Wow! Honored with a Liebster Award! How cool is that?

Good morning, friends!

I received some very cool news yesterday - one of my blogging friends, Amy of the VomitingChicken nominated me for a blogging "award" called the Liebster - crazy girl...  It's an opportunity for up and coming blogs to share with the world and I was thrilled for the recognition!  There are rules for this award and they are:

1. You must tell 11 things about yourself.
2. You must answer 11 things that were asked of you.
3. You then nominate other blogs you enjoy to jump in and share.

I love reading Amy's blog every day and I swear she's getting me to try things I would NEVER have!!  Honestly!  I am kind of nervous, but I'll do my best to live up to the honor...

Let's see...how about if we start with 11 things about me?  Oh boy... this is a bit scary...

1.  I married my best friend - literally, not just figuratively like people say.  He was my very best friend in high school.  We met at 12 while standing at the bus stop, waiting to go to middle school.  We didn't date till AFTER we graduated. Yup...known him for 40 years!

2. I didn't go to college till I was 20 - worked for 2 years, didn't save a penny then headed to Keene State for my teaching degree.

3. Got my undergraduate degree in 3 years - went STRAIGHT (including summers) till I got it done.

4. (This one hurts...) I was within 1 1/2 classes of finishing my master's and didn't.  Ever.  Don't have it. (sigh...pitty party time...)

5.  My favorite color is purple.  Next one? Deep blue.  Love "royal" colors.

6. My family has lived on this street since the end of the 1700s.

7. I once had a beautiful blue jeep with a white soft top - it was a stick shift and I had to have someone else drive it off the lot because I couldn't drive a standard yet.  By the end of the day, I could.

8. I was the very first female athlete of the year for my high school in 1978.

9.  I am a high school and club field hockey coach.  This summer I will be coaching New Hampshire's Twin State Team!  (Go, NH!!)

10.  Even though I am pretty crafty, I never learned to crochet - I want to badly, so... I am going to try again!

11. I love crab rangoons.  

WOW!!  Phew!!

Now it's time to answer the questions that Amy sent me.

1. What is your favorite meal?  You are asking a "food-blogger-to-be" what her favorite meal is?  ARGH!!!  I am going to say my favorite meal to make is "breakfast for dinner" - loaded omlet, hash browns, bacon/sausage, cinnamon buns, coffee with flavored cream (hazelnut) and a glass of juice.  My favorite meal out?  ANYTHING someone else makes and cleans up!  Muahahaha!

2.  Do you believe in space aliens?  If so, how would you describe them?  Yikes, Amy!  Let's just say that when one looks up at the stars at night, the concept that we alone exist seems rather limiting - describe them?  No idea... though scenes of Dr Who come to mind...

3.  How do you keep your house clean?  Really, I want to know.  I need help in this area.  Holy cow, you OBVIOUSLY haven't been here!  I can't even dignify that with a response!  My house is lived in...VERY lived in....period!  I am thrilled if the dishes are done and I can find my way through the house!  Clean?  You must be joking?!?!?!  I have discovered the benefits of vinegar - so my counters and floors are the best they've been.... You can check here for info on THAT!

4. How do you stay fit when you spend so much time at the computer?  Define fit.  I do coach field hockey in the fall and girls basketball in the winter, along with indoor field hockey on the weekends.  I have 2 grandsons, almost 4 and almost 3 - chase them for an afternoon - it's all the exercise you need!!

5.  What's a dream that you hope to accomplish this year?  I have 2 - gain some financial stability (don't we all work towards that?) and have the blogs be successful (successful meaning.... hmmm... gotta work on that - without defining it, hard to say I've accomplished it!)

6.  Do you own a grand piano?  Do you play an instrument? No - we have a keyboard (my daughter's played) Does a kazoo count?  If not, no.  I WAS a drummer in middle school - should have put that in the list above!  I played the snare drum - couldn't read music very well, so that went by the side of the road once I hit high school.

7.  How will you spend your birthday this year?  I would imagine I will spend my next birthday the way I've spent most of them for the past 31 years - either at a wrestling meet or waiting for my husband to come home from wrestling! It's how we roll.

8.  What are some of your favorite movies and TV shows?  Here's one for you: I don't watch TV.  We gave up cable this past year.  I'm kind of out of the loop since I don't watch.  I did like watching cooking shows and the History Channel - not a big surprise there since I work at a Historical Society.    I will say I do like the Disney Pixar films like Toy Story and such... could be because I have to watch them over and over with the boys... like the humor they inject because they KNOW you'll watch it 1,000 times!

9.  What are you reading right now, book and magazine-wise?  Would blogs count as magazines?  If so - LOTS and LOTS of blogs!  I also just picked up Cook's Illustrated Make-Ahead Recipes at the Food Coop the other day.  They had a hysterical editorial called "Real Vermonters Don't Wear Sunglasses." Laughed my "you-know-what" off!!  You should read it!  I like to listen to books on tape in the car - you can download them free from the local library and then play them on your iPod.  My brother got me a cool do-hickey for Christmas that plays through the radio - so I can hear it.  LOVE that!

10.  Are you a cat person or a dog person or a gerbil person?  We don't have pets.  We are all allergic to dander.  Sneeze terribly and have trouble breathing.  No pets here.  Sorry.  I did have a parakeet when I was in high school.  I named him Napoleon and he loved James Taylor.  Just sayin'

11. Do you have a favorite YouTube video that you'd like to share with the class?   As a matter of fact, I do.  Here it is.

So... who do I nominate in turn?  Well, here's a list of wonderful folks I've recently discovered while participating in the Ultimate Blogging Challenge this month:

• Michael Guinn at http://www.mickamusing.com/
• Amy Lynn Andrews at http://amylynnandrews.com/
• Paula Kumert at http://keepitsimplemakeitgreat.blogspot.com.ar
• Amanda Thomas at http://adventuresinonlinemarketing.com
• Michelle Liew at  http://adishofdailylife.com
• Anita Clare Field at http://www.loverofcreatingflavours.co.uk
• Alessa Bertoluzzi at  http://www.carolinaheartstrings.com
• Harriet Stack at http://www.harrietstack.com/
• Nancy Norbeck at http://www.nancynorbeck.com
• Michelle Kantor Nahom at http://adishofdailylife.com

If you choose to join in, ladies and gentlemen, here are the questions I ask of you:

1. Do you have a hobby?  What is it?
2. What is your favorite food?  
3. What are you currently reading?
4. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
5. Where do you live now?  What do you like about it?
6. How has technology changed your life?
7. If you could have three wishes, what would they be?
8. If your friends had to describe you in three words, what would they be?
9. If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would it be?  What would you like to do there?
10.  Describe the view from your window.

Wonderful readers, take a moment to visit some of the incredible bloggers and see what they have to offer. 

Thanks again, Amy - it was fun!
Hugs,
Carrie