#awards

I am so touched and humbled by this!

“The Growing Self Blogger Award has been created to acknowledge and celebrate amazing individuals, in the blogging community, who are persevering through life’s challenges not only to GROW as individuals, but to reach out and help others GROW as well.” ~Roda

I feel truly blessed to have met so many wonderful individuals through this process called blogging! I had no idea this world even existed a year ago. I started blogging to deal with my personal pain and isolation and found a network of strong, funny, talented, artistic and kind human beings! Many of whom were dealing with life’s struggles just like me.

I never would have dreamed that the friends I have made in the blogosphere would help me in my “real world” relationships as well. I have been more open, more willing to try new things and, dare I say it, more trusting. Actually, I am still working on that last one 🙂

Many bloggers have been generous to me and nominated my blog for awards, and all of those are important to me. I admit, I am way behind! Embarrassingly so! I hope to start catching up soon. But one lovely human, one that I will never be able to put on the back burner, has nominated me for the award that she herself has crafted. Which makes it extra special! If you know Roda, then you understand what I am talking about! Her nomination brought tears to my eyes, so I will begin digging out of the backlog with “The Growing Self Blogger Award”

How it works:

Put the award logo/image on your blog
List the rules
Thank the individual that nominated you and provide a link to their blog
Describe the award and mention the creator: Roda – Growingself.blog
Nominate up to 5 blogs. Remember, the purpose of this award is to specifically celebrate those individuals that have made a difference in your life or the lives of others.
Give at least 1 reason why you nominated each individual.
Notify your nominees of the award

Today I would like to nominate:

Sophie from Foodzesty

Monika from Everyday Healthy Recipes

Jay from My Truth is Now

Linda from Mainepaperpusher

Sophie- You are my long lost sister from Greece! No, we don’t look alike, I’m sure, as I have red hair, freckles and burn instantly so no one would ever confuse me for a Greek beauty! But, we connected so quickly and strongly from the instant we started messaging. You are so kind and considerate and inspire me to get into the kitchen and try new recipes. We have our mutual love of Rafa to bind us across time zones and you are the first person I think of when a tennis match pops up on my TV. Thank you my dear friend for all the emails and the beautiful post card from Greece!

Monka- I have learned so much from you! Your healthy recipes help me stay on track and fuel my, sometimes, insane workout schedule. I have found new ingredients and tried new techniques which have helped me grow my culinary repertoire. Thank you for putting up with all my questions! One day I will figure out how to get to your cooking site to share those recipes. You are so sweet to take the time to research my queries and help me navigate the blogosphere!

Jay- You are such a sweet man! You inspire me to read more than my usual “goto genres”. I am a creature of habit and will easily fall back on my usual authors. You have made me a better analyst, helping me look beyond the obvious and uncover the many underlying possibilities. I am honored to be a witness to your literary ascent! Please know that I am truly privileged to be a small part of helping you on your way 🙂

Linda-I know, I know, you don’t do awards. I also know that you break the rules when you feel strongly about something. Guess what? Your friendship is so important to me that I am breaking your rule! I am not nominating you to be irritating, but because I feel so strongly about the impact you have made on my life that I am going to talk about you whether you like it or not! So there! We have much in common, and I know if we lived on the same coast we would be fast friends. You inspire me to keep putting myself out there, we both know how easy it is it become isolated. Those of us who are a little too comfortable with alone time can become overlooked, as it were. And, we have the same sense of humor! Your Guest in Jest series is one of my favorite weekly posts! I would give just about anything to spend an afternoon with you drinking coffee, eating cookies and laughing our asses off. Thank you, my friend 🙂

And Roda….The only reason you are not nominated is because you nominated me! I will find you in Colorado, or Seattle, one day. And, hug the stuffing out you 🙂

SaveSave

One Lovely Blog Award!

The lovely and talented Sophie from “Foodzesty” kindly nominated me for this award. This is the first time I have been nominated for this one, so thank you Sophie! If you have not made it to her blog yet then you are in for a treat! Sophie is a wonderful cook and has shared a number of delicious recipes-go now and plan your dinner!

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

Each nominee must thank the person who nominated them and link their blog in their post.
They must include the rules and add the blog award badge as an image.
Must add 7 facts about themselves.
Nominate 15 people to do the award

Hmmm, 7 facts about me…

I am the mother of two young adults, and am very proud of them!

2. You can see from this picture that we like to rock climb as a family

3. I turned 50 last February and got a tattoo to mark the occasion. This is my one and only!

4 & 5. My husband and I like to run half marathons and travel as much as possible.

