Holla!

***This giveaway is CLOSED.***

Check me out all fancy like!

So, here it is.

And YES…THERE IS A GIVEAWAY THIS WEEK!

Could you. just. DIE.???  So. cute.

Keep reading.

All the crazy chatter, all my cryptic hints.

There is so much to say, so much to do.

Do not be fooled.

This is not just a simple domain name change.

I got me a plan.

I’ll be spending the next week explaining it all to you.

(And yes, I know that many of the buttons on this site go to empty fields.  That’s on purpose.  I don’t want y’all to get ahead of me.)

Remember this post where I felt like I needed to grow my blog?

Well, it bugged me. A lot. It just nagged and nagged.

“I feel like I need to grow my blog, but it doesn’t make sense. Why on earth would I do that? What would be the purpose? It’s not like I sell anything or make a product. Growing my blog doesn’t seem worth anything.”

“Maybe it’s just to encourage others, Jeannett.”

“Hmmm, yeah, maybe. But that doesn’t feel right. I feel like it’s supposed to be something bigger than that.”

And so, I tossed and turned and thought and thought and prayed.

And then…the Idea.

As soon as the Idea entered my brain, I quickly dismissed it.

For Pete’s Sake, Jeannett…what are you thinking? Why would people do that for you? What makes you think you can convince them to do these things? You don’t have *that* many readers.  And they only read.  This takes more than just reading.

And then, 3 days after I got the Idea, I won a full-on custom website and blog design package from Simply Delightful Designs.

Oh.

I suppose that having that fancy of a blog seems a bit silly for my daily musings and announcements that “Henry started solids today. His poop was green.“

This Idea I keep talking about?

Well, through the years of blogging, I’ve noticed a couple of things:

1. People always seemed genuinely appreciative whenever I was raw and true and said things outloud that may not have been “kosher”.  Women appreciate knowing that they aren’t the only ones whose life carried surprises with it.    Lives that were rearranged.  Things didn’t go according to their plan…when it happened, it was traumatic, it sucked…but looking back, they wouldn’t change it for the world.
2. Women want to connect and give back.  They may not have much, but they want to feel as if they are part of a larger community and they *desire* to be philanthropic.  I think we all have this desire to impact beyond our front stoop.  But we don’t know how or why.  Or that we can’t afford to.  Or don’t even know where to start.

I wanted to take these two things and somehow combine them.

Hence, the Idea:

I plan to host guest bloggers: women who were given lives they would have never imagined would be theirs.   Whether it be a major surprise like a child with special needs, a death of a spouse…or something as “little” as just not knowing how on earth to get dinner on the table in a timely manner.  Because let’s be honest, with everything I have going on, sometimes just having clean toilets is what stresses me out even more than Jilly’s therapy sessions!

Each guest blogger would also select a charity for whom to fundraise for.  AND, the fundraiser would also incorporate a raffle/giveaway to entice giving.  Basically, if Sue gives $11 to the charity of the week, she gets 11 virtual tickets for the item/s being given away.  The more she gives, the more chances she has to win.

You can expect a new guest blogger and giveaway every 2 weeks.

The rest of the time you can expect my random posts and pictures of my cute kids.  Because I’ve been neglecting that part of my “voice” lately and I know I need to bring it back.  So do not fear! My sarcasm and wit will return shortly!  (I’m sure you’re thrilled.)  It’s just that it’ll have some substance to go along with it too now.  Kinda like French Fries and Ketchup.  Or ice cream and hot fudge.

I think that one of the beauties of blogging is how people can connect and be exposed to things others are going through.  Don’t get me wrong, we all need lives outside of Virtual World, but it’s a great way to not feel so isolated sometimes.  There are millions of amazing blogs out there.  And I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time to read them all.  And as I blog about my own story, you can learn a little about other mama’s struggles.  other mama’s hurts.  other mama’s joys.

I don’t have it all together.

Chances are, you don’t either.

So let’s quit looking down our noses at one another and realize that *none* of us have lives that are exactly what we dreamed they would be when we were 9 year old little girls playing dollies.

Our lives brought with it tears, sadness, heartache, frustrations, angry rants…but above all, more joy and happiness and love than we even knew possible.

And that, crazy kids…

is my Idea.

I’m freaked out by it.

I know you probably have a million questions…but be patient.  I gotta week to get it all in.

In the meantime, the girls at Toile Tales want to give YOU a $30 credit to their shop!

Filled with the cutest crochet hats. Ev.er.

To enter, leave a SEPARATE COMMENT in THIS POST for each of these entries:

1. Check out Toile Tales and tell me which is your favorite item.
2. Follow me on Twitter.
3. Tweet about this giveaway.
4. Subscribe to my new blog site.
5. Facebook about this giveaway.
6. Join my Facebook Fan Page!  (Whoa, getting fancy!)

Winner to be announced on Friday, March 19th!

Tell your friends.  Let’s make this BIG.

(But not too big, ‘cuz you know, I’m still a mom.  To three kids.  All 2 and under.  And I have two dogs.  And a husband.  And sleep is helpful.  And it’d be nice to read a book sometimes.  And take a bubble bath…ha!)

IF YOU ARE UPDATING YOUR BOOKMARKS/READERS/ETC. YOU CAN JUST BOOKMARK WWW.LIFEREARRANGED.COM/BLOG TO BYPASS THE HOMEPAGE IF YOU WANT.

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jeannett

I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.

@jeannettg

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jeannett

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