Our British Invasion…

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Well…I shouldn’t call inviting one of our most special friends here an invasion. But given our countries history this is my attempt at a snappy title.

We were so fortunate as to have the infamous and brilliant blogger StetotheJ (aka Ste J) in our home for a few weeks. All here…including the animals were most happy to share what we could of an American family with our visitor from across the pond…so to speak.

I did my best to make him a caffeine-a-holic, like myself…but we found it only made him sleepy. Tis alright though for we did make good Ste Jfriends with Tyler from Starbucks….whom you will have already heard of if you’ve read Ste J’s posts about his trip to America from his point of view.

I thought it apropos to share our point of view as well. Since we are all very verbal and chatty…he fit right in and I had to wait in line to speak with him as all here (mostly the children and animals) vied for his attentions. Jack and Emma had him racing Mario Kart style. Jack even made a few videos of Hotwheel’s Trick Track’s with some additions of Dominoes and such with Ste J as his helper.

By far the bestest and my most favorite part was the many trips to our various book stores about this small town I often refer to as “Podunkville” because it is small and I am a big-city girl having grown up in Portland, OR and traveled to most of the major big cities in America.

Treasure Trove of Books!

Treasure Trove of Books!

Honestly…it was bliss pure and simple. Good coffee…the bestest company and reading each and every spine in each store. We laughed in Time’s face as we paid it no mind on our quest for books. We quickly chose our favorite book stores and then re-visited. While Ste J may say that we were gracious hostess’s….in fact he was the greatest guest ever….having seen my new yet empty bookshelf he went on a mission to choose the very finest in literary selections to fill it with. In the end…there were 42 gifts….a virtual treasure trove of who’s who in modern and classical literature.

The first of the aforementioned gifts was Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s “Love in The Time of Cholera” and I have to admit his style is simply exquisite and inexplicably profound…no wonder he won a Nobel Prize for literature! Not even half way through and I am ready to replace my all time favorite book (Pride & Prejudice)  with this one. Reading this is more of a literary delight than anything I’ve previously experienced.

Our trips to the local restaurants…walks by the river…and explorations of book stores…

Queen of The West on the Columbia River

Queen of The West on the Columbia River

not to mention some awesomazing Doctor Who watching made this visit more than memorable!

To Ste J I say…leave your Kingdom dearest sir and come back to us where we will all write and share our stories and find even more magnificent books to peruse….

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My Crazy kids…

I know what you’re thinking….but I am honestly….really going to answer your amazing full of love and continued encouragement comments! Right now…after I share this fun video of my quirky kids at their finest….

Note: To you Doctor Who fans….notice my eldest daughter’s hat….and that my son is doing his Dalek impression ha!

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! 😉

One Lovely Blog Award

I was so very touched today to receive this One Lovely Blogger Award from The Blazing Trail . To some this may not be that big of a deal…to me it means recognition and being especially thought of…something everyone needs but doesn’t always get.  I say thank you so very very much for this…my first award. I am honored.

Here are rules for the award:

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

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

1) I am in love with the sci-fi show -Doctor Who (David Tennant being my absolute favorite)!    

2) The reason for my nick name JavaKat is because I’m addicted to coffee/espresso!

3) I do not easily share my emotions and tend to hide behind humor and sarcasm.

4) My family is THE most important thing in my life.

5) I love my animals like they were more children.

6) I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.

7) I like to watch cheesy made-for-tv sci-fi movies and make fun of them.

3. Nominate 15 bloggers .

4. Notify the nominees that I have done so.

5. Put the logo of the award on my blog site.

And now to my 15 nominees:

http://pjgracecommunity.wordpress.com

http://throughthehealinglens.wordpress.com

http://fictionalmachines.wordpress.com

http://www.thewhyaboutthis.com

http://anelephantcant.wordpress.com

http://michellesomer.wordpress.com

http://justspokenthoughts.wordpress.com

http://jdgallagher.wordpress.com

http://subhanzein.wordpress.com

http://danielabram.wordpress.com

http://jimibodansko.wordpress.com

http://lesplaisirssimplesdelavie.wordpress.com/

http://slapppshotblog.com/

http://tebogondlovu.wordpress.com

http://courtingmadness.wordpress.com/

I never knew that starting a blog could impact my life in so many positive ways. I absolutely adore meeting new friends, the acceptance, encouragement, and inspiration that abound in all of you! I think it the most incredible, amazing, awesome blessing I’ve had in a long long long time.

To the friends I’ve already made and those waiting to be met…keep doing what you’re doing…you are all uniquely incredible!!

Christina ~