Who's A Liebster Award Winner? I Am!

Oh my gosh, I got up this morning to discover that my blog had been awarded the Liebster Award!  How cool is that?  If you're clueless, like me, the Liebster Award is a nod from one blogger to another.  Awesome.  I wanted to know where this award originated but the best I could do was find a little info on a blog called Sopphey Says and a reference to another blog called Bird of Paradise.  Sadly, the latter is in German and I can't figure out how to translate it!  If you know how to use Google translate, please leave me a comment!

The acceptance of the Liebster award comes with several steps, the steps do tend to vary, so I don't feel too bad about fudging on at least one of them!  I read several blog posts where the recipient made the award their own, so here it goes....

Here Liebster Award acceptance conditions are:

1. You must thank the person who gave you the Liebster award.

So, THANK YOU to Kristi at Finding Ninee,

for bestowing this honor upon Meet the Cottons!

You are awesome, I totally love your blog!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

2. You must display the Liebster heart on your blog - Done.

3. You should nominate 3 to 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 subscribers.  This is one of the slightly inconsistent things about the Liebster award.  I guess originally there wasn't a stipulation about the recipient being an up-and-coming-blog, so I'm just going to choose blogs that I feel are worthy, regardless of their number of subscribers.  Sorry!

After much consideration, and the realization that I don't follow a lot of little blogs like mine (shame on me!), I would like to pass on the Liebster Award to the following blogs:

Beard & Pigtails

Beard has just under 300 subscribers, but I didn't see a Liebster on the sidebar, so I'm going fudge the followers rule and send one his way!  I not only chose his blog because of his great writing style and the wonderful story he tells, but because he replied to my email once upon a time.

It really is the little things that set us apart!  Thank you, Beard!

I Can Say Mama

I know Joy has received this award in the past, and because I think she's an awesome blogger I am sending another one her way!  I can count Joy among the very few readers I have.

I am ever so grateful for her comments.  Thank you, Joy!

Undiagnosed, but we are okay with that

Here's another blog that has already received the Liebster, but Kerri left me the most awesome comment a few days ago, and I can't help but fall in love with that cute little girl on her blog header.  Thank you, Kerri!

A Special Kind of Class
Amanda's teaching blog was one of the first that I began following.  I'm not a teacher, but the things she blogged about revealed so much about what goes on in the day to day life of a child in special education.  It was just so nice to be able to peek inside, since I had been completely shut out by my school system (in that first year of Kindergarten).   Plus, you can get a lot of great ideas from teaching blogs!  Especially if you are looking for something crafty to do!
Thank you, Amanda!
Life In Special Education
I enjoy this teacher's blog for many of the same reasons I mentioned above.  I reached out to Karla with a question about a work portfolio I wanted to create for Patty, and she was nice enough to, not only reply, but to send me links with ideas, too!  It takes a really kind hearted person to take the time to help a virtual stranger!
Thanks you, Karla!

4. Post 11 things about yourself.

Here's a tricky one.  I feel like I am one of the most uninteresting people you will ever meet!  But, here it goes, 11 things about me, in random order:

1. I didn't eat cheese on anything until I took two nieces and one nephew (ages 2, 6, and 8) to Chuck E Cheese one day while our family poodle was at Petsmart being groomed.  I was 27 years old.  Seriously.
2. I am strangely addicted to books that have been made into movies.  Or television shows.
3. My favorite cookie is this little homemade cookie we have at Christmas called a Secret Kiss Cookie.  It's very similar to those little Archway Wedding Cookies, but it has a Hershey's Kiss hiding in the middle.  It is awesome!  No one but me is ever allowed to eat any of those cookies!  Unwrapping all those kisses is serious work!  And my unwillingness to share is why I only make them once a year!
4. I love soundtracks.  Go figure.
5. I don't consider myself a Southerner.  But, I don't consider myself a Northerner, either.
6. I sort my dirty laundry.  Yep, I have five small baskets designated for our dirty laundry.  And, yes, I get upset when the dirty clothes end up in the wrong basket. 
7. I only eat vanilla ice cream, and never if there are vanilla beans present.  French Vanilla was my favorite but then Baskin Robbins stopped making it!
8. I hate to see typos in print.  Especially in books.  I have been known to get a pen and make a correction right on the page. 
9. I'm not a cat or a dog person.  I generally like animals of any kind.  With the exception of birds, gerbils, and raccoons.  If it looks like it could poop or bite without warning, I try to stay away from it.
10. I try not to say "I have never" or "I will never" because I don't like to contradict myself.
11. I revel in my alone time.

Wow, that was seriously harder than I thought.  And now I have to answer the questions Kristi sent to me!

5. Answer the questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you.

1. What is your secret dream?  I would love to write a weekly column and have it syndicated.
2. What does your significant other not know about you that a friend does?  I simply can not think of anything that my husband doesn't know about me!
3. If you could have one wish that didn’t earn you money and didn’t magically fix something, what would it be?  Hmmm, doesn't earn money or fix something, dang that's tough...Kristi, this is seriously a tough question.  I can't think of a single thing that doesn't do one of those two things!  Well, here it goes.  I would wish for all books to be released in paper back the same day they are released in hard back.  Epic fail?
4. How would you describe your personal style?  Ha, this one's easy.  I have absolutely no style.  I'd wear gray all day every day if I thought people wouldn't notice and give me strange looks!
5. What three words do you think your closest friends would use to describe you?  Stubborn.  Determined.  Problem Solver.
6. If your house were on fire, and your family and pets safe, what three items would you attempt to save?  Easy: camera, external hard drive, and the box of baby keepsakes.
7. Do you believe in plastic surgery?  Yes.  I don't plan to have any, but I'm not taking it off the table as an option for the future.
8. What’s number one on your bucket list?  Hmmmm, generally I get a little anxious about the idea of a bucket list, so I don't really have one.  But, before I die, I hope to visit England.
9. If you had one hour of secret free time, how would you use it?  I'd probably just take a nap!
10. Beer, wine, mixed drinks, water or soda?  I'm okay with water or soda.  I know I'm supposed to choose one and not two.  So, sometimes, I just have to have a soda.  And, I do try to say soda instead of pop.  I may not consider myself a Southerner, but folks around her definitely talk like this is the South!
11. Are you afraid of the dentist?  Nope, never been afraid of the dentist.  I've had the same dentist for as long as I can remember.  Not counting the orthodontist, of course.

6. Create 11 questions for those you nominate to answer.

I'm going to make my 11 questions from the 11 random things I shared about me.  Sorry, it's not very creative!

1. Name a food that you would not eat as a child, but enjoy as an adult.
2. What was the last movie you watched or the last book you read?
3. What is your favorite Girl Scout Cookie and why?
4. Do you have a favorite movie soundtrack and what is it?
5. Are you  "a little bit country" or "a little bit rock and roll"?
6. Do you think it's weird that I sort my dirty laundry?
7. What is your favorite ice cream topping?
8. What word do you almost always misspell?
9. Do you have pets?
10. Words to live by.
11. Are you a social butterfly or a recluse?

7. Notify your nominees and provide a link back to your post - Done, check your email!

8.  Don't give the award back to the blog that gave it to you.


And there you have it.  This really has been a fun little exercise!  Thanks again, Kristi!