Giveaway Winners & Weekend Links!

Happy Saturday friends!

I'm happy to announce the winners of the 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality eBook giveaway!

Congratulations to numbers 3 & 1...Lady J and Kali Kalinyuk!  

Please contact me with your email addresses {thetidsandbitsblog{at}gmail{dot}com} and I will forward your information to Edie so she can send you the download links!


And, here are some of my favorite reads from this week:

Halfway Homemade: Honey & Buttermilk Pie from Emma @ A Beautiful Mess
Buttermilk pie is hands-down my favorite pie.  I've never made mine with honey, but I'm so intrigued I can't wait to try this one out.

The Lucy Maude Montgomery Journals Read Along with Caroline @ Caroline by Line
I don't own copies of LMM's journals - I didn't even know they existed - but this read along has me inspired to add these to my reading list for this year.  Or to re-read the Anne books.  Or both.

Your Real, New Self by Edie @ Life in Grace
Inspiring and thought provoking.  I think I read this 4 times this week.  And now my conundrum for the day is do I start re-reading Mere Christianity during naptime or work on taxes?  Me thinks reading CS Lewis would be much more restful than working on taxes....and I am supposed to be resting and healing.... ;)

Giveaway Ends Tomorrow! {don't forget to enter!!}

Don't forget the giveaway for Edie's new book 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality ends tomorrow night at midnight!  The two winners will each receive both a PDF and an ePub version of the book.  Some of you have expressed concern that you wanted to enter but wouldn't be able to read the book because you don't own an eReader.  Since you will receive both the ePub & PDF files, no matter what device you read books on (laptop, phone, tablet, kindle, nook, etc.) there is an option for you!  (I actually read my copy off my phone...I have yet to decide if I'd rather have an iPad or a Nook...and in lieu of either I use my phone.)  Further more, if you don't win and you decide to buy your own copy, when you purchase Edie's book you also receive both versions.  So please don't hesitate to enter the giveaway.  :)

And I want to thank you all so much for your outpouring of love and encouragement following Tuesday's news.  So many of you have emailed and responded on Facebook and I feel immeasurably blessed.  I know the next couple of weeks are not going to be easy, but I'm hoping this will pass quickly none-the-less.  Until then, I am slowing down.  At least as much as I can with a toddler potty training and a puppy house training!  It is nothing if not a lesson in patience and priorities - two things I constantly need to practice.

I leave you with cute puppy photos - because who doesn't love a cute puppy photo?

The pups meet for the first time.  :)

The Kiddo is such a fan of "Baby Sister Doggie"!

31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality eBook {a giveaway!!}

I am thrilled to announce today the very first giveaway at Tids & Bits!

image via lifeingrace

Have you met Edie?  If you haven't you should.

There are people we come across in our lives that leave us changed.

People who inspire, people who teach, people who whisper quiet truths.

Sometimes they speak to us in lyrics and in ancient hymns.  Sometimes their voice comes through books we read, published long ago but still relevant today.

image via lifeingrace

And often times today, they speak to us from blogs, Twitter feeds, and Facebook accounts.  Maybe that is our modern form of the "great conversation".

Edie's blog Life in Grace is the very first blog I ever read "cover-to-cover".  She is one gifted lady, who shares generously and transparently the good days, the bad days, and the unspeakably bad days.  And through that sharing she has inspired many...least of all, me.

Needless to say I was extremely excited to learn that Edie wrote her very own ebook!  31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality is an expansion of the 31 day series she wrote in October 2012.  I couldn't wait to buy my copy and devoured it little by little last week.  It does not disappoint!

In Edie's own words...

Hospitality isn’t about inviting people into our perfect homes, it’s about inviting them into our imperfect hearts.

"It’s about learning to live from that vulnerable place where we open ourselves to love... This is hospitality, on purpose."

I could not agree more.

And now to the GIVEAWAY!  Edie is generously giving two of my readers their very own copy of her ebook.  The giveaway will be open starting today and will end Friday, February 11th at midnight.  I will use random.org to pick the winners.  To enter please leave a comment below telling me what the word "hospitality" means to you.  One comment = one entry, one entry per individual, please.  Annnnd, if you are impatient like me, you can purchase your own copy here and start reading now.

Happy Sunday, friends.  :)