Contest

Yesterday I toured Before the Season Ends. Today we will have a contest for a copy of it. The author has agreed to give away a free copy to one lucky reader. She has made one stipulation though. In order for a winner to be chosen there must be 10 people entering the contest.

How to enter. You will have multiple ways of entering this contest.

1. First, you must comment below telling us a romantic time you have had. This will get you one entry. You can then do any or all of the entry choices below.
2. Tweet about this post on Twitter. Leave a comment with your Twitter ID, letting me know you did.
3. Blog about this contest. Leave a comment letting me know where you blogged. A link on a web site, MySpace, FaceBook, etc. will also count.
4. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment. If you already follow me, that is good enough.
5. Post one of the widgets for my new site, Contest Farm, on your site. Comment below to let me know you did.

Rules

• Draw will be processed using random.org.
• Entries must be time stamped by midnight on February 18th.
• Spam entries will not be accepted and may be deleted by administrator.
• Email addresses must be included with entry so you can be contacted.
• Email addresses are not public and will never be used for any purpose other than to contact you related to the contest you entered.
• Most likely only the winner will be contacted. If you want to see who the winner is, you can revisit the contest and it will be posted as a comment.
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another name will be drawn.
• If no one responds within the time allotted, prize will either be offered as another prize, or donated to charity.
• Winner can choose to have item donated to charity instead of shipped to them.
• Administrator can choose to invalidate entries if they are determined, in the administrator's mind, to be spam, cheating, or otherwise unethical.
• US entrants only

Do you like the classics? The Mary Tyler Moore Show is a classic show that many people loved in the 70's. If you love the cast and crew of WJM-TV or would like to get to know them for the first time, this is the contest for you.

To enter, leave a comment below. Your comment should include your fondest television memory. Were you ever on TV? What did you do? What show do you remember most from your childhood? Why is it such a fond memory? You don't have to answer all the questions, they are just to get you thinking about your entry. Your entry must include a valid email address for me to contact you if you win. Contest ends December 31st, 2008.

What do you get? One brand new, unopened copy of the entire third season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1972-73.

• Contest is by random draw and will be processed using random.org.
• Entries must be time stamped by midnight on the date the contest ends.
• Spam entries will not be accepted and may be deleted by administrator.
• One entry per person. Multiple entries will count as one.
• Email addresses must be included with entry so you can be contacted.
• Email addresses are not public and will never be used for any purpose other than to contact you related to the contest you entered.
• Most likely only the winner will be contacted. If you want to see who the winner is, you can revisit the contest and it will be posted as a comment.
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another name will be drawn.
• If no one responds within the time allotted, prize will either be offered as another prize, or donated to charity.
• If no entries are made, prize will be donated to charity.
• Winner can choose to have item donated to charity instead of shipped to them.
• Administrator can choose to invalidate entries if they are determined, in the administrator's mind, to be spam, cheating, or otherwise unethical.
• Non-US Entrants will need to pay actual shipping costs if they win.

This contest is over. Beth Sheppard won. Congrats Beth, enjoy the book! If you want to enter another contest, visit our new site which features contests from around the web: http://contestfarm.com

Yesterday I warned you that today there would be a contest to win your own copy of Shade by John B. Olson. Entering is easy, just post a comment to this entry and tell us a little about the most recent book you read. Or if you prefer, tell us about your favorite book. Winner will be randomly picked from all valid entries. Entry must be received by December 17th, 2008.

Now, what do I get? you ask. You get your very own copy of the book Shade by John B. Olson which I reviewed yesterday. This is the copy I received as a review copy, but is in like new conditions. I will even cover the cost of shipping it to you. You pay nothing.

I plan on having little contests like this more often. Some of the books I receive as review copies will go out this way. I may put together some seed or bulb packets as contest prizes. I'll think of some other things as well. But to make these contests work, I need to set out a few ground rules. They are below.

• If contest is by random draw (most will be) draw will be processed using random.org.
• Entries must be time stamped by midnight on the date the contest ends.
• Spam entries will not be accepted and may be deleted by administrator.
• One entry per person. Multiple entries will count as one.
• Email addresses must be included with entry so you can be contacted.
• Email addresses are not public and will never be used for any purpose other than to contact you related to the contest you entered.
• Most likely only the winner will be contacted. If you want to see who the winner is, you can revisit the contest and it will be posted as a comment.
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another name will be drawn.
• If no one responds within the time allotted, prize will either be offered as another prize, or donated to charity.
• If no entries are made, prize will be donated to charity.
• Winner can choose to have item donated to charity instead of shipped to them.
• Administrator can choose to invalidate entries if they are determined, in the administrator's mind, to be spam, cheating, or otherwise unethical.
• Non-US Entrants will need to pay actual shipping costs if they win.

Other Contests:

Leave Comment Below to Enter

A while ago, Laura Williams won a contest here and I said I'd write a review of her site. This is that review.

Laura is a Christian and homeschools her seven children. She blogs about various things, including contest, saving money, raising kids, gardening, homeschooling and whatever else she feels like writing about. She must spend a lot more time blogging than I do, because she manages to write at least one article a day (her daily contest list) and usually four to seven articles. I'm lucky to get four to seven a week.

Often when I see blogs that have several articles a day, most of them are short and useless articles. Not the case with Laura. She has a lot of good information there. She has a list of great recipes, making money articles, games and more.

Laura has been on my list of sites I regularly visit for a while. I really enjoy reading her blog and when she entered my contest, I was thrilled to have her on it. I was even more thrilled when Random.org made her the winner (of course with only three contestants, she had a good chance). Thanks, Laura for entering the contest, and thanks for having such a worth while site.

