BulgingButtons

Not bad for a fat girl


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And the Winner is…

Guess what folks. It’s Award Time! Ok, this is so exciting for me that it’s ridiculous, but I’m giddy with the news that Mama, from Reinvention of Mama, has nominated me for not one, but four blogging awards! Hooray! Of course there are others she nominated too, and some of them are some of my favorites as well. The awards are as follows:

1. WordPress Family Award

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Rules: Display the award on your blog, link back to the person who nominated you, nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family.

2. Semper Fidelis Award (for those who are ‘always faithful/always loyal)

semperfid-award

3. Reader Appreciation Award for those who like and comment on a regular basis.

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4. Liebster Award– for awesome blogs with smaller readerships

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Rules: Display the award logo, thank the blogger who nominated you  and link back to his or her blog. Answer the 11 questions that your nominator asks you, post 11 random facts about yourself, nominate 11 bloggers of your own, with under 200 followers, whom you think are as awesome as you,  and create 11 questions for your nominees.

Disclaimer: I don’t always know how many people follow your blogs. I don’t always know who has visited mine. These are blogs that are meaningful to me for various reasons all covered in one way or another by the above awards, so let’s not get too hung up on the particulars, and have some fun checking out some great blogs and bloggers.

My nominees are:

The Goddess Weighs In

The Lovely Photog

Becoming the Best Me

Post Departum Depression

Far From Done

Gagas and Wayways

Fat Bottom Girl Said What

A Bahamian in Austria

Our Year in Huaran

Wombat Quilts

Girls vs Blog

11 questions from Mama:

  1. At what age did you begin writing? I began at about age four, when I scrawled my name all over my territory with a Sharpie marker.
  2. Did you write any really bad high school angsty poetry?  Care to share? I really didn’t. I did more journaling at that time. I did submit a satire piece to the high school literary magazine that I rediscovered recently. It’s not funny enough to bother retyping, though.
  3. What is your favorite novel to read? I really enjoy Young Adult novels. Catcher in the Rye might be my favorite, but I do love The Hunger Games series. The Time Traveler’s Wife stayed with me for a long time, too.
  4. Are there any books you have read more than once? I’m a teacher, there are lots. I’ve also reread a few for pleasure too, but not many, there are so many I haven’t read yet that I want to read new ones.
  5. If you’re writing a book, what genre? Oh, I write a little of this and a little of that. There’s a mystery thing started, and a memoir too.
  6. What’s your guilty pleasure? Gator Boys. Love them.
  7. If you could do anything, completely start over -what would it be? Maybe meet my fiancé sooner? I don’t think we were ready for each other though, so I think I’m fine with the timeline of my life as it has happened.
  8. What’s the funniest thing you have done recently? Funny, ha ha, or funny weird? Can’t think of either so I suppose it doesn’t matter. Next!
  9. Hoping that you have a good friend to call on when you need her/him, at what age did you meet them? I have several from different times in my life. I’m still friends with people from elementary school. Some of my best friends have been fixtures in my life since the following ages: 12, 17, 22, 35, 40, and 44. Aren’t I fortunate? I know I am.
  10. What state would you live in if you could pick up and move, no holds barred? I did pick up and move, and I came here to Arizona. It’s home now.
  11. Is city or country living for you? Neither. I’m a suburban girl, through and through. I did my city living in my twenties, but now it’s the ‘burbs for me.

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I dislike watermelon, peanut butter, and cucumbers.

2. I kill plants. Not on purpose. It just happens.

3. I have an irrational fear of giant cockroaches. I know everyone hates them, but seeing them causes a near panic state in me.

4. I was adopted at birth.

5. Underneath a sometimes bold exterior I’m fairly shy, at least at first.

6. I’m having a ball trying new things as I age, and caring less about what “the world” thinks of what I do or say.

7. Number six is partly a lie. I really do care what people think of the things I say, or at least about the things I write.

8. My favorite treadmill music is Cher belting out disco tunes at high volume.

9. In my dreams I can sing.

10. I love to see new places, even if some people think travel is a form of “fairy dust” that people sprinkle on themselves in order to seem more interesting.

