1. Your DNA is so unique that it can be used to identify your parents.
2. Even identical twins are different in some ways.
3. Of all the different kinds of living beings on this planet, only humans have a soul/spirit.
4. Although millions of people have come and gone before you, you are unique.
5. People that were born over 200 years ago had no concept of many of the things that you use right now and take for granted.
6. Your talents and gifts and the way that you use them are unique.
7. If you’re a blogger, you’re the only one with your content—unless it’s being scraped!
8. Your identity is your own, and now more than ever you are in control of it.
9. God knows who you are by name, knows every hair on your head, and sent His Son to die for you.
10. Your parents love and care for you.
11. Your children love you.
12. You have value and worth to your friends around you.
13. You’re special for coming to this site—for not everyone will today!

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In honor of this event, we would like to present thirteen reasons to get into the Contest:

1. Fun: Contests create excitement, and there’s nothing like a Plum and a Raspberry giving away a Tomato and a Cucumber.
2. Free: Yep, all you have to do is comment, subscribe and/or link and you’re entered! (NOTE: You must do this on this post, commenting here does not count!)
3. VeggieTales: Yes, this is the newest episode, and it’s the first one since the movie back in January.
4. Store: Nope, you won’t have to go to an online or even physical store to get it—your copy will be free.
5. Kids: Your kids will love the fun.
6. Parents: You’ll love the moral lessons.
7. Helping: This story is all about helping others.
8. Silly: Yep, there’s a brand new silly song with Larry—I think that Archibald is tagging along somewhere.
9. Happy: The way you will feel for winning the contest.
10. Subscription: To keep you up to date on all things veggie, and when you can win more VeggieTales stuff.
11. Trivia: We’ll be doing some more trivia contests, and by entering and subscribing you’ll have all the information you need to win the next contest.
12. Please: Because we’d like you to enter!
13. Friends: Tell all your friends!  The only thing more fun than winning a contest, is winning a contest with a lot of entrants!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CONTEST! 

We interviewed the nurse from the belly button silly song, and she needs to tell you something: these are the hints she gave us to have a safe summer…

1. Wear sunscreen if outside.  Don’t forget to cover ears, hair parts, the back of the neck, and the tops of feet.  Some of those areas are liable to be forgotten.  Too much sun may cause over-ripening.

2. Refrigeration reminders:  food that contains mayonnaise, eggs, milk, and some other quick to spoil ingredients should be put in the cooler to keep people from getting sick and ruining picnics with the little veggies.

3. Keep water with you at all times.  Dehydration is a serious thing.  So keep some water in the car, and make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids.

4. Yep, it’s the time for bugs as well.  Bees’ and wasps’ stings can be very painful, so keep some benadryl on hand, or some other kind of allergy medicine that can be taken in case of bites, stings, and rashes.

5. If you’re near the water, remember to pay attention to the little veggies around you.  Make sure, if they cannot swim, that they are wearing life jackets. (Not all veggies float naturally.)

6.  Also, don’t leave them at the pool or lake unattended.  Knowing when there will be a lifeguard on duty is also a helpful thing to keep children safe.  Keep in mind to have the little veggies wear appropriate swim attire– watch out for tan lines!

7. Remember, when outside, hats and sunglasses are your friends.  Squinting for long periods of time can make you have a headache.

8. While you don’t want to stay inside watching veggietales all day, you don’t wont to be outside for too many hours and become over heated.  Heat rashes and heat strokes can occur if one is outside for long periods of time.  Especially when in direct sunlight without access to shade.

9. When the temperature gets very high, make sure all pets have an adequate source of water.

10. In hot weather, don’t overeat, it might make veggies (even those who don’t have belly buttons) feel sick or lazy.

11. If it is too hot to go outside, stay in a place where it’s cool, this will prolong shelf-life, and prevent premature rottenness.

12. When camping, take flashlights and first aid supplies.  God is bigger than the boogey man, but flashlights can certainly shed some light on scary subjects.

13. Remember to have fun, but be safe as well.  First aid and cpr classes are also helpful to take!

That’s it from the veggietales nurse!!  (And if there’s something missing in your midriff’s decor, that’s perfectly normal for gourds!!!)

