Day 19: Five Faves

Had I known this prompt was coming (and technically, I did, I just wasn't paying close enough attention!) I might have been able to select only one blog for the Day 5 prompt!  So in addition to my bloggy buddies I introduced you to in Day 5, here are five more blogs worth checking out (at least in my opinion!)

Blog 1 - Now. Here. Life -- This relatively new blog is quickly becoming a favorite, as I can relate very much to what the author shares.  That, and she's incredibly inspiring with her words, and her photography!  One of my favorite lines on her whole blog is on her About Me page - "I'm a recovering control-freak."  She's not had an easy path in life, which makes her words all the more motivating to read.

Blog 2 - Charming Simplicity -- I only recently met Judi, through July's NaBloPoMo, and charming is definitely a good descriptor of her blog, and of her!  She writes about this and that, smiles, some challenges, beautiful flowers, and life.  And she offers quite a refreshing look at things in the process!

Blog 3 - Tales of a Boundary Ninja -- If you're looking for some psychological wisdom, you're going to want to check out Attachment Girl's blog.  She has so much intellectual and scientific knowledge of this process called therapy that you're bound to learn more than you expect.  That, and she's an awesome writer, and person! 

Blog 4 - I'm Just That Way and That's Just Me -- Not one of my typical blogs, but one of my favorites.  Dani is a "sassy, crafty, mama bird from Los Angeles raising a very sweet little girl with Autism in the Midwest....and stuff" which pretty much says it all.  I'm inspired, motivated, and sometimes a little saddened by all that she has faced with her little bird, yet, I always feel good after reading her blog.

Blog 5 - I am intentionally not listing a five.... cause there are about fifty more I could list, so instead I'll steer you over to my blog roll, where you might find some repeats, or not, but it's an ever-growing list so it will make for a very long-lasting number five!

Day 19 Prompt: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them.

Day 5: Bloggy-Love

Hmmm..... I'm not a fan of these "pick one" prompts!  There are too many choices out there, and in this case, too many bloggy buddies that deserve a shout out!  I've narrowed it down to three.  And might have to follow up to include a few more....!

Tayla Anne over at She'll Be Free has such a gentle spirit that overflows with kindness and compassion.  I don't even remember how we "met" but I'm a big fan of her and love the bits of wisdom she posts on twitter and Facebook.  I also find a lot of comfort in her series Voices of Ed as reading others' journeys helps remind me that I'm not alone in my own.  Tayla has been through the roller coaster of life and continues to share herself with us, her readers.

Tamara over at Faith and Substance has a rare gift - she gets my sense of humor!  She has a few different weekly posts that are just awesome, including Friday Funnies, which are my favorite!  Both Tamara and I love books, love cats, and when I'm having a crabby day, I pop over to her site or her Facebook page cause I know that I'll find a smile there!

Amanda over at Therapy Addict is how I found this blog challenge.  She's another one that I don't remember how we "met" but I've loved her blog since I found it.  She talks of her journey through life, which, as the title indicates, includes an affinity to therapy.  More than that, though, she's on a quest to become a therapist herself, and I love reading about the ups and downs in her journey.  She's got such a positive attitude on life, you can't help but feel hopeful when you read!

Day 5 Prompt: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member.

The Cupcake Queen Bites Back!

Now that summer is here, I've finally found that I have time to read!  And the first book of summer is one that I have to share.  It's called The Cupcake Queen Bites Back and it's written by my bloggy buddy Jackie Tanner who authors the blog Confessions of a Cupcake Queen.

Jackie sent me a copy of her book a few months back, and it's been sitting on my nightstand ever since, calling my name on a fairly regular basis, so I was eager to dive in and finally read it!  It was worth the wait!  A very quick read, Jackie keeps the reader engaged with short chapters sprinkled with poems of all sorts, as she shares her journey through an eating disorder and into recovery.

One of the poems that grabbed me is called You still here?  In it, Jackie speaks of being pulled down, sucked under, yet, reaching out with the hope that help will be there.  I like the simplicity and clarity of the hope that speaks from these words.  Pay particular attention to the passage called Life Is For Embracing.  It starts with a very true quote "you're here for a good time, not a long time," which kinda made me think.  A lot.

I leave you with one last gem from the book - Inner Beauty.  You are, inside and out, far more beautiful than you think.  And you very well may want to go and read this book!

New Blog Challenge!

