The WHAT??

You know, some days you come across a person and you think "Wouldn't she be a great friend? She just looks...nice. And the nose ring kinda tells me she avoids polyester blazers and beige pumps."

Now that we live in a cut/copy/paste/download/instant society, meeting new people is ridiculously easy.
But that connection still is old school. The "do you like me? I like you. Wanna be friends?" voice we heard when we were 8 still sings in our heads.

When I started serioulsy spending time finding bloggers that spoke to me... who could say "you spelled seriously wrong" without offending me...I came across an interesting name.

Becky Doughty.
Hmmmm.
She sounds like a person...with a name.

So I lurked on her blog.
I'd follow her comments.
I hired a detective to case out her house...okay, not really.

Over time, we became friends on Facebook and then moved into a more serious level.
We exchanged....emails!
I know, right?!?!?

Soon the emails began to fly and each time I'd read her blog, I thought, when I grow up, I want to be just like Becky.
Okay, not quite, but I learned alot. I mean I LEARNED from her blog, from her wisdom, but mostly?

I learned from her transparent heart for Christ. The hunger that comes from tasting pure joy and wanting more.

Imagine my total newbie blogger/writer SHOCK when she nominated ME(???) for The Beautiful Blogger Award.
What a shock and awe moment!!!

Thank you, my dear friend, who I ALMOST met this past summer.

What an honour and blessing this was for me.

You can meet her at www.beckydoughty.com.


God will make a way Becky, someday we will meet. Maybe at ACFW next year?

So....here’s how this award works: Someone nominates me, I do the task required to receive the award, then I pass it on by nominating other bloggers. For the Beautiful Blogger Award, I am to tell you seven interesting things about me.



1- I love and adore Earl Grey Tea.
I want to marry it and settle down somewhere.
It is BEST with light cream and a family sized platter of milk chocolate chip cookies.
What? Like you've never eaten 8 at a sitting?

2-I have wandered down paths laden with fire ants and moisture loaded palm fronds in the Amazon Jungle.
I have seen tree pythons getting out the cultery and calling the kids for dinner at the sight of stupid humans standing near trees. I'd be FINE if I never ever went back to the jungle.
Two words: "heat" and "rash".
But the best part???

I swam in the Amazon River.
Uh huh.
Me.

THE AMAZON!!!!


3-I have seen "Last of the Mohicans" approximately 50 times. Each and every time I see it, I wish Magua would get some anger management and let those nice Monroe sisters go home. I love the soundtrack and play the music to the point I could sing it!!
There is no such thing as ugly when a man is in a posh uniform. Or leather. Or a good tan...well, is it warm in here or what?!

4- I am absolutely TERRIFIED OF HYDRO DAMS!!!!!!!!!!

5-I can't do a somersault. I spent my entire childhood thinking they'd break my neck. I still freak out when I see kids doing them.

6-I always wanted to play the violin. And the guitar. I play air guitar really well. No one will ever see that.

7-There are four separate problems in my feet. Plantar fashee-eye-tus. Athritis. EXTREMELY severe nerve damage. Flat feety-itus.
Oh, and the back has nerve damage.
I live in pain.
But it could be worse.
A whole lot worse.

God has given me a huge amount of relief from the pain, and I am grateful.




So?
Who do I nominate???
Two other women who have taught me alot, encouraged me and gone above and beyond the call of fellow bloggeryness and answered my questions when I needed help. We've become friends and I bet the Christmas packages I get from them will be HUGE!!!
Okay, not really....

I hope you check their blogs out.

Here they are in reverse alphabetical order....

Lindsay Harrel.
You can meet Lindsay at www.lindsayharrel.blogspot.com

I got to meet Lindsay at a secret location (Starbucks) in Phoenix, Arizona this past July.
If you think she's smart, witty and has the voice of an angel on her blog, you are right!!
Oh, and she's taller than I thought she'd be.

This writing gig is such a roller coaster. I asked Lindsay so many newbie questions, and each time, she answered and encouraged me. What a kind and giving heart!!
And SMART! Whoa, I think someday I'll be one of those people who puls a Lindsay Harrel book off the shelf and holds it up in the air and yells "I know her!!!"

Here's the "about me" on her blog...

I'm an author/editor from Phoenix who writes inspirational women's fiction. My desire is to honor God in all I do and to help draw others closer to Him by planting seeds of hope in their hearts. "I planted the seed...but God made it grow." (1 Corinthians 3:6)

Since the age of six, when she wrote the riveting tale “How to Eat Mud Pie,” Lindsay Harrel has passionately engaged the written word as a reader, writer, and editor. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication and an M.A. in English. She has written and published feature stories for two college newspapers, advertising copy for several websites, and health- and beauty-related articles for consumers. In her current day job as a curriculum editor for a local university, Lindsay helps others improve their work and hones her skills for her night job—writing inspirational women’s fiction with romantic elements.

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers and My Book Therapy, Lindsay posts regularly at her blog and has been published on the Power to Change website, in the online CronkiteZine, and in The Arizona Republic. Her creative essay “Snapshots of My Mother” will be published in Donna Goodrich’s mother/grandmother anthology this summer.


I also want to nominate Heather Day Gilbert.
You can meet "HDG" at www.heatherdaygilbert.blogspot.com

Aside from looking, you know, 15, Heather is a mom and wife who knows how to cook dinner outside during a massive power outage. A heart as big as the sky and a smile that's even bigger. Heather was one of the very first bloggers I fell in like with.
Early on in our friendship, Heather would help and encourage and gently tell me where I needed to up my game. Her faith shows in everything she does and I'm SO glad to know her.

Here's her "about me"...
 I'm a West Virginia-born gal who married the sweetest Yankee in the world. I'm a Christian, and I write stories of authentic love after marriage. I homeschool my children. And I love big dogs, MacGyver, coffee, tulips, and wasting time on video games.

I started this blog to share some of my first completed novel, Otherworld, with readers. The first thirteen chapters are up on this blogspot. It was paranormal fiction and I loved it, but it was too short. I'd completed it in a month for a NaNo challenge. Someday that book will find its way to print (even if I have to self-pub!), or I have people who are going to hunt me down and beat the ending out of me!

My second novel, God's Daughter, is indeed the proper length at 80,000 words. It's historical fiction, based on the Icelandic sagas, and it's about one of my favorite Viking heroines, Gudrid. She should be in every history book!   



Each thing I said about one of theses two women can easily be said about the other.
Grace, kindness, faith, strength and the desire to be the best that God intended them to be.

We were never meant to walk alone, and I'm honoured and humbled to share the writer's road with Heather and Lindsay. Go say hello to them, and wave when you get there.