The Versatile Blogger Award--Take 3

Gone from blogging for about two months, gain more followers and an award. I'm not sure how I managed that, but I am truly grateful to you all for following me.  There's been several reasons why I haven't been blogging lately (with the main one being outlined below).  However, now that I'm back in the swing of things, I hope to have regular posts once again whether you want me to blog or not ;-) 

Another reason why I haven't been blogging is due in part to my trying to finish the editing process for my book, Enigma Black.  Given some of the events of my life, I'm about a month or so behind schedule, but I am working to catch up quickly.  Writing, I'm beginning to learn, has a mind of its own.  The process works on its own schedule and you just have to deal with it and enjoy the ride.

With that being said, in my absence I was nominated for yet another Versatile blogging award by the wonderfully talented Robert Pruneda.  Rob recently published his heartwarming book (of which I had the honor of beta reading) entitled Victory Lane: The Chronicles--Pursuit of a Dream available on Kindle.  Pursuit of a Dream is the first book in Rob's series about young man's quest to become the next great NASCAR star.  It's a very well-written, wholesome family story with some of the best dialogue I've read in a long time.  Be sure to check both the book and Rob out at http://sharkbaitwrites.com/sharkblogs/ and the link listed above. 

Thank you, Rob.  Your support is always an honor that is greatly appreciated.

Now on to the rules of acceptance for this prestigious award:

Nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

1. Display the Versatile Blogger Award (see picture above) with pride.--Check
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the post with a link back to their blog.--Check
3. Share 7 completely random (and hopefully true) pieces of information about yourself.--See below
4. Include this set of rules.--Check
5. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs, tweeting them, or sending smoke signals. Whatever floats your pirate boat.--See below.  I prefer to include a blanket nomination. ;-)

Seven Random Facts About Moi:

1.  I'm a new Mommy again-Part of the reason why I've been MIA from blogging is because of Mia, my new daughter.  Mia (pronounced Me-a, not My-a) was born on February 22, 2012 and, needless to say, I've been pretty busy. *Contemplates whether the lack of sleep will make her blog posts a tad more interesting and slightly more coherent.* It's easy to forget how time-consuming babies are when your only other child is five-years-old. Of course, the sleep deprivation and constant worrying probably aided in my conveniently blocking those years out.

2.  I hate all reality television with the exception of one show...--Alas, it's true.  I am no fan of the so-called "reality" television shows that we seem to find ourselves inundated with. Why, you ask? Because, in my opinion, they are jam-packed with some of the most simple-minded, shallow individuals who have ever walked this planet.  For some, that translates into great television; for me, it translates into an hour (30 minutes if I'm lucky) of eye-rolling and flashbacks to middle school where even the most annoying kids were still leaps and bounds ahead on the maturity scale than the morons making millions off of these shows. Don't get me wrong, if someone dangled a multi-million dollar carrot in front of my face, there would be very little I wouldn't subject myself to.  However, I'd like to think that I wouldn't completely sell myself out and that I would maintain a certain level of dignity that would make my children/loved ones proud of me.  But, above all, if I wanted to watch scripted drama (and if you honestly believe these shows aren't scripted I have a timeshare in the Bahamas I'd like to sell to you), I would watch CSI, Law & Order, or Murder, She Wrote (don't judge) and not the fabricated, seemingly written by five-year-olds drama that comprises reality television.

3.  And that exception is Hoarders--The only way I can rationalize my fixation with this show is that it makes me feel better about my own inadequacies.  Because no matter how bad I am as a housekeeper, organizer, or at life in general, at least I know there are no dead cats, cockroaches, or rooms piled high with trash in my home.  For me, watching Hoarders is like watching a Michael Bolton concert:  I can't stop looking at it no matter how gruesome it becomes. (Show of hands.  Who among you would find a moldy refrigerator more entertaining than Mr. Bolton?)  All joking aside, it's not as though I like seeing how awesome my housecleaning  skills are compared to these obviously ill individuals.  There are those on the show who do change their lives for the better, and who doesn't love a heartwarming story?  Heck, if a person can overcome living in a virtual garbage dump, it gives me hope that I can overcome my own personal demons, too.


