I've been thinking...

I had a fun surprise this morning. Andrea at The Flourishing Mother has tagged me for the Thinking Blogger Award. This means that I get to:

1.) Say a hearty "thank you" to Andrea and encourage others to visit her site for some delightful reads.

2.) Choose 5 blogs that I think deserve the award.

It will be a challenge to narrow it down!

The participation rules are simple:
1.) If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2.) Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3.) Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

So here are five blogs that I thoroughly enjoy visiting on a regular basis. They each "get me thinking" in different ways:

1) INTRICATE SIMPLICITY: a journey into the intriguing life, experiences and thoughts of Rach, a talented New Zealander and homeschooling mama of eight! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading what she is up to, and she is always up to something! She always has great books, gardening projects, and knitting creations on the go, and still manages to sleep. Inspiring woman!

2) FIGHTING CANCER WITH POETRY: a delightful blog by my real life friend , the "Merry Potter". She has recently completed intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment for Stage IV Large B Cell Lymphoma. Her friends and family have been amazed and inspired by her strength of character through it all. She is an excellent and whimsical writer/poet who I am thrilled is in the blog world. She has always made me think, in real AND blog-life, and is full of fresh ways of seeing the world.

3) CONNECTED AT THE ROOTS: a reflective space where Brynn, mom of 2 very cute sons, writes about everday blessings, education, parenting, sustainability and whatever else comes to her mind. She has created an inviting, thought-provoking space. She and her husband recently gave their 3-year-old a camera and have kept a chronicle of his "perspective" in a space called "E-man's eyes". She has a post here, with some of his first attempts.

4) SILENCE COMES TO HEAL THE BLOWS OF SOUND: an open, poetic space where my real life friend Tamie weaves stories and prayers and poems. She writes about becoming human and shares stories from her Pilgrimage in Spain. She has always inspired and intrigued me in real and blog-life. Since we live many miles apart, I appreciate the chance to have glimpses into her world more regularly. As I was writing this post, I visited her site and realized she just received the "Thinking Blogger Award" from another! But I couldn't resist giving her two. Why not? She deserves another.

5) SCRATCHINGS OF A CHURCHMOUSE: a wonderful scurrying place where Cheryl records her thoughts and reflections. She grew up in Holland and came to Canada for University where we became friends. She and her husband recently became Orthodox and she writes about their journey of spiritual learning and snippets of life, in general. They recently gave birth to a son and spend more of their blogging time at their family site The Kumquat and We. Cheryl is a truly delightful person and conversations with her have always put me in a thinking space.

And those are my 5! Enjoy.