Blog of the Year Award 2012

Oh my!!  I’ve been awarded this lovely Award by Peri at Peri’s Spice Handle.  I am completely surprised, but humbled and greatly honoured as well.  If you have not as yet visited her blog, and you have a love affair similar to my own with India Cuisine, I urge you to rush over as soon as possible.  Her blog is designed to ” add Indian-inspired flavors to everyday favorites and tweak Indian classics for a more global appeal’.  And she does a superb job of  this.  Her recipes are always delicious to eat, but also exact in measure and instructions which makes them a joy to try out.

Peri honored my blog with the following comment which I would like to share with you: “Namaste Jane:) Your site and posts on India thrill my soul. I visited India vicariously thru you this year! Thank you for …being such a great ambassador for India”  Couldn’t ask for more, as this is one of the reasons I continue to write my India Journal.

I have taken a kind of retreat from blogging the past couple of months, and plan to continue this for some time now, and normally would not be accepting this award.  But there is one blog which I feel I MUST present it to and so below please find a link to the rules which govern this award.

And I present it lovingly to Nicole of Cauldrons and Cupcakes.   Her daily posts are a true inspiration to me and would highly recommend you take a look at her wonderful blog.  It is the only one I continue to read daily during this retreat period. (Well, I do continue to check out Peri’s recipes as they come along – but that is not really blogging – that’s treating myself to delicious food!!  🙂  )

Here is the link to the Blog of the Year 2012 “rule page”:

Rules for the Blog of the Year Award

…and my congratulations to YOU Nicole.  I know I am not the first to award this to you, but if anyone deserves the full six, it is most certainly you.

with love light and JOY

Jane

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

I have been honored by Peri, from Peri’s Spice Ladle at http://perisspiceladle.com who has lovingly nominated me for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award. If you have not already met her, I highly recommend checking out her blog. She writes about Indian-inspired Food for the Global Palate and if you love things Indian as much as I do, you will definitely love this blog.  And if you care nothing for things Indian, but love good food, you will also not regret visiting here.  She is creative and ingenious and her recipes are simple to follow and truly delicious to eat.   It is truly a privileged to have been nominated by her. A big big thanks to you dear and to God and the Universe for guiding me to you.

In accepting this award, I must follow the 3 rules.

1. Thank the person who nominated me.

2. Share 7 things about myself.

3. Pass the award to 15 nominees.

So, here are the 7 random things about myself.

1. My greatest joy and blessing during this sojourn on Earth is my family. My 6 amazing children and the extended family of additional sons and daughter-in-law they have brought me, and my 13 wonderful grandchildren ranging in age from 8 months to 18 years!

Me and My Kids – Five daughters, and one son-the “baby”

2. I had the honor and privilege to meet Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo-the first Western woman to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist Nun. This meeting resulted in a powerful but subtle shift in perception for me leading to a “growth spurt” in my life’s journey. You can read about her amazing life story here: Cave in the Snow

You can also find more information about her life’s work, her nunnery, at this website: www.tenzinpalmo.com/

3. I have three loving Guides who have been with me since birth (although I was forced to deny their existence on threat of punishment when I was 7 years old). I reunited with them in my 50’s through a deep meditation practice and they have agreed to publicly reveal my pet names for them since childhood. Kaki, Gee and Chuchibell!!

4. I was blessed to have an audience with HH Dalai Lama in 2001, and the effects of that brief meeting are still rippling through my life to this very day.

5. I love to play computer games rationalizing that they are good for my rapidly aging brain, but how much brain power do you need to play Bubbles?!?!?

6. I love to dance and have been doing it in one way or another since the age of 2. For the past 35 years I have both taught and danced Israeli Folk Dancing-I currently dance 3 times week, each session lasting about 4 hours.

7. My one vanity is painting my fingernails!!

The  blogs I have chosen to nominate, in no particular order are:

http://theblacktwig.wordpress.com/

http://jmkhaprawannatellyouastory.wordpress.com/

http://thinkingiswrite.wordpress.com/

http://ronmayhewphotography.wordpress.com/

http://travelgardeneat.com/

http://travellingbag.wordpress.com/

There are different types of blogs here, photography, travel, food, inspiration…but all are creative, a joy to follow, inspiring and fun.  Hope you will check them out. These blogs continually surprise me with the depth of their ideas, the scope of their interests and their ability to keep me constantly mindful and aware of each and every moment, and to be grateful for all the blessings showered upon me each and every day. They bring greatinsight and JOY into my day, and hope you will also find them of some sort of assistance along your own life’s journey.

With love light and JOY

With Joy and Gratitude – One Lovely Blog Award

One Lovely Blog Award

I have been writing on this blog for over 4 years, and on two previous India Joural Blogs for even longer, and this is the first time I’ve been nominated for an  award.  Now this in itself is not strange and I am extremely honored to receive this award.  What is strange, is that my new, current blog  , Not in India 2012 has been active for only 6 months or so, and has already received 5 awards!!  I can only imagine that it is the nature of this blog, where people find their way here for specific reasons, looking for information about India, Ayurveda, Panchakarma, etc., and are mostly one time readers.  Statistically, there have been over 27,000 hits here (!!), a full ten times as many as on the current blog.  So imagine that most of these ARE one time readers, and that the true fans have found their way to my current blog, and read it regularly.