4.  I'm OCD with Skittles--Okay, so maybe it wouldn't be considered quite OCD-like, but I'm pretty sure it comes close.  When I get a pack of Skittles (or any other fruit-flavored candy for that matter), I immediately take out all of the red and purple (or pink) colored ones as they usually represent the flavors that I'm quite fond of (strawberry, cherry, or grape, for example).  If I'm still desperate for sugar after their consumption, I will then eat the orange, green and yellow ones.  Although the orange ones are okay, for the life of me, I can't understand why they even bother making lemon-flavored candy as, in my opinion, it always seems to taste like Pledge.  No, I will not tell you how I know what Pledge tastes like...


5.  I've been told that I resemble Susan Sarandon--I'm not sure whether I should accept this remark as a compliment or as an insult.  Personally, I don't believe the woman is particularly attractive.  However, she's a spokeswoman for a major cosmetics line--whose identity escapes me now--so I shouldn't be too ungodly angry about being compared to her, I guess.  I suppose it could always be worse...

                                                              You're looking very Jabba the Hutt today

6.  I'm a vampire--Okay, so I'm not literally a vampire. Given their popularity, though, that may not be a bad thing.  Lord knows I need all the popularity I can get my hands on. Although, in reality I am incredibly pasty and could probably pass as a member of the undead.   By the vampire statement, I mean that I'm more of a nocturnal creature by habit.  I function better at night than I do during the day. Otherwise known as being a night owl, I find that I gain a second wind during the late night hours and am absolutely useless any other time.  This is why most of my writing is done at night.  Well, that and the fact that I have a day job as well as a family to tend to while the sun's up.

7.  I believe that there is absolutely no sound worse than snoring--I love my husband to death, but there are just some nights where I want to smother him with a pillow.  It's not as though I'm an ultra-sensitive person who needs absolute silence in order to fall asleep.  Hell, I've slept through a storm that caused a tree to fall through our roof, house parties during my single years, and our neighbor's little rats', I mean dogs', incessant barking.  But there's just something about nasally, ear-splitting snoring that drives me Kathy-Bates-in-Misery-crazy.  I've tried earplugs, those nose strip things, background noises, and drugs, yet nothing seems to drown my husband out.  And, since murder is frowned upon, I've found myself spending plently of nights on the couch in order to catch some Zs.

Since I've been awarded this award a couple of times in the past, I won't be nominating 15 other bloggers.  Instead, I would like to extend this award to every one of my followers or readers who have not yet received this award and of whom would like to display it for bragging rights on their blogs.

My next post will focus on finding the perfect pricing points for indie authors (which hopefully will be ready in the next couple of days).  This is something that I've been personally grappling with and I'm eager to read your input on it as well.

Picking up the Pieces/The Liebster Blog Award

Picking up the Pieces

After a very brief and heartbreaking battle with bowel cancer, my dad passed away on Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 8:15 p.m. est.  As he wished, he died peacefully at his home surrounded by family and friends.  Despite the fact that he died from such a terrible disease, my dad was truly a lucky man in that he knew without a doubt that he was loved by many, many people.  During his illness his house was never empty and the love and respect people had for him was evident.  In the three short weeks between his diagnosis and his passing, my dad knew more love and support than a lot of people realize in a lifetime.  For that, I'm truly grateful.

Those people who know me know that I was very close to my dad.  No matter what I did or path I took he was behind me 100% .  These past few days have been a roller coaster of emotion for me.  On one hand, I'm happy that he's at peace and is no longer suffering; but on the other hand, I'm furious/sad/confused with everything that has transpired.  Just mere months ago my dad was a healthy, active man readying himself for his retirement.  He knew he didn't have a world of time left ahead of him, but he thought he'd at least have a decade or two.  At the very least he thought he'd see all of his grandchildren grow into their teens and the dawning of his seventh decade.  At the very least, he thought he'd get a chance to fight for his life. 

They say that only the good die young.  To me, my dad epitomizes that adage to a tee.

I've never been a huge church going individual.  I have a strong faith and a belief in God, but I've chosen to worship outside of church (most churches I've been to have contained some of the most hypocritical people I know).  It's my belief that faith is faith and a person can practice it any way they choose.  Still, as I tried to come to terms with everything going on around me these past few weeks, I found myself asking God for a lot of favors.  Please make my dad's death as comfortable as possible.  Please let someone be there so he's not alone.  Please give me some sort of sign that he'll be okay. Remarkably, all of my requests were answered.  My dad passed peacefully and without pain; he was far from alone; and I know without a doubt that he's all right.

