Win OFRA Cosmetics & a CHI hair styling set!

THE ULTIMATE PROFESSIONAL GIVEAWAY Win OFRA Cosmetics & a CHI hair styling set!

Winner will receive: OFRA Cosmetics Professional Eyeshadow Palette & makeup extras, CHI Touch Screen Hair Dryer, G2 Ceramic/Titanium Hair Styling Iron, & Ultra Orbit 3 in 1 Tourmaline Ceramic Curler. Official rules in Privacy Policy. Contest ends 7/4/14 at 12 CST. Good luck! To enter simply click the picture above or you can simply CLICK HERE

I like to win

I have a hobby.. OK, so maybe it borderlines on an obsession. I love to enter contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes. I enter them every day and I've won some pretty awesome things. My most recent win was a $100 Amazon gift card but I have also won a Keurig, makeup, cash, books, and multiple other gift cards including Amazon, Target, and Walmart.

I love the thrill of winning and scoring big but I also do it because the extra cash and prizes really come in handy. I use my winnings for things I need around the house, paying bills, and treating myself to some of the more expensive things I love (like a new Coach handbag) but would not normally purchase because of the price.

On average I win at least one contest or sweepstakes that I enter a week. Of course there are some weeks where I win nothing at all and other weeks where I win more than once. I think the key to entering contests and winning is patience and persistence. Chances are you will not win anything right away but don’t get discouraged. Keep entering and you WILL win.

A website that I often use to find new contest to enter is ContestChest. What I like about ContestChest is it helps you keep track of contests that you entered via their site and it also allows you to set filters for the specific types of prizes and entry methods that you prefer. Oh yeah, it’s also free to use. You can’t beat that. Another great perk is they have their own contests that they run weekly and monthly. There is a monthly referral contests and also a monthly contest for members that have added contests they found online. The weekly contest is a newsletter contest. Their newsletter contests are easy to enter.. Just find the code listed in your daily newsletter and enter the code on the website and that’s it.. you’re entered to win for the week.

Do you like to enter sweepstakes? Do you have a favorite website or blog you use to locate new contest to enter? If so feel free to leave me a comment and let me know.

Knock Knock

Hello readers. Wow, it’s been such a long time since I have updated my blog! Life has been crazy and so full of surprises. Let’s see if I can catch you up a little bit. About two years ago I moved back to Florida with my mother and daughter so that we could be closer to family. My mother has advanced COPD and is on oxygen 24/7. When she gets sick.. she gets very sick. It was time to admit to myself that I needed some help in caring for her. Being in Florida has been a big change. Granted, I grew up here but I lived in NC for almost 10 years. It was a big adjustment for all of us.

Not long after moving here I began talking to a man I had met on a website. I thought he was pretty amazing and quickly found myself in love with him. Lucky for me he felt the same way. Internet romances are hardly a new thing. So many people meet their matches online these days but in typical Melanie fashion my situation was a tad more unique. The man I met was from Tunisia (a country in northern Africa). I met him on February 09 2013, by April we both knew that we wanted to be married. So, I bought a plane ticket for late August and we began to plan our wedding for September 02 2013. As planned we got married and I spent two months in Tunisia with Majed (that’s my husband) and his family. It was such a nice time. Our wedding was nicer than I could have imagined and Tunisia is a beautiful country with some of the nicest people I have ever met.

The next part of the story is hard for me to talk about and I don’t feel ready to share all of the details. So, to make a long story short, I came back from Tunisia in early November. I came back with no home, no car, no job, and very little money. My family was upset with me. I was homeless for a few months and became really depressed and suicidal. I hit rock bottom. My family finally came around in January and I came back home. Since then I have found a great job, bought a car and have been saving up for my own apartment and working on immigration for my husband. My daughter is currently staying with her father but we talk as often as we can. I miss her terribly.

In the past year + there have been ups and downs. I am glad that even with the bad things I have been shown mercy and the calm after the storm. I know that things will only continue to get better. I have faith and hope and those things keep me going.