And the winner is......

No, I'm not talking about the Saints, as gloriously as they played last night.  I'm talking about something bigger! Eh, maybe not bigger than winning Super Bowl 44, as I think the Saints were well deserving and played a terrific game.... Don't get me started on the commercials though.... I was not too impressed this year with most of them.  Not sure if people just didn't want to pay the money for the big time commercials, or maybe it was just me...

Anyway, back to the point of this post!  I used Random.Org to find a winner for my latest giveaway! I'm none to fancy when it comes to this here website..... (Please note the poor grammar was intended) I don't know how to copy and show you the actual number, but trust me? Mmmk?

The lucky winner of a small coupon organizer from GlowGirl is.......... #3

Taryn from The Colorado Desert!!

Taryn said...

Caddy Green and Blue Leaves Fabric is so cute. I loved the black one with swirls the most- but it is the mega sized one. = ) thanks so much!

I follow you in google reader!

So, Taryn, please e-mail me with your address and I will forward it on to Deb at Glowgirl!  

Don't forget, you still get free shipping on your orders with Glowgirl Until February 14th, 2010!  

Thanks for entering!  Have a great Monday!!!

**P.S.  Does anyone know how to do a screen shot of the winning number with random.org?  

Don't forget!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!  It ends tomorrow at 5:00 CST! 

Also, don't forget that you can still get free shipping by heading on over to Glowgirl's Etsy site!  There is lots of fun stuff, so don't miss out!

Hope you're having a terrific weekend! :-)

January 7th, 2009

Holy crap ladies!  I cannot believe I missed my One year blogiversary! (or however you spell it!)  It came and went without a thought!

Back then, I had no idea what I was going to write or even why I was starting a blog in the first place.  Hubby thought I was crazy and I figured nobody would care what I had to say.

However; there are some of you out there that really do care!  Some of you who comment on every post and brighten my day!  Some of you who have even helped me out along the way! I've met people who live in other states, I've only dreamed of visiting and people who live in my very own state!  I've even met one blogger , recently, who seems like my long lost sister!  We have so much in common, it's scary! 

I have to say that I've been presently surprised by the blog world.  I have found answers to questions I've had, been corrected on some things I thought I knew, learned some great recipes and even made some new friends along the way!

So thank you to those of you who have chosen to follow me on this journey! I hope I have not disappointed you!  I'm hoping that 2010 brings so much more than 2009 ever thought of bringing!  So, sit back and relax, 2010 is going to be an amazing ride!

Happy Friday everyone!

P.S.  Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!   you have until 5:00pm CST Sunday February 7th, 2010.

What are you waiting for?

Yesterday I promised ya'll (no, I'm not from the South, but I threw that out there anyway!) a surprise and I'm finally ready to reveal that surprise.

Without further ado..... Check out the amazing giveaway I have in-store for you!  

Deb at one my favorite Etsy stores is graciously giving one lucky winner from Livin' the Great Life their very own Coupon holder, courtesy of Glowgirl- Eco--friendly coupon organizers, sandwich baggies & Carry-all totes.  The lucky winner will get to choose any one of the small size coupon organizer from her store! She has a ton of amazing cute styles of coupon bags to choose from! (Plus a lot of other cute things as well!)

 

 

How cute are these things??  I bought mine last year and I use it all the time! 

I know a lot of you love using coupons and I've found that using this amazing bag helps me keep them organized so that I can go right to the coupon I want to use.  I also keep important receipts in here towards the back and other punch cards that I may need for some stores.

Glowgirl is also giving Livin' the Great Life followers Free shipping when you buy from her store!  So, if you are not the lucky winner, please head on over to her shop and pick something up for yourself anyway!  Just mention the blog: www.jesseandkaylacrane.blogspot.com or Livin' the Great Life in the comments section and she will credit the shipping right back to you!  It's that easy! (Hurry, offer only lasts until Valentines day! 2/14/2010!)

How to enter?

