A Sweet Surprise

A Few days ago I received an email from one of my biggest heros Penny Thomas. I met her a few years ago at an SU Convention. My first Convention to be exact. My upline had talked about her on the plane while traveling to SLC, and said she is a real sweetheart. Well Penny is that and more! She surprised me with my first blog award:

I think I blushed a little. I said to myself, "An award? Little ol' me? What do I do now? Who do I thank? (Well Penny Of COURSE!) What shall I wear?" Penny dear, Thank you for this wonderful award, and finding my blog inspiring. As the receiver of this award I am supposed to share 8 things about myself with you, and list 8 blogs that inspire me everyday. OK, are you ready?? Here it goes :

1.) My Mom is one of my best friends. She IS all that and a bag of chips! She makes me laugh, shares my love of crafting with me, and is always there when I need her. (HI MOM!!!!!)

2.) I OBSESS over a clean house, almost to a fault. I need horizontal surfaces, and books on shelves. A clean palette for my kids to mess up again.

3.) I CAN NOT and WILL NOT make it one day with out coffee or chocolate. Resistance is futile in my eyes! And to put the record straight, if the coffee and the chocolate are together there is nothing holding me back! *wink*

4.) I love to cook and bake. A long time ago I had wanted to be a pastry chef, but life took me in other directions. Now I just bake because it goes so well with my coffee!

5.) After 11 years, I am still madly in love with my husband, Tim. My heart still skips a beat when he is near me.(Especially when he is holding a delivery from Stampin' Up! HA! )

6. Thanks to my husband I am a Locksmith. (We have a locksmith business)

7. I  really like to do the laundry.  No problem! But putting it away when it's done is a completely different job in my book.

8. I do all my own stunts. (Do you know how hard that really is?)

Whew.... Are ya still with me?? Thanks for hanging in there!  Finally, the good stuff, the blogs that I find inspiring and visit on a regular basis are : in no particular order - Penny Thomas  - as a demonstrator that has made Founder's circle 3 times, she inspires me to give it my best! I wish I didn't live so far away from this truly sweet and incredible woman! (It must be something in that family because her sister Pam D'Urso is just as sweet as can be too!) Brandi Wiggins-Cote' -Her card making and scrapping style is SO funky and fresh! She inspires me with all the awesome pictures she takes of her boys, and reminds me to write those little moments down. Amy Sheffer - Gosh where do I start, her work is out of this world! She really inspires me to think outside the box. Kelly Lunceford - When I first started stamping, and lurking around Splitcoaststampers, her art work jumped out at me, and I fell in love with her incredible style, and I still feel the same way today, Krystie Lee - She has such a clean and free style. She inspires me to get back to the basics, paper and ink. Splitcoaststampers - Well, it's not a blog really. I have to admit, that is where all the inspiration started for me. There has not been a day for as long as I can remember, that I have not gone through the gallery and not find someones/everyones work AWE inspiring. I feel the same way about Stampin' Connection (demo only site) - Just AWE inspiring everyday! I honestly and truly do not need to go anywhere else for inspiration than there! You can google search any of the above mentioned names, and see for yourself why I find these ladies, and places full of inspiration. :)