I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts. You may read posts about my cats or just my crazy life in general. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. Maybe we can share war stories, whether it's writing related or just about life in general.

Monday, August 13, 2012

In Reponse to my Blog Awards



I hope it is not a no-no to combine my posts here, but because I’m behind in posting this and my thanks, I will do so this time.  Thank you to Sharla Shults for these awards from her blog sites http://catnipoflife.wordpress.com/ and http://awakenings.wordpress.com/  Please stop by to check out Sharla’s blogs everyone.

What is the Lovely Blog Award?
Rules for the Lovely Blog award are to thank the blogger who nominated you, give seven facts about yourself, post the blog award badge on your site, and nominate 11 noteworthy blogs, notifying them you did so.  Therefore, here goes:

1.  I LOVE cats!!!!  As if you guys didn’t know that already.

2.  I grew up on a cotton farm in south TX.

3.  I’ve lived in five states, so far, counting Alaska in which I spent the five coldest winters of my life.

4.  I HATE, HATE, HATE cold weather!

5.  I’m a free spirit and a night owl, much to my husband’s disgust.

6.  I hate negativity and the word “I can’t” because I persevere in everything I do and I will always find a way, even if it means teaching me something new.  I am not a quitter and being tenacious, I usually figure stuff out, even if it is frustrating at times.

7.  I love peace, quiet and chocolate.

The awards go to:












Just follow the rules above when you’re ready and don’t forget to grab the Lovely Blogger Award button from my blog.


What is the Liebster Blog Award?
The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  Liebster is German for pleasant, valued, and many other synonyms.  The rules for this one state that you answer the 11 questions asked of you by the Blogger who gave you this award.  In my case that would be Sharla Shults.  Thank you Sharla.

I’m then supposed to nominate some blogs for this one and leave my list of questions for the bloggers.  I could name all the ones above because there are so many good writers that you can learn something from everyone’s blog.  However, I want to name different blogs than the ones above.  Of course, there is no way of knowing if all of these have less than 200 followers because you can’t tell on the Word Press blogs, so I’ve done my best.

First, here are my answered questions:

1. Who do you admire most and why?
 This is a hard one because I don’t think there is anyone alive right now that is famous (meaning all of you would know) and that I would admire all that much.  If this pertains to present day, I would probably say Christopher Reeve or Terry Fox and folks like that because they didn’t/don’t let handicaps stand in the way of their dreams.  If we’re talking ancient times, it would have to be King Arthur without a doubt.  He was brave and chivalrous.  (Now, don’t look at me like that.  I happen to believe he was a real person.)  Honestly, we need leaders like this today.

2. What is the best book you have read this year and why would you recommend it to others?
I have read a few books this year, but nothing as splendid as a set of books I read last year.  Those I could wholeheartedly recommend to anyone because they are extremely well written historical novels about Scotland in the 1700’s.  I found the first in this set of books by chance in the local library basement sale.  Being the lover of fantasy that I am, the subject of time travel and historical Scotland attracted me as this kind of thing always fascinates me, so naturally I snatched up this book.  I am talking about the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldan.  These books are full of adventures, battles, some romance, but nothing over-the-top.  I highly recommend them, but I must warn you there are seven in the series and they are each about 1000 pages long.

3. Where do you get your inspiration?
I find inspiration everywhere, just looking out over the gorgeous view from my office window is inspiring.  My house backs up to the desert where many forms of wildlife roam free and carved red rocks and old black lava flows rise up out of the sagebrush and various arid plants growing back there.  Sometimes reading, listening to music, or watching movies can be inspiring as well.  It rather depends what mood I’m in, but I have a great imagination.  It usually isn’t hard to get me off onto something I can write about and expand upon.  Sometimes ideas even come to me through dreams.

4. What is your favorite part of nature?
Oh my, this is a hard one because I think all areas of nature have something great to offer.  I’ve been fortunate to live in places where I’ve had plains, the desert, mountains, and the ocean, all right at my fingertips.  I probably would miss the mountains more than anything, but I like the bare mountains with all their grooves and crevices and rocks, not the tree covered ones.

5. Would you rather be a bumble bee or a butterfly?
I would definitely be a butterfly.  I love to watch them fluttering from flower to flower in their graceful way.  It seems they try to enjoy nature and life as much as they can everyday.  That’s a good lesson to all of us.

6. When did you first begin to write?
This would have to be in school when we had to read books for class and do essays on them.  Because I’m the oldest of a big family, I also would tell stories to my siblings.  I did get away from this for a time, going back to my first love of drawing.  Then I got interested in art class in high school.  I took up oil painting in a big way, but still kept up the sketching I’ve done all my life and still do when I have time.  I went back to writing big time in the 90’s and joined some writing groups, etc.  Things escalated from there.

7. What is your favorite sport?
I’ll have to disappoint everyone here because I’m not into sports and never have been.  This may sound shocking, but I hated PE class, although I did play a bit of tennis in those days.  I didn’t want o waste my time there, but to be in art class, which I considered the only reason I even got up to go to school in the first place.  If hiking in the hills around here can be a sport then I guess that would have to be it.

8. If you had a choice for a pet, would you rather have a gerbil or an iguana?
If I couldn’t have a cat and these are the only choices, it would be a gerbil.  I think I can relate easier to a gerbil running around, frantically, on his wheel as fast as he can.  Sometimes I feel much like that myself, moving at a frenzied pace because there are never enough hours in a day.

