Liebster Award

Good morning!

Andrea from A Single Frame recently passed along the Liebster Award to this little blog. I'm so delighted! It's such a great idea, especially for bloggers like me who are just starting out and hoping to find readers who will enjoy what we have to share.

Liebster is a German word meaning sweetest, beloved, and endearing. It is passed on from blogger to blogger as a way of spreading the word about up and coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers). When your blog is nominated, you share 11 facts about yourself and your answers to the 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you. Then you nominate five qualifying blogs you love and want to share with your readers. Be sure to notify them that you've nominated them, and then ask them 11 questions of your own.

I'm so thrilled to be included!

11 Facts about Me

1. I am an elementary teacher and I love it so much. I have taught first grade for four years, and next year I'll be moving to fourth grade.
2. I love animals!
3. Even though I'm a runner now, I never participated in any athletic activities in high school or college. I always hated exercise until I started running. Now running is a big part of my life.
4. I'm addicted to chocolate and Starbucks.
5. I have a record player and a modest record collection, and I love digging through bins at flea markets to find records to add to my collection.
6. I have two sisters, Lisa and Laura, who are twins.
7. My husband's name is Brandon, but I call him Rand.
8. My favorite movie is Dumb and Dumber. I think it's hilarious, no matter how many times I watch it!
9. I'm very shy in person. Except around my students. They get me!
10. I created and maintained a website dedicated to the X-Files when I was a kid. I was very cool and popular, clearly.

Andrea's Questions

1. Do you have any guilty pleasures? Don't judge me...Dateline NBC. I. Can't. Stop. Watching.
2. What can't you live without? My husband. I like him a lot.
3. What are your hopes for your blog in the future? I really hope this blog can be a place where I can share my love of design and connect with others who love it too. I want blogging to help make me a better writer and photographer, and knowing that I have readers who are interested in what I'm sharing is AWESOME.
4. What is your best memory from 2013 thus far? Definitely running my first half-marathon. Now I can't wait to run another!
5. Are you an iPhone or Android person? iPhone, but just because that's all I've ever known since my Nokia days. Plus I teach at a school where the students all have iPads and the teachers have MacBooks, so it's Apple for me!
6. What dessert can't you live without? The Paradise Pie from Chili's. The yummiest chocolate chip cookie I've ever tasted topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and caramel. Unbelievable.
7. Do you have a favorite summer spot? Honestly, home. I love spending my summers catching up on all the home projects I don't have time for during the school year.
8. If you have the choice between never having to do dishes, laundry, or vacuum ever again, which would you choose? Easy...laundry! I can't stand it. I usually mess it up-too much room for error!
9. What is your everyday accessory necessity? Big earrings. I have to wear 'em everyday.
10. Cats vs Dogs? Definitely cats! I'm a crazy cat lady.
11. In which direction would you wish for the wind to blow you? Straight to NYC.

Here are five blogs I highly recommend checking out. Each of these blogs is so unique and worth a read. (I based my selection on their number of followers on Bloglovin'.)

Live-Give-Love
The DIY Nurse
Through the Front Door
Tall Glass of Water
Grey Gone Green

My Questions:
1. Why do you blog?
2. What is your favorite movie?
3. What is your favorite kind of weather?
4. What do you like to do with your time when you're not blogging?
5. What has been your best memory from 2013 so far?
6. What is your biggest pet peeve?
7. What is your favorite blog post you've written?
8. Who is your favorite author?
9. If you had to live in a decade other than this one, which one would you choose?
10. What is something you have learned recently?
11. What is the best book you've read lately?

Thank you so much for participating! There are so many great new blogs out there that should be read and enjoyed, so help spread the word by passing this award on. Also, please link back and let me know when you post. I would love to read your answers!

Thanks again to Andrea, and have a wonderful Thursday!