The Liebster Award
Hello friends! Happy Monday to you. I hope your weekend was full of rest and good friends and the beginnings of fall weather. The weekend has been interesting and quite spontaneous for us, actually. My work week was quite busy, and on Thursday, when I was supposed to go into work, I was really not feeling well. By 2PM, I had only slept a grand total of 1 hour due to lots of tossing and turning and just generally feeling badly. I felt like I had been hit by a train-- horrible headache (maybe from lack of sleep?) in tow and just feeling crappy. So I didn't go into work on Thursday night, unfortunately. I'm not one who calls in sick very often or at all for work, but sometimes you just have to listen to what your body is telling you. Friday morning, feeling much better and definitely well-rested, Scott and I woke up and drove to Nashville for a spontaneous less-than-24-hour trip to visit my brother- and sister-in-law as they celebrated their one year wedding anniversary in Nashville.
It was a seemingly crazy decision considering we arrived at 1PM on Friday and left at 8AM Saturday morning, but we got a chance to see downtown Nashville, go line-dancing at the Honky Tonk bars on Broadway, and spend time with some of our family members away from home. We always have so much fun with Ashley and Chris and were happy to be able to share in celebrating their anniversary with them.
In any case, I was nominated by my sweet friend Shannon Weynand of Kaplo in the Little Things for something I have never heard of-- the Liebster Award. The idea behind this is to share blogs that you read with other people to introduce them to new blogs/topics. There's also a series of questions to answer when you're nominated to share a little bit about yourself with those who read your blog... so here goes nothing! These questions were selected by Shannon and will be answered in the spirit of honesty! Also, I wrote a post about blogs I love a few weeks ago but I will try to introduce you to some different ones for this post.
1. What inspired you to start blogging? I originally started blogging to keep a record of my runs when I first started running. Each post was titled with the number of miles I ran that day (starting with 0.3miles or 0.5 for my first few! My, how far I have come from that first run around Gimghoul Lane in Chapel Hill), and I also chronicled how running was changing me. Honestly, I can't really find that blog site anymore and am wondering if I may have deleted it at some point. Now, I blog in mostly small essays about life around me, different things going on in my life, etc. I've found it to be an easy way to keep family and friends at home updated on what's going on when I'm miles away. Also, I think my inspiration for switching from blogging about running to the type of blogging I do now came from Shannon, who I talk about frequently on here. I love her little blog so very much.
2. Coffee date with your favorite author-- How do you take your coffee and with whom are you sitting? If we're talking all-time favorite author, then I'm sitting with Jane Austen and we are likely drinking decaf Earl Grey tea with a splash of honey, and I honestly am not sure what we would discuss, but I like to think it would be some sort of literary items that we were discussing, and just how much I love Mr. Darcy. Modern day, I'm sitting with Shauna Niequist in Chicago drinking a hazelnut coffee with stevia and some half-and-half; we're discussing books (as we both love reading) and writing, as well. I'm asking her for advice on publishing a book and how to not get discouraged while writing and how to leave the truest form of yourself on paper instead of selling out and people-pleasing. I'm also talking with her about how she's been hurt by the church in the past, the grace of Jesus, and best places to visit when I'm back in Chicago for a weekend trip (local, insider kind of places. I feel that she knows these well).
3. If approached by someone who self-identifies as "hating reading," what book would be your go-to recommendation? Truthfully, I rarely come across this problem, as most of my friends LOVE books. But, in a stitch, Oh! The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. It has pictures. It has rhymes. And it's altogether lovely and inspiring. I also happen to have most of it memorized, but that's not important to know, is it? For someone who hates reading, why not offer them something light and fun if they don't like the heaviness of reading? I was raised on books, sitting in my closet late at night reading Harry Potter with a book light, so the idea of hating to read is foreign to me. But I try to sympathize as much as I can. Once you've read Oh! The Places You'll Go, Harry Potter is a good next choice. I think these are super addicting and I know several friends who despise reading but who devoured these books.
4. What do you enjoy most about where you live right now? Oh, so many things. Scott and I live right on the edge of downtown Indianapolis and have a bay window with a gorgeous view of downtown Indy. I love sitting at our kitchen table while drinking coffee and overlooking the sunrise or sunset that day; Indiana sunsets are actually quite amazing. The other thing I love about where we live is that we are right off of the Monon Bike Trail that runs through the city and therefore do a lot of running and biking to different places. We ride our bikes to meals sometimes, to get ice cream, to study, or just for exercise. But we're a fifteen minute bike ride to the very heart of downtown and fifteen minutes in the other direction for Broad Ripple which is an area with tons of local restaurants and coffee shops. I will be sad when we leave Indy, I have come to quite love this place.
