The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Dearest Di-hards, I am tickled pink to tell you that I have been nominated for this:

Thank you so much for thinking of me, Shannon of Shan’s Shenanigans! I am truly honoured.

I’ve met Shannon a few times in person, but have gotten to know and admire her much more since I started reading – and immensely enjoying – her Shenanigans. She’s expecting her first child in November, and has somehow been managing to do an M.A. thesis at the same time. AND maintain a funny, intelligent, heartfelt blog about being unexpectedly (but joyfully) pregnant. You should take a look – you won’t regret it.

As you may know, I am pretty ruly most of the time (as opposed to unruly). The rules to play along for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award are as follows:

1. Display the Nomination logo on your blog
2. Link back to the person who nominated you
3. State 7 things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 others and link to them
5. Notify those bloggers of the nominations & award requirement

I’m already on #3, so here goes. Seven things about me (that you don’t know from my About page)… hmmm.

1. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a ballerina (how original). I was great at ballet back then, until puberty began to reveal how my body was all wrong for it (long waist, short legs, wide ribcage, etc.). Around the same time, I found out that ballerinas don’t get to eat fun things… and that was the end of that idea.
2. I also thought for a while I would be an Olympic figure skater by age 20. Pretty much the exact same problems with that dream. (Thank goodness for belly dancing!)
3. As a French teacher, I have had the opportunity to teach children in every grade from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 10 – plus a bunch of first-year university students when I was a T.A. It’s been many things, but never boring. Teaching: a hard but always fascinating row to hoe.
4. I was privileged to live for seven months in France after my undergrad, backpack around Europe for two months, and spend my last five-week teacher’s college internship in Costa Rica. I really hope that I will eventually manage some more travelling (Peru, Turkey, Hawaii, Kenya, and New Zealand come to mind…).
5. I cheated my way through about four years of piano lessons as a youngster. I found playing by ear (or making stuff up) much easier than reading music, so I would ask to hear a piece and then figure it out instead of looking at those pesky notes. I still suck at sight-reading for piano… takes me eons.
6. I have three tattoos, as does Sean. The tree featured above in the header was our first, in honour of our first wedding anniversary; we also have a sea turtle in honour of E, and a salmon to commemorate Sebastian. There will obviously have to be at least one more, for baby-to-come (still working on what symbol, though).
7. I am really good at colouring. Once upon a time, I was the queen of Easter colouring contests (though you wouldn’t know from some of my earliest work). In fact, I still have wicked shading technique with a set of coloured pencils. Boo-yah.

Now for some nominations! Inspiring blogs! Here we have some that are famous blogs with huge audiences, and some that are at least as humble as mine – but they all do truly inspire me.

1. Dooce – It kinda feels silly to nominate the empress of the mommy-blogiverse for this humble award, but hers was the first blog I ever read, before I was even sure what a blog was. There is no question that she inspired me. Plus, her daughter Marlo and my son E are mere days apart, so I’m pretty sure that means we’re cosmic buddies.
2. Momastery – Again, it seems like underkill to nominate what is currently, I believe, the most viral mom-written blog on the web… but I really like her. Glennon writes in such a beautiful, vulnerable way, and inspires – even commands – her readers to love more. It’s a whole revolution, actually.
3. Enjoying the Small Things – I appreciate Kelle’s reason for blogging: it reminds her to see beautiful and interesting things more clearly in life. I feel exactly the same way. Also, she writes wonderfully, especially about her experience raising a Down syndrome daughter.
4. Hyperbole and a Half – It doesn’t matter how many times you read (and more importantly, admire the illustrations for) “God of Cake” or “This is why I’ll never be an adult”, they’re hilarious every time. And somehow, very wise too.
5. Mommy Wants Vodka – Aunt Becky is a mother of three, one of whom is autistic and another of whom was born with a dangerous neural tube defect (but who has been doing amazingly). She is currently surviving the breakup of her marriage, but she still writes with humour – sometimes vulgar and sometimes gorgeous.
6. Band Back Together – Aunt Becky is also responsible for the creation of this group blog, where all people are encouraged to share their hardest stories and find out more about their issues – there’s an incredible amount of learning resources on the site, researched by a non-profit team of caring people. It’s good work.
7. Stonekettle Station – Jim Wright’s blog is a bastion of great writing and solid, sane politics in Alaska, USA; his blog makes me wish I had lots of free time so I could go back through the archives and read everything.
8. Continental Breakfasts – During the first year of this blog, the two-person photographer team (which just happens to include a certain talented cousin of mine) posted their uplifting morning/breakfast-themed photos every single day. I always feel better looking at them.
9. The Adventures of Daddy Runs A Lot – A rare daddy blogger in a sea of mommies, which is intrepid to begin with… and he also shares my passions for music, cooking, and bullet lists.
10. 80 to Shrink – A candid, warm-hearted blog about the tribulations of the weight-loss journey – which I can’t imagine is easy to share, but which so many of us relate to. (It also happens to be written by one of my favourite people.)
11. Bear & Lion – This mama-blog just makes me happy. Mama Lola is open about the tough parts of motherhood, but there is also so much joy and love in her words, and especially in her photos. At Christmas, I just want to be one of her kids and immerse myself in Finnish traditions (and homemade treats).
12. Rage Against the Minivan – Kristen is the mom of four children by adoption and birth. She is funny and practical and I have no idea where she gets the time to write, but I love that she writes about everything that interests her (including many things that are not traditional “mom topics”). I’m so on-board with that.
13. Unspoken Grief – Another group blog, edited by Devan of Accustomed Chaos, working to break the silence around perinatal loss. Such sad stories, but an incredibly important outlet.
14. A Mourning Mom – This brave mama has survived the death of her premature firstborn, Jake, a struggle with infertility before the birth of her twins, and the unexplained death of her fourth child, Sawyer, at six weeks of age. It’s unthinkably sad… and yet, her blog is lovely and full of inspiration as she spreads the word about charities and causes that mean a lot to her family.
15. Still Life with Circles – Angie is the mother of two living daughters, as well as a stillborn daughter, Lucia. She is just fascinating. She is also the editor of the baby loss blog glow in the woods and the art-as-healing blog still life 365. Just start reading and you will be hooked.

So there you have it! Honestly, sometimes I wish (and I’m sure I’m not alone here) that I could have a job that was JUST reading blogs all day. The good ones. People are engrossing, n’est-ce pas? And inspiring. The internets may be full of too much crap, but then there’s all that fantastic ingenuity and beauty as well. (MOTL, naturally.)

Thanks again, Shannon, and thank you, all you bloggers keeping the blogosphere a beautiful place.

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