Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Versatile Blogger Award

Waaay back on April 30th, I received my very first blog award - "The Versatile Blogger" - from Selina at Urban Granola. Thanks Selina!!! I was so happy to hear that you dig my blog enough to give it an award!


I've finally set aside a chunk of time tonight to follow the rules of the award and pay it forward. Yay!! (I'm only two weeks late - that's not too bad, right? ;)

Here are the official rules:
  •     Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
  •     Tell your readers seven (7) things about yourself.
  •     Give this award to fifteen (15) recently discovered bloggers.
  •     Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news.
First point's done, so let's move on to the others!

7 things about myself:
  1. I was an avid poker player for several years, starting in university. Semi-professional, one might say. Poker helped pay for my last year of school (though, to be fair, it also put a couple of my credits at risk). As one who is eminently logical, enjoys problem solving and has solid intuition, it was pretty much the perfect hobby for me. My degree (major in computer science / minor in psychology) provided great training as well! Ironically (or not so ironically) I basically stopped playing around the time poker became mainstream. Perhaps I enjoyed having more of a "niche" hobby, or perhaps I just grew tired of it. *shrug* Now, however, I do find myself missing it from time to time. It's a great game.
  2. The idea of parasites (especially large, internal ones) makes me EXTREMELY squeamish. It just seems so wrong and ghastly that *worms* can live inside a human body. I first developed a fear of parasites when I was young (8 or 9?) on a trip to the Science Center in Toronto. There was an exhibit on parasites including graphic images of different types of worms as well as a man with maggots living in exposed scalp tissue. :O Man, there should have been some sort of warning or minimum age requirement to view that bad boy, as it definitely scarred me. And apologies if I've caused you to lose your appetite!
  3. Stealing one from Selina here. :) I'm a procrastinator as well, and notoriously late for things. The lateness really only applies to *events* however - not projects and deadlines. So there's an odd disparity there. In any case, I hate it and I'm really trying to work things here, especially now that we have a daughter. The last thing I want is to make HER late for things as well. Weird that something which seems so simple (just be on time) is so challenging!
  4. I have a penchant for long sweaters and/or dresses paired with knee-high boots. HEART this combo!
  5. The first time I travelled via airplane was in 2003, when I was 24 years old. (Yes, there were quite a few road trips when I was young!) Since then, I've flown 25-30 times for business and/or pleasure.
  6. I collected frog statues when I was little. My old collection has long been boxed up, however my dad still likes to buy me frogs which is super sweet! :) Maybe one day I'll put a li'l shelf together combining my favourite older ones and new ones from Dad.
  7. I'm awesome at the drums on Rock Band. I do really well at singing too even though I'm a bad singer. Go figure.

Now, before I pay it forward to my Fabulous 15, I'd like to say that this was HARD! To be sure, I read and enjoy MANY more than 15 blogs. However, continuing to focus on the theme of this award (versatile blogging) was helpful. The blogs I have chosen really exemplify this with high-quality content under a variety of different topics, themes or activities/projects. I definitely recommend checking these folks out! To help you decide which may be of interest to you, I've added a short blurb and/or keywords beside each one to capture what I appreciate about that particular blog's versatility. Without further ado...

And the Versatile Blogger Award goes to.... [opens envelope]:
  1. Obsessions of the Trophy Wife - cloth diapering, pregnancy, nursing, reviews/giveaways, de-mystifying difficult to understand or commonly misunderstood concepts
  2. Simply Rebekah - eco-friendly living, recipes, freezer cooking, a day in the life spotlights, an approachable and warm writing style
  3. Gingham Skies - crafts, menu planning, parenting, photography, blog challenges
  4. A Mommy's Blessings - family values, efficiency tips, recipes, eco-friendly review/giveaways
  5. The Mrs. - frugal living, recipes, photography, incredibly sharp humour & wit
  6. Shasher's Life - social media, theme days (e.g. Feature Fridays), giveaways, Canada-centric content
  7. Marni's Organized Mess - cloth diapering, reviews/giveaways, photography, blog hopping, self-reflective content
  8. Hybrid Rasta Mama - natural parenting, mindfulness, efficient living
  9. Formula Mom - cloth diapering, reviews/giveaways, blog hopping, slick writing style
  10. Tales from the Nursery - parenting stories, lots of reviews/giveaways, blog hopping & growth
  11. Beautiful Calling - natural birth and parenting, simple living tips, high-quality and comprehensive content, reviews/giveaways
  12. Cheap Wine and Cookies - frank & gritty content, original & fresh topics, parenting, theme days
  13. According to Jenny - natural parenting, cloth diapering, photography, friendly & accessible writing style
  14. A Home for the Hendersons - parenting, gorgeous photography, cloth diapering
  15. Mama on a Green Mission - green living tips, reviews/giveaways, blog hopping
 Congrats to all of the above bloggers! I heart reading you all. :D

15 comments:

  1. p.s. I think we live only a few kilometers apart :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1) I once won a small poker tournament purely because I had no idea what I was doing.

    2.) You may not want to know this even though it doesn't have to do with worms or parasites necessarily, but I just heard on NPR this morning that the human body actually contains more bacterial cells than human cells. How crazy is that?

    Thank you so much for this! What an honor!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for the kind words!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Shash - no kidding? Are you in Wilmot township?

    @Colleen - 1) heh! A totally new player can actually do alright employing a very rote "all in or fold" strategy 2) I believe it. As long as I can't *see* them, not too bothersome :)

    @Rebekah - my pleasure! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, Kristy!! I'll definitely pay the award forward although it might take me a little while to pull it together considering my recent posting track record. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats!!! I too have a "fear" of parasites! Ughhh just makes me shiver when I think of those nasty little things!

    I'm following from the Super Stalker Sunday Hop! Thanks so much for linking up with us! I hope you can come link up again next weekend!

    Have a great week,
    KOrtney
    www.kortneyskrazylife.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. OK, the poker thing really?!? I'm kind of impressed - though I have no idea how to play. And the parasites - while I hadn't given them much thought, reading about it completely creeps me out so I'm with you there! LOL.

    Thanks for the mention and kind words! Hoping to share a new natural birth story soon - if this baby ever comes :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks so much for the award, sweetie. :) It is always nice to know you are appreciated!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. @GS - I hear ya. It can definitely be hard to find the time to blog! Took me over 2 weeks to do this myself!

    @Kortney - thanks for following! I hope you like what you find here! :)

    @Jenn - looking forward to your story! Best of luck with everything!

    @Marni - my pleasure! I'm glad I found your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  10. BTW....I also have collected Frogs over the years. I have boxes full now from friends and family; yet, I'm still not sure how it started...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the award! I was pleasantly surprised!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I haven't forgotten this! I'm just running behind on following up on comments (so sorry!)

    Thank you and I'll post my acceptance post soonish - promise! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I also haven't forgotten this, and can only blame my extreme time deficit.

    I also don't think I said thank you for this. Thank you. Sorry for being a jerk, sheesh.

    ReplyDelete