24 | August | 2012 | TINY LESSONS BLOG

Oh, now I’m speechless! And that’s not very often :), but being nominated for blog awards is a completely new and unexpected experience, and a great honor. It’s surprising, humbling and pleasant all at the same time.

So this is to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my blogging friend Change For Better Me who has taken me on some amazing culinary adventures around the globe! Thanks to her, I am now learning to follow recipes when I cook! Slowly but surely. Thank you so much for nominating a complete novice on blogging for the “Inspiring Blog Award” and the “One Lovely Blog Award.” I will try my best to live up to those words. Dear readers, make sure to visit her lovely and inspiring blog today!

This afternoon I also received the Beautiful Blogger Award from a friend blogger and writer Shirley Sorbello whose recent post “No More Shoulds” made me decide to take action on several things I’d been procrastinating on. THANKS SO MUCH Shirley! I am honored and I wish you all the success in your writing career and in particular on the short story and the novel you have in the works right now! Readers, please check out her beautiful blog!

These awards come with some rules and expectations. First, I have to tell 7 things about myself, which wouldn’t be difficult if I hadn’t already told so many things on my “about page” and in my postings to date. But here I go in an attempt to add to the mix:

1. I bought my first cell phone in winter of 1997, the day after I had managed to get home with .5 gallons remaining in my tank, late at night in a snow storm, driving the D.C. beltway (495) the wrong way around (meaning 3 times the distance I had to) coming home from a work event in a new neighborhood.

2. I actually ran out of diesel once – almost reached the pump. That was in Ethiopia, and they had to blow air through the whole system before I could fill my tank again. Needless to say the guys at the pump had fun.

3. I’m a good driver, that’s written on my licence, although I’m sure my son would beg to differ (he thinks I make up my own rules at times). My dog gratefully accepts a ride any time. And I tell Ms. Nuvi to shut up when she tells me to turn onto a street that doesn’t exist. She tells me to update my maps. So we have a constructive dialogue.

4. I love nature in all its expressions – apart from wild storms. Although adventurous, I would never become a tornado chaser or a hurricane hunter.

5. I wrote a book once. It was nonfiction and focused on health care in developing countries. Lots of research went into it, including in the field.

6. I love food from all over the world, whether Ethiopian injera with wot, Swedish meatballs, Costa Rican empanadas, spicy Gulf shrimp, Alaskan wild salmon, tapas from Spain, Italian pasta, Texas T-bone, Chinese crispy chicken…you name it.

7. I think integrity is very important in all dealings between people – on the top of my wish list, together with kindness.

Second, I now get the privilege to nominate up to 15 + 7 blogs that I like to read for these awards. It is a difficult task because there are many more blogs that I follow and/or like to read. So I tried to select those that best fit my understanding of each of these three awards.The following blogs are vastly different, some showcase art, photography and travel, some provide wise counsel, others contain beautiful poems, some others offer good food and others yet discuss life in a lovely and engaging manner. All of them offer inspiration and are lovely and beautiful in their own way and absolutely worth your visit. Here we go in no particular order:

My nominations for the “One Lovely Blog” Award are:

http://exceedingspeed.wordpress.com/

http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/

http://paharidotme.wordpress.com/

http://fortyteencandles.wordpress.com/

http://everywhereonce.com/

http://patriciaddrury.com/

http://homemadedelish.com/

http://texanaskitchen.com/

My nominations for the Inspiring Blog Award are:

http://camtaylor.net/

http://idolanuel.com/