I enter a lot of contests, but up until now, the largest prize I had won was in the 6^th grade when I won a jellybean-guessing contest and a $100 gift certificate to a sporting goods store.

Coming from a thoroughly non-athletic family, it certainly wasn’t an ideal prize, but it was a win nonetheless. So we picked up a track suit that I wore for many years to come, along with a volleyball to fill out the bill.

Fast-forward to present day: I’m a stay-at-home mom to four kids aged 4-and-under. Sometimes I miss going out to a steady job to work hard and earn money towards our family income. So I tend to jump at any little chance to make a bit of extra cash, including entering contests. Many contests…

Imagine my surprise when, one night in January, I was checking my junk mail folder and discovered an email entitled “Congratulations, You’ve Won a Prize with PLN Perks!” Heart-pounding disbelief, with a gradual dawning of realization that this might actually be legitimate! And sure enough, in due time, three lovely folks from the Parent Life Network descended upon our small-town home to present us with a cheque and to photograph our family!

Heart-pounding disbelief, with a gradual dawning of realization that this might actually be legitimate!

Well, now, what does unexpectedly winning $10,000 mean for our family?

It means a new washer and dryer to keep up with the endless loads of dirty clothing produced by a family of six!

It means that our backyard will finally be once again fully fenced (after a wet basement fiasco two years ago left us with a ¾ fenced yard, and constant anxiety for me whenever the children are playing outside).

It means a smiling savings account for our future.

It means a smiling savings account for our future.

It means donations to our church family and to the school that our oldest son will be attending this coming fall.

It means that I finally got to book tickets to go visit one of my dearest friends in the world! She and her husband moved out to Manitoba when he took a job there in 2010, and until now I haven’t been able to visit her; I’m so looking forward to this upcoming trip!

It means all this and more to our family, and we are so very thankful to Parent Life Network for this wonderful and unexpected gift.

Here’s How You Can Win $10,000, Too

The HUGE cheque may have been printed for Lauren already but we have a whole new round of PLN Perks running right now. Who knows, the next $10,000 cheque may have your name on it.

Enter Here