Liebster Award

Hello, sweet friends! How are you all doing today? How has your week been?

Today’s post is slightly different to normal… I got nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Makayla, so I’ve got a bunch of questions to answer, and some for you too!

Firstly, let me explain the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, include a link to their blog, and add the Liebster Award badge to your blog and/or post.
2. Next answer the eleven questions from the person who nominated you.
3. Give eleven random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 5-11 fellow bloggers with less than 200 followers.
5. Notify your nominees that you nominated them for the Liebster Award.
6. Last, but certainly not least, ask your nominees eleven questions.

How does that sound? Well, let’s get started then!

To begin with, a massive thank you to Makayla from her blog, Yah’s girl. Makayla writes about everything faith, fitness and lifestyle, and her posts are always so fun to read- I really look forward to them popping up on my reader! This is her post about the Liebster Award.

Makayla set me 11 super awesome questions to answer… I hope you enjoy reading my answers!

• What was your first thought when you saw your name on the nominee list?

I was super excited! This is my first blog tag/ award so I am super-duper pumped! (Thank you Makayla!!)

• Did it take the ambulance members long to revive you after you realized you’d have to do this award? *giggles*

It took them a few minutes, and by the time they did, I was ready to jump into answering the questions!

• What’s one of your favorite books of the Bible, and why?

Ooh, a nice, juicy one to get started! I would say I’m more of a New Testament person… having read more of that than the Old and I would probably say my favourite book of it is Philippians- I love the theme of joy that runs through it.

• What’s your favorite genre of music?

A tough question! I listen to a bunch of different music… I love worship music of course, I like (but, note, am not obsessed with) Taylor Swift, and at the moment I’ve been listening to Need To Breathe on repeat, just to mention a few!

• What is something you’re really passionate about?

Ooh… I think it would be fair to say that I’m passionate about people­; vulnerable and overlooked people. I feel almost a little useless because I’m young and still in school at the moment but when I get older I would love to help people in lots of different ways.

• How would other people describe you?

Okay, so I asked my sister for this one because I didn’t know what to say haha. Her exact words were: ‘You’re very down to earth, and very soft hearted- you have a load of emotion piled up in you. You’re also brutally honest (I don’t think I am, but that’s what she says, lol) and you’re friendly. And you’re a good cook. Now give me food.’

• Where do you find hope when you’re feeling hopeless?

Jesus! I know, I know, it’s the standard Sunday School answer, but it really is true too. Whenever I’m tired, discouraged, hurt, lonely, sad, broken, Jesus is there. And He reminds me that these feelings… they’re only temporary. One day I will get to be in His presence for eternity and the pain; the discomfort; the hopelessness of this life will be no more in his glorious presence.

• What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Aw, this is a nice question! I know this sounds silly but I would be lying if I didn’t say I love having curly hair, haha! I was never too happy about all the curls and the frizz, but I’ve grown to like it more as I’ve got older!

• What is your biggest fear?

Hm, I’m not too sure about this one! I would definitely say I’m not a fan of flying insects- stick insects freak me out and moths are just weird!

More seriously through, I think my biggest fear is probably losing people and places- not so much to death because I know that we have this hope that death is not the end, but more friendships ending and relationships weaking with family and stuff.

• What is something you wish you could tell your ten-year-old-self?

Don’t grow up too fast!

For my 10^th birthday, my grandma took me away for the weekend to the beautifully historic city of Bath in south-west England. I felt so grown up that weekend and to this day it remains one of my favourite weekends ever. But the shame is, that weekend doesn’t feel all too long ago… when in fact it was over 6 years ago! I spent so much of my preteens and early teenaged years wishing I could grow up faster, and now I’m older, I wish I hadn’t wished away the past few years!

So yes, if I could go back and tell my ten-year-old-self just one thing it would be to savour every moment- every year- and to not grow up too fast.

• Where do you want to be in five years?

Oh my- what a question! I suppose the sensible answer is that I want to be in college, studying goodness knows what and graduating in a year or two! Really though, I have almost no clue whatsoever as to what my future holds, so for now I’m working on trusting in the One who does!

Next things next… 11 random facts about myself!

