Best Blog Award and something more ;-)

Thanks to Tricia of Bluff Area Daily
who has just awarded me the Best Blog Award
I hope she'll accept the You Make My Day award below
and that other visitors will do so as well.

Rules:
To accept the Award, post it on your blog together with the name of of person who has granted the Award and link back to that blog. Pass the award on to 15 blogs you have recently discovered and think are great. Remember to contact the bloggers you have awarded to let them know they have been chosen.

My list (in alphabetical order)
Carver Cards: a Photographic Journal
Denise at An English Girl Rambles
Diane at Desert Colors
Ebie at the Main Ingredient
Eileen at Viewing Nature with Eileen
Janie at Utah Trails
Louise at the Potted Frog
Martha at Menagerie and Color Carnival
Martha's Musings
Mary at Little Red House and In a Soft Light
Pacey at Nelly's Flower Garden
Michelle at Rambling Woods
Rebecca at the Dusty Cellar
Sheila at the Quintessential Magpie
Willa at Pixel Minded

Thanks to all who devote time & energy
to creating such lovely blogs ;-)

To all who visit & comment, please accept the award below
and feel free to pass it along to folks who
Make YOUR day too ;-)

Click to embiggen for better viewing
I hope you'll find time to visit the
recipients of the Best Blog Award above
and let them know I sent you ;-)

Thought for Today
"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted." John Lennon

Shadow Shot Sunday #19 & Happy Mother's Day!

For Mom's Everywhere

This is my nineteenth …

MoreNeighborhood Shadows

Mostly afternoon

photos taken around home

with sun in the west.

Click to embiggen for better viewing
for others participating in Shadow Shots at Hey Harriet
and my previous Shadow Shots here, at Small Reflections & Happily Retired Gal

Thanks to Harriet for this nifty award!
I'd like to share it with all MY friends too ... just because!

Thought for Today

"What you seem to be, be really." Benjamin Franklin

Happy Valentine's Day - PhotoHunt (Nautical)

This week's theme is 'nautical' ...

Walking in Long Beach
around the marina with
my new camera

snapping photographs ...
Serendipity? Perhaps
because I took these

pictures then collaged
them when TN Chick's email
arrived on Thursday.

Click to 'embiggen' for better viewing ...
& click for other Photo Hunters this week.

Click for
Camera Critters #45
HF#115 & Friday's Five Favs
HaikuFriday#114 & SkyWatch#29
HaikuSkyWatchFriday @ HappilyRetiredGal

If you need a 'shot of inspiration' here's a link to a lovely 3 minute video from Simple Truths sharing success secrets through awesome photos and powerful thoughts ... found in this morning's email.

This Valentine is for all my Bloggy Friends
and any visitors who leave me a comment ... just because.

Wishing you a delightful Valentine's Day

and wonderful weekend!

Thought for Today
"The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them." Stephen King

TUT ... A New Year's Note from the Universe

Click to 'embiggen' for better viewing ...

I share from this morning's email ... and suggest you substitute YOUR name for 'storyteller' as you read & consider this message from 'the Universe' ... via TUT with the following:
"WARNING: May cause imaginations to run wild, manifestations to accelerate, unexpected giggling, and celebrations well into the night..."

Dearest storyteller,
I was about to wish that your every dream for 2009 come true. That you find yourself surrounded by friends, laughter, and good times. I almost wished that your every cup runneth over financially, romantically, spiritually, and creatively. That good health be your faithful companion, peace your guarded ally, and love your perpetual guide. When suddenly, it dawned on me that as an infinite, powerful, fun-loving gladiator of the Universe, with eternity before you and the power of your thoughts to help shape it... it's you Old Storyteller, who will be granting wishes this year.

10...9...8...7...6...
The Universe

... and this:
Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! ®
© www.tut.com ®

Thoughts for Today
"I have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest caution." Wernher von Braun

"I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else." Winston Churchill

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different."
Katherine Mansfield

BYBS and ... I did it - 30 posts in 30 days again!

NaBloPoMo - Day 30
Where did November go?

If YOU completed NaBloPoMo too,
you're welcome to snag & enjoy this NaBloPoMo award
and/or the one at Small Reflections today.
I'd very much appreciate a comment & linky-luv if you do so ;--)

This is my 28th BYBS ...
Gratitude abounds
in my mind & heart today ...
'tis the season of

remembrance & love.
May the Christmas Spirit bring
everlasting peace.

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart." Washington Irving

T-13 #45 - Celebrating my 1st Blogoversary

Yesterday

I celebrated my 1st Blogoversary
at Small Reflections ...

Thanks to Hootin' Anni for the 'kewl' Halloween T-13 graphics!

Today I celebrate here at Sacred Ruminations
with Thirteen Favorite Category Links

Have some cake & punch while you browse and
revisit my progress by clicking on a link or two
to note changes ... as time permits ;--)

1. BYB Sundays and
My Sacred Life




2. Haiku Friday




3. Molly and MsKitty




4. Monday Motivator


5. My Flowers

6. My Gratitude Posts



7. One Single Impression

8. Photoshop Elements

9. Photo Hunt

10. Really Good Things


11. Sky Watch and Sunrise-Sunset

12. Taos Writers Retreat



13. Wordless Wednesday

I'm at my PSE6 class this morn.
Please leave me comments so I'm not forlorn
when I return, and I promise that I'll
visit this afternoon with a big smile!

This is my 256th post at Sacred Ruminations!

In honor of this 'milestone' I've created the following 'award' and 'graphic' that you're welcome to 'snag' ... enjoy ... and share with others as you choose.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

For easy access, I’ve listed more T-13 links along with the Thursday Thirteen Blogroll at My Blog Rolls.

Thought for Today
"I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself." Marlene Dietrich

SunriseSunset #3 and BYBS #19 - Solitude

One more variation of last week's Sunset ...

altered in PSE6 with 'Neon Glow Edges'

Click for others participating in Sunrise-Sunset this week.

"I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least - and it is commonly more than that - sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements." ~Henry David Thoreau

I've struggled with myself this week to remain 'calm & centered' in the face of the 'chaotic times' in our world ... shared a bit of my process in Haiku Friday #75 ... and some things of a lighter nature in Smiley Saturday #20. This morning as I gather my thoughts to Blog My Blessings and share My Sacred Life, I find myself thinking of the differences between 'loneliness & solitude' ...

"Language... has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone."
~Paul Johannes Tillich, The Eternal Now

the value of 'stillness & reflection' ... and the necessary balance of companionship with others actually 'engaged with' one another, not simply sharing the same space while doing separate things.

"Each of us is a being in himself and a being in society, each of us needs to understand himself and understand others, take care of others and be taken care of himself." ~Haniel Long, poet

I'm grateful for ... those who walk ahead of me (leaving a path to point the way & guide my feet) and those alongside (offering companionship & support on the journey). I pray that those who follow will find their way ... leaving clues behind as they travel their own path. I know we are all in this together. I pray we each remember ...

"Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the logo
at the top of this post.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

I created a few new graphics ... shared two versions of one at Small Reflections this morning and two versions of another here. I'm curious what you think of them & why. You're welcome to snag & share with others if you leave me feedback ... just because.

11:37am Addendum - I just learned that today is an International Day of Peace ... and thought I'd pass that information along ... just because. Apparently it was "... established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first peace Day was celebrated in September of 1982. In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace" ... where (according to the background shared at the website), it was suggested that:

"Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace."

Click on the logo to learn more.

Thought for Today
"We live in a very tense society. We are pulled apart... and we all need to learn how to pull ourselves together.... I think that at least part of the answer lies in solitude." ~Helen Hayes