Thank you Deniza for this nomination! It is greatly appreciated. Make sure to check out her resourceful, well-designed, aka awesome blog at https://askdeniza.wordpress.com.
THE RULES
- Thank whoever nominated you and include a link to their blog.
- Write a post and give a brief story of how your blog started.
- Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers.
- Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to.
- Let the nominees know you have nominated them and provide a link to the nomination details.
How everything started:
Back in March, I started this blog as an outlet for all of the emotions I was feeling and information that I was learning about the world of food allergies and eczema. While those first few months after my son’s anaphylactic reaction were filled with intense anxiety, fear, and frustration, I knew that I needed to turn it into something positive. Therefore, instead of laying in bed crying as my son napped, I started to spend this time putting it all into words with a blog (at the time on another site).It was the beginning of retraining my brain to steer my focus from the challenges and terrifying “what ifs” to all the possibilities for smiles. A weight had started to be lifted…
Also, instead of sending long-winded text message updates to everyone who simply asked how my son TJ was doing with everything, I saw this site as a way of keeping family and friends updated on our journey. By sharing our story and the valuable information that we learn along the way, I hope to help educate others about this world of food allergies and eczema. Most importantly, I want to encourage all who reads this blog to “let your faith be bigger than your fear.”
While I have just started this WordPress blog a little over two months ago, I believe that the following statement will become reality with time…Smiling Away Allergies is the place to share experiences and information about food allergies and life while staying cautiously optimistic, smiling on…
Read more about our story here and why we smile on.
Advice for new bloggers:
Since I myself am a new blogger, the following advice is what I have been following myself.
- Set Goals: Like anything in life, I believe in setting short-term and long-term goals for yourself. While I find my daily to-do lists important, weekly and monthly goals are also important for success.
- WordPress Classes: Sign up for Blogging 101 and 201 classes. Both classes were extremely helpful resources that challenged me and sparked my creativity. My site has come a long way since July due to these classes.
- Networking: Don’t be shy! To be honest, although I believe in the value and impact of my blog, I felt silly sharing it through social media. It was scary at first; however, totally worth it even if I don’t have many followers yet! Also, reach out and explore the many, many other amazing blogs all around you. There are really some great ones out there!
- Be Proud: This goes back to #3. Share, share, share! You have something incredible that the world is waiting to read!
- Get Ideas/Don’t Compare: Love this quote and it really has been what I keep reminding myself over these past two months with starting this blog.
Source: http://www.polyvore.com/dont_compare_your_beginning_to/set?id=62408815
6. Speak (Write) from the Heart: Isn’t that what life is really all about?
Source: https://www.joelosteen.com/Pages/Home.aspx
Who I nominate:
Jennifer Peck 23 – What Motherhood Has Taught Me…
Thank you again Deniza! You gave us more reason to smile on…
My heart sank when reading about the fears and anxiety that comes with an allergy diagnosis.
Sometimes it feels so isolating because the rest of the world is looking at me (us) as just crazy over-reacting parents. Sigh!
One step at a time!
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I agree and that’s definitely how I view everything now. One step at a time. However, those first months after his anaphylactic reaction were terrifying. It is around those months that most infants are trying all sorts of new foods. We took the conservative route and introduced very slowly. However, every new product and food was scary having that December evening reaction as the forefront of our memory. However, instead of reliving that reaction and fearing it will happen again, we are prepared if it does but focus on staying positive and trusting our intuition and most importantly, God. I wanted to share those early emotions in case there are others out there who have felt it. You are not alone.
What allergy(allergies) is your family living with? I often think about how I have become that ” crazy allergy parent.” At the beginning of this, I even found myself apologizing after I would advocate for my son because of that label. Over the course of the last few months, I’ve changed my focus to being proud of the label. Although I don’t expect some people to understand it, I do expect others to respect it enough to listen when it comes to protecting my son. I believe allergy parents were given these shoes to walk in for a reason. When I’m ready to, I do plan to do a tbt post describing our experience with anaphylaxis.
Anyways thanks for reading and sharing. I appreciate it and will stop rambling now. 😄
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Brings me right back to how it was after dealing with my son’s reaction. Thankfully it wasn’t anaphylactic … but you just don’t know what will happen the next time. He has peanut, tree nut and shellfish allergies.
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Every reaction is scary for that exact reason. You never know. Thank you for sharing and reading. We appreciate it ! 😄
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Congrats dear! I love your advice for bloggers! I had no idea about blogging classes, I will definitely check that out 😉 have a great day :*
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Definitely check it out! Because I was not working during 101, I was able to participate more actively, completing most of the daily tasks. Now, I am ” behind” with 201; however, there is no rush with it as the information ( from my understanding ) is still available even after the class has ended. 😄
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Congratulations and thanks a lot for the nomination. Am really grateful. Cheers:)
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Thanks!
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Thank you so much for this nomination! For some reason it went to my spam and didn’t see it until now:( You are awesome and congrats to you as well!
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