Within five minutes after my dad's passing, a double rainbow appeared directly outside his home. As luck would have it, I happened to have my camera in my purse and I snapped the photographs that  I've included below.  The second rainbow is very hard to make out in the  photograph and appears faintly over the more prominent arc.  Despite the ominous dark clouds, it had not been raining before or during the appearance of these rainbows and in fact had been relatively sunny up until then. 

Through our grief, the appearance of these two rainbows gave us all the comfort we needed to get through the night.

RIP Dad.  You will never be forgotten.

The Liebster Blog Award

Now on to a much more cheery topic...

When I first started my blog, I figured that I'd pretty much be talking to myself.  As time passed I started gaining followers, comments and overall praise for my posts.  What started out as an aspiring author blogging about writing in the hopes of becoming a better writer herself has turned into a blog with nearly 100 followers and a slew of amazing writers/authors stopping by to render their opinions.  To each and every one of my followers/readers, thank you.

The wonderful Jennifer at  The Writing Cocoon bestowed the Liebster Blog Award (information below) upon me during my hiatus from blogging/socializing with the world. Jennifer writes a highly informative blog filled with her own writing insights, resources for writers and pretty cool photographs.  Check her out! 

Thank you, Jennifer.  I'm honored to be one of your award recipients!

The goal of the Liebster Blog Award is to showcase up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The rules:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who bestowed the award on you
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love
5. Have bloggity-blog fun!

In compliance with the rules of the award, my five picks to pass on the Liebster Blog Award lovin to are:

1.  Megan Rae Lollman @ Meganraelollman

 2.  Sarah Pearson @ Empty White Pages

3.  James Garcia, Jr. @ Dance On Fire

4.  Kate Kyle @ Gone Writing

5.  Linda @  Wistfully Linda

All of the following are either authors or aspiring authors who have more talent in their left pinkies than I do in my entire body.  Their blogs are informative, interesting, entertaining and highly resourceful.  If you haven't checked them out already, I strongly recommend that you do ASAP.

 

Congratulations to Jennifer and all of my Liebster Blog Award recipients.  You deserve all the bloggity goodness coming your writerly ways.

Now that I'm officially in the process of picking up the pieces of my life, my blog posts will become more frequent and hopefully worth it to those who follow/subscribe to this blog.  Thanks again for all of your kind words during what has been the worst period of my life.  Without people like you I wouldn't have been able to make it through it.

Writers = Pure Awesome

First, let me start out by saying this is my 100th blog post!  Truth be told (I once received a form rejection letter that started out like that), I didn't think I'd get past ten posts (and for the love of God, please don't read those first ten *shudder*).  Though I'd still be running my mouth off even if no one was listening to me (seriously, I talk to myself so much there are days I contemplate checking into one of those lovely, padded rooms),  it's good to know I have people who enjoy what I have to say from time to time.  Or you're just convincingly pretending to care.  Either way, thank you!  As such, I've decided to make my very first giveaway coincide with my 100th blog follower.  By doing this, maybe I'll be able to reach that blog milestone before the end of the year. ;-)

Back to the purpose of this post:  to extend a big thanks to those who've once again bestowed me with the honor of sweet versatility.    You guessed it.  Once again,  I've been presented with the amazingly awesome Versatile Blogger award and doubly bestowed with the Irresistibly Sweet Blog award. 

It's a darn good thing versatility hasn't bypassed me as flexibility sure the hell has.  Unfortunately, I remember attempting to do the splits and getting stuck about half-way down making me wish I had one of those LifeCall pendants as I had truly fallen and couldn't for the life of me get up.  I learned two lessons that day:  1)  Never try to do the splits in blue jeans; and 2) Make for darn sure you aren't going commando if you do as the chances of splitting your pants in an unrehearsed, form-fitting blue jean split are pretty high.

 Okay, I was presented with the Versatile blogger award by my fellow aspiring author/blogger Alex Megas.  Check out his collection of short stories and poetry at his blog, Prickly Compositions of Alex Megas .  Thank you, Alex!

The always sweet Carolyn Arnold of her self-titled blog Carolyn Arnold as well as the equally sweet Lia Davis of her self-titled blog Lia Davis , have presented me with the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award.  It's official:  My blog's so sweet it will make your teeth rot.  

Check out Carolyn's novel Ties That Bind. I just purchased it for my Kindle and plan on reading it shortly.  Also, Lia will be releasing her first book in The Divinities Series entitled Forgotten Visions this summer (of which I will also be purchasing as it sounds uber cool).  Thank you, ladies!

