So, apparently, I'm Awesome?????

Oops - I almost forgot to post this!

Before I left, my new bloggy friend Mrs. Nurse Boy over at Poop on Jelly sent me an award!

First, let me chase a rabbit for a moment: Doesn't that just crack you up; Poop on Jelly? That's the main reason I went to her blog is because I had seen the blog title in somebody else's blogroll and had to see what "Poop on Jelly" was all about. I'm so glad I did. I won't spoil the surprise - I'll let you go check out their blog to see why their blog is called Poop on Jelly.

But once again - I digress. Back to the point -

Here's what Mrs. Nurse Boy had to say about me. It made me laugh out loud - but only because it's true!

"Tiffany over at Rural Chaos . Another new discovery. I love that she is probably the polar opposite of me. She lives in the country and thinks pigs are cute...not to mention the other small creatures that she runs into on a daily basis."

The Rules:
1. List 7 things that make me Awe-Summm.
2. Pass the award onto 7 bloggers that I love.
3. Tag those bloggers to let them know they are now Queens too (and link back to the Queen who tagged you).

So, I don't really brag on myself well. I'm thinking whoever gives the award should tell me how awesome they think I am and why - that would be much easier than me having to broadcast it. But I'll give it a shot since that's the rule. (This has taken me forever!)

1. I am a child of God! I think that's the most awesome thing ever. It still blows my mind that God loves me as much as he does (despite myself)- and sacrificed His ONLY son for me (and for you, too!).

2. I am married to a wonderful man and we have 2 beautiful children. I feel very blessed that God entrusted them to me to be my responsibility. We started out young and have defied the stereotypical odds and have stuck with it to make it work - even when we felt like giving up. And being a mom and a wife makes anyone awesome - just for all we do (and put up with)

3. By profession, I am a court reporter. I can type over 225 words a minute on my little steno machine. I get to hear all the inside, juicy details of cases - okay, and all the boring, mundane, want to stick a spoon in my eye I'm so bored details of cases, too. It is also very flexible and allows me to work from home (much more these days - yay!) rather than having to go to the office every day

4. I absolutely love to read. I remember my Nana taking me to the library during the summers when I was younger and I would check out the limit of books (around 10). We would have to go back 2 days later (sometimes the next day) because I would have them all read. It is probably my favorite past time - and I make time for it. There were a few years where I said I was too busy to read - but I decided you should never be too busy to read. That's bad for your health.

5. I'm addicted to coke - not the kind you snort, the kind you drink. You know, as in Coca-Cola! Really anything carbonated with caffeine. No, I know, that's not awesome - but what is awesome is that I'm trying really, really, really (did I say "really"?) hard to kick the habit. Talking about it is not helping, so I'm done with this subject.

6. I'm trying really hard to live more "frugal" these days and to teach my kids new/better habits. I've always been frugal - it's in my genes and I can't help it - but I'm trying harder these days to be an even better steward of our money. There were a few years there where I didn't care how much we spent or what we spent it on (and I'm paying for it now - literally). (Inside I was frugal to the core and was fighting a war I couldn't win) - but these days I'm going back to my roots, you could say, with the frugality.

7. I'm also trying to live more "green" these days. Part of being frugal is realizing how wasteful you are, which in turn converts into being more "green." So, we use reusable grocery bags whenever possible, I've cut down on the amount of paper towels we use (by using cloth napkins and being conscious of when I can use an alternative to paper towels), I've started making my own cleaners (more for health reasons than frugal or green but it does equate), I'm making more things from scratch instead of box foods, and I'm couponing and hounding. (That's the most fun of all!)


So, there you have it. I finally came up with 7 things. And I'm not trying to be modest - that really took me forever. The first 4 were sort of easy - the last 3 really had me stumped!


Now to tag some friends who are Awe-summm:

Sarah over at Little House on the Highway. She's a new find of mine that I've been following for a few months. I love that she is so real and honest and just plain blunt - about everything. She shares all about their little life - on the highways and byways of life!

Nikke over at Mom is in the Fishbowl. She's one of the very first blogs I started reading/following when I started blogging. I have loved every minute of it, too. We have lots in common and I love the "friendship" we have formed - even over cyber waves.

Whitney at it's gravy, baby! Whitney is a very new find of mine but I love reading her blog and seeing the pictures of her little man. You could snack on him or eat him for lunch, he is so adorable!

Cindy at Cindy the Artist. So, I've known Cindy my whole life. She's my cousin - and we live right across the street from each other now. And even though she doesn't update her blog very often, I still love reading it when she does. And, since I do live across the street, I can still keep up - sort of!

Joy at Joy in the Burbs. I don't remember exactly how I found Joy (I think it was through Tracy P) or what sparked our connection - but she's another great bloggy friend. Both of our husbands think we've gone off the deep end at times with some of our crazy ideas - but they still love us. I love that she's a (closet) competitor - vying for top spot on my "top commenter" section. She loves a good challenge, I say!

Tracy P. at The Journey. Tracy is another one of the first blogs I ever started reading/following. And I've said it before - but she is such an encouragement and inspiration to me. She's also a great photographer - which I envy - but she's modest about it! She, too, is a competitor - and she and Joy have a bit of friendy competition going on!

Megan at Saving our Cents. She's always got great deals posted - and sometimes she's responsible for doing the homework behind the deals I snag. She also blogs at Life as Mom.

So, there you have it. 7 more awesome blogs - it was hard to narrow those down, too. I think all the blogs I follow are awesome - why else would I be reading them, right?