Acceptance Speech

I want to first thank everyone who commented on my post yesterday. You were all so gracious, and took what I said in the way I meant it, and not how I worried it could be taken. The last thing I wanted to do is sound as if I'm not grateful for Millie. I'm not having a baby anytime soon, but I think about it so often that I wanted your opinions- I gratefully read every one of them. You guys always give me this safe place on the blog to pour out my heart without judgement. I love you all for it.

Now, onto today's business.

I recently received this award again from not one, not two, but FIVE great bloggers: Heart Like Mine, A Creed & a Psalm, Be Bright & Jovial, Fort Living Room, and Our Military Home. How crazy is that?

I also received this brand new award from Mrs. Alana's Miscellany. 

The rules of the awards are: 

-Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post. (Thank you, friends!)

-Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.

-Give the award to up to 15 recently discovered bloggers.

-Contact those bloggers and tell them the exciting news!

And because I have some new readers join in lately, I thought this would be fun. Here are my 7!

1. I have never been in front of a crowd, really. I have never sang in karaoke, and I took a "Interpersonal Communications" college class to avoid the dreaded "Speech 1". If we are having a conversation, I can talk in front of 20 people with ease. If I am made to stand up in front of only 5, I will cry. 

2. My favorite color is blue, but I always want to claim it's purple instead. Purple was the color my great grandmother Faye always wore, so I'm sentimental about it.

3. I recently got a couple of emails from girls who are dealing or have dealt with marriage problems. A year ago, my brother-in-law (a pastor), told Sky and I that we could get through our situation and be a great story to other struggling couples. The idea sounded wonderful, but I didn't believe it. A year later, we are not perfect in the least, but we are still here. I was so honored that these girls were able to write me, talk about the situations, and ask for support during these rough patches. This is exactly why I believe blogging with honesty is so important. Perfection is impossible, boring, and unrealistic. Be real.

4. This time of year is the reason I love my town the most. Everything is bright yellow, pumpkin orange, and deep red. I love autumns here.

5. I guess I might be more of a city girl than I knew. When Sky and I discussed using some of our tax refund this coming year to take a weekend trip somewhere local, my thoughts were Chicago, St. Louis, or Nashville. He said something about camping or somewhere out of the way. Not for me, thanks.

6. Out of all the reasons I want another baby, this is way down at reason #983265738, but it still counts: now that I know how gorgeous our kids can be, I know we're safe there. I always wondered, before Millie, how we'd work out in that department, but she's blown me away by her good looks. 

7. I still can't stop staring at my ring.

I am supposed to now pass this on to other bloggers whom I love and adore. That's really tricky, especially since they include all the girls who passed these on to me. If you're on my Google Reader list, it's for a reason,  but I suppose a few would be:

-Deanna at Everything and Nothing From Essex, for the way she's able to make me laugh and cry so easily.

-Jamie at This is Me; Consequently- She's the maker of the pretty bows I'm currently giving away!
-Kris at The New "Normal"- Also National Guard wife, who is getting through her husband's deployment with such grace. She's become a sweet friend.

-Courtney at Vintch- I don't think it's possible for her to not write something devastatingly beautiful.

-And Erin at Deployment Woes- Another girl I'm glad to have befriended. Sometimes, I swear we could be twins.