liebster award...sharing a little blog love!

Kristin over at the blog This Old Art Room was sweet enough to nominate me for a Liebster Award!

Of course, being a newbie blogger I had no idea what that meant so I hopped over to her blog to find out what this was all about.  Then I did a little more research because I thought it was such a fun, warm-fuzzy kind of recognition.  Not really an "award" per se, but more of a "keep up the good work and remember someone is reading your stuff" reminder.  No matter what, it has all good intentions and I intend to keep it rolling.

One blogger, Sopphey Vance, really dug deep and tried to discover the origins of this award.  You can read her blog post about it here. 

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.  Pretty long list of adjectives there, but all together pretty positive as well.

It is given out to bloggers who have less than 200 followers, most likely as a way to support and encourage them to keep blogging!  If there's anything I learned from blogging so far is that if you feel supported and encouraged, you are more likely to keep doing it.  I know personally that once I realized people were (a) actually reading my blog and (b) getting something useful out of it, I knew that I was going to keep it up.

So here are the rules I was given to follow if I chose to "accept this mission". 
(Ha! That totally reminds me of Mission: Impossible....please say you're with me)

Back to the rules....

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me.   (The link to Kristin's blog is at the top of this post!)

2. Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator.

3. Share 11 random facts about myself.

4. Create 11 questions for my nominees.

5. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers. 

6. Contact my nominees and let them know that I have nominated them.

Here are the 11 Questions Kristin gave to me:

1.  What is your favorite food?
Italian food....I love all kinds of pastas, pizzas, and anything with garlic and/or pesto!  Let's just say it would be very difficult for me to go on a no-carb diet.  :)

2. What do you collect?

Accessories!  Purses are my biggest weakness (I have six baskets of purses in my guest room closet- I think at last count I had over 50), but I also love buying scarves, necklaces, watches, rings, bracelets...basically anything that can dress up an outfit!

 

3.  What did you want to be when you were little?

Actually, I pretty much always wanted to be a teacher except for that one year in high school when I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. Crazy.  I also had dreams when I was younger of being a famous actress, or an archaeologist, or an interior designer.  Yep, when I was a kid I actually knew what an archaeologist and interior designer were!  :)

 

4. What is your biggest pet-peeve?

As a teacher, my biggest pet-peeve are pencils.  They break, kids lose them, they don't have one, someone stole theirs, they pop the erasers off, they drop all of their pencil shavings on the ground.....I could go on.   I often joke around with kids that I wish someone would invent the everlasting-never-needs-sharpening-or-replacing-pencil.

 

5.  What is something you've always wanted to learn?

I've always wanted to learn how to skydive, how to sew/crochet well, how to speak another language fluently, and how to play a musical instrument.

 

6.  What is your favorite movie?

I love movies way too much to choose one....sorry, I know that's a total cop out on this question.  Literally though, I go to the movies on an average once a week and I've seen SO many outstanding movies.  Last year, I literally saw all (nine) movies that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.  That's why I can't pick!!

 

7.  What would be your ideal Saturday night?

Either being with my family or friends.  If I'm with my family, it would be hanging out, playing games, eating, laughing and being goofballs.  If I'm with my friends, it would be hanging out, maybe having a few drinks, eating, laughing, and talking for hours.  Sometimes I love going out to a bar or dancing or a party, but for the most part I like being around smaller groups of people where you can just be yourself. 

 

8.  Are you a dog or cat person?

If I had to choose, I'd be a dog person because I loved all the dogs we had growing up....but honestly, I don't have any desire to have a pet myself.  I've lived with both cats and dogs, and it's just not "my thing" I guess.  I have a very sensitive sense of smell, and let's face it....animals stink.

 

9.  If they were going to make a movie about your life who would play you?

Well...since I love movies so much this is again a very hard question to answer.  I think I would want someone like Jennifer Garner, not because I think she looks like me because she's so down-to-earth and that's really close to my personality. 

 

10.  Did you play sports?

I played soccer all four years of high school, and soccer and volleyball (indoor and outdoor) on rec teams in college.  Now...I'm too out of shape to do either of those.  Maybe someday.... 

 

11. What is your favorite creative activity?

I definitely see blogging as a creative activity, but I also really love doing DIY projects around my house (painting, decorating, repurposing objects) as well as fun creative projects in the classroom, many of which I've blogged about!  I also love creating things on the computer (using Publisher) for my classroom, and will hopefully start selling some of them on Teachers Pay Teachers.   At one point in my teaching career, I considered going back to school to study graphic design so I could actually do that for a living (this was before TpT), but I realized I would miss my students too much!

Okay....and now 11 random facts about me.

1.  Since I go to the movies so often, I have a "Celebrity Card" with the movie theater's rewards program.  I like to pretend that it's cooler than it is, but really I just love the freebies I get.

2.  I love going antique shopping.  I could literally spend all day in one of those huge antique malls.  It's so fun to search for little treasures, but mostly I just love seeing all of those "vintage" collections.  I put vintage in quotes because some of those things are from my childhood and I don't think I'm old enough to be labeled as vintage yet!

3.  I have never had a professional manicure or pedicure.  I know, the girlie-girl in me is ashamed.  But when I can do it for myself for way less, I'm okay with that.

4.  I am extremely ticklish, and I bruise easily.  I don't know if they're related, but somehow in my head I thought they should be in the same category.

5.  I'm addicted to caffeine, but can't drink coffee.  Which is why I drink (too much) pop every day.

6.  I can not wear anything with leather against my skin.  I get a serious allergic reaction in the form of a large, very itchy rash.  Not being able to wear leather sandals and dress shoes without socks has seriously limited my wardrobe choices in the warmer months at work.

7.  I bought a house (by myself) almost four years ago.  It was the scariest, smartest, and most rewarding decision I ever made. 

8.  I own and have seen every season and episode of Gilmore Girls and The X-Files.   Even though those two shows are extremely different from each other, they are my two all-time favorite shows.  Which shouldn't surprise you knowing the eclectic variety of TV shows that I enjoy.

9.  I was born in and have lived in Michigan all my life, but my favorite baseball team is the Chicago White Sox.  It all originates with my dad who used to listen to baseball on the radio and the Chicago stations came in better than Detroit so he ended up being a Sox fan.....which of course meant I became one. 

10.  I only applied to one college during my senior year of high school- the University of Michigan.  For my whole life, that was the only place I wanted to go.  I had no back up plan in case I wasn't accepted.  Good thing I was! 

11.  My favorite smell is the smell of the beach.  Lake Michigan to be exact.  It just reminds me of home.  Well, that and the smell of my mom's homemade apple pie.  :)

Questions for my Nominees:

1. If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you go and why?
2. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
3. When you get a day (or for you parents, an hour?) to yourself, what do you like to do?
4.  If you could only pack three beauty products for a long trip (gasp!), what would they be?
5.  What is the best book you've read recently?
6.  Do you ever wish you were in a different career?  If so, what would you dream to be doing?
7.  If you had to pick one meal to eat the rest of your life, what would it be?
8. What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
9.  If you could live during any other decade/period in history, when would it be and why?
10.  When you go on vacation, would you rather be adventurous or relaxing (like on a beach)?
11.  What are three things you would like to be remembered for?

My Nominees:

1. Jackie at My Sunny Moments
2. Lindsay at A Boy, A Brunette, and a Baby
3. Calli at Living My Best Life
4. Teaching Tidbits and More with Jamie
5. Ali at Teaching Powered By Caffeine

Nominees....please let me know when you write your posts.  I can't wait to hear your answers!

Thanks again to Kristin for the award....this was a lot of fun!  :)