The Whimsical Mama

<3 Such is the life of a stay at home mommy and Army wife (:

Blogoversary! (And giveaway!) July 10, 2014

I am so blown away that it’s my blogoversary! Okay, it was actually yesterday. You know how in my confessions on Top Ten Tuesday mentioned either way ahead or scrambling on posts? Well, this week has been a scrambling one. I scheduled ahead for vacation, but only through the day we came home. I know, I know.  This year has been an incredible experience. Chock full of hard work and numerous rewards. I’ve said before, but I’ll say it again. This blog is older than a year old. I started blogging in 2011. Aspirations of becoming like Julie in Julie&Julia. That FAILED. Juggling a newborn and a new blog idea while hubby had a travel job just didn’t work. So this sat unused for ages. Then Mary started getting her blog off the ground. I debated jumping back in the blogging world for a long time before I actually committed. This time around, I was juggling a toddler AND a newborn, but hubby no longer traveled with work. Finally, I took the plunge and I never looked back.

The Whimsical Mama would never have been possible without all the support Mary’s given me. She is seriously my number one supporter in ALL THE THINGS. If you don’t know her, she blogs over at Mary Had a Little Book Blog. You should check it out. It’s incredible. Just like her! Mary and I go way back to my freshman year of college. Books have always been a big thing in our friendship and I love how close we are on and off the net. Still sucks that we live so far apart! Mary, you’re the best and I LOVE YOU!

This also wouldn’t be possible without you, dear reader. There are times when I feel like I’m blogging and talking to a wall, but when I see pages views and visitor numbers, it makes my heart soar. I could seriously talk to a wall about books, but knowing that someone, somewhere is checking out The Whimsical Mama, it reassures me that I’m doing the right thing. Thank you for sticking around even though I don’t get to do a lot of giveaways. I am happy that I’m going to be able to do more giveaways now. It’s killed me not to be able to share book love other than just publicity.

Thank you to all the publishers & publicists who have taken a chance on me. Especially Cassie McGinty at Disney Hyperion. She deals with my emails a lot and is always AWESOME! (: I’m so thankful for the opportunities you’ve given this lil ole blogger mama to share the book love. 

OBVIOUSLY ALL THE LOVE goes to the authors too. Let’s face it. They’re the true reason we’re here. Without their hard work, we wouldn’t have anything to gush about! I’ve had the chance to interact with one of my favourite authors (Melissa de la Cruz) and meet and build relationships with so many others. I love you all so much. Major shout out to Amalie Howard and Jodi Meadows. Last summer, many a night, there were hours long chats with Jodi, Mary, and Alex. So many fun times! Jodi took the time to drive down to meet me for lunch when I was up in the Northern VA area. She’s incredible. She’s a lovely lady and incredible author. Read her books. DO IT. Like I said yesterday, I stumbled across Amalie and I’m so happy I did. She’s super awesome and super talented. We haven’t had the chance to meet in person yet, but it will happen and it will be EPIC. I will forever more shout the recommendations about their books. Fo’ sho’.

Now, for the time we’ve all been waiting for! GIVEAWAY TIME! I have a ton of giveaways scheduled for this month and next, but this one is special for my blogoversary (plus the Infinite ARC giveaway). This is going to be a level giveaway. First up is a young adult book of choice (up to $15) from Book Depository! For every 300 entries, I’ll reveal another prize and add another winner. Prizes will be first come first serve if more than one is revealed. *** Prize #2 has been unlocked!!*** ARC of 17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen! (US ONLY) If you don’t follow my giveaway guidelines, I will disqualify you. Don’t make me do it, please. I’ve had to disqualify people from every giveaway I’ve hosted thus far and it’s so disheartening.

 

Giveaway!

This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL (and only open to the countries where Book Depository delivers to) Entrants must be 13 years old to enter. Those entrants under 18 MUST have parental consent. Giveaway is open July 10th 2014 (12am EST) through August 10th 2014 (12am EST). I reserve the right to disqualify entries in violation of my giveaway policies. All entries WILL be verified. Winner(s) have 48 (FORTY-EIGHT) hours to respond to email/tweet. Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor! (: For every 300 entries, I’ll add another prize & winner! Prizes will be revealed at each level! (Book Depository prize ONLY IS International all other prizes are US ONLY. Sorry!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Don’t forget about these giveaways!

 

Kiera Cass Giveaway!

This giveaway is open to US only ( Entrants must be 13 years old to enter. Those entrants under 18 MUST have parental consent. Giveaway is open July 6th 2014 (12am EST) through July 20th 2014 (12am EST). I reserve the right to disqualify entries in violation of my giveaway policies. All entries WILL be verified. Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor! (: For every 100 entries, I will add another winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jodi Meadows Giveaway!

This giveaway is open to US only ( Entrants must be 13 years old to enter. Those entrants under 18 MUST have parental consent. Giveaway is open July 1st 2014 (12am EST) through July 31st 2014 (12am EST). I reserve the right to disqualify entries in violation of my giveaway policies. All entries WILL be verified. Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor! (:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Top Ten Tuesday #27: Reasons I Love Being a Reader/Blogger February 18, 2014

b301e-toptentuesday

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Reasons I Love Being a Reader/Blogger

1. I love being a reader because… I get to visit different worlds. Sometimes, real life sucks. Sometimes living in East Tennessee is a real drag. I’ve been lucky enough to have had the chance to go to Europe three times. Getting away from here is something I crave. Books are an inexpensive way to go. Being able to have a break from being in mama mode 24/7 is nice too. Reading during naps or when the kids go to bed = bliss.

2.I love being a blogger because… I get to meet people from all over the world. And when I meet these people, we’re instantaneously friends because we share a love of books and it’s AMAZING. I’ve met some pretty awesome people and I love you all!

3.I love being a blogger because… it gives me an outlet to share my love of books. If I could talk books to people all day, every day, life would be grand. Blogging gets me as close to this as possible! (:

4. I love being a blogger because… I get a chance to read ARCs and pump up the word for awesome books that are coming out. I love that I get to help get hype up before a books releases or keep it up after it’s out. It’s a great opportunity and I’m immensely thankful publishers have allowed me the chance!

5.I love being a reader because… I get a chance to have a relationship with the author through their books and in person through signings and talking on Twitter. Getting to talk with authors right after I finish their books is something I never thought I would ever have the opportunity to do. Going to signings is a great perk too!

6. I love being a reader because… It is something I can share with my children. We try to read together every day or I try to make sure they see me reading every day. I’ve read to both of my children since before they were born. Both love bringing me books so I will read to them. It makes me very happy and proud. I hope this is a love that I am fostering to continue their whole lives.

7.I love being a reader because… I am working to own Belle’s library. (Duh!) Girls wanted to be a princess when they were little. Me? I wanted Belle’s library.

8.I love being a reader because… I am always being exposed to new genres, authors, etc. I love finding new reads. I love sharing those new reads. It’s an ever evolving world and I love it.

9.I love being a reader because… I LOVE the smell of new books. I have a set of Harry Potter books from England and they still smell lovely after 14+ years. I love burying my nose in them. There’s just something soothing about the smell of new books. It’s bliss.

10.I love being a blogger because… I love getting to host giveaways. I haven’t done many yet, but I’m hoping I can start doing more soon! I love being able to share books with people.

What do you love about being a reader/blogger? Feel free to leave your links! I’d love to check out your lists. (: