The Hump Day Blog Hop and Two Awesome Giveaways!

Happy Hump Day everyone! We are halfway through the week and the hump day camel is too freaking cool, so lets have some fun and a blog hop to celebrate.

This is a little different than a link up. To participate, simply add your blog link. There is no required entry or anything like that. This is about networking, making new friends, and finding new blogs.

All I ask:

1) "The Hump Day" blog hop button button be displayed anywhere on your blog page or a specific entry with a link back to me or the weekly co-host. (Please do this. These blog hops take a lot of work and preparation.)

2) You don't have to follow me, but in the words of Blake Shelton: it'd sure be cool if ya did.

3) Mingle with your fellow Bloggers.

<div align="center"><br /><a href="http://www.fitnessblondie.blogspot.com" title="The Hump Day Blog Hop"><img src="http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a593/fitnessblondiel/humpday_zps418f63f6.jpg" alt="The Hump Day Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div><br />

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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A Halloween Treat Giveaway That Can Help You Lose Weight!

I had to make the graphics for this awesome giveaway Halloween related. If there are two things I love in life it's Halloween and Quest Nutrition!

As summer has come to a close and fall is now beginning, people sometimes tend to become less active. When that happens, it is essential one watch they eat, and go for healthier choices. Therefore this giveaway could not come at a better time. Quest Nutrition makes healthy eating enjoyable and exciting. To me, that is the most important part.

Quest Nutrition is giving away a variety box of their famed protein bars and a variety box of their new protein chips to THREE different winners -- all flavors included! 

The contest is open to residents all across the world; not just the United States. However, you must be 18 years or older to enter. ALL entries into this contest will be verified. If a submitted entry is found to be false, all entries submitted by that person will be automatically disqualified. This contest has no cash value and no purchase is required.

The giveaway starts Tuesday, October 7th and ends Wednesday October 15th at midnight. The winners will be drawn at random via random.org. Once the submissions are verified for authenticity, the winners will be displayed via blog post on Friday, October 17th!

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A Quest Nutrition Giveaway for My Birthday!

It's my birthday, friends! Today I turn a quarter of century old and I am no longer allowed to say I am in my early 20's. It is bittersweet I guess, but I enjoy growing older. Age does not matter to me; how I feel does! I feel 35 and depending on who you ask I look it too, hehe. 

I love giving to my readers. You guys keep me going and have grown to be such amazing friends. What better way for me to say "thank you" than to give out delicious Quest Nutrition products for you not only to enjoy, but to assist on your weight loss journey and/or keep healthy. 

As I reflect and think about my "birthday wish and/or wants", I find myself not craving material things like I usually do. Purchasing my new car was both exciting and incredibly needed. Since that stress is off of my back, I feel happy and content. 

-- Continue to lose weight: I am down 62 pounds since 11/25/2013 and I have 25 more pounds to go until I am "satisfied" and transition into the "maintaining" stage.

-- Finish my first fictional book titled "Pretty, Lies". I am about halfway finished and then the intense editing and changes will begin. I think if I stay focused big things could come. There is already something in the works. I would also like to send it to 10-15 of my blog readers to read review -- I would like to receive honest feedback on it. If any of my bookworms are interested, please let me know!

-- Stay true to myself and not focus on negative things people say. It is a known fact that not everyone will like you. Sometimes a person will not know a thing about you and still not like you. Sometimes people will not understand you or anything you stand for, which makes their "assumptions" completely wrong. There is a quote I like; "“I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.” That is something I want to focus on more. Growing a blog, trying to make a name for yourself, and chasing a dream that is not considered "normal" is both very rewarding and hard. As I have been on this wild ride, I have experienced wonderful opportunities and rewards, but also some negativity and hate. However, I am hungry to be more than I am, so I will never give up. 

-- My father's cancer to not spread so aggressively and more cancer treatments become available. (My fingers are crossed; we have been informed by Duke that there are really good medical treatments that should become available soon.)

-- My mother to receive her monthly MS medication (it is $6,000 a month). This wish has been granted! An organization has helped my mother and she will now be receiving her infusions. She gets her first one Friday. Thank you, God! Unfortunately the treatments cannot repair the flares she has experienced the past few months, but they can prevent new lesions, so we're praying for the best. 

-- My words to help and inspire other men and women to live their best, healthiest, and most fearless life possible. Knowing that I help other people gives my life meaning. I want to see everyone be successful; and whenever I can help, I want to do it. 

