Sunshine Blog Award

One of my sweet, real life friends, who shares the love of blogging, has nominated me for the Sunshine Blog Award!  I'm so thrilled & truly honored that my blog has inspired others & left an impression..You can check out Gina's heartfelt, inspirational blog here.     You'll be so glad you stopped by and I know you'll go back.  I really feel that Gina has inspired me to write more and stay more current with my posts.  She introduced me to She Writes and really encourages me to be all that I can as a writer/blogger.  I honestly think she has lit a fire within me.    I'm eager to dig down deep and see what I can come up with.  (Gina, you know that I nominate you and you inspire me to the deepest definition of the word) -- But, I won't tag you below - as I know you've done this once already and are busy writing your next book! ♥

Here's a little bit about the award:

The Sunshine Blog Award is passed on by bloggers to other bloggers who “positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.”  There are a few rules that every blogger nominated for this award have to follow:

1.       Acknowledge the nominating blogger with a link and post about your award.

2.      Share 10 random facts by answering the questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

3.       Pass on the Sunshine Blog Award to other bloggers (up to 10) of your choice and let them   know you nominated them.

4.       Post 10 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer on their blog.

So, here are Gina's 10 questions to me -  Enjoy!   And don't forget to scroll down after reading, so you can see who I can nominated & my questions for those nominees.

1.       Why did you decide to create your blog?   I started this blog many moons ago.. I always wrote as a child and into my young adult years. I kept journals, diaries; anything I could record my thoughts in.  Good, bad, fears, hopes.... So when I learned about Blogger, I was eager to get started -  I find that typing my thoughts comes so much easier than actually writing.

2.       What do you enjoy most about blogging?     I find that keeping a blog is a way to record my memories and to express things that I might not be able to express in person... I like to share my experiences and read about others' life events & experiences as well.   It's a way to sit down and just let it all out.  When it's "YOUR" blog, you have all that control - and can be brutally honest and open when you want to.  (Not always without judgement, as we all know).    

3.       Tell us something about yourself that most of your fellow authors/bloggers do not know.
I think most of my followers might wonder if or why I don't have children to blog about yet. (I have envy when I see all those pictures and such)    I'm unable to have children - (on my own at least) - In all the 8 or so years I've had my blog, I only ever posted maybe twice about this. 

4.       At what time of the day do you do most of your writing?   I try not to do it at work, but I find some quiet time there.   My preference is at night, in bed, when all is quiet and my mind is at ease.

5.       What is your favorite cuisine?   Italian - Always has been and always will be.  Drove my mom crazy! Little ol' Irish mom.      I love a good chicken parm!   

6.       What are some of your favorite books?   I usually read 2 books at a time - One at home and one at work (lunch break) -  I enjoy Jodi Picoult, Emily Giffin, Nicholas Sparks - but I like to read non-fiction more, I think.   Alice Sebold's "Lucky" was an excellent read - as was Jeanette Walls "The Glass Castle" and I can't forget "Heaven is For Real", by Todd Burpo... Very enlightening.

7.       What are some of your favorite movies?  Save the Last Dance, The Notebook, Dirty Dancing, The Family Stone, anything with Robert DeNiro (especially Everybody's Fine)  anything with Ed Norton, (especially Primal Fear).  

8.       If you could travel anywhere right now, at this very moment, where would it be?  Why? 
       I guess I would say Ireland -  It looks so beautiful & picturesque - Something about it seems so peaceful.   I know it would be a serene place to visit for a week or two and just relax with my thoughts.

9.       If you could have an intimate dinner with six people who you will probably never meet in this lifetime, who would they be?  Why? (they could be celebrities, famous icons, bands, etc.)

        Pope Francis - I'd love to have a conversation with him.   Cesar Milan - I need help with my dog training.    Dr. Oz - I believe in his knowledge and advice.   Dr. Phil - to talk to him about a very personal matter.     Lady Gaga - She seems so unique and genuine.     Joel Osteen - I'd love a sit down with him, listening to his inspirational wisdom.

