Magazine giveaway WINNER!

Congrats to Kaitlin at More Like Mary~More Like Me for winning a one-year subscription to Southern Living!

In lieu of coming up with a brilliantly creative method of choosing a winner, I went with Math Goodies' Custom Number Generator. Number 8 was the lucky number!

I LOVED reading everyone's comments and wanted to respond to all of them, but then I would have had to recount every entry and ignore mine and at that point the math went right over my head once I realized my coconut macaroons were starting to get too toasty and the kids wanted immediate attention, all at the same time.

Sooo... now I can respond!

Kristin-- Glad you entered, and I'm was so excited to know someone has me on Google Reader. It made my day. I have a bunch of butterfly-attracting wildflowers that I'm hoping will come up in the spring next year.

That Married Couple-- Magnolia trees count in my book! I think their flowers are gorgeous.

Faith makes things possible-- Grow the herbs-- it's so easy and you can winter them inside. My basil is growing above my sink now, and we have a ton of rosemary outside (it grows basically wild where I live).

Joy Beyond the Cross-- If I had been choosing a winner on sweetness, your comment would have done it! Hope you survived the snow. And gerbera daisies grow well here in Texas in early Spring, so they'd probably be great in MN for half the year. :)

Mary-- Please grow tulips! I've never tried and don't think I could manage them where we live, but I'd love to know that someone out there is doing it!

Lauren-- Awww... I love "our" prom meeting story! I've done well with white azaleas, but my pink ones always bloom once and then die.

Kate-- Go with a sago palm or yucca. Those are easy to grow and ignore. Or a plumeria-- its flowers smell delicious and it isn't too tough to keep alive.

Kaitlin-- Maybe you've never grown a flower, but this magazine will guilt you into doing so! The gardens are to-die-for.

NC Sue-- I love orchids and have two in our winter greenhouse now. This is my first year to put them in there (as opposed to keeping them in our house year-round, so I'm a bit nervous). They're so elegant!

Joanna-- You need to grow flowers! Teach your boys about pretty things. :) Try a plumeria this spring/summer. If I have extra cuttings I'll give you one. That will ensure that we see each other SOONER than later!!

Ann-- I'm growing my first amaryllis this year! I bought a bulb kit from Home Depot for $5 and it's already started to grow. I'm hoping it will bloom by Christmas. Thus far it has been the easiest flower in the world.

Annie-- When M and I left College Station, I was so sad to leave behind all of my irises. The worst part was when we drove back by our old house and I saw how the new owners had let them get completely choked by weeds. I tried to convince M to let me jump out of the car and dig up all of my bulbs then and there.

NOTE: Tomorrow I'll be posting about the second Advent miracle of the season!