1. I have a gorgeous, fluffy puppy called Cooper! He joined our family in June 2020, right in the middle of the first lockdown, and we have been in love with him ever since! He is super cheeky but he’s also adorable and precious!
2. My favourite place in the world is the sandy shores of the beautiful Lake Michigan- I mean what can I say… it’s gorgeous.
3. I’m left handed but I don’t live up the lefty stereotype of smudging your writing when you drag your hand over it because I write at a funny angle. Also, I use scissors and play sport with my right hand.
4. I have played the clarinet for over six years, and I love it. Practicing isn’t always my favourite thing but I love playing in band and doing duets with my sister who plays piano.
5. I love ice cream and fro-yo with a burning passion! Here’s the thing though- I’m kind of meh about like vanilla or chocolate ice cream, more often than not I’ll pass up on those flavours if they’re on the side… like with a brownie or something. Instead, I like more exciting flavours and I love toppings. My all time favourite flavour is Moose Tracks- you can not argue with me on that one!
6. Staying on the topic of food- I adore chocolate chip cookies! Need I say more?
7. I’m a ‘published author’! Well kind of not really sort of anyway haha! When I was like ten I wrote the opening of a short story for a competition and I sent it to my grandad to read, and we ended up making a little project of it! He finished the story for me self-published it as a little e-book.
8. I’m half American and half British- my mom is from Michigan and my dad is from London, so that makes me and my sisters half each! We’ve never lived in America but we do have dual citizenship and passports for both nationalities!
9. I am a morning person! Genuinely, I’m often asleep before ten thirty only so I wake up before seven! I love mornings way more in the summer though… I hate getting out of bed when it’s cold!
10. I love love love to bake and cook! I’m super messy in the kitchen, but I love getting creative with different ingredients and dishes. Last night I cooked a six dish Korean meal to celebrate Lunar New Year and earlier this week I made valentines cupcakes. I also love baking cookies and macarons!
11. My favourite flowers are sunflowers and lavender. Last summer I tried grown sunflowers for the first time and they didn’t really do great- mainly I think because I planted them too late. This year, I’ll plant them right on time and we’ll see what happens!

This has been so fun- I really hoped you enjoyed my answers to Makalya’s questions! Now on to my nominees…

• Grace- Vibrant for Jesus. (Grace, I think you’ve already done the award once recently so no pressure to do it again haha, but sending lots of love and appreciation for you and your blog either way!)
• Haley- My Life of Faith. (I only recently followed along with Haley’s blogging journey but I’ve loved all the posts of hers I’ve read so far so I thought it would be fun to nominate her!)
• Esmeralda- Lattes and Literature. (Esmeralda writes so beautifully and shares her musings, thoughts and book reviews)
• Maya- Maya Joelle. (Maya posts about books and writing, I always love reading her posts!)
• And my final nomination is a bit different because, sweet friend, I nominate YOU!!! I saw this idea on another blog and I thought it was so nice because it gives many more people the opportunity to take part! So, if you have a blog and would like to take part in the tag, then I nominate you! I would love for you to drop you blog link in the comments so below so I can get to know you a little better too!

For my nominees… here are your questions!!!

1. To start us off… how are you doing today?
2. What is your favourite book (besides the Bible, of course)?
3. How did you begin your blogging journey?
4. If you could visit one event in history, what would it be?
5. What’s your favourite season and what do you like about it?
6. Do you play any instruments? If you don’t, what would you play if you could play anything?
7. What is your favourite verse or passage of scripture, and why?
8. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and who would you go with?
9. What motivates you?
10. Do you have a favourite quote or saying?
11. And a classic to finish off… if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three things with you (other than food, water, clothes) what would you take?

There you have it! Sweet friend, thank you thank you thank you if you read all the way down to the end! I don’t say it enough, but I really do appreciate YOU, yes you! Every single one of you- whether this is your first visit to my blog or you’ve been here one hundred times before, you mean the world to me. Just knowing that even one person is reading my musings, my thoughts, my posts, makes my heart leap for joy! I so do hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post, and thank you one more time to my sweet friend Makalya,for so sweetly nominating me!