5. Do you ever order cocktails? If so, what is your go-to? Rarely. Cocktails are so overpriced, in my opinion. I usually go for wine, beer, or a margarita when I'm out. I don't really do things like Vodka cranberries or cosmos or anything like that, unless I'm out somewhere where I'm feeling that I should be sophisticated (which is never).
6. What is your favorite dog breed? Why? My family had one dog growing up, after thinking we would never ever own one (my mom was against them for a little while). She was a chow/wheaten terrier mix named Hope and she was lovely and sweet. Around the time when I was leaving North Carolina, my mom got a golden retriever named Gracie Lou and my roommate got a golden doodle named Penny. I think I have to choose some sort of golden retriever mix as my favorite dog breed, as I have found these creatures to be so lovable and fun-loving. They are so friendly, forgiving, and inquisitive, and I think I will definitely be wanting some sort of golden mix one day.
7. If you're being honest, what is the best means of getting in contact with you?: text, email, phone call, Facebook messenger, Skype, or something else? Because I work night shift, texting and e-mailing seem to work best for me. I often can't answer my phone during the day if I am sleeping for night shift, and I can't answer it at night when I'm working. On days off, I'm pretty available by phone, but the most consistent way to get in touch with me is text/e-mail, and you'll have to have a little grace and patience with me since I may not be able to respond right away. For non-urgent needs, snail mail is a lovely way to communicate with me and I am always sure to respond with whatever new stationery I've run across.
8. What is your go-to questions when in the midst of an awkward first-meeting? I don't think I have a go-to question for this.. but I usually make a lot of small talk about jobs, school, where they're from, what college they went to (if we have Carolina as common interest I'm in). I can't say that I truly have a "go-to" question, though. I mostly continue to act awkward and thus make the interaction even more awkward.
9. What possession in your home are you most proud of? This is a tough one. When I first read this, I read it as which possession is most valuable to me. But after re-reading and realizing it's the one I'm most proud of, I'd have to go with my desk. It's a pretty little thing from World Market, and when I first moved into an off-campus apartment, it was the first item of furniture I bought. I lived by myself for that summer and decided I needed a desk. I had selected this desk and drove 30 minutes away to get it at the only nearby store that had it in stock; it was pouring rain when I walked out with it, and a nice man offered to carry it for me in the rain, but being the self-sufficient woman I typically try to be, I kindly declined and stumbled to my car with the heavy box. I made it all the way home, carried it into the house while it was still raining, and put it all together by myself. It was my first big-girl piece of furniture, that I had paid for with my own money and put together with my own hands. And it's where all of my dreams have been lived out-- it's at this desk that I've studied for nursing school and nursing boards, applied for jobs (both in NC and Indianapolis), it's where I sit sometimes when I write my book, and it's where a lot of wedding planning took place. It's a place for dreaming and loving.
10. In less than 10 words, describe what you've been learning from a spiritual perspective recently. Focus on the present and practice waiting on the Lord. There's my 10 words, I think that's all I'm allowed to say about it!
And now for the nominations! The following bloggers are lovely, sweet, and kind, and have a passion for what they do and what they write about. These ladies are all relatively new to blogging (within the past year!) but are off to a great start. I love reading their blogs and hope you will, too.
1. Laura Jasmine (who just got married, so I believe her last name is Saunders now!): http://weddingbellesblog.com/
2. Caitlyn Carroll (soon-to-be Morrison): http://www.adashofcharm.com/
3. Adriana Poveromo (my sister!): http://saved-by-grace-adriana.blogspot.com/
4. Donna Poveromo (my mom! Yep, we're a family who loves to blog!): http://dlpov.wordpress.com/
Questions
1. What inspired you to start blogging?
2. Coffee date with your favorite author-- how do you take your coffee, who are you sitting with, and what are you discussing?
3. What do you enjoy most about where you live right now?
4. Your boss calls to tell you that you need the day off; you've been working too hard lately. What do you do on your spontaneous day off?
