Sunshine Here, Sunshine There…

I have been so focused on the launch of the latest book for grieving parents, Sunshine After the Storm, that this blog, my personal blog, my original project, has been so neglected.

But I had somewhat of an epiphany today as I was racing around trying to get a million things done and stressing about the fact that I’m not blogging as much as I used to, and my stats are in the toilet (it’s always about the stupid stats, isn’t it?) And I just realized that all I can do is keep plugging away. If I just keep doing what I’m doing, working one little bit at a time, eventually I will get to where I need and want to be.

I’m always looking for the quick results. I stop diets because I don’t lose fast enough. I get depressed when my blog hasn’t had the kind of success that I had hoped for, I wanted my book to be a best seller within a month. Come on already! These things rarely happen.

Stick to it. Stick to it. You’ll get where you want to be.

I was in the midst of this pep talk when my new friend Nathalie from the blog Living Without My Twin Sister – Hope for Passion sent me a message to tell me she awarded me the Sunshine Award!

Nathalie also lost a child, and she is, like me, extremely involved in doing her best to support grieving parents. In fact, she is writing a book about how the grief of losing a child impacts a marriage.

Thank you Nathalie, for recognizing my blog and for being so supportive of Sunshine After the Storm as well!

Rules of the Sunshine Award:

• Include the Sunshine Award icon in your post.
• Link the blogger who nominated you.
• Answer 10 questions about yourself.
• Nominate 10 other bloggers to receive the award.
• Link to your nominees and let them know you nominated them.

My 10 Nominees:

• Jennifer from AnotherJennifer who is committed every day to bring more good into this world
• Ilene from the Fierce Diva Guide to Life blog, who has given up almost everything to follow her dreams… inspiring me every step along the way!
• The Dose Girls at the Dose of Reality who keep me laughing, but also tackle important issues, such as feeding hungry children
• Kerry from Breadwinning Mama for her graceful way of balancing three small children, a full time job, and writing
• Janine from Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyholic, who continues to amaze me with the amount of work she is able to produce!
• Chris Carter from The Mom Cafe, who, despite her own battles with breast cancer, has remained ever so faithful to God and devoted to providing a blog filled with encouragement and light for mothers.
• Alison Lee from Writing, Wishing. Her writing always speaks to me, as she covers topics related to motherhood and raising small children, friendship, balancing life and career, recipes, and more
• Tova Gold from Finding My Muchness; also a grieving mother, who actually has forever nicknamed one of her twins, lost to TTTS, Sunshine (the other is Daisy.) Tova has been a source of light through my entire journey.
• Tamara from Tamara, Like Camera who takes the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen, and writes posts that always make me shake my head in agreement and say, “me too girl!”
• My tenth nomination is the contributors to Sunshine After the Storm. You can find all of their information on the Sunshine After the Storm website. There are so many amazing women who participated in this project. They are all inspirational and wonderful women. xoxo

10 Questions for all nominees:

• Why do you blog?  – It started out as an outlet for my grief, and now I just really enjoy to write, share my life, share my passions, and help others through my platforms
• Who is your role model? – Gandhi – “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Anyone who has ever taken a bad situation and turned it into something positive for others.
• What is your favorite holiday place? Anyplace that has a white Christmas!
• What is one of your favorite quotes? “Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~Gandhi
• What or who inspires you? So many people and things. Anyone who faces adversity and does something about it. Those who constantly are giving of themselves to do for others…
• What is your biggest fear? Dying before my kids are old enough to remember me.
• What is your biggest dream? To be a NY Times best selling author
• What is your best piece of advice? Follow your dreams. Don’t let life go by with regrets.
• What are you most proud of? My children.
• If there was one thing I could give to the world it would be…? a cure for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome.