Sunday, February 1, 2009

And the Award for Biggest Bonehead Goes To...

I have to confess, back in March of last year, the lovely Liz gave me this blog award...
I had hoped that it meant I would soon be enjoying an awards banquet like this. Alas, the gala ticket never arrived. I sat down to pick seven other bloggers whose blogs I thought were 'Brillante'. (Is that a typo by the way? What is the country of origin for this award? Is that Italian for brilliant? How worldly!) While trying to make my choices, I was instantly transported back to fourth grade. I thought about how my mom threw me a super cool roller rink birthday party. She let me invite whomever I wanted. It was a blast. What if she told me I could only invite seven friends? The horror! The sadness! Who would be left out! Not possible. Well, for that reason I wrote to Liz, thanked her and said if I didn't acknowledge it, it was because I didn't want to leave anyone out. Really, I think so many blogs are brilliant for so many different reasons. I didn't want anyone hearing about the party they weren't invited to.

It seems, however, that the Queen of Hilarity has now bestowed on me this...

Charlotte, thankfully, has mentioned several of the women I find fabulous. I thought that perhaps it would be okay now to mention some additional Queens of Fabulousity*.

One of the things that these Fabulous women have in common is that they were the first Fabulous blogs that I found.

When we started the adoption process, I thought it would be a good idea to have a blog. That way, when people wanted to know what was happening (my family) they could just click and read. I would then be able to avoid the generic group e-mail. I thought that eventually, if we faced any difficulties and didn't feel like talking about it, we could just say, "Read the blog". So, ready to begin, I sat down and started perusing all things blog.

I landed on this woman's blog...


This is Katy. (Lori, I have completely pilfered this picture from your blog. I hope you don't mind, and I have something to say about you later).

I started reading Straight Magic. After about ten minutes, I threw my hands up in the air, shut my laptop and exclaimed, "Oh forget it!" This woman's blog is exactly the blog I would want to write if I were just more interesting, intelligent, insightful, humorous, etc. I got so discouraged. I almost started a blog with only one published line of words. It would read..."Yeah, what Katy said."

Feeling strong enough to open the computer again I landed here...


Holding Still. I have one thing to say about Erin, Put down "The Weaver's Craft," and pick up the 'Holding Still.' Erin writes beautifully about the challenges that come with the adoption of two sibling boys. I'm sure you have been over there already, but if you haven't... Go.


Next I found this woman....

Who is this woman I thought? She is so beautiful, and her blog is so interesting, and she runs marathons, and look at her kids! And she is worried about Haiti. I was just taken in. Does she live in Spain? What does her blog title mean? She seems very cosmopolitan. Imagine my surprise when I learned that she just happens to be living in Wisconsin, not Spain. She is basically awesome. Esperando A Zufan! And really, how cute is Zufan!


Elsa's mom. Wow...


The posts I want to direct you to are password protected at Habesha Child. I landed on E's mom's blog after she had come home from Ethiopia. She was so brutally honest about the difficulties she faced in country. I thought to myself, this woman is amazing. She is just putting it out there. I was also surprised at how people, through their comments on her blog, actually helped her, literally, to get through it. If you ask her, I bet she will give you the password so you can see how powerful a blog, and its comments can be.

And now last but certainly not least...

Drew and Carey. The fact that these folks were so physically attractive (my husband after meeting them in person last year sat down in the car and stammered...they are so.....beautiful), was certainly enough to draw you in. Who knew that they would also be such incredible people. With their blog they created something magical, and also something absolutely awe-inspiring. Their blog continues to inspire as they move closer to their adoption of the beautiful 'T'.

So they were the first. They are Fabulous for many reasons. Oh and back to Lori, read her August posts that describe her meeting her daughter for the first time. Oh and Beth's too please, read these. (See there was no way I could just pick five). These honest, brave bloggers are truly fabulous.

There are so many bloggers that I am grateful to, and that I admire. Check my blogroll. These just happen to be the first seven women that I found. All of you are invited to skate, every single one of you.

* Here are the rules to receiving this award:
You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous bloggers in a post.
You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post. (Didn't do this, aren't my addictions obvious on this blog?)
You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.
On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them.

17 comments:

  1. Julie!!

    I don't even know what to say... I'm SO NOT fabulous. OR beautiful. Or cosmopolitan. Ha! I wish. I'm just not even in the same category as Katy (I love Katy) and those other women. Or you, for that matter. But... thank you, seeing me up there with those strong blogger women sort of makes me cry (aren't I pathetic?). It is incredibly nice of you. I guess I have been around awhile, with that I agree. :)

    If I were smarter and wittier and wiser and more ambitious, I'd write a blog just like yours.

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  2. Stacy and Katy were also the ones who sucked me into the blogosphere. I am so glad! I think one of their blogs led me to you, too! I could not have made it 18 months without you all!

