Sharing the Love with One Lovely Blog Award

Forrest and I were recently honored with the One Lovely Blog Award by esteemed writer, blogger, and WANA Tribe member Janice Heck. If you’ve never visited her blog, My Turn, you’re missing out on some delightful, entertaining, and inspiring posts.

I’m linking back to her One Lovely Blog Award post because it includes 7 interesting facts about her that make for a lovely introduction to her blog. Thank you, Janice, for thinking of Forrest and I, and bestowing us this award.

After receiving this gracious nomination, we googled it in an attempt to discover more about its origin and meaning. It’s long, prestigious history is well hidden on the internet.

Despite its secretive nature, we found numerous badges for the award and Forrest was immediately smitten with the image of the butterfly tree. He asked that the color be changed from bright pink to his favorite eco-friendly green. Who am I to say no to a clearly smitten frog?

The rules for accepting the award were more easily located than its origin and history. They are:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post:

Thanks again, Janice. Forrest was tickled green when he learned who nominated us!

• Share seven little known facts about yourself:

Since most facts about me are little known, this should be a hop in the park. So my 7 little known facts of randomness are:

Photo by Jonathan Choe / Flickr

1) On a childhood trip to Georgia, I filled our empty hotel bathtub with tiny frogs from the parking lot. I told my mom I wanted to fall asleep to the sound of their singing and would release them in the morning. That was the night the word NOW took on entirely new meaning.

Photo by Bill Keaggy / Flickr

2) I became a vegetarian in November 2010. Since then, I’ve lost 42 pounds and resolved a host of chronic health issues. Morningstar Farms soy-based meat substitutes are personal favorites more appetizing than the real thing. Boca burger, anyone?

3) My favorite flavor (of anything) is key lime: key lime pie, key lime cake, key lime flavored water, key lime yogurt, key lime ice cream … so whatever it is, make mine key lime!

4) Several times in the last six months, my battery drained GPS has mysteriously powered on and announced, “In 100 yards, you have reached your destination.” I find this seriously creepy and am wondering if I should trade in mayhem for old fashioned maps.

5) My phobias are spiders, snakes, and commercial air travel. See, I can’t even bring myself to post a photo of the first two.

6) Please don’t recommend movies or documentaries without advance warning if animals die in the end. Give me spoilers so I know to have plenty of tissues on hand. I’m a real softie like that.

Photo by Rex Hammock / Flickr

7) One of my Bucket List items is a trip to Key West, FL to drive Seven Mile Bridge, visit Hemingway House, and watch the stunning sunsets. Of course there would have to be time for sea kayaking and maybe a tandem skydive over the ocean … preferably at sunset!

• Nominate up to 15 bloggers you follow and admire:

Choosing blogger nominees is by far the most difficult task, not only because there are so many worthy blogs and bloggers, but because it’s also difficult to know who’s received a particular award. After much deliberation, our nominees are:

Ellen Gregory at To Beyond and Back

Sara Walpert Foster at Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition

Sherri Martin-Hutchins at Live Wonderstruck

Alina Sayre at Illuminations

DB Smyth at Broken Pieces and Beautiful Things

SM Nonnemacher at Barefoot Bliss

SJ Driscoll at Come Sit By My Fire

Ben DeVries at Not One Sparrow

Judythe Morgan at Voices and Views from the Front Porch

Helen McMullin at Foofaraws by Helen: The Ties That Bind

Jennifer Oliver at World Beneath the Evening Star

Barbara Forte Abate at Scribbling Outside the Lines

Mike Schulenberg at Realms of Perilous Wonder

Linda Adams at Soldier, Storyteller

Sherry Isaac at Psychological Sizzle

If Forrest and I have nominated someone who’s already received this award, well … we just wanted you to know we think your blog is lovely too!

The WikiRandom Writers Challenge: June 2012 Edition

In February, the wildly creative Laird Sapir launched the first WikiRandom Writers Challenge. The object of the challenge is to write a 3-sentence story based on a prompt generated by clicking the ‘random article’ button on Wikipedia. The prompt must be used in one of the 3 sentences of your entry.

To quote Laird, “the winner will receive adoration and praise, a nifty badge to display on his/her website, and the judge’s mantle for the next round of the challenge, which they will host on their blog in July, on a day of their choosing.”

Previous WikiRandom challenges and entries can be read and savored on the blogs of Laird Sapir, Sara Walpert Foster, Ellen Gregory, and Jodi Lea Stewart. All are highly entertaining bits of flash fiction, and delightful reads. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

I was honored to be announced the May winner by Jodi Lea Stewart, and am hyped to host the June round of the challenge.

Forrest is bug-eyed with excitement at the prospect of reading and judging June’s entries.

(I acquiesced).

Repeated readings of Lord of the Flies have left him hungry for new material and he’s hoping you’ll feed him a virtual buffet of creative offerings.

Photo by Brian Gratwicke / Flickr

So without further ado, your prompt is: into thin air

We hope you’ll hop all over it like Forrest on fruit flies.

Just post your 3-sentence entry in the comments section before noon on Friday, June 29th. The winner will be announced on Saturday evening, June 30th.

Have fun and please feed Forrest! He needs to build strength for the mud wrestling event that follows.

Serendipity and The Versatile Blogger Award

Some days we’re graced with unexpected moments of joy and serendipity.

