A meaningful motivation for bloggers
Are you also a blogger?
And, because I know you are wondering what the Sunshine Blogger Award is all about, here are the ins and outs:
The Sunshine Blogger Award
Does exactly what the name states:
Bringing a bit of sunshine into a bloggers life!
It’s a brilliant way to recognize fellow bloggers for being awesome. And also, provides us the opportunity to extend the honor, by nominating and awarding bloggers we love and follow.
Giving them a bit of exposure and motivation to keep blogging.
Now, who doesn’t need that?
Where did the Award originate
This was, of course, my first question and I have followed the who-nominated-who thread from the one blog to the other. Trying to figure out who started The Sunshine Blogger Award, but it just kept going from one nominee to the other …
So whoever you are, thank you!
And, if you do know who started it, please leave a comment below.
Sunshine Blogger Award Rules
As with any successful strategy, the Sunshine Blogger Award has solid rules in place. These rules ensure the success of this award, providing exposure to all the award winners.
The rules are:
Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog so others can find them.
Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
Notify the nominees about it by commenting on one of their blog posts.
List the rules and display a Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or your blog site.
A special message to my nominees:
Congratulations, I really believe in you! Make use of this opportunity, you will be amazed at the awesome networking possibilities it creates.
To help you write the post and enjoy the best from the award please note:
- you have the freedom to create your own award image to match your blog’s theme
- answer the 11 questions right at the bottom of this post, not the ones I answered (:
- the only text you can copy and use as is, is the 5 rules above, I colored them to make it easy for you to recognize
- remember to also add 11 of your own questions for your nominees to answer
Have fun with it!
Here are the 11 questions from Donna, blogging at The Upward Blip:
A beautiful parenting and lifestyle blog, filled with inspiration and hacks. Check it out if you haven’t yet!
This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may be compensated when you make a purchase after clicking a link, with no added cost to you.
1. Why did you enter the world of blogging?
We moved across the world from sunny South Africa to Switzerland because of an awesome work opportunity for my husband. And even though this was the outset of his career, it meant the end of mine …
I, however, easily made this decision to relocate, knowing it will provide me ample time to spend with my kids. And really get to know and appreciate them. It also gave us a chance to raise our family in a much less stressed and safe environment.
But, I also needed to compensate on an intellectual level.
It’s all about mom-sanity, right?
And this is where the idea originated to start my own blog as a creative outlet.
I created Healthy Family and Me, and I love every minute spent here!
2. What was your life’s turning point?
I am not sure if there is one exact turning point in my life.
Rather a collection of events steering my life in the destined direction. Some of the more important points are:
- graduating from medical school
- allowing me to help others on an incredible level
- marrying my gorgeous husband
- getting to share my life with my best friend and biggest supporter
- the birth of our two gorgeous kids
- the core of my being
3. What is your favorite motivational quote?
My parents raised us to know when we believe in ourselves and have a dream – we can do it!
Therefore, I always try to remember what my dad taught me:
my degree of success depends on my ability to dream.
In other words:
Reach for the stars!
4. What is your ideal day-to-day routine?
Whether it is ideal, is open for discussion, but my daily routine has to include at least these 5 important aspects in order to be practical:
1. waking up at five in the morning
this is a great time for me:
- in these two hours, before my kids wake up, I can get A LOT of blogging stuff done
- my husband wakes up at this time, adding that extra bit of motivation for me to also get started. And, even though we are both working during this time, I enjoy his presence.
2. use the 2 hours I have in the morning to blog, blog, blog
these undisturbed hours when the kids are at school, I try to spent as effectively as possible, ensuring I get as much done as possible
3. spend quality time with my kids
making sure I do at least one activity with them every day
4. use time in between kids and blogging productively
- to clean the house
- meal plan and
- be prepared
5. spend time with my husband
An important part of my day is after the kids went to bed, and I get to have a conversation with hubby. Sharing our ups and downs of the day and keeping each other in the loop of things is super valuable to me.
5. What is the one thing you want people to know about you?
Helping others is one of my priorities in life. I love supporting people to reach their dreamable goals.
Remember the quote:
always dream big ...
and the best part is, when you set goals and then jump in to make them happen, no matter the scope, there usually is someone who is willing to help you reach it.
Just be on the lookout and you will discover many a person, like me, who thrives on supporting others. And, be sure to accept these helping hands … It makes life a whole lot easier.
My favorite skill encouragement includes:
6. What is your favorite holiday?
Definitely Christmas:
- the precious family time
- the delicious food
- the handmade gifts and
- the incredible feeling of lighting hundreds of candles together in church on Christmas Eve …
It’s magic!
7. What are your top 3 favorite books?
I love reading!
An evening very seldom passes without me reading a couple of pages before bedtime. It is my absolute favorite way of clearing my mind from everything else.
It is therefore impossible for me, though, to name only three books. But, some of my favorite authors at the moment are:
- Jodi Picoult
- Robin Hobb
- Irma Joubert – Yes, my native language is actually Afrikaans …
8. What is your lifelong dream? Did you accomplish it?
My lifelong dream is to make a difference.
