Loyalty…..love it! :-)

Is that a little kitty sitting on that dragon’s tail? 🙂

Last week, the super sweet Nancy from Feasting with Friends, gave me this fun award! I had never received the Dragon’s Loyalty Award before, so I was super excited. I love the meaning behind it…it is for those who visit your blog often, like your posts, and leave comments. I love this because I love getting to “love on people”, as I often call it, so to know that people are feeling cared for is super exciting!

The irony is that Nancy herself should get this award over and over….she is so quick to check out a post I have written and is full of encouraging words! Not just on my blog, but on others too! She brings smiles and encouragement to so many of us….I am so glad to know her! Thanks Nancy for being such a bright light in this blogging world! She says this about herself, “Cooking is rarely a chore for me. I thrive on trying new recipes and creating my own.” This is a woman who loves to cook, especially when she gets to do it for others! What a blessing she is….here online…and in her own home! If you haven’t seen this, look at the funnel cakes she made last week! I have never heard of anyone making their own from scratch….so impressed!

Then, just yesterday both Chef Jullianna at Foodie on Board and Apsara at Eating Well Diary gave me this award as well….I am definitely feeling all the bloggy love! 🙂 This is the part about blogging I never expected…I never knew I would meet so many wonderful people and get connected with them! I never knew all these people would be such a great encouragement to me and an inspiration! I love it!

Chef Julianna is so creative….just look at this creation of hers! I am always looking forward to seeing what she makes! The dishes she creates are truly gourmet! And Apsara, she is a vegetarian…and though I am not, I would definitely eat her meals! 🙂 Look at this amazing cake she made! Wow! Thank you Julianna and Aspara for this award and for the inspiration you are in your cooking!

(Nancy, Julianna, and Apsara- please know you would be on my nomination list if you hadn’t nominated me! Thank you!)

One of the rules for this award is that I need to share 7 facts about myself. Okay, I have shared some facts before, so let’s see if I can come up with 7 new facts. 🙂

1. I have a masters degree in Divinity…Otherwise known as an M.Div. We girls there at seminary getting the degree called ourselves MDivas. 🙂 What is this degree? It means I took Hebrew and Greek, lots of Bible classes, etc. My hubby has the same degree….we went back to school after having been out for quite a while and we took all our classes together. 🙂 I always say it is the longest masters degree ever….most take 2 years, ours took 4. Loved it! It was so special because we were one of two couples in our class of about 100 people who did the degree together and got to walk on stage and get hooded together. This was 3 years ago:
2. As you might have noticed in the above picture, I had braces as an adult. (Due to jaw problems). I have only been without braces for a little over 10 months.
3. You think my hair is long? Well I used to have super short spikey hair!  Here is a collage of some of my hairstyles over the years since hubby and I have been married. The length of my hair now is just a little longer than it was when we got married.
4. Growing up we had about 20 cats…..before you freak out…..we lived in the country and they were all outdoor cats. 🙂
5. When I was a young kid I lived in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
6. I used to take karate for about a year…I stopped when we moved 8 months ago because the system of karate I do is not found here, so I would have to start over with a different system. Not sure yet what I will do. A fun fact about this is that I can and have flipped 250 + pound guys. 🙂
7. My hubby and I both absolutely hate coffee.

So, now it is my turn to give this award away! Yay! This is another rule of the award…one which I love! To the following bloggers, thanks for how you stop by often, encourage me, and bless me with kind words! This award is to say “Thank you” for your loyalty! (I normally write more about each of you, but I have been sick all week and am running out of energy from this already long post. 🙂 ) Just know that I appreciate you greatly!

• Jhuls at The Not So Creative Cook
• Patty at Patty Nguyen
• Justine at Eclectic odds n sods
• Joanna at Food Gurly
• Prudy at Butter Basil & Breadcrumbs
• Dimple at Shivaay Delights
• Ngan at Ngan Made it
• Laura at The Gluten Free Treadmill
• Lina at Strictly Delicious
• Lisa at Simple Pairings
• Arlene at Arl’s World
• Victoria at My Love Affair With
• Lyndsay at Officially Gluten Free
• Jenn at Sweets Eats and Crafts
• Alex at Dinner Daydreams

Congrats to each of you!

And one final rule of the award…go tell the people you nominated that you nominated them! Okay, off to your blogs I go, I go! 😉