As with most awards, there are stipulations and below are those these awards came with:

1) Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2) Share 7 random things about yourself.
3) Pass the award on to 15 deserving blog buddies.
4) Contact them to let them know


1.  Check that box done.

2.  I've done this before (actually twice before) but what the hey, I'll do it again:

7 Random Fun Facts

a.  I'm self-conscious about my spelling. The older I get, the worse my spelling gets.  It's as though I've gotten dumber with each passing year since graduation.   In fact, I check my spelling before I send Tweets, e-mail or do any Facebooking.


b.  I'll be a part-time student again soon.  If all goes well, I will soon be going back to college to attain my bachelor's degree (hopefully in creative writing).

c.  I'm good for at least one embarrassing act a day.  Whether my fly comes undone, I trip over my own two feet, or I accidentally let one rip, people can usually count on getting a laugh at my expense.

d.  I write as though I'm watching a movie.  When I write, the scene plays over and over in my head.  I'm a very visual person and it helps me greatly to envision the scene unfolding as I type it.  If it's not something I would watch in the theater, I revise it.

e. My dream is to move out east or southeast to the mountains.  Come on, what more inspiration for writing do you need than a snow-capped peak in the background?

f.  I first met my husband the day he came into my former employer to finalize his divorce.  Of course, we didn't start dating until months later...after I took him to the cleaners.  ;-)

g.  I despise talking on the phone.  If I'm going to have a long conversation with someone, unless they're hundreds of miles away, I'd much rather talk face to face than over the phone.  I'm one of those people who isn't happy unless they're constantly doing something and talking on the phone detracts from that.  (I know, I know, anal).

3.  As I do with pretty much all the awards I'm given, I would like to bestow the honor on all of my blog followers (or as a thanks to those viewing my blog).  My only stipulation is that you share the wealth and keep the love going.

4.  Anyone who reads my blog is going to be instantly notified.  ;-)

My next blog post will return to the norm.  What it will be, I have no idea yet but I'm leaning toward romance in writing.  *Lights candles and turns on some Barry White*

I Heart My Followers

It's the truth:  I have the best followers in the blogosphere (a fact of which I'm very giddy to pronounce as I never thought I'd ever have anyone willing to read my scribbles). What's my proof? Well, I'm glad you asked.  Once again, one of my followers/fellow writers has bestowed me with the honor of "The Versatile Blogger" award.  I must be one versatile, blogging fool as this is the second time this very prestigious award has been bestowed upon me.  I've been called a lot of things in my life--most of which I can't repeat if I want to keep this family friendly--but versatile has thus far been my favorite. 

Bestowing me with the award this time is the wonderfully talented, newly published (Yeah) Author Carolyn Arnold .  Carolyn's novel, Ties That Bind , is now available at Smashwords and Amazon POD and I highly suggest you support your fellow writers and check it out!

In order to fully be able to accept this award, the recipient must do the following:

1.  Thank and link to the person who nominated you.

2.  Share seven random facts about yourself.

3.  Pass the award along to 5 new-found blogging buddies.

4.  Contact the winners to notify them

1.  Thank you, Carolyn!  I wish the very best with your writing career!

2.  Since I've already accepted this award, I am going to skip posting the seven random facts about me.  However, if you're really interested in knowing some dirt on me click HERE for the fourteen random facts I posted when I previously claimed this and the fashionable blogger award.

3 and 4.  Because I just can't pick five of my amazing followers, I would like to present this award to all 46 (as of right now) of you.  Congratulations!  You are such an amazing group of people and I'm honored that you've chosen to follow my blog (and to think, I only had to beg 44 of you). 

All I ask is that you pay it forward and pass this award on to those bloggers/writers/ubertastic individuals of your choosing as we writers need to stick together.

I'll be returning back to my normal blog-happy self with my next post. Between edits on my first novel and working on two WIP's, I've been mulling over a few topics and would love your input on which you believe I should tackle next:

1.  Healthy things to do with rejection letters (tongue in cheek)

2. Composing your synopsis

3.  The Movie vs. The Book

4.  Pros and Cons of indie publishing

5.  Social networking sites and writers

All of the preceding topics are those of which I plan to cover.  If there's one of particular interest to you, please leave me a comment with your selection and I will get to the most popular topic first.  Or, if you have an even better idea, I'd love to hear that as well!

*FYI-Spell check seems to be on the fritz (it's saying I have no spelling errors and I KNOW that can't be true).  If there are any spelling errors in this post, I apologize now and blame it on the fact that it's after 1 a.m. (I get a free pass on grammatical errors and spelling after 1).

