It's award time!

Recently I was nominated for 2 blog awards! How great is that.  I say recently the first one was for the Addictive Blogger award by the fabulous Anne Mackle and that was back in November! Oh dear, that's so bad. I started the post but had a lot going on so never finished it and kind of forgot with getting ready for Christmas and stuff.  So I'm really sorry Anne, that was very naughty of me.  The second was from another lovely friend Suzie Tullet for Very Inspiring Blogger!  How great is that!  I'm flattered that they thought of me for each award.  Since I've got so behind with things I've decided to do a joint post.

As I said my lovely friend Anne Mackle passed this award on to me.  Anne is a very busy lady with 3 blogs and her online newspaper, Books, Blogs and Travelogues!  Click on the links below to check out her blogs.

Is anyone there? is Anne's personal blog, where she writes about her life and lots of interesting stuff.  It always impresses me some of the ideas she comes up with.

Books with wine and chocolate,  she loves to read and this is the place she does all her book reviews.  Pop in there to see what reads she recommends.

Shutterbug Ball is Anne's newest blog, where she shares all her lovely pictures.  There really are some gorgeous photos on there.  A women of many talents!

Books, Blogs and Travelogues in her newspaper Anne captures some of the stories that she sees daily on Twitter.

Thank you so much for  passing this award on to me Anne, sorry for my extremely late response.  You can check out Anne's post by following the link before and read why she started blogging.

http://www.cassam-isanyonethere.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/a-few-weeks-ago-lovely-jo-from-gap.html

As part of accepting this award I have to share with you why I started blogging in the first place.  When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis back in 2010 I decided a great way for me to work through things would be to be to write down how I felt in a diary and then I discovered blogging.  I thought it would be a great way to work through my diagnosis and at the same time maybe help others going through similar experiences. So that's why it all started.  Initially I talked about my feelings and experience of being diagnosed with MS, how I coped and managed and my experience of being started on the medication that I'm extremely pleased to say has changed my life and means that I can generally put MS to the back of my mind for the time being  (well except for the weekly injection to remind me).  As my health has got better and my blog has grown, MS has featured less and less in my blog.  I sometimes think have I moved too much away from the reason I started blogging, to help myself and others get through the emotions of being diagnosed with MS.   But then I think maybe it shows how it doesn't always ruin your life and life does go on.  As my title says it about all life's little adventures and MS may be what I got but it's now who I am. I have recently reawakened a love of homemade crafts and sewing so we shall see where that takes 'The Tales of Me' next.  I love blogging, writing my own and reading others.  Through blogging I have made some wonderful friends and a great support network.  People from all walks of life and all over the world.  So as rubbish as it is being diagnosed with MS I can't help but feel a little grateful that because of it I have made some lovely friendships and I have my blog.

So next up is -

The next award is for Very Inspiring Blogger.  The fabulous and talented @SuzieTullett, author of the popular Brit lit novel, Going Underground.   Everyone is now eagerly waiting for August 1st when her 2nd novel Little White Lies and Butterflies is released.  It can be pre-ordered at the following link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-White-Butterflies-Suzie-Tullett/dp/1908208198/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359394185&sr=1-3

Here's the link for Going Underground

Meanwhile you can catch up with Suzie on her blog http://suzietullett.blogspot.co.uk/.

Thank you so much Suzie for thinking of me for this award.  There are a couple of rules that come with accepting this award:

1. Display the award on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers and inform them of the nomination and awards requirements.

So what else can I tell you about myself?

1.The shortest ever hobby I took up was tap dancing, I only went to 1 class! It was myself and 2 friends, we were around 14 at the time, lol!

2. I've kind of scared myself with this one! This year I will of been a qualified nurse for 15 years! Wow, I hadn't realised it has been that long! For 8 of those years I worked in a hospital and this year will be my seventh year in Primary care in a GP surgery.

3. A while a go I joined The SITS girls, they have a weekly link up, great advice about blogging and DIY crafts and you get to meet lots of other fabulous bloggers.  They regularly have Featured Blogger days and I'm very excited as on Wednesday 13th February it is my Featured Blogger day. So I will be appearing on there site.