5. What one possession do you cherish most?
6. What's your ultimate travel destination? Money is not an object.
7. What five things make you the happiest?
8. What does the world need more of?
9. Favorite recipe?
10. Describe what you have been learning from a spiritual perspective, recently.
Lots of love & happy writing!
Also: shameless book update. 46 pages and 6 chapters! Slowly but surely. And with lots of coffee.
XOXO,
C.
It was a seemingly crazy decision considering we arrived at 1PM on Friday and left at 8AM Saturday morning, but we got a chance to see downtown Nashville, go line-dancing at the Honky Tonk bars on Broadway, and spend time with some of our family members away from home. We always have so much fun with Ashley and Chris and were happy to be able to share in celebrating their anniversary with them.
In any case, I was nominated by my sweet friend Shannon Weynand of Kaplo in the Little Things for something I have never heard of-- the Liebster Award. The idea behind this is to share blogs that you read with other people to introduce them to new blogs/topics. There's also a series of questions to answer when you're nominated to share a little bit about yourself with those who read your blog... so here goes nothing! These questions were selected by Shannon and will be answered in the spirit of honesty! Also, I wrote a post about blogs I love a few weeks ago but I will try to introduce you to some different ones for this post.
I like the pink one better. I'm a pink girl, though.
1. What inspired you to start blogging? I originally started blogging to keep a record of my runs when I first started running. Each post was titled with the number of miles I ran that day (starting with 0.3miles or 0.5 for my first few! My, how far I have come from that first run around Gimghoul Lane in Chapel Hill), and I also chronicled how running was changing me. Honestly, I can't really find that blog site anymore and am wondering if I may have deleted it at some point. Now, I blog in mostly small essays about life around me, different things going on in my life, etc. I've found it to be an easy way to keep family and friends at home updated on what's going on when I'm miles away. Also, I think my inspiration for switching from blogging about running to the type of blogging I do now came from Shannon, who I talk about frequently on here. I love her little blog so very much.
2. Coffee date with your favorite author-- How do you take your coffee and with whom are you sitting? If we're talking all-time favorite author, then I'm sitting with Jane Austen and we are likely drinking decaf Earl Grey tea with a splash of honey, and I honestly am not sure what we would discuss, but I like to think it would be some sort of literary items that we were discussing, and just how much I love Mr. Darcy. Modern day, I'm sitting with Shauna Niequist in Chicago drinking a hazelnut coffee with stevia and some half-and-half; we're discussing books (as we both love reading) and writing, as well. I'm asking her for advice on publishing a book and how to not get discouraged while writing and how to leave the truest form of yourself on paper instead of selling out and people-pleasing. I'm also talking with her about how she's been hurt by the church in the past, the grace of Jesus, and best places to visit when I'm back in Chicago for a weekend trip (local, insider kind of places. I feel that she knows these well).
3. If approached by someone who self-identifies as "hating reading," what book would be your go-to recommendation? Truthfully, I rarely come across this problem, as most of my friends LOVE books. But, in a stitch, Oh! The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. It has pictures. It has rhymes. And it's altogether lovely and inspiring. I also happen to have most of it memorized, but that's not important to know, is it? For someone who hates reading, why not offer them something light and fun if they don't like the heaviness of reading? I was raised on books, sitting in my closet late at night reading Harry Potter with a book light, so the idea of hating to read is foreign to me. But I try to sympathize as much as I can. Once you've read Oh! The Places You'll Go, Harry Potter is a good next choice. I think these are super addicting and I know several friends who despise reading but who devoured these books.
4. What do you enjoy most about where you live right now? Oh, so many things. Scott and I live right on the edge of downtown Indianapolis and have a bay window with a gorgeous view of downtown Indy. I love sitting at our kitchen table while drinking coffee and overlooking the sunrise or sunset that day; Indiana sunsets are actually quite amazing. The other thing I love about where we live is that we are right off of the Monon Bike Trail that runs through the city and therefore do a lot of running and biking to different places. We ride our bikes to meals sometimes, to get ice cream, to study, or just for exercise. But we're a fifteen minute bike ride to the very heart of downtown and fifteen minutes in the other direction for Broad Ripple which is an area with tons of local restaurants and coffee shops. I will be sad when we leave Indy, I have come to quite love this place.
