A Recognition I Appreciate

I’m probably repeating myself when saying how amazing this blogging community is. I receive so much support, there is so much inspiration and such a vivid exchange of thoughts. And now I got another recognition of “my work”: The Blogger Recognition Award. Thank you so much Anand, from Blabberwockying, for nominating me for this award.

To the rules for this award:

1. Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to. Will get to this…
2. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you. Makes sense…
3. Write a post to show your award. Done
4. Give a brief story of how your blog started. Will do
5. Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers. Okay
6. Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog. Done
7. Attach the award badge to the post (right click and save, then upload.) Done
8. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them. Will do

How it all started

I’m blogging now for almost a year and it truly has been an amazing experience. I’ve played with the idea of starting a blog for years. Actually I guess from the moment we moved to Australia and I realized that there is such a thing as blogging. But then our second child was born and life got pretty busy. The idea of blogging kind of disappeared again. A bit of a shame as I actually always missed writing.

A little while into our stay in Down Under I met a beautiful American woman who became a friend of mine and started an expat blog on WordPress shortly before they left back to the US. It was then when blogging got back to my mind. Again though I didn’t pick it up. I thought that I needed a clear idea of what I was going to write about. An idea I simply didn’t have.

There was so much going through my mind. I moved from all the way over there to all the way over here. Up Over to Down Under as I usually call it. I had so many things to say about this experience but not enough to make my blog an expat blog. After all I never really felt like a typical expat. We were never really considering to move back or move to another country after only a short time. So was I still an expat? Could I honestly call my blog an expat blog? Not really, at least not only.

Then I was a woman, a wife and a mom. And that opens up so many layers to write about. But I’m also a rather private person. I would never blog about details of my relationship with my husband. And there were also no issues to write about. I had plenty to say about being a mom. And of course the homeschooling of our children gave me even more thoughts to share.

Back then I thought I need that niche to fit in. And that kept me from starting blogging way earlier.

It was a year ago that I decided to just do it. This is my life. It’s how I live it and it’s what I can talk about. My thoughts. And I really love sharing them. So I jumped into the cold water only to find out that the water was actually not as cold as I expected it to be. What I found was an amazing community, inspiring people and an exchange that I really don’t want to miss anymore. A Momma’s View was born and I found my way back into writing.

Today I’m very close to reach my goal I set for the end of this calendar year. I was hoping to hit the 50’000 views mark by end of December. And guess what? Right now I’m just 778 views away from this mark! How amazing is that? I never thought that I would reach a number like that… And for sure not in my first year blogging. It’s amazing into what this blog has developed. I’ve mentioned it in one of my last posts. In a way it’s like a child. You kind of expect how the development might go but then there are always surprises.

Not sure if I’m experienced enough to give tips just yet. But if you would really ask me for advice, then this is what I would tell you:

Just do it. Write about what you want to write about. Share your thoughts and stay true to yourself. Interact with your readers and reach out to new or different blogs. It will inspire you. If you have found a clear niche then good on you, but if you haven’t don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t blog without having a clear niche. I don’t have millions of followers and I’m not making money with my blog but I have 1340 great people who thought my blog would be interesting enough to follow on a regular base. And that makes me happy! Your blog is your space. It’s like your home. You decide what you want to share and your readers are your guest. Guest that you welcome in. They might like your place or they might not. But keep it your place. Because then it will make you happy.

Here are my nominees:

Perspectives on…
Far Beyond The Stars
Silver Lining Mama
Nutsrok
Vancouver Visions
Behind The White Coat
Vanbytheriver
Galesmind
Marilyn Munrow
A.PROMPTreply

I know that some of you are award free or super busy at the moment. Please see this as what it’s meant to be: My recognition for your amazing work and a huge thank you for your support over the last months.