The Liebster Award!!

Good morning all! Welcome to my newest additions (and thanks for joining!) and an equally fond greetings to all who read this!

I’m a little behind schedule but I was so thrilled last Friday after posting The Jelly Bean Effect to find out it earned me my first Liebster Award nomination by The Pensieve!

I highly recommend giving them a visit as their posts are thought provoking, witty, and wonderful reads. Plus you can’t go wrong with a blog named after a powerful magical tool that allows one to view memories like movies. The perfect name for such a profound and interesting blog!

I can’t state my thankfulness enough for the nomination!!

If you are already familiar with this award feel free to scroll on down past the rules to see my responses and nominations! 😉

So, WHAT IS THE LIEBSTER AWARD?

The Liebster award is an award that exists only on the internet and is given to bloggers by other bloggers. The earliest case of the award goes as far back as 2011.

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT (which I totally am!) or you chose to start a blog post about the Liebster award; you should do the following:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and put a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you. They will thank you for it and those who you nominate will also help you out as well.

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. For the 2018 Liebster Award, I will be shaking things up! Write a small post about what makes you passionate about blog posting.

4. Provide 10 random facts about yourself. (Again this year I’m making this optional. If you wish to engage with your readers it’s a great idea to include random facts about you.)

5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel would enjoy blogging about this award.

6. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here or simply link to this post.)

7. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post.

8. Interview/Q&A. Answer the questions provided by the blog nominating you and leave questions for your nominees.

Now that I’ve got that part covered here’s my input on the award! Seeing as both 1 and 2 are covered here is 3.

Blogging has been the perfect gift I didn’t know I needed in my life. It has brought me friendship, knowledge, confidence, enjoyment, and a sense of accomplishment I haven’t found elsewhere. It is a way for me to vent my frustrations, exert boundless creativity, and interact with people I otherwise would never meet. What more could you ask for in a hobby?

10 Random Facts!

1. Penguins are the best animals.
2. I have dimples on the back of my shoulders! (I’ve only met 2 other people with them – my dad and sister)
3. I love philosophy and literature.
4. My Spirit Animal is a Hawk or Falcon.
5. I’m allergic to pretty much everything (no joke here, 90% of raw vegetables and fruits, most pollen, and most furry or hairy animals. Oral Allergy Syndrome is the cause).
6. If I were had to choose a career based on Dungeons and Dragons, I would be a bard or a blacksmith. Probably both.
7. I have a not-so-secret-anymore aspiration to either write Bard songs or do something so impressive someone writes one about me. The latter is least likely.
8. Weasley is my king.
9. I’ve been called the “stupidest smart person” many times as I have a hard time understanding simple concepts like knowing left and right automatically but can talk about the Pythagorean Theorem or business acumen for hours. The most straight forward it is, the harder it is for me to grasp. I’m an over thinker.
10. My favorite part of any video game is the achievements and armor/weapon creation skill sets. Dragon Age: Inquisition has the best armor and weapon creation method of all games I’ve ever played.

Interview & Q/A

1. What was the reason/ inspiration behind your blog?

I had pretty bad post-partum depression following my daughter’s birth and never really recovered. I had always wanted to blog but found excuses not to. On a whim I started up Word Press, made an account, and just made a post. From there I just kept writing. It has helped me continue to heal. 🙂

2. What are your blogging goals for 2018?

My only concrete goal is keep blogging. I’d love to make my blog profitable someday but don’t want to get lost in numbers and start missing the beauty and joy of writing by putting a date on it.

3. What’s the first thing that pops in your mind when….. (That thing should have popped in your mind by now 😉

My fiancé and daughter!

4. Sun or moon?

Moon. I feel like the phases represent life. Even the darkness of a new moon promises light in coming days. Life is a cycle and there is always something on the way.

5. What is the bestest piece of literature that you have come ever across?

Oh my, could you have picked a harder question!? (No, you couldn’t have). The best piece of literature ever… I am going to go with Harry Potter the series.

It is the only series I’ve ever been able to reread repeatedly with great enjoyment each time. It has lessons and beauty in every letter along with pain, grief, and emotions of every nature. I read it at least four times a year.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be?

A Keebler elf! Not even kidding lol!

7. An ‘Eureka!’ moment in your life.

The first time I made soup on my own! I always mess up the roux but it kind of clicked one day and I ended up with near perfect baked potato soup!!

8. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

This is such a hard question. How can I possibly answer yes after seeing a young child taken from this world by cancer or a new Mom on her way to the hospital welcome her babe lost in a car crash? I want to say yes, it’s all got a purpose. I won’t lie though, my faith in this is cracked. It’s a question I’ve been asking a long time.

Ultimately, right now I say no. I don’t think it all has a purpose. Sometimes terrible things happen to good people for no reason other than circumstance. Most things have purpose, even 99%, but not all.

9. What is your definition of happiness?

Doing what you love with the people you care most about. Living every day with purpose and calm. The hugs my toddler gives me when my fiancé tries hugging me (I end up with hugs from both at once!).

10. Any Character (fictional or non-fictional) you believe that you would most relate with.

Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses. She is eternally courageous, follows her instincts and heart. She puts everything she has on the line to do what’s right no matter the personal sacrifice. I’d do the same for my family and the values I hold dearest.

Nominations!!! (The Best Part)

Elly V.

Neurotically Me

Yes More Blogs

Weight of Gravity

Eva O’Reilly

A Wayward Scribbles

Walk the Goats

My Q&A Questions for you should you accept!

1. What is your favorite place?
2. If you could have a conversation with anyone, who would it be?
3. Your most used phrase or word?
4. What is the best part of blogging?
5. Name something that makes you laugh.
6. How do you relax?
7. What do you want to achieve this month?
8. What is the best song you’ve ever heard?
9. Would you rather fly or read minds?
10. Do you believe we control our own fate?

There we are!

I’m so thankful again for this nomination and can’t wait to read my nominees posts!!