Illuminating Blogger Award

I was absolutely thrilled to bits when I checked my email this morning and found that I had been given the Illuminating Blogger Award by one of my favourite bloggers, Catherine Crout-Habel  of “Seeking Susan ~ Meeting Marie ~ Finding Family” @ http://caiteile.com 
Catherine you've really made my day, thanks so much.


I thought I'd try blogging 6 months ago and I'm loving it.  I'm not a very confident writer but I am very passionate about my family history and, as Catherine said in her post, rather than see my family members eyes glaze over whenever I mentioned it I thought I'd start a blog.  
When and if they ever do become interested, it will be there for them.
   
It has been really wonderful to "meet" and learn from other bloggers and people who share my passion for genealogy.


The last couple of months have been an emotional roller coaster ride and I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like. My dear mum, passed away in April.  She enjoyed my genealogy findings and was such a huge help whenever I had questions.   I miss her so much.
Then in June our daughter gave birth to a beautiful little baby boy, my first grandchild and I am besotted.  As they live 3 hours drive away and we have a 7 day a week business it takes time and planning to visit.  
A grandchild gives me even more reason to keep recording the family stories.


One random thing about me :-
I was born prematurely in 1958 weighing only 4lbs and wasn't expected to live so consider myself pretty lucky to be here.

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Now my task is to nominate another 6 other bloggers for this award.

There are so many I enjoy reading that it'll be really hard to choose but here goes and thank you all:

Dance Skeletons - Fi has a wonderful sense of humour that shines through in her writing. Many times she has brightened my day with a good chuckle as well as sharing great genealogy links and resources. 

Geniaus - Jill's energy and passion for technology relating to genealogy is inspirational.  She shares a wealth of knowledge both in her blogs and her live tweets from genealogy events.

The Empire Called and I Answered - Lenore's work on a commemorative online database of the WW1 volunteers of Essendon and Flemington is impressive.  She has worked tirelessly for many years compiling information about these areas of Melbourne and I will always be grateful for her help and advice when I began my search for my families there.

Western District Families - Merron finds and shares some great genealogy resources and information on her Western District Families, one of which I have a slight connection to.   

Lots of local knowledge.

Tracking Down the Family - Jennifer grew up in the same home town as I did and even though we must have crossed paths many times "way back then" we have only just now connected through our genealogy blogs.  I enjoy reading and can relate to her stories.

Lorri's Life - Even though her blog is not "genea" related we "met" through my genealogy postings pre-blog when Lorri phoned me with an interest in writing a story based on one of my ancestors.  I enjoy the fresh way that Lorri writes about her life in Melbourne with her young family, her Italian heritage, cooking and planting/growing tips.

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If you’ve been nominated and choose to accept my nomination … the rules of the award are straightforward:

1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).
2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.
3. The Nominee should include a courtesy link back to the official award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) in their blog post.
4. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.
5. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award. Many people indicate that they wish they could nominate more so please feel free to nominate all your favorites.
6. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog, including a link to the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/).