YANNI - Truth of Touch Review & Giveaway

Yanni is back with a new CD, Truth of Touch.  This is Yanni's first release in eight years and it's more in keeping with his original instrumental style of music.  To be honest I haven't heard Yanni in years.  In the 90's I remember purchasing his music because it was innovative and new.  I loved the new age, instrumental style music that was calming.  I'm not a one music genre type of gal.  While I still think he is relative, this isn't something I would listen to every day.  With that said, it is the perfect background music for a dinner party or maybe a spa treatment.   

This is Yanni's first instrumental release of original compositions in over eight years and is a return to the genre Yanni helped create and advance. “I work the rhythms in this album,” explains Yanni about the new material. “There is a beautiful complexity in these rhythms, a new sound design. I think the melodic content is very strong and very memorable. I was having fun with this album and that’s going to become apparent.”


There are a few vocals on this cd.  I have no doubt that all Yanni fans will really enjoy this CD.  

This new CD gives us 15 brand new tracks:

1. Truth of Touch
2. Echo of a Dream
3. Seasons
4. Voyage
5. Flash of Color
6. Vertigo
7. Nine
8. Can’t Wait
9. Guilty Pleasure
10. O Luce Che Brilla Nell’ Oscurità
11. I’m So
12. Long Way Home
13. Yanni & Arturo
14. Mist of a Kiss 
15. Secret

My favorite songs were Voyage, O Luce Che Brilla Nell' Oscurita, and Echo of a Dream.

Win it! One2One Network, has given me the opportunity to share this CD with one lucky reader. 
**Manadatory Entry Below, this must be done before other entries will count***
If you'd like to win a copy of Yanni's new CD, be a follower of Cotton Pickin Cute or become a new follower and just leave a comment with why you would like to win this.  Would you keep it or give it as a gift? )
 
To receive extra entries, you can do any or all of the below.
2- Follow me on facebook.

3 - Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway one time (leave the link in your comment below) example: Win Yanni's New CD! ends 4/15 http://bit.ly/dRSnI9

4 - Blogging about this giveaway with a link back

That's four (4) possible entries! Giveaway ends April 20th at 11:59 PM EST, and please leave your email address in your entry or have it available in your profile. This is only open to the US, sorry. 


Yanni is currently on tour, so if you're interested in seeing him live just go to his website here for concert dates and information.  

Good Luck Y'all.  Hugs...Tracy :)

Mattie's Sick and Our Heart's Are Hurting with Hers

I love my babies and now the last of these three is sick.  This is probably the worst picture of my babies.  They all look so raggedy but it was the only one I could find of them all together.  The black cat above is booger.  Mattie who is in the middle is an Affenpinscher.  They are called monkey dogs or monkey face because they like to monkey around and because the hair around their face normally make them have a monkey look.  (This photo doesn't show it), and the black dog on the right is Tess.  She was the best baby and completely blind by the time she died which was approximately 5 years ago at 16-17 years old.  Booger just died a few months back.  I found him as a feral cat in our shed and though it took years he finally became a very loving pet, independent but loving. He was 10 years old when he died.


I took Mattie to the vet today because she has cold like symptoms.  They gave her antibiotics but also tested for heart worms and such.  The test came back positive.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I wasn't expecting that, even though I had told Neil I was worried with her cough, that it my be heart worms.  

Before the vet did the test she listened with the stethoscope and say her heart sounds good.  So you can imagine my shock when she came back saying the test was positive.  I just couldn't comprehend what she was telling me, the options, I finally asked her to write it down so I could say something to Neil when I got home.  I wasn't absorbing the words.  I just looked up the breed and it's vital statistics.  This is what I found.

Mortality

A small sample of affenpinschers in a UK survey had a median lifespan of 11.4 years,  which is a typical lifespan for a purebred dog, but a bit lower than most breeds of their size.  The most common causes of death were old age (24%), urologic (19%), and "combinations" (14%).  Some are prone to fractures, slipped stifle, pda, open fontanel and respiratory problems in hot weather.

Morbidity

The affenpinscher is prone to hip dysplasia. As with many small breeds of dog they are prone to collapsed trachea. Cataracts are occasionally reported.

Just last week the vet told us that Mattie had cataracts.  Something, we already knew.  We had been noticing that her sight was failing.  In the last 2 weeks, I had been telling Neil that I could hear her little hips and bones pop.  She doesn't even jump on the couch anymore.

It's just the 3 babies above, are our babies. 
Our real babies.  I'm incredibly sad.


We still have the 2 cats below.  Pumpkin's okay but not attached to us like Mattie is.  Mattie loves us and shows it just as Tess & Boogie did.  Pumpkin was MIL's cat who is now our cat, who we took to the vet with Mattie last week because he got out and got in a fight and had a fever an infected ear that had to be lanced and drained.  $240.00 last week for them.  Another $75.00 today.  This is when I wish that I had throw away money.  You know the Donald Trump kind of money.  I certainly wouldn't consider it throw away on my babies but right now we don't have a cent to spare much less a thousand dollars to treat Mattie.

And Blackie now lives in the house but she still won't let us touch her.  She does love Pumpkin to death and drives him insane.  He's fixed, she's not.  She's interested and he's not.  Isn't that typical.

Well I'm heading to bed and hope somehow tomorrow (today) feels brighter.  Thanks for letting me get this out.
Hugs to y'all.......Tracy

Scrapping Mommy is Having a Huge Giveaway

Amy over at Scrappy Mommy is having a giveaway too.  And she's giving away not 1 but 3 big prize packs!  Stop over and congratulate Amy on her now 1000 followers/subscribers and over 70,000 hits.  She must be doing something right.  You can check it all out by clicking on the picture or her name.  Please, let her know that you found out about her giveaway here.