Now on to the fun stuff about the giveaway:

• You must be 18 years are older to enter.
• This is open worldwide.
• All entries will be verified -- if a submitted entry is found to be false, the person is immediately disqualified and other all entries submitted by the person will be void.
• The giveway runs from Wednesday, July 30th at 12PM EST to Wednesday, August 6th at 12PM EST. 
• Winners will be chosen at random via Random.org. 
• Winners will be announced via blog post on Friday, August 8th.

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Change your life forever with my Dave Ramsey Giveaway!

It is just as important to be financially fit as it is physically fit; I can't stress than enough. Recently I started reading a book that is steadily changing my life. I want nice things in life and more so, I want to be able to live a comfortable life. I am single and live alone, and it can be hard without anyone's else financial support. So I picked up Dave's book and I am so grateful at the knowledge I am learning when it comes to becoming financially stable. I posted a picture of my book on Instagram and Facebook, and was really surprised at the feedback I received. Dave Ramsey is incredible when it comes to budgeting and money. He has helped millions of people transform their lives.

Whether you are young, old, married, single, male, female, black, white, purple, or blue, The Total Money Makeover will change your life. If you still are not convinced, just check out the reviews.

There will be two winners from the giveaway! Both winners will receive a copies of the book with first place also receiving $25 PayPal giftcard. 

The contest is open to all residents of the United States. ALL entries entered into the giveaway will be verified. Winners will be chosen at random via Random.org and contacted via email once their entries have been confirmed. 

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All About The Week + Quest Giveaway Winners!

Since it is Friday and my brain is ready to shut off for the weekend (ha, who am I kidding, it is always ready to shut off) I am going to partake in the fun Friday 5 and favorites link up's and share randoms about the week that has been!

First, I want to thank you guys for your participation in the Quest Nutrition giveaway. They emailed me to let me know how much feedback they received from it, so I am hoping we will team up again very soon away to give you guys more products! I have tell you, even on my darkest and hardest days, you guys never fail to make me smile and give the that push I need to keep going. As I said earlier this week, it has been difficult adjusting to the abundance of changes ensuing in personal life, but you guys make it worth it. This my passion. It's hard work, but I love it. Some of you say I inspire you, but you will never know how much you all inspire me. Thank you for all of the meaningful and heartfelt comments and emails. They gave me hope and faith. OK enough sappiness...

Last week when I was in the grocery store, I happened to see a trial/travel size of John Frieda's Curl Reviver Mousse. Since it was like $1-$2 I figured why not try it. I love big hair. There are three things that can never be too high in life - one's heels, hair, and standards. Ha! I forgot it about over the weekend, but found it on Monday morning when I was fixing my hair for work. I absolutely love this product! It gives tons of volume, does not weigh the hair down, and it adds just enough curl - not too tight, but not too dull. It is like a wavy/beachy look. If you want an affordable, good product to add volume, I say give it a try!

Tuesday I awoke to hitting the 50 pound loss mark. It was exciting and rewarding. It's been a lot of hard work getting my life and body back, but I continue it one healthy choice and one kick-ass workout at a time. I have really stepped up my cardiovascular training over the past 2 months. I believe it is really helping. Of course, clean eating must be the top priority, but intensifying workouts never hurt anyone! Plus I rarely ever drink anymore. In August of 2010 when my gym first opened, I used the StairMill. My gym is huge - 3 stories, and only has two StairMill's. It is the hardest cardio machine I ever used besides the Jacob's Ladder (I wish so much I had access to this machine!). Last year I did not use it at all. I lost motivation, so the last thing I would want to do is use a machine that pushes me to my limits. Even earlier this year, I stayed away. Finally, I snapped out of it and I have been using it again at least 4 times a week. The StairMill aids tremendously in training to make me stronger while hiking and jogging. I can absolutely tell a huge difference strength wise. If you have access to this machine at a gym, use it! It is hard, but worth it. It makes me sweat like no other. Do not expect to use that machine and look pretty. It is all about hard work. When I first started using it a few years ago, I could barely do 10 minutes. I kept it and kept working and now I can do an hour. Do not be discouraged if you can only use this machine for a few minutes - just keep trying! It is worth it!

To celebrate my 50 pound loss, I went to Polished Nail Bar for a pedicure. I never ever get manicures or pedicures... I do everything myself at home. However, this past weekend I decided to treat myself to manicure and pedicure since I worked so much last week and my body was aching. I loved it. I received a leg massage that my calves were so thankful for, the chair vibrated your back, and you are served a class of Chardonnay. That is my idea of relaxing. Thus I went again. I didn't even need another pedicure, but I loved the massage and relaxation part of it so much that it felt worth it!

Wednesday, my Ipsy bag came! What do you guys think about yours so far? At first glance, I was not excited. I love makeup and color. This bag just seemed kind of... boring. However, now that I have received it, it is not so bad. I am eager to try the hair mask; I am always looking for good products for my hair. I never wear concealer so I am happy to have a tube to try out! If anyone wants to try my facial cleansing wipes for something they received - let me know. I' m open!

If you don't know what Ipsy is - it is a monthly makeup bag you receive via mail. It is only $10 a month and with that you get a makeup bag and 3-4 beauty products. You are billed on the first of every month and products arrive between the 10-15th! When you sign up, you get to customize your settings so you get products closely matched to your beauty preferences. If you want to join, please click here and use my link! I will appreciate you!

My mom arrived yesterday! She is here for the weekend and I am so excited to have her here. She single and ready to mingle, so I hope to show her a good time this weekend. We already started it good last night. We went grocery shopping at Target, bought some goodies at Ulta, then had dinner and a cocktail at one of our favorite restaurants "City Tavern". Now to get through this work day, then it will be time for the weekend!

Least but not least, I have the winners from the Quest Bar giveaway! They are listed below and were chosen via Rafflecopter who used Random.org. All entries were verified and I will email the winners for their shipping address! 

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Bikini Body Prep Giveaway and The Hump Day Blog Hop!

Welcome to a very special addition of "The Hump Day Blog Hop". I am hosting a new giveaway today as well. I am so thankful for all of my absolutely amazing readers and friends that have helped my little blog grow over the past 9 months. I am in love with the awesome friendships I have made and as a thank you, I wanted to help you guys get bikini body ready!

Also included in the prize pack, if the winner wants it, a phone or Skype session with me to go over your current nutrition and training program, provide tips and advice specific to your particular situation/lifestyle, or even create a specific nutrition/fitness program. I have been NASM certified since 2008.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We are halfway through the week and the hump day camel is too freaking cool, so lets have some fun and a blog hop to celebrate.

This is a little different than a link up. To participate, simply add your blog link. There is no required entry or anything like that. This is about networking, making new friends, and finding new blogs.

All I ask:

1) "The Hump Day" blog hop button button be displayed anywhere on your blog page or a specific entry with a link back to me or the weekly co-host. (Please do this. These blog hops take a lot of work and preparation.)

2) You don't have to follow me, but in the words of Blake Shelton: it'd sure be cool if ya did.

3) Please follow the co-host. I love helping and promoting these amazing women in the blog world! I do this to not only meet new people, but help my friends make new friends and readers.

4) Mingle with your fellow Bloggers.

<div align="center"><br /><a href="http://www.fitnessblondie.blogspot.com" title="The Hump Day Blog Hop"><img src="http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a593/fitnessblondiel/humpday_zps418f63f6.jpg" alt="The Hump Day Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div><br />

Please help me in welcoming this weeks co-host, Alex at "High Heels and Treadmills"

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The 3 Best Ways EVER to Get Followers

We all love followers, right? There is no better feeling than waking up and seeing a new follower or two on GFC (still my personal favorite) or BlogLovin (meh). Or perhaps you sit at work all day refreshing your screen every 5 minutes and wait for your followers to grow...

Nonetheless, we all want grand blogs with stellar content that keeps everyone coming back for more. 

I have been a "lifestyle" Blogger for approximately 8 months now, therefore I know everything there is to know. 

Do you want more followers? Execute these 3 simple ideas:

1) Sell your soul.

Listen, Blogging is all about having the most beautiful pictures and showing off your amazingly clean house and your huba-roo who loves you more than life, worships the ground you walk on, and  feeds you breakfast in bed while rubbing your feet. Not to mention Jim Bob who is your 4 year old son and is currently training for the Olympics after piano, violin, and guitar lessons and currently reads on a 12th grade level. Don't forget the cheese pizza recipe that is only 12 calories a slice and will cause you to drop 45 pounds overnight. 

That is what we want to see. 

Do not write about your actual life, problems you have, obstacles you face, ideas, thoughts - none of that. Just give us the pictures and tell us how great your life is. That is what matters. 

2) It's all about the name brand

Like, ew. Who would not NOT wear designers? In order to post the above beautiful pictures that are a must on your blog, you have to have the props. Do you have a small house or apartment? List it tonight. Get out of there STAT. You need a big, extravagant house. Where else can you stage your amazing pictures? No one wants to see that skinny cheese pizza on a non granite counter. Furthermore, your clothes. You need to spend hours looking at fashion bloggers so you know what's in style. Don't forget your jewelry - Kate Spade all. the. way. A $128.00 bubble necklace is the one way to go, lady. If you don't have the cash for it, just take out another credit card. It's that easy. Then on your Erin Condren planner, make sure you pencil in (no, don't use a pencil, I'm sure there is a $45 pen on the market that is totes amaze) a daily Starbucks trip. Lastly, don't you dare post a picture with a bag less than a Coach. If you do not have money for those items, go in debt. Who cares? It's just a measly credit score.

Once you have all of this, you can then proceed with your amazing pictures. 

3) Don't pay your mortgage; host a giveaway instead.

Truthfully, your house will be OK without paying the mortgage for just one month. For example; if your mortgage is around $1,000 - imagine the giveaway you could host! Give away a Louis Vuttion bag, a laptop, or use all of that money towards a Starbucks giftcard - all of your followers could order as many mocha frap chocolate vanilla swirl latte's with nonfat creamer, skinny mint syrup, a dash of of Splenda with a hint of sugar, and a drop of lite cool whip on top as they want!

 Give something GREAT then your blog will be worth following. 

Giving away a Mercedes would be even better...

but lets not be outrageous here. 

**What fun is life if you can't laugh at yourself. I have Coach bags, Erin planners are cute, Starbucks is OK, I have grantite counter tops, and it would be so amazing if there truly was a pizza that was only 12 calories a slice. If you took any of this literal, please do not come back to my spot.  

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My First Giveaway: $40 Ulta Beauty Giftcard

Hello to all of my amazing Blogger friends out there in the world! I have reached over 100 beautiful followers on my "Fitness Blondie" blog so I wanted to say "thank you" and conduct my first ever giveaway!

I have seen some giveaway's out there, that make my head spin! I am keeping it simple. It's easy to enter and I am just trying to get my blog out there in the world a little more.

I am giving away a $40 Ulta Gift Card. This is perfect if you need new skin care products, make-up, hair tools, pufume, and/or anything girly. The best part is, if you do not have an Ulta store near you, you can use the giftcard on their website! Ulta Beauty is one of my favorite stores in the world, so I thought this giveaway would be perfect!

I really enjoy giving back. So if you guys keep reading and spreading the word. I will keep giving. I do a lot of Coach auctions, so I think a Coach giveaway will be next... stay tuned :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here is my link to the Giveaway if you want to share it and/or add it to your page: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MmJmNWJjNjMyNjA3NWI3Yzg0ZGYxMTJlYjIyMTAxOjA=/

I will announce the winner via blog post on Wednesday, August 21st.

I wish everyone luck and again, "thank you" to all of my Blogger friends. I have had a blast in the "personal" blogging world so far!

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Randoms, Questions, and a Giveaway!

Happy Monday. Today is a random sort of day, so bear with me.

* I am sure you heard about the BART strike. Luckily I was on vacation last week and I missed the entire fiasco, which, I have been assured, WAS a fiasco. I normally take the casual carpool, which means I wouldn't be affected by the BART directly, BUT...all the extra people on the road instead of on the BART means that I would have been affected. So, hurray for accidental beautifully timed vacations.

* You probably also heard about the flight at SFO. Crazy, right? Did you see the photos? I know that people were killed, but I am really surprised it wasn't worse, to be honest. That plane was really badly burned!

* I have a lot of things going on in my life but absolutely no brain power to explain anything. Hence the bullet points. Do you think there is a direct or inverse relationship between the two?

* I went to Oregon for a week. It's just like where I grew up; there are mountains, trees, lakes and rivers. There is hiking, swimming, biking and fishing. I had to drive ten hours to get there. Why is it we drive a long way to go to a place to enjoy ourselves when we have the same thing in our very own backyard?

* Chobani has NEW FLAVORS! They sent me a complimentary pack of their new flavors to taste and I am allowed to give one lucky reader a case of their very own! This is a one day giveaway and it will end tonight, July 8th at midnight Pacific Time. All you have to do to win is:

1. Leave a comment guessing what you think the new flavors are. If any of your guesses are right, +1
2. Leave a comment answering one of the above questions (re: inverse relationships / backyards). +1

A random drawing will be held tomorrow and a winner will be announced sometime this week. 

I hope you all had a great 4th of July and are not experiencing too much of a holiday hangover today!

