Unlike the Golden Globes, This Award Show Will Go On

Look! Somebody thinks I'm Excellent!

Nope, it's not Bill and Ted...it's Stacie!

And I can't thank her enough. Blog awards are fun, to receive and to pass on. And to get this award this week, of all weeks...well, it makes me want to put a little bit more effort into the blog than I have this week.

Because trying to post this week has been a struggle. I have been in a bit of a writing slump. A fog. A haze. A bit of writers block.

In other words...I got nothin'.

But not today. Today I get to pass this Excellent! award on to 10 blogs that I think are excellent in their own special way.

So, in no particular order, and without any further ado...

MOTY! Come on down! Moty has a new blog and she is an amazing digiscrapper. She just recently posted this layout, and I tell ya', the girl has the whole Photoshop thing goin' on. I would love to see more of her mad skillz in action.

And while I'm in the category of digiscrapping, which I have absolutely NO IDEA how to even start, but really admire the pages these ladies create I would also like to award SnapHappyInkyMomma and Janmary. They to, are fantastic digiscrappers. I sit and read their blogs and admire their pages and imagine how caught up and full my scrapbooks would be if I to, went digital. I mean, surely I could keep on top of the whole scrapbooking thing if I was sitting in front of the computer. I happen to have a lot of talent in that area.

My blog is Excellent!, remember?

Another talented lady whose blog I think is excellent is the fabulous PLO. PLO is one talented chick. She is vintage and retro and hip and crafty and a million other things, but she is mostly FUN! She is into art and creating through all different types of mediums, from beads, to vintage papers, to scrapbooks, and much more. Her art is her expression of herself and it is beautiful.

(Whoa baby! Don't I sound artsy? 'Mediums'...It almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about.)

If you are looking for an excellent blog read, you should check out Jenny from Chicago. Jenny blogs at Chased by Children and she cracks me up. She lives, literally, just up the road from me, and yet we've never met. But someday soon, I hope we do. And I'll have to wear a Depends when I meet this chick, because I think I'll be laughing A Lot. Jenny is funny and clever and quick and smart. Who loves ya baby?

Another blog I read, who also happens to live super close to me, yet I wouldn't know her if I walked right by her in Target, is the New Diva on the Blog. She is beautiful and funny and so sweet. And have I mentioned she is beautiful? I think it's because of her sweet personality and also because she does this thing, you may have heard of it, it's called working out? It's not something I'm all that familiar with, but whatever.

Okay...next up for the Excellent award is Holly, the Marathon Bird. Holly is seriously into running and she just finished her first marathon. Amazing. Did I tell you guys I walked the new puppy around the block last week? I sure did. Anyway, Holly's sweetness comes through on her blog and I think she is great. She makes me laugh and I feel like she's the kind of person you could meet in real life and it would feel as though you were old friends. She's just that great.

Mary! I think you are most excellent! Mary is an amazing mom and an amazing Christian. She writes so eloquently and so honestly about trying to live her life and be a good Christian woman, she writes of home and faith and setting good examples and sometimes I think I learn more from her posts than I do at church. She speaks to my heart, this girl. Mary can post anything from reading the Bible all the way through, to her newest bling, to a no-sew craft. And she can rap out the Beastie Boys like it's 1989. We love the same type of music, from the Beastie Boys to Brad Paisley and I just love Mary!

Have you ever been on a Viking Conquest? Heidi and her family are on one right now, and it has been so fun to follow their journey. Heidi and Mike are the cool parents I wished I had when I was growing up, you know the kind that take you skiing, instead of to school? Heidi would be so fun to hang out with and she is definitely my kind of mom.

And last, but in no way the least is one of my favorites, The Queen B. The Queen is laugh out loud funny. She takes care of the King and Princess, and their menagerie of animals and somehow she makes her everyday life sound like a funny sitcom. And not like The Office funny, either. I mean a really funny show, like back in the eighties and nineties when 30-minute sitcoms were FUNNY. That is the kind of funny that is The Queen and her palace.

That's all! I wish I could've just put every blog I read up, but the rules say 10, so 10 it was. But really I think that the blogs I read are all excellent, otherwise I wouldn't read them, right? Right.

Oh you shouldn't have...but I'm so glad you did!

Be warned...I use the word funny approximatley 147 times in this post. Next time I promise, I'll get off my couch and go find the thesaurus.


She likes me! She really, really likes me!


I received the Underblogger Award from Jenny at Chased by Children.
I'm honored. So Thank You, Jenny! When I read Jenny's blog and she wrote that she passed this award on to me, she said it was because I make her laugh out loud. And I am flattered, because she is one funny chick. And now I feel a lot of pressure to be funny. So Jenny will keep laughing.

Thanks again, Jenny.








The underblog award was started to help recognize blogs that are in need of a little recognition.



We all know there are the blogging rock stars of mom bloggers out there...The Pioneer Woman, Big Mama, Boo Mama, Shannon and Dawn. Moms like you and me who blog and have a rather large following of readers. And some of them, I've heard, do alright in advertising dollars. And calendar sales.



