100th Post & Special & Unique Giveaway

(me, Tom & my sister, Yvonne in Costa Rica~December 2008)

Wow, I began this blog in January and I am already up to 100 posts. I am not sure why I started a blog but I am glad I did. I think it's because when we moved to Sylva last year there were no jobs for me and I needed something to occupy my time besides surfing the internets and watching TV. I wasn't really sure what I would write about because basically our life if pretty non-eventful. It's not boring but it's certainly not a party every night. But somehow I have managed to write about stuff.

My first post was about insomnia and I still have that. I sometimes stay up way later than I should. After that my next post was about our new president and how amazed I was that he was elected. I waxed poetic about the importance of what had happened. I also posted about our new president and Martin Luther King on MLK day. Months later, I am still glad Obama won and while I don't agree with everything he has done, at least he is trying. He inherited a big old fat mess that I don't think can ever be cleared up but at least it is a welcome change than what we had the last eight years. Thank god those days are over.

Then I began to just talk about my daily life. I started noticing that people who I had never met started following my blog and commenting. It was sort of interesting. There are a few people who always comment and still do and I want to tell them that I truly appreciate that. I always look forward to those comments. After a month or two, I decided to share the link with friends and family. I still am not sure how many of them actually read my blog but I do know of a few who do. What I like about blogging is that if people want to know what I am up to they just need to read my blog. I don't have to email and explain my doings 50 times.

So I have blogged about important stuff, childhood memories, traveling and just plain nonsense. My blog also lets me journal my new life here in the country. I have become a gardener much to the surprise of people who really know me because they know I hate the outdoors. I have shared my stuffed tamale Mii with the world. I also did a cool Latino virtual book tour. I have posted endless pictures of Scout and Shawn much to the chagrin of Shawn who is not amused at having her picture taken. I tell you if I could read her thoughts, I am sure I would be horrified. I also created another blog where I do reviews and giveaways and that has opened up a whole new world. Blogging is a whole world unto itself and I have found some very good cyber friends during the whole experience. Now if I could only make a lot of money doing this, I would be very happy.

So here I am 100 posts in and I hope to reach 200 or 400 or 1000. Who knows. I will just keep writing and posting veggie pictures and telling stories.

So in honor of my 100th post I am hosting a giveaway. I am doing this because it seems to be a tradition in the blogging world. As you loyal readers know because I have mentioned it 5,000,000 times, I am Costa Rican. Though born and raised here in the US, I have a special place in my heart for Costa Rica. So I thought what better giveaway but a gift bag of Costa Rican treats for my readers. I am giving away a cute little tote bag that has Costa Rica written on it. Included in the tote bag will be a bag of authentic Costa Rican coffee (beans), a bag of coffee hard candies, a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans (yes, sounds weird but they are oddly delicious) and some Salsa Lizano. Now those who read my blog know that Salsa Lizano is like the Worcestershire sauce of Costa Rica. It is so good. And I might have other goodies in the bag as well. My sister just came back from Costa Rica and we will see if she has some extra goodies to send me. If she does, I just might pick more winners to get any extra goodies she sends. It's not guaranteed but I might get crazy.

How do you enter for this unique and cool prize? There are a few ways to enter. You must do the first one then you can get the extra entries.

Mandatory Entry:

Comment on this post on why you like my blog or why you would like to win this prize. Hey if you are here just to win the prize, write that.

Extra entries:

Tell me which is your favorite post or picture. (1 entry)

Suggest a topic for me to write about (1 entry)

Tweet about this giveaway (1 entry)

Blog about this giveaway (2 entries)

That's it! Deadline: Friday, July 24th at 11:59 pm EST. I will use random.org to pick a winner so everyone has a chance to win. PLEASE leave an email if your blogger profile does not include it or you don't have a blog. I need a way to contact you. Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and the winner will have 48 hours to reply back before I draw a new winner. Giveaway is open to US residents only who are 18 years of age or older.