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I am quite shocked that my blog seems to be getting nominated quite heavily this year alone. The duo over at Comparative Geeks were kind enough to list me as one of their choices to give this award to. You might be wondering why the title of my post has the “one year later” part tacked on. Well, it’s because I was already nominated for this award back when my blog was new and fledgling.

The purpose of the award is to give it to someone who has less than 200 followers. If you look at my follower count on my blog page, I’m beyond the 200 followers mark. I also noticed the rules and the award image has changed since the time I was given this honor. Regardless, I am very grateful to be nominated and I’m addressing the nomination.

Liebster Blog Award Rules:

1. List 11 facts about yourself
2. Nominate 11 bloggers for the award
3. Let them know about the nomination
4. Answer the 11 questions asked when nominated
5. Ask 11 questions for the new award winners to answer

Back then, the rules required to list “5 facts about yourself.” I see the number has since been increased to 11. Honestly, I’m a little intimidated by listing 11 facts about me. I mean, if any of you have been curious about little old me, you can easily read about me in the About The Girl page or in any of the Award posts I’ve done in the past. Either way, I’ll be addressing each part of this award in my own way.

I’ll combine a number of what I have already said about myself in past Award posts and toss in some new information to keep things fresh. Let’s face it, I doubt any of you would remember stuff I have said about myself, right? And if you do, well, I might think you’re creepy and a stalker. Awkward. Without further ado, here are 11 facts you may or may not know about me:

1. I have an over excessive love of flowers. It can actually be traced back to when I was a cute and chubby little girl who always took the phrase, “Stop and smell the roses” a little too literally. I really did stop and smelled every flower I saw. I’m very easily distracted by flowers even as a grown lady.
2. I have a small birthmark on my right hand that sort of looks like the three toes of a chicken’s foot.
3. I am a romantic at heart, but I wouldn’t call myself a hopeless one. I guess you can say I’m a “practical romantic” if there is such a thing. I certainly don’t have my head in the clouds when it comes to love, but I do believe in finding that one person you instantly connect with and gradually falling in love as you get to know more about the person.
4. I used to write Sailor Moon fanfiction back when it was really popular and when I was still in high school. I became a part of a warm and supportive community of Sailor Moon fans and writers who became good online friends. To this day, I keep up with these online friends I’ve made through Facebook.
5. I used to be painfully shy and quiet as a kid. I’ve gotten over it as I got older, but there are times when I may be a little shy or quiet in a large group. At the very least, I make more of an effort to start a conversation with new people now than I did when I was much younger. I used to wait on others to come and talk to me.
6. I wish I knew how to speak multiple languages. My top languages I would love to be fluent in are French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese.
7. I love traveling and I’ve gotten that love of traveling through my mom. We are each other’s travel companion. Thanks to her, I want to see as much of the world as possible. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to Italy or California. What matters is if it’s a place I haven’t been to before (or a place I’m visiting again), I love the adventure of being somewhere different. I think some of the best stories come out of traveling.
8. I’m not the most graceful person in the world. I trip on the hidden crack in the sidewalk or accidentally ram my hand against the wall. I’m a piece of work sometimes.
9. I love taking photos, but I rarely like photos taken of me. The only time I’ll be in a photo is when I’m traveling or it’s a special occasion. I don’t consider myself very photogenic.
10. I had a stuffed bear as a baby which I mistook as a puppy. As a little girl, I kept calling it a puppy. I was a strange kid.
11. I always wear my hair up and away from my face. I never like wearing my hair down when I go out, mainly because my hair type is very fussy to leave loose. The only time I will leave it down is when I go to a salon and have a professional style my hair. Even those visits are pretty rare.

Questions Asked By The Blogger Who Nominated Me:

1. If you could live in one fictional universe, which would it be and why?

A: This is a tough question to answer. There’s a lot of fictional places I would love to live in if given the chance. I think I would choose the world of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. The world of Hogwarts is such an exciting place to be and it’s a place where you can practice magic. You’d be learning from the best wizards in the world! How can I let an opportunity like that go? It’d also be pretty cool to go wand shopping at Ollivanders Wand Shop and see what type of wand would choose me.