There is a contest to get a dream job in which you have to submit a short video application in order to be considered. I thought it was a fun idea and I need practice with my video editing skills, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Basically, you create the short video, submit it for consideration, then you get to vote on them and others vote on yours. The best 10 are considered by the panel of judges and the best 1 wins $1000, their dream job for a day, and a trip to the dream job location. There are other prizes as well. I hope I win, but mostly I did it for the video editing practice.

You can view my video here and be sure to go and vote for me. If you have applied, give a link below and I'll check yours out. (it is not embedded, because for some reason embedding it crashes IE, but the link does not...)

The contest did not go as well as I would have liked. I think I made it a little too complex. I also may not have advertised as well as I should have. Ah well, live and learn.

Three entries. Three winners.

Using Random.org I randomly selected the winners. Random.org tells me the everyone won! Laura won the big prize though! Reviews will be done this month and the advertisements will be shown next month. Payment of entre credits will begin today.

Grand Prize:
1 month banner ad (468x60) on Tired Garden (top of site)
Review of your site with link on winners list.
Laura at Laura Williams' Musings

Runners Up:
1 week of half banner ad (234x60) on Tired Garden (in side bar)
Short review of your site with link on winners list.
HellaD
Win EntreCard Credits

Non-winner:
Everyone who did not enter!

Do you donate? If you donate, that is great. I thank you. The receivers of your donation thank you. Everyone should donate. I am not going to presure you to donate, but if you do, let everyone know. Let's challange everyone to donate. Just get the badge below, put it on your site to let your readers know that you donate and then comment below, so I can let my readers know.

My Story

As I was painting my ceiling and listening to Todd Agnew. I began thinking about how poor I am. I'm a student, so I have no money coming in. Then I thought about how poor other people are in comparison. I'm not so poor.

We (my wife and I) often complain about being poor. We live fairly modestly, but we are far from being poor. No one in this household knows how it feels to be hungry. To know hunger you have to have gone days, weeks, months, without enough food. We have and have always had, a good solid roof over our heads. No, we don't have much money. It is likely that our savings will be gone by the time I finish my masters, but we are doing pretty good. Others are not.

God spoke to me through the music. He reminded me of a promise I made that I have not kept good on. I had made a pledge to KLOVE and since I have no income, I chose to not send in the pledge. KLOVE helps people who are in dire straights. Their pastors are available by phone, 24 hours a day, every day to talk people who have nowhere else to turn away from their poor decisions and toward Christ. Last night, I sent in the payment to get me caught up on my pledge. Do you have a past due pledge you need to send in?

I had also promised myself that 10% of all income I get will go to charity. I got a temp job doing some web design work over the summer. I've already sent in the 10% from my first check. I also got a small commission check from my advertisers on this site. Every dollar I make, from this site, from my other sites, from my job, from any other form of income I end up with, I will give 10% to charity. I pray I will do this for the rest of my life.

Challenge

Here is my challenge to you. I challenge you to make a donation. Talk to God, He will tell you how much and where to. Once you have made your donation, post a comment below and let your users know that you donate by including the I Donate Badge below on your page. This will let everyone who visits your site know that you are dedicated to donating. Your badge is good for one year, then you should make another donation. The amount of your donation is up to you, and I have no way of auditing you to find out if you are actually making the donations. That is between you and God.

If you do not believe in God, or worship another god, that should not stop you from helping out a comminity that needs your support. Please don't let my religious beliefs get in the way of your doing a good deed.

What do I get?

Some people need a reason to donate. Other just donate because it makes them feel good. If you donate, let me know, and put the badge on your site, you will get your name on the Blog Roll below. I will periodically visit sites on the list, comment, stumble, etc. I encourage others who are on the list to do the same thing. The more you comment and stumble, the bigger this community will grow. Twit some pages. Add them to your social bookmarking sites.

Badge

Put this badge on your site to announce your participation:

<a href="http://tiredgarden.info/blog/i-donate-do-you"> <img src="http://tiredgarden.info/files/logos/idonate.png" alt="I Donate" /></a>

Blog Roll

Hear ye hear ye read all about it. Tired Garden to hold a contest for all foodies who blog.

Prize

Grand Prize (1 winner):

2000 EC credits (EntreCard)
1 month banner ad (468x60) on Tired Garden (top of site)*
Review of your site with link on winners list.

1st Prize (3 winners):

500 EC credits (EntreCard)
1 week if half banner ad (234x60) on Tired Garden (in side bar)*
Short review of your site with link on winners list.

All Entries:

Link in list on winners list.

*Banner ads on Tired Garden must be appropriate for all ages and link to sites that are appropriate for all ages. Animated banners must be simple and not disturbing to the visitors. Ads must meet admin approval. For speed of page loading, ads will be hosted on Tired Garden unless otherwise approved. All ads will be displayed during the month of September.

To Enter

[**note the rules below are meant to be fun. We are writers, and this writing prompt is meant to get some creativity going. I do understand that the prize may not be enough to convince some to be creative. If this is you, feel free to just create a link to anywhere on the site and that will suffice as an entry.]

To enter, write a food article that includes the following food items (choose two or more). What the article contains is up to you, but the article must be centered around these foods, or if a recipe, the food items must be in the recipe.

Article must include a link to http://tiredgarden.info or to another page on the site (such as this contest)

Article must be permanently archived on your site.

All entries must be received by July 31st, 2008.

To enter, create your entry, then add a comment here with a link to your entry.

Food Items to be included (choose 2):

summer squash (any type)
gooseberries
currants
carrots
strawberries
potato

Selecting winners

Judges decisions are final. All entries will be checked for meeting the guidelines. All those that meet the guidelines will be entered into the drawing. Winners will be randomly selected using random.org. Winners will be selected on or about August 1st. All participant will be contacted by email with a link to the winners list.