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  3. Katy and Elsa's Mom were some of the first adoption blogs I found too, along with yourself and Haze. It's just so amazing to me that I've made such a connection with people I would probably never get to meet in my real life (though I am lucky enough to have met Katy in person), and that sometimes it's like we are all reading each other's minds!

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  4. Sheer, unadulterated fabulosity... I will have to start lurking on some of the ones I don't already know.

    Cindy

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  5. I love your writing! I can't believe you ever thought your blog wouldn't be as good as the other bloggers. You stand out of the crowd and you're such an inspiration to so many people. And I agree with every choice you made. All fabulous ladies, and I'm honored to know most of them (and you).

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  6. I feel like I was a late-comer to your blog. I enjoyed getting to hear about the beginnings of your blog and what first inspired you. And thanks for all the wonderful blog links!

    Beautifully written.
    Rebecca

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  7. All great blogs! It is cool to see the journey, and it's great how everybody eventually overcomes all the drama and finally adopts their new child.

    http://www.wattsmith.com/awesomevideos

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  8. Oh wow! Some blogs here I'd never seen before. Thanks for the links - I see hours of happy reading in my future!

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  9. I keep coming back here to leave a comment, but instead end up following one of the links to the blogger ladies and immersing myself in their blogs. Thanks so much for sharing more fabulous blogs to inspire us. Can't wait to follow their lives.

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  10. I'm just following (stalking) Charlotte over here to your blog who I caught spying on me spying on her spying on me spying on her from statcounter.

    Now off to Filoli's blog to see if Charlotte went over there (to stalk her) ...

    Cindy

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  11. I'm so honored. You are honoring/shaming my ass into not just posting in response to this award, but into blogging more often. Although, pretty much all of the intersting non-ruth&aster thoughts that I have are articlated here by you much better than I could say.

    Stacy, PurpleHouseJulie, Erin, and Habesha Child's Mom were four of the blogs I read (stalked obsessively) before (and after) I started mine. Truly inspirational ladies.

    Who knew that adopting Habesha kids had so many frills attached?Love you guys! I wish we could all show up for a red carpet proposal party in So. Cal. when you get yours.

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  12. Okay, so a) how embarrassing. b) I feel so ridiculously cool to have the most popular girl in blogville tag me. (If you must know, I was the dorky kid who never got invited to the skate parties, so this is an enormous victory!) And c) ZoZo wants to know when she can have her next play date with the pied piper. Seriously, you're such a natural with kids, I can't wait to see you as a mommy with your own two kiddos. You're going to be magnificent! We have so many joyful play dates in the near future! And now, I can't wait to read up on the other blogs you tagged. They all sound like such amazing rock stars, I feel truly honored to be keeping company with them! It's so special that we've been a small part of your journey, and we're so happy to know you and be a part of this little so cal community with you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for bestowing fabulosity upon me. You're the best!

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  13. The awards are just a great idea. First off, you posted the greatest links. One of my favorite indulgences is to read blogs in my PJ's after my son has gone to school and it is snowing outside and the portable heater is pointed right at my feet. Oh, with coffee. Heaven. I love all this fabulosity, it's inspiring. All this creativity and generosity, it's a nice place to be.

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  14. Julie is FABULOUS. And the all-caps thing is on purpose.

    Ummm... and mostly (like, every day) I read your blog and think about throwing my arms up in disgust with how much I CAN'T say what YOU said in such an amazing, incredible fashion. I feel like I write like a first grader. NOT INSPIRING.

    You motivate me. Inspire me. Beautify the world.

    Keep on keepin' on, girl.

    xoxo

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  15. OK, TRUTH... for some stupid reason you're not on my blogroll! Which means I haven't been over in a bit... I live by the blogroll and assume if there's nothing new on there then there isn't a new post from someone!

    Hello - but I love your blog and your commentary on fb! Thanks so much for the mention about my blog. What the heck, put it all out there. It's mostly adoptive parents looking anyway and why not be truthful? Just as an FYI, when you click my name on your post it brings it to my current homepage and not from August (not sure if you wanted it that way.)

    And feel free to swipe any pics from my blog - we're all sisters right!?! Girls helping girls (let's face it, we're all girls doing these blogs!)

    So after looking at Zufan's moms comment I think we need to shake her! Whad'ya say! Intervention!!! She's lost her marbles!

    Thanks again - Lor

    ps.. I just re-added you,perhaps it got erased when I transferred stuff??

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  16. wow. I - um, wow. (gulp) THANKS!

    I feel so honored to be mentioned in the same breath as the other awesome bloggers you tagged.

    And you are right - I am completely totally grateful for (and surprised by) the power of the blog and the support I've gotten from commenters.

    If anyone reading this wants the password to my blog - just ask! I'm happy to share it to people who find me through Julie...

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  17. Wow! You are way too kind, thanks a whole bunch. I am flattered, for sure, to be among the group invited to your skate party.

    You, my friend, are a great read, yourself. As always, I'm looking forward to reading on when your wee ones arrive.

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