The Sensual Blogging Award…

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I have been honored with The Sensual Blogging Award by Malinkasstudio ~ http://malinkasstudio.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/sensual-blogging-award/

The rules for accepting this award are:

1.  Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.

2.  Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back.

3.  Answer 7 sensual questions ( Most romantic memory, Most sensual music, Most sensual season, Favorite flower, Favorite fruit, Best gift received, Love is… )

4.  Select 10 nominees and notify them on their blogs.

5.  Copy and paste the award on your blog.

Most Romantic Memory: I had been in Portland, Oregon planning my wedding for a few weeks. My fiancé drove 4 hours (one way) after work, when he had to be back at work at 6 am the next day, all because he wanted a kiss. He got his kiss and then had to turn around and drive those long 4 hours back home to be able to get to work.

Most Sensual Season: I would say Spring. Everything returns to green, the days get warmer and flowers are in bloom all around.

Favorite Flower: Roses…red roses.

Favorite Fruit:  Strawberries.

Best Gift Received: Surprise roses.

Love is…Unconditional…given freely with nothing expected back. Love is…putting someone else’s happiness above your own. Love is…THE most divine feeling in the world.

For some reason when asked to answer Most Sensuous Music…this video came to mind. Since I fairly recently came upon it, and it really touched me…not just the video but the lyrics and way it is sung as well…:

To me sensuality means the five senses….so with that in mind the following bloggers have touched one or many of my five senses (as I am sure they have with others as well) Therefore, my nominees for The Sensual Blogging Award are:

Pennycoho

http://www.thewhyaboutthis.com

Chris

http://itsallaboutthedreams.wordpress.com

Boomiebol

http://boomiebol.wordpress.com

Alastair

http://kattermonran.wordpress.com/

Neil

http://ngtolentino.wordpress.com

Subhan Zein

http://www.subhanzein.wordpress.com

Robyn Lee

http://throughthehealinglens.wordpress.com

Inspirational Regenerations…

Okay, so I’m a wee bit behind on these…but you all still love me right?!? 😀 First I just want to say what an honor it is for me, truly, to be thought of for these awards…just makes me smile!! — In the midst of some most unpleasant shenanigans (see how nice I said that?) going on here before “certain people’s exit out of our lives to a different state”  — This is just an amazing gift…all of them!!!  I would love to answer all the questions for each of these…but I am currently working on something that prevents me (due to time) from giving these the full recognition they deserve. I’ll pre-apologize now.

Please know how incredibly amazing and honored it is for me to be thought of for these awards!!! That being said…here goes — I would like to thank (in random order because I’m just not that organized) Tina Liu from http://astronomybythecosmos.com/ for The Inspiring Blog Award.

Continuing on my theme for breaking rules, I’m only going to nominate  a few people for each award.

The rules — should you choose to accept are — 1) Post Award on your site 2) Thank the person who nominated you. 3) Nominate as many people as you want. 4) If you would like to, ask some questions you’d really like to know the answer to of the people you nominate! Or don’t…it’s all up to you and whichever you choose is/will be fantastic!  5) If you already have the award I’ve nomianted you for and would rather have another…please feel free to take it!! 😀

For the Inspiring Blog Award I would like to nominate a few of the many who consistently inspire me ~

Robyn Lee ~ http://throughthehealinglens.com/

Chris ~          http://itsallaboutthedreams.wordpress.com/

Michelle ~     http://michellesomer.wordpress.com

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Next I had the pleasure of receiving a nomination for The Beautiful Blog Award from  http://sharechair.wordpress.com/ .

This is such an honor…all with a wonderful theme (Inspiration) and gorgeous bloggers who thought of me for these awards. 

Please go visit them if you get the chance, I guarantee you will be glad you did!! For the rules ~Please see above for same rules ~

I would like to nominate the following for the Beautiful Blogger Award because they are!! 😀

http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/

http://subhanzein.wordpress.com

http://kokopellibeefreeblog.wordpress.com

http://www.recoverythrumylens.wordpress.com

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Next is an award from Wendy at  http://greenlightlady.wordpress.com/ – I have to admit I’ve not see this award before! I think it’s so very cool! It is called A Thought Provoking Blog Award. I’m just so appreciative to be thought of for this award!!

The rules for all of these state that I have to write 7-ish things about myself. Since there are so many (what a wonderous problem to have! 😀 ) I have decided not to this time as I will be answering questions below  and also I was “leapfrogged” So will be answering those questions as well. 🙂 I’m hopeful you will forgive me for breaking the rules this time! Instead I will use the rules above for this one too! 😉

I would like to nominate the following for A Thought Provoking Blog ~because they are the first to pop in my head for being thought provoking!

