Blogger Recognition Award

I feel very honoured and excited to receive a Blogger Recognition Award from fellow bloggers Jimmy and Tina from over at Durham's Love Life and Travel.

This is the first time that my blog has been nominated for an award such as this, and although there's no presentation or a trophy to show for it, I am very proud of how far my little blog has come in a little over 8 months. I'm thrilled to bits that Jimmy and Tina feel that my blog is worthy of receiving this award.

I feel very blessed to be a part of the blogging community. The Blogger Recognition Award, to me anyway, is a lovely gesture to show appreciation to bloggers around this wonderful world of ours. I've never met Jimmy and Tina but I feel that I know so much about them just from their blog and their Facebook page.

There are a few rules that I do have to mention prior to accepting the award.

• I have to thank the blogger, or this case bloggers, who nominated me and provide a link to their blog. ✔
• I have to write a post to show the award. ✔
• I have to write a brief story of how my blog started. ✔
• I have to give two pieces of advice to new bloggers. ✔
• I have to select 15 other bloggers that I want to pass this award onto. ✔
• I also have to comment on each of the 15 blogs to let them know that I have nominated them and provide them the link to this post. ✔

Why did I start my blog?

I started my blog in August 2016 as a means of clearing my mind from all that we were experiencing on our Autism journey and I thought that having my own little space on the Internet would be a great way to do this. When I began writing I honestly didn't think that anyone, other than my family and friends, would read my ramblings, but wouldn't you know it the page views slowly started climbing upwards. And it wasn't just my family and friends that were reading my blog! Writing helps me to relax, it is one of my hobbies that I can do day or night.

As I have said in a previous post, writing for my blog acts like a soul cleansing - writing gets it all out there, there is nothing left for me to dwell on. I can mull it over while writing, analyse it while re-reading and editing the post, and my mind is clear when I hit the publish button. I guess my blog is therapy for me!

Once I had published a few posts and started to receive some very positive feedback, I realised that through my blog I had the potential to share our experience with those that were also on an autism journey. When we began our autism journey it was a very lonely experience. I do hope that by sharing our experience, that I am able to let other families know that they are not alone on this journey, that having autism is not a bad thing, it can be a very positive experience if you let it be.

Now through my blog, I would like to raise awareness and acceptance of Autism, to educate others by sharing our families story. I hope that my blog provides an insight into living life with two children with Autism as well as educates, inspires, and supports others who are also on this journey.

Advice for New Bloggers!

When I began my blog I knew very little about the blogging world other than I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. I was very certain that I wanted to share every facet of our experience on our autism journey, from therapy to meltdowns to explaining the different aspects of autism as well as other disorders or issues that can be co-morbid with autism. I am very passionate about autism and do hope that this shows in my blog. One of the things that I have learnt in the last 8 months is that no matter what you want to blog about, whether it is food, travel, fashion, animals, parenting, crafts, if you write with passion and believe in what you publish then your readers will pick up on it. Blogging about something that you are passionate about makes it very easy to think of post ideas.

The second piece of advice that I have is to stay positive and aim high. Unless you already have a huge fan following, it does take a while to get your blog off the ground and running. It can be disappointing to log in and see very few views on your blog but if you keep positive about what you are doing, then you will get there. You also need to aim high and have the self belief that you can get there. I have lived my life, and am going to continue to do so, by believing that I can achieve anything that I set my mind to. Soon after I started my blog, I came across The Mighty and decided that I too wanted to have an article published on The Mighty. I am sure that they must get thousands of submissions a week but you have to aim high. I am very proud to say that I have two articles that have been accepted and published by The Mighty and I plan to submit quite a few more!

Above all you need to believe in yourself and not let anyone bring you down.

Now for the tricky part, I've yet to come across a blog that I haven't enjoyed reading and there are so many amazing bloggers out there that write with passion. But alas I have to chose 15, however I am a rule breaker from way back so instead I have chosen 20 amazing bloggers to pass the love onto.

Alison over at Instant Mum of Two
Toni over at For You Son
Nahdia over at Nadhz Adventures
Ruta over at My Story 4 his Glory
Kell over at All Mum Said
Natalie over at New Momma Survival
Emma over at Mummyemblog
Emmy over at Bright Little Mama
Chantel over at Healthy Happy Mom of Many
Ashley over at Mrs. Mommy Mack
Holly over at Pack the Cork Screw
Kayla over at Adventures of a Young Mother
Savannah over at Mommy Guidance
Sherrie and Emily over at Forever Young Moms
Darlene over at FamLee of Four
Chelsea over at 700 Smiles
Lauren over at The Playground Chronicles
Ashley over at My Dear Hart
Heather over at Real Life Mama
Ashlea over at Mommy Wife Lifestyle

As I have said, there are so many wonderful amazing passionate bloggers out there and it was incredibly difficult to cut my list down to 20!