Sunday, July 17, 2011

Treasure Quest: Discovery Lies Between the Covers

It's that time again! YIPPEE. First, let's cover a few rules.
TOUR RULES:

1)  HAVE FUN!!!

2)  INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3)  THIS TOUR STARTS:  Monday, July 18, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
     THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, July 25, at Midnight (Arizona Time)

4)  MEET AND MINGLE WITH ALL THE AUTHORS! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY BLOG CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!! YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN CONTESTS. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR CHECK BACK May 24, to see if you were a winner.

5) PARTICIPATION AT EVERY BLOG IS RECOMMENDED. BUT REMEMBER: THE MORE YOU HOP, THE MORE CHANCES YOU HAVE TO WIN. EVERY AUTHOR IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW EVERY AUTHOR SOME LOVE!
6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN?  WHOO! HOO!! HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
THE QUEST FOR CAGE

I decided to make this Treasure Quest a bit personal and talk about a hunt for a priceless treasure that my husband and I spent years on.


When Tony and I got married in August of 1999, we embarked on a journey for the most precious treasure of all. Although we had three wonderful children from Tony's previous marriage, we desperately wanted a child together to complete our family.

This is definitely like finding a needle in a haystack. We were soon being treated for infertility and our excitement and joy at the prospect of becoming parents together started to fade.

Sadly, as weeks turned into months and months turned into years, our attempts were all in vain. It seemed our infertility was a mystery that no one could solve.

Tony and I decided that we had already been blessed and we were fortunate, so we got our two wonderful dogs, Tess and Derby, and together with Todd, Tye, and Jaci, we devoted our time to us.

A few years go by and our oldest son Todd graduated from high school, our beloved Tess was killed when she ran onto the road and was hit by a car, Tye was getting ready to graduate from high school and go to college, and Jaci was busy with her friends and planning on where she would be going to college in a year and a half. So...it was going to be just me and Tony.

I'm not going to tell you that we didn't get depressed and start talking about how we'd have a kid in elementary school still if we'd only been able to get pregnant. But, we didn't dwell on that. Instead, we focused on how great the kids were and how cool it was to watch them planning for their future and we decided to plan for ours as well.

We bought a Harley and started thinking about all the places we wanted to ride to.  We also planned on several vacations and visiting friends and family we hadn't seen in awhile.

THEN...

Well, I'll see if you can figure out what happened. Can you find our "Discovery between the covers" or stuffed animals as it is in this picture????



After almost 10 years, our Treasure Quest ended with the arrival of Cage Crit Bowman on November 20, 2008! He's amazing and he's the best gift in the world!

Hope you've enjoyed my journey. Have a similar story to share? I'd love to hear it.  What's the one treasure that means everything to you?

PRIZES!!

Speaking of treasure!! Here's the awesome treasure I'm offering! You have four changes to win on my blog. Here are the awesome prizes:

1st place: $10 coupon to use on the Astraea Press website plus a paperback copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus 2 awesome bookmarks

2nd place: a paperback copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus 2 awesome bookmarks

3rd and 4th places: a PDF copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus I'll mail you 2 awesome bookmarks

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my Quest. Now head on over to the next blog for another exciting post with:




42 comments:

  1. The greatest treasure of all! Great story, very inspiring!

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  2. What a wonderful Blog I got goosebumps reading it and I loved the pictures. Oh and did I mention Your book looks amazing :)

    Happy Touring

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  3. Oh I love it :)
    Thank you for the giveaway!!
    elliott2668(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  4. What a wonderful blog! I can totally relate! I was told that I would not be able to have kids, and after 13 miscarriages I have three beautiful babies... well they aren't babies anymore but they are my treasures. Bravo and congrats!

    authornicolehicks(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. Thanks for sharing your awesome story. He looks like a treasure worth waiting for.

    My greatest treasure? My Family, immediate and online. Wouldn't be without them.

    sherrygloag @gmail .com

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  6. Hi! My greatest treasure hmm I would have to say my books because they helped me get through some really hard times.
    Thanks for the giveaway.
    Nathiel
    nathielgold@gmail.com

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  7. children and their children are the best :}

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  8. Hope to have someday that kind of treasure!! But right now, mine are my dad, brothers and my books, they are there for me when i need them, although with my brothers sometimes we don't get alone, but they're my only family =)

    Thanks for the giveaway, sounds like a great book

    Lissette_125(AT)hotmail(DOT)com

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  9. No one really understands what staring at the negative pregnancy tests for months on end is like unless they've had to do it. It took us almost a year to get pregnant. Then we found out it was twins.

    Cute pictures. What a treasure.

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  10. You guys are all awesome and wonderful treasures:) Thank you so much for stopping by.

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  11. You hit the nail on the head, joselyn, about the negative pregnancy test. It killed us and after years of trying, it was too much to keeping getting them month after month. Thanks for stopping by.

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  12. I loved your quest!! Shows that you should never give up hope.
    Thanks for the giveaway! Youre book looks awesome

    iluvkimi_220@hotmail.co.uk

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. Your quest was one of the best! I have older kids (27, 24, and 23) and I thought I was done with the baby train, even though I had wanted always wanted another, and I now have a bouncing baby (well 5 year old) boy! So yes, my loving special needs child, he is my joy :)

    Thanks for the great giveaway!
    jwitt33 at live dot com

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  15. No need to enter me <3

    Good luck everyone!

