M. Vintage Revivals

N. Southern Hospitality

O. Young House Love

P. Home Stories A to Z

Q. Beneath My Heart

R. Thrifty Decor Chick

S. House of Smiths

T. The Nester

U. The Inspired Room

V. Songbird Blog

W. My Blessed Life

X. The Shabby Creek Cottage

Y. 320 Sycamore

Z. Just a Girl

# Makely School for Girls

@ Remodelaholic

? Miss Mustard Seed

How did you do? Were you close? Check out each blog because most of them will be posting a side by side photo of themselves. I have to say that Beth’s mullet and Sarah’s glasses were two of my favorite :) Thanks for playing along!

 

Oh my word! I have something so fun to share today. One day a bunch of us bloggers started talking about our awkward years and sharing photos of us growing up after we read Mandi’s post on blog puberty. Brittany had a fabulous idea to put them all together and have a contest.

Let’s take a ride in that DeLorean parked outside and go back in time. Back to a time before there was Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Before chevrons, mercury glass and ombré were hot. And most importantly, before there were blogs!

We’re going back to when these DIY gals were worrying about how high they could get their hair, was there food in their braces and oh no…not another zit! Talking on the phone for hours meant stretching that long spiral cord beyond its limits and tying up the only phone in the house. Common purchases for these DIY gals may have been the latest cassette tape, neon bracelets, a swatch watch and a tube of Clearasil. You wouldn’t catch them dead in the hardware store, totally unheard of to the max!

Are you there yet? Do you see leg warmers or jelly sandals? You’re getting closer…the time machine has stopped so step out of your DeLorean and behold…the time before blogs.

There is so much awesomeness in this one picture it should come with a warning. I kind of want to blow it up to poster size for my office.

 

Do you recognize any of these popular DIY bloggers? I don’t know how “popular” they were back then. Do you think you could recognize them in High School, Middle School or Elementary School? For sure!

These awkward youngsters will one day be the brains behind your favorite DIY blogs. And they are giving a $300 Lowe’s Gift Card to the first person who can guess which faces match with which DIY blogs.

• 320 Sycamore
• All Things Thrifty
• Beneath My Heart
• Decor Chick
• DIY Showoff
• Funky Junk Interiors
• Home Stories A to Z
• House of Smiths
• The Idea Room
• The Inspired Room
• Infarrantly Creative
• Just a Girl
• The Lettered Cottage
• Makely School for Girls
• Miss Mustard Seed
• My Blessed Life
• The Nester
• Not Just a Housewife
• Pretty Handy Girl
• Remodelaholic
• Sawdust Girl
• The Shabby Creek Cottage
• The Shabby Nest
• Songbird Blog
• Southern Hospitality
• Tatertots and Jello
• Thrifty Decor Chick
• Vintage Revivals
• Young House Love

Here are the details (you must be 18 yrs or older to win):

• Visit the link below where you will be able to enter your guess for each blogger pictured above. (All information will be kept private.)
• The first person to correctly match all the faces with their blog will win a $300 Lowe’s gift card!
• If you win, you will be emailed to collect your mailing address. (Then your prize will be mailed to you.)
• And of course, you will gain bragging rights for being the biggest DIY Blog Fan Ever! Totally RAD, right?!

Can you tell which one is me???

Enter Your Answers

*This contest/giveaway is in no way sponsored by Lowes. The bloggers pitched in for the gift card because we thought it would be a fun idea*

*If you are going to pin any of these awesome submissions please visit their site and pin from the original source. I am sure they would appreciate it! Thanks :)

I love this contest because there are so many AMAZING projects that get linked up. And {as a judge} I hate this contest because there are so many AMAZING projects linked up.

You guys ROCK!!!

And when I say I had a gut ache and that I couldn’t narrow it down to even 100, I mean it. I have like seven papers I was scribbling down notes and crossing off and then adding more. ACK! It was so hard.

And if I were Oprah, I would give you all $250 Home Depot gift cards. But after a few days I was finally able to narrow it down and with the help of my guest judges, we have finally picked the top ten !!!! I wonder if any of you just read this or if you skipped right to the list….. :P

Here they are in no special order. And remember to VOTE at the bottom of this post!

#1. Live Edge Table by The Hunted Interior

#2 Loft by My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia

#3. Girls Attic Bedroom by Pennington Point

#4. Window Seat by My Cottage Charm

#5. Tree House by Brinda Slaughter

Brinda doesn’t have a blog so here is her email submission:

” Last summer we wanted to cut down a tree in our yard for two reasons. One reason, my in-laws live next door and this tree of ours was shading their garden more than they wanted. The second reason, the tree was ugly and in the wrong spot of our yard. We were just going to chop it down and call it good, but then we got another idea of turning it into a treehouse. So, instead of chopping the whole tree down, we cut off the branches and cut down part of the stump. We used the stump for center of the treehouse and supports and the branches for the railing.”

#6. Faux Molding and Headboard by Interiors by Kenz

#7. Bunk Beds by Grand Design

#8. Pallet Media Center by Design, Dining, and Diapers

#9. Outdoor Shower by Just Grand

#10. Club House Bed by That’s My Letter

Okay! Now you get to VOTE :) Come Back on the 29th for the announcement of the winner :)

Are you guys ready for another BEST DIY PROJECT CONTEST??? I loved hosting this contest so much last year that I decided to make it an annual thing.  We had so many (over 700) entries last year but I think we can beat that this year.

The prize for this years winner is a……………………………………………………..

 

A $250 Home Depot Gift Card!

I am so jealous! I wish I could enter. Think of all the DIYing you could do with that!!! I want to thank Home Depot for sponsoring this contest. They rock :)

Starting tomorrow (January 15th) you can link up your  favorite DIY projects that you completed last year.  I will look through them all and with the help of my guest judges, we will narrow them down to the top 10 projects. The top 10 will be announced on 22nd and the voting will open up. Anyone can vote for their favorite project from the 22nd until 28th. The winner will be announced on the 29th!!!!

Just like last year I have enlisted the help of some of my blogging friends to be judges.

Brooke from All Things Thrifty

Traci from Beneath My Heart

Emily from Decor Chick

Roeshel from The DIY Showoff

Beth from Home Stories A 2 Z

Beckie from Infarrently Creative

Chris from Just a Girl

Lindsay from Makely School for Girls

Myra from My Blessed Life

Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl

Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps

Rhoda from Southern Hospitality

Jen from Tatertots and Jello

Gina from The Shabby Creek Cottage

Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick

 

So come back here tomorrow and link up your BEST :)

 

Blogging for the past two years has been a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs.  I have had so many experiences, met amazing people, and grown because I have stepped outside of my comfort zone repeatedly.

This blog has helped me so much and made me feel more confident. But at times blogging can make me feel like I am in Jr. High all over again.

First before we dive in too deep, I want to thank you. All of you who take the time to read my posts, comment, email, and interact on Facebook and other places. It brightens my day! I have gotten to know some of you better than others but I appreciate all of you. On those days when I don’t feel like getting anything done I will hop online and look through links from the linky party and see all the amazing things you have created. It gives me the motivation to get off my rear end and DO something. On the days when personal trials seem too much I get an email of encouragement from one of you. I wish I could put into words how much this blog has helped me personally. How much I needed it and didn’t even know it.

Thank you.

I have been in a funk for awhile and I have been trying to pin point the reason.I think it is a myriad of tiny things really.  Facebook is one of them. I was what felt like the last blogger on earth to get on the Facebook bandwagon. I didn’t understand why I needed a page for my blog. But the minute I finally caved in a started one I knew why. INTERACTION WITH YOU :) It was awesome! I could post anything (a question, a funny story, a thought, a beautiful room I saw) and you guys would crack me up and make me smile with all your responses.  It was like having a chat room with all my like minded friends. And then they changed how facebook pages work. And then they changed it again. And again. And now most of you do not even see my page (and other pages) in your feed.  It frustrates me because I miss the days of total interaction.

I have decided that I am going to be more active on other social media sites that still allow all your friends to see your feed. I will still post on Facebook as well. I just can’t ONLY do Facebook like I have been doing.

