On Sunday, August 20- I was really taken aback when I checked my messages and learned that my blog had been nominated for the 2017 Liebster Award. I was like- “Wow! What exactly is that?” Because my inquiring mind wanted to know, I did a bit of probing to find out what it was all about. And what I learned is that it’s an award that recognizes and/or discovers new bloggers. It’s also presented as a way of welcoming bloggers to the blogosphere. So, I’m delighted to receive this warm official welcome to the blogosphere- or, as I like to say- the wonderful world of blogging. Just like many other things we encounter in the real world- blogging can be a whirlwind of ups and downs, twists and turns, excitement, frustration, elation- even some sleepless nights. But I’m still lovin’ it…this crazy, wonderful world of blogging.

Shout Out!

The Liebster Award is bestowed upon one blogger by another blogger. The blogger who nominated me for the award is a very talented surrealist painter. Through her various art projects, she advocates for social justice. One of her current projects raises awareness and money for the victims of human trafficking. Her name is Stephanie Oplinger, and you can check out some of her amazing artwork at Stephanie Oplinger Arts. I am very appreciative that she chose to nominate me for the Liebster Award. For more about her nomination post, you can view 2017 Liebster Award Nomination. So here’s a big Shout Out to Stephanie, Whoop!!! Whoop!!!

Paying It Forward

I’m honored to pay it forward by recognizing bloggers I’ve come across in the blogging community. Their blogs provide content that I find very interesting- and their posts I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I especially enjoyed reading posts by Latifah at YorEngMama, Kirk McDougall at Happy, Healthy, Wealthy, and Bushra at BushraZ Blogs. I was very intrigued by Latifah’s writings. The titles of her posts are written in Yoruba and also in English, and each post includes a beautiful cultural portrait. She writes about her life as a mother with a young daughter, and she shares a heartwarming letter about her hopes for her daughter in one of her posts. When it came to reading Kirk’s post, I laughed, chuckled and smiled. In his post Skiers’ Denial, he tells a story with a message that is delivered in an amusing, clear and succinct way. And then there’s Bushra– I love her storytelling ability, and I like how she addresses certain issues that affect many people. She also shares an eye–opening view into the life of an introvert through a fictional character named Layla (The Introvert). I can’t wait to read more from all the nominees.

So It’s Now Time For The Nominations, And They Are…

These are the blogs, in alphabetical order, I have nominated for the 2017 Liebster Award:

A Little Bit of Everything

Aditya’s Snaps

Alice’s Grand Adventures

BushraZBlogs

Happy, Healthy, Wealthy

My Slice of Happy

NmDiaries

Pies Before Guys

Syled By Lalie

True Colors

YorEngMama (Motherhood-Culture-Family)

I enjoyed reading your posts, and I wish you the very best in the wonderful world of blogging. Please be certain to provide a link to this post when you write in response to this nomination on your blog.

As you do your research, you will find that there are rules which require you to answer a series of questions and then also list questions to ask the five bloggers you nominate. However, here are the official rules I followed for accepting the nomination:

1. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”.
2. Write a 150-300 word post about your favorite blog that is not your own. Explain why you like the blog, provide links.
3. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 200 followers.
4. List these rules in your post
5. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post. (They might not have ever heard of it!)
6. Post a comment in the comments of –> the award post <– so your post and blog can be viewed.

Happy Blogging!

~The Simple Chocolatier