1 entry- Head on over to Glowgirl's shop and tell me which small size organizer is your favorite!
1 additional entry's- Become a follower of Livin' the Great Life or tell me you already are one
1 additional entry's- Become a Facebook fan of Glowgirl and/or sign up for her quarterly newsletter
1 additional entry's- Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment telling me where to go to read about it
2 additional entry's- Buy something from Glowgirl's shop, come back here and tell me what you bought. (I'll verify this from Deb at Glowgirl)

That means you can have a total of 6 entries!  So, what are you waiting for!  Enter the giveaway to win one of these uber cute coupon organizers! 

Giveaway will end at 5:00pm CST Sunday February 7th, 2010.

Things to come

I smell something exciting coming this week to Livin the Great Life!  You may just want to stick around to find out!

I'm talking, something you will not want to miss, exciting.

Do you use coupons?  Do you like saving money using them?  Maybe I can help you in your search to save money while shopping..... We shall see! 

Stick around and I will reveal the exciting surprise on Wednesday! :-)

Hint...... I'm pretty sure I gave it away by my label.... haha

Lucky Winner!!!

I hosted an After Christmas Giveaway right here at Livin the Great Life, courtesy of CSN!

The lucky winner of is

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: 30

Result: 17  
 

Yeah, so I don't know how to be fancy and copy the actual box that gives the results, but you see them above! :-) 
 

Katie at Loves of Life

Katie said.. 

              okay I'm in :) maybe this will help me cook more... its SO snazzzzzzzy! Oh and I'm a follower          already! Two entries for me! 

 

Katie, please contact me with your address so that I can get it sent off to CSN!  Congrats!!!

 

I'm so grateful that I got to do this giveaway for CSN! It was so much fun.  Thanks to everyone who entered!!   

You won't want to miss this!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  It ends January 11th 8:00pm CST!  Come on, who wouldn't love a crock-pot and a free one at that!

It's almost like having your own personal cook, just take a few extra minutes in the morning throw together somethings and voila (vwɑˈlɑ)!  How exciting is that!?!?  P.S.  I totally had to search on how to spell the dan world voila!  I would have never guessed that's how it's spelled!

Maybe you can even teach your hubby how to use it, how awesome would that be? **



So anyway, stop what you're doing, head here and sign up for the giveaway!  It's actually a really cool crock-pot that you can set the time on!  Check it out!  you won't be disappointed!


Good luck and have a great weekend!


**- Disclaimer:  In no way is this blog suggesting that your husband should do the cooking or that he will actually use the crock-pot once you win it or that the crock-pot will make your dinner without any effort on your part.  But I do promise you it will make dinner making simpler!   However; if this post helps do the trick and get your hubby cooking then by all means I'll take the credit! :-)

An after Christmas giveaway!

Happy 2010 Everyone!!! I hope the new year is treating you right already!

To  make your new year even better, I'm hosting a giveaway! :-)

Remember back in September, no?  Well anyway, I Won a fantastic workout bag from Brittany at Living in the Moment courtesy of CSN Luggage.

Well my friends, CSN has contacted me to do a fun little giveaway right here at Livin the Great Life!  Can you believe it?  I hardly can!

So here's the deal..... Like Brittany, I spent hours cruising their plethora of inventory to find the right gift for one of my lovely readers!!   I thought to myself, what would make one lucky reader very happy?  I then began to think of all of the things I had to do at home.... Laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking... Cooking!  That's it!  My slow cooker is my lifesaver and now it can be yours too!  Who doesn't love a quick 10 min food prep, throw it in the slow cooker in the morning, set the timer and come home to wonderful deliciousness ready for you to devour?? If you're saying "not me", we all know you're lying!

Here she is!




The Hamilton Beach 33966 Set n' Forget 6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker

This beaut allows you to "set & forget".  You simply throw everything in, set the timer and when time runs out, it sets it to warm.  So when you walk in that door on a cold winter evening and want nothing more than to sit back and relax, have no fear, your "slow-cooker" is here! (Yes, that sounded lame didn't it?) Anyway, there's a million things you can cook in one of these bad boys!  If you're lucky, when I post the winner, maybe I'll post a few of my favorite slow-cooker recipes!  You'll just have to wait and see!

