Happy Monday, Friends! It has been a long time since I last wrote a new blog post. I’ve taken a bit of a break from publishing new content to focus on updating old content. I’m trying to revamp old posts, make them more relevant, and add some SEO. As I update those, I’m sharing them on my social media so be sure you’re following me: Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook.

It’s been an even longer time since I published any “just for fun” blog posts. I used to love both reading and writing silly lists of facts and fun things like that. So when Brita nominated me for the Liebster award, I thought “Yeah! I’ll participate in that! Why not?”

Related: Liebster Award and Liebster 2.0

Brita and I have been blog friends for years. I honestly don’t remember when we met, but I do remember learning pretty quickly that we had a lot in common. At the time I was living in Ohio and had moved there from Georgia, she was living in Georgia having moved there from Ohio. We were both originally from the South (me from Georgia and her from South Carolina). We both took French in school (but she then lived in Paris for a while – so cool).

Eventually, Brita and I met in real life at her home in Georgia when I was in town for work. It’s not often you get to meet your blog friends IRL!

Anyway, Brita is a brilliant writer who creates some great content about feminism, politics, relationships, Crohn’s disease and everything in between! I learn something valuable every time she publishes a post!

What motivates me in life?

The first step in accepting the Liebster award is to talk about what motivates you in life. I think the short and quick answer to this is Pearson. He’s the love of my life and I want our life together to be fulfilling for both of us and make us both happy. Pearson motivates me to push myself to be a better me in all aspects of my life: spiritually, physically, mentally etc. I want to invest in our future more than I think I would if it was just me, you know?

On a surface level, he literally motivates me to push harder with whatever I’m doing at the moment. Whether that’s writing, or creating a product for the blog, getting help with my mental health, or working out!

We joined our local Orange Theory Fitness studio at the end of June. Pearson pushed me to try an OTF class and then to get a membership with him. While I haven’t needed his motivation to get to class yet (because I’m loving it and am so excited to go every time), he does motivate me during class. Not only is there an air of competition where we want to keep up with each other, we’re constantly giving each other high fives and stuff through class. I highly recommend taking an exercise class with your spouse.

Brita’s 11 Questions:

Now that I’ve written a novel already, let’s get to the real reason we’re here. Here are the questions Brita asked.

1. What book could you just not finish, no matter how hard you tried? Les Miserables. I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t.
2. What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago? STOP CARING WHAT PEOPLE THINK! Just be yourself. You are enough. You are not too much. Your feelings are valid. Your likes and dislikes are unique to you. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not just to make people like you. Be comfortable and confident in who you are.
3. If you could cure only one specific disease (cancer is too broad–be specific), which would you cure and why? Oh what a great question! I think I would cure Multiple Sclerosis. I’ve been learning more and more about MS lately. And I’ve learned that more people than I ever imagined have it. Including people I know. It’s a disease that can be invisible a lot of the time but it can also be very life threatening.
4. If I gave you $1000 to spend in the town where you live (no online purchases), on physical, non-perishable goods only (not experiences or food), in 24 hours, what would you buy? This is a tough one too.
   1. I just recently learned of a cool place right down the street from us called Orenco Learning Club. It’s a “Gym for your mind.” They provide classes and events but they also sell books. I guess since I can’t buy experiences I might buy some books from them but I definitely want to support them.
   2. Art from local artists! There are a few different shops in downtown Hillsboro that sell art, gifts, and antiques from locals: Perks of Art, The Artful Garden, and Le’Stuff.
   3. Lastly, I would buy either a cool instrument or some kind of musical accessory for Pearson from Mir Music, depending on how much I have left. Mir Music is a really cool local music store that sells some really unique stuff!
5. What’s your Hogwarts house? Hufflepuff!
6. What is a quality or trait about yourself that you just LOVE? Gush about your awesomeness! I really like how I can be compassionate toward others. I tend to be a very empathetic person. I care about others’ feelings. I want everybody to feel loved and appreciated. I am a Hufflepuff and an Enneagram 2. I’m all about helping others, sometimes to the determent of my own mental health.
7. Why did you start blogging? I started a hobby blog back when Pearson and I first got married and moved 500+ miles away from everyone we ever knew. That blog morphed into a “professional” blog as the blogging world changed and as I discovered my own passion for helping marriages at the same time!
8. What’s your favorite shade of pink? This one. It’s part of my brand and when I first picked it years ago, I considered it purple. But now I think it’s really more pink. I really like it though.
9. N’SYNC or the Backstreet Boys? As indicated by my answer to what advice I would give myself 10 years ago, I have always been a people pleaser. If I’m being honest, I never personally had a preference. I listened to which ever one the people around me were listening to. As much as I hate to admit it, I was wishy-washy and flip-flopped all the time. I was too scared to commit to one. I needed to know lyrics to both so I could pull them out and impress whoever I was with. I owned and regularly listened to CDs from both. And I still do. The biggest problem that has caused is now sometimes when I hear an N’SYNC pr BSB song, I can’t tell you which it is. SMH! (not for the most famous songs, of course)
10. Taylor Swift or Weird Al? T-SWIFT. But I’ll admit, I can enjoy a good Weird Al parody with the rest of them.
11. The Eiffel Tower or the Louvre? I’ve never seen either but I think they’re both great in their own right. I think I could enjoy the Louvre for longer and on a deeper level. But the Eiffel Tower is so iconic and whenever I see it in person one day I feel like it will be emotionally overwhelming because I’ve wanted to visit Paris basically my whole life.

