Summer Giveaway!!!

Hello, my lovely bloggy friends!

Today I have something very special for you, in honor of Summer and my 100th post!

A Summer Giveaway!!!

I've been collecting things for this giveaway for a couple of weeks now, always picking up things here and there to include, trying to find all the best little things for your guys!!

I have never done any sort of giveaway before, so I wanted to make this one extra special. Most of these item are mainly for girls/women, but hey! If you're a guy and you win, you can give the stuff to your mom or something! No problem. :)

Here are a few things that will be included!

• Face masks (keep your skin looking great this Summer!)
• Jewelry case (it was too cute NOT to include)
• Headscarf (You can tie it onto a purse handle too!!)
• Nail polish (gotta have some)
• Jewelry (because why not???)
• Lip balm (Keep your lips smooth!)
• Sunglassses (Watch out for that Summer sun!!)
• + MORE!!! 

Now we get to the fun part:
What to do to enter for YOUR chance to win this stuff!!!

All you have to do is answer the questions below in the comments of this post. I wanted this giveaway to be open to anyone, which is why I'm having you answer in the comments, because then anyone who has an email can comment!

You may enter the giveaway with your comments until August 10th, and I will have picked the winner by August 15th!
I will then write the names of the commenters on a piece of paper, and will draw the person's name  on Instagram stories, and will also announce the winner on this blog! I will NOT be picking based on answers, whoever gets picked out of the bowl wins fair and square!

Answering the questions below is how you ENTER this giveaway, not how you WIN it!
There will be one name entry for each person who comments. Commenting more than once won't get you an extra chance of winning. It's one entry per person in the comments.

If you are chosen, I will ask for an email address so that I can privately request a mailing address to send your stuff! Anything else will be explained in that email.

Without further ado, here are the questions! Enjoy and good luck!

The Questions:

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1. Do you have a blog? If so, paste the link!

2. What is your favorite movie of all time (or one that you recommend a lot)?

3. What's your favorite book genre?

4. Do you believe in God? If so, why do you think that believing in God is the best thing that could happen to a person?

5. What's your favorite thing that has happened so far this Summer?

6. What is the first thing you notice about a person?

7. Do you think crying is a sign of weakness or strength?

8. What is one thing about your childhood self that still applies to you today?

9. Is there a favorite book of yours that you wish they would make a movie out of?

10. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

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(The questions ended up kinda random. Some are just for fun, while others are kinda deep. Makes it more fun, in my opinion!)

Good luck, everybody! Thanks for sticking with me for 100 posts. :)

-Amaris

A Few Thoughts About My Jobs

 Not that this matters to anyone, but...
September 23rd, 2017 marked the two year anniversary that I got my very first job! 

To say the least, I've learned some things. I've had quite a few experiences. 
I was inspired by a post on Cordy's blog awhile back (sorry I can't find the actual post to link you: you'll just have to settle for a link to her blog), when she talked about working at her job and some of her experiences, and it got me thinking because I've never shared too much about MY job on my blog.
So I thought I would do that.
To give you some context, I'm going to just tell you that my job is one of these three stores: Hobby Lobby, Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics. 
Basically, I work at a craft store. 
(There. Revealed.) But I'm not telling which. :)
Plus, I actually just got a new job as well! But more on that later in this post.

Here are 10 random thoughts about my experiences:
   
~I love it when I get a customer that is sweet as a marshmallow. These are the people who actually take the time to be polite to you (because what do you know! Cashiers are people too!), and when they leave your register, you kind of feel sad and empty and regretful. You miss the person. Because they were so nice, and you don't want the niceness to end! And you remember them even after your shift is over.
I love those customers.

~Speaking of nice customers, one time a customer bought me a frappuccino. She was a regular customer who always comes in to buy the same thing, and we got to talking about Starbucks one time, and she told me she has a lot of Starbucks gift cards because lots of people give them to her.
Long story short, she offered to buy me a coffee.
I told her she didn't have to, but she said was glad to do it, and she went out and brought me back a grande mocha frappuccino (with whipped cream).
Next time I saw her at the store, I gave her a thank you card that I had made for her.