10.   What has been your best achievement to this date?    I found myself staring at the blank screen on this one.   I can't pin down what I think the best answer is to this.  I don't feel that I've made my best achievement yet... I'm proud of things that I have done thus far... Like helping the needy by forming my own food drives, organizing fundraisers, finding a great job that I'm actually happy with, having my (our) first home...

Now, please read below to see who I nominated for the SunShine Award and to see your questions!

I nominated: 

Brie:    http://www.abreezylife.com/   - I've been reading Brie's blog for a while now and only recently started commenting.  So I was 'lurking' I guess. HAH!   I enjoy Brie's blog because it's so damn honest and expressive.  She shares some of life's best and worst moments with her readers.   I appreciate her honesty and her fearless ability to share with us what most people can't or won't.   Brie's blog can be funny as hell, honest as hell, sad as hell.  It's well written and never loses my interest.   She writes about working on her marriage, her adorable little boy who has Autism, and life, as it happens.

     Marla:  http://www.luckfupus.com/   -  Marla happens to be Brie's sister!   I actually happened upon Marla's blog by way of Brie's blog.   Marla writes, candidly, about Lupus and the havoc is has wreaked on her life and her body.  It doesn't stop at Lupus, trust me.

   I love Marla's "tell it straight" approach.   Her blog is chock full of humor, facts, inspiration, she has said FUCK more times than an HBO comedy hour... and I love it!    I laugh, I cry, and I always go back for more.  

Sarah:    http://inmyblondelife.blogspot.com/     One of the first blogs I started following - I keep up with Sarah's posts and she is great about keeping current. (not that I know anything about that)...    Blogs like Sarah's are the milestone blogs, to me.   You can actually "go through" the different life events with some bloggers and I feel like I've been able to do that!   She always uses pictures in her posts whenever she can, which, as you know, really adds to the feel of the post!  I loved reading about wedding plans and now seeing all the updates and "stuff" going on as she starts married life.  I'm excited about the future baby posts already.  ??

        Insert name here:  (sorry I don't know her name,  I'm being tacky)   http://jer2911theplansihaveforyou.blogspot.com/     I want to say that I fell upon this blog by way of another friend's page.   I love reading this blog because it just MAKES ME HAPPY.    I can't really explain that but it's just full of happy things.  She blogs about her journey to adoption (she and her husband adopted 2 Russian children) .. It's such a wonderful story and even more exciting when you read about the phone call to bring home their 2nd bundle of pure joy.  Not every single post is all sunshine and lollipops; they've had their tribulations, but I just find it so wonderful to keep up with.   I think it might have been the first blog that ever made me actually sob.   The post where their beloved dog was dying and he must've known it.   I'm telling you:  sobbing, frog in the throat kind of stuff.  You have to read it.

    Insert another name here:  Same deal, I never saw or remember seeing her name.    http://catholicmomscorner.blogspot.com/       I found this blog when I was searching for information on a bible study we were doing at our church.   I really felt connected to her, through a lot of topics and we "discuss" different views and thoughts on things that center around Catholicism. Not just religion though, believe me.  It's a great read.
  I thought it was a very interesting story on how she came back to the church.  She's offered me a lot of wisdom and heartfelt advice on losing my mom, having lost her own mother a few years back.  I like her wit and her honesty and her style of writing.  She talks about work, marriage, her kids....

So, carry on and check out the questions below that I have for my fellow bloggers above!

Have fun...

1.)   If he/she knows, what does your spouse/other, have to say about the "blog thing"?

2.)  Have you ever met one of your readers? 

3.)  What do you find easiest AND most difficult about blogging?

4.)   Have you outed your blog on Facebook or other social media?  Why or why not?

5.)  You won the megamillions!  Very FIRST thing you'd purchase...

6.)  Name something you think we'd be surprised to hear about YOU.

7.)   Have you ever had a reader leave nasty/ridiculous comments on your blog?

8.)   How many months or years have you been blogging? 

9.)   Do you do any writing besides on blogger?  Magazines? Newspapers?

10.)   Favorite vacation or most memorable moment...