Last Wednesday I came home from work to find a family of rabbits playing tag in the backyard, 2 goldfinches performing an intricate mid-air ballet above the bird feeder, and 3 hummingbirds vying for position at the front porch nectar bar.

When I signed onto Twitter, I discovered that fellow WANA alum and ‘creator and destroyer of worlds,’ Mike Schulenberg had nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award.

Thank you, Mike for adding another smile and more joy to my day!

I’m honored and Forrest was speechless. He wants to know if this flower makes his eyes look big.

As with most blog awards, there are certain rules you must follow to accept the nomination. The official WordPress VBA site lists them as follows:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link to their blog.

I guess I jumped the gun on this one in the second paragraph, but thank you again, Mike!

• Select 15 blogs you follow and enjoy, and nominate them for the award.

I read and follow a lot of blogs so choosing only 15 wasn’t easy. Many of these deserving bloggers may already have been nominated, but since I have no way of knowing, here’s my original list:

1. Susan Chernak McElroy at Animals as Teachers and Healers 

2. Ben DeVries at Not One Sparrow 

3. Michael Cogdill at Throwing a Bash for the Written Word

4. Alina Sayre at Illuminations

5. Deb Reilly at A Blog Devoted to Unbranded Faith, Humor, and Mindfulness

6. Barbara Forte Abate at Scribbling Outside the Lines

7. Jodi Lea Stewart at Walking on Sunshine

8. Susi Nonnemacher at Barefoot Bliss

9. S.M. Hutchins at Life After Web and Live Wonderstruck

10. Sherry Isaac at Psychological Sizzle

11. Janice Heck at My Turn

12. Judythe Morgan at http://judythewriter.wordpress.com/

13. Nikki Figular at Obsessive Chihuahua Disorder

14. Ann Foweraker at The Practical Hedgehog Writes

15. Christine Davis at Lighthearted Press

• Tell 7 random things about yourself:

I’ll make this as short, sweet, and random as possible because sometimes less is more.

1. Road trips usually include frequent stops to rescue misguided turtles. They don’t seem to fare as well as the chickens crossing the road.

2. My first purchase from a winning Powerball ticket would be a small Caribbean island to be populated with rescue chihuahuas from US kill shelters. Chihuahua Beach would be ruled by the tiny seniors and special needs. Palm trees and little hammocks would be plentiful because siestas rule the day!

3. There’s not much I hate worse than going to the dentist. Novacaine, drilling, and root canals are the stuff of nightmares. A dentist would make a great antagonist in a Stephen King horror novel.

4. There aren’t many shoes in my closet and 50% of them are flip flops.

5. I’ve never been a fan of cold weather. Snow is beautiful – on post cards, calendars, and the Big-Screen, but I prefer tropical latitudes and longitudes.

6. Life is a soundtrack and my iPod is an eclectic mix of country, pop, rock, classical, New Age, contemporary Christian, and movie tunes. About the only thing you won’t find is heavy metal, hip-hop, or rap.

7. My dogs are fashion conscious and have a better wardrobe than I do.

Enough about me. I hope you’ll share some of your favorite blogs or a random fact about yourself in the comments section below. They’re major serendipity!

Leveling Up with the Liebster

WANA alum, master blogger, and WordPress ninja Laird Sapir, honored me with the Liebster Blog Award this week. Thank you, Laird!

What is the Liebster Award, you may ask? The best definition I’ve been able to find was penned by fellow WANA alum, Mike Schulenberg:

“According to legends that come to us from antiquity, the Liebster is meant for blogs that motivate, inspire, and have 200 followers or less. Its apparent purpose is to summon new followers like some sort of mystical talisman, increasing the power of those of us who are just beginning.”

Forrest was excited to metamorph from tadpole to froglet blog and said he wouldn’t be disappointed if it attracted a few flies and mosquitoes as well. He was out of the water and halfway up the bank before he understood he was getting a Liebster, not a Leapster.

When I explained to him it was a form of leveling up, he embraced it with gratitude and said to heck with the Leapster. He appreciates the opportunity to move out of the water and onto dry land, and graciously thanks you.

In order to accept the award, one must follow a few rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you on your blog and link back to them

2. Nominate up to 5 other bloggers for the award

3. Notify them by commenting on your blog

4. Post the award on your blog

Choosing only 5 blogs from such a deep pool of deserving bloggers was a difficult task. But Forrest and I have selected the following to assist in circulating the mighty and magical Liebster:

Carrie Daws: Carrie writes happily-ever-after fiction that advocates Biblical values, truths, and principles. Check out her great blog, website, and books while you’re there and prepare to be inspired.

Helen McMullin: Don’t miss Foofaraws by Helen. What’s a foofaraw? Well, you’ll have to visit her blog to find out, but Forrest was intrigued and is now begging for bling.

Sara Walpert Foster: You never know what you’ll find at ‘Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition.’ But I can promise you it’ll be entertaining, informative, and great food for thought. (At the word food, Forrest was all over it).

D.B. Smythe: Is there any better descriptor of life than ‘crazy, awkward, beautiful chaos’? This blog and D.B’s writing perfectly balance the grittier parts of life with the healing and hope we all need to find our way home.

Judythe Morgan: Don’t forget to hop over to Voices and Views from the Front Porch and Down the Road. Settle in on the porch swing, and let master storyteller, Judythe, transport you to another time and place. Now Forrest is begging for a porch swing too. *sigh*

Thanks again Laird, for sharing the Liebster love and making us amphibious!