Liebster Award - We've been nominated!

After our hiatus, I was excited to see a comment that Following Paw Prints had been nominated for a "Liebster Award." Of course, I had no idea what that meant, so I did a bit of research:

Best I can tell (from maybe 30 minutes of Internet searches and reading), The Liebster Award is legitimate and it's a kind of way for bloggers to recognize other bloggers, learn something about them, and spread the wealth by encouraging other people to visit their sites. Liebster is a word of German origins, and it means "sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, kind, pleasant, valued" - you get the drift. I'm not sure I actually qualify, based on those parameters, but I appreciate being nominated by The Kitty Corner just the same! The premise is to recognize new-ish bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, encouraging them to keep blogging. Well, we know I need all the support I can get, so blogger Marie has my heartfelt thanks and, while my terriers can never be called fans of "katz," they join me in appreciating the recognition.

Next, I must answer 11 questions posted by The Kitty Corner when I was nominated. I must also choose 11 people/blogs and nominate them for the Liebster Award and give them 11 questions to answer. Finally, I must provide 11 random facts about myself (I didn't see this on other sites I researched, but I'm good with it - I think!) and display the Liebster Award graphic.

Here we go!

My questions from The Kitty Corner:

1. Describe yourself in one word. Survivor. :)
2. If you had a time machine, would you travel to the future or to the past? I think I would travel to the past. I love history and all its twists and turns.
3. What is your favorite city? Geez, this is a hard one. I'm not sure I can narrow it to just one, although I can give you a region (I'm pretty much a Southern girl at heart). How about five or six? Asheville (NC), Seaside (FL), Austin (TX), Charleston (SC), Seattle (WA) - my one non-southern-region vote!, Savannah (GA).
4. Do you write more than one blog? I do. I just started a second one to share products, places, events and experiences of interest to people and their animals. You can find it at Pawsitive Places. Nothing is posted as of this writing, but it should be up and going very soon!
5. What is your favorite time of day? Hmm. Early morning is beautiful, once I'm up and going. GETTING up and going is another story altogether!
6. If you could have lunch with a famous person, from past or present, who would it be?  "Famous" is relative, don't you think? My famous people may seem less so to others. Regardless, I think I would like to have lunch with Danish author Karen Blixen, better known as Isak Dinesen, and author of Out of Africa.
7. Coffee or tea? (Or neither?) Depends on the day - or, sometimes, the time of day. Coffee is always a hands-down favorite; life would be incomplete without a good glass of iced tea; and some afternoons would just not be possible without a soothing cup of Tazo Zen green tea (I work in a high school, after all!).
8. What is your favorite flower? Tiny Johnny-jump-ups (violas) were always the first flowers of spring in my grandmother's yard. When I see them, they remind me of her and I seem to draw the first deep breath that winter is coming to a close and spring will soon follow.
9. What do you like best about blogging? The opportunity to seemingly transcend time and space. It truly broadens my world.
10. What is your favorite season? There is nothing more beautiful on Earth than the few precious perfect Autumn days we have here in northeastern Oklahoma.
11. What is your favorite movie? If I had to pick just one, it would have to be the classic "Out of Africa" (see question #6!).

I think 11 random facts about myself will be harder to come up with than the answers to the above questions. What to say? What to say?

1. Confession time: I haven't changed the weight on my driver's license in more than 20 years - shhh. Don't tell!
2. At the moment, there are probably 12-15 started-but-not-finished books scattered throughout my house and on my iPad.
3. I am definitely an introvert.
4. I secretly believe my children are perfect and could rule the world if they chose to do so.
5. I will never be able to work in all the jobs and careers that capture my interest.
6. Becoming an empty-nester scares the heck out of me!
7. I always wanted to be a ballerina.
8. It would be easy for me to become a grumpy hermit.
9. I still think of myself as an in-shape, athletic younger person. Looking in the mirror is always such a shock!
10. Reading genre romance novels is fun; I'm a sucker for happy endings.
11. There is so much I still want to accomplish that, at times, it totally paralyzes me.

Here are my nominees. If you don't read their blogs regularly, you really should. They're awesome!

Midwest Green
Living Kitchen Farm & Dairy
Cold Pasta & Red Wine
Hoboken or Bust
Lori Belle Love
In Pursuit of Happiness
I Have Things
Laura D'Ambrosio/Simple Wholeness
Good Faith Ranch
Marley & Lola's Border Terrier Life
Fessenden Farmstead
and, while the next link isn't officially part of my list, it's one you should support regularly. Thanks!
Welsh Terrier Rescue

Here are the questions for my nominees:

1. What is your favorite color?
2. Coffee? Tea? Or something stronger?
3. Is there one event or point in time you can remember that has become the directional beacon for your life in recent years? If so, what would it be?
4. "Real" books or ebooks - and which one is currently top of your to-read list?
5. What is your biggest pet peeve?
6. What is something you learned recently?
7. What is the one personal care product you cannot live without?
8. What is your favorite dream vacation or travel destination?
9. What is your favorite time of day?
10. What is one thing you wish you could change about your past?
11. Do you have cable/Dish/whatever for television viewing or have you abandoned that ship? If so, what do you use these days?

Nominees, here's what you need to do next:

After accepting the nominations and thanking the nominators the following is required:

1. List the nominator’s blog on your blogroll with a link
2. Answer a set of 11 questions asked by the nominator
3. Provide a list of 11 random facts about yourself
4. Nominate 11 qualified blogs (less than 200 followers) for the Liebster Award and let them know through a post on their blog page
5. Provide a set of 11 questions for the nominated blogs to answer
6. Display the award on you blog!

Okay, I think everything is done now. This has been a really great experience. Thanks again, Marie and The Kitty Corner, for nominating us. Happy blogging!