Be blessed in all  you do today Friends.  Lots of hugs.....Tracy  :)

A Mermaids Crafts Is Having a Cricut Giveaway

Quote of the day:

Look at everyday as amazing.

See the miracle in the ordinary. 

Learn how to hear God. 

Lisa over at A Mermaid's Crafts is having a giveaway to celebrate her 100 followers.  And that's even before her 1 month blogging anniversary!  Seems we have a new happy crafter in our midst!  And she likes lots of different crafts not just Cricut.  Stop by and give her a big ole' blogger welcome and if you love Cricut enter her contest too.  Just click on the picture or her name.  Let her know I sent you. 


And you know the drill.  If you win I wanna hear about it!
Love Y'all..........Tracy :)

Zonderkidz Adventure Bible for Kids Review - Perfect for Easter

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but this year I have had a strong desire to provide each of my family members with a Bible.  I was thinking how much it means to have a Bible that was given to you from someone special.  I can still remember my earliest 
Bible.  I hope that my first one is still packed up in a box somewhere.  You know how things get lost or stolen (in one case of mine).  The idea of my son, grandkids, nieces and nephews having a bible keepsake when they're old and saying "that was from Mom, Grandma or Aunt Tracy" means a lot to me.


When Zondervan asked if I would like to review the NIV Adventure Bible,  without a doubt I said yes.  I thought this would be the perfect Bible for my 10 year old grandson Zack and my 8 year old granddaughter Ki'a, but I wanted to know more.


The Adventure Bible didn't disappoint.  It's a wonderful fun way to teach your children the lessons of the Bible without it seeming like a lesson.  I wish the NIV Adventure Bible was available when I was young.  The Adventure Bible is more like an exciting journey with a jungle safari theme.  The NIV (New International Version) is so easy to read and this is written specifically with children ages 9 to 12 in mind.  I love that each book of the Bible begins with a introduction of useful facts that answer key questions like the following:

• Who wrote this book?
• Why was this book written?
• What do we learn about God in this book?
• Who are the key people in this book?
• When did this happen?
• Where did this happen?
• What are some of the stories in this book?

What a smart idea.  I mean, would you go to a book store and pick up a book with no preface or a cover picture to give you some idea whether it was a suspense, love story, or comedy?  Fiction or non-fiction?  Well can we expect our children to form an interest if you don't present it to them in an easy to read form they can relate to.

There are colorful pages, games, a scavenger hunt and other bible fun with a jungle safari theme.

This book is full of introductions, a dictionary/concordance and colorful maps.  There are bold colorfully illustrated pages that highlight the Ten Commandments, The Lord's Prayer, the 12 disciples, Famous Children of the Bible and even Bible verses to read when you feel scared, angry, worried, unimportant and more.

I highly recommend this Bible for the tween age children in you home.  It's certain to be a conversation builder between you and them.  I'd love to see my son and daughter-in-law use this Bible to pick out a passage to have the children read each day and then discuss over dinner.  I have a feeling the kids will begin to look forward to it even more than them.

With Easter only a couple of weeks away, I can't think of a better gift to explain the relevance of the Easter season than with this Bible.  I plan on sending an Easter box with this being the main attraction.

Disclosure:  I was not paid for my endorsement of this Bible. Zondervan / Zonderkidz sent me this Bible to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  Transparency is everything.

New Art on a Itty Bitty Budget

Quote of the Day:

Where we love is home 

~ home that feet may leave, but not our hearts.

                              ~ Oliver Wendall Holmes Sr.

 We hung new pictures over the sofa last night and I think they turned out beautiful.  And I don't think I could have done it any cheaper.  The plan was a lot different from the finished product but only because I liked it enough to leave it like this.

I can not for the life of me, remember where I got these illustrations from but they were almost exactly what I was looking for.  My plan was to actually print penciled etchings of seashells on transfer paper.  Then transfer them to a woven off white fabric and stretch them.  After that I would paint these frames an off white and frame them without the glass.

 I looked everywhere for frames.  And didn't want to spend a lot and really was hoping to rescue some from a thrift store.  Have  you ever tried to find 4 matching frames in a thrift store?  Impossible.

 I found this real wood frames at Family Dollar of all places.  They are 11x14" frames with matting!  Can you believe that?!  Once I got them home I decided not to paint them since the wood matched my furniture perfectly.

 So what was my final costs for this whole project?  Well that's the best part.  I downloaded the illustrations and had them printed at Staples for $1.00 each = $4.00 and I had 2 coupons for the frames for B1G1 half off.  $5.00 each with 2 half off = $15.00.  

***Grand Total:  $19.00***

I think the wall still needs something more.  I was originally going to go with bigger frames and probably should have but I'm overall happy with them.

A Giveaway of Vintage Goodness

The Cranky Queen is having a giveaway to celebrate 100 followers.  Now I ask you does this giveaway look like it comes from a Cranky Queen? I don't think so.  She should change her name to the Generous Queen.

This is only a few of the goodies she's giving her lucky winner.

I know you don't want to miss a giveaway full of vintage goodness!  They're just the best!  So click on the pictures or here to enter.  Be sure congratulate her on her 119 followers, now.  And please tell her I sent you.

Quote of the day:

Live in sunshine,

Swim in the Sea,

Drink the wild Air.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson