Sunshine all around.

My first blog award -- how cool is that! I found out through a comment left on a recent blog post and was pleasantly surprised to find that Angie over at Angie's Ad Lib has awarded me a Sunshine Award. Thanks, Angie -- how fun! And thanks for the shoutout about my blog in your post!

To quote Angie: The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world.

Below are the rules for accepting this award:

* Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
* Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
* Link the nominees within your post.
* Let the nominees know they have received the award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to the person whom you received this award from.

All righty then! These are 12 of the blogs that make me smile and make me think and give me a sense of community. As you will see, a strong thread of everyday life runs through my choices -- because I really do look at most blogs as a way of connecting with people in a world where I no longer have time to do so in person.

Consider yourselves recipients of the Sunshine Award, my blogging friends!

1. My cousin, Karen, over at Bensrib. While we are certainly different in many ways, we do share a similar sense of humor, she and I. After about 30 years apart, it's been great fun getting to know her again and finding the many ways that we great-great-great-granddaughters of Mouga Schouch (long story - read my post!) are alike.

2. Joyce over at From this side of the pond. Joyce is someone I'd like to sit down and have coffee with on a regular basis. She's intelligent, witty, and her posts very often make me think. I have also enjoyed the glimpses into her family life -- her relationship with her daughters reminds me of mine with my own.

3. Carrie at Reading to Know. I read a lot, and while Carrie and I have differing tastes, I appreciate reading her reviews. I participated in her Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge last month, which was great fun!

4. The Lumberjack's Wife. She has a way with words -- I often laugh out loud at her posts.

5. Carpool Queen -- I've laughed and been touched by turns through her posts about everyday life.

6. Lid at 2nd Cup of Coffee. I love doing the weekly meme known as The Random Dozen, which is like having coffee with your online friends once a week. And Lid's take on everyday life is pretty funny, too!

7. Susanne at Living to Tell. Susanne hosts the weekly Friday Fave Five, wherein we list five of our favorite things about the week that is just ending. This is another linkup meme, where you can visit around with your blogging friends -- the virtual coffee klatch. What I like most about this one, though, is the way that it fosters an attitude of gratitude -- something that is increasingly rare in this cynical and desperate world that we live in. And... Susanne takes some awesome photographs!

8. Christy at Where I Am is one of my heroes: funny, honest, perceptive, and a great friend!

9. Ruth at Live in it then! Five Cents please. is an old friend whom I've never met in person but with whom I've had an online relationship fo over 10 years now. Her posts range from hilariously funny to fairly scathing (when she's feeling somewhat curmudgeonly) -- and I enjoy each and every one of them for their bold honesty!

10. Susan at Learning for Lifetime has challenged me on more than one occasion with some of her posts. She really thinks through her spiritual life. She is also the mother of a few boys -- a situation that I came to myself, later in life after raising a girl. Posts like this one just crack me up.

11. Southlakesmom at I Didn't Know That! takes some great photographs and makes her everyday life sound very interesting.

12. Last but by no means least is Angie herself at Angie's Ad Lib. Thanks for the award, Angie!

Okay, award recipients -- your turn to spread the Sunshine around!

- Catherine