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  16. Hey Kim!
    Good looking family! You are a lucky gal!
    Ok, I'm following u on twitter now...FB friend & joined ur page...whew...think we are connected now!
    Awesome page & awesome books I'm sure!
    Thanks again for having me and 'coaching' me along the way! I appreciate that!
    I'm hopping on down the line now...
    Peace Out!

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  17. Hi! Wow, that was an amazing story, thank you for sharing that with us (: I think my greatest treasure hunt will always be for love. I'm constantly dreaming of being with someone, but the hardest part is finding that someone to be with. I think the one treasure that means the most to be is probably my imagination. It's one of the most previous things to me because it helps me be creative (:

    vampyreprincess109(at)gmail(dot)com

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  18. Hi Kim great pictures and story thanks for sharing and opening up.

    Bhitwr at gmail dot com

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  19. You have a beautiful familiy and I love that you count your dogs as part of that familiy :)My greatest treasure would have to be my son, Jesse!

    chamblinh@gmail.com

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  20. What a wonderful story! I'm super happy for you and your hubby and your beautiful boy! ;) My greatest treasure is my son Jonathon :) he's 6 1/2 years now and he's completely my heart and my soul :) What a great little hop *hugs*

    swtlilangel4jc at yahoo dot com

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  21. What a great post and cute pictures. Thanks for sharing!

    bacchus76 at myself dot com

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  22. I love this post - very special and I have nothing to top that. You just never know what life has in store for you!

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  23. What a wonderful treasure! I've been unsuccessful in conceiving as well and your story gives me hope! :)

    Saph
    saphsbookblog(at)gmail(dot)com

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  24. This is a great post, Kim. I'm so happy for you and isn't Cage just the best treasure ever!

    Lucie j. Charles

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  25. Thank you so much for the giveaway!! Awesomeee

    ilepachequin(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  26. OMGoshthis is the most amazing story! thanks so much for sharing and you are truely blessed! I was reading and enjoying your life journey and as I got to the bottom I had no idea that you were the author of Wayward Soul! I have been trying forever to win this book, lol I just love the cover. I cherish my kids, they make me a better person!
    heltondexter@yahoo.com

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  27. That's so great! My treasure is being healthy, happy, safe and employed in a good job!

    robindpdx (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  28. This sounds like a great post! My treasure is being around my family and us all being healthy. Thank you! edysicecreamlover18ATgmailDOTcom

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  29. Very beautiful post! My greatest treasure is my family.
    Thanks for the giveaway and blog hop tour.

    artgiote at gmail dot com

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  30. What a fantastic story Kim and i am so happy for not just you and your husband but your whole family.
    Helen Seely
    Cute and Cuddly Quilts

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  31. Aweee Kim that is a great story!!! I didn't have problems getting pregnant but staying that way was another story but I have 3 awesome girls that I wouldn't trade for anything :)

    I am a GFC follower Brandy B aka Brandlwyne.

    ~Brandy
    brandyzbooks(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  32. My twin boys are called our miracle babies, since we had trouble staying pregant, and these little darlings were six weeks early. Man, they were the best treasure ever, and now they are grown men, thinking about having babies themselves. Good times ahead!

    cathy m
    caity_mack at yahoo dot com

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  33. Wonderful story! For me, my treasures would be my nieces and nephews, since I have nver had children of my own due to medical problems. But I am blessed to have 2 beautiful nieces (16 & 17) and 3 handsome nephews (10, 6, & 4) to spoil rotten.

    June M.
    manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

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  34. Lol..My little treasure took my through quite a few things while i was pregnant...4 surgeries after an accident and 4 months of bed rest to have her. I know how you feel though..Id go through it all over again just to have her...She is indeed my greatest teasure!
    viajeradelmar@aol.com

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  35. great blog! thanks for the chance to win these great prizes!
    dawnhagan18@yaho.com

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  36. Oooh such an amazing giveaway, thank you so much for being so kind and generous! :)

    Suz @ A Soul Unsung
    susanhaugland@att.net

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  37. Oh!! I LOVE your story. It gave me goosebumps at the end. Congratulations to you!

    We are becoming empty nesters this fall. Our last leaves for college. What blessings they have been.

    Thanks for the amazing giveaway.
    tweezle(at)gmail(dot)com

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  38. Oh my I'm so happy for you!! He's adorable!! I love that picture where he's hidden amongst the cuddly toys!
    You are so blessed.
    xXx

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  39. You are truly blessed! What a wonderful story, and I'm glad you shared it with us. Wayward Soul sounds great!

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  40. Great story. We also just got our baby half way through her college years. We had always had a Harley but decided to upgrade to a touring bike which we ride with other empty nesters. It has been a way to recapture our youth and though we feel our age when putting a couple hundred miles a day on the bike (and our backside) it has been awesome doing two or three day trips in the mountains of NC, Ky, & Tn.

    Thanks for the giveaway!
    Thanks for participating in the blog hop.
    I'm a new follower on GFC-Lisa Richards

    (\___/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
    http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

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  41. Aww Kim, you have me crying Happy Tears.
    Wonderful miracles come when you least expect it.

    koonie2888 at yahoo dot com

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  42. Aww. How wonderful for you and your family! His adorable! Im glad you got your happy ending and then some! Lucky Ducky! Thank you for the contest! gfc follower- shadow_kohler
    shadow_kohler(at)att(dot)net

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