Part of the Liebster nomination is answering a set of questions asked by Joy. Without further ado, here they are.
1.) Knowing what you know, what advice would you give your 13 year old self?
It gets better! You will not be here forever. You won't always have braces and frizzy hair. You will not care what those girls think of you. And you will score yourself the cute (and kind) guy in 5 years. :)
2.) What is your idea of perfect bliss?
Hmm, I have a lot of ideas. Laying on the beach with my feet buried in the sand. Floating on my back in the lake. Getting in bed at night and knowing I don't have to get up for anything the next day. Drinking chardonnay and eating chocolate and curling up with a good book.
3.) What books have been the most influential/inspiring to you?
Alan Watts- The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
Howard Zinn- A People's History of the United States
Toni Weschler- Taking Charge of Your Fertility
Beth Terry- Plastic Free
4.) What's the biggest lesson you've learned about life? About blogging?
Things always change!! Nothing stays the same. The world can be a beautiful place if you let yourself see it that way.
Blogging is probably not going to by my career. I can't make money advertising on a blog that is anti-consumerist. I blog simply for the need to write and ship my ideas into the world.
5.) What single quality do you appreciate most in people?
Forgiveness. We all make mistakes.
6.) What or who is underrated? What or who is overrated?
Underrated-
the Library, aka my favorite place. Come on, it's a place you go and take a whole bunch of books and leave without paying for them. And then bring them back for new ones. Did I mention it's free??
Nurses- in my experience nurses run the show. I think they are under appreciated. I have had so many excellent nurses take care of me.
Teachers- had to throw this one in there.
Overrated-
Facebook, Twitter, variations there of.
I'll throw smart phones in there too.
Sometimes I just want to be alone, and not have anyone be able to contact me. (Have I mentioned I'm an introvert?)
Reality TV. Dancing with the Stars and variations there of. I really don't understand the interest in celebrities lives. They are just people who pretend to be other people for a living.
7.) What do you avoid at all costs?
Places like Chuck E Cheese. Long Lines, screaming children...
8.) What's your guiltiest pleasure?
Long, hot baths. I know it's a waste of water, but boy does it ever feel good. When I am sick or have had a long stressful day I love to get into a nice hot bubble bath with a glass of wine and a good book. (Not while pregnant, of course).
9.) What do people say about you after the leave the room?
"Hello, she needs a filter. I really didn't need to hear about her bowel disorder!"
Hopefully that I am a nice, interesting, intelligent person who contributes to society...
10.) What's your favorite post that you have written?
Probably something about babies Low Waste Baby
I've got a lot of posts in my head that I haven't had the guts to publish that I like better though.
To conclude this Liebster nomination, we are supposed to nominate lesser known bloggers and add our own set of questions for them. I think most of the blogs I read are written by bloggers more popular than me, so I will just give a couple links of my favorite blogs that you may (or may not) already be reading.
Live to List
My Journey to Ithaca
Living Simply Free
Here are my questions for them:
1.) What's your favorite thing to make for dinner?
2.) What was your childhood dream career?
3.)What are the top 3 places you would like to see/ travel too (if money were no object)?
4.) What is your favorite fiction book? Non-fiction book?
5.) What inspired you to start a blog?
Katie, I LOVED reading your answers--nice getting to know you better through your blog. Thank you very much for your quick yet thorough response! I agree with so much of what you said--especially your ideas of perfect bliss! And thank you for the lovely intro--you're too sweet.
ReplyDeleteI hope all is going well in your pregnancy.
Best,
Joy
Joy-
DeleteI enjoyed reading yours too! It always interesting to get another perspective on a person. Thanks for the well wishes!!
Hi Katie, I loved reading your answers and finding out more about you! I like your advice to your 13 year old self and glad you finally got your good guy!
ReplyDeleteTammy-
DeleteHi! I hope to eventually read the answers on your blog too.. your blog is one of my favorites. I am very glad I am not 13 anymore!!
Katie
I wasn't sure if I should post here, so I thought I would! Thanks for the nomination - I've been doing this since Dec 12, and things slowly grow!
ReplyDelete1.) What's your favorite thing to make for dinner?
I do like to eat mac and cheese, though the BF usually makes it for me now as a pick me up! I like to make cheese souffle, weirdly it's a 'scratch' dinner for me?
