Bell Bliss: It's just like elementary school

So you know back in elementary school when you had award ceremonies at the end of the year?? I was always that girl who got all the awards (see:girl who answers every question the teacher asks). I was kinda the teachers pet and a complete over-achiever. I was a straight A kind of girl, with straight Ns (non-satisfactory) in conduct because my inability to raise my hand when I had a question. It was like my brain did not process the act of putting your hand up before words could come out of your mouth. As my educational years progressed, I stopped being the know-it-all (cause I was in my "try to be cool" teen years) and continued to be the social butterfly and the one always in trouble in class. Teachers either loved me for my "participation" or hated me for me disruptions. This pretty much even continue throughout my college years. Don't blame me, it is just my brain's natural reaction to shout stuff out. Now that I am going to be a teacher (hopefully one of these days when I can land an actual job), I just know I am going to have all of the "problem children." I am hoping my years of non-satisfactory conduct will help me deal with these misbehaving munchkins.

Anyway, back to this whole awards thing. Senior year of high school, you had to be invited to the end of year awards ceremony. I hadn't gotten many awards since my glorious elementary school days, so I was kind of excited, not knowing what I had done to receive an award. It was a big ordeal where you dressed up, brought your parents, and sat in the auditorium for hours listening to people get awards. About and hour and a half of the ceremony passed and I still hadn't gotten an award. My friends kept saying, "you are probably next!" The administrator stood up at the 2 hour mark and concluded the ceremony. Everyone kept looking and me and my parents were quite confused. No award for me. I don't get embarrassed that easily, but right then and there I felt like I had a huge sign on my forehead that said, "gotcha loser." I didn't need an award, but I was mad I had wasted 2 hours of mine and my parents' lives by sitting through this boring ceremony and not getting squat. After the ceremony, we asked the administrator what was up, and she informed us the one of the people handing out awards wasn't able to make it. Come to find out it was only an award for a generic scholarship that 85% of the people going to my college receive. All this hooplah for nothing. The college ended up sending me some UK gear as a "sorry" for not making it to the ceremony. Does your UK string backpack that I will never be caught dead wearing give me back those two hours of my life or take away that moment of embarrassment? I don't think so.

Now you know my history with awards. That's why I wasn't to sure about how I felt about all these awards going around the blogosphere. Until I got nominated for my first bloggy award, twice in one day! It felt just like elementary school (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration).

Kelsey from Pardon my French nominated me for the squirrely award. Sara from My Way to Fit and Fab nominated me for the Sunshine award. Both of these ladies are great! They always leave thoughtful and encouraging comments on my posts. They have wonderful blogs and it has been great getting to know them. Thanks ladies!

So this squirrely award, I'm not sure exactly what it means. I happen to think squirrels are very interesting animals, so I don't mind being compared to them. For this award, I am supposed to share 7 facts about myself.

{one} Ever since I was about 8, I wanted to be an interior designer. I had a "portfolio" of rooms cut out of magazines. TLC's Trading Spaces was my favorite show. This obsession continued until college, when I chose to major in education instead.

{two} I'm pretty much the biggest Harry Potter fan you will ever meet. I actually hate science fiction, but good ole' Harry has my heart.

My Sister as Luna Lovegood and me as Moaning Myrtle for the last movie premiere

{three) I love cute shoes, but don't own many pairs. I'm very simple and usually wear rainbow flip flops in the spring/summer and riding boots in the fall/winter.

{four} Jake and I talk to our dog like it is our child. Sometimes we even tell each other what we think she would say back or what she is thinking. Jake likes to pretend she has an Italian accent. Where he came up with that idea, the world may never know.

Cutest little puppy (Lexie on the right)

{five} My hair has two looks: straight and straighter. Straight naturally and straighter when I use a flat iron. It doesn't hold curl and I am not good at cute little hairdos like braids and buns. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's just so boring.

