A Boost

It's been a really nutty week. I've been battling the holiday blues, and dodging the tww crazies. Seeing this incredibly sweet post and getting the Valued Blogger award from Meg over at No Oven for the Bun, absolutely made my day. Thank you so much Meg, I wish I could give this award right back to you. Because I truly value our friendship. You are one amazing woman.

Here are the rules:

1.Tell your readers how your journey into blogging began. Be as verbose or as shy as you'd like.

2.Pick 3 - 5 fellow bloggers whom you adore and write what exactly you value about that person or their blog. The more you write about them the better. This is a chance to really show your appreciation to your blog friends who have been there for you through thick and thin.

3. Let the blessed winners know they have been awarded!

Here it goes:

1. How my bloggy days came to be:

Okay I'm going to be completely honest here. The first month we tried and I found out I wasn't pregnant completely broke my heart. It was Brian's birthday. And I remember feeling crushed because I was so sure it was going to happen on our first try, and I had 6 years of public school sex education to back up my theory. IF YOU HAVE SEX YOU'RE GOING TO GET PREGNANT, they said. I was just so sure it would happen quickly for us.... Soon after that Go.ogle fever hit me, and I came across Redbo.ok's Infertility Diaries. There was this uber funny chick named Jennepper who had a blog. A blog... What is a blog? I wondered. So I quickly went to my new best friend Goog.le, and found their blogger site. And I instantly knew it was something I should have. I needed an outlet. We hadn't told a single soul that we were trying and I just had to get my frustrations out somewhere. For the first eight or nine months, I kept it completely private - Brian was the only one who read it. Once I made it public and started getting a few comments, I still didn't realize that there was a whole other world of IF blogs out there. The more blogs I found the better I began to handle things. Now I think a blog is something everyone should have. I can hardly imagine functioning without it.

2. I hereby value the following bloggers listed in no particular order!:

A. Jessica at Dreams of a Baby - Oh, Jessica. Jessica is so fricken sweet. I really value her good nature, and warmth. Unfortunately she's been pretty close to keeping up with me in terms of number of IUI's completed (just one behind). We've been very much on the same page as far as emotional status goes as well. I'm really grateful to have found her blog, and even more grateful that she found mine - because her comments always tend to give me the reassurance I was looking for. She's having a tough time coming to terms with the fact that they may need to move on to IVF, so please go give her some love when you get a chance.

B. Jendeis at Sell Crazy Some Place Else - Not only does she love hockey, but she can quote from 'Friends'. Okay seriously, I really value her sense of humor and lightheartedness on her blog. Jendeis always manages to leave a comforting comment whilst simultaneously cracking me up. Her blog is awesome, and I admire the honesty that resonates in each and every post. If only we lived closer so we could hook up for a Caps or Sharks game. (The Caps will be in San Jose on Dec 30th!!!) She is currently undergoing Donor IUI's like moi, and I'm crossing everything in hopes that neither of us has to do many more.

C. Nikki at Our Roller Coaster Ride Through Infertility - Simply put, Nikki is amazing. An amazing writer, an amazing friend. Just amazing. I think the thing I value most about Nikki is her strength and empathy. She's been through one of the roughest rides from IF that I have witnessed and yet always rallies to dish out support to others. Nikki and her husband are currently pursuing adoption, after a very long and heroic battle to have a biological child of their own. Where ever that child might be at this very moment, is soon to hit the parental jackpot. I cannot imagine a them finding a better home. Some day, some way Nikki.

Okay I could seriously list like 15 more bloggers but I have to get my butt to a dinner with a few other local bloggers who kick major ass! (More to come on that!)