Liebster Award

My friend Angie over at Dropping the Plus has tagged me as "Liebster Award" recipient.

To learn a little bit about this "Liebster Award", I've added this information from Ang's post (in italics): She (Ang's friend Kay) explained that the Liebster Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The meaning for Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome. Now I'm going to say... I did a wee bit of research for the "Liebster Award" and found that it has morphed a bit since it's origin. The only "requirement" of accepting the award used to be linking back to the person who awarded you and then tagging a handful of other bloggers to receive the award. Kay gave me a few other rules that seem like fun so I'll go ahead and play along with the version she sent me, since I need an ice-breaking post to jump back into this whole blogging game after my long absence! Here are the rules as I received them from Kay:

Rules for receiving this award:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they've tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Notify the people you have tagged.
5. No tag backs.

Eleven things about me:

1. When I was in high school, I had a social anxiety disorder. I still have it, but not to the extent that I used to... I can now (mostly) eat in public which I couldn't do then. I am also better in large groups of people than I used to be.
2. I'm the type of person that only has a few close friends at a time. I always have friends, but my list of friends that I hang out with or consider myself "close" to always remains to two or three people. They're not always the same people (my list has changed over the years), but it's never more than three people.
3. I am a middle child. I was originally the youngest, but then my parents adopted my sister (biologically my cousin) and I became the middle child.
4. I have never done any kind of drug even though I have had the opportunity. I have never even been drunk even though I am almost 28 years old.
5. I love traveling and have an idea for a novel which involves a road trip. It would also involve a lot of participation from people who live places where I don't... I'll keep you informed. Haha.
6. I currently have two novels in the works. One is about a girl who is a senior in high school. She's a bit of an outcast and doesn't have many friends... The second is about a mid-twenties teacher who finds out she may have cancer and her second chance of life after that news.
7. My dad's side of the family is so large that I don't even know some of my first cousins well... and even the ones I do know, I'm not sure where they live. Matt's family is small but they aren't close. We never go visit his parents unless we have a reason to (holiday, his dad needs help with something, etc). I find both of these instances extremely odd because I'm close with my mom's side of the family and my immediate family.
8. I've loved to read since I was a child. I've literally read thousands of books in my life and I watch too much TV. I literally watch at least 45 different shows (not at the same time... meaning not all during the fall, spring, summer, winter...). I think this has to do with my creativity because I like being pulled into stories.
9. I have only been in a couple of sports in my life. When I was a kid, I was in swimming for a couple of years and soccer for one season. In high school, the only "sports" I was in are marching band and in the JROTC rifle team. I'm not a big sports person and I was never good in organized competitive sports. Haha.
10. I love computers and have been a computer nerd since about 1997 or 1998 (middle school). My associate degree is in Administrative Information Systems which is a well-rounded computer business degree and I have a certificate in Web Design. I love designing websites.
11. I have always been a cat person. Growing up, we had a Shih Tzu named Mike and a tabby cat named Butterscotch. I always liked Butterscotch better... when I moved in with Matt, he got a kitten named Lucky and I liked her just fine... then he got me a Boston Terrier puppy for my birthday a couple of years ago. I love Rusty! He's making me realize that maybe I'm a dog person too. :)

The questions Angie asked:

1. If you had $1000 to spend on something "frivolous" how would you spend it? (No bill paying or responsible spending allowed!) Frivolous, eh??? Well, I would like to go on a cheap vacation. My friend and I went to Vegas on less than $1000 each. I could do it again! :)
2. What's your favorite song playing on the radio these days? I don't listen to the radio often. I must confess that I usually listen to Pandora and have it on the 90's pop station. Haha. I do know that when I hear "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen on the radio it gets stuck in my head for hours!
3. If you had to watch back-to-back episodes of one t.v. show for 24 hours straight what show would you choose? Okay, I could watch just about ANY show for 24 hours straight. I just finished watching the entire Charmed series. So, if you told me to find any show and watch it for 24 hours, I'd probably just go to a new (to me) show on my list and go from there. I have everything from Wildfire to Saved by the Bell to The Dead Zone to Friday Night Lights... haha... I currently have 16 TV series on my Netflix instant queue.
4. What was the favorite Halloween costume you wore as a child? Hmmm. I would have to go with the year I was a scarecrow. I got a lot of compliments on it. The one that I remember the most, however, is the year that we (my brother, sister, and I, went as dominoes and dice. I remember that I was a die, but I don't remember which my brother and sister were so I don't know if there were two dice and a domino or two dominoes and a die. Regardless, they were made out of cardboard and we couldn't sit down. Haha... Good times.
5. Do you have any uncommon talents? Not that I know of. I'm pretty creative. I've got several ideas for novels that I think would be amazing, but I'm not that great at getting the story out to where it sounds coherent. I'm working on it. I would love to be an author some day.
6. What's your favorite bit of decoration in your home? Well, it's honestly not even up yet... Recently we had family pictures taken. I bought this frame:
   