Yeah!  I finally found another challenge that looks to be right up my alley!  Don't get me wrong, it isn't going to be all fun and roses, but it looks to be one that will definitely make me think, and hopefully, help me grow.

I found the challenge through my bloggy-buddy Amanda over at Therapy Addict.  She participated in it when it began.... which considering the challenge is called Blog Every Day in May, well, you know when she started it!  I was thinking of tackling the challenge in June, but it doesn't have 31 days.  So July it is, and I'm hope, hope, hoping that I'm up for the challenge of daily blogging.  Haven't done that since November's NaBloPoMo! 

With summer in full swing, I need the focus, something to guide my writing, and I'm looking forward to the journey.  If you'd like to follow along, please do so!  All the prompts are listed on the Blog Every Day link, and check out Amanda's prompts on the Therapy Addict blog.  If you're feeling really brave, feel free to join in the challenge!

Inspired By...

This is a little complicated to explain, so please, gather your bag of breadcrumbs and try to follow the trail....

Sundays.  Tayla over at She'll Be Free has this great feature called Sunday Link Love.  She finds all sorts of goodies, and shares them in one easy-to-access post to start off the week.  In reading through the links this week, I stumbled across an article that made a lot of sense to me!

The link was from another blog, called Roots of She.  The post?  This one.  All about fear.  Now, you may want to head over and read the whole post (it isn't that long, and it's an easy read) but for my purposes here, I've quoted the chord that struck me:

"I sat and looked underneath the fear – what were the needs sitting underneath its surface? What was it I really wanted?......  To feel safe, to feel cozy, to feel loved......  I could meet those needs in other ways, in healthier and more healing ways, than by staying at home.......  To feel cozy: I wanted the soft feeling of a blanket wrapped around me so I wore a long, soft sweater to work and super fuzzy knee socks...... When you’re able to break down the fear or stress or anxiety, you can begin to meet the needs that are underneath it."

This is a bit of a patched together excerpt, as I eliminated a few parts here and there, cause this is the part that spoke to me.  I've had those mornings, like she writes of at the start of her post, where I just want to curl up in bed with The Pup, a soft blanket, and shut the world out for a little longer.  Days where getting up and going to work is the last thing I want to do.

Today was one of those mornings.  And taking a little inspiration from that article, I managed to get myself cozied up, carry-out style.  I found a very comfy sweater that felt like a soft blanket wrapped around me.  I found the softest socks that I had.

You know what?  It worked.  Sounds a little silly, but that big, comfy sweater and those soft, comfy socks got me out of the house and to work.  Yeah, once I got to work, and got into the day, things were peachy.  But those little comforts, they're what got me to work so that I could get into my peachy-keen day.

Sometimes it seems a simple thing.... yet, it makes a incredible impact.

(P.S.  If you're not sure what the title of this post means..... well, it's still poetry month, 

and it's a bit of a hat tip to one of my favorite poetry books - Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.)

Bring on the Blues....

As in, lighting things up in blue.
You know.
For autism awareness.
I'm wearing blue today.
Are you?

 

April 2, 2013
 World Autism Day

An inspiring blog, by "a sassy crafty mama bird from Los Angeles raising a very sweet little girl with autism in the Midwest... and stuff."

NEDA Week - Body Love

I found this image ages ago, but was saving it specifically for NEDA week because the message is so simple, yet so powerful.  It reminds me that we don't try to change our height - you rarely hear someone say "I wish I was taller," but we always hear people say "I wish I were thinner...."

Today's featured blog is actually a compilation of blogs in Gurze Book's Eating Disorders Blog.  ED Bloggers, including Jenni Schaefer, Karen Koenig, and Johanna Marie McShane, as well as a dozen other amazing ED activists post insightful articles and blog posts that cover  a plethora of topics.  You can also sign up for inbox delivery of your favorite bloggers, which I love!

Kicking Off NEDA Week 2013

Today kicks of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2013.  

Last year I was deep in the depths of my ED, and NEDA week 2012 helped me push through some sticky spots.  This year I'm in a very different spot recovery-wise, better in some ways, the same in others.

Eating Disorders are serious.  They are not something people choose to have.  In fact, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.  But there is help.  And there is hope.  Recovery IS possible.  And the first step is telling your secret.  After struggling for more than half my life, I told my secret.  And you can too.

Considering this blog started as a recovery project, I am kicking off NEDA week 2013 with a 30 day recovery challenge.  Danielle over at Recovery is Worth The Fight led me to this challenge, and after speaking it over with my dietitian, today seems to be the perfect day to kick off the challenge.