2.) What was your childhood dream career?
Pilot or diplomat! I gave up pilot at about 16, and somehow muddle into being an engineer
3.)What are the top 3 places you would like to see/ travel too (if money were no object)?
Money is no object! If I want to go somewhere, I'll pinch pennies to get there. Top 3? I want to go back to the US for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, but I don't want that to count. Ok, I've like to go to St Petersburg, Croatia and Romania. And I'd love to do it first class (that's the money object part! It's likely to be economy!)
4.) What is your favorite fiction book? Non-fiction book?
Favourite fiction book... 'Each Peach Pear Plum' - it's a children's book with rhymes and mother hubburd and all sorts! I also like all of Paulina Simons and Josten Gaarder (Spelling!?)
And non-fiction, probably 'Honeymoon with my brother' which outlines a guy's decision to travel with his brother after being left at the alter. He stopped using travel guides, and now I have too!
5.) What inspired you to start a blog?
An Exacting Life - she wrote interesting posts on 'nothing' really, no real theme, but always so readable, and I kept commenting that I could write a whole post, rather than a comment. So with NYE looming, I started my blog!
Sarah!
DeleteThat is so interesting that you wanted to be a pilot or a diplomat. I can imagine your "pretend play" was really interesting!
I love mac and cheese. I confess to not making it homemade much ...
I will have to check out your favorite books- I have to admit the dinner and the book questions were slightly self serving, as I am always looking for dinner and book ideas :)
Good luck with your travels! I am no stranger to budget travel- sometimes I think it would be nice to go all out, but sometimes working with a tight budget can be a fun challenge.
And, thank you for feeling inspired to write! I love reading your blog !
Katie
Hi, Katie! I've finally made my way here... (It's been a busy week. Fun, but busy).
ReplyDeleteFirst, thank you for the nomination! I will answer my questions here, as well, because questions are always fun.
I loved the question you answered, about your 13 year old self. I would get in my 13 year old self's face and scream, "You ARE worth something, darnit! But your sense of inadequacy is going to lead you to do something really moronic in a year. STAY AWAY FROM THAT 'FRIEND' YOU ARE GOING TO MEET!" (Do a search for New Year's Eve, on my blog).
Anyway, I digress...
1. Favorite dinner?
Right now I am loving the taco recipe that Courtney had on Be More With Less. But I season grassfed beef or chicken, and use gluten-free flour tortillas. I could eat these everyday! (And sometimes I do).
2. Childhood dream career?
A writer! I made up these characters called the "Mystery Girls." They were a group of friends who were detectives, and I wrote stories about them, and published them on my Commodore 64 and gave them to my friends.
3. Top 3 places I'd visit?
This is a tough one, because there are so many places! The first would be anywhere on the open sea. Out where you are between continents and can see no land. After that, I've always wanted to visit New Zeeland, and Japan. (I intend to sail to all of these, btw).
4. Favorite fiction and non-fiction book?
This is cliched, but I LOVED the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss is so much like me--a slightly chaotic heroine, who just finds herself in these positions that lead her to great things. But greatness is never her intent, she just does what she has to do. As far as non-fiction, there are a few, but Linchpin by Seth Godin was a major catalyst in my life, when I read it last winter.
5. What inspired me to start a blog?
I took a creative writing class in college, and I hadn't really written in a long time, at that point. But we kept a journal, and I had fun writing about all our adventures as newlyweds living in a "mobile home resort." My professor told me that I really have a gift for making the mundane details of life interesting, and that I should write a book of essays about our life.
The first blog I read was Frugal Granola, and I started mine two and a half years ago, kind of with that in mind. I went from interesting stories, to minimalism, and now I'm kind of going a more philosophical route. The only sure thing is change, both in life and in blogging.
Bethany,
DeleteAre you a gluten free family? My husband has celiac disease so I am always looking for someone to talk gluten free stuff with.
I love that you wrote stories and gave them to your friends. I used to write a lot of stories when I was a kid too.
I confess the only kind of boat I have been on is a kayak. The ocean is in the category of things I am afraid of, but I could imagine sailing to New Zealand would be quite an experience.
I have read the Hunger Games and loved Katniss as positive strong female role model. We have way to few of those I think. I will have to check out the Seth Godin book.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your answers. I really enjoy your blog and love learning more about you.
Katie