Hello ridiculously straight hair

{six} I am the least picky eater in the entire world. I will try anything. I will even eat things I don't technically "like," like olives and capers.

{seven}I consider myself a very organized person. I like everything to have a place and to be clean. I also like to do research and have a plan, like you learned in yesterday's post. The one thing that is never organized, though, is my purse. It drives Jake crazy because I can never find anything in there. I call it organized chaos. That is why you will never see a "what's in my purse" post from me.

For the squirrely award, I nominate Katherine at The Newsom's Nest, because she is sweet as can be and always writes very inspiring posts. I also nominate a new blogger on the block who is very genuine and is so excited about blogging, Rebekah from Rebekah's Ramblings. Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself and then nominate someone else!

For the sunshine award, Sara gave me 10 fun questions to answer:

1. If you choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?

Somedays, I would say 6, when you don't have a care in the world except what is on the menu for lunch at school that day. In all reality, though, I would say 21. It was probably the best year of my life. I got married, moved away for the first time, and still felt young enough to enjoy life without having to deal with much of the real "adult world" stuff.

2. What is your favorite meal?

Hm, this is a hard one. HA jokes, Mexican food of course. I have been know to eat Mexican food 3 times in one week. Not ashamed.

3. If you were immortal for a day, what would you do?

Haven't thought about that before. Ride a bull? Run with the bulls? Cliff jump?

4. If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out (besides the obvious- child or pet)?

I would grab my Macbook. Yes, it is one of the most expensive things I own, but it also holds all of my pictures and important documents. I wouldn't want to lose all of those memories.

5. What did you start blogging?

I started blogging a long time ago as a way to keep family updated on my life, especially once Jake and I got married. I also wasn't good at writing in a journal, so I thought this was a good way to document the good and the bad. I still blog to keep family updated, especially now that we are across the world. I only started sharing my blog with the public blogging community two months ago and have really enjoyed it.

6. What is your favorite indoor or outdoor activity?

Recently, it has been bikram yoga. I fell in love while I had lots of free time over the summer. You can go here for tips and here for bikram essentials. I haven't found a studio in my new home, so I might have to find another activity.

7. What is your favorite season?

I love, love fall. I won't be getting a fall like I am used to this year, but I think it still might be my favorite.

8. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Easy. Night person for sure. I always have been. I feel most productive at night. I always stay up super late doing random things. I can get more done from 10p.m.-11p.m than I do all day. Mornings and I don't get along. I need at least an hour before I conversate with anyone. It doesn't help that Jake is a complete morning person and pops up like a daisy when his alarm does off.

9. If you could travel to one place and money was no issue, where would you go?

This changes all the time, but if I had to chose one place right this second, I would say Croatia. I have always thought it was different and interesting. A girl's blog I follow went a few years back and I was kind of obsessed with her pictures.

10. What is your favorite "go-to" recipe?

Clean eating? What we refer to around here as a "scramble." Usually fresh veggies cooked in a skillet with quinoa and chicken. (Check out my tips for cooking quinoa here)

Not so clean eating? Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, my moms recipe. They are my favorite thing in the whole wide world!

My quinoa chicken "scramble"

For the sunshine award I nominate Amanda from Denim and Daydreams. She has the cutest style and is pretty much the best person to sponsor. I also nominate Meghan from Beautifully Inspired because, well she's living in my favorite place, Lexington, KY, and I love to read her positive and fun blog! Lastly I nominate Nicole from The Shea's. I love reading her posts about her little guy. She is the cutest momma.

Rules:

1. Include the award logo in your post.

2. Link to the person who nominated you.

3.Answer 10 questions about yourself.

4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award.

My 10 Questions for You

1. What would you buy if you could go to the mall and buy any item you wanted?

2. What is your favorite thing about blogging?

3. What one song describes you/your life?

4.What are your nicknames?

5. What is your favorite characteristic of the opposite sex? Can be physical or personality

6. If you could only eat at one restaurant the rest of your life, what would it be?