In the last couple of days two of my blog followers, Rachael Boley with Three Boys and A Mom, and Natasha with Giggle Giggle Toot Roar nominated me for the Liebster Award. I’ve been blogging for just over four years, but once my daughter was born I decided to make it a bit more of a career focus. To say I’m honored that not one, but two fellow bloggers and followers of mine think I’m “awesome” enough to nominate me is an understatement. Thank you so much ladies! You’re awesome too! XO
In case my readers are unfamiliar with the Liebster Award, it’s essentially for bloggers with somewhere between 200-2000 followers. It’s a great way to open up and share a bit more about yourself and in return, learn about other bloggers too. This is an awesome way to support, inspire and motivate others in the blogging community, and share what I like to call the “blog love!”
The official Liebster rules are as follows:
1. person must post 11 things about themselves
2. Answer the questions from the person who nominated you and create 11 new questions for those you nominate
3. Nominate 5-11 of your favorite bloggers and link them in your post
4. Go to their page and tell them
5. Thank and link back to the person’s blog who nominated you
11 Facts About me:
1. I met my husband when he was on a date with another woman. I almost canceled our first date because I didn’t want to come in between something he had already started, but he assured me he had only known the other woman for about a week, and wasn’t interested in anything more than a friendship with her. Needless to say, I never canceled my date and here we are 5 1/2 years later, married with a baby. He is the only man I ever saw a real future with, and I knew immediately he was the man I was going to marry.
2. I’m a singer and graduate from Berklee College of Music with a degree in songwriting. It’s not definite yet, but I may go back to teaching a few children’s music and movement classes this fall.
3. I didn’t become interested in health and fitness until college when I took a nutrition class and joined a gym. I discovered a whole new side of me, and since then, my love and passion for being active and eating healthy has become a lifestyle.
4. I’ve ran three half marathons and several 5ks, 10ks and mud runs. But in high school I couldn’t even run around a track once!
5. I have one younger brother who is by far one of the most intelligent people I know, and I have two younger half sisters that are half Japanese who also happen to be incredibly intelligent and bilingual.
6. Unless I’m in a barre or spin class, I have learned to dislike the gym and would much rather take my exercise routine outdoors.
7. I learned that drinking one can of soda a day keeps about 10-15 pounds on the average person a year. Once I cut out drinking soda in college, I dropped 10 pounds in one month. Now I drink seltzer water!
8. I was a total city girl in my younger years – the bigger the city the better. Now, I’d much rather be hiking in the woods, toasting marshmallows over a fire and I find the city to be an overwhelming cluster of traffic and chaos.
9. I love anything relating to astronomy, and in third grade I wanted to be an astronaut and visit space. Then the Challenger Shuttle accident occurred and I changed my mind. I still think space looks like an awesome place, but I’ll likely only ever admire its beauty with my feet firmly planted on Earth.
10. After I graduated Berklee, I was accepted to the American Music and Dramatic Academy in New York City with a scholarship. I chickened out in fear of the big city swallowing me up and failing at my dreams of someday gracing the lights, camera’s and stages of Broadway. There is a small piece of me that always wonders what would have been if I had gone…
11. I did my college internship in Nashville, TN working for a publishing company called Sea Gayle Music. The company is part owned by Brad Paisley who I got to meet. Their song “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” hit #1 on the country charts during my time there.
Here are the questions asked by Rachael:
1. Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world, and why? My husband and I bought our house last year and I absolutely love it. But I often joke that I want to move to the North Pole where it’s snowy and Christmasy all year long – does that count?!
2. What do you consider to be your best quality? I’m super outgoing, I can (and will) talk to anyone, I’m brutally honest and I tell it like it is – in person and on paper. I wrote about hemorrhoids during my pregnancy (true story) along with a million other disgusting things that most women are often too shy or embarrassed to discuss or admit openly. But me, I don’t care. I have no problem being an open book, and often times I breath humor into embarrassing or tough situations as my main coping mechanism.