Neil ~        http://ngtolentino.wordpress.com/

Prashant ~http://justspokenthoughts.wordpress.com/

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I was given the Sunshine Award by Mondrak at http://kattermonran.com/  and was Leapfrogged/tagged by Mondrak (see below for the questions & answers). Thank you so much sweet friend for thinking of me for this. All of these awards are like huge hugs from all of you and truly brighten my life!!!

Again I would like use the same rules as above! 🙂 I would like to nominate the following for being a bright light in my life, hence the Sunshine Award.

Rosy ~    http://sharingmemyselfandi.wordpress.com

Dory ~    http://dorysworld.wordpress.com

Boomie ~http://boomiebol.wordpress.com

Richard ~http://thelastsongiheard.wordpress.com/

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Next was an unbelieveably brilliantly fantastic award ~a real Doctor Who Award ~ The reasons behind this award are as amazing as the show (you know, I’ve already told you I’m a HUGE Doctor Who fan 🙂 ). This is called the Regenerations Award and the nomination comes from my mom Penny ~http://thewhyaboutthis.com/2012/08/24/dont-blink/ ~That’s where she explains the nomination. And if you’re curious ( you know you are ) then click the following link for the reasons behind this award and why it’s so very special http://thelastsongiheard.wordpress.com/regenerations/ .

Here are the rules:

  1. Keep calm. Don’t blink. Firstly, you have to thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  2. You have to state that bow ties are cool. And Fez’s. Welllll… if you don’t like Fez’s, that’s okay. ~ Fez’s are cool but bow ties are even more cool 😀
  3. Nominate one other blog for this award. Say thank you to that person. Just one person. It’s not a chain letter :D
  4. Post your nominee’s name on the Regenerations Award page here.
  5. Answer the following questions:
  • Who are you? ~ Hmmm…who am I…the quintessential question for all to ponder. I guess I am a girl, okay woman, who got her world turned upside down, torn to pieces, shattered and am currently putting those pieces back together. I am a mom who loves her kids more than her own life and I like to think a good human being in that I inherently love people and would do most anything for my friends. I am also a person (who I recently discovered) who has quite the temper when provoked….don’t mess with my babies (children). I AM a momma bear and I WILL fight furiously!
  • Are you happy?I am more happy now then I have been for over two years. I am grateful for my life, for my children — their good health, my mom, my family, my local friends who never left my side, and of course I am most grateful for my new amazing and consistently inspiring friends here!!
  • If you could change just one thing about yourself, right now, to make your life better, what would it be? ~ I guess I’m already doing that…making the changes I want to make without anyone so wholly unconnected to myself’s opinion! I am cherishing life with a newfound respect for how fragile and precious it is and I am working to be healthier in every aspect for a more fufilled life.
  • Who, or what, inspires you? ~ Finally, an easy question! :p My mom. She raised two kids on her own and I like to think we both grew up to be loving, respectful, caring, empathetic, honest to a fault, and great parents because we had such an amazing example!!

Now in keeping with the awards rules, I would like to nominate Mondrak at http://kattermonran.com/ for the Regenerations Award because he inspires me, he’s awesome fun, and even better he is a fellow Doctor Who fan!!! So I am hoping he will love this award, and the idea behind it, as much as I do!!

One last note…to Mondrak – Since this post is much longer than anticipated I will be adding in the Leapfrog/Tag post soonest!

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~*~My most heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to everyone who thought of me for these awards…they are so very special to me! ~*~

If I could I would nominate every single one of you for each of these beautiful awards!! You all have encouraged me, inspired me, and shone so bright on dark days. Each of you is priceless to me. Is there a priceless award? If not, someone more tech-savy than me needs to make one! 😉

A Plethora of Love (Awards)

I am truly honored…to have received five incredible awards from four incredible friends with amazing blogs themselves! I am behind a bit on these and for that I apologize. I received the One Lovely Blog Award and the Thanks for Writing Award from Mondrak at http://kattermonran.com/ . The Very Inspiring Blogger Award from Kay Lynte’ at http://thinkingiswrite.wordpress.com/ . The Sunshine Award from danbalva at http://hurdlestohappiness.wordpress.com/ . And last but most certainly not least – the Reader Appreciation Award from Neil at http://ngtolentino.wordpress.com/.

I thought it would be nice to focus on something bright for this post. I have changed my Gravatar, the reasons why and more on that in a bit. I am just so very thankful for all of you. This has become my sanctuary for healing, hope, encouragement, laughter, shared journeys, and inspiration. I love how incredibly unique everyone is and how that gets expressed through each of your blogs. It is just truly awesome in every sense of the word!

This past weekend a lot of my life was laid bare and all of your response was so much more than I ever would have imagined. The love and care, concern, and genuine support was so overwhelmingly wonderous I’m still awed by it. One confession before I talk about the awards….I haven’t cried this much in a long long long time. What happens when I cry that much? Migraine lol. It’s okay…it was so worth it!!