9. If you could be reincarnated, who would you like to be?
Well, unbelievably, I have thought about this because I do believe in reincarnation.  However, this is still something to ponder.  Possibly Emily Bronte, Louisa May Alcott, Margaret Mitchell, or perhaps someone like Princess Diana so there would be no worries about money the next time around.  This would definitely take more thought than I have to give it right now.  Don’t get me wrong because I know rich people have their own share of problems and I don’t think we get to choose anyway.  I’m sure we are born into roles where we’ll learn what we need to know in that lifetime.

10. Which would best describe you, a cool cucumber salad, or a hot tamale?
I’m definitely the cool cucumber.  I take everything in stride and very little rattles me, which is something many people can’t understand.  If there is some disaster, I deal with it in a calm, organized way instead of screaming and running around like the sky is falling.

11. What is the best food you ever ate and where?
This is a hard one because I’m not a big eater and when I am hungry everything taste good.  The only thing that comes to mind right now, besides a fresh fruit salad or big dish of ice cream in the summer, is when my husband and I went to Hawaii for the first time and we sat outside for breakfast.  I had grilled catfish, sliced potatoes, and eggs.  There was an orchid on my plate.  That was a wonderful meal sitting there with all the hibiscus and plumeria’s blooming all around us.  A few palm trees waved in a brilliant blue sky, the breeze carrying along the fragrant smell of flowers.  Of course it could have been the ambience too because we had flown in from Alaska in February when it’s gray, snowy and the temperature never rises above 20 degrees.

Sorry for getting long-winded everyone, but that’s the writer in me.  I can never shut up.  I hope I didn’t bore everyone to death.

The award goes to:











Here are your questions:

1.  What is your greatest achievement so far and why?

2.  How do you spend your free time?

3.  What is your favorite season and why?

4.  If you could live anywhere besides where you do now, places today or times back in history, where would it be and why?

5.  To date, what has been your worst disappointment in life?

6.  How did you get interested in writing?

7.  What advice would you give a new writer?

8.  If you could start all over in life, would you change anything?

9. What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?

10.  Are you scared of anything, or do you conquer all your fears and do it anyway?

11.  What are the best five words that would describe you?

Don’t forget to grab the Liebster Award button for your blog.

16 comments:

  1. Sunni, awesome response! That is why you are so deserving of the awards!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sharla,

    Thanks. I try but some of those questions were tough and I get so long winded. I swear. I always talk too much.

    Hopefully that was okay to lump them together. I wasn't planning on that, but decided I better.

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  3. Wooohooo! You go Sunni! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jen,

      Thank you so much for visiting and posting. I'm so behind on everything right now, but catching up slowly.

      Sunni

      Delete
  4. Your oldest cat is a twin for the younger one at our house. He adores humans, is quite persnickety about the way he's touched, and detests other creatures, especially dogs. But he picked us and allows us to continue to serve him. Congratulations on your awards!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for visiting and posting. I hope you have a pic of your cat on your page. I will head over there and look for it.

      Wizard was an absolute angel and I still miss him. I think most black cats are shy and mellow. He sure was.

      I almost adopted a black kitten from the local shelter a year ago. I still want to, but my husband says no. He wants to travel and three are enough. I think I still maight have adopted the cat anyway, if I hadn't ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery.

      I guess that was telling me to leave it alone, so I hope he found a good home.

      Sunni

      Delete
  5. Congratulations on the awards! I found you on the Book Writers group on LinkedIn and I'm your newest follower!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Kitty,

      And thanks for following my blog. I really appreciate you reading and posting.

      Sunni

      Delete
  6. Dear Sunni,

    Congrats on your awards! You really deserve them! - I like your blog as well and I'm following. I really appreciate you nominating me for the "Liebster Blog". In fact I don't have 200 followers yet. *grin*
    Thank you VERY MUCH!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raani,

      Thank you so much. I think you are deserving as well. I like the quirky things you post. Keep up the good work!

      And thank you so much for follwowing, reading and posting.

      Sunni

      Delete
  7. Thanks for the nomination, Sunni. ~ Peggy

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    Replies
    1. Peggy,

      You're welcome and you deserve it. Thanks for being a follower, reading and posting.

      Sunni

      Delete
  8. Congratulations on your awards! It was so fun to learn moer about you. I think it is cool that you lived in Alaska- although for someone who hates the cold it may not have been that fun in the winter. :) Thanks for the nomination.
    ~Jess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess,

      Thank you for following me and reading and posting on what I write.

      Alaska is beautiful, but it is "cool" alright - as in downright chilly most of the time. You're lucky if you see 70 degrees one or two days in the summer. That doesn't set too well with someone who prefers summer over winter, anytime.

      However, I'm glad I had that experience, but I would never live there again - visit in July - maybe.

      Someday, I'll have to post an Alaska story here.

      Sunni

      Delete
  9. Thank you, Sunni! Loved reading your responses, and have written mine here: http://plainjanemadlibby.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-award-and-milestone.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Libby,

      Thank you for reading and posting. Your blog is so down to earth, yet a bit crazy at times. I think that is why I enjoy reading your stories. I like the "not quite ordinary" situation.

      I will certainly go and read your response and leave my comments. You did so much better than me getting that posted so fast. I think I had these awards a month before I finally posted this on here. Shame on me, but there is a lot of crazies that go on in my life sometimes.

      Sunni

      Delete

Thank you for stopping by to read and
comment on my posts. I appreciate it.
Sunni