We never win anything!

If I've heard those words once, I've heard them a bajillion times around our house. We never win anything. One year, we set out as a family to win the HGTV dream home. We bought postcards and sent those in. We registered online. We didn't win. I've always dreamed of Publisher's Clearing House showing up at my door with a giant check. We've never won. We've bought lottery tickets (when visiting other states) and we've never won. My sister has sent lottery tickets to my kids with their birthday presents. I can't say we've never won because our daughter did win $20 from the Texas lottery!

This fall, our daughter-in-law won BIG time. She won an all expense paid trip to London for five people to attend the red carpet showing of the new Harry Potter movie. I've seen her pictures and heard a little about the trip and she and her four friends were treated like royalty! She WON!

About a month ago, I received an email from Pappy & Co. They were having a sweepstakes. If you purchased a box of Bourbon Nib Brittle, you were entered into the sweepstakes. Mark loves all things Pappy so I thought, "why not?" especially when I read about the sweepstakes and it sounded like Willy Wonka. The winning brittle would contain a golden ticket! I thought that I would stash the brittle and put it in Mark's stocking or give it to him if he was having a bad day. When the package from Pappy arrived, I opened the shipping box and there was the brittle and a card that had "congratulations" written on it. I had not said anything to Mark about the sweepstakes so I emailed the folks at Pappy and said, "does this mean I won?" I promptly received an email back "Yes - You won!" I NEVER WIN but I won big this time!

Mark's grand prize arrived yesterday. A 12 year old bottle of Van Winkle.

Not just any bottle of Van Winkle but a bottle signed by Julian Van Winkle III himself. (his signature is also on the brittle box!)

I won! I can't believe it! I won! I've made my husband a happy man! Hubby has asked me to enter any sweepstakes they offer! 

Thank you so much Pappy & Co.!!  (Just FYI Pappy & Co is owned/run by women - triplets - you can read this article about them)

p.s. we've also purchased their bourbon balls - yummy!!

p.s.s. they didn't pay me to write this article - we won and I'm writing because I'm excited!

Random Questions from Sunday Stealing

I got these questions from Sunday Stealing who stole this from a questionnaire on Swap Bot.  Yes, I am very aware that it is not Sunday but I'm off for the next few days and needed a writing prompt tonight!

1. What is your favorite animal? I am fascinated by BIG cats!

   

   photo from katmandu2

   
   

   

   maybe I love big cats because of this big guy!

   
   
2. Your dream vacation? To stay in one of these (below).  I also would love to go to Australia and New Zealand.

   

   photo from Tahiti Overwater Bungalows

3. Last person's house you were in? Besides my own this morning? We were with friends on a mini vacation over the weekend -- so I was in their farmhouse!!
   
4. Worst injury you've ever had? I tore my hamstring a few years ago and that was really painful and in September of this year, I fell ON MY FACE.
5. Last play you saw? We have season tickets to a small local theater and we saw a play a couple of weeks ago. The play was "A Funny Little Thing Called Love."
6. Ever go to camp? I went to overnight camp one time when I was in elementary school. I remember how homesick I was . . .but I stayed! As an adult, I've been active in the Emmaus community and we "go to camp" for three nights. Don't tell anyone  . . . but I still get homesick!
7. Were you an honor roll student in school? Yes, I was - honor roll and National Honor Society in high school and A/B honor roll in college. I remember receiving a B in English 102 and I had the highest grade in the class and the only B - isn't that crazy?
8. What do you want to know about the future? I know who holds the future so maybe I don't need to know anything else.
9. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? NO! NO! NO! I have horrible allergies and perfume and cologne sends me totally over the edge.
10. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit? I just went a couple of weeks ago and got a great report! Having lost 80 pounds over the last two years, I don't have to take blood pressure meds nor cholesterol meds anymore!
11. Where is your best friend? I'm answering this in a weird way - with more questions. Are you asking if my best friend lives in the same town? If so, yes.
12. Do you have a tan? My tan is fading rapidly. I love to have a tan and was very tan after our trip to the beach in September.
13. What are you listening to right now? We've been listening to a lot of Lauren Daigle. We also have listened to Even If by Mercy Me (we've listened a million times!) and I love New Wine by Hillsong. I also love A Million Stars. We also tend to listen to Maroon 5, Imagine Dragons, and OneRepublic. I like Bruno Mars (hubby doesn't).
14. Do you collect anything? I used to collect things - at one time, I collected thimbles and at another time, I collected angels and another time, crosses . . .now, I don't think I collect anything except dust bunnies!!

    

    photo from channelingerik

15. Who is the biggest gossiper you know? I can't answer that question on my blog!!!!!
16. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? It has been several years since I've been stopped. I have a tendency to speed. 
17. What does your last text message say? Thank you! The text that prompted it "Crosses from wedding are still on glass doors. I took down and they're sitting on some boxes in the foyer inside the door."
18. Do you like hot sauce? I like Sriracha and I like Cholula. If you haven't watched the Amazon Prime Documentary on Huey Fong Sriracha, you need to watch it!!!
19. Do you need to do laundry? Yes, we went out of town for that mini vacation mentioned above and there is laundry still to be washed. There is a load in the dryer. There is a folded load on the island and there is a load on the island that hasn't been folded, too!
20. What is your heritage? If you had asked me this question six months ago, I would have answered "Cherokee" . . .but then I did 23andMe . . .and lo and behold, no Native American DNA at all. I'm British and Irish and a few other things!