The Sunshine Blogger Award

When you are starting out, being a blogger feels so lonely.  Not just because you literally have to do everything on your own – from learning how to build a website, to writing optimized content, to sharing your content on the blackhole called Social Media. But it’s when you are faced with challenges of being a new blogger that makes you feel like you experience it all alone.  Not many people understand what it is that you do, let alone how you struggle as a blogger.

But time and time again, I’m reminded of the virtual community of wonderful bloggers all over the world that I’m interacting with on the daily basis.  There is so much talent, knowledge and kindness among some of these bloggers that I’m humbled when one of them actually thinks that my site is “good” or that it’s worthy of any recognition!

So, I’m so honored to announce that I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award from one of those talented bloggers, Beth Allingham of

A Meal in Mind

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is a recognition award given to bloggers by fellow bloggers. It’s to recognize bloggers who are creative, positive, and inspiring, while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.  And it certainly acts like a ray of sunshine that can help get you through some tough days when you doubt what you do actually matters!

Beth created her site A Meal in Mind that is all that and a whole lot more.  All her recipes, many of which are gluten-free, are not only scrumptiously beautiful but created with her family in mind. Check out her site and like her Facebook page to get access to her healthy, delicious recipes!  I can’t thank Beth enough for this nomination and her constant words of encouragement when we share our posts!

The rules that go with the Sunshine Blogger Award

Here are the rules that you follow once nominated to keep sharing the love:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link back to their website.
• List the Sunshine Blogger Award Rules and display the logo (there are many versions!) on your website.
• Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you for the award.
• Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
• Notify the nominees of their nomination.

I’m going to do this a little backwards.  I am going to nominate my 11 bloggers first.  Then answer my 11 questions asked for me to answer.  If you know anything about me, I hate talking much about myself.  So, if you want to really learn more about me, read on! 😊

My nomination for the Sunshine Blogger Award

While there are a lot of sites and the bloggers that I look up to, here are the bloggers who are my current source of inspiration:

🌻 Mean Green Chef – Angela with Mean Green Chef has been nominated for this award already (probably many times in the past too!). But I am going to nominate her again anyway.  Her beautiful website is what every food blogger aspires to achieve. Check out her beautiful dishes including this decadent Chocolate Storm Cake!!

Angela also manages Food Blogger Instagram, Pinterest and Comment FB groups that every food bloggers should join!

🌻 Incurable Blessings – The blogger, Ramae and her stories are an inspiration for EVERYONE! I always look forward to reading her beautifully written content, including her National Write Your Story Day series!

🌻 Small Town Leadership – Not only is Natalie the mastermind behind this resourceful site, she is the first person I ever talked to, to learn about what it takes to be a blogger! A coach, a leader, a blogger, a speaker, a mom, a wife…  Natalie truly is a Wonder Woman!

🌻 Winds of Jane – Jane’s website is a feast for your “wanderlusting” eyes! But her site is also packed with a ton of helpful information about those destinations that can make your trip even more enjoyable! Like, who doesn’t want to go to the Maldives after reading this post!

🌻 Sarah and Chance Worldwide – I am going to mix it up a bit and recognize a team of vloggers that I absolutely love. Videos have increasing become the “table stakes” for storytelling. But Sarah and Chance’s authenticity and technical/visual prowess make me realize how powerful videos can be if done right! They also vlog about one of my favorite things to do in the world: traveling in Japan! Check out their helpful videos like this one: How to Travel to Japan for 3 Weeks for $3000!

🌻 Quest for $47 – Now, talk about inspirational! I feel like Kathryn is doing all the right things to grow her business. And it reminds me that I need to be just as focused and committed as she is! Her site offers great content to help with online business like this: 13 Easy Ways To Make Money Online.

🌻 Kyrabe Stories – Kyndall with Kyrabe Stories is a personal and professional development blogger whose words are always motivational, inspirational and insightful. She helps motivate and inspire those who are trying to break out of their comfort zones with articles such as 10 Quotes to Encourage a Successful Mindset.

🌻 Kayella Lynne – Kayella’s site is relatively new, like mine.  But her content is always extremely helpful and her concept for the site has a lot of potential to be a great site.  She has many money-saving tips like this one: Shop Smarter at the Grocery Store.

🌻 Ai Made It for You – I recently came across Ai’s beautiful site through the Bloggers Traffic Community.  A talented food blogger with amazing recipes that are so unique and creative, like this vegan/gluten-free blueberry cheesecake bites!

🌻 It’s My Sustainable Life – Suzan’s site is full of useful tips and inspirations to lead a more sustainable life, with easy to follow DIY instructions such as “How To Prepare Tomatoes For Canning.”

🌻 Preserving My Sanity – You’ll immediately notice that this award is so fitting for the blogger Darcy and her site:  so cheerful and bright, so helpful and positive.  A great resource for all things natural living with a focus on food preservation and healthy, homemade cooking.

11 questions for the nominated bloggers

1. How long have you been blogging?
2. What motivated you to start blogging?
3. What is the best part of being a blogger?
4. What has been the hardest part about being a blogger?
5. What’s your inspiration for the content for your blog? (i.e., How do you come up with your content?)
6. What’s your favorite blog post that you are most proud of and why?
7. What does a “success” for your blog look like?
8. What is one place that should be on everyone’s bucket list to visit?
9. Which place is at the top of YOUR bucket list?
10. What is the strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
11. What is the best advice you’ve ever received about how to overcome difficult times?

And finally, here are the 11 questions asked of me from Beth with A Meal in Mind

1. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
My initial idea for the name was “I think I’m turning Japanese” but that domain was going to cost me something ridiculous like $14k.  So, I came up with a play on words for “Japan” and “Pantry.”  Coincidentally, it’s “Japan” + “Try” so I thought it’s a pretty good fit. 

2. What motivated you to start blogging? 
I was at a pivotal moment in my life and I felt like I’ve been drained of my creativity over the years. At the same time, I noticed that a lot of Japanese recipes out there but some of the ingredients are hard to find in the U.S.  So, I wanted to create recipes using ingredients that are easy to obtain or using substitutions that are more readily available.

3. What continues to inspire you?
The topics I write about – Japanese food, travel to Japan, Japanese sake and Shiba Inu (a dog breed that seriously makes you appreciate the fact that dogs do not have opposable thumbs!!) – are all the things that I truly love. This may sound cheesy but my sole inspiration is to make it easier for others who are interested in the same things to enjoy them as much as possible.

4. What would you be doing if you weren’t blogging?
Probably back to the 9-5 (well, actually it was more like 9am to 11pm) grind.😰

5. What is your favorite thing to do to relax? 
Actually, writing is really relaxing to me.

6. Are you a morning person or a night person? 
So weird that I used to be a night person but as I get older, I struggle to stay up past 11 p.m. (especially, if I’ve been drinking)!  So, by default, I’m turning into a morning person.

7. What is a place you would love to visit, and why?
Hokkaido, Japan and Tuscany, Italy.  Because they are both beautiful and the local foods are amazing!

8. What is a favorite saying or quote?
I’m not much of a Steve Jobs fan but this is by far my favorite:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

– Steve Jobs

9. What is your favorite comfort food?
Any rice dishes – Biryani, Thai fried rice, onigiri, etc.

10. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Easy!  Big Island, Hawaii.

11. What advice would you give to a new blogger?
Unless you have a product (physical, digital or consultation) of your own to sell, you are not going to start making a lot of (if any at all!) money right away.  Have a business plan and do some research first if you are in it to make money.

Thanks, my fellow bloggers, for all your support and inspiration. And thanks again, Beth for the nomination! ❤❤