A Toast to Life Blog Hop - January 2nd - One Day Only

Hello my wonderful friends and family,

I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for and that is why I chose to be in this awesome hop.  Unfortunately my health isn't wanting to cooperate with my mind so my project is not the one I was hoping to make.  I do have one to show you, but please do come back when you have a free moment as I'm hoping I'll have a second project up by around 2:00 PM, after lunchtime.

Liz of Decade of Scrap is the awesome lady who decided to put on this hop!  You definitely need to go see her first if you just happened upon my blog today.  If you arrived here from Barbara from Craftin' but with Barbara then you are in the right spot.  Doesn't she have the cutest blog?  Love her work!  We also have an awesome sponsor; Kristy, of Scraptastical Kreations.  Kristy is offering up a $20 gift certificate to her store!!  I'm sure there will be other blog candy along the way so you won't want to miss this hop!  Go by and tell Kristy thanks too.  I'm sure she'd love that. ;)

I wanted to share with you something that I am very thankful for.  Now, I know this may seem a little unconventional for A Toast to Life, but these guys are what really keep me going.. They make sure I get out of bed each day, no matter how sick I am, because they need me.  I am responsible for taking care of them and they know that when I don't feel well, I'm still gonna do what it takes.  They help me keep my life on track, which is hard to do when you have a chronic illness.  So they are one of the things that I'm toasting to this year...  Yes, it's my dogs!  Well, pictured here are only two of them, but I actually have three.  These two in particular though, are great with my illness.  I often have a lot of pain during day and need to sleep through it and they do a great job of helping me out with that. ;)  Right by my side or more likely, right on me, they lay, to make sure that I know I'm not alone.  They are such loves and give my life so much more meaning than it would have without them.

About the project:  This is my very first digital scrapbooking page,which I used with my new software from My Memories!  You'll notice I have a code for this at the top of my blog to give you $10 off, however, one lucky commenter will have the choice to win this software for FREE or a different blog candy surprise if they already have the software. :)  All it takes is a comment and you must be a follower of my blog!  I will be doing a formal review of the software later this week.  So far, I'm LOVING it!  It was so easy to add all these cute little elements like the stitching, the ribbon, the flower and the words that I put over the ribbon.  I just love how this turned out!

BTW, my dogs are Lexi (fawn colored purebred Pitbull).  She was born on Christmas as was Moku, my mini-pig that I used to have, I'm sure some of your remember that story. ;)  Two pets born on Christmas one year apart.  Odd?  I think so. ;)  Next is Oso (black and white) whom I rescued the night before he was due to be put down at the shelter!!!  Can you believe it?  I rescued him and they weren't allowed to tell us that til after we decided to get him...  When we came out saying we wanted him the whole staff started clapping and many of the ladies started crying.  I asked, is that normal?  They said no... Reason was, was that  Oso (being a Pitbull/Sharpei mix) had been there for a month and he was due to be put down the very next morning and we had gotten him right before closing!  I am so glad we got him.  He is the best dog that I have ever had, hands down.  He was an owner relinquish and the sad thing was, they said all these horrible things about him, and none of them were true.  He is my big bear.  I love all my dogs, but his story is very special to my heart.  He's the black and white one and we got him first.  We decided to get Lexi cause he seemed bored after about a year.  Then we ended up with a little min-pin and well, she's just for me. :)  - Oh, yeah, and the Hubs... Sometimes he won't let me have her and claims she is his dog.  Funny how that works, isn't it? ;)  Men and their tiny little dogs... LOL!  So here's one of the things I'm toasting to this year, my three fur-babies.  Thanks for letting me share with you. :)

You have reached the last stop in the hop, but I would love it if you take a second to come back later because I'm hoping to have another project up. So I will offer a little extra chance for you to win blog candy.  Come back after my second project, leave another comment, and you will get a second entry!  Don't forget, you must be a follower of my blog!

Thanks all and Happy New Year!  See you back here soon!

XO ~ Amy Jo