Awards | But I Smile Anyway...

Leibser #4!!!!

17 May 2015 36 Comments

by Ritu in Awards Tags: Awards, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Leibster Award, Thankful

Oh Me oh my! I am Leibster Award accepting AGAIN!

The lovely Vasantha nominated me again, on Friday but due to the craziness of my interview, and subsequent good news, I hadn’t had a chance to actually accept! But accept, I do, as always!

Awarded 15/5/15

Rules for the award as usual :

Thank the nominating blogger.
Display the award in a blog entry.
Answer questions from the nominating blogger.
Nominate your blogger friends for the award.
List the award guidelines so your nominees will know what to do.
Give your nominees questions to answer.

My questions from Vasantha are:

Who has the biggest influence on you? My parents are by far the biggest influence on my life!
What do you like and dislike about blogging? I love to write, and know that there are people out there enjoying what I have produced, and to read others amazing posts too! My dislike is that I never have enough time!!!
What do you think of India? I have visited several parts, including Delhi, The Punjab, and Mumbai, and I have enjoyed it there, but I still my old England!
What would you dislike in my blog? Absolutely nothing as it is personal to you! ❤
What is your best kept secret? Now, if I told you, it would be very well kept, would it! ;P
One line advice for new bloggers. Be yourself, and don’t be afraid!

My nominees are…

A Cat For A Smile
Skipah’s Realm
Flimsy Soul
All Things Chronic
Buffalo Tom Peabody

~And My questions for you ….

In what way has your blogging changed since you started?
Which blogger do you admire the most?
What has been your most embarrassing moment to date?
Can you dance?
Which song sticks in your head, whenever you hear it, for hours?
Is there a place you would like to visit that you haven’t been to already?

Please don’t feel obliged to accept, but do let me know if you do so I can check your answers out!

Versatile Mommy Blogger Award!

10 May 2015 16 Comments

by Ritu in Awards Tags: Awards, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Mother, Mothers Day, mum, Thankful, Versatile Mommy Blogger

A little twist on the regular Versatile Blogger award by Silver Lining Mama on this special day!

As its Mother’s Day, she requested her readers to nominate favourite mum related blogs in the comments section for this adapted version of the award!

So the rules, as usual, which I will adapt…

THE AWARD RULES

Thank the person who gave you this award, and the person who nominated you in that post, and include a link to their blog.
Proudly display the adapted award image on your post and blog!
Next, ~~select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly~~ ask your readers to nominate a favourite mommy blog in the comments!
Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Mommy Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself as a mother.

So firstly, thank you so much, Silver Linings Mama, for this adapted award! 😊

And secondly, but just as importantly, thank you to Ann from Grubbs’n’Critters for nominating me via the comments section!

Both these wonderful ladies have amazing blogs, mommy related, and otherwise!!! Please be sure to check em out!

7 Mommy-Related Facts About Me

I am a proud mummy to 2 human munchkins, one fur baby, and feel like a mummy to many kids I have taught, and sometimes to Hubby Dearest too!
It was a long, tough journey to become a mum, if you would like, read about it here.
I have the most amazing role models! Check them out here!
I love my kids to bits! But, like many mums out there, there are days I could throttle them! But I don’t, obviously!! I wish I could say that I sit serenely, and let the chaos pass, but sadly no, I end up becoming a banshee!
My house is a tip, but my kids are happy, and that’s all that matters to me!
I cherish the moments when my children, growing up so fast, revert to baby, and want a cuddle, on my lap!
These kids have been my inspiration for so many posts, and they’ve been my reason for being on many occasions. I feel blessed to have them!

And to start the nominations off…

I would like to nominate Trish of 10 Years A Single Mom as she is a great blogger, a great mum, and has been going it alone for the last few years!

I’ll notify anyone nominated in the comments, so please do nominate!!!

A poem to finish the acceptance off…

A mother’s love is never ending

Full of nurture, care and tending

A love so pure and innocent

It warms the heart for whom it’s meant

We’d give our lives for those little souls

That made our incomplete selves into wholes

Blessed I am, to be a mother

To experience this love, like no other.

Ritu 2015

And finally, wishing all those celebrating today, a Happy Mothers Day! Embrace your position!
We all need a mother, we all came from one, some ‘mums’ are not those from which we were born, some mothers journey fell short of the finish line, but they are still mums too, they still dreamt of that future baby, before God took it early…
Thinking of all those mothers too, who need an extra hug today…
and Mother’s Day wishes winging their way upwards to those mothers waiting in the clouds, taken from us, to mother those angels above.

The Versatile Blogger Award

08 May 2015 38 Comments

by Ritu in Awards Tags: Acceptance, Awards, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Humble, Thankful, Versatile Blogger

Awoke to another nomination!

Thank you so much to Tony Burgess for my nomination this time! I am so grateful! Please check out Tony’s great blog too!!

