Yesterday I was nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by my lovely and talented friend Cathy Baker from South Carolina!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers by bloggers, as a way of acknowledging each other and saying, “You’re doing a great job.”  (Perhaps Cathy knew I’d been foolishly ignoring my blog…opting to write fiction…so she’s brought me racing back.  Thanks Cathy!)

When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person(s) who nominated you.  You pass the Award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.  You’re not allowed to nominate the blog(s) who nominated you!  (To get the button, right click the picture on my page and save the picture to your computer. You can then upload to your blog.)

11 Random Facts about Me:

• The one and only time I’ve ever kayaked, I did it BIG:  off the coast of Alaska in the Pacific Ocean (What was I thinking?)

 

•  A porch is just about my favorite place in the entire world – There, I can read, rock, nap, eat, converse with friends, write, learn, watch the world go by.

 

• Besides my “serious” degrees, I’ve studied interior design at the Corcoran Institute in Washington D.C.

 

• Several years ago, I was a serious bicycler…I once logged 30 miles in one day.

 

• I once got lost in a desert in Arizona and discovered I was in the middle of a blasting site; have NEVER driven so fast in my life.

 

• I shot a snake this past spring…because the only good snake is a dead snake.

 

• I require at least one small piece of chocolate each day or I get cranky.

 

• I aspire to write an epic story like “Lonesome Dove” or “North and South” one day.

 

• I have lectured at Harvard University each August for the past 20+ years. Topic: Crisis Communication.

 

• Most amazing unexpected moment:  Watching the sunset on top of Cadillac Mountain with my son as a group of unknowns near us sang “How Great Thou Art.”  Amazing.

 

• Just My Joe and I are building a house in southeast Georgia…yes, of course, with a porch…and it will be back a long lane with views of cows and trees.

The Eleven Questions Cathy Asked Me:

1. Would you rather see a movie at the theater or at home on DVD? Why?

If price were no object, at the theater.  I like to make even movies a special time out. (Of course, that would include stadium seating, and uber comfortable chairs!)

 

2. If someone wrote a book about your life, what would they title it?

“A Day Late and a Dollar Short.”

 

3. Who’s your favorite singer or band?

Eagles, hands down.  Their Greatest Hits album is the best album ever sold in all history.  ‘Nuff said.

 

4. If you had to choose a favorite book of the Bible, what would it be and why?

 Proverbs.  (Is it okay to confess to being envious of Solomon’s wisdom?)  Besides the knowledge it imparts, I love the many literary devices it uses to convey messages.

 

5. Fiction or non-fiction? Why?

Fiction. I L-O-V-E stories! They make me feel like I’m living many lives, rather than just one.

 

6. How would you spend a million dollars?

Ten percent to church.  Ten percent to Wounded Warriors.  Then of what’s left, I’d put half in the bank, and spread the other half out among family and friends. (After I go to Ireland, that is!) Oh, and I’d repair the porch at the crossroads of Potomac Street and Route 68 in Williamsport, MD,…I don’t know who lives there but I have to stop at that intersection every blessed time and that dilapidated porch always bugs me.

 

7. Walmart or Target?

50/50. Sorry.

 

8. Do you parallel park or drive around the block?

I love a challenge (I’m stubborn):  I’d parallel park.

 

9. What’s your favorite cookie?

Seven-layer cookies.   I use them to bribe people when I want something done…they are THAT good.

 

10. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I’ve been blessed with travel already …but, since one can never get enough, still on my list are Ireland, Scotland and Australia.

 

11. What recent blessing from the Lord would you like to share? 

Eek!  Just one?  I suppose the peace and pride He placed in my heart when I dropped off my son for sophomore year at college.  I used to cry; now I just feel peace and happiness for him.

Here Are My Nominations for the Liebster Award:

1.       Cynthia Howerter

2.       The team at Daily Writing Tips

3.       Daily Bread of Life – Devotional

4.       Psalms 20:4 – Felicia Bowen Bridges

5.       Bethany Kaczmarek at Marred and Reformed

6.       Tamara at Rockie Mountain Writer

7.       Come Go Home With Me at Dee Dee Parker

8.       Fresh Faith with AnitaAgersBrooks

9.       Story Writing Studio at storywritingstudio

10.    Ann Eisenstein at anneisenstein

11.   Melissa at theinspiredroom

My 11 Questions for Them:

1.  If money were no object, where in the world would you live?  (Be specific!)

2. What is your favorite color?

3. What household chore have you been ignoring the most and why?

4. If you could return to age 20 again, what would you do differently for your future?

5. Do you play a musical instruments?  (If not, what hobby do you enjoy most?)

6. What is your all-time favorite book? (Bible and cookbooks do not count)

7. What is the most wonderful unexpected moment you’ve ever had? 

8. Mountains or Ocean?

9. If you had to be stuck in a hospital bed for three months, and so did another…who would you want in the next bed?

10. If you could have lived any time in history, when would you have wished to live (assuming good health)?

11. If your house were on fire, what one possession would you grab on your way out?

Thanks Cathy!  I hope this helps other bloggers!  Even more, I hope I did this correctly!