6. I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology and taught at the college level for 25+ years.

my daughter and I at my graduation from USC

7. A few years ago, I went to culinary school because I enjoy baking and cooking and needed to get better at both!

Now for my nominees! Please do not feel pressure to respond to this award, my intention is to recognize how much I appreciate your blog and your talents!

Recipes by chefkreso

The Austrian Dish

ONCE UPON A HOT FLASH

Everyone Else has the best titles

wakinguponthewrongsideof50

thisismytruthnow

Thank you all for your friendship, advice and your positivity 🙂

An Award I Have Never Heard of Before!

The beautiful and positive Roda sent me a message the other day. She said “I have nominated you for the Black Cat Blue Sea Award!” I thought, is she pulling my leg? It sounded kind of like a joke-but it’s not. What I found out is that the intent behind this award is to recognize those bloggers who attempt to write for everybody, regardless of the number of viewers they acquire. It is designed to acknowledge writing from one’s passions and not really targeting a blog that necessarily has a large following or a tremendous amount of “likes”. The official statement is:

What Is This Award

This award is for bloggers who strive to write for everybody, and no matter how many viewers they get, make an impact on a reader. This award is an expression of gratitude to the nominee. It should be awarded to anybody that you choose deserves it, and it doesn’t mean that they must have hundreds of followers and likes.

As Roda put it “This award is an expression of gratitude to the nominee and it should be awarded to anybody that you choose deserves it.”

How kind is that! We all enjoy followers and “likes” of course, but I think we sometimes get caught up in that loop and forget that we started this for ourselves and our passions. I love the ideal behind this award and am honored that Roda thought of me!

Rules

anybody nominated can nominate up to eight other bloggers
the nominee answers three questions posed by the nominator
the questions you ask while nominating can be any three questions

Roda’s Questions to me:

What would you like bloggers to do more of that they aren’t doing right now?

This is tough for me to address because I follow a number of really diverse blogs. Cooking, rock climbing, running, story writing, photography-all are approached differently and I enjoy that diversity in my Reader feed. As long as everyone stays positive and supportive of one another I am happy. I have yet to find a blog that is negative or demeaning in any way (thankfully!). If I did run into that I would not follow, comment or like any part of it!

Tell us 4 things about yourself, one of which is not true… and see if we can guess.

I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology
I have a twin sister
I have run 3 half marathons, to date and
I went to culinary school

Describe a perfect day that balances all the things you love.

I rise early and get in a good run then come home and have a scone (or two!) that I made earlier. I head out with my family for a day of rock climbing (of course I never fall because it is my “perfect day”!) We go out for a tasty dinner and a cocktail or two, then I spend the rest of the evening with my husband-not filling in any more details from here on!!

My Questions to you

Where do you look for inspirations for your blog posts?
How has your blog changed / evolved over time? Was the change in line with your expectations?
What would you like to be doing in the future? Are you still blogging?

I do realize that not everyone participates in awards and my only intent is to honor and recognize those blogs that I truly enjoy! Please do not feel any pressure to engage with this post and know that I appreciate all that you do!

My Nominees:

Ink Owl

In Diane’s Kitchen

This is My Truth Now

Running Forward, My way

Normalisoverated2016

SaveSave

Blogger Recognition Award, #2!

I am still working my way through some awards and nominations that I have been blessed to receive. The amazing Kathy Knull was kind enough to think of me when she was writing her acceptance post. Kathy is a novelist, accomplished equestrian and has a wide variety of hobbies and skills I could never master in two lifetimes! I really enjoy reading her posts and can relate as we are in a similar stage of life. Check her out!

Here are the rules for accepting this award

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Write a post to show your award.
Give a brief story of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
Select 10-15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.

The first time I was nominated for this award, I was only 2 months into blogging. I don’t think that initial post was widely seen so I am reblogging portions today.

How my blog started:

I started my blog as a way to take back some control in my life. After my kids went to college (and yes, if you haven’t experienced it yet, the “empty nest syndrome” is real!) I found myself floundering. I was disillusioned with my career, my purpose had grown up and my husband, well, he was dealing with his own mid life crisis (also a very real thing!). I needed to reconnect with my life, the world and myself. Once I realized that I had basically disappeared I wanted to get back some of the fire that I once had. After all, I had managed to get both a bachelors and a doctorate degree, raise two amazing young people and teach some pretty hard subjects at the college level for 20+ years, but where did that woman go? Starting this blog was one of several steps I have taken to connect to others in my situation. In the process, I have met far more people, of varying backgrounds and ages and am thrilled to be able to hear their stories and share ideas with them. I had no idea how much these connections would mean to me and I am only 7 months into this journey! Thank you for your support and comments, I hope to meet more great people in this blogosphere!

Advice to new bloggers:

I feel a bit disingenuous offering advice, as most of you are probably more seasoned bloggers than myself! But here goes! A piece of advice I received was, “don’t compare your start with someone else’s middle”. I think this is a wonderful sentiment and can be applied to anything you are starting. Be it exercise, a diet or a new job. Someone will always have more experience, talent or, in this world, followers! We all have to start at the beginning of everything! If you are passionate about it then learn from those folks and embrace your beginning. You don’t get to have 5 years of experience on the first day of anything!

The second piece of advice is more from an observation. The blogs I see that are doing well and, have a genuine feel of authenticity, seem to be those written by people who are not looking to make a fortune. Money may come down the line but you will never have more of an opportunity to connect on a personal level than you do right now. If you get rich later, that’s great but if it’s your passion then enjoy it now!

I nominate the following bloggers for this award:

Please tag me back if you choose to write a post!

Mystery Blogger Awards 2 and 3!

The creater of the Mystery Blogger Award is Enigma, here is her page.

I am such a slacker! I was nominated for this award, some time ago, by two amazing bloggers, and I am just now getting to these. I do sincerely appreciate the time that both BeaFrietas and Inkowl have put into this posting! Beafrietas hosts a magnificent lifestyle blog that most humans in the blogosphere have already followed! And, Inkowl shares inspirational stories and artwork that will make your day a happier place! Check them both out if you haven’t already!

AWARD RULES

Display the award logo on your blog.
List the Rules.
Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
Tell your readers three things about yourself.
Answer five questions from the nominee.
Nominate anywhere from ten to twenty bloggers.
Notify the bloggers by leaving a comment on their blog.
Ask your nominees any five questions of your choice, including one weird or funny question.
Share the link to your best post.

Three things about me:

I have a BS in general biology and a Ph.D. in molecular biology, so I love science especially all things DNA
I ran my first half marathon and began rock climbing last year at the age of 49, and have plans to keep going farther, faster and higher!
I am still on my quest of “what’s next in life” and would love to define that path soon!

Bea’s Questions:

What is the last song you sang along to?

I listen to 80’s rock when I run and my last run was yesterday, so that was “Looks that Kill” by Motley Crue- ya, I know!

2. Without worrying about money or responsibilities, if you could go anywhere in the world right now where would you go?

I would leave tomorrow for Greece!

3. Would you rather be a singer, actress, or professional athlete?

Definitely a professional athlete

4. What games do you enjoy playing?

We are leaving for Vegas tomorrow and I really like to play Black Jack!

5. What product can you not live without?

I am not sure if this is the spirit of the question but coffee!

Ink Owl’s Questions:

Where (physical locations) do you write?

I actually write in a number of different locations. Often in my living room or at the island in my kitchen. I sometimes will write out on our patio when I am looking for a creative vibe and will head to the local book store when I have a more complicated post in mind.

2. Why did you start writing?

I needed an outlet for some strong emotions that I was dealing with, and to be honest, am still working through.

3. What is your favorite part about your life?

The freedom to choose how to spend my time. My kids are grown, I work part time and I really have the freedom to structure my day around the activities I want to participate in. If I feel like going for a run, heading out to climb for the day or spend time in the kitchen, I have that privilege. After all the years (decades) of operating on everyone else’s schedules, I really appreciate the time to focus on what I like to do!

4. What has been the most challenging part with writing?

Effective communication and editing! There always seems to be the potential for confusion and a typo no matter how many times I proof read!

5. What gives you inspiration to write?

My blog is relatively new (started in November 2016) so I have a lot of topics and ideas at this point. It is really a matter of choosing which topics to tackle first. I really don’t know how long I will be doing this, but for now I am really enjoying connecting with some many interesting people.

My best post:

According to the stats for the site my best post was Are you really together if you are not side-by-side: A running query

My nominees!

My Questions to you:

Do you prefer action movies or comedies?
What was the last novel you read? Why did you choose it?
Do you prefer warm or cold vacation destinations?
Are you a cat or dog person?
What foreign language would you like to speak fluently?

Invisible-No-More