I’m afraid I’m starting to sound like a broken record but I’m excited to announce that Kathleen of Lifestyle Building Blocks for Success has nominated me for the Liebster Award! I met Kathleen over on Google +, and have enjoyed being a part of her Friday Blog Booster Party.
Like most blogging awards, accepting the Liebster Award involves answering some questions so that you can get to know me better. So let’s get started!
- How did you decide on the name of your blog?
That’s an easy one, because I already wrote a post to answer it!
- Where does your blogging inspiration come from?
Everywhere! This is an eclectic blog that doesn’t fit a niche. Sometimes it’s a news story that sets me off; another day it’s the beauty of nature or a walk in a graveyard. There are sticky notes with a few words scrawled on them all over my desk–often I can’t remember what I meant by what I wrote!
- What is it that you love most about blogging?
I love having a larger platform to share my ideas than just my family (and they probably do as well!).
- What is your favorite food?
Homemade biscuits, a good steak, homegrown summer vegetables . . . I like to eat.
- What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
COFFEE.
- What is an item you cannot live without?
Four years ago my house burned down and I lost virtually all of my personal possessions. So I can truthfully say there is no item I cannot live without. I like my computer A LOT, though.
- What are eleven random facts about yourself?
1. I was the youngest person to win the Knoxville City Spelling Bee when I was eight years old. I went on to win it four more times, and one won the regional competition and placed ninth in the National Spelling Bee. As a result, watching Spelling Bees makes me a nervous wreck.
2. My favorite color is yellow. When I was a little girl my bedroom looked like springtime–all yellow everywhere except for the bright green carpet.
3. I have been writing since I was about four, when I used to dictate my stories to my mother. The first one was about a girl who always wore an enormous hat.
4. I am afraid of heights. My knees get weak if I even stand on a chair. I also can’t stand to watch people move furniture.
5. I thought that I would be a perfect mother and that I would have perfectly behaved kids. I was wrong on both counts.
6. From first grade until I gave the valedictory address upon graduation from high school, my life was defined by academic success. Although I know it was the right decision at the time, I still feel disappointed about dropping out of graduate school two classes short of getting an M.A.
7. I am the product of 16 years of Catholic education. I am a cradle Catholic and my faith is absolutely central to my life even though I fall short at living it. Holiness continues to elude me.
8. I love my children and would do almost anything for them, up to and including sacrificing my life for theirs, but my children are not my whole life.
9. I am still deeply in love with my husband of 25 years, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t fight.
10. I majored in English at Georgetown University and minored in Theology. I also took a lot of French classes, and use my fractured French to talk to my husband when we don’t want the kids to understand us or to discuss people who are sitting near us in restaurants.
11. I can make decisions almost instantly, whether it’s about what I should be buying or sizing up the character of someone I have just met.
- If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Knoxville, Tennessee. (Which is where I was born and currently live,)
- If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
I am very interested in genealogy so I think I’d like to meet some of my ancestors so I could get some of my questions answered.
- What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Hiking and gardening, and I blog about both of them.
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I will still have two kids at home in five years, so my life won’t look a whole lot different. I do hope that I will have writing published somewhere other than this blog by then. I can’t devote as much time to that pursuit as I would like.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEW NOMINEES OF THE LIEBSTER AWARD:
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do the following:
- Write a post about the fact that you’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award.
- In this post, link back to and show some love to the person who nominated you, also nominate 11 other new blogs that would not have more than 1000 followers. Let these nominated bloggers know that you have nominated them and provide a link back to your page to ensure that they are familiar with the Award.
- Display the Award in your post and in your side bar.
- Answer the questions about yourself.
- Put your post with your nominated 11 blogs for the Liebster Award, on social media. Spread the love!
- How did you decide on the name of your blog?
- Where does your blogging inspiration come from?
- What is it that you love most about blogging?
- What is your favorite food?
- What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
- What is an item you cannot live without?
- What are eleven random facts about yourself?
- If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
- If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
- What is your favorite outdoor activity?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
And here’s the part where I am supposed to tell you my nominees, and this is the problem: The Liebster Award is really supposed to go to a newish blogger with a smaller following. And most folks I know in that category have already received this award, plus I have had two other awards to give out in recent weeks (an embarrassment of riches, I realize). So I’m going to let y’all nominate yourselves. If you fit the criteria for this award, and you have not yet received one, tell me in the comments and I will pass one of my nominations along to you so that I (and your readers) can get to know you better.
That was very interesting Leslie, nice to get a little insight into your world. Must have been a scary thing to have your house burn down. I am a bit jealous of your spelling skills LOL. Well done, loved it all.
Kathleen
http://60-thenew40.com/2015-top-party-award/
Thanks, Kathleen. Luckily for us we were not there when it burned down so we at least were spared the scary part. As for my spelling skills, spellcheck has kind of rendered them moot!
Congrats! I feel like I know you a a little bit better. Je parle un peu francais. Un peu. Lol
LOL! I don’t parle much more than un peu, despite my seven years studying!
That was fun reading your answers! I guess losing everything in a house fire does put “what can you not live without” into perspective. I am so sorry that happened to your family. It’s so nice that you can say you live exactly where you would want to live, too — what a blessing! 🙂
Thanks, Wendy. It was not a fun experience but we reaped benefits from it too.
Hey Leslie, You are on the up and up. This post was in the TOP 2 most clicked on Fridays Blog Booster Party#6 You will be featured on Friday. You are doing great.
Thanks,
Kathleen
Remembering to leave from another page to help your statistics
Fridays Blog Booster Party#6
WooHoo!! Wow, Kathleen! Thanks!
Love the 11 random facts. So fun!
Congratulations on your award! I love yellow , too. Its so bright and cheery. I enjoyed reading this and learning more about you. Sorry about your house and all your belongings.
I’m glad you and your family survived the house fire. that must have been quite the ordeal. We share studying French and English in common. I studied from middle school up until college and I still sound terrible!
I loved reading your answers for the Liebster Award! Congrats!
I love the Liebster Award! My blog loved it too. It´s great how the LIebster Award showcases the blogger in a new light.
Congrats on the Liebster Award! It was nice to get to know you better with your answers too! Sorry to hear about the bad fire though, but it sounds like it’s made you a stronger person!
Wow! Your house burned down? That’s terrible. I would never win a spelling bee, Ever!! And I don’t know any perfect mothers, or children for that matter. We’re all just doing our best.
Yes, it was terrible. Sometimes I still can’t believe that happened to us. As far as parenting goes, I think I have finally realized that. I grew up trying to be perfect is the problem.
Congrats on your award, Leslie! I wanted to take French when I was in high school but the counselor never did put me in it. I was always put in extra computer courses but when I got to college I was so happy that a foreign language was not required for my degree. I don’t know what change from high school to college but I became terrified of learning a new language.
congrats! I love reading about fellow bloggers in the Liebster awards!
Hi Lesley, it is so nice to get to know a little more about you. I think we have a lot in common. We are both coffee, yellow loving, long married Catholics #2 years for me- and that makes me feel OLD). We both write an eclectic mix too. I am heading to Montreal tomorrow- I wish I spoke French! My daughter does though, so that will help.
I’m afraid of heights as well so I know how you feel with being on a chair. At school, we had cross country running and there was this huge (well to me anyway) boulder that we had to jump down from, and whenever we reached it I was the only one who would slide down on my bum to reach the bottom. All my classmates just leapt from it!
These are always such fun post! Love your 11 random facts! Congrats.
Thank you so much!
I love these awards because I get to know fellow bloggers! We sound alike, Leslie – I’m a product of Catholic school, academic success ruled my childhood, and I’m terrified of heights!!
I love it! And now I know a little more about you too!!
Thank goodness we all love you so and keep nominating you for all of these awards because we get to learn more about you every time! My favorite answer – absolutely your uses for French! As a Canadian, I have very, very fractured French as well and so wish it was a little less fractured for those very reasons. I can also make decisions on a dime, but unfortunately, when they are important decisions, I tend to second guess them. I’ll go with my first opinion of you though.. You’re a gem, Leslie. So glad we’re friends!
I can’t tell you how much this sweet comment made me smile.
Wow! Nice to learn so much about you. And if you are looking for someone to nominate for a Leibster……. I would love to be that someone! 🙂
Consider yourself nominated!! You can put the banner on your site, answer the questions, and link back to me! Yay!!
I have a friend whose house caught on fire when she was in high school. They were able to save half the house and rebuild and her parents still live there. Whenever we visit there, she tells stories about how scary it was.
We were not there when it happened and I am grateful for that. Seeing the destruction was bad enough. And we didn’t even take out little kids back there because we didn’t want them to have that in their heads.
Leslie,
Just when you thought the awards were over…I think your blog is lovely. Your blog is so fabulous that I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award which you can view here. http://www.diydesignmom.com/onelovelyblogaward/
Jacquelyn
Jackie, you are so Sweet! Going to look right now. 🙂