5. Do you ever order cocktails? If so, what is your go-to? Rarely. Cocktails are so overpriced, in my opinion. I usually go for wine, beer, or a margarita when I'm out. I don't really do things like Vodka cranberries or cosmos or anything like that, unless I'm out somewhere where I'm feeling that I should be sophisticated (which is never).
6. What is your favorite dog breed? Why? My family had one dog growing up, after thinking we would never ever own one (my mom was against them for a little while). She was a chow/wheaten terrier mix named Hope and she was lovely and sweet. Around the time when I was leaving North Carolina, my mom got a golden retriever named Gracie Lou and my roommate got a golden doodle named Penny. I think I have to choose some sort of golden retriever mix as my favorite dog breed, as I have found these creatures to be so lovable and fun-loving. They are so friendly, forgiving, and inquisitive, and I think I will definitely be wanting some sort of golden mix one day.
7. If you're being honest, what is the best means of getting in contact with you?: text, email, phone call, Facebook messenger, Skype, or something else? Because I work night shift, texting and e-mailing seem to work best for me. I often can't answer my phone during the day if I am sleeping for night shift, and I can't answer it at night when I'm working. On days off, I'm pretty available by phone, but the most consistent way to get in touch with me is text/e-mail, and you'll have to have a little grace and patience with me since I may not be able to respond right away. For non-urgent needs, snail mail is a lovely way to communicate with me and I am always sure to respond with whatever new stationery I've run across.
8. What is your go-to questions when in the midst of an awkward first-meeting? I don't think I have a go-to question for this.. but I usually make a lot of small talk about jobs, school, where they're from, what college they went to (if we have Carolina as common interest I'm in). I can't say that I truly have a "go-to" question, though. I mostly continue to act awkward and thus make the interaction even more awkward.
9. What possession in your home are you most proud of? This is a tough one. When I first read this, I read it as which possession is most valuable to me. But after re-reading and realizing it's the one I'm most proud of, I'd have to go with my desk. It's a pretty little thing from World Market, and when I first moved into an off-campus apartment, it was the first item of furniture I bought. I lived by myself for that summer and decided I needed a desk. I had selected this desk and drove 30 minutes away to get it at the only nearby store that had it in stock; it was pouring rain when I walked out with it, and a nice man offered to carry it for me in the rain, but being the self-sufficient woman I typically try to be, I kindly declined and stumbled to my car with the heavy box. I made it all the way home, carried it into the house while it was still raining, and put it all together by myself. It was my first big-girl piece of furniture, that I had paid for with my own money and put together with my own hands. And it's where all of my dreams have been lived out-- it's at this desk that I've studied for nursing school and nursing boards, applied for jobs (both in NC and Indianapolis), it's where I sit sometimes when I write my book, and it's where a lot of wedding planning took place. It's a place for dreaming and loving.
10. In less than 10 words, describe what you've been learning from a spiritual perspective recently. Focus on the present and practice waiting on the Lord. There's my 10 words, I think that's all I'm allowed to say about it!
And now for the nominations! The following bloggers are lovely, sweet, and kind, and have a passion for what they do and what they write about. These ladies are all relatively new to blogging (within the past year!) but are off to a great start. I love reading their blogs and hope you will, too.
1. Laura Jasmine (who just got married, so I believe her last name is Saunders now!): http://weddingbellesblog.com/
2. Caitlyn Carroll (soon-to-be Morrison): http://www.adashofcharm.com/
3. Adriana Poveromo (my sister!): http://saved-by-grace-adriana.blogspot.com/
4. Donna Poveromo (my mom! Yep, we're a family who loves to blog!): http://dlpov.wordpress.com/
Questions
1. What inspired you to start blogging?
2. Coffee date with your favorite author-- how do you take your coffee, who are you sitting with, and what are you discussing?
3. What do you enjoy most about where you live right now?
4. Your boss calls to tell you that you need the day off; you've been working too hard lately. What do you do on your spontaneous day off?
5. What one possession do you cherish most?
6. What's your ultimate travel destination? Money is not an object.
7. What five things make you the happiest?
8. What does the world need more of?
9. Favorite recipe?
10. Describe what you have been learning from a spiritual perspective, recently.
Lots of love & happy writing!
Also: shameless book update. 46 pages and 6 chapters! Slowly but surely. And with lots of coffee.
XOXO,
C.
Yay! LOVE THIS. I realize now the spiritual lesson question is a tough one. Yikes! :))
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