Challenge #4 - Where in the World is the Gross Family?

Because we are a family of travelers, and because at this very moment a few of our family travel agents are gallivanting abroad, I've decided to start a string of challenges! I plan on changing the challenge picture frequently, so if you'd like to submit your own "Where in the world?" photo, I would love to add them to the challenge! The first photo is from my personal collection.

Here is your clue: Lauren and I are in the largest city in the state of Hesse. Other clues worth noting; the picture is a little blurry, it's dimly lit, and the establishment's name appears printed on the front window. Where could we be?

Submit your guess as a comment to this post. The more specific, the better. I will post a new challenge photo tomorrow!!

Challenge #3 - The Winner Is...

Okay, so as usual I'm going to ramble on for a little bit before revealing this week's challenge winner. First, a big thank you to Carissa for creating this week's prize. The bookmarks are just perfect!! I'm sure the winner will be delighted to put them to good use, even if for display purposes only. I'm not sure I'd want to risk actually using them when I read.

I hope everyone enjoyed this week's challenge; I know that many of you just like to snoop at the prize follow along without actually playing. And if you're just checking in for the first time this week, here is a run-down of the entries for the 10 word book report. Bonus points to those who made them rhyme!

1. Anna - murder mystery, artistic, imagination, French, relationship scandals, naive, egocentric, stereotypes

2. Carissa - Canadian mystery
an elder hunted
abundant characters
all friendships confronted 

3. Cortney - In a quiet town, there're no secrets, or a lot.

4. Julia - Idyllic town. Natural deaths or murders? Painting clues solve mystery.

5. Damon - Must make time to read this book in time. Damn…

6. Gena - Friendship

Hatred
Discomfited
Arrogant
Quaint
Beauty
Love
Secrecy
DeceitPeace

7. Debbie - Accident, murder, suicide...don't know.

Slow reader, only halfway through.

8. Pete - Easy read, murder, intrigue, suspense, artistic, French/Canadian, instructed, eh?

9. Teri - Oh my! Should have put down the kids and read!

Okay, who's was your favorite? It actually doesn't matter because there is no judgment here (at least none that I'll disclose on the site!!) Like always, your participation alone qualifies you to win the fabulous prize! This week's randomly selected winner is...

GENA!

Congratulations on winning this week's challenge, and thank you to all who participated (or stalked the blog and didn't participate). I have two ideas for the next challenge, and one sort of hinges on the internet accessibility of Scotland and Ireland. I'll post the new challenge, whatever it may be, Saturday. Don't let the anticipation consume your happy Friday! 

Challenge #3 - 10 Word Book Report

Reminder - 12 Hours to Submit 10 Words!

Many of us have just finished Still Life by Louise Penny for the family book book club. (I'm admittedly skeptical that this is her real name, but that's outside of the scope of this challenge.) If you have never read this book, I'm giving you a one-week-and-one-day heads-up for our next challenge; it's a book report on Still Life! But fear not, the report must be given in exactly 10 words, no more, no less. Simple!

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you begin your literary nugget. The 10 words should capture the "essence" of the book, however they do not need to be strung in formal prose. The words can comprise a sentence, several phrases, or stand alone (take poetic license!) Comment on this post with your entry by Wednesday, August 17. The winner will be chosen at random and will receive a special book-themed prize created by the crafty Carissa!

Special Note - If you have not, cannot, or do not plan to read this book, simply submit your report on another tale. The only thing I ask is that you name the book and author that you choose to write about.

For those of you who need a little more incentive, I've included a picture of this week's prize: a set of genre-themed book marks created by Carissa! (That means they're awesome!)

Challenge #2 - The Winner is...

Sorry that this took a little while to post, but I'm exhausted after my first day "back" at school (class actually). I know, whah whah, I've had six beautiful weeks of rest and relaxation, so I should just stop complaining about being tired because some people have "real jobs," you know, and they have to work "all" the time... I'm stalling.

I know that many of you were interested in this week's prize, especially because it was pretty awesome. I mean, who can resist karate? I also wanted to congratulate everyone on their extremely creative posts this week! I know many of you were hesitant to participate because this challenge seemed just a little to close to work for comfort. Sorry about that, but sometimes a little effort makes a big impact :) We are a delightfully creative bunch of people, so hooray for us! I've had so much fun looking at everyone's entries. It's always fun to see the diversity of entries given one prompt. I hope you've all had a lot of fun too!

Okay, I think we're at the point where you had to scroll down to see the winner, so without further ado, or maybe just a little, here is this week's winner...

Congratulations Caleb!!

You will receive your karate tote (or ninja... still open for debate) in the mail shortly! If you didn't win this week, just think, your odds are better for next week! The new challenge will post tomorrow, and (hint) it will only require you to write 10 words. No excuses for lack of participation! And there will be an AWESOME prize thanks to Carissa. I know you're all super intrigued :)

Update - From Damon via Caleb, or Caleb via Damon

I have been asked by this week’s winner to say a few words of appreciation.  Caleb is finding it difficult to find the words necessary to convey his surprise and appreciation at winning this weeks challenge.  This mostly is due to the fact that he is not even 14 months old, so concepts such as appreciation, challenge and winning are beyond his grasp.  Also he is still trying to understand basic words and speech patterns, so verbalizing his full appreciation of to the folks at RANDOM.ORG and their fantastic random number generator programs is just not yet possible. 

I’m sure he will enjoy wearing his new prize on his head, putting pieces of it in his mouth, and generally drooling all over it.  Also, we’re excited that Caleb will soon be testing for his high white belt in “keeping it real”.  He’s been working very hard at it.

Finally, in the tradition of the first week's challenge, and with the help of the random nature of the universe (and the internet), we would like to present the runner up this week.  Congratulations to Jack at number 6, you are the runner up in this week’s Gross Family Challenge Blog Challenge.  Your prize is having a wonderful mother, a loving family, a fantastic uncle, and most importantly, an appreciation for motorcycles. 

Yes, this is a total cop-out prize.