So if you would like to see updates on projects I am working on and chat with me I will be focusing on Google+, and instagram this year. (Not going to lie, google+ kinda scares me)

Another thing that I think started me down this introspective blog funk is a situation where bloggers were checking other blogs and seeing if they had Google Analytics installed more than once. I guess you can right click on a blog and click something else and then somehow see if it is in the code or something…. Techy stuff is not my forte. If you click on mine it shows up once for my blog and once for Cloudflare which my computer guy installed in WordPress. Hold on, let me google “cloudflare” because I can’t remember what it does……………………..

CloudFlare protects and accelerates any website online. Once your website is a part of the CloudFlare community, its web traffic is routed through our intelligent global network. We automatically optimize the     delivery of your web pages so your visitors get the fastest page load times and best performance. We also block threats and limit abusive bots and crawlers from wasting your bandwidth and server resources. The result: CloudFlare-powered websites see a significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks.

Anywho, GA is loaded on my blog and and because of this Cloudflare thing it shows up under that as well BUT my computer guy assures me it is only installed ONCE.

Why am I telling you this? Because someone (P.S. I do NOT know who) emailed a blog friend of mine saying I had it installed more than once and that they thought I was doing that to increase my stats.

It broke my heart. I cried. First of all, I don’t use Google Analytics for my stats. I have a WordPress plugin for stats that is suppose to be more accurate. I signed up with Google Analytics back when I was on blogger before I switched to WordPress but have not even looked at them in a long, long time. And second, I am not tech savvy. Even if I had wanted to add it twice I would not have know how. My sweet, patient computer guy helps me with most coding issues. And I am pretty sure he could care less about my stats.

This has bothered me for a while now. First of all because it would never even cross my mind to check other people’s blogs or worry about other people’s blogs. I have been told by those close to me that I tend to go around with my rose colored glasses on. I know they meant it as a negative thing but I LIKE going around assuming everyone is doing and thinking good things. I like assuming the best of others. But like I posted about a long time ago Blogging has a dark side.

I took a lot of time off in December to reflect on blogging in general, my blog, and where I am at personally. A lot of prayer and pondering. I can’t say that I am uber confident that the funk is over and I am ready at full force to attack 2013. But I do feel a little refreshed and a little excited at the prospect of a new beginning.

I will tell you what I wish. I wish I could just create projects and blog about them. I wish I didn’t have to worry about advertisers, promoting, and all the other stuff. I did not realize that the minute I decided to take this blog from a hobby to a business/hobby that it was going to change the game so much.  I sincerely believe that the reason my blog grew in the beginning is because Heavenly Father knew my little family was going to struggle financially. With 3 layoffs in the past two years and with four little mouths to feed and clothe, the small amount of money I can generate here has kept our heads above water. So I know that sponsored posts are not your favorite posts. I know you would rather see big room reveals and awesome furniture projects. But the sponsored posts put food on the table and allow me the funds (and products) to do the room makeovers and other projects.

My blogging friends are all making BIG goals and have big dreams for their blogs. And here is the really honest confession. The one I have not even admitted to myself until recently. I am scared. I don’t dare dream big. I am afraid of success because if I get big, there will be more experiences like the one I mentioned above. People being critical. And I don’t think I want to take off my rose colored glasses. I don’t think I have thick enough skin to handle it. I want to live in this supportive bubble we have created here and not venture into the big bad world.

So basically, I am a wuss.

So be patient with me and I may fumble while getting my footings here in 2013.  I love you all and I love the blogging community :)

***UPDATE*** After reading your wonderful comments I think I gave the wrong impression with this post. I didn’t mean for the whole focus of the post to be about that one experience. Like I said, there are a ton of little things that had me in a funk. Also, I am not giving up on blogging. I am just not sure how far to take it or how big to dream because I hate the idea of having critics. Hence the “wuss” comment :) I am still going to plug along doing what I have been doing. I just wanted you to know why it may not be 5 posts every week like usual for the next little while. Or maybe it will be with all the tutorials and stuff from my family room. Who knows :) Thanks for your support!

