Awarded ...

I recently received TWO blogger awards (ok, one of them was early March).

Alexia over at The Mommy Rambles gave me the Beautiful Blogger Award! Thanks so much Alexia ... and I'm sorry that it took me over 3 weeks to pass it along. Alexia and I met through the blogging community! We visit each others blogs frequently and she always leaves the sweetest comments! She posts a lot of great book reviews and shares some really tasty recipes ... in between she'll "ramble" about other great things going on in her life with her 2 kiddo's.

The rules of this award are:

Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
Copy the award and place it in your blog.
Link the person who nominated you for this award.
Tell us 7 interesting things about you.
Nominate 7 bloggers.

Post the links to the 7 bloggers you nominate.

Michelle over at The Travis Life passed along the Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award! Thanks Michelle! Michelle and I met while our husbands were stationed at MacDill AFB in Tampa! Our husbands were deployed together while we were both prego ... but we didn't know eachother yet! Al would tell me during our phone conversations about Adam and his wife Michelle who was also prego and due at the same time ... telling me we needed to get together and meet when they get back from their deployments. Well ... we did meet ... and were friends from that point on! We went to "birthing classes" together and "breast-feeding classes" ... we had our children exactly one week apart ... both by unplanned c-sections! We confided to each other our triumphs and struggles as first-time moms as we were both also transitioning to the life as a stay-at-home moms!

The rules of this award are:
Tell us 10 things about yourself
Pass it along to others!

So .. I'm combining the two and sharing 10 things about myself. At the bottom I've nominated a few friends for each award!

Here we go! ...

1) I reminisce about my dance/performing days at Disney ... EVERY day. I miss is dearly and feel a lot of ache in my heart that those opportunities are in my past and will most likely not be a part of my future (except when I make it back once a year to perform and keep my status and show approvals!) ... but that's not the same as doing it every day!

2) I think I'm addicted to blogging. Time either writing my blog or catching up on some of my favorite blogs is somewhat of a midday escape for me ... it makes me feel connected to the outside world!

3) When I go to bed each night and reflect on my day, I rate each day as a "good mommy day" or a "bad mommy day". Good mommy days are when I feel like I've done most everything "right" ... bad mommy days are when I feel like I've let my little guy down (maybe I wasn't patient enough or didn't have enough 1 on 1 play time).

4) I ONLY use WHITE paper towels and napkins. I cannot have "patterned" paper towels in my kitchen ... it drives me nuts. Occasionally Al will pick up " patterned" paper towels and I will give him the look from hell. They immediately go downstairs as with the cleaning supplies and never see my countertop. I know ... it's weird.

5) I've always envisioned having 3 children! Right now we are content with our one, amazing little kiddo ... it scares the heck out of us thinking of having another child right now ... as we know how exhaustively hard it is to raise just 1 child! I carry around a lot of guilt for considering letting Kelty be an only child.

6) I'm a Captain in the AF Reserves. Most of my friends know this, but if you've met me through blogging ... it's not something I really talk about!

7) My career hopes for the future: Continue to teach dance and own/operate my own studio. Complete a master's degree ... I have no idea in what ... I'd love to get it in the dance field but I don't know that my body can handle it anymore! Al and I would like to own/operate an all inclusive lodge that offers expeditionary trips .. hopefully in Alaska, Colorado or even Washington.

8) I look forward to the day when Al and I can rock-climb and do some mountaineering with Kelty! I can't even begin to tell you of all the hopes I have of all of us out backpacking and rockclimbing together!

9) I was blessed with an AMAZING childhood. I was raised in a strict household but it was filled with A LOT of love and support! I pray that one day Kelty loves me the way I love my parents! My parents are pretty awesome!

10) I mourn the death of my grandparents every day. I miss them. We were so blessed to have them in our lives for so long and that they were a HUGE part of our life.

Ok, well ... I think some of these may have been a little more sober than I was expecting but apparently I may be a little emotional right now ... and no, I'm not prego. Ha!

And the awards go to ....

Beautiful Blogger Award:

Michelle @ The Travis Life: You hit me with the Fabulous Sugar Doll Award but I'm hitting you back with the Beautiful Blogger Award ... you must tell us more!

Megan @ The Guttman Adventures: Awesome mommy of twin boys! Our husbands were stationed together at MacDill as well! We formed a great bond during our weekly playgroups. She has some amazing mothering skills and is so hands-on with her twin boys ... no small feat!

Katey @ The Frost Family: Another fabulous mommy that we met during our playgroups at MacDill. She's raising the sassiest little cutie-patootie girl! Another mom who always has her act together!

Rachel @ Shawn and Rachel: My sis! Rachel is still practicing "frequent" blogger updates! She has a good excuse ... wife, full-time job by day, fitness instructor and personal trainer by night .. and in school to be a physical therapy assistant!

Daneen @ By Love For Glory: Daneen is one of my old college roomates! We graduated way back in '98! Whoa! Daneen is an established Aerospace Engineer who has turned her life to serving the lord and spreading the word of the bible in Africa. She served in Peace Corps and is now getting ready to head back to Africa with Scripture Union!

Carolyn @ The Illusion of Control: Carolyn and I met while performing at Disney together! We were cast in Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade and Fantasmic! together. We really got to know each other well during some loooooong Fantasmic rehearsals ... she is such a beautiful person ... inside and out!!

Stacey @ Fun To Craft: Stacey and I met through blogging! She has a great blog ... you should visit! I really enjoy her posts and the sweet and frequent comments she leaves back over here!

Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award:

MJ @ The Muses of a Bug: MJ! We were partners in crime at Disney during our "Town Square" days at the Magic Kingdom. So many fond memories! She was such a huge supporter of my dreams and ambitions at Disney! She's one of those people whom you feel you were destined to meet!

Gwen @ The Green Family: Gwen and I met through our neighbors Tina and Jordan while we lived in Tampa. Gwen is so sweet and gushes over her new baby boy over at her blog! Gwen is balancing life as a mom working outside the home!

Amanda @ Imperfectly Beautiful: I just adore Amanda! We met through blogging ... she is so creative and has an awesome blog filled with GREAT ideas! We found out after several emails and blog chatter that we are both military spouses!

Alexia @ The Mommy Rambles: Alexia hit me with the Beautiful Blogger Award and I talked about her a bit at the beginning of the blog ... I really enjoy hopping over to The Mommy Rambles and seeing what she has posted to share ... and I always look forward to her kind comments!

Ok ladies ... get to it ... spill some scoop!