Two Blogging Awards

It has come to my attention that I have been nominated for a couple blogging awards.  I know that in the past I have been nominated also. I had them all written down on a paper so I could deal with them in a timely manner……..and then the paper disappeared!

I have decided I should probably do these two awards quickly and not put them on a piece of paper, because I now know my track record on that!  I cannot even blame the downtime that I took to heal ; for losing that paper…..it was gone long before I had surgery.  (It has been really useful to blame anesthesia for forgetting things!)

For a long time I was in denial about losing that paper….but no longer.  It is gone for good.  So……if you nominated me in the past and I never responded….please do not be offended. I never know quite how to respond to awards as there are so many great sites out there and I hate to choose just certain ones for awards.

Anyway back to the current awards…..

I was nominated by Tricia over at Kindergartenknowledge for the Blogger Recognition Award. You really need to get over to her blog. She blogs about so many things and is such a good read. You will not regret it and I am confident you will find a new blog to follow.

Award Rules:

*Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
*Write a post to show your blog award.
*Give a brief story about how your blog started.
*Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
*Select 15 bloggers you want to give this award to.
*Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide a link to the post you created.

Brief Blogging Story: I started blogging a little over a year ago. My kids had been after me to blog but I was not really sure what I would have to write that anyone would want to read!

One Sunday afternoon my daughter-in-law (known as my web guru) was on her computer. I asked her what she was working on (she designs websites for a living and has a business called Skwintz). She informed me she was setting up my blog. That day I wrote my first blog post and have been at it ever since.

Two pieces of advice on blogging….hmmmmmm.  That is hard because I still cannot quite wrap my head around the fact I DO blog.  Someone called me writer awhile back and it startled me because it feels more like I am just having a conversation with all of you out there. Kind of like a pen pal relationship!

Anyway….back to advice. (Pretty sure the anesthesia is still messing with my focus LOL). I would first tell you to have fun with it. Write about whatever you love, are passionate about and write about what you know.

When I started my family had a big blog naming session. My oldest thought I should call it Confessions of a Chicken Grandma. I thought that sounded a bit racy. He laughed and said “Yep, draw them in and then tell them about Jesus!” (Our family is slightly off-center!) I shortened it to The Chicken Grandma.

My second bit of advice is to not stress if you don’t meet your self-inflicted blogging deadline. People are gracious and just happy when you show up again. Life is much to short to sweat the small stuff.

I am going to pass on the 15 blogger nominations. I know so many blogs who should be recognized. At some point if I could figure out how to put the blogs I follow on a sidebar I would encourage you to check those out. I would also encourage anyone to go ahead and take this as an invitation to do this award!

Now for the second Award.  The Blue Sky Award.

I was nominated for this one by AAALYolly. Her blog is full of energy and optimism and she writes about whatever interests her at that time. You will not be disappointed if you make your way over to her blog and check it out. Thank you for nominating me!

THE RULES:

1. Thank the person(people) who nominated you.
2. Answer their 11 questions.
3. Tag 11 people.
4. Give them 11 questions to answer.

These are the questions I was given to answer:

1. Who is your favorite author?
2. What is your greatest achievement in your life so far?
3. Do you believe that the word for-ever is still existing nowadays? If yes, why? If no, why?
4. Who has been the most important person in your life?
5. Did you ever cheated on your partner?
6. What are your two (2) favorite quotations from any of your favorite authors?
7. Do you believe in God?
8. What is your favorite color?
9. What was your childhood like?
10. When did you first fall in love?
11. What is your best memory of childhood? Worst?

Okay…here are the answers:

My favorite author…..that is a tough one as I love to read a variety of things. I am going to name a few as I really cannot narrow it down!  I love books by Ted Dekker…he makes me think.  Louis L’Amour is another favorite. Mary Higgens Clark is good. I also like anything that is written by Max Lucado.

Greatest Achievement So Far:  Being a wife to my husband of almost 37 years, mom to our three sons and grandma to 2.5 grandkids. Family is huge to me.

The Word For-Ever: Yep it is still true today….at least for me. Family is forever. God is forever and never changes. His love never ever fails and is forever.

Most Important Person: More than one……family, friends….they helped make me who I am in this life.

Ever Cheat on Partner: Never.

Favorite Quotes: “Not all who wander are lost.”  Tolkein (I know I did not list him as a favorite author, but I like his stuff)  “Lower your expectations of earth. This isn’t heaven , so don’t expect it to be.” Max Lucado.

Belief in God: Absolutely! Else what is this world all about? Just being good or existing is not a good enough reason to be sucking in my next breath.

Favorite Color: Green…..new life.

Childhood:  Typical small town Midwest childhood. Played hard, worked hard, two-parent family, went to church on Sunday and was taught faith was something I needed to claim for myself.

Fell In Love: First for real love….my husband. Started dating him when I was 19.  First not for real love…..probably my cat named Sam.

Best Childhood Memory: Lazy, muggy summer nights spent laying on a blanket in the back yard with my folks looking at the stars and visiting with neighbors.  Worst: Chopping my index finger with a hatchet while working for an older lady known as the Goose Lady. (she had geese and I am seeing a blog post coming on this one!)

Now on to the nominations for both of these awards:

https://beaconsoflife.live/
https://atimetoshare.me/
https://carentaylor.wordpress.com/
https://rhythminlife.net/about/
https://kindergartenknowledge.com/about/
https://aaalyolly.wordpress.com/about-her/
https://onetahayes.com/about/
https://onceuponahotflash.com/about/
https://threepsandq.wordpress.com/about/
https://samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com/about/
https://invisibleillnessesblog.wordpress.com/about-me/
https://aquietandpeaceablelifeblog.wordpress.com/about/
https://craftandothercrazyplans.com/
https://rabbitpatchdiary.com/
Merhling Muse

Okay, I know I said I was going to pass on nominations……I am also a born rule follower so I did the nominations. I still would like to invite anyone to participate in these awards. Please pick both or either awards.  I know I also renominated the people who nominated me because I figured maybe they had not done the “other” award. Please don’t feel pressured to participate if you do not wish to. Keep it fun. And if you are a blog-free site just ignore this nomination.

Also I had better come up with 11 questions for the Blue Sky Award.

1. Best Childhood Memory
2. First pet you ever had.
3. Funniest family memory.
4. Best blog post you have done so far.
5. Favorite book and why
6. Something you hate to do.
7. Favorite food
8. One item on your “bucket list”
9. Most beautiful thing you have ever seen.
10. Favorite crafting thing to do or do you hate crafts?
11. What is the first question you ask someone you just met?

All right have fun with this people!  Oh I should tell you the blogs I posted are a random grouping of blogs that I like. They range from poetry, faith, crafts and everything in between. I hope you enjoy checking them out. And if you have already done these nominations just ignore them this time around if you choose!

Awards can give you a tremendous amount of encouragement
to keep getting better,
no matter how young or old you are.
Alan Alda
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alanalda597637.html?src=t_awards