Inspiration Award

The lovely Nora presented me with a cool new award today: The Inspiration Award

So here are the rules,  followed by the winners and why I deemed them worthy of such an award.

 1. Please put the logo of the award (above) on your blog if you can make it work with your format.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate  7 or more blogs. (I just did six, because I’m tired. I also don’t like rules.)
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them. (or don’t. It sometimes fun to see if they figure it out.)

I now award the following blogs:

La Dolce Vita: She’s fearless, a little crazy, and completely unapologetic. And I totally adore her. If there was ever a girl I was convinced had a set of balls, it would be this girl, and she wears them proudly on her chest. I mean all of this in a good way, of course. And wish my stories and weekends were even half as interesting as hers.

Operation Pink Herring is not afraid to embrace her inner dork and confess to completely irrational crushes on fictional teenage vampires. Well, just one fictional teenage vampire, I suppose. She’s the reason I wanted to read Twilight, she introduced me to lolcats, and her trips to Spain and Scotland have inspired my own. I learn a lot from this girl, and I always look forward to reading her blog posts.

Janet at Love is Blonde has it all. An intriguing job in politics (working for the good guys!), a fabulous wardrobe, gorgeous blonde hair, and a good head on her shoulders. She’s beauty AND brains and I only wish she updated more.

Pelletier the Chocolatier is a friend of mine in real life. Though he doesn’t get into his past life much on his blog, the man spent a lifetime working in the PR field before he decided to throw caution into the wind and take his career in a completely different direction: making chocolate. Now, he’s happier than he’s ever been and beating the odds – and the economy – by turning his little dream of making chocolate all day into a successful business venture. Now THAT’S inspirational!

Jen and I often find ourselves moving down the same life path. We’re both happily married, twenty-something, Christian women who enjoy beach vacations and home improvement projects. We find ourselves facing some of the same issues: balancing budgets, trying to be healthier, and planning for an eventual family. Recently, she’s done a few things that I’ve wanted to do. She’s taken steps toward learning how to sew, has spent time learning how to cook things that didn’t come in a pre-packaged box or frozen bag, and last year she ran a 5k (or was it a half-marathon)? I’m starting to feel like quite the slacker in the wife-skills department.

Nora (the rules didn’t say I couldn’t award the same person that awarded me) is a daily reminder of what “new love” feels like. Once you’ve been married for awhile and regular life starts to get in the way, you begin to forget about the time when all that mattered was that the two of you were together. You forget about the butterflies and all the sweet little firsts – like the first time he said “I love you” or the first time he told you that he thought you were “the one.” The first time you met his friends, the first time you met his family, your first Christmas together  and the first time you ever discussed living together. With each little first she writes about, I’m reading on the other end, remembering my own firsts and falling in love with my husband all over again. Though he doesn’t know it. :)