 O ~At a craft store, I see a lot of women customers, but I love it when men come into the store, because usually you can tell that they are completely out of their element (because it is a craft store, after all), and it gives me a chance to be an extra big help to them, because usually they don't know what in the world they're looking for.
All they know is that their wife sent them in for something but they don't know where it is.
I don't know; I guess it just amuses me to see a guy who doesn't know what in the world he's doing.

~Speaking of men customers, I love it when couples come into the store, because usually it's the wife or the girlfriend shopping, and the man is literally just looking around and following her like a lost sheep. Even so, most of them are completely content for their wives or girlfriends even if they're bored, because he knows his girl is enjoying herself shopping. And it's just fun to see that situation.
But most of the time, anyways, they just look kind of confused, like this: 

"C'mon, honey! Time to go."

~I learn a lot about people in general from working as a cashier. It makes things interesting. I can learn about how people react to different things, what sets them off, what irritates them, what gets them going depending on what subject you bring up...
All kinds of things. It's all very interesting.
I'm very into psychology, and retail is a great place to appreciate the way people are, and why they are like that. Like I said, my job has taught me a lot about things like that.
Some of the things I've learned I use for myself in real life- all because of something I saw in a customer one day at the store.

On a more serious note:
The age-old question: Can Customers Make You Cry?
~Well, there were only two times when I was driven to tears because of something at work.
The first time, a customer bought two flower arrangements, and I asked politely what they were for (You know. To make conversation, and all that), and he told me his story (I won't share all of it, it's probably personal). Basically, his wife died of cancer and his son died of an extreme car accident - all within four weeks of one another.
He told me how he used to be bitter toward God about it, but the Lord has taught him a lot since the two deaths, and he's not angry anymore. The flower arrangements were for their graves. I know it sounds like he was putting me on, but I can tell when people are doing that, and he was not.
I told him I would pray for him, and I did.
When I got my break I cried for the guy.

The only other time I was driven to tears was actually not a customer's fault, it was because of a mistake I made. A customer had bought some things, and after she had paid, she wanted to go back into the store to look at another item before leaving. So, she left the bag of paid stuff with me to hold for her at the register, and I set the stuff right next to me while she went to go look at the thing.
Well, she eventually came back up to the register to pick up the stuff she left with me, but when I was going to hand it to her, I realized that it wasn't where I had put it. 
I looked all around my register area, when it finally dawned on me that- (Lord have mercy) I had GIVEN THE BAG OF STUFF SHE BOUGHT TO ANOTHER CUSTOMER BY MISTAKE.
The poor lady was maaadddd. Thankfully, she didn't cuss me out or yell at me or anything, but she was realllyyyy really mad. :/
And of course we didn't have any more of what she had bought.
So she couldn't get a replacement for the stuff that I gave away.
And she needed it all by the next day.
Yeah. I cried later.

​I tell you, though. That's a mistake I'll never make again.​

Let us return to happier subjects.
 ~Our store location is nearby a pet store, so a lot of times people bring their pets in the store, which means I get to pet them. I've seen lots of dogs and cats of all sizes. 
And of course, that makes my own pets at home get jealous when they smell other animals on me. 
(No, I'm serious. One time my dog didn't speak to me for a whole month.) 
 
~Since we're talking about animals, one time, it was a truck day (you know... the day when the 'big ol' truck' comes and they have to put the stuff on the shelves for people to buy, and all that), and somehow or another, through the big truck loading door, a bird flew in. So the poor thing flew around and around the store until she finally flew into the cart area by the front door, and I swished her (or him... ) out to freedom. 
That bird has now got a very interesting story to tell his/her little birdie friends.

