Howling Hill was so kind to pass on the Awesome Site Award to me, and I’m honored.  I love reading her website.  She is so honest in describing her life, challenges, and passions, and is such a creative, thoughtful, and supportive person.  I hope to meet her in real life some day.

Instead of nominating my usual suspects (who are all awesome), I decided to take a different route and nominate five blogs I read religiously and haven’t had the opportunity to mention on Allie’s Answers.

1. Chronicle of a Gay Marriage - Mark is an old friend, and after getting back in touch and stumbling across his blog, it’s become one of my all time favorites.  When I open my reader and see he has a new post, I always read it first.  He writes with honesty, wit, and grace about the joys, trials, and tribulations of being a newlywed and celebrating love in the face of adversity.
2. Journal of Author Amanda Hubbard - I randomly discovered Mandy’s journal over a year ago and have followed her on her amazing roller coaster ride from searching for a literary agent to scoring a two book deal (after 22 editor rejections, and 9 drafts).  Her first book, Prada & Prejudice comes out next summer (2009) and I can’t wait to read it!  She has an amazing spirit, and I’m so impressed by her drive and belief in her writing through the whole process.  No matter what your dreams are, you can learn something from Mandy.
3. Lady Cluck’s 2008 Trail Journal - Over the winter, Rachel mentioned on her blog that her friend was planning to hike the Appalachian Trail and blog about it.  I added Lady Cluck’s feed to my reader and have been living vicariously through her posts (from the comfort of my couch).  I am so addicted to her updates.  I like to leave them to build up so I can read 4 or 5 at a time.  I’ve never met her, but I am rooting for her.  When she gets to Mt. Katahdin, I will crack open a gluten-free beer and say a toast in her honor to my computer screen.  Start from the beginning, you have 1,600 miles to catch up on.
4. How to Make Kimchi - Amy and her husband are in the process of adopting a little boy from Korea.  Amy also blogs about going back to school, her job search, Lost, eerily appropriate horoscopes, and CAKES.  Seriously, the woman makes the most amazing cakes.  I don’t even understand how some of them are cakes.  Seriously.  You. Have. To. Check. Out. Her. CAKES!
5. The Reluctant Blogger- She’s on vacation right now, but I have a few backlogged posts stored up to tide me over.  The RB is awesome.  So funny.  So honest.  I know I’ve used the word honest a lot in this post, but I think putting yourself out there into the blogosphere is hard.  Copping to the parts of you that aren’t picture perfect and being okay with them is an act of courage.  The Reluctant Blogger celebrates her quirks and gives so much of herself in her posts.

What’s on your must read list?