It’s still strange to me that anyone actually reads my stuff, but I need to give a big thank you to fitness9555 for nominating me for the Liebster Award! Apparently this is an award to recognize and get to know new bloggers, so thanks for reading and I’m so glad you enjoy my posts! If you get a chance, check out her fitness and health blog. (She’s much more consistent with her posting!)

SO – since I’ve been nominated for the award, I am supposed to have 11 questions to answer, 11 bloggers to nominate, and 11 questions of my own to write. It’s one of those, do it and pass it on type deals. Gotta be honest real quick-like though. I’m terrible about taking the time to write regularly and even worse about finding new blogs to read so I’m choosing to flake out on this assignment and just answer the questions I was given. Let’s begin!

Here are those 11 questions given to me:

1. What is the first thing you do in the morning when you wake up?

Hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. In fact, it’s usually the second, third, and sometimes fourth thing I do each morning also. And yes, I’ve read the articles about how it actually makes you feel worse than if you’d just gotten on up with the initial alarm. But y’all…those nine minute chunks are pure bliss.

2. What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Okay, so don’t freak out, but my favorite pizza toppings are black olives. Like, if we make homemade pizza, hubs literally sets aside half of them for me to eat directly out of the can. The pitted whole ones are my fave. Mouth.Is.Watering.

Also – not a big fan of sauce. I’ve been known to lift the toppings and scrape the majority of it off before I eat my slices.

3. Who is your role model and why?

Ugh…tough question. There are so many people that have had a significant impact on my life. But a role model? Someone that I respect and look up to? I honestly can’t pick just one.

I had a Sunday School teacher in middle school that was an incredible mentor during that time period. Even now when I run into her I still admire her confidence and contentment with life. She quit her job as a teacher, they moved out into the country, and she homeschools her kids. I think it takes a lot more guts than people realize to embrace simplicity these days.

And then there’s always the career side of me that looks at my strong, professional women friends and admires their go-get-it drive and ability to juggle home and work. I’ve mentioned it before but mama-guilt ain’t no joke and I’d bet that very few of those successful women you see could honestly say that they’ve never questioned if they’re doing the right thing for their family. To be able to balance it is tough.

4. If you could reset your life, would you?

Easy question. HECK NO. I totally get that there are SO many paths that your life can take. Every tiny decision has the potential to make a significant impact on the outcome of your life. But I wouldn’t change a single thing. Not the hard times, not the mistakes, none of it. Everything we go through in life factors into who we are, how we think, etc. Not to go all woo-woo on you, but think about it this way: You wouldn’t even have the knowledge to go back and do it differently in the first place if you hadn’t experienced it that way to begin with, right?

Now getting time to slow down just a bit? I’d absolutely sign up for that.

5. Do you prefer books or movies more?

BOOKS. Hands down. I’m such a book-loving hermit. I switched over to a Nook during my last maternity leave (that makes it sound like I have a HERD of littles….) because 1) I’d filled up all the shelves in the house and 2) I’d gotten tired of making the trip to the bookstore (pure laziness, I realize this). I won’t disclose how many I’ve read in the past year…. Let’s just say that my favorite thing to do is come home, throw on a robe, and curl up in a chair to read. #noshamenerdgame

Don’t ask my friends how many movies are on the “Jess Needs to Watch” list. It’s rather embarrassing. I would NOT be the person to pick for your pop culture trivia team.

6 – Coffee or Tea?

Mountain Dew.

But if you MADE me choose, I’d grab the tea. Extra sweet with lots of ice (Milo’s preferably). Don’t ask. It’s a Southern thing.

7 – What is your favorite thing about blogging?

This is all pretty new to me still, but I think it’s pretty cool to be able to read a finished post and get a feel for how I communicate. I’ve always had a bit of a sarcastic, humorous edge when I’m talking with people (those I’ve gotten comfortable with anyway. If I’m polite it means I either don’t know you, don’t like you, or am making an effort to be on my best behavior for whatever reason). I love getting people to laugh and not take things too seriously and when I’ve read back through some of my posts it’s been neat to see how that same voice is translating to the way I write.

8 – Why did you start blogging?

This one’s actually 3-fold.

The primary reason I considered doing a blog is because I’d gained a lot of free time after a job change and had started to do some furniture upcycling and minor home remodels. I thought it would be fun to try to document them (specifically all the failed attempts that come with trying something new) but I needed a better media platform than Instagram or Facebook.

Another factor that played into it was that I wanted to be able to document our crazy little life more thoroughly than a typical social media post. I wanted to be able to come back in a few years and laugh at how much we were trying to do or all the hilarity of our vacays, etc.

Finally, though, I’ve got to give credit (blame?) to hubs on this one. He’s always commented on how funny he thinks I am and really encouraged me to give it a shot. Heck, I’m out a $20 URL and some time if I end up not enjoying it, right?

9 – If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Ohhh…loaded question. After scrolling through media and seeing all the political garbage and grumpy people lately, I think I’d choose to remove hate. Big one, right? Pretty sure it would have a domino effect and get rid of a lot of these other ridiculous things trending lately.

10 – Favorite actress/actor? Why?

I don’t get into movie stars and hollywood too much. I mean, I chose accounting, they chose acting. We both worked our tails off. They happened to be in the small percent that made a lot of money from it. We all stink if we don’t shower, right?

BUT, if you forced me to pick, I’d probably say Julia Roberts because I love her smile and Pretty Woman is one of the first movies I remember loving when I was little (I’d ask my mom what she was thinking but I’m pretty sure I watched it at a cousin’s house on repeat).

11 – Do you think you have lived your life to the fullest?

Ha! I think if I crammed one more iota of anything into this life, it would burst open completely. I’ve always been a bit of an old soul so to have my junk predominantly together in my early thirties and be entering coast mode? Yeah, I can honestly say I feel like my life is pretty dang full and happy right now.

Thanks again to fitness9555 for nominating me for this award and please don’t frown upon me too much for using it as a Q&A session with myself instead of playing by the rules. When the day comes that I know 11 other bloggers, I’ll try to remember to come back and update this post! And thanks for you peeps that took the time to read about my weird olive/dew/book obsessions.

Until next time,

Jess