friendluxe awards

There’s an interesting phenomenon of bloggers patting ourselves on the back for being so gosh darn bloggy. Sometimes it’s friends simply linking up to other friends in a post and telling the world that they love to read a certain blog. Other times word of the award is more widespread and winning involves nominations and votes etc.

I have been blessed to have won one such voting award and I will tell you it was an honor. Truly. I was humbled by the number of people who came here to this little site and read about our little lives in this little house and then turned around and voted for us. It made me realize just what an incredibly opportunity this blog is to me. I didn’t take winning as meaning that I had arrived, I took it as a reason to be better. To share honestly. To encourage. To love and embrace this crazy thing called the blogging community. I am so thankful for it. All of it.

I feel that I should tell you all something. There is another award for which this blog is nominated. In fact, it is nominated in three different categories. It bears mentioning because to simply be nominated is an honor. In each cateogry are other nominees for whom I have immense respect. Women I look up to and many that I’ve had the privilege to meet in person. Women doing big things with their blogs, using them to make the world and the world wide web a better place.

Honestly, when I saw the nominations I was flattered, thrilled, excited, humbled, nervous, ecstatic.

But you know what? You deserve to feel that way too.

For encouraging me as I felt my way blindly through the first months of motherhood. For making my day every single time I get an email from you. For crying with me over the beauty and the pain of motherhood. For being nearly as excited as I was over OBaby’s first steps. For standing up for me when mud was slung on the authenticity of postpartum depression. For putting up with me whining about nothing.

For being you and for bringing a little piece of yourself to this blog.

But me? I don’t have thousands of votes to give you. I’m just one person, and one that spends most of her time chasing after a toddler at that. But I do have this site and this space, so I wanted to use it today to tell you how I am deeply and genuinely thankful for you, dear friend and reader (who is a friend I just haven’t met yet).

O, and that award? Well, vote if you would like to. Really, I would be honored and thrilled to have your vote, but please know this:

You being here means more to me than any badge in my sidebar ever could.

And gosh darn it, I really mean that.