I like to enter contests online. It's free and doesn't take much time and occasionally I win! Tonight I found out I won a $100 Macy's gift card from http://hotmomsclub.com/ and that made me so excited! I can't wait to go shopping for Christmas at Macy's now!

A few months ago I won a contest from http://health.com/ and got a $50 iTunes gift card, a 6 month supply of Skinny Cow frozen desserts and a cool credit card sized pedometer. I'm using the iTunes card to get music for my marathon running and I love the Skinny Cow popsicles and ice cream sandwiches (mint is my favorite). The pedometer was so useful when I was in NYC- one day I walked 8 miles just sight seeing!

I also won a contest from Honey Bunches of Oats and got a coffee maker and year's supply of coffee (I gave those to a friend who drinks coffee). Thank goodness it came with a year's supply of the cereal too- which my oldest daughter loves.

My aunt has a website (http://purplefromtheheart.blogspot.com) and she has contests all the time. I've won some great socks (I'm wearing them now actually), a beautiful silver bracelet that I get compliments on all the time, a gift card to Kohls (I got a great jacket that I wore in NYC- scroll down to the photo of me next to the Sphinx in the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see it), a gift card to Blockbuster and a yummy box of treats from the Popcorn Factory!

My grandpa loved to enter contests too and won lots of stuff through the years. I think about him when I enter some of these contests. Maybe one of these days I'll win a big contest with lots of money and prizes, but these smaller prizes are just as much fun too!

Last weekend I ran 20 Miles! I'm getting closer to my marathon (Dec. 13) so my runs are getting longer and longer! I have never run 20 miles before and it really was not bad. I searched the web for advice for first time marathoners and found lots of useful tips but my favorite was to name every mile. I run with Nike+ so my ipod tells me as I pass each mile. Each new mile I would dedicate to someone important to me and spend that mile praying for them. All my girls had a mile, so did my husband and all my family. It was great! I spent the four hours praying and growing closer to my Savior and those that I was praying for. I wasn't thinking of me or how I felt, but of others. I will do this from now on every time I run. A lot of running a marathon is a mental game and I think this is the way I will beat that part of the game. I don't want to quit the race on any of my girls' miles so they will be the last four. I'm doing this for them too, afterall. I want to show them that they can accomplish anything they put their mind to.