The Versatile Blogger Award rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
2. Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
3. Next, select blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link back to the post on your site announcing their nomination.
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated you, seven facts about you

I’ll start with my 7 facts… The hardest thing to think of, as I seem to have done a fair few!!

I have a problem with being touched on my neck…. I think it stems back to when I was born with the cord wrapped around it, 3 times!
I have an unhealthy obsession with stationery!
I love to dress up!…. But I hate to dress up…. If that makes sense! On a normal day, makeup does not touch my skin, but if there is an occasion, I love playing with the colours on my face!
I used to help some of my cousins get ready for their wedding days painting their bindis on their foreheads. And helping with hair. One cousin had short fine hair, so we bulked it up using…. A pair of (new) socks!! Yes, socks! Imagine her hubby’s shock to see her letting her hair down, on their wedding night, and seeing a sock or two roll out!!
I love to tell stories. A captive audience of children is all I need, and recently, I have been asked, at school, to read to the whole of the lower school, around 120 children! It’s exhilarating!
My daughter is a mini me, and my son is a mini his daddy!
I have now succumbed, and have to grudgingly say that yes, I do like One Direction songs, after being forced to listen to them for the last few weeks by Lil Princess!

And my nominees!

The Bespectacled Mother
Waffle Me This
London Kind And Funny
The Daydreamer
Ujima Magazine

Please don’t feel obliged to accept, but if you do, let me know, so I can read your facts too!

Thunderbolts And Lightning!!!

08 May 2015 38 Comments

by Ritu in Awards Tags: Awards, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Encouraging Thunder, Humbled, Thank you!

Woah there! A new one on my shelf!!!

Well, first off, I have to give HUGE thanks to the gorgeously cute Rob, of The V-Pub blog, for this generous nomination!

The Rules:

Post it on your blog.

Grant other bloggers the award.

What you cannot do:

Abuse or misuse the logo.

Claim that it is your own handmade logo.

What you should do after receiving the Encouraging Thunder Award:

Enjoy the award!

At least give thanks via comments, likes and/or mentioning the blog that you received the award from.

Mention your purpose in blogging .
Who to pass Thunder onto…….?

I truly love certain blogs and there are a few which stick out in my mind, as they have been there since my humble beginnings, through to my humble-still, now!

Cats At The Bar
The Happy Lifeaholic
10 Years A Single Mom
HaRsH ReAlItY
Chris, The Story Reading Ape

My Purpose In Blogging
What is my purpose in blogging?
Well, I love words, for a start. Reading them, writing them, and learning about them. It was an ambition for me to write a book … Any book. I started a novel, I’ve written some poetry based children’s stories… But it hasn’t gone any further, and in my life, there was not much place for my literary dreams to go anywhere.
Then I discovered blogging, quite by accident!
A friend started a blog to air some issues in her past, and clear her mind, and in order for me to comment, it tempted me to sign in, or sign up…. And so I did!
All of a sudden this blog was born. What I wanted it for I had no idea!
Slowly, I wrote different things, from my life, to creative, to opinions, humour, and not forgetting Sonu Singh!
The encouragement I received over the last 6 months, from the blogs above, and so many others, made my pen (read fingers!) flow, and so But I Smile Any way was born.
My blog has allowed me to reminisce, make you laugh, think, go ‘Awww!’ and given me the opportunity to meet and build relationships with fellow blog-pals around the world!
I thank you all for giving me the inspiration to continue to write, and maybe that lifelong dream of mine, to be published… Might even come true too!

Time To Get My Pinny Out! Real Neat Blog Award!

04 May 2015 25 Comments

by Ritu in Awards Tags: Awards, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging

Awarded 4/5/15

The Rules:

1) Put the award logo on your blog.
2) Answer the questions asked by the person who nominated you.
3) Thank the people who nominated you, linking to their blogs.
4) Nominate any number of bloggers you like, linking to their blogs.
5) Let them know you nominated them (by commenting on their blog etc.)

So I will start by the award logo at the top of my post!

And my thanks will come next..

Thank you to Joeyfully Stated for the most appreciated nomination!

Questions for me to answer

1. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

I think one of the most touching would be that I am a wonderful mother, closely followed by a little child telling me I am her best teacher ever! Children are so important to me, that being a mother, and becoming a teacher, were always going to figure in my life somehow, and getting compliments for both of these things mean the world to me !

2. What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

My life motivates me in general! I want to wake up to get my children ready for their day, and I want to rush to work to get ready for the children at school too!

If I have a day off, I am not motivated to get up because I want to spend the time cuddled up with my Hubby Dearest!

3. What fictional character did you most identify with when you were a child?

I loved Alice in Wonderland, and would have loved to have been her…, but not because I identified with her… because of her adventures! I’m not sure I actually identified with any specific character when I was young!

My Nominees

Homemade Naturally
Down Home Thoughts
Encouraging Life
Kitt Noir
All Things Chronic

Questions for my Nominees