The Liebster Award

It was a lovely surprise to be nominated for Liebster Award last Sunday! If, like me, you aren't familiar with this award, this is how it was explained: 'The Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers who have great content but not too many people may have heard of them yet; it is only given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. "Liebster" is German for favorite, and the award is presented by a fellow blogger as a sort of pat on the back "you've got a great thing started" type of award.'

I'm very honored.  Thank you to Meg at Adventures with Jude for nominating me!

Edited to add: I was also nominated by All My Baby Birds, so I am doubly blessed!  

Now, the rules...

1. List 11 facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 11 questions given to you.

3. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate for the award.

4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate.

5. Go to each blogger's page and let them know about the award.

6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 Facts About Me

1. I love coffee.  That's probably pretty obvious, given my blog theme, but it is a fact. 
2. I love to read, and have been keeping a blog with my thoughts on some of the books I read, even though I may be the only person that reads the blog! LOL  You can visit at Just A Second.  I try to read different genres, but historical fiction is my favorite.  
3. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a teacher.  I spent one year at college on a Music and Education degree, but didn't finish.  I went back to work and got married instead.
4. I am hopeless in the garden.  And I don't care very much about houseplants either.  Ironically, my husband is a professional grower and manages a greenhouse.  
5. I am not crazy about cooking either.  I do like to bake though, and I especially like to bake bread.
6. I have this "thing" about hair...  I am totally skeeved by hair that's not attached to the head, especially if it's wet.  Ugh. Other people in my household have to clean the showers, because when I try, I throw up.  True story.
7. I was in the choir that sang at the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Calgary 1988.
8. My daughter is named for her dad's favorite hockey team.
9. Even though I don't speak it now, my first language was Low German.  I understand it and use German words and phrases, but it would be really hard for me to converse now.  When my family visits, our conversations are often held with them speaking German and me replying in English.
10. My DH and I - and our oldest son, too - are Canadians.  We came to the USA in 1993 thanks to the 'green card lottery' and became citizens a few years ago.
11.  I rarely watch TV.  I like to watch hockey, but don't even watch that much, partly because other people usually claim the TV for their teams first.  Bonus fact: Everyone in this house has a different favorite team in almost every sport, although we do all cheer for the Washington Capitals in most situations.  The exception is Kennady and DH who both cheer for the Canadiens.  Kennady doesn't have a lot of choice! (See Fact #8)

And these are the questions Meg put to me and the others she nominated:

1. Why did you start your blog?  I guess you might say it was a little bit of peer pressure.  Several of the ladies on a homeschool message board I was on were starting blogs about their homeschool experience, and I thought it sounded like a good way to keep a journal and that our extended family might enjoy seeing pictures too. 
2. What is something you swore you'd never do, but do anyway? Wear pajama pants anywhere other than just in the house (I have now gone to the Post Office twice while wearing flannel pajama pants.  But never WalMart, because I have a terror of being on the People of WalMart page!).
3. What is the most important thing you've ever learned? Hmmm... the most important thing in terms of impact is probably that there is always something new to learn.
4. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? Seriously, just ONE place? I have such a long list of places I'd like to visit that I recently started a Pinterest board just to keep pictures to fuel my daydreams of traveling the world.  Some destinations that are consistently at the top of my list include: Scotland, Netherlands, Greece, Italy, and Alaska.
5. Do you have a pet? He's officially my daughter's pet, but we have a black cat.  I'm crazy about him, to tell the truth.  His proper name is Pepper, but he gets called Carl, Nibbler, or Kitty more often; and he is a real character.
6. How do you make a bad day better? More coffee. And dark chocolate usually helps too.
7. What is your favorite meal? It's hard to choose a favorite, but I guess it would be barbecue pork.  
8. Who or what inspires you? I am mostly inspired by music, and in ways that I find hard to put into words. And I could make a fairly long list of homeschool moms that have inspired me and continue to do so.  
9. What trait of yours do you see in your children? I've got four kids, and I see different pieces of me in each of them. I think they all have a sense of humor that is similar to mine.
10. What's your guilty pleasure? I was going to say bacon.  But I don't feel guilty about that at all.  LOL  
11. What are you most proud of? The fact that all four of my kids have made their own decisions to be Christ-followers.  Of course, that's not my accomplishment at all, but I think that at least we can say that with God's help, we've done a good job as parents so far if we've taught them to  follow Him.

My nominees:

1. Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5.00 Charge for Whining 
2. Carol @ Home Sweet Life
3. Leslie @ There's More 2 Les
4. Samantha @ Earthy Mama
5. Charlotte @ Joyful Hearts and Faces
6. Lindsey @ Brandon M. Homeschool
7. Kayla @ Shut the Fridge
   
8. Steph @ Life With These Kids
9. Wendy @ Life at Rossmont
10. Joelle @ Homeschooling For His Glory
11. Jenn @ White Trash Mama

My questions for you:

1. Why did you start your blog?
2. What is your favorite thing about homeschooling?
3. What was your favorite subject when you were in school? (And is it still your favorite?)
4. Who or what inspires you?
5. What makes you laugh?
6. Where did you go on your best vacation ever?
7. Do you play a musical instrument?
8. What is something you'd still like to learn? An instrument, a craft or hobby, a new language...
9. What is your favorite food?
10. What is your favorite holiday or season?
11. What's the funniest thing your kid(s) did or said recently?