Carol Livingston is the lucky winner of Blog Cabin 2011. This Cincinnati-area resident is the mother of two grown sons (twins!) and, along with her husband, has devoted her career to higher education.
In this special question-and-answer session, she shares her thoughts about the giveaway, the home and her plans for the future.
Q. How many times did you enter the giveaway?
A. I watched the show quite a bit last year. I may have entered a couple of times. This year, I decided, "Why not?" And so I watched each Blog Cabin 2011 episode and I tried to remember every day when I came home to enter before I started anything else. I don't think I missed too many days, and I have to think that made a difference.
Q. What were your initial impressions of Blog Cabin 2011?
A. I love being on the water. So the fact that the home had a water view just really intrigued me from the very beginning. When they picked the location, just seeing that beautiful area probably made me enter as much as I did.
Q. What is your favorite room in the home?
A. I like the way the kitchen flows right into the dining area and right out through the great room. And the view ? it's such a beautiful water view. It's just stunning.
Q. What was your initial reaction when you got the call that you won the home?
A. I just shrieked, I am sure. I was in disbelief. I know I laughed. I probably screamed. I just could not imagine that that was really happening. And amazingly, it was my birthday. I got the call on my birthday when I got home from work. And I've never won anything in my life.
Q. What do you look forward to most?
A. I especially look forward to visiting ? just getting there and walking in and experiencing the home. Amazingly, I have a dear friend whose parents live about 10 minutes from the house. She and her family have lived there for about 20 years. They want to introduce us to people in the area and all their favorite places. They are really anxious to help us out. So that makes it really exciting.
Q. Will Blog Cabin 2011 become your full-time residence?
A. We would certainly use it as a vacation home for the first year or two and then as we experience it more, we could well make a decision to live there.
Q. Is there anything about the home that you would like to change?
A. I cannot think of one thing I would change. I love the layout, the recreational space on the third floor, the balcony in the back, the landscaping and the beautiful patio and the barbecue. I could see us spending a lot of time outside.
Q. What message would you like to send out to the Blog Cabin community?
A. We feel so incredibly grateful. We are so excited about it. We will love the home like anybody would who is fortunate enough to be selected. This is life-changing.
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