Are you interested in winning a copy of the new VeggieTales DVD when it comes out July 12th?  Jazz and I are thinking through what kinds of contests we could run, see what you think of our ideas so far:

1. The Usual: Points for subscribing, points for a post, and random selection.
2. The Writers:  Submit a guest post for VeggieTales Review, and have a judging.
3. The Trivia Contest: Create a Trivia Contest and those who get the most points win.
4. The Thursday Thirteen: Come up with thirteen things to do and use them as entries into the contest.
5. The Link Love: The winner is the one who sends the most person through their blog to this one.
6. The Comment War: Those who get the most comments from a person mentioning that they heard about the contest from them wins.
7. The Photos: Pictures of you with your favorite vegetable—judged by originality and voting.
8. The Episodes: Come up with a show and tell us who you’d cast as whom (like StarFruit Trek: Next Germination)
9. The Teammate: Join up with the writers of VeggieTales Review to help write posts about VeggieTales.
10. The Fruit Name: Come up with a fruit name for your self—judged for originality or by popular vote.
11. The Raffle: 5 cents a ticket—we’ll draw the winner.
12. All Time Comments: Randomly choose someone from anyone who has ever left a comment.
13. The Weeklong Contest:  Release something (like one of these ideas) once a day for points, and the one with the most points at the end of the week wins.

It’s no secret that every blogger likes an audience.  I’m no different.  So, this week, while talking with Jazz and Anna I’ve thought of different ideas of how I could grow this one—let me know what you think.

1. Post frequently – A given since people don’t like to read a blog that doesn’t have new content.
2. Have a different writer- This I’ve accomplished with adding Jazz.
3. Run a Contest – Thought of this before…  Anyone want a contest where you could win the next VeggieTales video when it comes out next month?
4. Poll Questions – Ask a question…
5. Pretend to be in a fictional place and write from there.
6. Discuss what VeggieTales characters would play a part in another fictional series.
7. Have a VeggieTales Photoshop contest.
8. Enter many Thursday Thirteens.
9. Write more VeggieTales video reviews.
10. Comment on other’s blogs.
11. Join a VeggieTales newsletter.
12. Buy Big Idea – Did you hear it was for sale.
13. Advertise.

And in case you were curious, for my birthday, I ended up doing several of the things on my list.  I went to the mall, spent time with my family, opened a few cards, slept in, realized I was a year older, and avoided the scale, dishes, and laundry ;  )  Oh, and I had ice cream cake!!!

….If a squash can make you smile; you’re in the right place…

-Jazz

1. Go to the mall
2. Avoid the singers on the phone
3. Eat birthday cake (ice cream is optional, but a good choice)
4. Realize you’re a year older
5. Try to get away with anything crazy since it’s the one day you might be allowed to
6. Stay away from the scale, dishes, and laundry (they can wait, can’t they?)
7. Spend time with friends and family
8. Open presents/ gift cards
9. Sleep in, but not too late, you don’t want to miss your day
10. Treat yourself to something you wouldn’t ordinarily do or buy
11. Get your hair, nails, and make up done (if you’re a girl)
12. Watch your favorite movie
13. Go to an amusement park, water park, or museum

Well, there are many other things that could be done, but that’s just a small list…  Hope you enjoy your birthday!!

1. Your keyboard, mouse, monitor, computer, etc. has broken.
2. You forgot the password to your blog.
3. You’ve been busy posting on someone else’s blog.
4. You forgot your topic.
5. You’ve been writing comments.
6. You’ve given birth.
7. You’ve decided to do more with you’re family.
8. You’re away on vacation.
9. You broke your finger, fingers, thumb, hand.
10. You have become addicted to Twitter.
11. You’ve started a new blog on your own domain.
12. You’re tired of blogging.
13. You no longer have an Internet Connection.

Any of these ever apply to you?  Other reasons for not posting?

The form will e-mail me your guesses, I’ll announce the correct answers tomorrow!

Links to other thirteeners:

1. What’s special about the ticket that Laura the Carrot has to the concert?
2. What happens to the car that Bob the Tomato is driving?
3. Who are the waiters at the Fish Restaurant?
4. Who gets to use the phone first?
5. What commandments would the biblical Jonah not have passed on the Jews that Archibald Jonah does?
6. Name the three Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.
7. What is Khalil listening to when he meets Jonah?
8. Who comes to visit Jonah in the whale?
9. How did the pirates become famous in Nineveh?
10. What do Ninevites slap each other with?
11. What is used to demonstrate “The Slap of No Return?”
12. Why does the king listen to Jonah?
13. What does Jonah expect as he’s sitting up in the hill?

This one shouldn’t be that bad, since one of them is in the new movie and the others are right from the story (kinda).  So, who’s up to the challenge?

Links to other thirteeners: