The Liebster Award
So, last week I was nominated for the Blogging Recognition Award and this week the Liebster Award. I’m not saying this has all gone to my head but I’m now recruiting for someone to throw rose petals at my feet as I walk. I’m joking of course, that would be ridiculous. I’ll be using dandelions instead, much cheaper.
First of all, I’d like to thank Tori Carroll for nominating me. She’s recently started her blog xoxotoric.com which deals with all aspects of her life. Her posts so far have been very varied and I particularly liked her most recent one dealing with 10 tips to help you achieve your goal. You can read it here. There’s another one where she went 24 hours digital free which is something I know I’d struggle with. I don’t think I could manage a whole day without seeing everyone’s meals and fake pictures of badly injured animals / babies where I have to type amen to somehow make it all better.
“The Liebster Award, what’s that,” I hear you ask. Well, you might actually be asking for a tub of cabbage flavoured ice cream you weirdo. I’m not with you so I’ve got no idea. The Liebster Award which originated in 2011 is an internet based award, given to bloggers by bloggers. In German, Liebster means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved and other similar niceties. So there you go, you’re now ready to take the Liebster Award exam.
My Favourite Blog
My current favourite blog is Katie Kirby’s Hurrah For Gin. I discovered it whilst standing in Sainsburys saying no to every magazine that my 10 year old wanted to buy. She still thinks that the free gifts make the cover price of £15 a bargain even though they are complete and utter tat. The Hurrah for Gin book was just sitting there so I opened it and had a peek. Fifteen mins and lots of laughing out loud later I bought it. I read it in a couple of days and can’t remember ever laughing so much at a book. It deals with motherhood, pregnancy and the various stages of her growing son. It’s honest, very funny and quite sweary. I love it.
Q&A (Answers to questions asked by Tori)
- If you could only take 1 more trip, where would you go? Fraser Island on the East Coast of Australia. It’s stunning, has tiger sharks, isolated and the 4 days I spent there in 1991 were magical.
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why? This is something I think about a lot and it would be invisibility. I can sneak into places, secretly kill tyrants worldwide and mess with people’s heads by randomly moving stuff around. I’m not quite sure what that means about me!
- What is your favourite travelling memory? My year travelling round Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada aged 20. So many memories, nights with no memories and a year long party.
- Would you rather explore the deep ocean or outer space? Outer space definitely.
- What is your favourite city to travel to? I’ve always had a great time in Las Vegas. It’s so much more than gambling.
- What is your favourite time of year? Spring.
- What is one piece of advice that you want to pass along to whoever is reading this right now? Subscribe to my blog of course. It might just change your life but probably won’t. What, were you expecting wise words about living your life etc?
- Small town or big city? Small town. More personal and interesting people.
- What is your favourite way of getting around (plane, train , car, etc.) while travelling. Car, so you can stop where you want for as long as you want and sing loudly.
- What is an underappreciated travel spot? Mission Beach in Queensland, Australia.
- If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be? Kate Bush, my fave singer of all time. So many questions and we can sing together.
- What do you enjoy most about Blogging? I adore writing and find it liberating. I’m not writing for anyone specifically but enjoy getting my thoughts and feelings out there.
- What is the most extreme thing you have ever done? The Awesome Foursome in Queenstown, New Zealand. Helicopter ride skimming the water and cliffs, bungee jump off Skippers Canyon (biggest in world at the time) and severe white water rafting for three hours where I almost died and have a nice scar by my eye.
- What/Who inspires you to travel this world? The understanding that we only have one life and so let’s live it.
- What is a blog post (from someone else) that you like a lot and why? I love this post from Hurrah For Gin because it’s basically my experience over the last 10 years. I love anything that’s really relatable.
- What do you like; Fiction/Non-Fiction and why? I like them both, non-fiction to escape and fiction for autobiography’s of gangsters and Kate Bush.
- What do you find most challenging about blogging? I really struggled to write posts on a weekly basis until recently when I discovered my secret motivation. If you send me £1000 via PayPal I’ll share my secret with you.
- If you have a book you re-read often, what is it? If not, what’s your favourite book? Sorry to bang on about it again but Hurrah For Gin. Can I just clarify that I’m not related to Katie Kirby and she isn’t paying me for this overly positive review.
- Tell about any life-hack that changed your life or the one you find most fascinating. Drinking water, sleeping well and not eating half your body weight in sugar daily will help you conquer the world.
- What quality in you, you feel, got you Nominated for this Award? Doesn’t everyone find Bananas funny? Well apart from those with a phobia of them.
- Do you have any phobia? If yes, What is it and how do you face it or tackle it? No phobias I can think off. My daughter has one of wind turbines and my mum has one of firemen with their helmets on. I think that’s enough for our family.
- Describe any embarrassing moment of your life and how did you take it? It was a result of drinking too much Malibu and Fanta, not being able to down a glass of beer, being tricked into losing every hand of cards and then having to strip off. There was a camera involved and let’s just say it didn’t end well. I laughed about it (10 years later) so all in all I think I took it pretty well.
10 Random Facts About Me
- My middle name’s Ivor and I hate it. I’m not even Welsh. I was named after Grandpa Izzy, Ian would have been fine!
- I’ve been on TV twice and neither was on Crimewatch.
- I was born with 6 fingers on my left hand.
- I’m allergic to Monster Munch.
- I’ve met my doppleganger and freakily, we were both on crutches at the same time.
- I spend a lot of time talking to myself and it normally ends up in a big argument.
- Before being a children’s entertainer I was a chef, car salesman, recruitment consultant, finance manager and charity travel manager.
- I’m a qualified Gestalt counsellor.
- I’ve had over 100 stitches in various slips and accidents over the years.
- I asked Samantha Fox out on a date when I was 18. She (very nicely) said no.
List of nominees TBC
Questions for nominees
- What’s your favourite memory?
- Why did you start blogging?
- Would you rather be a human or chimpanzee and why?
- What makes you laugh more than anything?
- If you could only listen to one Album / CD for the rest of your life what would it be?
- Who’s the best James Bond and why?
- Give one tip that’s helped you with your blog.
- Pineapple on pizza, delicious or an abomination? I’m firmly in favour of the latter.
- Who is your number one flawed genius: actor, sportsperson etc?
- If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive who would it be and why?
To learn more about the requirements and what to do next click here.
For those of you who have an aversion to clicking, here’s the basics-
- Write a blog post about being nominated. You should include the award badge and start by thanking the person who nominated you. Put a link to their blog and say a little about them and the blog. Remember, your nominees will do the same for you.
- List a blog you love and explain why.
- Answer the 10 questions the person nominating you has left.
- List 10 random facts about yourself. It’s a great way to engage with your followers and gives them a chance to see how odd you are.
- Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award and who have less than 200 followers.
- List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here or simply get them to click on the link above that you didn’t want to. Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
- Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post.
Another big congrats to you!!!
Thanks Robyn.