Liebster Blog Award

A mere 24 hours ago, I was leading my normal, not too exciting life when my dear friend Katie spread some blog love my way and awarded me the Liebster Blog Award.  And, I'm not going to lie, I was over the moon.  Who doesn't love to be recognized for something?

Now it is my turn to pay it forward.

Here are the Liebster Rules: 

The award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers, to promote and encourage new friendships among the blog community.

1. Post the award on your blog.  
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. 
3. Reveal your 5 picks for the award and let them know. 
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogsphere... other bloggers. 
5. Finally, the best rule of all, have fun and spread the love!

First, {In Oscar fashion} I would like to thank Katie for thinking of Party of Four when she saw this award.  If you haven't checked out The Terpblog yet, you need to stop reading this post and head over there right now.  Katie is inspirational, brilliant, crafty and one of the wisest women I know. Thank you Katie for this award and pushing me outside of my comfort zone.

Second, I would like to reveal my top 5 picks for the Liebster Blog Award.

{insert drum roll} Without further ado here are 5 blogs I think you should check out.

• Chance @ Capricious Perspective First of all, I am a lover of names and of words, so I was instantly drawn to this blog simply because capricious was in the title and the author's name is Chance.  I also love that Chance is a former teacher, that she sews, and that every now and then she post her InstaFriday's on Monday...that is right up my ally.
• Shelli @ Her Life.  I love this blog not only because of it's cute, clean and crisp look, but also because of the content.  Shelley coins this blog as her place to just write, which I love. It has the old fashioned journal feel to it and you should check it out.
• Lisa @ Team Jousma. Lisa is the friend, who several years ago introduced me to blogging and facebook.  At the time I thought she was crazy, but they have been two trends that have stuck and changed the way I live.  Lisa always has words of wisdom and just introduced me to the word brutiful.  If you ever need to read a thoughtful word, head on over to Lisa.
• Whitney @ Creating While Waiting. I just recently stumbled upon this blog when I saw this cute project on pinterest.  I knew by the title that we instantly had something in common...adoption.  I admire Whitney's candid approach with infertility and join her in the agony of waiting for a child.
• Sara @ Love Times Two. Sara and I used to be neighbors.  Sara resided in room S4, and I was in classroom S5.  We team taught and the thing that fascinates me most about Sara is her writing. It is full of wit and whim and leaves you wanting more.  And, in the second thing that fascinates me about Sara is her photography.  She has a gift.  She doesn't write often, but it is worth the wait.

So there you have it.  I invite you to stop by these blogs and give them some blog love.

Top Ten Reasons to Start a Picture Blog...

As of late, there has been much talk of picture blogging. Two friends Friends everywhere seem interested, but haven't been able to pull the trigger.  Here is my battle cry for all of you who are still on the fence...

I originally began my picture blog after stumbling upon one in a place where I find much of my inspiration... blogland.  It was a rough time for me as a mom.  I was had pneumonia twice within two months, and Gibson was struggling with many health issues as well.  It sounds dramatic but I feared each new specialist, each MRI, each blood draw and every x-ray because I was waiting for the shoe to drop.  I was beginning to realize how precious life was and wanted to capture as much of it as I could.

My first post was almost two and a half years ago.  We have taken two trips around the sun, and I have never regretted my decision to just start...and I think you should just start too... here are the top ten reasons why...

Picture blogging is...

10. Cheap Therapy: Let's face it, being a mom can be a tough and relentless job.  This is a way to slow down and reflect upon your crazy, hectic days.  A way to look for the silver lining and remember all of the reasons you love your kids.

9. Quick and Easy: While a narrative blog may seem daunting, a picture blog is the exact opposite.  It just takes one picture to snap, edit {if that's your style}, upload, and write a simple caption for. That. is. it. Once you get into a routine, it only takes 5 minutes, I promise.

8. A Family Affair: Your kids will take great pride in your picture blog and smile each time they see themselves online.  My kids have recently started coming up with suggestions and often say, Mom, this could be our picture of the day. Melts my heart every time.

7. A Stress-free Scrapbook: I tried scrapbooking over and over, but I just was not cut out for it.  I admire them, oh, how I admire them; but I would get so stressed out trying to keep up and make it look just right.  I would avoid it at all cost and end up feeling guilty.  I no longer feel guilt because I have my picture blog, and that is enough of a scrapbook for me. Even better, there are no paper scraps to clean up afterward.

6. A Net for Catching Days: Life with kids is fast, furious and often missed because we are flying through it.  Picture blogging is the net that catches moments you may have otherwise overlooked.

5. A Way to Connect: I have three friends that picture blog, {Kt, Bethany, and Sara} and I love looking at them each day. I often laugh and love catching glimpses into their everyday lives.  However, with only three friends on board, my sidebar is looking pretty sparse.  We'd love to have you join the party!

4. Shows your Kids that You Care: When you take the time out to capture your child's first day of school, the fort they worked so hard on, and even their first attempt at making their bed they notice and it matters.

3. Tells the Story of You: Is there any better story to spend time creating? It breaks my heart thinking of the day that I am the woman in the grocery store, telling a young mom, Enjoy it because it goes by so fast. I know that day will come, but I find comfort in the fact that I will have our story to remind me of those fleeting days.

2. Fosters Creativity: 365 pictures is a lot of pictures, and if you want to keep it fresh and new you have to be creative.  You will find yourself looking for new ways to portray the mundane, and you will find complete joy when you come up with a post that is outside of your normal box.

1. Forces you to Live Wide Awake: When teaching my students how to write essays I always tell them that they need to live wide awake.  I tell them they need be aware of the world around them, the sounds, the smells, the everyday moments they would otherwise be too busy to notice.  The same is true for picture blogging.  It introduces you to a world that you may not have noticed before, a world you wouldn't want to miss.

If you need even more inspiration, this post is just what you're looking for.

Tips:

1. Just Start: Don't over-think it.  It's kind of like having a baby...not completely logical and it will take a lot of work, but you will never regret it.

2. Don't be too Hard on Yourself: It's OK if you miss a day.  Fill it in with a different picture.  If I feel guilty about missing a day I simply don't write the day on the picture. Just forgive yourself and move on.

3. Use the Less than Perfect Shot: In my opinion, those are the best, and they tell the story.

4. Use your Cell Phone: It's OK and they are great shots.

5. Buy a Year Subscription to Picnik: For $24 you have access to lots of great fonts and the two features I always use: vibrance and vignette.

6. Edit HTML: See this Public Service Announcement

Now all you have left to do is to come up with a name for your blog.  Happy Blogging.