It is a popular thing these days to pick a word to focus on during the year instead of making a list of New Year’s resolutions. And I love that. I think that if you focus on one goal or idea at a time you have a better chance of being successful. I have done this for the last few years and though I have never posted about it before, I wanted to share my word for 2013. Wait a second you say? It is only the middle of December! I should get bonus points for being so on top of it right? :)

In the past some of my words have been RELAX, SIMPLIFY, and FOCUS.  I try to apply that word to all aspects of my life. But just because I focused on those words for the whole year does not mean I have mastered them. But It made me more aware of how I needed to better. It made me think about my choices and if they were helping me live that word.

This year I have picked :

I need to work on this not because I don’t like service or that I don’t already serve others but because I don’t focus on it enough. Sure, if someone comes up to me and tells me about a service opportunity I am all over it. But I am not out actively looking for ways to help all the time. I get so caught up in my life, in my kids’ lives and my husband’s life that I don’t often look outside of my little bubble. I get busy. I know a lot of people who have that talent. Yes, I believe it is a God given talent to be constantly compassionate and always looking outside yourself. I know many people who this comes easy to.

So even though I am willing to serve when someone hands me the opportunity, I need to work harder on looking for ways on my own.

So when I feel touched about a situation, instead of thinking “Oh that is so sad.” or “That poor, poor lady.” and then turning back to my busy life only to forget about,I am going to try to DO something. Because I think there is a reason that as woman we are emotional. We feel things so deeply so it will urge us to do something. And I want to be better about not letting good intentions or good thoughts go without acting on them.

I know I will not be perfect in this. But I can’t wait to fill this next year with even more service!

I am grateful for the chance to partner up with The Home Depot Foundation this year. It is one of the many times I was handed a chance to serve and said yes. And even though I did not come up with the idea, I loved every second of it. Because service is FUN. And service makes you feel good.

I love that the Home Depot Foundation focuses its time on helping military families. I have learned so much and my eyes have been opened. I do not have someone in my family who serves. I have learned it is a whole other culture with its own language. I have learned that not only do these brave women and men sacrifice their time and their safety, but then they return home and have to struggle because of he the things they have seen and the things that have happened to them. Even after they are done fighting, their sacrifice is not over. And their families sacrifice too.

I hope I have many other chances to help the Home Depot Foundation because I believe in what they are doing.

Here is a small video clip that summarizes my experiences this year.

This time of year is the best because everyone has that spirit of giving and serving. I look forward to experiencing that this season and getting my kids involved more too.

Do you pick a word to focus on? Do you think it helps you through out the year?

I have been blessed to be apart of the Celebration of Service program with The Home Depot Foundation. I have been to Georgia, Michigan and Florida to do service projects.  And then I found out I would be participating in an event in my home town here in Utah! This time was a little more low key.  A casual visit. And my family was able to come with me :)

I got an email telling me I was going to be able to visit a veteran and his family. They gave me his information and I realized that I knew him! We went to High School together. Crazy small world!

My kids are obsessed with all things army and no one in my family serves in the military so they were super excited to be able to talk with a REAL soldier :) Knowing them like I do, I waited until the afternoon before we went to tell them. I knew if they knew ahead of time I would be hearing “How many days until we get to go?” “How many more hours?” over and over.

They drew cards for him. They were precious!

(I removed the names for privacy)

Oh my word! My five year old’s card makes me so happy. I LOVE when kids learn to sound out words :)

Home Depot sent some packages to my house so that we could take them some Holiday Decor (tree, ornaments, tree skirt, wreath).

We were suppose to be accompanied by a man from Operation Homefront which is an organization that “provides emergency, financial, and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors.” But at the last minute he got sick and was not able to come.

My boys didn’t waste any time. The minute we got there they pelted him with questions about tanks, camel spiders, helicopters, and Iraq. He was so nice and showed us pictures and told my boys stories.  He served for 13 years before being injured and had to retire.

His family was so fun and it was very nice of them to welcome us into their home for the evening.

Don’t forget to enter the huge PICK YOUR OWN PRIZE giveaway! There are a couple of Home Depot giftcards in the prize packs!!!

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me for their Celebration
of Service Blog Network. As part of this program, I received compensation
for my time (ie. travel, accommodation). They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about
any product mentioned in these posts. The Home Depot believes that consumers
and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their
own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC
guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Yes, the rumor is true… our first AMAZING Pick Your Own Prize  Giveaway JUST ended… but don’t despair, we have the BEST news that will get you JUMPING FOR JOY all over again!!

