April 18, 2013

The Leib-what?!



My oh so sweet friend {and one - yes one - follower on my blog} sent me the Leibster award... to which I reacted "awww... what the heck is that?!"  Leibster means "kindest, dearest, beloved, cute, endearing" in German.



The Liebster Award is a blogger to blogger, peer award, used to highlight up and coming, smaller, lesser known blogs that are less than 6 months old and/or have less than 200 followers {less than 200?! CHECK!}. Liebster is an award that you accept with an intention of paying it forward. How awesome is that?!  When you accept your Liebster, you must pay it forward and nominate other bloggers that you would like to award.

So here are the guidelines for the award:
1) You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2) Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3) Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4) Choose 11 new blogs that you love and link them in your post.
5) Leave a comment on this post with the URL to your Leibster post so I can learn more about you!

So - here we go!

11 Random Things about me:


-Life is not what I expect... yet I still manage to get to the point every once in a while where I'm like "don't worry God, I've got this"... and then God calmly throws something into my life to remind me that I don't "got this"... Thankfully, God doesn't stress about how many times we get back to the "I got this" point {otherwise I'd be toast}!

-My dreams growing up were to be a junior high cheerleader and a mom.  Thankfully, the junior high cheerleader thing came before the mom thing!  My big life dream/thing I look forward to most is still being a mom... and being an M-R-S.

-I don't have any kids of my own {technically speaking}, but people assume I do {Is it the car seat, the baby puke smell, or the hotwheels in my purse that gives me away?!}.

-I clean at work waaaayyyy more than I clean at home {maybe if someone paid me to keep my house clean I would?!}.  I especially dislike doing dishes.

-I'd love to drive a small SUV or a good sized truck, but am WAY too cheap to swallow the cost of fuel in those vehicles!  Tank gets 35-40 mpg and I LOVE that about him!

-My dog probably knows me as well as anyone.  She sees it all.  {She probably only keeps my secrets because I bribe her so well with treats and trips in the car!}  I just got a new furry friend yesterday... His name is Bentley and he is a.dor.able.

-I have the best mom ever... as I age, I realize just how blessed I was growing up and respect her more and more every day!

-I'm stubborn... like realllllly stubborn.  God is slowly but surely softening up some of my rough edges, while still reminding me why he made me so stubborn in the first place {sometimes it's a huge blessing}.

-I ROCK OUT in the car... sometimes it's Jesus music, sometimes Country, sometimes I even throw in a little Kelly Clarkson.  {I would NOT want to listen to a recording of my drive! Haha}

-I have the BEST intentions to work out and be super in shape... the working out rarely happens, which means I'm never ever super in shape.  I have recently ordered the Zumba workout DVDs so we'll see how that goes.

-I love the idea of adoption... Actually one of the first questions I ask a guy if we are dating is whether he would adopt.  It's a good gauge of how similar our views are on a lot of topics.

My 11 Questions from Jos:

1) What is your dream home?  A place of love and of laughter {and with lots of kids, of course}.  As far as the physical home goes... one in the country with lots of space indoors and out {and a couple extra rooms for visitors}.

2) What is your favorite song and why?  Probably at the moment... Blessings by Laura Story and Need You Now by Plumb.

3) What do you love most about being a momma?  I'm not a momma yet but spend looootttts of time around kids.  I love the fact that they have the insane ability to make you cherish some things in life so much more {and totally disregard others}.  Your priorities get reorganized naturally and it's so okay.

4) What's your favorite blog post & why?  Oh, gosh.  Way too many to count.  I live on Rachel at Finding Joy.  Her posts are roughly as necessary as oxygen for any momma!

5) What are your three favorite blogs & why?  Hmm... probably top two are Joyful in Chaos and Finding Joy.  They are the 2 I read most... both uplifting and really make you think.

6) What tv shows are must-watch for you?  I don't have cable, so I rarely watch tv shows when they are actually on, but I love Grey's Anatomy and The Voice!

7) How long have you been blogging & why?  I have no idea how long I've been blogging... I think it started when I was traveling in Australia during high school.  Why?  Hmm... to stay in touch. to stay sane.

8) "I'll ------------ if it's the last thing I do."  ...be married to the love of my life and have babies.  {I know I sound like a broken record with the whole "mom" thing... I can't help it.}

9) Favorite decor find of all time?  Hmm I have several things I really like.  I received a mirror in a really cool old wood frame {it was actually an antique cabinet door at one time} as a gift and I LOVE IT.  Also, photography. and quotes.

10) Who's your favorite author?  Does Jesus count? :)  Let's be real, though, the bible can be TOUGH to read and there are other authors I would tend to seek out as well... James Dobson, Max Lucado {for kids and adult books}, and the occasional romance novel.

11) What's your favorite "homemade" gift?  Oh goodness.  I don't even know.  It may not technically be homemade but for my birthday a week after the mister and I met, he gave me a little pottery vase with a whole bunch of sixlets in sleeves.  It was a chocolate bouquet and I loved it.

Now for my 11 blog nominees (drum roll, please)... And I may have sort of ignore the follower limit on some of these because I love them and they are ahhhh-mazing. :)

1. Amanda at These Truths of Mine
2. Ashley at Written on Her Heart
3. Doe a Deery {this was the one I found most recently and am LO-VING it!}
4. Hooah and Hiccups {love that she is SO real. and raw. and honest.}
5. Kristi Neace {Givin' ya a big ole A-M-E-N on the "10 things your friends and family will never fully understand about being a police wife"!  Seriously, if there were something stronger than Amen that I could say, I would... but there isn't.}
11. Mom with a Gun  {Okay before you get all "Whoa she's supporting guns? What a crazy woman".... Stop right where you are. I am not asking for gun debate here.  It's a huge topic of debate that I am not even going to begin to discuss.  I do what I believe is right for me and I'm going to trust you to do the same for yourself and your family.  That being said, if you are going to be a gun-totin'-momma, puh-leeeease use what's left of those brain cells after your children sucked most of them out of you... be safe, be smart.}
12. Echoes of Laughter {This is actually the real most recently found blog.  LOVE her organizational tips!!!}

My 11 {or 13} questions for you:
1. What blogs do you read religiously?
2 {& 3}. Have you purchased a home? What advice would you have for a first time buyer?
4. "I'll ------------ if it's the last thing I do."
5. What advice would you have for other mommas?
6. What things have you done that have made major positive impacts on your relationship/marriage?
7. What is the kindest thing you did today?  {Givin' you a big ole air five on that one!}
8. What has been your greatest accomplishment?
9. What is your favorite quote?  {I'm a quote-aholic}
10 {& 11}. What are some things on your bucket list?  {Why haven't you done them yet?!}
12 {but sort of 10}. What are you afraid of?
13 {but sort of 11}. What inspires you?

Welp, that's it folks! Don't forget to put your Leibster link in the comments here! And really, I totally understand if it takes a while to find some new bloggie friends. It took me a month or more to come up with this list!