So, without further ado, the rules: (Please post a separate comment for each entry)
1. Post a comment below about anything, really: what's your favorite thing to cook?  What are you doing for the new year?  What did you eat today?. (1 entry)

2. Become a follower (or remind me that you already are one) (1 more entry)

3. Post about this giveaway on your blog, then of course put the link in your comment(1 more entry)
For a total of 3 entries!


So there you have it. This giveaway ends at 8 p.m. CST January 11th 2010. I'll announce the winner on January 15th, 2010.

CSN will be sending you this item in the mail.  Once I have a winner, I will forward your info to CSN and they will ship your item directly to you.

Thanks so much for stopping by and entering!  Good luck to those that enter! :-)

Clues and guesses, anyone??

I mentioned before, that I may be having a giveaway.... Well, no lies here!  Keep your eyes pealed in 2010! :-) Jan 1st to be exact!  You won't wanna miss this!  It'll make dinner making or snacks a breeze!

I'll even give an extra 3 entries to the first person who can guess what it is.  So what do you think will be given away on Livin the Great Live on 1/1/10?  Any guesses?  I'll be accepting guesses until December 31st, 2009 at 9:00am CST.

Good luck! :-0

What a way to end 2009!

Wow, I don' even know where to start!  Let's just say you should probably get pretty jealous!  I just won a $70 shopping spree to Recessionista!  If you have not been to this site before, GO THERE NOW!  It's amazing.  I bought a couple purses and scarfs from there for Christmas gifts (one for myself, ha) and everyone loved them!  (Yes, we celebrated a bit early, last Saturday...)

Anyway, head on over to Recessionista to get in on the great affordable fashion!! :-)

Thanks Recessionista!!!

Suggestions Please...

We just bought this camera: a Canon - EOS Digital Rebel T1i 15.1-Megapixel Digital SLR.

I'm looking for ideas for software to purchase in order to edit my photos..... Know that I have never in my life edited a photo and so I know nothing about this kind of software.

Does anyone have suggestions on something that would be good software, easy to use for a beginner, but good enough to produce great photos?  And all fairly inexpensive?

Thanks much and enjoy your weekend!  I'll be back next week with a weekend update and hopefully a giveaway to post about! :-)

I did say I'd give you a clue, didn't I?  Well, the product hasn't been completely okayed yet, but lets just say that if you have one, you love it and if you don't, you want one!  It's something that will make meal time a whole lot happier :-)

Keep an Eye out

I see a fun, exciting, giveaway "cooking up" at Livin the Great Life!  Stay tuned for the big reveal in the coming days! :-)

I know, I know... You can hardly contain yourself, me either!!

Maybe I'll give you a hint tomorrow, maybe not... :-)

An utterly amazing giveaway!!!

Guys, you need to go to MckMamma's blog: the Nienie Diaries, Stephanie's A year of slow cooking, Kelly's Korner and  BooMama's blog to enter this fabulous giveaway!

You won't believe what they are giving way!!!  A HP TouchSmart 600!!!  Head on over and check them out.  This computer looks to be the best out there and I hope to get to use mine very soon! :-)

In fact, I'd rather tell you not to head on over there to check them out so that I have better chances, but that wouldn't be very Christian of me now would it... :-) I'm just joking, get on over there!

Bowl for Kids Sake

Hello everyone!

This year, I am participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters annual Bowl for Kids Sake.  This is our most important fundraiser of the year.   I'm writing to ask if any of you would be willing to donate to this cause.  It would be such a huge help if you would donate to this event.  Even just $5.00 will help me achieve my goal of $200.00, because every little bit helps.  Due to funding constraints, we do not have an online donating website at this time, specific to this event, but you can read more about Bowl for Kids Sake at our website: www.iowabigs.org

If you are not able to donate at this time, I completely understand.  Thank you for your time!

If you are interested in donating:

You can send checks of any denomination made out to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa

Please send checks to:
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Attn: Kayla Crane
2530 University Ave. Suite 8
Waterloo, IA 50701


Thank you so much for your support!

P.S.  There will be a small giveaway to a random winner.  Just comment that you sent in a donation and I will put your name in the contest to win something fun!! The drawing will be held on 10/19/09 so send them in as soon as you can!  All donations received by/on the 19th will be entered in to win!