My Blog of Thanks

I've been having so much fun (HA!  I almost typed "phone" in place of "fun" which tells you how tired I am).  Lets restart this train of thought again.  I've been having so much FUN on Twitter lately that I almost forgot to formally accept this very calorie-laden award from the very awesomesauce Sophie Li . Thank you so much Sophie.  It's always cool to receive blog awards (especially for a blog I didn't think I could get anyone to read). 

Part of accepting this award is the obligation to pass it on to 15 other well-deserving bloggers.  Well, in the spirit of my fellow blogger/writer, Shawna, instead of selecting just 15 followers to partake in this award, I would like to extend it to all of my very awesome, talented, lovely, punctual (and all the other positive adjectives you can think of) fellow writers/bloggers.  Come claim your award everyone, you deserve it (just leave me a comment when you claim it).

Finally, I would like to thank all of you, my fellow blog, Twitter and Tumblr followers.  I'm consistently blow away by all the generosity, kind words and great advice you so freely dispense on a daily basis.  Writing can be a very lonely, thankless process, but knowing that I have such an outstanding community to turn to makes it all the more worth it. 

For those of you who are reading this who don't already follow me, what are you waiting for?  Just hit the "Follow" button and come join the ride.  I promise I'll try to make it worth your while.

Okay, enough sappy shit. Blogs on tap for this week include how to handle writer's block and killing off your characters (dun dun dun).  Be sure to stop on by for a cold one with me later.

It's Official: My Blog Is An Award Winner...

Let me start out by saying that I've been completely blown away by all the support and encouragement between authors and aspiring authors alike through social mediums such as Twitter, Blogger and Facebook (to name a few).  Why I didn't become involved with these websites earlier in my journey, I'll never understand.  For all of you aspiring authors out there who have yet to join the Twitter community, I implore you to do so lickety split.  Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

This week I was honored to have received two blog awards from two very talented and downright awesome fellow bloggers:  Melanie McCullough  and Shawna Railey (click on these lovely ladies names to check out their blogs; they're a must follow for any aspiring author).

This first award was bestowed upon me by the uber cool Melanie:

Never has there been a time where I thought I'd win an award for style--my sweat pants and raggedy tank tops would concur with that sentiment.  Thank you Melanie!  This is quite the honor.

In order to fully be able to accept this award, however, there are a few obligations that I (as well as those I pass the award on to) must follow:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 new-found blogging buddies.
4. Contact the winners to congratulate them.

Without further ado, here are my seven random facts:

1.  I wrote my first book in the fifth grade. While my peers were still eating paste and sniffing magic markers, I was a child savant--hey, it's my world, let me live in it.  Actually, In the fifth grade I read about a girl my age who'd just had a series she'd written published.  I can do that, I thought to myself.  So I set out on my first literary journey and, when it was all said and done, I had ninety-something handwritten notebook pages filled (front and back) with my first complete story--with illustrations, of course. 

What was this future bestseller about? Well, I'm happy you asked. It was a YA piece involving five friends (ages 16-18) who travel to Hawaii after one of them wins the trip through a lottery ticket she purchased (even back then I was concerned about accuracy as I knew at least one character would have to be 18 for this to even be remotely feasible).  I'm not sure why or how that story came to me.  Perhaps it was my goal to become an adult, travel to Hawaii and win the lottery.  But today I'm happy to report that I've successfully managed to accomplish one of those things (since I hate flying and am far from rich, I'll let you deduce which one it is on your own).

2.  I'd rather listen to a Justin Bieber/Paris Hilton duet in an  infinite loop rather than step foot on an airplane--Every time I set foot on a plane something goes wrong.  It never fails.  Whether it be the pilot asking whether there's a doctor on the plane, a landing that tosses passengers around like pinballs, or turbulence that's so violent even the flight attendants are terrified, I've encountered it all and have vowed never again--unless it involves signing a book deal. 

In fact, when I went out to visit my then boyfriend (now husband) in California, I opted to take the train cross-country as opposed to flying.  It was a 36 hour trip of which I got very little sleep and was constantly hit on by a 13-year-old but it was oh so worth it.

3.  A psychic once told me that I would one day be offered a four book deal with Penguin Publishing Company--I'm just hoping this happens before I turn 90 and forget what books even are. Seriously though, as each month passes, I consider more and more about asking for a refund. What's even more strange is that she even went so far as to tell me what colors each of the book covers would be: mustard yellow (eww), purple, green and blue.  The mention of the mustard yellow cover proves she has no idea what she's talking about.