Some amazing businesses caught wind of our last giveaway & decided they want to jump in & help our readers with their Christmas shopping too!!

 

We are SO excited to tell you about our….

BEST. GIVEAWAY. EVER!! {PART II, hehe}

Can you BELIEVE it! We were SO excited!! And this time, there are FIVE WINNERS instead of just three!! You heard me! FIVE more peeps get to cross some more things off their l’il Christmas list!! Ready to check out the FIVE amazing prize packages?!?

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

# 1: For The Techie! Value $399! an iPad 2 in your choice of black or white!

#2: For The Homeista! Value $599! Are you the type that likes to rock an awesome house? Well your DIY projects just got easier. First, take yourself to The Home Depot and with your $200 gift card get the tool, paint or rug you’ve always wanted. Then with that paint, use your new stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils to give yourself some awesome walls that will be the envy of all your neighbors. Top of that room by refinishing that beat up coffee table with your extensive new supply of Minwax products. And finally vacuum up all the left over glitter from your Christmas extravaganza with the fabulous Oreck VersaVac, (value $249) the very best vacuum cleaner around!

#3 For the Cook! Value $539 Get in that kitchen and karate chop that dinner (not literally) with your brand spanking new Ninja Cooking System. Now you can do more than your old crock ever dreamed of doing, steam, bake and/or slow cook your meals to perfection. And to top off that meal, finish with the prefect homemade ice cream made in your new 1.5 quart Commercial grade ice cream and sorbet maker from Air-n-water! (your honey is gonna love you!, and even your mother-in-law will be impressed!)

#4 For the Busy Mama! Value $479 Wrap up the perfect nursery with your new stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils. When you are done with all that painting, you’re gonna need a break, and that will consist of checking out all the wonderful surprises you are getting from your awesome Pick Your Plum gift basket! (and you can be sure that you got it before your neighbor did)! While you are checking out those goodies, let your sweet baby take a break in the Mamaroo (Mom’s new best friend), she’ll be swinging and swaying like she would on you hip. And after your busy day, right before bed, give your sweet little baby the safest bath possible with the Cleanwater Collection by 4Moms.com.

#5 For the Shopper! Value $it’s a $urprise! Do you have a black belt in shopping? Well, don’t worry, we didn’t leave you out. Take these two gift cards to the max! First at The Home Depot you’ll have $200 dollars to spend on that new light you’ve been wanting for the dining room. And after all that hard work? Well you’re probably gonna need to go get a new outfit… and we’ve been sworn to secrecy about the amount but that additional visa card will be just the ticket!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Good Luck!!!

*This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability. For an alternate entry please email

Alternate entry email: [email protected] with the subject All I Want For Christmas, include your entry information. The winner will be notified through email by December 11th,and will need to respond within 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen The sponsors will ship all prizes within 7 days of the end of the giveaway. Giveaway starts Tuesday, December 4th at midnight pm PST and ends Monday, December 10th at midnight PST. Once the giveaway ends, winners will be chosen randomly using the Rafflecopter widget and contacted within 24 hours by email. This post will be updated with winners’ names once we’ve heard back from them. Open to continental U.S. residents only.

We thought you should DEFINITELY check out the websites of our amazing blogger friends who partnered up with us to do this giveaway and our last one! Click on each image {or name} to visit their site!

The Dating Divas {Strengthening Your Marriage}

Remodelaholic {Home Décor, DIY & More}

Somewhat Simple {Crafts & More}

Pick Your Plum {Get It Before Your Neighbor}

Decor Chick {Home Decor & More}

Lil’ Luna {Crafts & More}	Craftaholics Anonymous {Crafts & More}	Not Just A Housewife {Home Decor & More}	4 Men 1 Lady {Home Decor & More}
Ucreate {Crafts & More}	HowDoesShe {Crafts & More}	Our Best Bites {Delicious Recipes}	Crafting Chicks {Crafts & More}[/caption]

WARNING: This will result in immediate loss of HOURS of your time… as you will soon become addicted to 12 other websites… in addition to ours!