 
~Also speaking of animals: there is a customer who comes in sometimes, and she has this very particular key chain. It's a bunch of strings of yarn, and on each string, there is a name spelled out with those black-and-white letter beads. Names like Tommy, Sally, Susan. She's a very friendly woman, and one time we were talking about the key chain, and I asked her "Are those your grandchildren's names?" (For she was that age), and she said no, they are in fact, her cat names. Not just her current cat's names, but her previous cat's names were all on there. 
Every cat she's ever had has a name on her key chain. 
So, she told me all about the cats while pointing out the different name strings. 
"That's Tommy, he was a tomcat."
"This is Pumpkin, he was one of those real orange cats."
"This is Peanut, he's still with me but he's old."
And so on and so forth.   
She was a very interesting woman.     

 And the last thing:
~Ah yes, I told you I had another job, didn't I? I suppose you want to know a little about that too, huh? Especially since some people I know have been asking about it, so they can read this and know these things.

Well, I won't tell you too much (you know... stalkers and such. Got to keep 'em guessing), but I will tell you these things:

• I went in for the interview the day before I got my driver's license (talk about timing).
• I got the job and started work on September 8th, 2017.
• It's not a super long ways from my house (which makes my mom happy).
• It's very different from the kind of work that I'm used to.
• It's an independently owned business.
• The hours are much longer than I'm used to- but I like it (and I have come to terms with the fact that I will have to get up early every single weekday for the rest of my life).
• I really, really like the job.
• Except for the radio, because we're supposed to have a certain station on while we're open.
  And I. Don't. Like. The. Station. At. All.
  #why taylor swift #why

I don't have a specific job title, exactly. I guess you could call me the Storefront Manager. Because I'm 99% in charge (well, kind of. "In charge" sounds pretty powerful, and it's not exactly like that) of all the stuff that happens at the front desk, as well as taking orders and sorting packages that come in the mail, plus lots of other stuff. That kind of sounds like a big deal, but it's all on a rather small scale. Basically I have the storefront all to myself most of the time.

It's very different from what I'm used to, but I really like it.
~~~ 
Well anyways, that about sums it up, folks! 
I think I shall leave you now, because it is quite late and I have to get up early (you can imagine for what).
So I hope you enjoyed this post (you did, didn't you?), and I shall see you later.
Bye!
-Amaris   

10 Things I've Learned From Old Cowboy Shows

If you read my last post about 'What I'm Doing', you might remember that I said that the Old Western TV show genre is not among my favorites.  To be honest, I don't really like Western shows and movies that much.
However.
I have been watching them more lately, just because they happen to be there while I eat my lunch. Mostly Bonanza, The Rifleman, and Gunsmoke. While they still aren't my favorite old shows by any means, I have learned a few interesting things from watching them.
Be prepared for misspellings. 

1. Watch out for bad guys. They're not all stupid, and they can be pretty manipulative.

2. Be respeckful o' women. Taking advantage of a woman is a bad idea, and chances are there is a good sorta guy right around the corner who is willing to shoot ya for yer disrespeck.

3. Be fast on the draw. If ya see someone reaching fer their gun, don't wait. Don't take a chance. Draw as fast as ya can!

4. Always have a backup plan. Prepare to be outsmarted, especially by bad sorta guys.

5. Don't let yer pride get in the way by tryin' to settle somethin' with a fight that could easily be settled with talkin' it out. In other words, don't be too quick to throw a punch.

6. Don't try to get out of things yourself (if you can help it). If yer in some kinda trouble, its a good idea to accept the help of people you respeck. Unless, of course, the trouble yer in is because ya broke the law. In which case, you'd be smart to turn yerself in rather than gettin' killed.

7. If somebody be shootin' at ya in the wilderness, and there ain't no buildings around, get behind the nearest rock for shelter. The bullets will jest bounce right off!!

8. If ya see two or more people about to have a fight, TRY TO STOP 'EM. Especially if yer the law!

9. Don't fergit that bullets ricochet! Ain't no use of tryin' to shoot someone if it'll just come back to ya.

10. Lastly, there ain't nothin' much that be more important than yer family. So keep thems first. 

The End.
  

 -Amaris