4. Now not only is February 13th my featured blogger day on The SITS Girls but it is my 2 year Blogiversary!  Two whole years of blogging.  I think it's so cool that they both fall on the same day.  I'm thinking of ways to celebrate on my blog, maybe a freebie or giveaway. Any ideas welcome...

5.  I to love go camping with Hubby and Spike, there's nothing like sleeping under the stars beside a cosy  campfire.  We actually prefer more wilder camping, I know it's not many people's cup of tea but we love it.

Spike and me in  our hammock

6.Along with camping we also enjoy canoeing and a few years ago we invested in our own one.  The 2nd time we ever used it was when we did a 6 day canoeing trip down the River Wye which forms the border between Enlgland and Wales for much of it's route.  All in all we canoed around 80ish miles.  It was one of my best holidays.  (Apologies if I've told you that one before).

7. I'm a secret blogger!  Only a chosen few of my friends and family know that I blog!  Blogging can be a very personal thing and at times it has been like a diary for me.  Now I know some people may say, what??? You write a blog that anybody could find on the internet but you keep it secret???  Your blog is visible to the public for them to read all those personal things you may have written???  I know it's out there but I like the fact that that I have a blogger life and a day to day life.  I have recently confessed all to my Best mate, who was kind of shocked I've had a blog for 2 years and never told her.  She understood my reasons for keeping it secret though.  I'm really glad she knows about it now.  Sorry Bestie, from keeping this from you.

Right now for my nominations...

So my first Nominations are for the Addictive Blog Award and go to:

Donna Trinder Donna is an aspiring writer and has a WIP, she actually has two fabulous blogs, also blogs for the MS society and I'm pretty sure she does reviews for another site but I'm afraid I can't remember which.  She's a busy lady as apart from all that she is a Mum of two and a pampered pooch and she does this all despite having MS.  Check out Donna's blogs they are great reads and she does brilliant book reviews if you're having trouble deciding what your next read should be.  There are also Author interviews on there too.

Carli Alice is a great blogger and a lovely lady.  I really like her writing style and she has some great posts.  So if you want some fitness or healthy eating tips or maybe just a good read then check out her blog!  Carli is a fellow SITS Girl too.

Patty Gardner I only discovered Pattys's blog recently through The SITS Girls Saturday Sharefest.  Her fabulous blog is full of lots of tasty recipes and homemaking tips with some funny stories thrown in .  All in all a great recipe for a super blog.

Another fabulous blog I have discovered through The SITS Girls is The Dose of Reality.  This is a fantastic and funny Blog, written by two Mothers, Ashley and Lisa, who like to tell you how it is.  This is definitely a blog you need to check out.

Heart hand made is one of my favourite blogs! I'm definitely addicted to it and love looking at all the beautiful pictures on it.   Claire Donovan started her fabulous blog in 2010.  It is jam packed with lots of beautiful pictures and inspiration!

These next nominations are for Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

I told you all about the lovely Anne Mackle at the beginning of my post as Anne passed on the Additive Blog Award to me.  This time it's her turn and I'd like to nominate her for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Anne really is an inspirational lady with her numerous blogs to add to things she has Cystic Fibrosis.  She doesn't let this get in her way though and loves to live life to the full!

This next blog is by a truly inspirational couple.  Dana and Michael Ritter.  On their blog http://www.lovelikethislife.com they write about life, marriage, disability, their Puggle (I want one! Sorry Spike I still love you, just think you need a friend!) and so much more.

Maggie S Is yet another fabulous blogger I met through The SIT Girls!  She has some great posts on her blog, some funny, some heartfelt and some thought provoking.

Melissa Baker has an inspiring blog talking about the adventures of her life.  At the age of 24 she has already been through so much and shares her experiences to show people, however tough life gets, it can't keep you down.

Now I'm off to let all these lovely Bloggers know they've been nominated   *Note to nominee's - It would be great if you accept these awards but I understand not everyone has the time to actually stick to the rules but if you do it would be great to hear what you have to say.*