Get ready for a fly-by week on The Happiness Project!  Today I want to say thank you to the writers who bestowed me with some great blogging awards and tell you about this Friday’s upcoming Milestone Party!

First, a big BIG thank you to Amanda Rudd and Gene Lempp who both nominated me for a Versatile Blog Award.  Amanda and Gene are such awesome writers, readers, and friends that I am very honored to share this award with them.  Amanda is, like me, an example of persistence, and a very encouraging and charming woman.  Gene is irritatingly smart about how to set goals and I credit him for getting my nose to the grindstone.

Thank you immensely to all my readers, I wouldn’t be doing this without you!  Well, I might, but it wouldn’t be nearly as fun or filled with potential learning opportunities.  I’m so humbled to share my day with you and get to know so many of you through your writing, your projects, and of course YOUR COMMENTS-my fave!

     Another BIG thank you to Marcia Richards for naming me a recipient of the Liebster Blog Award.  Liebster is a german word for Friend, and coming from my Life List Club co-founder, I can definitely say Marcia is a great friend.  She’s got the creativity and energy of a toddler chewing espresso beans and at the same time comes off as the wise fairy godmother of all things chocolate and life lessons.  Marcia, thank you for being my sound board.  I love bouncing ideas around with you!

Part of receiving such honorary awards is presenting them to others you feel deserve them.  The Versatile Blogger Award is for bloggers that are able to write about a broad range of topics with talent and enthusiasm.  I must recognize the writing works of Catie Rhodes, who is a woman after my own heart with her posts that range from the paranormal to films from the 80’s-90’s.  For starting her own blog not too long ago, Catie has it figured out!

I also award the Versatile Blogger Award to Ellie Ann Soderstrom, another new blogger who regales her readers with fascinating tales of mythological creatures and fairtytales as well as stories about why her husband is so annoying.  And if you comment, she may make up a story for you with the character name of your choice.  Ellie Ann is pure fun!

The Liebster Award is for bloggers I consider a true friend.  There are two people that stick out in my mind who have come to my writer’s rescue and shared their own stories with the world which I always think is a brave and self-aware act.  I present this award to Mark Petruska and Renee Schuls-Jacobson.

Mark is my guy, he keeps me in the know on what’s happening in Portland, Oregon, a city I visited 2 years ago and fell in love with.  Lately, Mark’s been on some trips of his own and really grown in the past year.  He recently fell in love!  *communal Awwww*  And with this year of change, Mark’s been sharing more about his life with us, and I couldn’t be happier for all he’s accomplished, including his decision to self-publish!

Renee wrote a post called When Writers Meltdown where she was so honest about how we all judge ourselves and think we’re never doing enough.  I was SO in that moment then, and Renee not only reached out to me via comments, but did so with e-mail and twitter too.  She wanted me to know I was not alone, and that she knew exactly how I felt.  What better definition of friend is there than that?

There’s more fun to be had this Friday with the Life List Club‘s Milestone Party!  Be sure to come back and comment this weekend while each of us shares an update of our goals and YOU can win a shot at several LLC giveaways!  Share your own successes and learning moments with us.  We’ll all be offering goodies to win and cyber treats and playing our kind of party music.  I’m thinking…CeCe Peniston.  You?