Liebster Award

While I was out of town a couple weeks ago
for my sister's 18th birthday surprise Harry Potter party
(which I can't wait to tell you about, but you can read her priceless reaction here),
I was nominated for a Liebster Award...
TWICE!

From Pebbles & Piggytails
&
Spindles Designs by Mary & Mags
Thanks guys!

I've been having a lot of migraines lately,
& being in front of the computer really hasn't been helping them
which is why I'm FINALLY getting around to posting this.
Anywho...

The Liebster Award is a blogging award given to you from another blogger
that wants to acknowledge your blog and likes what you share.
It was designed as a way to encourage new or small blogs.
You get to learn more about your fellow bloggers in the process,
& it's just plain fun...

The Rules:
Link back to the person who nominated you.
Share 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
List 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers (as best as you can tell based on their page).
They should be bloggers that you believe deserve some recognition & a little blogging love.
Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominated to answer if they accept the award.
Let those 11 bloggers know that they've been nominated with a link back to your Liebster Award post.

11 random facts about me:

1. I met my husband on MySpace because of an energy drink.
2. I collect pictures of quirky mailboxes.

3. I prefer water instead of milk with sweets & baked goods.

4. I have actually cried over spilled milk.

5. I am petrified of spiders - I literally freeze when I see one. Until it moves towards me. Then I run as fast as I can & have been known to cry hysterically.

6. I am extremely talented at laughing & crying at the same time. You seriously can't tell which I'm doing sometimes.

7. I love to sing & recorded my first cd before we moved.

9. In college, I wanted to major in Music Education with a minor in Theatre.

10. I'm OCD about weird things. Here's a couple examples: When I fill up gas in our car, the change total needs to end in a 0 or a 5 (Ex: $70.60 or $66.95 - It's always better if it's an increment of .25 or right on the dollar, but never something like $68.28, $71.54, or $67.01). When we go out to eat, the total after the tip needs to be rounded to the nearest dollar (bill of $21.52 + 15% tip of $3.23 = $24.75. I would round the tip up to make it $25 even). I'm weird, I know...

11. I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In other words, I'm a Mormon.

22 questions nominating bloggers have created for me (because I was nominated twice):

Lisa from Pebbles & Piggytails asked...

1. What is your dream vacation? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, Bora Bora, & Antarctica (not all in the same trip), but there are plenty of other places I would love to visit as well!

2. Do you believe in miracles & why or why not? Absolutely! "Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible." - Mary McLeod Bethune

3. Cats or dogs? Dogs

4. Why do you blog? I wanted to be able to earn a little extra money from home, update family & friends on our life, get back into journaling, make new friends, share my favorite recipes, & motivate myself to be more organized.

5. What's your favorite kind of social media (FB, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc)? That's a tough one. I like each of them for different reasons. I'm probably on FB the most although I don't update it very often. I check Google+ the second most, but only to check my Dad's feed... He posts all sorts of inspirational quotes, intellectual facts, cool videos, & breathtaking photos on there that he doesn't share on FB. Pinterest would be next. It's crazy how easy it is to get sidetracked on there. I love checking Instagram periodically (weekly maybe) to see what pictures my friends have posted recently, but I don't check it daily. Twitter is probably my least favorite but I do check it from time to time.

6. Are you an outdoors person or a home-body? Haha... Is it possible to be both? I love being outdoors, but I enjoy chillaxin' at home too.

7. Where do you hope to be in 10 years? I hope to be a better version of myself. It doesn't really matter where as long as I'm with family. (:

8. What's your favorite thing about your mom? I love that I can talk to my mom or my stepmom about anything. They're both wonderful & I love them dearly.

9. What is THE food you couldn't live without? Cheese. I love cheese. (Although I couldn't stand it when I was pregnant with Little Princess...)

10. When is the last time you went on a date with your spouse or significant other? Earlier this month for our September anniversary (we celebrate two) - we ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant called Cebollas, then went to a drive-in theater to watch Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters & Despicable Me 2. The time before that was our Valentine's date when we saw Warm Bodies.

11. What's your favorite way to spend time with your family? I love going on trips together (big vacations, weekend trips, or day trips) because so many great memories are made, but hanging out at home together is wonderful & relaxing too...

Mags from Spindles Designs asked...

1. Why do you blog? I wanted to be able to earn a little extra money from home, update family & friends on our life, get back into journaling, make new friends, share my favorite recipes, & motivate myself to be more organized.

2. What is your favorite day of the week? It's a toss-up between Saturday & Sunday. I like both because weekends are when we get to spend the most time together as a family. Saturdays because we can do plenty of fun things together, & Sundays because I can be spiritually uplifted from church.

3. What is your favorite food to make? That's a tough one because it really depends on what mood I'm in... Poppyseed Chicken tends to be one of my go-to meals, but anything in the crockpot is great because of the easy prep & easy clean-up.

4. What is your least favorite holiday? Labor Day - because that's when majority of the swimming pools close.

5. What is posted up on your fridge right now? My magnetic whiteboard to-do list, meal ideas, & a Colts football schedule magnet that we got in the mail. We just moved & haven't unpacked our magnets yet, so the outside of our fridge looks pretty bare.

6. How often are you on Pinterest? I pin things with the internet widget or on my phone whenever I come across something worth pinning, so I rarely get on Pinterest itself. It's a really good thing too because when I get on the actual site, I tend to get sidetracked easily.

7. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? I love all kids of ice cream, frozen custard, & fro-yo, but Coldstone's cheesecake ice cream with raspberries & Heath bar is probably my fave.

8. What is your dream vacation? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, Bora Bora, & Antarctica (not all in the same trip), but there are plenty of other places I would love to visit as well!

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A better mommy, wife, daughter, friend, etc - basically a better version of me...

10. What is your craft specialty? I'm not really sure that I have a specialty so-to-speak because I enjoy all kinds of crafts. I don't feel like I'm that great at any of them in particular, but I enjoy making creative muffin tin meals for my kidlets if that counts. You can check them out in an album-book on Facebook or in my post directory here.

11.What is your favorite quilt pattern & have you ever made it? I love this ombre denim quilt - it looks fairly simple but I haven't mustered up enough courage (or time) to attempt quilting yet. I also think that it would look really cool with some ocean wave-like stitching similar to the stitching found here, but that's waaay too advanced for me!

11 bloggers that I am nominating for the award:
McCall @ Dusty With Starlight
Kayla @ Kaye's Cupboard
Arrienne @ Ribbon Runner
yogamama @ Toddling in the Fast Lane
Koogle @ Koogle's Korner
Amanda @ Food, Family, Fun
Sarah @ Blame it on the Bento
Christina @ Raisins and Goldfish
Momma J @ This Little Blog of Mine
Alex @ Teach Through Play
Leah @ The Dog's a Boy Too

1. Why do you blog?
2. What is your favorite animal?
3. What is your favorite musical?
4. What is your favorite main dish?
5. What is your favorite dessert?
6. What is your favorite vacation spot?
7. Where would you love to travel to someday?
8. Who is your favorite Disney character?
9. What is your favorite movie?
10. Which season do you enjoy the most?
11. Do you know the muffin man?

xoxo