An Intercalary Day

Busy or not, I decided that I must blog on Leap Day. How often does a person get to blog on such an intercalary day? (I know you are impressed with my vocabulary. I just learned that word today and I am not sure as to how useful it will ever be.) The Leap Year of 2004 I had not even heard of blogging and who knows if blogging will still be around in 2012. So I just had to post today.

Now for some more exciting news, my daughter Hannah has given me an award!

She didn't say what it was for exactly or who I was supposed to pass it on to. Seeing as it is called, "The Daily Dose" I will pass it on to three of those blogging friends that I read whenever they have something new to pop up on my Google Reader. There are many, but those who seem to post more frequently are Julie, Kathleen, and Jane. I can't actually stop with those three because I have so many blogging friends. So I also give this award to you. Thanks to everyone for being such great cyber friends.

Schmoozing

Schmooze - To converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.

In elementary school I was timid. In middle school, painfully shy. In high school I was considered stuck up because I didn’t speak much to those I did not know. While I have come out of my shell a bit, “extrovert” has never been one of my labels. Blogging has changed my life some. I don’t read as much as I used to. Instead, that leisure time is spent chatting with fellow bloggers. I find it easy to initiate a conversation or join in the chatter on other’s blogs. I will even admit to leaving comments in order to find new online friends. I am indeed a schmooze - in the cyber world anyway. Thank you, Julie, my online and real life friend for giving me this award. I now pass it on to all my fellow schmooze’s. If this description fits you, consider yourself awarded:

“Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

Blogger Reflection Award

I have been given an award by Patricia and Sheryl. They are both long time blogger friends with inspiring blogs themselves. Both are very worthy of this award and I am honored to be a recipient.

Here are the rules for passing this award on: The reason for the title is because this award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy... of knowing them and being blessed by them.

1. Copy this post.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link to this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they've been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site

Limiting the award to just five bloggers is tough. I would love to do more but time would never allow for that. Here are the ones that I have chosen:

Dana at Principled Discovery is not afraid to tell you exactly what she’s thinking. I like her insight on homeschooling, religion, the government and other topics. She even has another blog entitled “Backyard Birding”.

I met DK Raymer through the Thursday Thirteen meme. DK has a patriotic spirit all year long, reminding us to show our support of our troops by wearing red on Fridays. I love her quotes and pictures and learning more about her personal life. She had surgery this past spring that has made my broken pinky toe quite inconsequential.

Julie and I started blogging about the same time on Homeschool Blogger. Blogging is not the only thing we have in common. Our children are all close in age and we have both recently gone through a long distance move. Julie’s blog always has many things to reflect upon from door knobs to a relationship with Christ.

Gayle at Life with my Crew is another Homeschool Blogger friend who has moved to blogspot. Although she lives in my former state of Alabama, we never met in real life. There’s still a chance since my family is all there and I know we’ll go home to visit. I am encouraged by Gayle’s blog as she shares her daily life and leaves comments on mine.

Several of my blog friends moved to blog spot right before or after me. Kathleen aka Coffee Mom is one of them. She lives on the other side of the continent, in another country even, but she is a blogger that I’d love to meet in real life. In many ways, our lives are different but I find similarities too. Kathleen frequently posts pictures of her daily life happenings from birthday shoes to summer vacation fun.

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award!

I ROCK! I never would have thought that but now I know it’s true because Julie , DK and Carol have awarded me with the Rockin’ Girl Blogger Award. How fun! Thanks so much! Now, I am supposed to award five other bloggers. Here are my picks:

Drewe Llyn at Palms of His Hands – Who has been on the mission field and understands much of what I’ve been through.

Heather at Especially Heather – Who inspires me by her faith

Kim at The Continuing Adventures of Slug Mom – Who posts lots of fun pictures along with her entries about everyday life

Hannah at An American Girl - Whose fun loving personality shines through on her blog

You at Your Blog – Who I forgot because my brain doesn’t have enough memory

Thinking Blogger Award - Part 2

When Kathleen honored me with the Thinking Blogger Award, here are the kind words she said about me on her blog:

For the past 10 years Karen and her family served as missionaries in Romania. She visited Dracula's castle while on a trip to Transylvania. What a different life than mine. I'm inspired by Karen's giving spirit and her devotion to do the Lord's will.

What a different life than mine. Funny, I always thought that Kathleen and I, even though worlds apart, were so much alike. There I go with the thinking again. Anyway, on with the awards. Here are the rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

The following people are the bloggers that I would like to honor with the Thinking Blogger Award

Julie of So Much to Say, So Little Time is my best cyber friend and I have been privileged to meet her in real life. The time I spent at Julie’s house was awesome and from the moment we stepped in, I felt as if we had been friends for a very long time. Julie blogs about a great variety of things from crock-pot recipes to the sin nature of man. Julie and I have a lot in common, especially since we have children approximately the same ages. I’m sure if we lived close by, we’d spend a lot of time together.

Marsha of Our Homeschool and Other Such Happenings makes me think about what life would be like with all boys. She reminds me of life when my children were small. I love this quote from her blog. Delay is not denial, so keep on praying!

Angel of The Happy Home has just recently moved from Idaho to Texas. Her moving experience has nearly paralleled mine. I’ve never been to Idaho but I’m sure the transition in culture to a country called Texas is about like going from Eastern Europe to the United States. I love her most recent quote “I think it would be appropriate to equate moving to trying to hog tie an octopus. There are so many loose ends to think about and just when you think you have them under control, here comes another one to smack you in the face.”

I hope that there isn’t a rule about giving the award to relatives or teens because that is exactly who the next two bloggers are. Teens are always cause for thought, both online and off.

Gabriel – World War II - is my oldest child and only son. He requested that we study World War II this year. I love how our study started out teacher led but he has taken off with it and it has become an independent study for him. Of his own volition, he has added a World War II quote of the day. He loves classical music and movies with music by Hans Zimmer and John Williams. Many times, I listen to his music playing in the background as I write.

Hannah – An American Girl - is my middle child and doesn’t seem to have the middle child complex at all. In fact, she loves her position in the family and it is unique because she is the middle child of a middle child and she is also the middle grandchild. She is the quietest of my three children but just as independent as the others. Her hobbies include anything crafty and she loves photography. She found a lizard in the backyard a few days ago and posted a picture on her blog. I am thinking – that is just freaking me out!

Thinking Blogger Award

I have been given the Thinking Blogger Award by Kathleen - AKA Coffee Mom! What an honor! Now I will have to think. LOL! Actually, I have been thinking recently. Here are a few thoughts that have passed through my award winning mind today:

• I am thinking that I have a very smart blogging brother who has found his way to the front page of the religious section in our newspaper. They wrote an article about him on one of my favorite subjects – blogging!
• I am thinking that I must be allergic to something in my parents’ attic – dust, mold. . . We were going through things that have been stored up there for the last 10 years and ended up severely coughing and practically choking.
• I am thinking about changing my blog name.
• I am thinking that these thoughts are not very inspiring.

I’ll be back after I do some more thinking and decide on 5 other bloggers that I will honor with this award. I have a couple in mind already.