Thanks ahead of time to all that read this!  Please tell your friends!

Mail!!!

Remember, here, where I posted about my big WIN!?!? Well, it came in the mail!! :-)

Here she is!  Isn't it sooooo adorable!?!?!

I love the inside!  It has cute little flowers in it and a ton of different pockets!


Don't remind me, I know I need a new camera!

A big thank you goes out to Brittany at Living in the Moment for this amazing new workout bag! :-)

I won I won I won!!!

The lovely Brittany over at Living in the Moment hosted a Workout Wednesday giveaway.  AND GUESS WHAT?!?!  I actually won it!  I could not be more excited because what is the prize you may ask?? Well, a gym bag of course!  It is so cute and will come in so handy! 

(and since I cannot upload a picture of the awesome bag, you'll have to go here to take a look at it!)

Brittany has an awesome blog that you must check out!  I can't wait, I'll probably be checking my mail daily to look for my new bag.  I cannot wait to use it, I know people are going to be very jealous when they see me walking in with it!  They may even think I'm a hardcore worker-outer :-) I sure fooled them with Brittany's help! haha

Thanks Brittany!!! :-)

Giveaway #1 Winner!!!

Well, since only 3 of you entered to first little test run Giveaway I'm going to send you each something.

The actual Lucky winner of the giveaway is: Taryn of The Colorado Desert
Taryn, please send me your address to kaylajcrane@gmail.com
(sorry, I don't know how to show you the exact image of the winning person, so just trust me)

The other two lucky ladies are: LYR at Breaking Through and Lucy Marie at Lucy's Life

These ladies all have wonderful blogs, head on over and read them!

Lyr & Lucy, please send me your address as well so that I can get your surprise out to you!
Please bare with me ladies, it may take me a week or so to get these out to you as we have another busy couple weeks ahead of us!

Thanks so much for reading and hopefully I'll have another giveaway in the next month or so!

Giveaway #1

In honor of my 100th post (well 102) and my 25th follower I've decided to do a small giveaway. I've started using some e.l.f. products and I'm pretty happy with them.

I've included the following:

1 e.l.f. Total Face Brush
1 e.l.f. Blush, Bronzing & Blending Brush
1 e.l.f. tone #3 Clarifying Pressed Powder
1 e.l.f. Natural Radiance Blusher in Glow
1 e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color in IVY (It's a green and brown combo)
2 e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF15 light pink and a light brown
3 bottles of e.l.f. Nail Polish in: light pink, clear & light red
1 pink & black case to put most of it in.... Sorry, I go the wrong sized bag so it doesn't all fit, but its still a cute bag

I've also decided to add a few of my favorites:

and I may see if I can find something else to put in with it......

TO Enter:

Please submit 1 comment for each entry:

1 entry- Comment on this post with your favorite beauty product
1 entry- Follow me or tell me you already follow me
1 entry- Blog about this giveaway and then post the link in a comment

Giveaway ends Friday August 7th, 2009 at 11:59pm central standard time

Good luck to everyone who chooses to enter! :-)

Maybe a giveaway and a little Q&A

So, I love followers, though I may not always ever be interesting...... :-) I only have 18, I'm thinking if I get to 25 then I'll have my giveaway! So give a shout out for me if you would.

Also, I'm having trouble blogging and I've seen a lot of people simply do a Q & A session.... If you guys have any questions for me, this is your chance! Ask away! :-) Is there a burning desire to know the color of my walls, my favorite go to shopping places or anything else that your little hearts desire, post it here and I will answer them in the next few days! That's only if I am worthy enough for you to actually wonder anything about me!

Happy Tuesday!!! :-)

A Fantastic GIveaway!

Head on over to A NYC Housewife-In-Training to enter to win a fabulous Beauty Giveaway!

She has such a cute blog and I read it daily! She's down to earth and fun and I'm wishing I would have found her blog sooner! So head on over there and enter to win, the prize is a Beauty Giveaway filled with some great beauty supplies, along with a gorgeous makeup bag to go with it!

So RUN on over here now! :-)