Mystery Blogger Award

Mystery Blogger Award

by | May 20, 2017 | Blogging Awards

 

This is my first Blogger Award.  I am very grateful to The Ink Owl for the nomination.  It really means a lot to me.  I would also like to thank Okoto Enigma for creating this Award.  It was designed for Bloggers to acknowledge their peers in the blogging world, and to be passed on from one to another to help grow the Blogging Community, and for people to discover new blogs to help them to grow and flourish.  What a remarkable idea to spread encouragement, positivity, and to help Bloggers to earn some recognition.  It is also a wonderful way for people to find new blogs to love, read, and follow.

If you would like to read the nomination post from The Ink Owl, it is in the comments on my About page.  If you would like to read more about the Award and its creator, please check out the following link: Mystery Blogger Award Background and Story.

When you are nominated for an award like this, it is meant to make you share some information about yourself, and to encourage you to acknowledge some of your own favourite Bloggers with some new nominations from you.  It is a pay it forward kind of idea, and I think it is wonderful.  That being said, there are some rules that go with being nominated.

Mystery Blogger Award Rules:

  • Put the award logo/image on your blog
  • List the rules
  • Thank whoever nominated you and post a link to their blog
  • Mention the creator of the blog and provide a link to their blog also
  • Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
  • You have to nominate 10-20 people
  • Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
  • Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice; with one strange or funny question
  • Share a link to your best post(s)

I have to write this note here to tell you all that it was difficult for me to create that list. At last, I have outwitted the bullet list formatting and can continue working on the rules and acceptance.

Three things about me to tell you.

1.  I try really hard to be funny.  Sometimes it backfires and I have to quickly change the topic of conversation.  Other times it is taken totally wrong and I have an angry person instead of a laughing person to deal with.  Once in a blue moon, I get it right.  I do seem to be getting better at this talent with age.  Possibly because I am a huge fan of both Betty White and Weird Al Yankovich.

2. I wish I could afford a maid. I know how to clean, I just really don’t like doing it.  I would rather be working on my creativity than creating a clean organized space to live in.   I am working on that.

3. Blogging is my mid-life crisis self-help therapy.  It is cheaper than a motorcycle, and I can take more than one person with me for the ride!  Helmets are optional.  There are no judgements here.

The Ink Owl Listed five questions for me to answer, as a part of the nomination and acceptance.

  1. Where (physical locations) do you write?
  2. Why did you start writing?
  3. What is your favourite part about your life?
  4. What has been the most challenging part with writing?
  5. What gives you the inspiration to write?

Here are my answers:

1. I used to write in journals when I went to school and university.  I have written on my laptop when I was in a local creative writing group.  That group, which I have the honour of saying I named, Freddy Words, is currently dormant and awaiting a revival.  These days,  I am writing on my desktop computer. PC not MAC. I will be working towards purchasing other electronic devices to write in different locations in the future so that I am always ready to write when inspiration strikes.  My desk is in my living room in the center of my mini home.  I can watch TV, listen to music, and write all from my desk.  It would be nice to write outside sometime.

2.  I have been writing my whole life.  Nothing spectacular in my school days, but I have always enjoyed writing, both creatively and emotionally.  Why I started writing my blog is a more interesting answer.  I watched an inspirational video one day, and it got me thinking. It made me think about how to get my lyrics for songs out of my head and to a place where other people can read them.  Before I knew it, I had to research how to set up a blog, and I never expected it to just take off like it did.  I write and I have a lot of fun with it.  I hope it never stops being fun.  I used to write as a form of not keeping things bottled up.  Now I am practising to write a fantasy trilogy by writing on my blog, building the habit. Always thinking…

3.  The favourite parts of my life are finding my passions.  I love the beach and the ocean, especially in Cape Breton.  I love my husband, and the life we have together is not always perfect, but that keeps things interesting.  I love creating things, from thought to completed projects.  This blog has been a wonderful rediscovery of my own passion for writing.  I truly believe that writing is what I am meant to do, that it is my purpose in life.  I also love it when I line up all my ducks in a row to land the unexpected joke once in a blue moon.  That is something that gives me a lot of joy.  This year I have grown personally.  I am proud of the person I am turning out to be, flaws, bad jokes, and all!

