I humbly accept this award.... The Versatile Blogger

Today I woke up and received a great honor. I was nominated for The Versatile Blogger award by none other than Julie Deneen, the mastermind behind Life According to Julie. Not only was it a great day because it was a Friday, but now I have been nominated for an award. I couldn't shout loud enough and I could barely contain my excitement. So immediately, I went ahead and prepared my speech.

Ahem....

Today I would like to thank everybody who showed up to see me receive this award. I want to apologize in advance, you see, I wasn't prepared so I am going to wing this little speech.
First off, I want to tell you how excited I am. But mostly, I want to say thank you for the nomination, Julie. It means so much coming from such a wonderful blogger. I have learned so much from you already and while I have only known you for a short amount of time, I am pretty sure we are twins from another mother. More often than not, I have read your work and thought you have hacked into my brain - I have thought the same thing. You make me laugh, you make me cry and you make me want to push harder at my writing. (Insert tears here and gracefully wipe them away with one finger that shows yourself being dignified!)
I believe I was born to be a writer. Today, after receiving this award, I know that what I have always thought must be becoming reality. I have been recognized. Sadly however, as I graciously accept this award, I must pass it on to other bloggers who deserve a mention.

So without further delay: 

Here are the list of bloggers I would love to give a shout out to!

How to Be a Real Housewife - This women is amazing and is relatively new to the blogger community. However, I have known her for awhile now and we immediately became friends. Our friendship actually started through writing on Hubpages. There is only one word I can say to describe her - Awesomesauce!

Speaking of Awesomesauce, I have to include Pictimilitude in my nominations as well! Not only is she a writer but she is also an amazing photographer. She can tell you a story through both means and you will definitely not be disappointed!

In the writing world, there is never a shortage of people that you can relate to. With that, I present you TToombs08; A misplace Alaskan. I know the feeling of being misplaced since I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but reside in California! But mostly I love this woman because she takes you down to the nitty gritty of life and always speaks her mind! She is hella funny and tells you like it is!

Here is another blogger to give a shout out to. She is all things mommy. Don't forget to check out Janine Huldie: Confessions of a Mommaholic. While I haven't been following her long, I know that she has got a bunch of cool stuff to say!

Now here is a rather new blogger that I just met, however, I can already tell that we are going to get along well. The first post of hers that I read immediately had me relaxed, and we all need that once in awhile. I mean - I have kids. I deserve it. So here is a shout out to Grab The Good Life!

As a newbie to the blogging world, I thought it was great that I got mentioned for this world. As a writer, we all want to be seen. And this shows me my words are being heard! So, while my list is short of bloggers I want to pay it forward to, I look forward to meeting many more. Writing is a constant journey and I am glad to have other writers beside me for the ride. It definitely makes the trip more exciting.

So now that I have done my part to nominate others, her are the rules for those of you who have been nominated.

• Thank the person who gave you the award. 
• Include a link to their blog, if you can figure out how to do it.
• Select up to 15 blogs/bloggers you have discovered or you follow.
• Nominate these bloggers for the Versatile Blogger award (and naturally tell them to read your blog!)
• Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.
• If you got the award, you can paste it on your sidebar proudly!

A little about me...

1. The summer after I graduated from high school, I left for the military. I loved my job. I was a photojournalist. This gave me a list of invaluable skills. Not only was it a great way to start my writing career, but it expanded my joy of photography as well as taught me a bit about making graphics. It amazes me how much I still use these skills today. However, the main reason I actually took this direction in my life was not because I felt the need to serve the country, but because I was burnt out of trying to be so smart. Basically, I didn't want to go to college - I didn't want the hassle of filling out all those applications!
2. I met my husband the first day I arrived at my first duty station in Fort Drum, New York. We were engaged before in less than 6 months and before we even had our very first official date. We have been married for 12 years already. I guess it was meant to be!
3. Two out of the three kids I have were born while on birth control. Because we traveled a lot, (my family lives in Wisconsin and my husband's is from California) I wanted a small family. We are now parents of three wonderful kids. I wouldn't change it for a minute. I guess each pregnancy was not only a miracle, but also fate!
4. I have never had my own birthday. My oldest sister, who is 2 years older than I am, were both born on the same day. However, our due dates were not the same. I came a day early and she came a day late. So I have always had to share my birthday.
5. I got my first cavity when I was 30 years old. I was so upset because I have never had a cavity before that I refuse to go back to the dentist for fear that I might have another one!
6. I am a game board geek. I love playing board games. One of my all time favorites is Aggravation. I can almost guarantee you that if you offered up a board game night, I would not refuse. We have so many board games that I actually filled all the cabinets in my husbands garage with them. Sadly though, not many people like to play board games like I do so our games collect more dust than actually getting used.
7. My Ipod contains a variety of music. I have tastes that range from Pop and Top 40, to grunge and depressing, to rap, to musicals, to songs that I just find annoying. If you can stand my music, then you are one of the rare ones. My husband thinks it is funny how one minute my Ipod will be playing Fastball and the next it will be playing the Mighty Mouse Theme followed by Michael Buble. What can I say, I don't limit my tastes! 

So, now it is time to pass this award on. I hope you take a chance to check out some of the other bloggers mentioned here and hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me! Now pass it on and let's spread the blogging love!