4.  I have an unnatural fear of clowns--There is nothing funny nor entertaining about those make-up encrusted, floppy-shoed, red-haired nightmares.  John Wayne Gacy, anyone?  Just saying.

5.  When I was younger, I had a HUGE crush on Luke Skywalker--And this my friends is where my descent into nerdom began. It took me a while--I didn't even know what Star Wars was until I was in middle school--but after I found it I was hooked.  While others gushed over Han Solo, I found myself incredibly infatuated with Luke Skywalker.  Maybe it was the whole being a Jedi thing or his skills with a lightsaber (I'll leave that alone), but there was just something about Mark Hamill.  Today, I'm proud to say my tastes have evolved away from fictional characters.  Peyton Manning, anyone...

source:  onlineusanews.com

6.   I'm a proud Army Wife--My husband and I have been together for nearly six years .  Of those six years, we may have spent 1/2 of it in the same zip code.  To say the least, being an Army Wife is rough.  To give you an idea of how rough it is, during his last deployment, I got to know a group of four other Army Wives pretty well.  Of the five of us, only two of us still remain married with the others having called it quits during the deployment.  We're now facing another deployment later this year that could last as long as 18 months--to a country where his cousin was killed three years ago.  It's been rough and challenging at times but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Please ignore the hair and wicked sunburn.

My pasty Irish skin can only handle so much UV exposure

7.   I love ketchup on macaroni and cheese--This habit has garnered numerous stares and commentary from those around me.  The bottom line is that I find plain mac-n-cheese just that: plain.  Adding ketchup to it gives a zesty, far more appealing taste.  Try it, you might like it.   I also find mustard on pizza rather tasty.

Now for those ladies I'd like to pass this honor to:

1.  Shawna Railey  I don't think you've been awarded this one yet ;-)

2.  Kendra Kilbourn 

3.  Megan Conway

4.  P.H.C. Marchesi

5  Carolyn Arnold

Please click on these ladies' names to check out their blogs. They're outstanding!

This next award was given to me by the hilarious Shawna Railey (seriously, her post about Oprah is one of the funniest I've ever read).  On top of stylish, I can now add versatile to my blog's growing collection of adjectives.  Thank you, Shawna!  :-)

This award comes with the same requirements as the prior one.  Which means, by the end of this post, you all are going to know more about me than even I do.

Seven more random facts about me (without the lengthy descriptors this time):

1.  When I was in elementary school I embraced my inner entrepreneur by entering into the business of making fake ID's for my classmates (with the use of note cards and plastic wrap).  At ten cents a pop, I was rolling in coin.

2.  Being a Michigan girl, I say "pop" instead of soda, cola or Coke.  Those in other states unfamiliar with this vernacular have often thought I was asking to be socked in the jaw.

3.  I'm most at peace when sitting near a body of water--with the exclusion of puddles and swamps.

4.  When I was in first grade my dream was to become a cartoonist for Disney.  However, those dreams were quickly shattered when I realized possessing actual artistic talent is required of a cartoonist.

5.  If I could change one thing about myself it would be my lack of self-confidence. Too often I've compared myself to others and felt as though I've fallen way short.  It was only recently that I realized this is a form of self-destruction and, in order for one to be successful in life, that habit must be nipped in the bud.  Still, there are times when my feelings of inadequacy consume me and, in turn, I consume a pint of Hagen Daaz.

6. What I'm about to reveal is blasphemy in the girl world:  I hate wearing shoes.  All shoes--heels, flip-flops, tennis shoes etc.  If I can go without wearing them, I do.

7. I'm convinced my Prius is the most indestructible vehicle on the planet. Since leasing it a year ago, I've been rear-ended twice, have hit my cousin's car (oops) and have had a near death experience with a curb without so much as a scratch on my bumper and only minor damage to my wheel.

Okay, I'd like to pass this award to the following fellow bloggers:

1.  Melanie McCullough

2.  Nicole Ducleroir

3.  Steph Hightree

4.  Everett Powers

5. Katherine Krige


Thank you again Melanie and Shawna!  To the rest of you, congratulations and enjoy!

(I swiped this from Shawna)---Award winners: On the off chance you're techno-challenged like me, you can post your award on your blog, just right click on the picture here and "save picture as." If you're on blogger, from your dashboard go into 'design' and 'add a gadget' and download the picture.