A tangible difference in my kids lives, my husband’s life, my family’s lives and any other person’s life who I get to be involved in.
To appreciate every single difference in view and opinion and on some level help them in a meaningful way.
Whether it is as small:
as making someone feel loved in a sad moment
Or as big:
as saving a life
As long as I can rest assured that I did my best and actually made a difference …
Being a mom and wife, I want to raise a happy and healthy family. To make this difference in my family’s lives, here are some of my secrets:
- creating family traditions
- helping my kids learn
- how to be an awesome mom and
- living a healthy family life
9. If you had special powers, what would it be?
Teleportation would be super!
Mostly because this will enable us to visit our family living abroad at any time … and make my day-to-day life driving the kids up and down, a whole lot easier!
10. What is your all-time favorite movie?
This is an easy one: August Rush.
A truly inspirational movie, touching your soul on a very extraordinary level.
If you haven’t watched it, it’s an absolute must.
I think I have probably seen it 20 – 30 times … And, I love it, even more, each and every time!
11. What is your writing pet peeve?
Sometimes I find it difficult to stay focus on one topic. As soon as I start writing, more and more ideas form in my head and I just can’t keep up with all the different concepts and plans that pop up.
Having too many ideas can be just as disturbing as having none!
I had so much fun nominating 11 other bloggers for the Sunshine Blogger Award. It was quite difficult though, to choose only 11 …
Each one of my nominees deserves this award and have awesome blogs.
The 11 Sunshine Blogger Award Nominees
- Suzi from Start a Mom Blog
- I can’t even begin to think of a blogger sharing more sunshine than Suzi
- willing to teach every single thing she knows about blogging!
- Anastasia from Anastasia Blogger
- a kind and helpful blogger
- running a beautiful blog filled with actionable blogging hacks and tips
- Ana from The She Approach
- an awesome entrepreneur
- and, one of the first blogs I started to follow, learned from and still love
- Katie from Our Daily Mess
- an inspiring health and
- parenting blog
- Elizabeth from Worth Writing For
- a stunning blog
- with great parenting and pregnancy hacks
- Val from Thoughtful Neighbor
- everything you need to know about parenting and
- living healthy
- Madiha from Rainbow Desire
- a blog filled with great insights on pregnancy
- and motherhood
- Elisabeth from The Foreign Mom
- I totally associate with this beautiful blog
- and love the kids’ activities
- Chelsea from Raising You Maintaining Me
- a beautiful blog
- with great parenting content
- Megan from Megan’s Life with Little’s
- a lovely blog
- filled with much-needed motherhood resources
- Amanda from CrunchyHippieLife
- she will get you inspired
- to actually make those healthy lifestyle changes
Congratulations to these awesome bloggers!
and as a bonus courtesy:
be sure to check out each other’s blogs
and, it is always great to leave a kind comment:
- on this post
- and on your fellow nominees’ Award posts
- I will update this post and add their links here as they post it
Nominees, your next step:
- find and answer your 11 questions below
- create a Sunshine Blogger Award logo
- copy the 5 rules above
- check the special message below the rules
Here are the 11 questions I would like my nominees to answer:
- What do you love most about blogging?
- How do you want to make a difference in this world?
- Name one thing no one knows about you.
- What is your best-kept secret to blogging success?
- Where do you want to be with your blog 10 years from now?
- Do you live a healthy lifestyle?
- if so, please share your secret!
- if not, what keeps you from it?
- Which part of blogging do you enjoy least?
- If you can give all the bloggers out there one actionable tip to make money online, what would it be?
- What is your biggest parenting struggle?
- and, when you are not a parent, your biggest life struggle?
- What is your best blogging schedule or strategy tip, to get things done day-to-day?
- What or who inspires you to keep blogging?
I can’t wait to read the answers from all the newest Sunshine Blogger Award nominees.
If you are reading this post, and are not one of the nominees, but feel that you also need a bit of motivation to keep blogging, leave a comment and we will be happy to share the love!
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Wonderfully elaborated Estie…… I loved it purely. Thank you for the clear picture. I love it….
Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow – This is awesome!
Thank you very much Estie for nominating my blog. I loved reading your post and the questions you have answered.
It’s fun exploring other blogs. Thanks for sharing! A great idea indeed.
Hi Madiha, thanks for visiting, we are looking forward to reading your answers and learning more about your brilliant blog!
Wow, this is awesome! Thanks so much for the nomination!! I loved reading through your answers and exploring the nominated blogs.
Hi Chelsea, pleasure! I am looking forward to reading your answers.
I shared it to some facebook groups as well.☺️ You take care now and see you around!
You are awesome, thank you Donna!
I so enjoyed reading this, Estie! You did an awesome job! It sure felt like I was nominated all over again just by reading your “Sunshine Blogger Award” article! I love it!
Hi Donna, thank you so much for taking the time to visit the post and thanks again for your nomination!