2. What movie do you wish more people would see?

A: Probably the movie Labyrinth. A lot of my friends have seen The Neverending Story or The Dark Crystal, but never Labyrinth. The movie has always been underrated and not as widely watched when I talk about it with people I know. To me, it’s a captivating fantasy film with great music. And it has David Bowie and a young Jennifer Connelly with Jim Henson’s own creations! How can you go wrong with that?

3. What book do you wish more people would read?

A: Howl’s Moving Castle. Fans of Hayao Miyazaki would know of the film with the same name, but not many seem to know it’s based on a children’s book by Dianna Wynn Jones. I think the book delves deeper into who these characters are than the film does. I also like the banter between Sophie and Howl more in the book than the film. A lot of that great chemistry between those two characters got lost in the animated film I think.

4. What is a book, movie, TV show, comic, etc from your childhood that has stuck with you?

A: The very first Power Rangers. I think a lot of kids have loved and wanted to be a Power Ranger at some point in their lives, at least if you were a child who grew up in the ’90s. If I went back and watched the series now, I have no doubt in my mind that it’ll look cheesy and awful with bad acting. Still, it was fun. Playing Power Rangers during recess at school was the most fun I’ve had as a kid and it’s a good memory I think about from time to time.

5. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three books would you want to have? Also, you already have the complete works of Shakespeare and the religious text of your choice.

A: My three are The Great Gatsby, Harry Potter, and A Room With A View. Gatsby is a great American classic with one of the best characters ever written and themes that make you think long after you finish the book. Harry Potter because I want a long book series that will allow me to escape into another world that’s rich and complex at the same time. A Room With a View has beautiful descriptions of Italy and a great portrayal of romance and raising this idea of doing what’s expected vs. following your heart.

6. What are you most anticipating right now?

A: Going on vacation to Europe this month and attending New York Comic Con and a friend’s wedding in October.

7. Why did you start blogging? And what keeps you going?

I started blogging because I loved to write and I needed to find a way to do it more. I also liked talking about the hobbies and interests I’m really into, and I was curious to see if I can start that conversation with other people who felt the same way. The blog was born this way. What keeps me going is the great community of bloggers I have met along the way and the people who come by my blog to read what I have to say. It’s especially flattering to know people sometimes share some of my articles on other websites. It makes maintaining a blog worth it.

8. If you could have one technology exist now that doesn’t, what would it be and why?

A: A device where we can teleport any where in the world. It’d be faster than traveling by plane or car. All you have to do is step into the teleportation device, set it to the place you want to go, and voila! You are now in the country or state you wish to be in. You can also be at a friend’s place within seconds.

9. If you could vacation anywhere (anywhere), where would it be?

A: Hawaii. It’s a place I have wanted to go to since I was little and I still haven’t been there yet, despite the amount of traveling I’ve done already. Someday I’ll be there.

10. Do you have any pets, and if so, what are they and what are they called? If you don’t, what would you want and what would you name it?

A: I don’t have a pet, but I would want a kitten I think. I would want a gray one called Mittens.

11. What’s your favorite album? Or favorite band. Or both.

A: I like all types of music, so I don’t necessarily have one particular favorite. To answer the question, an album I have been listening to a lot lately is The Great Gatsby soundtrack from the movie recently done by Baz Lurhmann.

The next part of this award asks me to nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 questions to answer. I’m going to cheat and take a lazy approach to this and not really nominate 11 people. What I will do is point you in the direction of checking out my blogroll in the sidebar on the right hand side of my blog. A lot of these blogs I follow already have more than 200 followers. Regardless, all the ones I follow deserve to be visited and followed by you if you like my own content. You won’t be disappointed if you do. Just scroll all the way down and click away!

Thanks again to Comparative Geeks for the nomination and thank you, dear readers, for being amazing people as always.