3. What was your favorite toy as a child? My dad gave me a “Recees” teddy bear that he bought me in Hershey, PA, and I still have him. And admittedly, anytime I’ve been sad, upset or my husband has had to travel, I pull out Recees and snuggle him.
4. If you won a million dollars, what would you do with it? Pay off all debt and put a large chunk in my daughters savings account.
5. Who has influenced your life the most, and in what way? My husband, because from the moment we met, I was in awe of him. He was a professional and sponsored athlete, he has lived in France, he speaks fluent French and he is the most carefree and understanding soul I know. His motivation, his character, his heart, his thoughtfulness, his sense of humor – all of his traits and life experiences inspire me every day. He may drive me nuts sometimes (come on what husband doesn’t?!), but he is the most amazing man I’ve ever met, and I feel lucky to call him my husband.
6. What is your favorite season and why? I almost think naming my least favorite season would be easier. Which is spring, because I hate the transition out of winter – it’s damp, dreary and cold and I always feel like I’m in purgatory. But if I really had to choose a favorite I’d probably say fall.
7. What inspired the beginning of your blogging journey? I have been writing for as long as I’ve had words and could put pen to paper. I wrote journals full of poetry and short stories as a kid, and then majored in songwriting. Writing is my biggest outlet. I started my blog on May 19th, 2010, with no real focus other than music and wanting to write. I published my first blog and then kept everything private for a year because I wasn’t sure about the whole blogging thing. Then after my husband and I got engaged, I stumbled on several blogs and websites dedicated to weddings and brides-to-be and decided to go “public” again. My blog continues to evolve with me, and I have several names I’ve debated changing it to, but I’m always afraid to commit to just one topic because I love to just blog about life and its many flavors and stages.
8. What is your biggest fear? Death. I’m so scared of it I don’t even want to elaborate on it. I’m afraid of my death and worse, the death of my loved ones. I’ve lost young family members and no matter how much times passes, it never gets easier to grasp or accept. Death sucks. Point blank.
9. Name 5 things on your bucket list.
1. Become a certified group fitness instructor.
2. Become a certified spin instructor.
3. Run more races without worrying how fast or slow I go.
4. Sing one song with Sarah McLachlan.
5. Be my daughters best friend, even when she’s a teenager and wants to rebel.
10. If you could hang out with any celebrity for the day, who would it be and why? Referring to the above question, Sarah McLachlan. She is my all time favorite singer/songwriter and inspiration when it comes to music. I have been to five (yes FIVE) of her concerts, I met her once in 2011 and sat front row at her concert. My 5th concert was just a couple weeks ago and she fits the cliche, “like a fine wine” as she gets better with age!
11. What would you consider to be your dream job? I feel like I’m living my dream job. I’m blessed to have a husband that can support our family so I can be a stay at home mom. Blogging is also turning into a paid job for me and I’m working towards teaching a few music classes again in the fall. Trust me, there are days that are tough being a sahm, but I couldn’t ask for a better “job” than taking care of my baby girl every day.
My nominations for the Liebster Award are as follows:
Jessica Ulrich with The Momma Review
Jolene Peixeto with Determined. To be…
Erin Blacklock with If Traffic Had a Face I would Punch it
Amanda Perry with Sistas of Strength
Tricia Adams with EcoWonderment
Liebster Nominees – here are my questions to you!
1. What is one thing you absolutely could not live without?
2. Name your favorite childhood memory and why.
3. Describe why people should read and follow your blog.
4. What was the first concert you ever went to, who was it with, and how old were you?
5. What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done? Don’t be shy ladies! 🙂
6. What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
7. What do you do to keep healthy and fit?
8. If you had one superpower, what would it be and why?
9. Who is your favorite celebrity and why?
10. Pop, Classical, Rock n’ Roll or Country?
11. What’s your best physical feature and why?
Ladies, I think you’re awesome! So please accept the nomination and share the “blog love” by passing it along!
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