My Liebster Award

My dear friend, Christine Wright from Living Joel 2:25 has nominated me for a Liebster Award.  Christine loves God, is incredibly honest and often funny as she shares about her struggles and triumphs in her daily walk.  Love her and her blog...give it a read!

Actually, this is the second time I've been nominated by a fellow blogger, but only the first time I've accepted it, because it takes some time to properly accept and pass on.

To accept, I am required to a) give you 11 random facts about myself,
b) answer 10 questions posed by the person nominating, and c) come up with 10 questions for the blogger(s) I nominate in turn.  There are some rules somewhere about the number of people to nominate, and how many readers they can have, but, I'm throwing the rulebook out the window and nominating two worthy blogs without looking at their readership.  Yeah, I 'm a rebel!

First, my 11 random things...


1)      I threw the javelin in high school

2)      I feel closest to God near water – the ocean, my “lakeside lessons” lake, even a pond or creek...I wrote about that connection in my post: Lakeside Services.

3)      Although I never even considered it, I wrote “English teacher” as 'future profession' in my senior high year book...guess I figured it was a more believable career than 'performer'.

4)     I love doing puzzles.

5)  I've always lived in New Jersey.

6)      Fall is my favorite season – colorful, not too cold, still great beach days.

7)      I have a “black thumb” – if you are a living plant, you will not fair well under my care…

8)      I love to search for bargains and the unusual at yard sales, flea markets and 2^nd hand stores.

9)      I’ve always believed God would use me in a big way - I'm a vision-casting, impossible dreamer.

10)  I love to travel by train – heading to Georgia and South Carolina next month!

11)  I was born without a “math gene”.

Christine's questions for me:


1.  Do you wrap Christmas presents as you go, or do it all at once?   It used to be never - my daughter would wrap them all because she loved it...but now that she's all grown up, moved out and getting married this year (Time to Plan A Wedding) I do it all at once…usually late Christmas Eve after church service because I’m a procrastinator! 

2. What was your favorite grade in school?  Why?  I am that rare person who just loved school...every grade.  But I guess my senior year was best because I only needed to take history and chemistry to graduate and filled the rest of my day with fun classes!  Plus, I was involved in sports, the school musical, choir, advanced choir…all kinds of cool stuff!

3. Favorite dessert?  Impossible question for a baker!  Just about anything chocolate, but I love chocolate mousse and my "famous" chocolate cake.

4. How many siblings do you have?  2 – a brother 5 years younger and a sister 9 years younger.

5. Favorite verse?  Again, hard to narrow down.  There are several – Joel 2:25 & Exodus 14:14 which were what led me to read your blog Christine!  Joshua 1:9 and perhaps my all time favorite, which I talk about in Beyond the Beyond  is Eph. 3:20-21:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.



6. How was life different 10 years ago?  It was very different…I was married, unemployed and back at school (studying for what would become my change of career), my kids were 12 and 16 so there were science projects (don’t miss those!) and school socials to think about on top of my own studies. 

7. Would you rather watch a movie at home or go to the theater?  Theater…so much gets lost on the small screen!

8.  Do you have a pet?  1 cat, Angel – a rather vocal feline who’s almost 11 years old.

9. Favorite author?  Fiction, John Grisham.  Non-fiction, Mark Batterson 

10. Something specific you want to say “Yes!” to in 2013... Well, I tend to over commit, so what I want to say Yes to in 2013 is not what I feel obligated to do, but only what God wants me to do.  I want to say yes to consistency in all things :)

And lastly, my nominees and the questions I have for them (same questions for both).  Jess at  Journeying On... - a young woman with wisdom beyond her years and refreshing honesty...and Linda at One Woman's Pilgrimage.  Linda is a personal trainer, life coach, poet, encourager and friend...ladies, your questions:


1.       Do you make New Year’s Resolutions and do you tend to keep them if you do? 

2.      What was your favorite subject in school? 

3.      What is your dream job? 

4.      What is your life verse? 

5.      What is your favorite movie and why?

 6.      Do you have a hidden/secret talent? 

7.      What country would you love to visit and why? 

8.      What is your family’s goofiest tradition? (Stealing Felecia’s question to Christine - it’s a great one!) 

9.      Who’s your favorite Bible “character” and why? 

10.   Something specific you want to say “Yes!” to in 2013... 

Looking forward to reading your answers!