My blog serves many purposes for me. Part sounding board, part soapbox, part online diary, part electronic baby book, part cathartic release of pent up emotions the likes of which would lead to my incarceration if I acted on them in the real world.

That said, I'm under no delusions that everything I write here is riveting material for my visitors. Posts that seem entertaining and creative and engaging to me at first read seem boring and self-indulgent and bordering-on-the-screwy following a second read. Some posts garner many comments, and although I'd like to think I'm above equating the worth of my writing with my comment total, who am I really kidding here? I feel validated! And honored! And somedays, even giddy! (Remember the itty-bitty life I'm leading here, people). And some posts, well, they just sort of languish out there in the blogosphere, like that last piece of warmed-over pumpkin pie that no one wants to touch, sitting on the table four hours after Thanksgiving dinner has ended.

So it was with the aforementoned validation, honor, and giddyness that I came upon a post over at Growing a Life in which Damselfly bestowed upon me the Thinking Blogger Award. Someone out there has actual thoughts provoked by my blog! Now, granted, those thoughts might be something along the lines of, "Um...this girl is Krazy, with a capital K, ya'll" but hey, I'll take it.

And it was clearly a good week for me, because I won the award again, this time bestowed upon me by Michelle over at My Journey.

So now it's time to share the love by nominating five blogs that make me think. They have to be blogs that haven't been nominated before (and there are so many great ones that have already received this award), so here they are, in no particular order:

Sasha from My Wombinations. Many of her posts resonate with me because we have so much in common. We're both liberals, writers by profession, runners, love travel, have husbands who never home because they're in school pursuing advanced degrees, and mothers to daughters. So many times I find myself reading her posts and shaking my head because I feel I could have written them myself. She's smart, eloquent, and completely in love with her new daughter Samara.

Ramona from Kross-Eyed Kitty. Ramona has lived and traveled all over the world. She has an incredible eye for detail and for recognizing the off-the-beaten-path beauty of the places she's been. She's also a nurse with an incredible level of compassion for her patients. There are some days when I think that I'm well-traveled, and that I've seen so much of the world and its different cultures. Then I read one of Ramona's travel posts and realize that there is so much more out there to see, and how small my own slice of the world really is in comparison.

Hopeful Mother and Beagle are two of the infertility blogs I read. Both have endured multiple ART cycles and are now at two different stages in their path toward motherhood. Hopeful Mother is pregnant with twins, and Beagle is pursuing adoption. Both of these women are incredibly strong, and their posts about their struggles are always inspiring because they're real. They both write with raw emotion about what it's like to be infertile in a baby-centered universe, and their posts always serve to remind me how truly resilient women are.

Sher is a wildlife rehabilitator, and an amazing cook and food photographer. Her posts always serve to make me fantasize about another life, one in which I'm not chained to my keyboard writing about software, but in a kitchen in my own bakery, whipping up desserts. She is also mom to Upsie and Sundance, two adorable kitties, whose escapades she chronicles with hilarity every weekend.

Okay winners-it's your turn to nominate five blogs that make you think. Have at it!