Fabulous Blog Ribbon Award

I’ve just been honored with the Fabulous Blog Ribbon Award by Katherine Checkley!

Thanks, Katherine! 🙂

Katherine is the author of The Intrinsic Writer blog. Her posts are lively, informative, and inspirational. Every time I read them, I’m delighted with her style. Katherine’s blog is actually one of the very first blogs I started following because she had a ton of information on her site, so I encourage you to check her out!

Thank you so much, Katherine! I’m flattered you thought of me!

*Squeal!*

The Fabulous Blog Ribbon Award has five simple rules. They are:

1. Thank the blogger who gave it to you and share the link back to the awarding blog.

2. Name 5 fabulous moments in your life.

3. Name 5 things that you love.

4. Name 5 things you hate.

5. Pass the award to 5 deserving bloggers.

All right, here goes…

Five fabulous moments in my life:

• The day my father figured out I was addicted to writing and finagled an old Mac from his coworker. Which I promptly sat in front of, every day that summer, at the tender age of 12. (I was never much of an outdoors girl.)
• The day my mother took my hands into hers after I’d won a speech-writing contest at 17 and said, “Honey, I’m so proud of you. You do it all. Sing, dance, write, act—you’re like Madonna, but better. Keep it up!” (Ah, thanks mom!) (I should mention I was and still am a huge Madonna fan. 🙂 )
• The first day of my teaching career. I was 23, the kids in my Geometry class were adorable, and after they left the room, I ran my fingers along the desks with a big beaming smile and thought, “Oh my goodness! I’m getting paid for this awesomeness!”
• The day I passed my subtests (10 years later) to earn an additional credential in English. (I imagine the first day of this school year, when I’ll get to teach English too, will be a new moment to add to this list!)
• Every time I’ve finished an edit of Kyresa, and in particular, this last one—there are tears, a celebration, a feeling like I’ve done something right, and then a rush of excitement for the next step! Woo hoo!

Five things I love:

• My niece. (If you’ve followed this blog, you’ve probably guessed this one.) She is almost 5, and is also known as the Most Adorable Niecey On the Planet. A weekend with little Miss V trumps all!
• Friend time. I adore my friends to pieces and would pretty much throw myself in front of a bus for most of them. I often joke I’m “everybody’s girlfriend” because I like to make them all laugh and help them out as much as I can. Can’t help it; it just is. XOXO to my pals.
• My cats. No, I’m not a crazy cat lady, but I am pretty amused by the two of them. They think they’re dogs—one played fetch for two years and the other will smother you in love—and once I figured out they could open jars I decided they’re twice as much fun. I also love white tigers, leopards, panthers, and jaguars, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t house train so well. 😉
• Working out. I’m kind of a fiend, except when I’m in big-time writing mode—then I struggle to stay on top of it. But golly I sure do love my gym time.
• Candy. (Um, sort of the direct opposite of the last one, I know.) Candy is my nemesis, but I love it so. Gummies, Good N’ Plenty, and especially licorice are my favorites, and I can’t keep candy in my house because I cannot stop eating it. My dentist once told me I’m the poster child for teeth brushing, because I clearly feel so guilty over my habit that I brush all the time to compensate. I’ve toned it down a lot (not the brushing), but if you put candy in front of me, the rate at which it gets eaten will blow your mind. Sigh…

Five things I hate:

• I hate the word “hate.” I hate the way it is used all the time, I hate that people feel it, and I hate that I still use the word too. I particularly “hate” when children tell their parents/teachers “You hate me, don’t you?” It takes so much energy to hate someone. I don’t have the time, and neither do you. Let’s hug and move along already, world!
• The inability for people to directly say what they mean. I get the sense that we’re particularly bad about this here in America, where “I’ll call you” gets thrown out (for example) when it isn’t meant. I think we would be better off just being honest, because then rejection wouldn’t sting so bad, no matter what the case (dating, publishing, hangouts, etc.). I would rather hear, “Thanks for lunch. It was interesting spending time with you, but I don’t think we’re a match,” or “I really want to hang out, but I’m super busy right now,” instead of evasiveness or vagueness. Can you imagine what life would be like if we all said this stuff? I think we’d be confident people able to handle rejection by age eight! (Perhaps I’m dreaming, but this is my theory.)
• Sleeplessness. As a teen, I didn’t sleep much. As an adult, I get by on 6 to 7 hours of sleep. So while those nights I stare at the ceiling may be residual from my teen years, they still drive me bonkers. (I am sure I’m not alone in this.)
• Heavy amounts of garlic. I can actually smell it on me for days, and I usually dream of vampires (nope, not kidding) when I eat loads of garlic.
• Inconsiderate drivers. A common phrase uttered in my car is, “They know they have turn signals, right?”

and finally…

Five deserving bloggers!

• Jessica Vealitzek, who runs the True STORIES blog. I’ve nominated her for an award before, and I’ll nominate her one hundred times over. Her blog focuses on real stories, and they are anything from deep and painful to lighthearted and fun. Jessica is a fellow SheWrites member, and we’ve formed a kinship via email as new writers storming the path and plotting to take over the world. (Whoops. Did I say that out loud?) You are awesome, Jessica!
• Anna Meade at Yearning for Wonderland. Let it be known, Anna is a fairy princess and a dark fairy, all rolled into one. She is probably the funniest person I follow on Twitter, and her blog posts are delightful—she posts a variety of musings as well as lovely flash fiction pieces. (Anna was also one of the co-hosts of the Once Upon a Time Flash Fiction contest I entered; if you’d like to read all the entries in a beautiful print anthology you can buy it here.) Her blog is also incredibly whimsical, and easy to get sucked into if you like pretty things, fairies, or fairy tales. 🙂
• S.J.I. Holliday for her flash fiction-focused blog, http://sjiholliday.com/. Susi was the other co-host of the OUAT contest, and I’m pretty sure she and Anna were fairy twins separated at birth (follow them both on Twitter and you’ll belly laugh for hours). This wonderful lady writes some amazing flash fiction—that’s very short fiction—and great commentary on reading and writing in general. Let’s just say that thanks to her and Anna, I believe in fairy tales again. 🙂
• Vanessa Grassi, who runs http://vanessagrassi.com/. Big heart, big thoughts, and a lot of good posts. Vanessa’s blog is currently on hiatus until the fall (she, too, felt the call of the writing, and had to pause to focus on it), but every time I read her posts I feel her enthusiasm soar off the page.
• Melanie Conklin, a writer and designer at http://www.melanieconklin.com/. When I think of Melanie’s posts, the first thing that comes to mind is intelligence. She is a clever woman, and her posts about writing and the publishing world are quite thoughtful. Sometimes she relates the writing process to her design work, and I find the connection fascinating. I particularly enjoyed Melanie’s last post, What Agents Really Mean When They Say “We’re Not a Match”, because it’s so true! (If you’re a writer and you haven’t seen this piece, be sure to read it.)

I hope you have the opportunity to check out each of these wonderful blogs!

Thank you again to Katherine, and keep up the great writing and reading, everyone!