4. The most challenging part with writing is actually three things.  The first one is that I need to know when to take breaks.  I do not have any problems writing, I need to remember to stop and eat, and walk around for a bit;  to step away from my desk. When I decide to write I need to make sure I don’t ignore the rest of my life.  The second thing is grammar and punctuation.  Grammarly is helping with that.  I have trouble with commas,  and use a lot of exclamation points! The third thing is that you should always write down your ideas as soon as they hatch…or you will forget them like I just did for my number three.

5.  Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere.  I get a title in my head, I start writing, and there is my story.  I hear people talking and I run with an idea the conversation sparked. I am an emotional woman, and my feelings sometimes dictate the direction a story goes in.  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and have to get a pen and paper right away so I don’t forget what I dream up.  Other times I use my highly developed pantser skills and sit down with nothing in my head for an idea or plan, and I just start typing.  A short time later I have a blog post or a new song.  I am certain that writing is what I am supposed to do, and with that being said, inspiration can strike at any given moment in any place I am present in.  I have faith and religion in my belief system, therefore all of the inspiration I have comes from God.  He made me this way.  Always thinking…

As I need to post this blog to grab the link to put into my announcements for the bloggers I have chosen to nominate, please allow me a few minutes to type up my nomination memo for the nominees.  I have not mastered the internet well enough to be able to do both things simultaneously. (This note is for nominees-your memo is coming if you didn’t get it yet).

I would like to nominate (in a randomly organized list) the following Bloggers for The Mystery Blogger Award:

Rebecca Craig of Spiritelle Blog

Gordon Dougherty of Unlikely Mystics Blog

Denise Marcello of Denise Marcello Fitness Step out in Faith Blog

Mohamad Al Karbi of  Mohamad Al Karbi Blog

Irene of They Once Called Her Pumpkin…

Colline of Colline’s Blog

Kirsty Allen of  The Ramblings of a Madwoman who hosted  My first Guest Blog, and a little more of the back story.

Payal Tyagi of Writings by Payal Tyagi

Apple Alvarez of Apple Bits Blog

Bonnie McConaughy of Inspire The Best You

Dionne Abouelela of Girl VS City

The Olive Brunette of The Olive Brunette

Sam of the Caffeine Gal

Jessie Wing of Wingswordsblog

As if it wasn’t hard enough to select a few of my favourite Bloggers to nominate for The Mystery Blogger Award, now I have to think of five clever questions to ask them all. The rebel in me has disguised a few extra sub-questions sneakily with the five I am required to ask.

  1. How long have you been Blogging?
  2. If you could put a face and a name to your Muse, who would it be? (My silly question)
  3.  What is your why, as in why do you write?
  4. Do you listen to music while writing?  If so, what artists and or types of music do you enjoy listening to while writing?  Does it change as your story develops?
  5. Who is your favourite published Author?  Do you read their books only once, or do you read them frequently?  If you can’t narrow it down to just one, two or three are also acceptable as an answer, as I have three at the moment, and that is in the top three of a long list of many.

If you check the links above, you will see there is already one link to my first ever guest post.  As per the rules, I can also link to some of my favourite blog stories.

The Little Blog That Could! , I Had Sass in Zumba Class! and When the African Violet Blooms are three that stand out to me and others, based on the number of likes and comments.  I am really proud of all of them.  I have created two regular series within the blog as well, Trust Your Gut and Weekend Warrior.  They are stories that aim to help keep me on track and inspire the readers to keep working on the things that challenge them in their lives.  I have had other people submit stories for Trust Your Gut, and if you have issues with weight, and would like to submit your story, please contact me.  I would love to help you tell your story by sharing it in the series.

I follow more blogs than the ones listed here as my nominees. Shout out to Fears of Little Fears,   Blair of The Shameful Sheep and Brian of Bonnywood Manor Blog  to name a few more blogs that I enjoy visiting frequently.  If I missed you, feel free to answer my questions below in the comments! The more the merrier!

Thanks for the nod, Ink Owl, and I look forward to reading the answers to my questions.