Each of these awards is like a big hug…blog love….from all of you!

Things are still topsy-turvy and each day brings new challenges….and new rewards! I believe I am finally on the path to the future….with no one dragging me back to the past or ready to rip the rug out from under us when we least expect it. My children are all doing so much better, sleeping through the night…mostly… and well you all know about my mom! 🙂

So, as you can see…there is lots of love (awards) going on here…in an effort to not overwhelm myself I’ve decided to not decide! There are so very many amazingly fantasic friends…those who have been with me from the beginning and those who’ve joined my journey along the way….and those who have just found me. You all have brightened my darkest days and made me feel so very welcome here.

So, what I would very much like to do is ask you, each of you, to chose one you don’t have –one you would like–or even one (or more) you would like to share with some of your amazingly fantastic friends! I so want to share these awards (love) with all the amazing people who have really truly made my life so much brighter! And hopefully make yours brighter in return. If I could chose I would give each of you ALL of these awards. So please, please make yourself at home and grab one…or more!!

Also, Please grab — if you like, as always no pressure — the IBeLOnG award….it just signifies community and likeminded people who care for one another. No rules, no pressure. Just a beautiful statement about this incrdible wonderous community that is what it is because of each unique person that is part of the whole. Thank you for understanding and a most special thank you to those who thought of me for these awards. They are so very special to me.

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~7 Things About me ~

1) You’ve seen a current picture of me – I’ve changed my Gravatar to a picture that is better suited to the new me.

2) I’m downright GIDDY at the thought of my ex-in-laws moving to another state.

Thinking of planning a party to celebrate my new freedom from them.

3) I’ve become addicted to blogging & interacting with my cherished new friends here.

4) I’ve written poetry for the first time here recently…It is my hope to become even braver and expand my writing.

5) Despite my shattered past, I’m actually quite feisty, quirky, and love love love to laugh.

6) I could have entire conversations with lines from movies…or in song lyrics.

7) Two words –I’m ready” to take on life again. No holds barred.

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I would love if it if you choose to share the 7 things about you because I think we all find that truly fascinating! 🙂

Again my sincerest gratitude to you all for being such a bright light in a very dark place…for helping me rediscover myself and for helping me to be braver than I thought I could be for me. I have been strong for my family, but not for me. Thank you so very very much!

~The Very Inspiring Blogger Award ~

I was given a double blessing in one day – two nominations for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award!! I’m so very honored, flattered, humbled, and just smiling away over here!

When I began this blogging journey I had absolutely no idea how amazing, wonderful, fulfilling, rewarding, healing, illuminating, inspiring, and encouraging it would be to me! I feel doubly blessed to receive these two awards for The Very Inspiring Blogger — that I could come to mind for this award is like a humongous gift to me that I cherish completely!

I would like to thank George at www.georgehayward.wordpress.com for the first nomination and Penny at www.thewhyaboutthis.com for the second. Each of these blogs is so chock full of Ah-mazing posts…you will not regret checking them out! I guarantee you will be hooked and want to follow! 🙂

Please know I am extremely honored that you both would choose me for this. If I’ve managed to inspire anyone….then I am a very very happy girl!! 😀

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Now for the RULES to follow when nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. State 7 things about yourself.

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.

5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

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Let’s see…7 things about me….

  1. I love Jane Austen – have read all her books and seen the movies. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite movie (A&E version with Colin Firth) but the newest release of Emma with Romola Garai by PBS Masterpiece is a close running second!
  2. I’m a wannabe techno-goob who plans on learning CSS!! This is gonna be fun! If my blog looks funny in the coming days you’ll know why! :p
  3. I homeschooled my 3 kids until this last school year (10 years total).
  4. If you haven’t read my first post – I have 3 amazing kids – 18 year old daughter, 12 year old son and 10 year old daughter.
  5. Every year on the day after Thanksgiving we have “Jamma Day” The rule of Jamma Day is to be as least productive as possible! With lots of leftovers from the day before we get to just relax, play games/video games, and watch movies. It is a cherished tradition began in 1998 – my husband (before he passed) and I created to purposely avoid Black Friday sales.
  6. I want to learn how to be a better photographer…travel with my kids and take awesome pictures – And then blog about it of course! 😉
  7. I stopped homeschooling in order to get a job (being now the sole provider). We were interrupted in many things with the fight for our home these past two years (see first post if you want to know more). Still searching while I try to figure out what career I will choose, preferably one from home – I want to be here for my kids as much as I can! 🙂

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And now for the nominees I’ve chosen for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award – Do check them out if you get a chance! Each one has inspired me in so many ways I had to share this with them! 🙂

