Stylish Blogger Award

I have been blessed by my dear friend and Christian sister Andrea Perdue at Arise to Write with this wonderful award for my blog! She is such an amazing woman -- and truly stylish! She has "been there" for me through thick and thin and I am so blessed to call her my friend.

A part of receiving this award is sharing seven things about myself, so here goes:

1) I have been married for over 3 decades to the most wonderful man in the world. Not only is he patient, tolerant and loving, he is the genuinely nicest person I have ever known--just a "plain old good guy."

2) My children have grown into incredible young adults - in spite of all the mistakes I surely made - Daughter is 26 today, son is 22.

3) I have 3 younger sisters and 1 younger brother through biology and a brother and sister who became part of our family through the foster care system.

4) I have found that life is a little easier over over a good cup of coffee or a great glass of wine.

5) I long for the time to read and write for several hours every day--at the beach.

6) The imprint of God's grace is all over my life. Unfortunately, I forget that all too often.

7) I believe ardently, completely and absolutely in the power of prayer.

I have been "out of the loop" in the bloggy world for quite a while. One woman who has been a true "cheerleader" and encourager since the day I met her is Jewel Williams at Jeweled Ministries.

A "new" friend and kindred spirit, Helen Phillips, owns the blog, Transformed by the Journey.

I hope you'll stop by both of these blogs - these women have some powerful testimony, wisdom and knowledge to share. You will be enriched and uplifted, I promise.

Blessings on your journey,

Mary

I'm a busy frugal bee!

It's official! My frugal living blog, Just Be Frugal, is up and running! I'm very excited and have already had a wonderful response! My friend, Andrea, gave me the idea for the "busy bee" which pretty much describes me, and my friend, Edie, did the amazing blog design.



Buzz on over to Just Be Frugal! Then, stop by Andrea's blogs, Arise 2 Write and All God's Creatures. Check out Edie's design blog and her personal blog.

I'll be posting frugal living tips, ideas and suggestions from personal experience and from other frugal friends. I'd love to have your own suggestions and I'll even feature your ideas on the blog!

This blog will link directly to my columns at examiner.com, Richmond Frugal Family and Richmond Working Moms so there will be lots of opportunities to learn and share about how to live a frugal lifestyle, based on biblical principles and help each other learn and grow together on the journey.

Just be frugal:=)

Blessings on your journey,
Mary

Neno's Award

My precious friend, Andrea sent me this award. To say she is a true sister of the heart, doesn't begin to explain the connection we instantly felt! She has taught me so much about being true to myself and being genuine--by how she lives her own life and how she encourages me. She is one of God's blessings upon my life.



Neno's award is given to those who love blogging, love to encourage friendships through blogging, and who help others seek the reasons why we all love blogging. I have met so many wonderful people through blogging and I am so excited to pass this along.

I do, indeed, love to blog, love to encourage friendships through this amazing feat of technology called blogging, and rejoice at every opportunity to shine the light of love through Christ into this world.

If you share this same connection with other bloggers, grab this award and spread the love:-)

Blessings on your journey,
Mary

The "Love Ya" Award

I got this award from Andrea, at Arise 2 Write. She's an amazing friend and one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I know. She is a true encourager and I am honored to be her friend.

The "Love Ya" Award states:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Karlene @ JoyfulScribe has a heart for Jesus and for those who are hurting.

Karlene @ Heart and Soul gets a second award because this is the blog that demonstrates the huge leap of faith she took in her writing this year:-)

Jodi @ Walking in Prayer is exploring and sharing her call to be a prayer warrior.

Julie @ The Surrendered Scribe is an encourager who shares the powerful word of God prolifically.

Tami @ The Next Step is a multi-talented writer, musician, women's ministry leader and more!

Angela @ Becoming Me is an amazing mom, wife, friend and encourager with a heart for Christ.

Lindylou @ Walking Through Womanhood bravely shares her journey with other women to encourage and uplift them.

Lisa @ Extravagant Grace offers so much encourage and opportunities to grow in knowledge of the Word of God.

There are so many others who are deserving of this award! These are the women who came to mind this afternoon. Each of them has much to offer and you will indeed be blessed by each of them.

It's to find the time to read every blog, every day, but every time I stop by, I am so glad I did!