Very Inspiring Blogger Award – who? me?!

Last week, I was pleasantly surprised by a comment left behind on my blog by Michelle from Inspiring the Girls nominating me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Being the curious cat I am, I tried to find the origins of this award. Instead, I found plenty of other bloggers who have been awarded (or tagged) with this award. And just like the search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, no one has been able to find the origin of this award. Despite this, I do love the concept of the award, hence I have decided to continue on with it. The ‘rules’ to getting tagged with this award are as follows:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who awarded you.
3. State seven things about yourself. (this will be fun!)
4. This next point I’ve seen varies from blogger to blogger, but the gist is to present this award to other bloggers you think are deserving of it. Link them in your blog post about your ‘win’ and leave them a comment on their blog alerting them to how inspiring you think their blog is!

Seven things about myself:

1. I grew up in Singapore. Funny enough, not many people know this because everyone assumes I was born in Aus because of my English fluency and accent. Did you know that English is the first language in Singapore? Yep. You guys got jibbed! I have been living, breathing, studying, reading, writing English since I can remember – just like you. (hehe)
2. I am an avid bookworm when I was growing up. I have been known to chuck an tanty for not going to bed because I wanted to finish my book.
3. Following on from that, I’ve been writing stories since I was in primary school too. I always got bad grades for my story writing in English (I don’t know why!) but look at me now!
4. Disney movies are my achilles heel. If I’m having a bad day, I will grab a Disney movie and snuggle in bed with it. There are not many Disney movies I don’t shed a tear to.
5. My family are my rock. I am incredibly close to my family. There were many times in our lives when all we had were each other and it brings me great comfort to know that we are still discovering who each other are as an individual rather than a set role (parental figure/sister etc.). I think it makes a world of a difference to how we get along. I’m proud to say they’re all wonderful people.
6. I’ve always considered myself as a bit of an outsider. All throughout school I was a bit of a loner, so it kinda just stuck. Despite being shy, once I get comfortable with the people I’m around with, my inner social butterfly flutters a bit more.
7. I love eating. My philosophy with food is that if it’s going to mess with my sugars or my tummy, it better be well worth it!

Seven Very Inspiring Bloggers to me:

• Unimelb Adventures – A blog recently started by my sister, sharing her university experiences and helping others out. Brilliance in simplicity. She inspires me because I have never met another person with so much passion for teaching others using funny animal memes.
  
• What Diabetes Should Call Me – Granted, this is technically not a blog but a tumblr, I love it! I visit it almost daily and have a great laugh from all the gifs. This tumblr inspires me because I appreciate people who make others laugh.
• Sultanas and Vegemite – A fantastic blog from a freelance journalist. (huge respect for this, and why she’s my inspiration!) I love reading about the things Shannon has gotten up to – from reviews at bizzarre events to personal stories about her family and friends!
• Diabetogenic – Renza inspires in so many ways – mostly the things she says and writes (on her blog and in private to me) gives me courage and strength to stand up for myself (particularly to healthcare professionals). The advocacy that she does for diabetes has also been a huge inspiration. Not to forget her great taste in food and music. Two thumbs up.
• pancreas4sale – Brooke is a friend I met on diabetes camp. Her blog is all about full-upfront honesty of her life with diabetes. It’s blunt and honest, which causes people to take it in a negative way at times, but I know how hard she tries with her diabetes. The passion she has for helping others with diabetes is my inspiration.
• Thinking Nutrition – Tim was my honours supervisor last year and has been a great mentor to me. He’s my inspiration not only for his great mind in terms of research and nutrition, but his knack of explaining complex things in simple terms as illustrated by his blog. He also has a great sense of humour! (I’m starting to see a theme here with humour!)
• 1000 Awesome Things – I discovered this blog through a friend and was hooked on it in its early days. This blog reminds me to appreciate the small things in life that we often take for granted. I think that’s really important and sometimes very humbling. Neil has since published two books, of which I own one (thanks to a dear friend) and it’s also a small part of my motivation to write my book!