New Year, New Blogs (and a Blogger Recognition Award!)

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One of the greatest rewards in blogging has been discovering new blogs that I likely never would have found.  I’m excited to share a few of them with you today.  And I’m equally as excited to tell you that The Sparrow’s Home has been recognized for a Blogger Award!

Here are the rules of the nomination:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Write a post to show your award.
• Attach the award to the post.
• Give a brief story of how your blog started.
• Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers.
• Select other blogs you want to give the award to.
• Let the other bloggers know you have nominated them & provide a link to the award post you created.

Special Thanks

I’d like to extend my thanks to Jess at Shop Girl Anonymous for nominating me for this award.  Jess is one of the good ones, folks.  She is one of the most encouraging and supportive bloggers I’ve come across in this community.

How The Sparrow’s Home Began

I’ve spent the last 7 years homeschooling our two boys, while also tutoring part-time.  The plan has always been for me to return to working full time once the boys graduated.  As that day looms just a couple of years out, Greg and I have talked about what our life will look like.  He is fortunate to work from home, and we have a lovely dynamic here; and the idea of me working full time outside of the home makes both of us a little sad.  I’ve always loved writing, and have also always been a gatherer and disperser of information.  I love finding the best of the best and telling everyone I know about it.  So combining all of that together, enter The Sparrow’s Home…. Voila!

Advice

Writing, researching, doing projects… none of that is anything new for me.  But the world of blogging is another world altogether.  The technology and social media learning curve alone could make your head spin.  My best advice to those starting new blogs would be to take advantage of every free learning opportunity you can.  Read reviews, tutorials, watch webinars… take advantage of the knowledge of others.  And key to this:  Pin what you want to remember.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spent an hour doing something, only to have to look up the same tutorial to do it again later that day.  Pinning the sites that are helpful means that you’ll have them at your fingertips even if you need the information a year later.

My Nominees

A Divine Encounter – Jennifer describes her blog as a place for “truth-seekers, for Christ-followers, and for all who long for a relationship with God and faith that’s made for real life.”  I see in her writing a genuine-ness and sweetness of spirit that is unusual.

Road-Schoolin’ Gypsies – I feel like I can live vicariously here, following the homeschooling travels of the family.  Complete with lots of reviews and unit studies.

Fear Warrior Blog – Jerusha writes about ‘Fighting Against Fear in Our Everyday Lives’.  She is a skilled writer,  looking through a Biblical lens for strength and encouragement.

Once Upon a Lawsuit…! – Kirk is a writer and attorney who shares the stories behind the law.  He says, “Dry, dusty court decisions often hide dramatic, emotional lives of real people.”  I subscribe to his Facebook feed and love seeing new stories posted.  I always find them interesting and often surprising.

Live. Hope. Believe. – For a bold, unashamed, Conservative Christian worldview look no further.  Angela is passionate about the things she believes and often says what others shy away from.

Exploring Domesticity – Kids.  Organization.  Health.  Saving Money.  Kristen covers it all!  Her site is full of good stuff, and is loads of fun to peruse.

The Great Gordino – Gordon writes about goal achievement and self transformation.  It’s a breath of fresh air to read someone writing in this vein who encourages personal responsibility.  It seems often times what one finds is a lot of placing blame and finger pointing.  I’m always encouraged when I visit!

Our Unschooling Journey – JoAnne does a fantastic job of documenting what her family is doing to facilitate learning.  What I appreciate the most is how thorough she is!  It’s really a pet peeve of mine to click on a post only to find it’s filled with generic generalities that make me say, “duh”.  I don’t find that here.  Homeschooler or not, you’ll find lots of fun activities and real-life learning!

Journey of the Word – I love the soothing feel of this blog.  I love that it always comes back to Scripture.  Every time I’m here, I feel like I’ve inhaled a big, deep breath of fresh air.

 

Thanks for celebrating with me!

And I hope maybe you’ve found some new blogs to check out!