   
   a while ago and haven't yet hung it up yet. But once it's up and my family pictures are in it, it will definitely be my favorite decoration. I love the frame and the pictures are awesome. :)
7. Did you watch any of the 2012 Olympics? If so, what was your favorite event? I sadly didn't watch any of the Olympics. I'm mad at myself because I didn't. I used to love watching the swimming and gymnastic events from the summer Olympics. I'm definitely going to have to watch the figure skating during the winter Olympics.
8. What's your favorite quote? My favorite quote is actually lyrics from one of my favorite musicals - Rent - "There's only us. There's only this. Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today.
9. What's one unique thing about the place where you live? Um??? It's in the middle of a cornfield??? Haha. I honestly don't know. There isn't much exciting where I live. I guess that we're the "Bagel Capital of the World"... *shrugs* No idea.
10. What's your morning routine like? It's the same every weekday... I get up somewhere between 6:40-6:50 am. I gather my clothes, hang them in the bathroom, get my towel, put the fan in the bathroom door (there's no circulation otherwise). Then I grab my phone, go to the bathroom, and get on Facebook while I'm using the bathroom. Then I shower, dress, brush my teeth, do my makeup, do my hair, and put on my shoes. I gather whatever food I need for the day, put clothes in my gym bag, and head to work. I sit outside of work for 5-10 minutes and then head inside. That would be my morning routine.
11. Why do you blog? I blog to keep myself in check. Usually if I've gone a while without blogging daily, I'm not doing a good job diet and exercise wise. Blogging and the comments on my blogs also help keep me motivated to be good... I also like reading back through my blog entries to see what keeps me going.

The bloggers that I choose to nominate are:

1. Jaime at Figuring it out: I've known Jaime for a while now. She's like the rest of us and struggles with her dieting and exercise, but she sticks with it more than anyone I know. She's always sweet and motivating.
2. Rob at Endomondo Road: I've actually known Rob for about 12 years now (makes me feel old!) and we used to ride the school bus to high school together. He recently started his blog for running/biking. He wrote an entry that I found particularly motivating and he is just a nice guy altogether.
3. Trina at Let's Just Build a House: I worked with Trina during my barista days at a local coffee shop. I always enjoyed working with her. She and her husband are building a house and I love reading about it. Trina is always nice and a pleasure to be around.
4. Marcia at Minus One Hundred: I've been reading Marcia for a while now. I enjoy reading about her diet/exercise (or sometimes lack thereof). She's almost always funny and when she comments on my entries she's really sweet. :)
5. Kristina at My Altered Perception: I haven't been reading Kristina long and actually found her through Jaime, but I enjoy reading about her adventures in running.

(I'm following Angie's lead and only nominating five people.)

My questions for them are:

1. How and when did you get into blogging?
2. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. What is your favorite holiday and why?
4. If you could meet anyone (dead or alive) who would it be?
5. If you could witness any event in history (past, present, or future) what would it be?
6. What is your one main goal in life?
7. If you had $5000 to take a trip, what kind of trip would you take? Where would you go? Who would you go with?
8. What is your favorite kind of sporting event to attend live?
9. What is your favorite food?
10. What is a food that you can't stand?
11. If you were stranded on a desert island, what five items (not people) would you want to have with you?