First Blog Award!

I got my first blog award over a month ago from Among the Blossoms here but was so overwhelmed at the time that I put it on hold. I also didn't know many bloggers yet and wanted to make sure I got to know other bloggers well enough to pass this on!

So, thank you Jenny!

Here are the rules: List 10 things that make your day and then give this award to 10 bloggers.

Ten Things That Make My Day:
1. My loving husband
2. The love I have for my job
3. My renewed faith & amazing church community
4. This blogging world
5. My health and love for running, biking, swimming, hiking & bik.ram yoga
6. CHOCOLATE!!!!
7. coffee
8. water (the caterers at our wedding wanted to make sure I had my favorite drink - I kept saying 'water'
9. Random acts of kindnesses (in fact, I am thinking of potentially starting a new blog down the road with this theme in mind)
10. Loving family & the good friends we choose as our family
 
I want to add a few more because I felt like I had to get the 'must-have's' in there...
11. playing games like App.les to App.les, Tab.oo, Cele.brities
12. cake batter ice cream
13. fuji apples or red delicious apples when they're really crispy
14. the beach
15. playing favorite songs on repeat
16. great authors like Bar.bara King.solver
17. O.prah and the O magazine
 
Ten Blogs I Pass This Award On To:
(and I think it's important to either say why or describe the blog/person a bit)

1. Determined to Have Joy - I've just felt this amazing connection with Shanel. She is so very positive and yet puts it all out there with her honesty & struggles. I have only known her for a couple of months but can tell that she has an amazing spirit! She's also losing weight & feeling good, which motivates me!
2. The Road Less Traveled - Rebecca was one of my first commenters. I was immediately drawn to her from her and she's been incredibly supportive. She's a great writer too and is just about to pass her first trimester!
3. The Infertile Mind - I found her somehow one Saturday morning and proceeded to spend the next 2 hours pouring through her entire blog. She's an amazing writer, is incredibly creative and just has a way of putting things into perspective. She's taught me a lot on feeding our niece/nephew relationships. She also holds a wonderful e-class on IF that you should check out next time she's running it!
4. Bean Stalk Ballads - I just love this blog. It's so refreshing to me. Who would have thought that I can connect to this incredibly strong and sensitive lesbian couple's journey in Australia? And I love that I can & that Em is one blogger I always look forward to updates from! And her weight loss & exercise has inspired me!
5. I Will Be a Mom Someday - Hannah has an incredible way of praying. She's taught me a lot about how to pray. And I love the photo of the back of her wedding dress!
6. Find Joy Now - More than just the name of this blog, I love that jrs is so very fun & always there with support.
7. A Little Blog About the Big Infertility - Jess is relatively new to me and I've really enjoyed her. I love the picture she has on her blog of her on the table at the doctor's office complete with ultrasound wand! And that she has picks of national parks too. She's having a hard time right now and could use some support.
8. Hopes and Dreams for Us - I really like Sweet Pea's signature! I love her updates & her 2010 goals make me strive to try some of them! She's also doing a C25K (couch to 5K) which is inspiring!
9. The Maybe Baby (Babies) - She's had a difficult journey yet I love how she can share in a captivating way the way she's memorialized the loss of her babies with trees and how it's her favorite run to get there. She's also encouraged me on my runs, which I so appreciate!
10. The Pughs - Rachel is new-ish to me too and her being from Charleston is extra-special since it has special meaning to me and my husband. Oops - she's from Alabama, my mistake!!, but now I've gotta love Alabama :) I really enjoy her positivity, all the colorful pictures she posts and the strength she gets from her church family.

This was extremely hard since I enjoy so very many blogs. I hope you may find some new ones you like & can connect to based on the Awards I'm passing on! :)