Emily Rachelle Writes

Guess what? I just received the first book (volume of four books, actually!) by one of my favorite authors for a review and giveaway!  As I'm currently under the weather, the review will come a bit later - but the giveaway starts today! :) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read about Vintage Mail Maker and how it works here . For my first letter, I chose old typewriter font, simple retro envelope, and simple retro paper.  My message is a poem by Christina Rosetti:

As part of a homeschool family, getting ready for and finding colleges is a somewhat different path for me than for public schoolers.  Public high schools have guidance counselors and information about tests, colleges, financial aid, and who knows what else.  Homeschoolers, on the other hand, have to seek out this information on their own.  That's why I'm so thankful for two college help sites, one of which is www.cappex.com .

Week Fourteen: No-Heat Hair Curling {all photos linked to source} The Pin: no-heat wavy hair tutorial

For the Firmoo online glasses retailer giveaway, we had great results!  Over 100 entries!  So now it's time to announce the six winners of store vouchers and the grand prize winner of a free pair of glasses! The winners of a $30 voucher to  designer glasses  are... Holly Storm-Burge! Jessica Sage! Jennifer Alice Duran! Rab Pom! Sue Bunting! and Aimee Webber! And, finally, the grand prize winner of a free pair of any non-designer glasses (excluding sunglasses) is... *Drumroll!* Amanda Starr! Congratulations!  I'll be emailing the winners to send off the voucher codes and get the grand prize winner in touch with Firmoo. :)

I've mentioned before that I'm good real-life friends with Kathryn at Singing Through the Rain .  A while back she was contacted by someone from Vintage Mail Maker about being the first to work with them as a blogger affiliate.  After writing several posts, she ran out of ideas to blog about them - so she suggested I contact them and offer a new blogging outlet!  The man I corresponded with was very happy to offer two printed letters for free for a review.

Last week, I reviewed a book titled Wake Up, Generation by Paige Omartian.  In that review I mentioned her focus on the reader's finding his or her individual mission in life: The focus on a personal mission was the best point of the book, I think.  In my mind, my word for 2013 - "dream" - can be used to refer to goals, but it can also be used as another word for vision, passion, mission.  So this book seems to resonate well with my dreams of this year for me!  Paige also talks about this focus on life missions on her website:  http://www.paigeomartian.com/paige/how-do-i-find-my-purpose/ {via} Since I feel like this book and my discovery through it of my mission is closely related to my word for 2013 , I decided that today I would share my mission statement and ways I will/I could/I have already live(d) it out.