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In Running News

Happy Labor Day! I hope you get today off and are enjoying it! I have finally gotten some errands done that have been on my To Do list for ages! This weekend I also participated in the Mommy Run Fast Labor Day Virtual 5 and 10 mile race. Laura, of MRF, is a Texas runner, spin teacher and mom who has some great recipes! I especially love, and have made several times, her Garbanzo Brownies and her Apple Oat Cookies. You can find all of her recipes here.

On Saturday, I ran the 10 miler. I did two loops around the lake, which is a little over 3 miles. That, coupled with the 1.5 miles each way from my house to the lake equaled out to a nice round 10. I procrastinated this run and did not do it until about noon, but luckily the day was not too hot. However, the lake was crowded with people, which reminded me that I need to go earlier if that is where my route is. I finished this run with a time of 1:22:45, which is an 8:17 average. After the race, I went to a baseball game and ate nachos and beer. Post race carb loading is the best!

On Sunday, I ran the 5 miler. I went with a friend to the lake, walked around once with her for a warmup, then ran around once and then ran back home to complete 5 miles. I finished in 41:31, which is, you guessed it, an 8:17 average. You can't get much more consistent than that! I did not take any photos either day, which is too bad, because it was beautiful out!

Also, I found out my registration date for Boston. It's September 14th! Here's hoping that there are not already 25,000 people in line ahead of me. You probably already know how they do the registration, but in case you don't, they let people who qualified by 20 minutes or more go first, on the 10th. Then, those who met the standards by 10 minutes or more go on the 12th. Then on the 14th, anyone who met the standards by 5 minutes or more (me!) get a chance. If you qualified by :01 - 4:59, you get to register on the 17th. However, if all the slots are filled by your registration date, you don't get in. So, keep your fingers crossed for me that there were not a lot of really fast people this year.

Last but not least, the winner of the book giveaway is... Steph The Book Worm. Thanks everyone for participating! Steph, email me your address so I can send the book your way!

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Fun With Photos...and a Giveaway!

I have always kept a scrapbook, ever since I was a little girl. But since the digital age, I have never really used a digital medium for doing scrapbooking. Luckily I recently won a giveaway and so I got a chance to play around a little. It's only been a couple of weeks so I haven't fully found out everything that can be done, but so far I am having fun. 

There are a bunch of scrapbook page layouts, which are really easy to use. 

And then there are tons of fun things that you could use to make a new blog header or buttons or whatever! I will definitely waste a lot of time have a lot of fun with this software! 

And now for the good part. My Memories has offered me one free copy of the My Memories Suite for one of my readers! All you have to do to win is this: 

Mandatory Entries: 

(+1)Be a GFC follower of this blog. Leave a comment letting me know that you are.

(+1)Visit www.MyMemories.com and choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then leave a comment telling me which one you like best!

Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each):
(+1) Like MyMemories on Facebook
(+1) Follow MyMemories on Twitter
(+1) Like Travel Spot on Facebook

(+1) Tweet about this giveaway (make sure you include @travelspot06)

That's 6 ways to win!  

Also, even if you don't win....or if you DO win and you want MORE stuff, you can use THIS LINK and enter this code: STMMMS91971 to get $10 off the software and $10 off any digital scrapbooking products. 

This giveaway ends Sunday, October 16th at 9 pm Pacific Time. The winner will be drawn using Random.org on Monday, October 17th. Please make sure your email is enabled on your profile or if not, please leave it in the comments.

Happy Scrapping!

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Argentina Rocks!

This is Argentina. 

Today , you can join me over at Women Rockin' The Road, where I am talking about being a vegetarian in Argentina, one of the beef capitals of the world.  

____________________________

Also, I have a winner to announce for the Back to The Books Giveaway Hop.

Drum roll please....

And the winner is....

Number drawn by random.org.
______________________________

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Back to The Books Giveaway

Okay I have never done a giveaway before but I have a couple of fun books up for grabs! It's easy to win one! (if you live in the US) This giveaway is hosted by Kathy at I am a Reader, Not a Writer. After you have entered here, you can go to ANY of the other participants below and enter at their sites for many great book prizes! Enjoy!

Here they are:

If you want either or both of these books, you can enter in a few ways. 

One entry: In the comments below, tell me which book you would like (or both!) 

For additional entries you can: 

(1 entry) Follow me on GFC (and leave a comment below)

(1 entry) Follow me on FB (and leave a comment below)

(1 entry) Go to my Bookshelf and tell me which book I've read that you've liked! 

PLEASE make sure that you have your email enabled, or leave it in the comments so I can get a hold of you if you win! The winner will be drawn using random.org on September 8th!

That's it. Now get hopping!

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