Liebster Award

My cute and talented friend Cherie (http://cherieamourblog.blogspot.com/) nominated me for a blogger awarad called the Liebster Award. Liebster means dearest in German, and it's awarded, blogger to blogger, to up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers.  

I don't know if I would consider my blog to be up-and-coming, but I certainly have less than 200 followers. Cherie happens to be my one and only and I'm that's totally fine with me. I write for my own purpose, which varies depending on the day and topic. That being said, I would love to know that the things I write have some sort of impact on someone out there. 

The rules for accepting and giving the award are pretty simple.  Once you accept the award, you just have to do the following in a blog entry:

*Answer the 11 questions posted by the nominator on her blog

*Give 11 facts about yourself

*Nominate 5-11 other new, up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers

*Make up 11 new questions to pass on the the bloggers you chose to nominate

*Thank your nominator by linking back to her blog

*Upon your post going live, contact your nominees about your nomination for them.

The questions I was asked to answer:

*My favorite smell and why: I love how Hiccup smells. I sometimes smell his blanket or the clothes in his closet while he's busy playing and growing up. I love the smell of Farr's ice cream in Ogden. I love the jack-o-lantern smell on Halloween. I love the smell outside right before it snows. 

*My favorite childhood toy: When I was really little I had a stuffed Winnie the Pooh who was my best friend and I took everywhere. I loved to play 'mommy' with all my dolls and play 'house' with my little kitchen. I played 'school' a lot with my easel and table and chairs that I would arrange around the room. I played with cars a lot with my little brothers. 

*Would I rather live in a cozy cottage or an extraordinary castle? As much fun as it would be to play princess I would have to pick a cottage. I was always intrigued with Miss Honey's cottage in Matilda or Iris's cottage in The Holiday. I'm a pretty simple girl. I like to be cozy and I like to be surrounded by my favorite things, the ones that matter most to me. 

Iris's cottage from The Holiday

*Sweet or salty? Most of the time I'm all for sweets, especially lately. But, I can never turn down popcorn. It's a weakness I have.

*Broken bones? I've torn a few ligaments and had some organs removed but I've never broken a bone.

*Who was I named after? When I was born I didn't have a name for about a week. They finally decided on Nicole after trying a few others and deciding they liked that the best. My brother Kyle was named after my dad's good friend, and my brother Kayd's name was inspired by a cowboy that my grandpa saw on tv. I really like knowing the background of people's names, it intrigues me. My little boy is named after my husband's favorite book and his middle name is after my brother. All of our kids will have names that have some sort of meaning behind them. 

*The first thing I notice about someone: Usually their smile. I'm a sucker for a good smile. 

*My favorite age thus far in life: I wish someone would have told me how fun it is to be a kid while I was busy wanting to grow up. Looking back a lot of my favorite moments happened in 2008. I went to Denver on a baseball trip with my friends, I went to Lake Powell for the first time and made a bunch of new friends. I met so many fun and great people that year. I met and started dating Casey that summer. That fall we told each other we loved each other and decided we wanted to get married.  

*My favorite subject in school: I've always liked English and reading and writing and all the grammar that went along with it. Ironically, in high school I don't think I ever got an A in my English class. I was kind of a slacker and focused a little too much on the social aspect.  ;0)

*My favorite home-cooked meal: I love the cheese enchiladas my mother in law makes. My dad is really good at grilling seafood, my mom makes my favorite Christmas breakfast (and delicious Thanksgiving rolls). My grandpa (and his friend Dean) made my favorite stew which I still crave. I can't ever turn down stew. 

11 Facts About Me

* I have lots of dream jobs. They include, but are not limited to, the following: librarian, foley artist (they create sound effects for movies & tv shows), a script supervisor (they observe the continuity of the shots during movies & tv shows), event planner, drill team coach, children's book or young adult author, I want to own a cafe that serves just snack food and sweets, I want to teach high school English, restaurant critic, movie critic, somehow get paid to travel to all the MLB stadiums and watch game after game. Mostly I want to be a good mama and be able to spend time raising my kids, teaching them and learning from them. 

* I get motion sick super easily. When I was younger I couldn't swing for very long because I would get dizzy. I am a drag at amusement parks because I get sick on anything that goes upside down or spins (even the carousel). I get car sick really easily and I hate to fly. 

* Since I have red hair my wardrobe is limited to certain colors. I have 2 things that are red, 2 purple, 2 yellow, a handful of pink and no orange in my closet. I like to wear blue and green mostly, my eye color changes depending on what I wear so those are fun. 

* I am afraid of a lot of animals. Birds freak me out because they are so unpredictable. Cats scare me because I think they're always thinking of a way to attack me. I hate all bugs (even potato bugs), especially spiders. I woke my husband from a dead sleep in the middle of the night because there was a huge spider in the bathroom. I hate worms. They creep me out, they stink, eww they totally disgust me. 

* We had Hiccup's name picked out before I was ever pregnant, but we kept it a secret until he was born. No one's opinion was going to change the name we had chosen and I didn't want to hear about it. 

* I have a special love and appreciation for adoption and plan on adopting if that opportunity is right for our family. 

* I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was baptized when I was 12 and my brother Kyle was baptized three years later when he turned twelve. My dad was baptized three years after that when he was 45 and we were sealed the next year in the Logan temple. 

* I love holidays and the traditions that go with them. I love to decorate and dress up and plan lots of activities to help us soak in all the holiday glory. Ironically I hate Thanksgiving. I wish we could skip that day every year. It always turns out miserable and I just can't stand that day. 

* Some of my favorite memories from my childhood are going to the movies, whether at the theater or to the drive-in. I still remember the day I saw The Sandlot, Beauty & the Beast, The Lion King, and Aladdin. My family still loves to go to the movies and I am so excited for Hiccup to get old enough to take him to see some shows.

* I will forever be on the search for the best chocolate chip cookie. I like a couple different ones for different reasons but so far my favorite has been (randomly) Subway's cookies. They are hit and miss with the texture and sometimes are more well done than I like, but when they're on they're on!

* I am a huge fan of Disney: land, movies, Pixar related anything, music from the movies... I'm not a huge fan of decorating with Disney stuff, and there are few things that I think are cute when it comes to Disney clothes, but if I had the chance to visit Disneyland on a yearly basis, I'd be a happy girl. If I had a chance to work at a Disney park as some sort of character, heck, that'd be the most awesome job ever.

The blogs and people I choose to nominate are:
*Libby @ http://libbyisonthelabel.blogspot.com/
*Shawnee @ http://j-s-griff.blogspot.com/?zx=8b78330efbdde046
*Tayler @ http://www.jaseandtayler.blogspot.com/
*Kristina @ http://nateandkristina.blogspot.com/ & http://kristinaskitchennn.blogspot.com/
I chose these girls because I frequently stalk their blogs to take a peek into their lives. I'm thankful for the stories they have shared.

The questions I would like them to answer:
*What is your favorite holiday tradition?
*Where is your favorite place to go out to eat and what do you order?
*What is one piece of advice you would share with other new mom's or mom's with little kids?
*What is something you are currently struggling with and how do you hope to overcome it?
*What is the last movie/play/concert you went to?
*What is a song that reminds you of high school/jr high?
*You just found $10 in your pocket, what do you do with it?
*What is something you admire about your spouse?
*What is something others admire about you?
*What inspired you to start blogging?
*Who is a famous person others think you look like?

Happy blogging everyone, and thanks again Cherie!