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 10

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 10

by | Apr 27, 2017 | Trust Your Gut

 

Trust Your Gut is a series of stories about real people with weight issues, and complications arising from those issues.  It will explain what the person is facing, what their options are, what they have decided to do to take action, and why they chose the path they are on.  Each person’s story will be based on truth, so it won’t all be happy, but it will be real.  The goal of this series is to get people talking about options that are available for people who have weight issues, on either end of the scale.  If you would like to contribute to this series, there is a contact form linked on my Home page for this blog.  I know there are people out there that want to help people like them; as I do.

 

The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name.  If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story.  The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors.  I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.

This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.

Here is  Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 10

Today is the day I have picked to start shopping for a new bathing suit.  Wish me luck!  I need it in terms of my requirements, but I am also looking for a sale and not hours of searching!

The good news this week is that I am hovering within two pounds of that twoville goal, still.  The bad news is that I have not crushed that goal yet.

Which means that this is a perfect week to write about another THM concept.  I really like this one.  It is called NSV.  That translates into a Non Scale Victory.  So what is an NSV?  It is anything you can celebrate OTHER than the successes you fight to see on the scale.  The weight on the scale is a number, and it can be depressing if you obsess about it especially if it is not moving in the right direction or moving at the speed you want it to change at.

I wrote about twoville, and it is looming on my horizon again.  It is a Scale Victory when you have a happy dance on the floor after you weigh yourself and see a good number. Don’t think too hard about that.  Yes, that would be me,  first thing in the morning, after a trip to the washroom, in my birthday suit, having a happy dance.  Not the thing you want to focus on here.

The NSV is something that doesn’t relate to the scale, directly.  I have set my first official NSV as a small one.  The blog will help, for sure with this.  I want to be able to comfortably wear both my wedding band and engagement ring together on my finger.  I have the engagement ring on a lovely gold chain, that I wear from time to time, but it belongs on my ring finger.  I have fluid built up in my fingers, and you may think this is funny, but when I had a cashier job in the past, I noticed that my fingers were less puffy when I had that job.  I was using my hands a lot when I was a cashier, and it helped my fingers to lose weight.  Not that there is a lot of extra weight in my fingers, but it was a really good experience to look at slimmer hands and fingers.  As I blog, I am exercising my fingers.  It might not seem like a big thing to other people, but it matters to me.

When there is fluid built up in my fingers, wearing my ring causes an indentation.  I have short fingers, and the fluid doesn’t stop me from wearing the rings together, but it is painful to wear them both at the same time. I can get them both on, but it does block circulation in the finger, and it is painful to take it back off, because of this. So I am working on my health, and trying the rings on together from time to time.

It doesn’t have to be about the number on the scale only.  It can be about fitting back into an old pair of jeans, having to buy new clothes because the ones you have don’t fit, changing the size of clothing you wear, or measuring your inches and seeing that the shape of you…r body (Shout out to Ed Sheeran, love that song!)  is changing when the numbers on the scale are not.

As we all struggle with weight together, whatever our issues are, we all have them.  It is good to set reasonable goals to go along with making changes to live a healthier lifestyle.  I know it helps me to check in from time to time with a measuring tape and my rings.  It can even be as simple as the clothing you wear fitting better, or that you can climb that annoying flight of stairs without needing to take a break, or losing your breath.

Pedometers are wonderful because they can help you increase your daily step count by challenging yourself.  I will write a Zumba post about this soon, we are talking about steps at Zumba class since I am sharing my steps after each class.  I am also involved with a group 100 Coffees, and they are challenging members to start healthier habits. Drinking water is necessary for life.  In this group, one of the admins is asking us about how much water we drink each day, as a way to hold those who choose to do this accountable for drinking enough water every day.  It is great to have a support system for healthier lifestyles, and encouragement is a wonderful thing.  100 Coffees is a group of women entrepreneurs, so if you fit that description, go check it out!

I am looking forward to the day that I can wear both of my rings comfortably at the same time as my first official NSV.  What is your NSV?  Any comments might help you figure out what small goal you need to work on, give you a place for your own accountability, or help someone else find a reasonable NSV to start working on.  I look forward to seeing what other people are setting as their own goals.