Awards, Kudos, Pats on the Back and High Fives

I have a file that sits in my outlook that houses awards from bloggers when I get them. Its so I don't forget to acknowledge them and what they are and who they are from. These mean a lot to me, so why don't I do something when I get them? It's easy.

If I have already written a post for the day, I try not to post again unless it's really urgent because I know how busy some people are in not only writing a post for their own blog but reading and commenting on others. So I try to post no more than once a day.

Then there are these days lately when I feel like I am fighting an uphill battle all the way and losing each day to feel somewhat normal. Looking back in my mind over the last few months feels like that person I used to be is so far away from me, and all I have now is just a hollow shell of my former self.

I hate being so sick or in pain you are literally stuck in bed, but I resolve myself to doing those things I can while I am down for now like blogging or even reading books for publishers. I love to read or more like inhale words on a page. I can never get enough.

Yet I have quite a few of these awards I wish to acknowledge to those that have graciously bestowed them upon me and pass them along to people as well. I treasure each and every one of these.



Christy Rose at the Secret Life of An American Wife and Mom was nice enough to pass this Circle of Friends award on to me.

I want to forward this award on the the following bloggers and may you please find 5 bloggers to pass these along to as well! To me the Circle of Friends is for those bloggers that always leave a comment for you no matter how busy they might be. My selections are:

1. Jane at Jumpin in the Jungle
2. Misha at From My Front Porch in the Mountains
3. Deby at Apples of Gold
4. Dawn at Dawn's Cottage Corner
5. Thena at Patiently Waiting


Debby at Heavenly Humor passed along the Sunshine Blog Award, The Sugar Doll Award and the Best Blogger award to me. I have also received the Sugar Doll Award from Tami at Hearts Make Families


I want to pass along the Sunshine Award to the following bloggers who make your day just a bit brighter just for stopping by their blog:

1. Sandy at One Day At A Time
2. Denise at Free to Be Me
3. Rosel at Off The Beaten Trek
4. Lidj at Crown of Beauty
5. Mich at Mich


I want to pass the Sugar Doll Award on to the following bloggers that always offer something encouraging to say not only within their own blog posts but in the comments they leave:

1. Michelle at Psalm 104:24
2. Kailee at Hand in Hand
3. Charlotte at Simply Divine Love
4. Candee at Encouragement for the Journey
5. Wendi at My Hearts Always Home



I want to pass along the Beautiful Blogger Award to the following bloggers who go above and beyond just blogging to make you feel special:

1. Loren at The Magoos News
2. Susan at This Day!
3. Kim at Homesteader's Heart
4. Nan at Mom's The Word
5. Dawn at Spontaneous Clapping

I have also received the Prolific Blogger Award from Sitka at All God's Creatures as well as from Susan at This Day, Andrea at Arise 2 Write, Debby at Just Breathe.


I am passing this final award on to the following 5 bloggers that have inspired me with what they write about each day:

1. Denise at Keeping Up With The Jones
2. Teresa at Grammy Girlfriend
3. Lori at Girly Muse
4. LV at Thoughts from Meme's Corner
5. Mari at My Little Corner of the World

I think it means a lot to receive these awards personally and hope that as I pass them along to you that you in return find 5 bloggers to pass them along to. It means so much more when someone acknowledges these awards to you instead of just telling people to pick them up if they want them. I like to see them continually passed on.

It doesn't mean that if I don't award you with one of these awards that you aren't deserving of one, but I am hoping that each of us will in turn take the time to pass them on and forward, coming full circle once again.

Marvelous Monday!

Well, what a weekend! I couldn't believe our good luck in having a super, beautiful blue sky day for a Resurrection Sunday. Lately here in the desert, we are often faced with high and heavy winds that last for 3-4 days while high or low pressure systems often blow through. We get very little rain but I can't beat the beautiful crystal clear blue skies most days. OK, we get them a lot. It's hardly ever we get some rain clouds.

The other day I decided to help my daughter with her science project involving coffee grinds as a cheap organic fertilizer and was noticing while out watering the fluffy, white popcorn clouds meandering through the blue sky. I took some time and noticed the shapes of an elephant and a turtle as they passed over head. I wondered if God was drawing using the blue sky as His art pad and the clouds and His pencil lines.

It is interesting what we miss but looking down all the time. God's miracles are all over the place everyday. I would encourage you this week to find the time to give three random acts of kindness to friends or strangers. It could be something as simple as a kind word, a smile that is returned or a small favor. I will use Thursday's blog to have you comment what you did, but most of all, how it made you feel?!!

I do owe a huge thank you to a few people that were kind enough to remember me when some blogging awards came out. Here they are in the order I got them. First the Spanish Dart Award!



Then the "His Light Shines Award"



and most recently, "I am a Fan of Your Site".



I owe these thanks to Sitka at "All Gods Creatures". His mom, Andrea writes a heart warming blog from a dogs perspective and how he would view things. Great inspiration and a dog after his mom's own heart. Check it out.

I also want to thank the time to pass these awards along to the following as well, in no particular order.

1. Samm's Inspirations, a blog from a 15 year old teenager girl that has been best friends with my daughter for 4 years. Her posts are an inspiration from her heart and if you get a chance, stop by and give her some encouragement. Love you Samm!

2. Dear Craisin, my 15 soon to be 16 year old daughter's first blog. She is really been blessed to be given a gift from God on how well she writes. We have even submitted some of her work to publishers and we are waiting to see what they have to say. I would hope she will continue to use these gifts to bring glory to God with His gift to her.

3. Heather at *Beautiful Self*. I found her joining my blog recently and honestly can't wait to see the wonderful things she posts daily! I honestly feel God's presence in opening her beautiful page every morning. Thanks Heather.

4. Lisa from Mommy Squared! Lisa shares her daily insights from being a super busy mom and still loving the Lord everyday! Thanks Lisa for constantly sharing your inspirations of both a mom and sister in Christ!

5. Laurie at Supernatural Living. Like Andrea at Arise 2 Write, she inspires me daily with her blog. I can't wait each day over my coffee to see how God will pour forth His word through her writings each day. Love you! I know you may have already received these but I wanted to thank you for your blog and lovely comments.

Many of you who read these may not understand the importance of commenting a bloggers blog, but it's so nice to read how our writings for the day have impacted you, made you think, or changed your day. Hope you join me in finding time to comment and follow the blogs listed above. We'd love to hear from you.

May God bless everyone who comes here and may He continue to inspire me daily to share His thoughts with you!