There's a pretty good chance that you know someone who has an eating disorder.  You might not know who, but with the prevalence of EDs...... Visit NEDAs website for tools that will help you, or someone you care about, overcome an eating disorder.  It is possible!

Each day of NEDA week I will feature a recovery blog that I've found helpful.  This first blog, Surviving ED by Jessica Hudgens, is an eye opening look at eating disorders from inside and out.  She's a great writer, and I find her posts easy to read, and helpful in realizing that I'm not alone.

VBA Part 2: Nominations

Here's the much awaited part two of the Versatile Blogger Award!  The nominations!

A refresher on the rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and include a link to their site - done!
2. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post - done!
3. Nominate 7 fellow bloggers that you've recently discovered or follow regularly and include a link to their site. - done!
4. Let them know you have nominated them. - done!
5. Share 7 random facts about you - done!

Let the nominations begin!

1. Life Your Way - This is a blog that I discovered during November's NaBloPoMo, and I have been happily reading ever since.  From the artwork to the ideas, Chris has a way of making me laugh!
2. Inspirational Journal of My Life - The creation of my blog began with the Inspirational Blog Challenges, which is where I met Trina.  She is one of the people who encouraged me to start blogging, and I quite enjoy reading her blog for inspiration!
3. Therapy Addict - Amanda's blog makes me feel very grounded in the fact that there are others out there that are dealing with similar situations that I lived through.  That, and she's just got a fun blog to read!
4. A Recovered Life - I'm new to the whole world of tumblr, and the only reason I started with tumblr was because of this blog.  The words of wisdom and pictures of peace?  Worth stopping by to peek at.
5. The Black, White, and Read Book Challenge - This blog is one that is out of my normal reading range, but I couldn't help but get drawn into the bibliophile's bliss that is this blog!  (And she's a fellow Gilmore Girl's Junkie!)
6. The Pretty Nifty YA Reader - I just found this blog, and was thrilled to meet another person who prefers young adult literature.  Looking forward to continuing to follow Melina's book list!  (She just switched hosts, and her old blog is here.)
7. Harriet M. Welch - I'll admit it, I only yesterday found this blog, and I'm not sure how, but the name hooked me instantly.  Her honest, and somewhat quirky words are strangely familiar to me!

There you have it!  Seven bloggers, some new, some cherished, that have all just received the Versatile Blog Award!  Maybe you'll find some new reads!

Liebster Part 3: Recognition and Questions

(Another shout out and thanks to
Amanda for the award!)

This final part of the Liebster Award is where I get to recognize five up-and-coming blogs and pass on the sweetness of the Liebster Award.   

There are many blogs I know that deserve this award, and if I could give it to each blogger, I would.  But in sticking with the rules, I'm going to have to narrow it to five.  And it sure wasn't easy to do so.  Almost painful, actually.  Thankfully a few that I'd like to recognize have actually already received the Liebster!

On we go with the nominations!

• Teachers with Attitude by Dianne really makes me smile, cause as a teacher, I can so relate to her classroom capers!
• Roses are Red by Kylie-Rose is a fellow quote-junkie's blog with lots of great quotes sprinkled throughout!
• Waking Up by Kashley is the blog of a cyber-friend whose words resonate very much with me. 
• Strange Little Pearls by Cheryl, who is another quote-fiend like me, is a great read with lots of inspiration in every post! 
• Storeylines by Barbara gives insight into a sidelined writer, dealing with some extra challenges in life.

Now for the questions!

1. Why did you start a blog?
2. What's the one thing you can't live without?
3. Of what accomplishment are you the proudest?
4. What book or movie most reflects your life?
5. What product/TV show from the past would you most like to see return?
6. What is your favorite dish and what makes it your favorite?
7. Looking back to a year ago now, did you end up where you thought you would?
8. If you could jump into any story, what book would you choose and why?
9. Where did you get the idea for the name of your blog?
10. What is your favorite memory as a student?
11. Hit shuffle on your iPod/music device.  What are the first five songs that play?

Finally, the fine print:

Liebster Award Details

1.  Thank the person who awarded you - check!
2.  Share 5 facts about yourself - check!
3.  Answer the 11 questions you were asked - check!
4.  Nominate 5 up and coming blogs - check!
5.  Ask them 11 questions. - check!

(oh, and you might want to let the nominees know they've been awarded!) 

Thanks for following along!