Honored and Humbled to Receive the Blogger Recognition Award Nomination

 

 

Wow! What an honor it was to find out we were nominated for this award! I absolutely love what we do at Made in a Pinch, and I love our readers!! You guys are so incredible, and you bring so much energy and community our way. I can truly say we wouldn’t be doing what we do without you. You are the ones who make the long hours SO worth it. Thank you for spending a bit of your time with us! 🙂

First of all, I want to thank Michele at Confessions of Parenting for nominating us. I was truly humbled to have such an amazing blog decide that we were worthy of this award! Here is her acceptance of the award, and be sure to check out her great blog while you are there!

What is the Blogger Recognition Award?

The Blogger Recognition Award is an opportunity for bloggers to connect and recognize one another for their contributions. As part of the nomination, each nominee gets to nominate an additional 15 bloggers for the award.

Why I started blogging

Being a stay at home mom can be really lonely if you don’t have an amazing support system. And during my time at home, I’ve gone through periods of support as well as periods of isolation. There were times I felt so alone and so lost as to how to be a good mom to my boys. I felt like I was figuring it all out by myself.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered blogs. I immediately fell in love with reading them because I felt like I was connected (albeit, very distantly) with other people! I didn’t feel so alone, and I found myself learning new things – new recipes, new tidbits of info, new ways of doing things such as saving money and how to be a mom. There are blogs I have consistently followed for the last 6-7 years.

About 4 years ago, I started to feel this pull toward blogging myself. I had no idea what I would write about, and as a naturally shy and private person, the thought of putting myself out there for the world to read about felt scary and unnatural. I mulled it over for a while but then dropped the idea. Temporarily.

An opportunity to bond again

Around the same time that I was having the tug to blog, my dear friend Lisa and I started connecting more again. For anyone who doesn’t know our background, we were college roommate and best friends. I moved from North Carolina to Colorado and made a permanent home there. She stayed in North Carolina and began establishing her adult life. Life got busy. We each got married and started having kids – all 2,000 miles apart from each other. We stayed in touch through occasional emails, but it just wasn’t the same.

The tug to start a blog came back, and that time the idea to do it with Lisa came with it. I felt so strongly that sharing a blog would be a way for us to stay in closer contact with each other – a way to connect on a deeper level and bond over our current phase of life in a more satisfying way.

Here we are! We continue to learn and grow along the way, and we get to do it together. We get to share with our readers and connect with them, making our world that much bigger and more enriched! Made in a Pinch is a place where we share all the things that took us so long to learn and figure out, with the hope that doing so makes your life a little easier. Please join us and let’s learn from each other! Let’s make family life a little easier, healthier and happier together. 🙂

 

My advice for new bloggers:

1. Work during set hours.  Treat blogging like a job (because it is – a really fun job!) and work regularly. If you treat it as a hobby or only work on social media or work all hours of the day, you will burn out and lose your love for it. And my friends, the truth is this – while you work to build your blog – it’s a labor of love because it’s definitely NOT a get rich quick endeavor. If you lose your love for blogging, what’s the point in continuing to do it?
2. Don’t focus on the numbers (page views, social media followers, etc).  Instead, focus on the relationships you are getting the privilege to build. For me, it has been life-changing, and I am so incredibly grateful. Even if it all disappeared tomorrow, the relationships I have built and am building with you (our amazing readers) and fellow bloggers will stay with me forever.
3. Keep learning and growing.  Like many other fields, blogging is complicated. There’s a big learning curve to being a blogger, and it can feel confusing. Be brave and reach out to other bloggers. Network! The blogging community is incredibly generous and wonderful. Also, be willing to invest in yourself – purchase e-books or e-courses from bloggers you trust to help you learn how to push yourself in the right direction and grow a little more.
4. Have fun!  If you love what you do, it shows. That love will attract others. Plus, there’s something to be said for enjoying the moment. Focus on the positive when you hit a road block.

Now for the really good stuff! I’d like to nominate these fantastic bloggers for the Blogger Recognition Award:

LaDarius at TheHealing-Heart

Ameilia at Amelia Furman Mixed Media

Stephanie at The Scenic Suitcase

Elise at Elise Cohen Ho

Patricia at The Zen Introvert

Jacque at Jacque Gonzales

Saidy at Simply Saidy

Elisha at Madam Budget

Leresce at Scarlett’s Shadows

Tanushree at Unbound Outbound

MystiqueSyn at Syncityng

Nikhil at Webstersent

Madelyn at My Dear Little Sister

Jose with Sophlix

Chima with The African Teacher

Blogger Recognition Award Rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and leave a link to their blog.
2. Write a post to show your award.
3. Give a brief story of how/why you started blogging.
4. Give two pieces of advice you would give to brand new bloggers.
5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
6. Comment on each blog letting them know you have nominated them and giving the link to the post you have created.

 

A few popular posts to check out:

25+ Lunch Ideas your kids will love

Easy and Delicious Slow Cooker Peach Crisp

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix