The Liebster Blogger Award

Hey friends! This week I’m coming to you fresh off the road after a visit to my parent’s house in Dallas. While I was away, I was honored to be nominated not once but TWICE for the Liebster Blogger Award! As a somewhat new and clueless blogger, this is definitely a joy. I guess I must be doing something right, here on my humble little blog!

I’ve learned that community is such an important component in every aspect of life, even blogging! I’ve met some incredible friends along the way, and I love reading their wisdom and seeing their heartwarming content. With this award, we celebrate the friendships and diverse subjects that are represented in this community!

Here are the the rules of the Liebster Blogger Award:

1. Accept/decline the nomination: nomination doesn’t mean you have to create your own post, but accepting keeps the award spreading!
2. Write 11 facts about yourself
3. Answer the 11 questions at the end of your nominator’s post
4. Leave 11 questions for your nominees to answer
5. Nominate 11 other bloggers for the award!

So, here are 11 facts about myself that you may or may not know:

1. I was born in Cleveland Ohio, and spent some time in Colorado Springs before “growing up” in Dallas. I now call San Marcos, Texas my home.
2. I learned how to walk at an early age so that I could keep up with my siblings… and then I learned again at age 13 and age 18! (find out more about my disability here and here)
3. I was a competitive dancer as a kid. My very first competition was the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Dance Competition, and my duet partner and I won BIG.
4. I save all of my popsicle sticks because I think the jokes are just too good to throw away.
5. As a kid, I collected rubber ducks. I literally had dozens of them, and rubber duck blankets and pillows.
6. I drink my coffee black (except for the occasional Americano or Lavender mocha). Sweetened coffee makes me sad.
7. Last year, I was attacked by a stray cat and had to go through the entire rabies treatment protocol (Anyone interested in a post on that experience??)
8. I was baptized as an infant, and then again as a 19 year old last year. I wanted the whole world to know that I had freely accepted Jesus on my own! Best decision of my adult life so far.
9. I ran a 5K on New Years Eve and another on New Years Day last year (2016) – less than a year after I learned how to walk!
10. My siblings are my ultimate best friends, even though one lives in NYC, another in Phoenix, and me right in between them in Texas.
11. Tiny plants will always bring me more joy than anything else. I like to think God designed them just for me.

Here are my answers to the questions that Kristen left for me!

1. When/why did you start blogging? I started blogging in the fall of 2016. You can read a little bit about why I started my blog here.
2. Why have you continued blogging? I continue to blog because I continue to believe that my words have significance and power. I feel like I have been given this platform to share what I have learned along my journey of life, and I love to encourage and empower others through my writing.
3. Who’s your best friend? How long have you known them? What quality do you like the most about them? Oh man. This is a whole post on it’s own (luckily for me, I already wrote that post!) Like I said before, my siblings are my best friend. I’ve known Annie since the day I was born and I love her a thousand yellow daisies. I love and admire her courage, her confidence, and her ability to know my heart from a thousand miles away.
4. What is one destination that’s on your bucket list? Let me be a little basic for a second and say London. I have never been, but so many of my favorite people call it their favorite city… so I must go!
5. Are you a dog person or cat person? Please refer to fact number 7 above!! After the attack, I developed a severe phobia of cats. I can’t be in the same room as them without completely shutting down. Plus, how can I not be a dog person if I have a service dog!
6. What is your favorite store/clothing brand? Altar’d State is definitely my favorite store, if only it was more affordable!
7. What’s one thing you’re going to accomplish this year? (In 2017 or the next 365 days) Im hoping to be nearly fluent in American Sign Language in the next 365 days! I begin learning next week.
8. Would you ever go skydiving or swimming with sharks? Neither. My little body is way too fragile for that!
9. What’s your ultimate vacation? To be honest, I’m not sure! As a child, most of our family vacations were to visit family, and not necessarily explore or relax. I have a feeling that I’m a beach girl though!
10. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake!
11. Who’s someone you look up to? (Could be a blogger, celebrity, family member, friend, etc.) Too many people to name, but lately a lot of my inspiration has been coming from author/speaker Annie F. Downs. Incredibly woman with a lot of personality, and a mutual love of glitter.

Here are my 11 questions to pass on!

1. What is your go-to order at a coffeeshop?
2. What city holds a special place in your heart, and why?
3. What is one word that you’d like to engrave on the heart of your younger self?
4. What was the last brave thing you did?
5. Do you prefer indoors or outdoors? Why?
6. If you had $500 and only one day to spend it, what would you buy?
7. What is your favorite thing to cook? Share the recipe, please!!
8. If you could change your birthdate, would you? What date would you pick?
9. Did you have an imaginary friend as a kid?
10. How do you feel about spiders?
11. What is your #1 book recommendation?

And finally, the 11 incredible bloggers that I nominate:

1. Taylor at taywords.com
2. Allie at We Are New Romantics
3. Rachel at Rachel’s Rambles 
4. Krista at Kristabel Dubois
5. Abigail at Peace Through Faith
6. Cassie at Anchored in Amazing Grace
7. Mary Faith at Mary-Faith Writes
8. Bella at Life According To Bella
9. Liu at A Word With Liu Miao
10. Tirah at Jesus and Coffee
11. Megan at Apron Strings and Sticky Fingers

And that’s all! If you’ve made it this far, I hope you learned a thing or two about me today. Super grateful to be a part of this community, and excited to see where this journey continues to take me!

With all the love,

A