The Bewildered 20-Something Writer has nominated me for the Liebster Award!  What is the Liebster Award, you may be wondering?  It’s an award for smaller blogs that other bloggers think are pretty great — thank you, Bewildered.  According to The Bewildered 20-Something Writer, Liebster means “dearest” in English.

Blogs are nominated for the award by other bloggers in hopes the award will draw more traffic to the nominated blog, and that it would get more views.  If a blogger accepts the nomination for the Liebster Award, he/she answers ten questions posed by the nominating blogger, and then nominates other blogs for the award in the same way.

I have seen that I am supposed to nominate ten blogs, but as I am fairly new to WordPress and haven’t really visited many blogs and most of the blogs I follow have a large following, I only have two blogs to nominate:

Speculations Impressed

The Norman Crane

Here are my questions for my nominees:

1.  Who/What is your favorite storybook character?

2.  Why do you write a blog?

3.  If you could interview any famous/notorious person, past or present, whom would it be and why?

4.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

5.  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

6.  What cartoon character are you most like?

7,  What do you like to do when you’re home alone?

8.  Have you ever danced in the rain?

9.  What advice would you give your thirteen-year-old self?

10.  What one thing do you most want to accomplish before your life is through?

Now, I will attempt to give my best answers to the very thought-provoking questions The Bewildered 20-Something Writer asked me:

What inspired you to start writing/blogging?

I have been writing stories since I was in the fifth grade simply because I enjoyed writing.

My seventh grade English teacher encouraged me to keep writing.

This is actually my third blog.  I was inspired to begin my first blog (which no longer exists) because some ladies at the church I am a part of introduced me to blogging.  This blog was a place I shared about what we as a family were doing and my thoughts and views on different topics.

Then I created a homeschool blog to post things my boys and I were doing in our homeschool and to offer tips and advice to other homeschool parents.  This blog is still in existence at here, although I rarely post on it anymore.

Finally, I began this blog because I was inspired by Jeff Goins, Writer, when I read an e-book he had written about writing that inspired me to start writing again, and to try to do so regularly.

If you could shrink any animal – real or mythical – so that it was pocket sized, what animal would you shrink and keep as a pet?

I am an animal lover, so this question was difficult, but I think I would have to say an elephant.

Name three guilty pleasure books and/or movies that you’re sorry you’re not sorry you like?

I would have to say the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett, the movie P.S. I Love You, and the book A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.

If you could change your name to anything, what would you change it to?

I suppose it would be Isabella.

What inspires you creatively, i.e. what gets your creative juices pumping again when you’re in a bit of a slump?

Going to the mall and simply people watching and catching bits and pieces of the conversations that go on around me.

If you knew you only had one hour before the zombie apocalypse, what would you do?

I would snuggle with my husband and my three boys and read the Bible,

talk about our faith and let each of them know how very much they

mean to me, and spend some time in prayer.

Name the weirdest/funniest/coolest/most memorable etc. dream you’ve had.

The most memorable dream I have had was a recurring nightmare I had as

a child of about ten.  I used to dream that a huge giant had captured me,

my family and my closest friends, and he had this giant sized iron (the kind

they used to use to press pictures/decals onto t-shirts).  The giant would line

everyone up and make me watch as he pressed all of my family and friends

in the iron.

What advice would you give your six year old self?

Don’t watch T.V.

What are the five things that make you the happiest?

1.  Spending time with my husband and three sons.

2.  Sundays

3.  Holiday family get-togethers

4.  Trying new recipes in the kitchen (cooking and/or baking)

5.  Reading and writing

Star Wars or Star Trek?

Star Wars