Thank you!

This is just a quick note to say "thank you" to everyone who stopped by to leave comments this weekend, offering advice and kind words about my new Book Reviews and Movie Reviews pages! I really appreciate your input and your encouragement, and I hope you find these new pages to be helpful to you!

I'm sure this is sooner than ya'll were expecting, but I picked a winner out of those who gave me feedback (and said they wanted to be entered), and the winner is . . . Katie M!

Her choice out of the two books was Love's First Bloom!

Also, thank you to all of you who voted on the poll! I'm so glad you enjoy the movie reviews, and I'll try to keep them coming. ;) It's really fun to write them!

Above and Beyond

My dad told me that the following phrase is used at military award services to describe heroism:

"Above and beyond the call of duty."

This is what the government, and two people in particular, did for me and my family. They went "above and beyond the call of duty," and we will be forever grateful to them for their service to us and to our country in general.

Both Sergeant Davis and Sergeant Glaspie helped my family through our time in Washington D.C., taking care of all of our needs and showing us care and kindness. Below are pictures of Sergeant Davis and Sergeant Glaspie (helping my aunt Donna in the limo):



I cannot begin to express my thankfulness to them both, and especially to Sergeant Davis for not only being an amazing example to me, but also for being an amazing friend.

And now for you, my readers, I have one request to make. If you have not already done so, please look at all of my posts for this trip to Washington D.C. (Go to the Labels section in the sidebar, click "Washington D.C.," and start reading the posts from the bottom, working your way up.) It will take some time, but these are some of the most important posts I have ever (or will ever) put together on this blog, particularly those posts with the videos.

To Sergeant Davis, Sergeant Glaspie, and all those in the United States military:

Thank you for going "above and beyond the call of duty." Your sacrifices will be remembered forever.

Birthday Story Bash Finale

We're going to end the week like we started it--with a bang! =)

First we'll start with the poll results. If I was interviewing ya'll collectively, and I asked you who your favorite Toy Story character is (I guess I kind of did that, huh?), your answer would be a three-way tie between:

• Woody
• Jessie and/or Bullseye
• Rex

Coming in close second(s) would be:

• Slinky Dog
• Hamm

I guess all of the Toy Story characters are so great that you had a hard time deciding! ;)

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for. It's time to announce the winners! Winners have through Monday to respond to my e-mail, or I'll pick another winner (so be on the lookout for that e-mail!). And the winners are (drumroll please) . . .

• Karen : autographed and personalized copy of Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella Sechrist

• Lindsay : The Prophecy by Dawn Miller

• Deb : Love Finds You in Pendleton, Oregon by Melody Carlson

• Ariel : Pedigreed Bloodlines by Sandra Robbins and Dog Gone by Eileen Key

Congratulations to all of the winners!!!

And now for some huge "thank you"s!

Hannah over at Project Journal gave me a grand surprise party on her blog yesterday!!! It was wonderful! In fact, I think there might still be some cake left over, and that bouncing house might still be up if you want to go check it out. ;) We would love to have you join the party!

And while I was at that party, Hannah gave me some "thank you" notes that I could use. =) So here are some other wonderful people I want to say "thank you" to:

• Cerella Sechrist: Thank you so, so much for letting me interview you, and for giving away a personalized, autographed copy of your book! It was so much fun having you visit this week (and in the past, as well!). Thank you for your kindness!

• Angie: Thank you for your generosity! I know we all appreciated having you give away three of your own books this week! You are such a good friend, and I'm so glad we could meet in the blogging world. :)

• Renee: It was so much fun interviewing you! Thanks for always being so patient when I ask you blogging questions, and thank you for all of your support and encouragement! (You were my very first follower, and I haven't forgotten that!)

• Emily: Thank you for being such a sweet sister, and thank you for letting me interview you! =) I'm so proud of your achievements, too! (My sister got a scholarship last night for her academic achievement. She's going to be in 8th grade soon! I'm so proud!) =)

And a BIG, BIG THANK YOU to all of you!!! Your sweet comments and your enthusiasm made this week a memorable one for me. I hope you all had even half as much fun as I did! Thank you for making my birthday week so special for me!

In closing, I want to remind you that Toy Story 3 is coming to theaters June 18! Don't forget!!!

And here's a video I found on YouTube of "You've Got a Friend in Me." I think it's a great song to sum up how I feel. You, my dear blogging friends, have a friend in me!

(Toy Story picture from the Pixar website.)