The Liebster Award

So, there's this award that's been going 'round blogger for a while. I know about it because a couple of my friends were recently given the award. I got really excited yesterday when one of my friends, Elizabeth L W, put my dear Hedgepickle Blog on her list of awardees :-).

For those wondering exactly what this award is all about:

"The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers." 

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

5. And most of all - have fun!"

Thanks so much Liz for giving me the award. It means a lot and I'm so excited to be able to pass it on to others. You can check out her lovely blog Imaginational Wonders which includes photographs, crafts, pieces on writing and personal reflections.

Wow...picking 5 blogs to award isn't easy. I have some really great blogger friends on here. There were a few I knew that I would award immediately. But then the challenge got tough for a number of reasons. Firstly, a number of the candidates I considered have already been awarded before and I had decided not to re-award anyone. There are also a few whom I would have loved to award because I know that their blogs will be very good in the near future (based on what I know of their other writings), but as they are currently rather new blogs, they don't have very many posts yet.

In the end, however, I was able to pick the five. I hearby bestow the Liebster Award on the following wonderful blogs...

1. Be Blessed by Nix

 

This blog belongs to my best friend from high school. She has a degree in Photography and uses her skills to make beautiful greetings cards. This blog showcases examples of her cards/photos and documents some of the craft sales and other events she has taken part in. It's worth a look just to gaze in awe of her beautiful photos. If you live outside of SA and are interested in buying any of her cards just enquire on the blog and she might be willing to make a plan.

2. Since I Found Serenity by Elspeth

 

This is a blog by one of my friends from TLC. It is relatively new but already has a good many posts. Her posts so far are chiefly about writing and personal reflections on life and faith. Her posts are enjoyable to read and she has a good way of thinking through and expressing things. She is not new to the blogging world as she also has another review blog on LJ and a business blog for the goods she sells on Etsy (A Whimsical Adventure)

3. The World of a Rhosewen White Rose 
by a lady I who goes by various names (I usually call her White Rose or Wrosie)

She's also a friend from TLC. She has a bleautiful blog where she writes about various things from reading to writing to sharing favourite songs to reflecting on life and faith. Wrosie is also creates beautiful graphics (a sample of which might be seen on the graphics page of her blog). She has recently started an Etsy shop where she sells prints of her photographs (Rhosewen Faerie).

4. Living to Love (formally "telling it as it is") by Shula

 

She is the daughter of Zambian missionaries to Mozambique and has joined her parents in their community and outreach work. I had the privilege of meeting and working alongside her and her family in 2007 when I went with a group from my church to visit them. Her family really knows what it means to serve God with their whole being and make a difference in the world by doing so. Her blog shares various adventures and thoughts relating to her exciting but challenging life. In the last few posts she shares a little about the recent miraculous recovery of her dad from near death; a story I was privileged to hear recounted from his own mouth.

5. The Wind on the Water by Jordan

 This blog is by another one of my TLC friends (also known as Petraverd).  The two of us make up the forum's pair of linguists, although he has a better knowledge of morphology and phonology while I've been trained largely in syntax and psycholinguistics (and am now shifting focus to historical linguistics). Unfortunately he hasn't posted recently on his blog, being particularly busy with life and his new job (here's to hoping the award will produce some further posts). He's also a writer of fiction and plays (having taken part in a good many "National Novel Month" and "Script Frenzy" competitions).

Well that's my list. I recommend you take some time to check out and browse these blogs. I'll be writing a follow-up post shortly in which I list and describe some of my other friends' blogs who didn't make the criteria for being given the award by me, but are worthy and worthwhile blogs none-the-less.