11 Fun Facts About Myself:

1. I held the Georgia state record for bench pressing for more than a decade. The record was for women aged 13 to 15 in the 125lb weight class. I benched my weight.
2. I once met Javi Lopez and Chipper Jones at my little league softball park.
3. I married my high school sweetheart.
4. I played Fastpitch Softball from 8 years old to 18 years old.
5. I played collegiate Ultimate Frisbee. It was a “club” sport so we didn’t get money from the school or anything but we did travel and play other colleges.
6. I was in chorus all through middle and high school and still love all things singing.
7. I took piano for a few years when I was a kid and quitting is one of my biggest regrets to date.
8. I’ve seen 16 Broadway shows. 4 on Broadway in NYC: The Pirate Queen, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Lion King. And 12 on tour: Anything Goes, Mamma Mia!, The Addams Family, Waitress, School of Rock, Matilda, Cabaret, Something Rotten, The Little Mermaid, Wicked, Newsies, and Aladdin.
9. I hate both olives and mushrooms.
10. I’m the first person in my family to live outside of the South East United States. I currently live in the North West so I’m pretty far from home.
11. I’ve only been out of the country twice: a mission trip to Nicaragua in 2008 and our honeymoon in The Bahamas in 2012.

My 11 Nominations:

1. Ashley of Military Wife Journey
2. Amberly of A Prioritized Marriage
3. Jessy of The Artsy Cajun
4. Ali of Our Happily Ever After
5. Elizabeth of The Everyday Storyteller
6. Amy of Freshly Married
7. Josie of Romance Enhanced Consulting
8. Susannah of Simple Moments Stick
9. Christina of Hugs and Lattes
10. Becky of BeckySquire.com
11. Chelsea of ChelseaAvery.com

My Questions for my Nominees:

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What is your biggest regret in life?
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
4. Where is the most exotic place you’ve ever traveled to?
5. What was your favorite subject in school? Did it change through the years?
6. What is your drink of choice?
7. If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be?
8. What is your favorite TV show?
9. Name 3 countries you would like to visit and why.
10. Who would you want to play you in a movie about your life?
11. What’s your favorite color?

What to do next:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and put a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you. The Liebster Award is all about celebrating the blogging community!
2. Write a few sentences about what motivates you in life.
3. Answer the 11 questions provided by the blogger that nominated you.
4. Include 11 fun facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award. Nominate small bloggers if you can to help promote blogg
6. Create 11 creative and unique questions for your nominees.
7. List these rules in your post.
8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award. Share a link to your post with them.