Because (I Think) I Can

Well, with all the sunshine we’ve been having here, I’ve been dealing with Mother’s Guilt.  Seriously.  Saturday and Sunday I was able to enjoy it thoroughly, we were out and about all day all weekend.  Yesterday I skipped my “duties” of house cleaning and grocery shopping to have some special time with Anna at the zoo, while Jordan was at a play date and baby was sleeping with Daddy at home.

The house is a ridiculous mess, everything is not where it should be, and yesterday it was tough, real tough, to decide what to do.  When time is broken down by a baby that needs to be fed every 2 hours, destroying everything in between feedings, and a 3-year-old who wants to play in the sun… so I took them to the park.  And had a great time… until we get back in the house, and nothing has changed.  Well, except for one thing.  It was even messier than it seemed before.  *Sigh*

But, last night I got an awesome message…  wait for it…drumroll please… I have been awarded with…

The Versatile Blogger Award!!!

My lovely blogging friend, Randee from Randee’s Organized Chaos, was the beautiful person to award me with this!  I have seen this award plastered all over other blogs that I admire… I never knew how they got it, or what it was exactly, but here it is, on my blog!    happy, happy!

I started my blog in September, and although I of course wanted a nice handful of readers, more than just my mom and my sister (thanks you two!), I would read often of other bloggers getting featured and building relationships with other bloggers.  It makes me giddy that this is all coming together for me too.  I have mentioned Randee often lately, and there’s a reason for that!  She’s  a newbie too… not as new as I am though!  We email each other almost every day, helping each other through little hurdles, and she’s become a great support system for me!  So thank you Randee!

So in response to the award, I get to pass this award on to 7 of my favorite bloggers.  Ready for this?  It’s taken me some time to come up with my top 7, so go ahead and check them out and give them some love!

1.  Kindra with At Home With K.  This girl is fantastic.  The projects she creates are gorgeous, you should have seen how she decorated her house for Christmas, gorgeous.  But she also makes me think and assess my life a little.  Since her son was diagnosed with Autism, she blogs occasionally about how they have changed their diet and lifestyle habits.  Kindra suffered from migraines for many years, and when they made these changes, her migraines went away… since I have now been suffering from daily headaches since September, she has made small changes in our family habits.  When I read something of hers, I report it to hubby, and we find a way to adapt that change into our family.  She has also been so supportive of my blog, leaving me encouraging comments, which I really appreciate.  As a new blogger it’s so uplifting to have a blogger with a large following, to take the time to say hi.

2.  Anna with My Life and Kids.  I first found Anna on a day I really needed her… I had a rough day with the kids, and stumbled upon one of her posts on why she stays home with the kids… it made me cry a little, reassess myself, and I linked to her post immediately in my post, and we’ve been following each other since.  What I didn’t realize about Anna at that point, is that’s not how she normally blogs.  This girl is hilarious!  She lays it all out there, doesn’t hide anything about her life, and I love her for it.  Every morning I grab a second to start my day out with her.  I kind of think that my little Anna is going to grow up to be a lot like this Anna – never a dull moment!  She is also another blogger who takes the time to leave me a great comment now and then, and always responds to my comments.  I heart you Anna!

3. Kelly from Restitch Me.  I’ve been following Kelly for quite some time, and am amazed at how she upcycles and reuses things, especially fabrics.  She has great tutorials… most of her work includes sewing, which is completely over my head, but I love seeing her before and afters!  You are amazing Kelly!

4.  Colleen from The Painted Turtle.  Okay, I have not been following Colleen for long enough to really know anything about her, but from the work that I have seen, her work is amazing.  She paints furniture beautifully, and always has some cool design on the top of all of her pieces.  Her work is very inspiring!

5.  Stacey at Embracing Change.  I really look forward to reading Stacey’s blog every day.  Her refinishing of furniture is amazing.  And she pops the furniture one after the other like it’s no big deal.  She also has another blog called The Blessed Nest, also the name of the shop where her furniture is sold.  Her work makes me drool!  And occasionally she includes stories of her 2 adorable daughters, and her hubby who is a pastor, and was just in Africa!

6.  Ashley from Sunshine.Life.Love.  I just love this girl.  Ashley blogs about life, and I love reading her posts.  I think she is adorable, and I think the name of her blog suits her personality.  Super Cute.  And did I mention I’ll be “visiting” over there next week?    You’ll be hearing more about it later!!

7.  Kate from Momma Kate.  I found Momma Kate when she guest posted on another blog I already subscribe to.  She wrote about guilt as a mom, and I’m sure she hit many heart-strings with that post!  As a mom and a nurse, Kate knows what she is talking about!  I love how all her posts are so deep and personal, and identifiable.  As different as all us women are, as mothers and/or as women, we still have so much in common, and I love how I feel like I’m reading a little bit about myself when I read her posts.

Whew!  That was a lot of info!  I hope these girls love the award as much as I do, and I thank them for making my morning awesome when I get to read their posts!!

Now, also as part of the award, I am supposed to tell you 7 things about me that you don’t already know.  This is a hard one, as I have been letting it all out on my 10 day (Friday) YOU Challenge….

1.  I used to hate summertime.  I have seriously pale skin, like, vampire pale, and was extremely self-conscious about if my whole life.  Thankfully now with fake tan creams, more confidence and 3 kids to distract me from thinking about myself, I really don’t care as much anymore!

2.  I have a serious competitive personality.  Which is a real pain in the butt, because my hubby beats me at everything, no matter how good I am!

3.  I also have a serious jealousy streak… all part of the competitive streak, but very annoying.  I detest feeling jealous, it’s just so wrong.

4.  Because our daughter Anna is very powerful with her words, we have eliminated the words “hate” and “stupid” from our house.  Now when I hear other adults use those words, I actually cringe a bit!  They feel like swear words now!

5.  I haven’t waxed my eyebrows in a really long time.  This is embarrassing!  As an esthetician, I would maintain them weekly!  I am almost going granola here, girls, I may need an intervention!!

6.  I might want another dog.  Shhh, don’t tell my family, because I wouldn’t want to commit to that statement!  But this past weekend we met a couple with 2 Havanese dogs…. I had never heard of them before, but oh my goodness they were beautiful!

(source)   Cute!!!

7.  For most of my adult life, I did not like dogs.  I have a thing about germs and animals.  But while I was pregnant with our 3rd, we knew we needed a way to teach Anna about being gentle and kind, and a puppy was our teaching tool.  Our decision has been great for us, we love our little Cody.  I guess dogs are kind of like kids, once you have them, you can’t imagine life without them!

Whew!  I hope that wasn’t waaayyyy too much reading for you!!  But I’m happy I could share my award with you all!!

xo, Leanne

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