Weekly Moment of Gratitude - The Thank YOU + Pre #BlogHer12 edition!

What I am grateful for:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - YOU! -  Yes that's right YOU! Ascending Butterfly has certainly evolved quite a bit throughout the years, and while the transition to 'living out loud' as a blogger hasn't always been an easy one (I'm more comfortable behind the scenes, except for a brief stint on TV as a child), it has expanded my life both personally and professionally in ways I never dreamed were even possible. Throughout my whole medical nightmare that started last year the emails that I received from readers (and even from brands and PR firms that I have worked with throughout the years) has been incredibly heartwarming & encouraging to me. On Tuesday I made a post that was a personal entry to a contest, and I was literally floored that my humble call to action was embraced and acted upon by so many of you. Your tweets in support of my entry really means a lot to me, and win or lose, just having that many of you show me your support filled my heart with gratitude this week so I knew it had to be my first entry in this week's moment of gratitude. Thank You! Hopefully I'll be one of the five winners of an awesome makeover by Windows during BlogHer! (Can you believe BlogHer is now just *days* away!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Fun! - Sometimes being a blogger can be filled with random, goofy fun. This week I attended gaming  previews for both Ubisoft and Majesco and got to try out Video Games like Zombii U for the new Wii U gaming system from Nintendo, FarCry 3, Assassins Creed 3, NBA Baller Beats and many, many more which will all get their own reviews as we get closer to their release dates. In case you missed it, I got Zombiefied with ZombiiU and posted a cool Zombie photo of me as my Wordless Wednesday this week. My schedule doesn't often permit me to play video games very often, so getting the chance to 'just play' and demo new games was super fun! I actually got to meet an NFL player during one of my game demos and a few retired players as well!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Counting my Blessings!-  While I still have a ways to go, I got great news during my recent medical visit, and I feel like I can slowly starting putting it all behind me and focus on the road ahead!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Getting Caught Up - I'm pretty much caught up on posts that needed to go live before BlogHer, which will allow me to really focus my energies next week on the conference! If you are going to the conference I'd love to meet as many of you as possible in person! Post a comment here if you are attending BlogHer!

What are YOU most grateful for this week Butterfly?

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What are you grateful for today? I'd love for you to write in and share what you are grateful for this week. The more you say it, the more you speak it, and the more you live in gratitude, the more you will find reasons to be grateful for, and the more reasons that the universe will send you to be grateful for. So join me on this journey of gratitude and inspiration. And you can post here daily (even though my list will be posted weekly).

Remember, attitude really does determine altitude.

It is OK to *Re-Tweet* the link to this post and You can find me on Twitter here (@Tracy_Iglesias) Twitter love: re*tweet by copying and pasting the following into your update field at Twitter:

OK to RT: @Tracy_Iglesias This Week's 'Moment of Gratitude' and Active Giveaways!  - http://tiny.cc/n4Thx

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Giveaway Winners!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - The two winners of the Purex giveaway are Gloria M. and Caseyle2010, your free product coupons are on the way, Congratulations!

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Gratitude Journal Reco:

For those of you who are interested in keeping a gratitude journal this year, here is my recommendation and where to purchase it:

Make this Your Best Day ever, Bless and Be Blessed!

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FTC Disclosure: Journal Recommendation uses an Amazon Affiliate Link. Questions about our Disclosure? Please visit: http://www.ascendingbutterfly.com/p/disclosure-policy.html - Please note this is not a compensated post!

Wordless Wednesday: Butterfly Zombie! Rated 'S' for Scary!

Happy Wordless Wednesday Butterflies, I recently got Zombified at a Ubisoft Media Preview Day where I got to play ZombiU™, a Survival Horror First-Person Shooter game for the Nintendo Wii U™, a new console that includes a controller with a 6.2-inch screen. Horror has always been my favorite movie genre so I jumped at the chance to test this game out. I actually got the chance to try out a ton of new games that will be hitting the market later in the year, and all of them, including this one, will get more extensive review coverage as they are closer to their market release dates, but in the meantime I just had to share my zombie picture with you!

Notice I am wearing a pair of butterfly earrings? LOL

If this picture isn't proof I really need that #windowstyle makeover that I let you know I'm entering for in yesterday's post, then I don't know what is!

If you'd like to see your favorite butterfly blogger go from Chrysalis to Butterfly, please send a quick tweet to @kristinalibby with the hashtag #windowstyle

Here is a sample tweet:

@KristinaLibby Pls pick @Ascending1 to go from Chrysalis to #Butterfly during #BlogHer12 with a #windowstyle #Makeover ow.ly/ctBRS

I didn't have time to make a formal linky, but as always you are more than welcome to link us to your Wordless Wednesday this week by commenting below!

