I don’t know who started this. Quite frankly, I was amazed to get the nod this week from not only one, but two bloggers participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Thanks so much to Minette Roidan and Patty Farmer for citing this strategic marketing, writing ideas and sales tips blog as a favorite. If anyone knows who is due credit for creating the Fabulous Blog Award idea, please do tell in the comments below. I’d like to recognize them for this initiative.

That said, I’m not usually one to get gushy sharing a lot of personal life tidbits to a public audience, but would be a total schmuck if I didn’t respond to this kindness by paying it forward. So here goes . . .

Rules for the Fabulous Blog Award:

1. Thank the blogger who gave it to you and share the link back to the awarding blog.
2. Name 5 fabulous moments in your life.
3. Name 5 things that you love.
4. Name 5 things you hate.
5. Pass the award to 5 deserving bloggers.

Five Fabulous moments in my life:

1. Buying my first horse. He was nuts and almost sent numerous Pony Club parents to the hospital (near collisions, heart palpitations witnessing his behavior, etc.) but he changed the course of my life forever. Plus I really loved him.
2. Being selected as the National NAWBO Chapter Public Policy Advocate of the Year (2000). I don’t know why this touched me so deeply, but it did. I shook for hours in excitement after receiving word. Perhaps it was because I was so passionate about small business advocacy.
3. Landing my first paid public speaking gig. I just couldn’t believe an organization would be willing to pay me to speak (and feed me and lodge me and let me talk about my business to attendees turned clients). What a rush – and an experience I’ll remember forever as an ah-ha moment and a career builder.
4. Witnessing the birth of the first foal at the farm. It’s a feeling beyond words.
5. Getting married on a hillside in Vermont. We made a holiday weekend of it and enjoyed friends and family for three days of breathtaking views and sentiments during some unseasonably warm fall weather.

Five Things that I love:

1. Spending time in the vegetable garden – getting dirt under my fingernails and a vigorous workout while watching the plants I tendered from birth, so to speak, blossom and then provide delectable treats.
2. Listening to water – whether it’s ocean waves crashing (fond memories from childhood at my grandmother’s place), a brook bubbling over rocks or the quiet peace of a river flowing, there’s just something about water that offers a spiritual journey.
3. A long, slow, quiet ride on a horse I trust. Being out in nature with the communication powers only an equine can give – to you as the passenger and the wildlife surrounding to have no fear – is a cathartic experience.
4. My family and close friends who I know would be there for me no matter what.
5. Cool, clear, starry nights – there’s nothing quite like a gentle, crisp breeze and beautifully red, yellow and white star-speckled sky after a hot, hazy day. Listening to the world go to sleep as the noises from the birds, frogs, bugs and evening animals slowly get quieter and then silent, then gazing above at a spectacular light show is incredible.

Five Things that I Hate:

1. Bugs – all bugs, even the beneficial ones these days. I’m waging war with the swarms that have descended on my garden, the bees that are boring holes in my buildings and those going after me and the horses with a vengeance. Holistic aside, I’m ready to reach for the manufactured poisons.
2. Humidity – no idea what’s going on in this area lately with the weather, but the humid conditions make winter feel so much colder and summer sweltering. What I’d give for a stretch of only 60% humidity.
3. Dishonesty. Don’t get me started.
4. Getting lost while driving. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than going in circles and still not finding my way. Guess that’s not just limited to driving :-).
5. Layups with injuries. I’m not very good at sitting still and even worse at being dependent on others.

Five Very Deserving Bloggers!

I’m going to spotlight only bloggers participating in the current UBC as I suspect that’s the intent of this initiative. There are some super ones I’ve discovered here anyway, so imagine others will enjoy checking them out. At some point in the future I will spotlight some of the better writing/marketing/sales blogs I’ve found.

1. Amy Putkonin – An unexpected find and a real treat. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the Tao Te Ching. Amy’s picking it apart with small verse snippets and her personal reactions to interpreting the meaning. It’s a nice daily dose of insight for reflection.
2. Jan Kearney – Jan has a wealth of knowledge and a generous heart. I was extremely impressed with her reaction to one of my comments – a complete tutorial providing me with the keys to fixing a challenge I was having with Google. Each post on her blog provides great tips on being more effective with online marketing (and a slew of other things). No need to be focused on a local market to glean tips from her wisdom.
3. Alan Miles – Alan’s doing an interesting thing with his blog right now – he’s ruminating and sharing ‘live’ developments as he puts himself out there day-to-day building a business from scratch in hopes it serves as a template for future success. He’s also a talented networking artful at being everywhere with the UBC and worth watching.
4. Hannah Roderick – I think this gal is a relative newbie to blogging, but she’s doing a super job (although have had some issues loading her website, so suspect she’s using imagines at a much higher resolution than need be – guilty here too – always learning), but she provides a good mix of ideas and resources to keep your creative juices (and most recently salivary ones) flowing.
5. It’s a tie for 5^th as I’d be remiss if I didn’t include some of the fellow equine enthusiasts in this list. Check out Laurie Fredrika Higgins for great Pilates wisdom and Laura Kelland-May if you have always dreamed of a perspective direct from the judge’s mouth.

I’m having so much fun participating in the UBC. I’ve discovered some great blogs I never would have found otherwise. The people are supportive and inspiring. Looks like I’ll even have a few clients out of the mix. Plus it’s provided some great incentive to bulk up a new blog with useful content. I’ve even enjoyed some super mentoring on the way from members kind enough to reach out and share their wisdom freely. How can you beat that for a first-time experience?