Kreativ Blogger Award

I am happy to accept the Kreativ Blogger Award from Martha Z at (Martha's Musings). Thank you, Martha! I am being asked to write 7 things about myself that would not necessarily be known by the blogging community. So...here I go:

1. I have been married to my husband since 1972. Hmmm...that makes 37 years, pushing 38 in February.

2. We have 2 grown children with one young grandson who is 2 1/2 years old. His daddy is wonderful and we have loved having him and his family as a part of our family since the summer of 2002. We knew him for several years before he married our daughter. She is also a teacher in the same school district where I worked for so long. Our son has just completed Los Angeles Film School and we are all hoping he will land a career in the film industry...it will take some time in this economy, though.

3. I worked in the same school district as an elementary and middle school teacher for 32 years and am now retired and loving my new status. Although I do miss being in the midst of students with all of their combinations of personalities and skill levels. They really do enrich the life of anyone in their midst!

4. About 10 years ago I had the honor of having many of my students pen-pal with Korean and Japanese students. Their letters were sent by snail mail in the beginning and then soon evolved into e-mails. Because of these connections, I have a long standing friendship with the teachers of these two countries and have visited Korea and Japan multiple times each to meet these amazing people and their families. Both have visited us here in the U.S. as well. Maintaining these friendships is very important to me, as well as for my family.

5. I have lived in the same local community all of my life, however, my husband was born and raised in southern Illinois. His family now lives near Chicago and I love to play in that city every couple of years!

6. I have traveled to England, Wales and continental Western Europe in addition to Mexico, Canada, South Korea and Japan. We are hoping to take a trip to Australia this spring...I do hope that is possible!

7. We have spent many vacations in Hawaii. We enjoy staying in condominiums on the Big Island, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai. We had our daughter's wedding on Kauai and were surprised that 55 friends attended. We thought it would be just immediate family in the beginning but the event soon changed into something somewhat larger. We had so much fun kayaking, hiking, and going to the beach with our guests prior to the wedding day.

8. (I'll add one more) I am a Jimmy Buffett fan. We attend every show we can when he is out here in California or Las Vegas! I truly believe, "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" is a very good philosophy to live by!

So...those are 8 things about myself.

The next part is that I am to pass this award on to bloggers that I have enjoyed following and would like to get to know a little better. Some who come to my mind have all ready been selected by Martha...so, I will look further. And, that won't be difficult because I have been so amazed with the blogs of many.

I would enjoy passing this award along to:

Cher at Simply Cherrific
http://simplycherrific.blogspot.com/
Cher blogs from Singapore and shares the beauty, traditions, art and daily life and concerns of that far-a-way place. I look forward to her posts and would enjoy getting to know her better.

Carol at Photo Phase
http://photo-phase.blogspot.com/
Carol blogs from Ohio, USA. She captures amazing sights that include old barns, bridges, water scenes, reflections, people...to name a few. Her photography is an inspiration to me and I hope to get to know her better.

Tammie Lee at Spirithelpers
http://miztlee.blogspot.com/
Tammie captures the beauty of the natural world with true magic! Her photography is also an inspiration to me and I so look forward to her posts.

Kenkichi at Ken's Daily Photo
http://kenkichisdailyphoto.blogspot.com/
Kenkichi is my friend from Yatsushiro, Japan. He involved his students to pen-pal with my students some 10 years ago. His posts reflect the natural beauty and culture of Japan. He, too, is an inspiration to me and my emerging serious interest in photographing beautiful places, people and things.

The guidelines for accepting this award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. List 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5. If you wish, pass this award to other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to those you select.
7. Leave them a comment to let them know of the award.