Holy Buckets! A Liebster?!?

Oh. my. goodness!

I was tickled positively pink when I read that Brianne from Lamm to the Laughter nominated me for a Liebster award last week!  My mouth literally fell open.  Talk about a surge of pride!  Brianne and I met through the Ultimate Blog Party last month.  Since then we've become blog pals who share a mutual love for horses! 

Here's the scoop on the Liebster, it's an award given to small bloggers from other small bloggers.  It's sort of like a pat on the back!  As one of the bloggers that Brianne nominated, I answer the 11 questions she's dying to know and also add 11 facts about me you may or may not know.  Finally, I then get to nominate up to 11 other bloggers and pose 11 questions to them.

Brianne's Questions:
1.  What is one thing you just will not blog about?
I just can't bring myself to write about 'Our Love Story'.  I just can't.  Yes, I will talk about Matt and may mention our wedding or anniversary, but I'm just sort of 'eh' about putting every last detail out there.  Are you really that interested?  Also, I follow the rule of 'Would I be embarrassed that my family read this...'

2.  What is your favorite music video?
The first one that pops into my mind is Beyonce's Single Ladies, followed shortly after the parody they did on SNL...

3.  Tell us about your favorite charitable organization.
Local animal shelters.  Donating to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is not the same thing!  Not even close.  If you want to make a difference in the lives of animals donate your money locally!

4.  Have you ever tripped and fallen in an excitingly embarrassing way? 
In high school, it was a right of passage that the freshman would inevitably trip up the stairs.  One instance that comes to mind was when I was hustling to my next class and the toe of my shoe caught the riser of the next tread and bam!  Books, pencils, etc. went flying.  And of course it was in front of a host of upperclassmen who couldn't help but giggle.  

5.  Don't tell me what's in your bag.  Tell me what's in your fridge.
Wine.  Beer.  Eggs.  Fresh veggies.  Homemade pickles, salsa and mayo.  Almond milk.  Cows milk.  Iced tea.  Deli meat.  Leftovers.  Bacon. 

6.  Your readers are eskimos.  Sell them ice.
"Well sure.  You have lots of ice, but my ice comes in all different sorts of shapes and sizes!  Small squares.  Rectangles.  Crescents.  And you can't even imagine the magic that is 'crushed'"

7.  Have you ever traced your family history?  Do you have any interesting relatives?
I know that I come from German, Irish and Scottish heritage.  I had to call my mom to see if she knew of anyone exciting in our family and she said that we did have a relative who played in the NFL back in the late sixties/early seventies.  I'd like to say that I was related to author Alice Munro, but I can't be sure.

8.  What is your craziest dream (sleeping dream)?  I know it probably doesn't make sense, but write it out anyway!
When I was little I used to have this reoccurring dream that I was with my mom at her hairdressers house.  Mom and Mendi were sitting in wicker peacock chairs and I was hiding behind them because this HUGE cat, like the size of a bus... was coming down the road and I was certain it was going to get me! 

9.  If you could call a summit of any 5 people that ever lived, who would you invite and where in the entire world would you choose to meet?
My Grandpa.  Annie Oakley.  June Carter Cash.  Adam Petty.  Abraham Lincoln.  I'd want to meet around a home cooked meal served on my dining room table.  We'd talk for hours and drink good wine.

10.  Tell us about a time when you flubbed an interview question as bad as Miss Teen South Carolina.
Um, wow!  I couldn't even watch that whole video.  Painful.  Thank goodness, I don't think I've ever botched an interview question as bad as that poor girl. 

11.  Write a haiku about your favorite non-blogging pastime. 
Yes, I totally Google'd haiku.  I'll save you the time... it's a non rhyming three line poem that has five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third. 

Louie is screwy.
He is one ornery horse.
But I still love him.

11 Facts About Me:
1.  I'm the bossy older sister.
2.  If I won the lottery I'd pay off any debt my parents had before my own. 
3.  ESFJ.  To a tee!
4.  The first concert I ever went to was Destiny's Child.
5.  I bought a car with a manual transmission before I knew how to drive a stick.
6.  I only burn candles that smell like I've been baking all day.  For instance: pumpkin pie, cinnamon swirl, sugar cookie, etc.
7.  Matt and I will be married four years in October and we've never bought any of our wedding photos.  We even have a credit for pete's sake, but it's always something that just get shuffled to the bottom of the to-do list.
8.  Generally I'm a red wine drinker, but I love a cool sauvignon blanc on a hot summer day!
9.  My very first horse's name was Big B.  I've also had ones named Brandie, Charlie, Joey (x 2), Fred, Six, Cody, Sammy, Scotch, Leo and now Louie.
10.  I'm incredibly particular about my cowboy boots.  I can't stand 'fashion' western boots.  Be looking for a blog post about this in the near future.
11.  I've never met a flavor of ice cream I don't like, except butter pecan.  Not a fan.

My Nominees:
I read so many different blogs, but these gals have been so wonderful to me over the last few months that I want to share the love.

Jessi's Design
Jessi is incredibly sweet!  I just want to sit on her porch and drink a bottle with her while our labs play in the yard! 

Old Blue Silo
I'm pretty sure Kelly and I are cut from the same cloth.  We're both very proud of our role in agriculture and we both love our mason jars!

Wine and Words
And who would have thought it was so easy to find a fellow Saluki?  Sure, Megan lives in Texas now, but we can reminisce about the good times we both had in college!

Carly Blogs Here
I love Carly's blog for her make-up reviews and posts about DC travel.  If it hadn't been for Carly I would have failed to know there was a monument in DC dedicated to FDR.  And she loves Harry Potter!

My Questions:
1.  Are you a five mph over the speed limit kinda girl or do you set your cruise at the exact speed you're supposed to be traveling?
2.  Tell me about the one gift that you didn't feel the least bit guilty returning.
3.  What your go-to karaoke song?
4.  How do you express yourself creatively?
5.  What was the last book you read and why should I read it?
6.  How do you describe your sense of humor?
7.  What is your favorite candle scent to burn?
8.  Describe the last time you were truly excited about something?
9.  What's the one thing that your spouse or significant other, God bless 'em, does that drives you bat shit crazy?
10.  How many times do you wear your jeans before you wash them?
11.  What are five things you can't do--that you would like to do?

Linking up with Jenni, Samantha & Reneé