Blog Party Awards

Lately, the TV has been filled with pictures of women in beautiful gowns, waiting to see if they'll get an award for their performance. Today, I'm going to acknowledge some beautiful women I've recently "met", through this week's blog party (thanks to 5minutesformom for this great event!) I bet you'll find a new friend or two among this list of "greats" as well!
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first great "find" from the party is "Life is Not a Cereal." The author, Jennifer is most certainly a kindred spirit. She reads like mad, is a devoted wife and mother, and yet recognizes that life is not all black and white and easily sorted out. She shares real stories from her real life and doesn't sugar-coat it or tie it all up in a neat little bow just so it will look best from all possible angles. I appreciate Jennifer's transparency and genuineness, and I look forward to getting to know her better.






My favorite new blog about babies, childrearing, and pregnancy is Fruitful Vines. Julie-Anne writes there about all things baby from a Christian perspective. Gracious and informative, she has just been blogging here for 2 months (and thus, my award has a double meaning- it's a blog about babies, and it's a baby blog!), but I look forward to more delicious posts from Fruitful Vines.





The best money-saving blog I found this week is Frugal Upstate. This New Yorker will save you money in all kinds of ways, if you'll take the time to dig. Whereas some people just focus on coupons or grocery shopping, she offers all kinds of frugal tips: how to hem your own jeans, how to get free TV programming, how to mend clothes, and regularly posts frugal recipes. Poke around over there, and save some bucks.






By far, the most crafty blog I found this week is Let a Woman Learn. From photography to knitting, and from fabric art to card-making, this Christian woman could teach us all many things about being crafty and creative. I come nowhere close to this, but I occasionally get a little urge to pull out a hot glue gun or do something fun with yarn, and the next time I do, I'll go to this great blog for new ideas!






The most beautifully designed blog I found this week is Musings of a Housewife. The pinks and browns of her design all flow together SO beautifully that it makes me wish my blog was all retro hip too! But beyond having a very lovely, visually pleasing site, her posts are bound to make you smile. She likes memes and American Idol and has a light-heartedness about her that makes for a fun read.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I also found some noteworthy posts that you'll be interested in, on other blogs I came across for the first time this week.

• A new friend of mine, Keziah, writes two articles about environmental issues from a Christian perspective. Her first post has a great quiz you can take to determine your "ecological footprint" and then the follow-up post, called "The Earth Is the Lord's," gives more food for thought about global warming, creation, and stewardship.
• Mommy Place has a great post called, "Beware of Christian 'help' books." It is most certainly worth the read.
• Law and Grace are two sides that we often struggle to balance between as Christians. Jesus was termed to be full of grace (as well as having fulfilled every point of the law). The "Growing in Grace" blog has an interesting post examining whether being gracious means being permissive.
• The Humble Housewife has a delicious-looking recipe for cinnamon rolls that I'm going to try my hand at very soon. She seems to have a real knack for great recipes, so it'd be worth a few minutes to browse her site to see what you can find.
• Rocks in My Dryer (a site I've heard of but never visited until this week) has a great post called "Dear Me in 1987," a letter to her former self discussing the last 20 years, what to watch out for, what to change, and what's OK. This is a touching read, and a transparent reflection over twenty years of living.
• And finally, for all my fellow bookloving sisters out there, The Flourishing Mother lays out her own method of reading multiple books all at once. (I have to point out that every category she describes is one that I also am reading out of all the time.)

This was a really enjoyable blog party week, and I'm so glad to have met all these lovely friends and come across such beautiful and interesting blogs. I hope all of you enjoy browsing through these fun new sites!

To all blog award winners: Please copy your award banner from above and feel free to display it on your own blog.