  1. http://michellesomer.wordpress.com
  2. http://justspokenthoughts.wordpress.com
  3. http://fictionalmachines.wordpress.com
  4. http://anelephantcant.wordpress.com
  5. http://blessedwithastarontheforehead.wordpress.com
  6. http://subhanzein.wordpress.com
  7. http://ngtolentino.wordpress.com
  8. http://pjgracecommunity.wordpress.com
  9. http://www.recoverythrumylens.wordpress.com
  10. http://jdgallagher.wordpress.com
  11. http://celestealluvial.wordpress.com
  12. http://tebogondlovu.wordpress.com
  13. http://seadogssaltymusings.wordpress.com
  14. http://nekneeraj.wordpress.com
  15. http://thepoeticwriters.wordpress.com/

Congratulations to everyone! Keep doing what you do…you are all amazing! Blessings and best wishes for a wonderful day!!

Christina ~

~ Appreciated Recognition ~

~ One Lovely Blog Award & Creative Chaos Award ~

I have recently been doubly honored in receiving my second “One Lovely Blog Award” from danblava at hurdlestohappiness. Thank you so much!!

(See below for the rules and nominations for the One Lovely Blog Award)

Also from Michelle at michellesomer.wordpress.com – I have been honored with the “Creative Chaos Award” Thank you so much to both of you for keeping me in your thoughts for these awards!! I am so very appreciative!

(See below for the rules and nominations for the Creative Chaos Award)

One Lovely Blog Award ~

1)    I need to thank the person who nominated me.

2)    Share 7 things about myself that you still may not know.

3)    Nominate 15 bloggers.

4)    Notify the nominees that I have done so.

5)    Put a logo of the award on my site.

 I already shared 7 things – but I’ll share another 7 things you may not know about me…

1)    I love to knit – when I have the time…it’s very relaxing…like therapy.

2)    I really really love to play video games, with my kids or my friends!

3)    I drive an old ’93 Suburban and I love it – Respect on the road!

4)    I named my dog (Pomeranian) Dante not just for the author but also because I love the movie Dante’s Peak.

Dante ~

5)    I love destruction of the earth movies like 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, and more – not sure why…maybe because they are so unrealistic (not the graphics-the storylines) and I’ve had my fair share of ‘reality’.

6)    I never want to mow the lawn (it’s big) but always LOVE the feeling of accomplishment when I’m done!

7)    Ok, ok, ok….so more information on the video game thing. My best friend and I often play Rock Band 3 (I’m the drummer) – It is a most cherished time to relax, be silly, laugh, and pretend we’re rock stars!

And now my nominees for the One Lovely Blog Award – Visit them if you get the chance! 🙂

1)     http://www.recoverythrumylens.wordpress.com

2)     http://thephoblography.wordpress.com/

3)     http://flashlightcityblues.wordpress.com

4)     http://mlatimerridley.wordpress.com

5)     http://ruthninawelsh.wordpress.com

6)     http://celestealluvial.wordpress.com

7)      http://rodpossefamily.wordpress.com

8)      http://pinkmattergreenmind.wordpress.com

9)      http://smileinstyle.wordpress.com

10)    http://myjournalofpraise.wordpress.com

11)    http://sanclemente365.wordpress.com

12)    http://betigaklaten.wordpress.com/

13)    http://nyparrot.wordpress.com

14)    http://travellingbag.wordpress.com

15)    http://hilalachmar.wordpress.com

Creative Chaos Award Rules ~

1)   I mention 3 weird things about myself

1)    I’m a cheese-a-holic

2)    I love naming my animals’ weird names – i.e. my orange cat is named Julius, and my oldest female cat is named Sawyer – her brother who is no longer with us was named Thomas.

3)    I love the colors black and purple (but not together!)

2)   Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full kind of person?

Most definitely a glass half full kind of person. I believe that I can find a positive in just about every negative situation. I may rant a bit…but then I just have to find something to laugh or joke about. Sometimes, I wonder where the glass is, as I am convinced someone moved it!

3)   You find yourself in a desolate place when your car breaks down. You have no cell phone service, no Wal-Mart, and only a candy bar for food. It is 150 miles to the closest town. What color are your underpants and why?

Since this is probably THE most bizarre question I’ve ever been asked I will answer bizarrely in return – Purple – because aliens don’t wear hats. 😉

4)   And the last task is to nominate 5 bloggers who have recently started following you.

1)    http://1twistedpixie.wordpress.com

2)    http://tchistorygal.wordpress.com

3)    http://thoughtfulnd.wordpress.com

4)    http://ratzone.wordpress.com

5)    http://quotography.wordpress.com

Congratulations to everyone! I hope these bring you the smiles they did me!! 🙂 ~

Christina ~