Stylish Blogger?!!

What a great way to start a morning! Stephanie from Daisies and Dominos passed the Stylish Blogger Award to me and 14 others this morning. Thank you, Stephanie! I'm always pleasantly surprised that people even read my blog, and am really delighted that you find it stylish!


The rules for accepting the award are to:

• Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
• Share 7 things about yourself
• Pass this on to 15 other bloggers you've recently discovered
• Contact the selected bloggers and tell them about their awards

So...7 things about myself...

I've been married almost 25 years to my college housemate's cute brother
I play violin and now teach violin, a topic I've yet to blog about
I have a golden retriever that foams at the mouth an embarrassing amount when on walks
I have an MA in Chinese Studies, read Confucius in the original back in grad school.
My Chinese language skills are now reduced to the limited but useful ability to order a cold beer
Worst job I ever had was demonstrating a toilet bowl cleaner at Long's Drug Store
I have yet to master making a pie crust from scratch

Now to pass this on to 15 other bloggers. Except, well, I don't think I know of 15 other blogs! It seems I'm as much of an on-line introvert as I am in real life. I do follow bigger blogs like Pioneer Woman, but wanted to give props to other humble efforts like mine. So here's 12 stylish blogs that I know and love and 3 big national blogs that make me smile.

1. Golden Grasses Stephanie sent her the stylish award as well.
2. Shades of White This is a peaceful spot to visit, with lovely photos and poetry
3. 52 Books in 52 Weeks Robin keeps us reading, and has inspired me to start writing book reviews of my own.
4. My Two Blessings Robin's non-book blog
5. Without Excuse Sydni is a creative homeschool mom and I love seeing photos of my home town, Albuquerque
6. Tumbleweed Road Sydni's other blog makes me want to start homeschooling all over again. She profiles all her terrific projects and the books they are reading.
7. Agenda Forty is by a homeschool DAD, yes folks, there are such creatures in our midst!! He is also a NaNoWriMo kind of guy, and the DM for my son's bi-weekly D&D games.
8. Four Squares is another cool blog by a creative and interesting homeschool mom.
9. Slowly Climb Mt. Everest yep -- another creative homeschool mom!
10. Home is where you start from is by a fellow Southern California homeschooler, yet another creative soul
11. Herding Ducks I like to stop by here now and again to look at the photos of farm animals. Not due to some weird proclivities on my part, but 'cause I'm a city girl who can't imagine living in the country!
12. A Little Rebellion is by another thoughtful homeschool mom.

Visiting each of the above today inspired to get busy and start blogging again more regularly!

The final 3 -- the bigger blogs that I enjoy:

13. Strange Maps, which is exactly what the name says. Check it out!
14. Patrick Rothfuss -- a blog by a fantasy author who usually makes me laugh.
15. Pioneer Woman -- I have "known" Ree from the old WTM days, and have loved watching her become a national phenomenon.