And yes, I'm a dedicated reader of these blogs, contributing to their bloggy fame. They are well deserving of it.


(And if one of them could even notice that I am alive, I would be so grateful if they could perhaps tell me how to get into the whole givaway thingy? Because I like to give things away. It's fun! But nobody just randomly sends me free stuff to give away. So how does that come to be, anyway?)


But there are so many other bloggers out there who are posting thoughtful, inspirational and funny stuff. And you may not know about them because the don't have a huge readership. So this Underblogger Award is supposed to go to bloggers who I think deserve to be recognized. They may never rock the world with calendar sales, but they will make you laugh. And think. And a blog like that is always a good read.


So I pass the Underblog award too:


Martha at Elizabeth Hill Cottage. Martha is a fellow P-Dub follower and she is the one who makes me laugh out loud. I love her sense of humor and I love the house tours she does on her blog. Because I am nosy like that.
And Martha says dude. A lot. Go see for yourself, dudes.


Heidi at Viking Conquest. Heidi is a regular commenter on my blog. Why she reads everyday...I have no idea. My best guess is that she is living her dream of being a slightly chubby, SUV driving, McDonald's eating, TV watching, American mom who is stuck in the suburbs, through me. She is living abroad with her family and writes about their adventures in Norway and around Europe. Heidi is kind and smart and funny and when I read her blog, I feel as though I am on her family adventure with her. And it is very cold.


The Queen B. My newest favorite read. The Queen cracks me up. She is fairly new to blogging, but I think she's a future rock star of the blogging world. She will make you laugh too. And she just went to see a Miley Cyrus concert, but try not to hold it against her.


Kelly at Love Well. Kelly is another new favorite. She is a self proclaimed weather geek. And....she makes me laugh. Are you seeing a theme here? Kelly used to live a hip life in California, and she is now a stay at home mom in the Midwest. But no matter where she lives, I think she rocks.


Jen at Jen on the Edge. Jen is witty and sassy and a real smarty pants. She writes honestly about life in Jenworld, and she tells it like it is. That may not be for everyone, but it is definitely for me. I don't think Jen really falls into the category of needing any blog recognition, but she falls into my category of cool.


And now my five underblogger award winners...go forth and spread the wealth. I can't wait to see who you think I should be reading!

If I had not labored for 18 hours with this one, I'd wonder if she were mine

This is what it looks like when I am busy working on all my 'stuff' during the day.

And this is what it looks like when Gracie is busy working on her own 'stuff' during the day.

I'm sure you can tell that she gets her organizational skills from me.

Thank y'all for the very sweet comments yesterday. Rest assured, I am not 20.

Or even 30.

And yes I am still on my y'all kick, since it is Fall Y'all!

So be sure to come back on Monday because I will be doing a giveaway.

And giveaways are fun!

I want to give a BIG thank you to the New Diva on the Blog who awarded me this:

The best part about winning an award is knowing that someone out there is actually enjoying what you are writing. And you get to pass it on to others! And that is what I call bloggy FUN!

So, I'd love to give this to Stie, for this post. Because truer words were never spoken. Or in this case, truer pictures were never taken. And it made me laugh. Go see for yourself!

The other person I want to pass this on to is Cindy, because this post will really make you stop and think. There is so much in the news right now with the fires in California, and this post really got me thinking about what is really important. What would I grab if I had to GET OUT IN 5 MINUTES?

And like Cindy, it would not be my window treatments. Even though they are plantation shutters. And I am a bit obssessive about my plantation shutters. Because I love them. A LOT.

This week my real-life friend, Jul, launched her own blog, Mom's Side of the Story. Won't you please do me a favor and go on over and say hello?

Thanks.

I'd Like To Thank the Academy...

Thank You Mary!
I am very honored to recieve this award from Mary at Not Before 7. It is my first blogging award! And it means alot that someone else thinks I am a nice person, besides my mother!

As soon as I saw Mary's blog, I immediately knew she was my kind of Mom; a mom that would love to sleep in!
Mary always comments on my posts, and I'm so excited when I see I have a comment and it is from her. We are getting to know each other back and forth through email, and I am lucky to have found her out in this great big bloggy world. So, thank you Mary, you are a very worthy reciepient of this award.

"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to others who you feel are deserving of this award."

I would like to pass this award on to Katherine and Laura. I cannot say enough good things about either of these great ladies.

Katherine, at Raising Five is the mother I want to be when I grow up. She is kind and funny and insightful and I learn something about being a better wife and mother from her everytime she posts. Katherine can write about anything from organizing the laundry to a post on anticipating needs. She recently had a great post on homemaking vs housekeeping. Her writing is so honest, she inspires me everyday to do better.

Laura, at I'm An Organizing Junkie , is someone who positively influences me every time I read her blog. She loves to organize and containerize and I love all of the great before and after pictures she posts. I am someone who would love to be more organized, and Laura's blog gives me daily inspiration. I check in on her blog every day to see what new project she is working on.

Pass it on!

Thank You!