11. I will ever believe in the power of flying pigs.

11 questions from Me:

  1. Where were you born?
  2. Of what are you proud?
  3. Of what are you afraid?
  4. Other than writing, what are your creative outlets?
  5. How do you take care of yourself?
  6. How do you know when you’re done writing a piece?
  7. What stupid things have you done that you don’t regret?
  8. If you had to move somewhere new, where would you go?
  9. What is your favorite time of the day or night? Why?
  10. What is something you miss from your childhood?
  11. What was your favorite book in fourth grade?

I hope you have fun checking out some new blogs, and if you’re on the list above, thanks for inspiring me!


9 Comments

Daily Prompt: Secret of Success

Today’s question to ponder is what do I consider to be successful blogging. Does it involve “likes” and “follows?”  Damn you, daily prompt, you’ve hit upon something with which I’m currently struggling . In my world domination post (tactfully called going global), I confessed that I would like to be read in every continent. I’m a realist, though, so I’m okay with Antarctica being left out. But now here you are asking about likes and follows. Dad gummit. Yes, okay, yes. I DO measure the success of my blog by those things. I know I shouldn’t. I know I should write quality content for my own self betterment and if the masses find it inspirational or intriguing or whatever that’s all a bonus. But I want to be read. I want to be followed. I want to be liked. There, I said it.

flags-globe3I am completely intrigued by the idea of sharing thoughts, ideas, and inspiration with human beings whose lives are so completely different than mine, yet have so many similarities. We live all over the globe, have all different types of families, come from different backgrounds and circumstances, yet we all share the human condition. We all have loves and losses, we all have struggles and triumphs. I feel honored every time someone visits my blog to see what my take is on this life and its ups and downs. I visit their blogs and gain insight into their worlds. Without those likes and follows I wouldn’t have a window into the world of the trainer in Greece or the artist in London. I would never have learned about the Polish girl living her dream in Turkey or the teacher in Switzerland. My curious mind loves learning about all of them, and when they come visit me and leave their calling cards I feel so honored.

My blog is all about transformation and all of the bumps along the way. It’s about being a fat girl in a not so fat friendly world, and about making myself the healthiest and happiest version of myself possible. It doesn’t happen overnight. It isn’t always pretty. In fact it’s rarely pretty. But it’s my life and my world and I want to share it. I want to explore what’s happening and my reactions to those things. By putting my thoughts down, it helps me to clarify them. It helps me to see where I’m doing things right, and where I need to make changes. Blogging holds me accountable, and allows me to shout my triumphs to the world.

So yes, those likes and especially those follows mean a lot to me. My blog is still new, and I’m still learning how to reach more readers. I make little goals for myself, like when I reach 100 followers I will do the happy dance. I’m not even halfway there, but I know I will get there. I know I have something to say, and that there is an audience for my writing, so I will keep at it, and keep learning about the real world though the world of blogging.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/daily-prompt-effort/


4 Comments

Oh No! I’ve Been Doing This All Wrong.

OH-NO-300x300Apparently people who read blogs only want to read tiny bits of information at a time. I’m not a tiny bit of information kind of writer, so I’m going to have to work on that.

Also, apparently, having big chunks of text is intimidating. Or maybe it’s just that it seems a little too time consuming. I’m going to work on that too.

Little chunks. Little information. You know, I’m not really sure I can do that. Once I get going, I usually feel as though I have something to say, so I like to keep writing until I’ve said it. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so.

I read blogs. I’ve been reading more and more of them lately, and I’m more put off by a blog that only offers a sentence or two than one that appears long and, dare I say it, dense. I will do my best to break up my thoughts into more manageable bite sized pieces (of course a food analogy) if you will do your best to read along and share your thoughts on anything that strikes a chord with you. Love it or hate it, I don’t care, but I do care if what I have to say makes you think about something. Anything.

Random Thoughts of My Own

  • Does anyone read this blog?
  • Why did I have to take the dog to the dog park on the day that the “good” park was closed?
  • Did she like the “so so” park just as much?
  • Is the lettuce in the fridge still delicious?
  • Would m & m’s be more delicious? Silly question, of course they would, but I don’t have any.
  • At what point should I venture out to the grocery store?
  • Why am I rambling?

Progress Update

My 47 for 47 challenge is still going strong. I’ve been taking my meds, cutting back on my soda, and actually enjoying (well, sort of) exercise. I’ve been cooking and sewing and reading and writing and generally doing pretty darn well. I’ve also been off of work, so pretty soon all of this progress is going to get a little more difficult to maintain. Hopefully some of these items will be second nature by the time that happens. Please, keep your fingers crossed for me!