Liebster Award

Whoo-hoo! I'm kind of in shock, but I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Libby at It's Never Too Late . . . Although I'm Always Late! Ah! What fun!

What is a Liebster Award? Well, the word liebster is German literally meaning dearest or favorite. The award recognizes new and upcoming bloggers with less than 200 followers who deserve some kind of recognition and support for their contribution.
In order to accept this prestigious award, one must abide by a list of rules. 

Here they are:

1) Each person must list 11 things about themselves.
2) Answer the 11 questions that the tagger has set for you PLUS you MUST create 11 questions of your own for the 11 people you will nominate with this award.
3) Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post.
4) Go to their pages and inform them of the nominations.
5) Absolutely NO tag backs.
6) Remember to ONLY tag bloggers with less than 200 followers  

Ok, hmm . . . Eleven things about yours truly  . . . 

1. My childhood imaginary friend was Godzilla.

2. I have incredibly vivid and bizarre dreams.  If it’s a really good one, I’ll force myself back to sleep to see what happens next. Once I’m awake, poor Chris has to hear all about them.

3. In high school, I created a scrapbook by collecting every single magazine and internet article on the Lord of the Rings movies that I could get my hands on.  I still have it.

4. I have never dyed my hair. Not once, even though my freshman year of college I went through a phase where I REALLY wanted to dye it black. Now, I want blue stripes . . . but I don’t think that has much chance of happening . . .

5.  Instead of Spanish, I took two years of American Sign Language in high school (LOVE it and miss it so much), and, in college, I took two years of French because I wanted to go to Gabon, Africa and work with David Thompson . . .  I still would love to do that . . . maybe one day . . .

6. When I was five, I was chosen from the audience to sit on Sea World’s killer whale, Shamu (secret: it's rigged--my babysitter worked at SeaWorld and it was a surprise!).  He felt like a wet rubber tire, and it remains one of the coolest moments of my life despite the fact that my pants were soaked.

7.  My favorite number is 13 simply because it is usually noted as being unlucky.

8. I drink tea because I can’t stand the bitterness of coffee, of which I have only ever had two cups, and, even then, it was dressed up with a packet of hot chocolate and way too much vanilla creamer. Still can’t do it.

9. When I was younger, I used to sing high soprano.  In my senior year of high school, I decided I’d rather sing like Amy Lee from Evanescence, so I worked on making myself sing in lower tones, though I never achieved sounding like my idol. Now, I only sing when I’m alone in the car, sometimes alone in the house, though I would love to do recordings with the hubs.

10. I took piano for six years, and, of course, didn’t appreciate it until the lessons stopped.  Maybe one day I’ll own one and can start playing again. I still have all of my old sheet music.

11. I haven’t shown off my legs in almost three years.  I do not own a single pair of shorts and, when I wear skirts, I wear leggings to my mid-calf.  This has nothing to do with modesty and everything to do with pride—I just don’t like my legs, haha.

The things boredom will drive you to take photos of . . .

Answers to Libby’s Questions...

1) Where are you right now?
In my cubby—erm, excuse me, “cubical” . . .office?—at work . . . Sshhh!

2)  If you won the lottery today, who is the first person you'd call and why?
The hubs. It’s kind of his money, too, at that point, so he has a right to know, right? If he were with me at the time of discovering the winnings, I’d call my mom in a heartbeat because she's awesome.

3)  What's on your key ring?
-Car key and a car remote that doesn’t work
- House key
- an odd assortment of mini membership cards including Panera and Petsmart among others that I never use
- An owl fob keychain  (LOVE owls)
- A chibi Alphonse Elric that my brother just bought me during his time in Japan.  It was one of those “buy this little box and be surprised by what’s inside!” deals. Love the little guy! And my brother . . .;]


4)  If you could meet one person in your lifetime, past or present, who would it be? 
C.S. Lewis.  Or maybe Neil Gaiman . . . No, Mr. Lewis. Yes, definitely Mr. Lewis.

5)  How and where did you meet your bestfriend?
Julie and I met at a high school freshman bowling party mixer thing. We ended up on the same team and discovered we both loved Star Wars.  And that I couldn’t bowl worth crud. Nope.

6)  What was the last place you went on vacation to?
A real honest-to-goodness vacation? I don’t know. There was our trip to Central Cali that I THOUGHT was a vacation, but, no that was a business trip (not at all relaxing or vacation-y . . . ) . . . For our anniversary, the hubs and I take a weekend on Sanibel Island . . . but do weekends count as vacations?  I think my last REAL vacation was a ski trip to North Carolina with my family about six years ago . . . good grief, I think I’m overdue . . .

7)  What is the first thing you do in the morning when you wake up?
Hit snooze. Three times. Maybe more. Then, after rolling out of bed, I brush my teeth.  I always brush my teeth first because, otherwise, I’m terrified I’ll forget.

8)  Look to your right, what do you see?
The burgundy and gray wall of my cubby . . .  and a kitten calendar . . . I need more décor in here.

9)  What is your favorite childhood memory?
Playing with LEGOs and Star Wars action figures with my younger brother . . . and filling our mom’s freezer with little plastic men in cups of water . . . It was carbonite, ok?

10) What is something you can never leave your house without?
My wallet. Phone and keys are ALMOST always with me, but, if Chris is driving, I occasionally leave them behind.

11) You're stuck in an elevator for 24 hrs, who would you choose to be stuck with?
The hubs. :] 

And here are my nominees: 
1.    Larissa at LaLaLovely
2.    Krista at behind the moon
3.    Kelsea at Pink Wonderland
4.    Lindsay at The Lovely Things Are 
5.    Yesenia at (then there was us)
6.    Safia at From Cupcakes, With Love
7.    Rachel at The Random Writings of Rachel 
8.    Danielle at the life of an "ordinary" housewife 
9.    Claudia at Lashes + Beard 
10. Jenna at I Never Really Told You
11.  Michelle at Jarrah Jungle

Ladies, if you would kindly answer these questions:

1.     If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

2.     What’s your favorite Olympic event?

3.     What’s your favorite/best physical feature?

4.     If you could be a color, what would you be and why?

5.     What food would you eliminate from the face of the planet?

6.     What’s your favorite vacation or vacation spot?

7.     If you could learn to speak any language, what would it be?

8.     What’s one feature/room your dream house MUST have? (and I mean DREAM house)

9.     What’s your  favorite spot on the playground?

10.  If you were on death row, what would your last meal be?

11.  What’s your least favorite TV show or movie and why?

I can't wait to read your answers! Thanks again for the nomination, Libby! You're awesome!