Liebster

Several weeks ago, Kristen tagged me for a Liebster award. Although Kristen and I live about 10 minutes away from each other in different towns, we met via blogging. We recently got to formally meet at a birthday party, but since we were both busy with children, hopefully we'll get to visit more soon. I started this soon after Kristen tagged me, then got caught up with Avery's birthday, then a bad week, then some busy weeks, and well....here we are. Today, Courtney tagged me so I figured it was definitely time to finish my questions. Courtney and I are both Virginia girls but met in the blogging world through Jennifer I enjoy both of their blogs and appreciate them thinking of me!

Liebster is a German word meaning sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. This award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers. The Liebster Award is basically a "tag" by another blogger that shows her appreciation for your blog and gives you the opportunity to tell a little more about yourself, discover other bloggers you may be interested in following, and nominate other blogs that you love.

The rules:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.


2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you have tagged to answer.


3. Choose up to 11 people and link them in your post.


4. Go to their page and let them know.


5. Remember no tag backs!

11 Random Facts:
1. I love to fall asleep at night under my blanket on the couch. I get upset if Ned is ready to go to bed before I've done that.
2. I'd love to open a Chick-Fil-A here. I'd also like to be an investigator who figures out how fires start. This totally contradicts my answer to #4 below.
3. My friends have to take an interest in my children. I fully believe it takes a village, and our family village is small, so I count on friends to do the rest. It warms my heart to see others loving my kids.
4. I have a horrible Pepsi habit that I work daily to control. I think it started at Peace when I could drink fountain Coke for 3 meals a day...and I did. I love a good fountain Pepsi or Coke.
5. I was one of 17 in my high school graduating class.
6. I'm a total homebody unless I'm out with my family. I always have been. I usually wouldn't go to sleepovers as a child, and I was pretty homesick during my 2 years at Peace.
7. Brushing my hair is one of the first things I want to do in the morning and when I get home in the afternoon.
8. I have a big issue with my feet in showers or bathtubs. I think maybe I just don't like how it feels wet under me feet. It's worse on tile floors, and even in our new house I find myself kind of scrunching my toes to keep some of my foot off the floor.
9. I love those funny little cards with the old-fashioned people floating around Pinterest, Facebook, etc. There are so many I want to pin, but I'm always afraid my followers will think I'm terrible if they have bad language. I laughed until I cried over one about The Oregon Trail computer game the other day, but I wouldn't repin because it used a word I don't use. Ned did agree it was the best of those cards, though.
10. I have a horrible mouth (see above) that I have had to reel in now that Avery is like a parrot. She's repeated one thing I've said, and while it wasn't an ugly word, it wasn't something she should say. She has picked up on several things that I don't care to hear from her little mouth, and she usually blames my parents, although it's not coming from them.
11. I hate to be late but feel like I'm usually pushing it these days since I've had kids. I've never been late for work though.

Kristen's Questions for Me:

1. What book, if any, are you currently reading? Would you recommend it? I am painfully behind in The Happiness Project and have a wish list full for my Kindle. I just read Bloom less than 24 hours and loved it. I follow Kelle's blog and knew a lot of the story, but I couldn't put it down am an so thankful I bought the actual book instead of doing it electronically. Since getting my Kindle last year, my goal has been to read a book each month. While I haven't kept that up exactly in the last few months, all the reading I did on bed rest helped me out :)

2. What is your favorite place that you have visited? Why? I think our honeymoon location, Antigua, is definitely my favorite. I still mourn that trip! I visited France and Spain as a senior in high school, and I'd love to go back to the south of France and to the locations we visited in Spain now that I am able to appreciate them better.

3. Why did you start blogging? I started reading a few blogs and wanted to get in on the action. My scrapbooking days ended when I got pregnant with Avery, so I wanted a way to document our lives.

4. What is your biggest fear? Oh dear, how long do you have? I have a lot of fears, both normal and irrational. These fears obviously aren't debilitating or keep me from living life, but I still wish I wasn't such a worrier. My main two are losing a loved one and house fire. Last summer I began following a blog where the family was rear-ended, lost one child, and everyone else was seriously hurt. I now think about that a lot if we're driving in construction or a car has to stop quickly. I'm also afraid of the dark. I'll stop there or you'll have me committed!

5. What is your favorite thing to do when you have free time? My favorite thing to do if I have free time is to be in our house by myself, and then I usually waste the time completely. I don't crave massages, shopping trips, etc. I long for time alone at home. It's happened once since Sam has been born.

6. What is your favorite meal to cook? Or something you can cook well? I love to cook and we love to eat! I don't think I could pick a favorite that I cook, but I love to bake...anything but layered cakes.

7. What is your most prized possession? My most prized possession would be all of our photographs...ones that have been professionally done and ones that I have taken.

8. What hobbies do you have or what hobby do you think would be fun to start? I took a photography workshop last summer and just took an editing class. I have no aspirations of taking pictures for others, I just enjoy it and want to capture great memories of our family. I have hopes of doing a mentoring session with one of the professionals doing these workshops, and I have a wish list of new lenses and eventually a new camera. Ned has a zillion expensive hobbies, so it was about time I had a good one. Now I just need to find time to practice and experiment more.

9. What is your favorite season? Why? I love many things about all the seasons, but I especially love fall. I love how the air starts to get crisp, I love smelling woodsmoke, I love fall candles and pumpkins, and I love turtlenecks and jeans.

10. What is one product/appliance that you could not live without? The product that I couldn't live without is probably my iPhone, and the appliance I couldn't live without would be a dishwasher. Ned would definitely have dish pan hands if we had no dishwasher as I cannot put my hands in nasty dish water. He even washes the bottles each night, although I can do that...IF the sink is completely clean of all food particles.

11. What is your favorite holiday and why? My favorite holiday is Christmas, although really my favorite time is the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have always loved 4th of July traditions, and as I get older I love Easter more and more. I guess that's kind of all the holidays.

My Questions for Those I Tag:

1. What does your husband do? (I wonder that about almost all the blogs I read!)

2. What is your guiltiest pleasure when eating/snacking?
3. If you could have any job, what would it be?
4. What traits annoy you in others?
5. What time of day is hardest for you?
6. Where do you vacation?
7. What room in your house is your favorite?
8. What magazines do you subscribe to or read?
9. What is your favorite night out?
10. What do you collect?
11. What is the last movie you saw?

Several blog friends have been tagged or have completed this already. I'm tagging Sara, Carrie, and Ashley, although as busy moms I understand if it doesn't get done!