Which makes this award even more special to me…meaning at least to me, that I have begun to attract “regulars” and this is always a lovely thing to find out.  So thanks so much to you, dear Jofelyn, at  Sleepy Tales and Lucid Dreams for this lovely honor. I highly recommend you check out her lovely blog and find pleasure in her wonderful way of telling a story. I also look forward to seeing as many of you as possible around here for my upcoming sojourn which begins in EXACTLY one month from today!!  🙂

Rules:

Include the blog award logo in your post.

Thank the person who nominated you.

Write 7 things about yourself that know one here knows about you.

Nominate 15 other people, and let them know you have done so.

So…7 things about me:

1.  My greatest joy and blessing during this sojourn on Earth is my family. My 6 amazing children and the extended family of additional sons and daughter-in-law they have brought me, and my 13 wonderful grandchildren (#14 on the way) ranging in age from 1 year to 19 years!  They are all  a fantastic addition to my own life journey and I continue to learn each and every day from each of these very different individual beings.

Me and My Kids – Five daughters, and one son-the “baby”

2. I had the honor and privilege to meet Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo-the first Western woman to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist Nun.  This meeting resulted in a powerful but subtle shift in perception for me  leading to a “growth spurt” in my life’s journey. You can read about her amazing life story here:  Cave in the Snow

You can also find more information about her life’s work, her nunnery, at this website:  www.tenzinpalmo.com/

3.     I have three loving Guides who have been with me since birth (although I was forced to deny their existence on threat of punishment when I was 7 years old). I reunited with them in my 50′s through a deep meditation practice and they  have agreed to publicly reveal my pet names for them since childhood.  Kaki, Gee and Chuchibell!!

4.    I was blessed to have an audience with HH Dalai Lama in 2001, and the effects of that brief meeting are still rippling through my life to this very day.

4a.  I love photography.  I make it a point to be mindful at all times…to really be aware of everything around me wherever I happen to be.  That in itself is a great blessing.  I then love to photograph these mindful moments (hmmm…sounds like a good name for a new blog J )  which allows me to relive these special moments many times over afterwards – and FEEL the moment again-even years later.

5.       I love to play computer games rationalizing that they are good for my rapidly aging brain, but how much brain power do you need to play Bubbles?!?!?

6.       I love to dance and have been doing it in one way or another since the age of 2. For the past 35 years I have both taught and danced Israeli Folk Dancing-I currently dance 3 times  week, each session lasting about 4 hours.

7.     I am a technology freak and really have to work hard to keep myself from spending too many hours a day “playing” with all the new toys available these days

(Hope you didn’t notice I cheated above…. there are actually more than “7” things there!  🙂

And now the hard part:  Choosing just 15 blogs to nominate for this award as well

….there are just so many of you out there, so will try to pass this award along to some at least who I have not yet nominated for other awards, although you are all so amazing and so deserving, each in your own very special way!

http://threedeelife.com/

http://crystalmoons.wordpress.com/  Into the Heart

http://heartwhispers.co.uk/ Whispers of the Heart

http://insearchofperfect.com/

http://perisspiceladle.com/  Indian-inspired Food for the Global Palate. If you love anything Indian, or simply love wonderful food, Peri’s  blog is a MUST!

http://professionsforpeace.com/  You don’t have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body. Gina writes: My…goal of each day is to remember how loved I am and to share that love outwardly. She most certainly succeeds with her blog.

http://iseeiwriteiam.wordpress.com/

http://johncoyote.wordpress.com poetry story and real life

http://momentumofjoy.com/ where spirituality meets reality

http://theblacktwig.wordpress.com A drifter off to see the world

http://dranilj1.wordpress.com/  life is mysterious

http://phranqueigh.wordpress.com/  words/love

http://idolanuel.com   To Be Aware

http://hillsofherchastity.wordpress.com/   Maxima

http://cauldronsandcupcakes.com/  Everything about this blog is Divinely inspired creativity!! I love all things magical, and I am sure that cupcakes have healing qualities! This is one of the things Nicole says on her About page.  Her blog is not to be missed.  From things spiritual, inspirational and amazingly informative, to the most superb recipes you can imagine…and SO much more…please do check out this blog

http://soulsbyfarm.wordpress.com/about/ Sustainable Farming, Permaculture, Gardening and Homesteading in Ohio –fascinating blog-extremely well written

http://maggiesonebuttkitchen.wordpress.com – There is no way you can see the photos of the food without having your mouth water and then trying out the recipes. And her food is full of love so it is of course delicious!

http://mylifemystuff.wordpress.com/about/  Home remedies, Yoga, Thoughts on India and so much more…worth exploring

Namaste

and much love light and JOY to all

Jane