I would first like to thank Howtobejames for the gracious nomination. I do not even know what I am doing, but thank you for seeing the potential.

If you are a novice like me and have never heard of the prestigious Liebster Award, here is a brief overview. The award is given to bloggers, by their blogging peers, in hopes to gain more recognition. Nominated blogs typically have less than 200 followers and have a simple task once accepted. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to simply follow the rules below and pay it forward.

I have scoured the blogsphere and read several different iterations of the “Official Liebster Rules”. Rather then botch my first go at it, I will simply repost the rules from Howtobejames (thanks again!)

The official rules of the award are as follows:

1. Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you and display the award logo.

2. Answer 11 questions that the blogger gives you.

3. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you think are deserving of the award.

4. Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer.

5. Let the bloggers know of their nomination!

Here are the questions from HowtobeJames:

1. Is a hotdog a sandwich? Why or why not? Way to come out swinging! I will call a hot dog a sandwich. Why? it’s between bread, end of discussion. You know what, I will even call a taco a sandwich. Come at me!
2. What is your idea of perfect happiness? Being surrounded by puppies, pigs, and goats. Never wearing pants. Eating ice cream all the time without any negative consequences.
3. Which living person do you most admire? My mom. Second place: Michelle Obama. Third place: Gloria Jean Watkins aka Bell Hooks.
4. Why did you start your blog? My safe place used to be inside my own head, now even that’s becoming questionable. I started a blog because I have spent so much time by myself, not believing all the good things people say about me and not believing I have something worthwhile to share with other people. I cannot say I fully believe it now, but it is worth giving it a shot.
5. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your 13 year old self? I would tell my 13 year old self to stay strong and don’t change for anyone. All that time you spent in private school with the same group of people is about to change and you will find that kids your age and older are really mean. Keep up the good work when they call you a nerd/geek/loser/weirdo or try to push you around. Do not try to dumb yourself down or hide further and further away in the shadows. Tell mom and dad sooner that you don’t feel like they listen to you, it’s a tough conversation, but they will listen. When you meet that lady from Columbia University at 18 years old and she tells you to become a Nurse Practitioner, listen to her! It’s a pretty sweet career choice. Lastly, clean your room more, it’s a GD mess.
6. How do you handle setbacks? By crying in the dark, making a list, and trying again or keep it pushing.
7. What’s your favourite memory? My favorite memory is a family trip we took to Puerto Rico to visit my mother’s family. It was the last trip I took with my grandparents.
8. What did you want to be when you grew up? Of sound mind and body.
9. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you’d buy? Some of my freedom aka pay off my student loans.
10. What’s your favourite flavour of potato chips? I really like those Loaded Baked Potato Pringles.
11. Was the dress blue and black or white and gold? It was definitely blue and black. I am kind of mad I never was able to see the alleged white and gold
    

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    Here are more nominees:

• Luminous Life Links
• Love is Stronger
• Recognize N’ Decolonize
• Laketra BFF
• That Deaf girl…

Here are my questions for my fellow nominees:

1. What are your favorite songs from your teenage years that you still rock out to?
2. Have you ever been lost? What happened?
3. What’s the craziest thing on your bucket list?
4. What are two truths and a lie about you?
5. What show on Netflix did you binge watch embarrassingly fast?
6. What is your favorite smell and why?
7. If you could turn the ocean into a liquid other than water, which one would you pick?
8. When was the last time you got the giggles at an inappropriate time?
9. Who would play you in your biopic?
10. Where would you most like to live?
11. What are some of your biggest accomplishments?

Happy blogging!