The Tots100 Swagbucks Christmas Challenge - a call to arms!

Every now and then, I agree to get involved in something on this blog and then think, "Uh oh, what have I let myself in for?" Today is one such day; I'm sure I'll be fine but I need your help. Read on!

I am one of the twelve bloggers who has agreed to take part in the Swagbucks Christmas challenge on Tots100. The challenge is to see which blogger has earned the most points between now and 14th December and the person with the most points will win a £250 gift card.

Swagbucks is pretty new to this country but has been around in the US for about 5 years. You may have signed up to similar schemes in the past (I know I have) - it's an online loyalty scheme. It lets you, the user, earn points - or Swag bucks, as they are known, surprisingly - by doing the sort of thing you'd normally do online - watch videos, play games, searching, looking at and buying products. You can then trade your Swagbucks for items from the Swag Store or gift cards to be used at online retailers.

Over the next three weeks, I'll be posting about how I'm getting along with the challenge and providing you with tips to boost your own Swagbucks haul.  This is where I need your help. Everyone who signs up for Swagbucks using my referral link earns me Swagbucks. Not only that, when they start earning Swagbucks, I do too - so this is how it differs from previous loyalty schemes that I have used, which can be quite slow to accumulate a decent balance. So, if you'd like to earn some Swagbucks and help me at the same time, just click here and get registering.

My current balance is 39 points, which is, to be quite frank, pitiful. This is why I need you all to sign up via the link above. I promise you that it's easy and it's free, it's safe and it's legal. And who doesn't want to score some free stuff at this time of year? The potential to earn more points just from doing your Christmas shopping has got to be huge. Saving money as you shop has got to be a good thing at the most expensive time of year.

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates on here, Twitter and Facebook over the course of the challenge.

(As part of this challenge, I will be given extra points to boost my balance.

Blogger Wedding Album - Five Fs stylee!

Often midweek, you'll find posts from me taking part in the Gallery. Well, there is none this week but you have to watch that Tara. She has a week off and then she opens the Blogger Wedding Album, so she gets us finding pictures from our wedding and sending them to her or blogging about them. As I have already used this picture once for The Gallery, I'll use it again and tell you a little bit more about the story behind the picture.

Our wedding took place in Key West in Florida. We wanted to get married abroad but research told me that trying to get married in Italy or Spain may have given me grey hairs with all the hoops you have to jump through, and extra cost. Some friends of ours had got married in Orlando but had honeymooned in Key West and sung its praises. As the paperwork required and the process to get a marriage licence was straightforward, we decided to go for it. We invited the family but offered to pay for our parents' flights. They were the only family members who did come to the wedding - but we liked it that way. We got married on the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Historic Park at sunset and it was lovely (even though it was trying to rain!).

Not having the rest of our family present for the wedding, we decided to have a wedding party after we returned to celebrate with them and our friends. We were lucky to get a really good venue - a local hotel which has a strange location but was actually lovely, the staff were great and they accommodated all our needs without charging the earth. They organised pretty much everything for us and all we had to do was bring a cake - which turned into a £9.99 personalised half sheet cake from Costco.

The party was a really fantastic occasion - it was a chance to wear my dress again, which I love (although actually, it's a top and skirt), catch up with family and friends all in one place without having to schlep all over the country to do so, and generally have a good time. The DJ did a fab job and the food was lovely. Not that I think I had a lot to eat. And then, someone - I forget who - took this picture of us cutting our very expensive Costco cake. And yes, it was in a corridor as they set the food up just outside the party room. Everything was perfect. I'd recommend the hotel to you all, but it got sold and then closed a few years later and lies empty. We tried to explain to the children its significance the other day, but they couldn't get the concept of us having a party without them. Bless.

So, there you go, Tara, that's my entry into your Blogger Wedding Album. Hope you like it.