Happy Wordless Wednesday Butterfly!

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. I attended the Ubisoft Media Preview Day as a member of the Digital Press. I am a Ubisoft Ubichamps Blogger Brand Ambassador via the Clever Girls Collective. Yesterday's post does serve as an entry in the Microsoft Windows Style Makeover Sweepstakes for a chance to win a head to toe makeover during BlogHer12. No monetary compensation has been received for sharing any of this information. All opinions are 100% my own.

Beauty SOS! Sending out a Beauty Bat Signal to #windowstyle

I can finally announce that I am attending BlogHer 2012 this year! Because of my medical nightmare that started last year I was unable to attend BlogHer 2011 in San Diego, and this year I didn't have time to do any outreaches for conference sponsorship because I spent so much of this year in the hospital. Being in the hospital did have one benefit, I had a lot of time to read (well between exploratory surgeries and high doses of super intense medications, LOL), and during my nightly reading online one night, I found out that BlogHer needed Volunteers and a light bulb went off! With medical expenses I would not have been able to purchase a ticket to BlogHer this year. So I applied to volunteer. And thankfully, I was selected. I will be 'earning' my seat which I'm grateful for and very proud of! And I have also been asked to Live Blog during BlogHer Panels FOR BlogHer, not just as an attendee! WOWZERS + AWESOMESAUCE = YAY ME!

I am totally excited, but also incredibly nervous. I don't get to 'hide' this time behind my laptop, camera or portable device, I will be meeting panelists and attendees as a Microphone Wrangler, and I will actually have to come out of my shell. Not so easy! All eyes on me has never been something I was totally comfortable with. (Yes I do get the irony of that statement, but I didn't really begin blogging to 'live my life out loud', it just sort of happened throughout the years!)

Like many bloggers, as the day swiftly approaches, I have been raiding all my closets in hopes that I'd find something *perfect* to wear. As if some magical unicorn would place some perfect 'power outfit' in my closet for me that would fit to a tee!

My research on ideas on what to wear to BlogHer did turn up an amazing find! I found a post on the Windows Experience Blog that caught my eye - BlogHer Attendees: Win A $1500 Style Makeover from Windows #sweepstakes!

What it boils down to? I'm glad you asked, it's my job in this post to explain why I deserve a style makeover and what I’d like my new re-imagined look to be like, and so I thought I'd do it in pictures!

I started my new year here:

I was told I was on 'borrowed time' and would soon end up here:

Several exploratory surgeries later (with me actually waking up during one of them) we discovered I had been given a mis-diagnosis originally (you can read more about my medical nightmare here: http://www.ascendingbutterfly.com/2012/01/open-letter-to-new-presbyterian.html):

I have been unable to resume the workout routine that was really working for me in 2010 and early 2011 (I had lost over 26 pounds and 3 dress sizes it was hard work and I was SO happy). But this year with multiple surgeries I was told to take it easy, so this year I blew up like a:

I'm at a major crossroads (personally and professionally) and after starting my year thinking that it would be my last, I have a new lease on life and I want my outside to reflect my inside! Here is a vision board of what I imagine I could be, of what I want my makeover to look like:

So far this medical nightmare robbed me of both New Year's AND my birthday this year and I refuse to let it rob me of anything else! As far as I'm concerned, this BlogHer isn't just another conference, it's 'carpe blogem' for me, I plan to seize the day, the conference and my blog! I figure if I'm going to invest my time in making my blog better, shouldn't I invest the same amount of time in making myself better?

Emotionally I'm still trying to piece this year together, it's been much like Tornado, but slowly and surely I am getting the pieces together and my outside should look like as empowered as I feel on the inside. Ascending Butterfly's mission statement is a simple one: To seek and share the best sources of inspiration out there. This year I want to be inspired. The only way I can continue to inspire and empower others is by empowering myself, this makeover would be the first major step toward that goal.

If you'd like to see your favorite butterfly blogger go from Chrysalis to Butterfly, please send a quick tweet to @kristinalibby with the hashtag #windowstyle

Here is a sample tweet:

@kristinalibby Pls pick @Ascending1 to go from Chrysalis to #Butterfly during #BlogHer12 with a #windowstyle #Makeover http://ow.ly/ctAO9

If you voted, please be sure to come back and post the link to your tweet on this post!

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FTC Disclosure: In writing this post, I’m entering the Microsoft Windows Style Makeover Sweepstakes for a chance to win a head to toe makeover. No monetary compensation has been received for sharing this information. All opinions are 100% my own.