Who doesn't like to know if they won or not? The winners have been announced. But before I get to that, I want to THANK everyone that commented on my blog. It was a bittersweet one to write and I appreciate all the nice things that everyone said!

Some times it's just the nice words of a stranger that help to get through a difficult day. So THANK YOU guys!

Now for what you've been waiting for... The winners...
From the whole blog hop...

The first prize of a Kindle Touch goes to:


From Cari Quin's blog




Teri Matlock

The second prize of a $60 gift card goes to:


From Jessica Subject's blog


Lisa Walker

Now for the winners of my giveaways!

For the gift card, the winner is:  JA Watson!

For the name in the third installment of the Bella books, I decided to give away two. One to Kylie B. and the other to Alexandra Louk! I'll be sending them each an email soon to get information for the characters!

Congrats to my winners as well!

And, once again, THANK YOU to everyone who commented!

Let's start by saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to all those that have a birthday during this hop, including the fabulous Miss Carrie Ann! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

But maybe you're thinking, "what about me?" and you're birthday isn't in April, maybe it's in November or May (like mine), well for you guys....

That's right! A very merry unbirthday to us!

Before I share my blog's worth of memories and such with you, let me tell you about the prizes, because who doesn't like presents on their birthday, or any other day of the year for that matter?

The GRAND prizes for the ENTIRE hop is:
1. A Kindle Touch
2. A $60 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble giftcard
Please make sure to leave a comment that INCLUDES your email address to be entered into the drawing for the GRAND prize, no email address, no chance! So leave it!

For me, my prizes, hmm, let's see, a $10 giftcard to Amazon for any one that leaves a comment and, only if you want to,  if you can prove that you've purchased & read Bella Notte (or one of my other works) by telling some random factoid that you liked about the story, then you'll be entered into the drawing to have your name as a character in Bella Tristezza, the third installment of the series! (I usually take character influences from the actual person too!) I know it's completely sneaky of me, but hey, you know you wanna read my books and be able to be put into the story, literally! ;0) Look at how convenient those buy links are just in case you didn't already have a copy and REALLY wanted to be entered!

Okay, now that I've gotten the shameless promoting and happy wishes out of the way, let me share something with you. So this hop is kinda important to me because April 6 is my Mom's birthday. On September 29, 2010 I had to make the hardest decision any child can be faced with- to take her off life support or to continue to let her body be kept alive while she was gone anyways. That wasn't the day my mom left us, only the day her body was allowed to catch up to her spirit. Please don't judge, I don't think anyone can unless they've been in that situation. Anyways, since then it's been a day by day process to remember her as her AWESOME self.

So this is my celebration of my Mom! Happy birthday, Maman. You are missed, but I remember what you always told me, to have a good cry and go on with my life. You aren't forgotten and I tell your grandbabies about you daily.

Let me tell you guys a little bit about my mom, she was born in France, Orleans to be specific. She was born in 1952. She has a whole LOTTA siblings... they spent some time in a crazy orphanage before my grandma was able to take them all out when she remarried a nice man from Oklahoma.

She moved to the good ol' USA when she was 7. She spoke no English. Can you even imagine what the heck that was like? There was LOTS of teasing and name calling... sometimes kids can be just cruel.

She grew up an Army Brat. At the age of 16 (I think, it has been a long time since I heard the story and now I can't just call her and ask, the things we take for granted) she married a man that gave her a case of Bazooka joe bubble gum for her wedding present. He was rich and she felt like she had been lied to (don't even ask, I'm not even sure) and the marriage was annulled. I'm thankful for it, but still... really, Mom, just because he was rich and he down played it until after you were married?! LOL...

She ended up in sunny Southern California. She met Herbie. Well, it didn't happen just like that, but who wants to hear about how my mom crashed the parties of celebrities wearing a top hat and overalls during her twenties?! LOL... Anyways, on with my story. She met Herbie. They fell in love (we aren't going to talk about the bad stuff because Mom always told me not to speak ill of the dead)... they ended up having my brother, Jason. The year was 1974. What a beautiful bouncing baby boy!

Unfortunately, like many stories in the real world... this one too ends in tragedy. During a Thanksgiving meal, a robbery happened. Herbie went to defend his family and ended up being stabbed fatally. Her heart was broken....

However, life goes on... time doesn't heal the wounds, just makes them able to be dealt with.

She did lots of things... but eventually fell in love with Tony. Who wouldn't? He's like Indiana Jones, only real... they had my sister, Jennifer. The year was 1979.

Wouldn't you like a happy ending for my mom at this point? Too bad, you're not going to get it. Life happens. She ends up with two little monsters and no real man counterpart. But all things happen for a reason, right? Years pass. She has MANY different jobs. She is after all a very talented woman, and who wouldn't want such a looker around them. ;0)

Andrew waltzes into her life. Well, I don't know the whole story, in fact I don't even know which parts of the story are true... once again, I can't ask any more. Once during an angry moment, I was told she paid him 30k to have me... not sure how that worked out... but it doesn't matter because once again I'm not allowed to speak ill of the dead and they're both gone. Anyways, she has once again picked not the best candidate for male counterpart, but behold a beautiful baby girl, Jessica is born. The year is 1985. Yep, that's me... A lot happens while I grow up. Some ugly fights, particularly with my brother. Some crappy stuff happens.

When I was 9 my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer, because so fair her life has just been peachy right? It turns out that is not curable. The doctors give her six weeks to live after her surgery. She goes through chemo. She comes to my elementary school graduation in a size 0 dress that's falling off of her. But she's still alive. I go to junior high, she's bald from the therapy... kids can be cruel (people really need to remember to teach their kids not to judge others). She is my brave mom through it all. She helps to raise my nephew once he's born in 1998. He's the joy of her life. I go to high school. She's still alive...

In 2002 my big sister comments suicide. My mom was devastated.

Once again, she learns to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and continue on with her life.

I go to college. She's still alive and one of the most inspirational women I know. But inspiration doesn't keep illness from getting worse. By the time I graduate with my BA in 2007, she's a survivor but she isn't doing well. I move myself, and partner back home while I'm pregnant with my son to help take care of her. She has her good days and her bad. She stays awake for two days while I'm in the hospital during the birth of my son.

Her second grandson has gotten to meet his grandma (take that Dr. Six weeks!)... My niece was born before that, but I have to say that she did not make a big an impact because we hardily saw her (I believe it was 2000 when she was born)...
In 2008 my son gets diagnosed with neuroblastomia, she's went to every appointment with me... sat through every test... and spread the word like wild fire. She believed that if you told enough people something that it had the power to send enough good thoughts into the world to make it better.

Lots and lots of test and two surgeries later... my son is cancer free, which he remains to this day.

Life is pretty good. I go back to school to get my Masters ...

The summer of 2010 hits. Life turns upside down. She gets a headache that won't go away... after two weeks I finally convinced her to call her doctor. He sends her to the ER. After hours of waiting, she ends up being admitted. This is the beginning of the end.

This just get worse. And worse... and worse.. The entire time she has a good attitude while she can. She lost her vision out of the blue, but she managed to smile and "watch" her court shows. She was gone long before her body was ready to let her go. Still not sure what the actual cause was... but I think that it was just time for her to move on to the next place... ya know? I mean life gave her LOTS of lemons and she made the sweetest lemonade!

So happy birthday, Mom! You lived an AMAZING, wild ride of a life.. you won't be forgotten! Don't be sad if you've read this blog... it's merely a celebration of the crazy, insane life my mom had, and I didn't even put down the real crazy stuff.. merely a glancing over of it... it was my pleasure to share it with you.