The Sunshine Blogger Award

Being the total newbie writer that I am now, you can imagine how incredibly touched, surprised and oh-so flattered I was when I had discovered that a wonderful friend of mine on Twitter, @StephGearyUK, had included me in her nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Since then, there have been many more amazing and talented people out there who have nominated me for the award as well, and I'm so humbled to participate in this!

"The Sunshine Blogger Award"

I've been seeing this award floating around on social media, more specifically Twitter, for a couple of months now but being new to the blogging world and its community, I hadn't ever imagined that someone would feel I was good enough to be nominated for it! It was a touching moment for me, especially as the nominations continued to surprisingly roll in, to the point where I couldn't keep track any longer!

I'd like to acknowledge and give a gigantic thank you to Stephanie, who is a very kind-hearted, talented writer who deserves all the recognition in the world. You can check out her blog by clicking here. I've been more than a little behind on writing this post since she nominated me ages ago, but I wanted it to be done right, with just as much love and care put into it as I would put into any of my other articles!

The rules of The Sunshine Award are as follows:

1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or in your blog

THE QUESTIONS I HAVE BEEN ASKED:

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1. WHEN DID YOUR INTEREST IN WRITING AND BLOGGING START? 

I've been interested in writing for the last several years. It's always something that has fascinated me and I've been dying to write stories since I was a little girl, before I could even read. But it wasn't until around last year that I discovered the blogging community on social media, and that was what really pulled me in and had me taking the idea of creating a blog for myself more seriously. 

2. NAME THE ONE PERSON YOU CAN RELY ON MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

Without a shadow of a doubt, that would be my wonderful mother. We've literally been inseparable since the day I was born, she's the best friend I could have ever asked for and I'm so thankful to have her in my life. I've always been able to talk to her about anything and everything, the bond that we have is very important to me. 

3. WHAT COUNTRY WERE YOU BORN IN?

I was born and raised in the United States of America! Though I'll admit, there has always been a part of me that's wanted to live in Canada, it just seems like such a beautiful place! But, that of course, doesn't take anything away from my Country, which I appreciate very much!

4. WHERE DID YOU SHARE YOUR FIRST KISS? 

The answer to this question is terribly uninteresting, I had my first kiss at my house, it wasn't all that great, and there literally isn't anything more I could say than that. It's the utterly boring truth. 😂

5. WHAT WAS THE FIRST EVER FILM YOU WATCHED AT THE CINEMA? 

Being the mid-nineties kid that I am, I absolutely adored Nickelodeon television shows, and I'm almost positive that the first movie I ever saw in the theater was "Doug's First Movie" which I would go onto watch over a million times on, VHS! According to my mother, we got about halfway through before I started to misbehave in the theater and we had to leave early...I'm really sorry about that, mom! 

6. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ALBUM THAT YOU PURCHASED?

During my pre-teen years, I was the biggest Jonas Brothers fan, though, who wasn't? So, if my memory serves me correct, I believe it was "The Jonas Brothers" their self-titled album, which their second album they had released, and was something I treasured during my pre-teen years. You wouldn't even believe how many times I played that over, and over, on my little CD player...I'm surprised it never broke.

7. WHAT TYPE OF FILM GENRE DO YOU PREFER? 

I've always been very honest about my love of television, so, I will say that I that I much prefer that to movies, so it's a little hard for me to figure out what my favorite genre would be. But I do love Marvel movies,  especially when Spider-Man is involved in them, so I think I'd have to say Fantasy!


8. AS A CHILD, WHO WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND? 

Growing up my best friend was the step-daughter of my Godfather, her name was Brittany and we spent a lot of time together as kids. Lots of sleepovers, birthday parties, and any time our dad's got together we would typically play around outside in our backyards.

9. DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL? GHOSTS, ETC. 

While I've never experienced something supernatural, I do believe there are probably ghosts in this world. But I try not to think about it all that much because quite frankly, the idea kind of scares me. I'm definitely not someone who would go out looking for evidence of such a thing, I don't want any spirits trying to haunt me! 😅

10. IN 10 YEARS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LIFE TO BE LIKE? 

As of right now, I'd love to be working as a freelance writer and full-time blogger, in addition to those goals, I would be totally disappointed in myself if I didn't have some sort of book published around that time. I know that's a lot to ask of myself, but I think ten years gives me plenty of time to give it all my very best shot. As you could probably tell, I dream of writing professionally on the daily.   

11. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR?

I'm a big fan of Karen Kingsbury, and I enjoyed her novel "Unlocked" (The story of a high schooler bullied because of his autism) so much, that I read the whole thing cover to cover in roughly a day in a half. It's an incredible read and I highly recommend it to everyone. It takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, but it's just fantastic!

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THE ELEVEN QUESTIONS I HAVE FOR YOU:

1. What is your favorite television show of all time? 

2. What was your first word? 

3. Are you a dog person or a cat person?

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

5. What is your middle name? 

6. What word do you find yourself using the most?

7. Do you prefer PC or Mac?

8. What is your favorite genre of music? 

9. If you got a new pet what would you name it? 

10. Are you a night owl or an early bird? 

11. What's one thing that gives you the creeps? 

I NOMINATE THESE AMAZINGLY TALENTED BLOGGERS:

1. Amanda: @happyarkansan 
2. Liz @2020balance
3. Travis @TravisBrainBlog 
4. Vicky @nepleutpas 
5. Bexa @hellobexa 
6. Jennifer @Elegant_Living_ 
7. Elysia @BecomingElysia 
8. Kiara @KiaraRoseWade1
9. Stephanie  @steph_vivienne 
10. Lily @LilySegui 
11. Jasmine @DoWhatYouLoveMa 


If any of you wonderful people have already been tagged by another blogger, feel free to send me the link to your sunshine award article on social media! I would love to read it.  

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I feel honored to have participated in the Sunshine Blogger Award, as it's a totally amazing way to show support for our fellow bloggers and give those who are working hard to grow their audiences more recognition. It's so nice to be apart of a community that contains such warm, loving, and supportive people!

As always, I thank you all for reading, now, go and enjoy the rest of your week!

30 Facts About Me | WTWTG

Running this blog has become such an important part of my life this year, and therefore, so have all of you, the wonderful people who are thankfully reading. But, there are still some things you don't know about the gal behind the blog. So, I thought today would be a great opportunity to provide a list with more than a few interesting facts about myself, that could help you get to know me just a little bit better than before!

"When I was younger I wanted to be a professional..."

Each morning I'm woken up by the bright and hopeful sunshine of a brand new day that my loving God himself has given to me. At the very moment I open my eyes, I feel compelled to jump out of bed and grab ahold of my faithful laptop. I'm eager to start my day but even more eager to sit down with a cup of hot chocolate while I begin to work on the latest article for my blog.

My life has been like this for almost three months now. The idea of writing and creating something new to share with my small, but mighty group of followers is literally what gets me out of bed every morning. Yet for some reason, it's only just now occurred to me that things have changed within that period of time. I'm happy to say we have more people reading, people that I've never taken the time to properly introduce myself to.

And with that thought finally dawning on me, I thought it would be an appropriate time to whip out a short list of (possibly) interesting facts that no matter how small, have come together in a way that has formed the person and writer, that you see today. I hope you will enjoy!

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NOW, LET'S GET INTO THESE FACTS!

1. I'm a proud dog mom and most of the time put the needs of my little girl Posey before my own. 

2. I have the learning disability of dyslexia, which made learning to read and write immensely difficult. 

3. When I was around the age of ten or eleven I dislocated a bone in my wrist from jumping off a trampoline.

4. My mother homeschooled me and my older brother Ryan from kindergarten all the way to graduation.

5. Writing is my greatest passion in life and I pray that one day I will be able to make a career out of it.

6. I'm crazy about television and watch several different shows throughout the fall and winter each night.

7. I haven't had a sip of alcohol in my whole entire life and I can't ever see myself having the desire to.

8. I love rap music and listen to artists such as Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, and Hoodie Allen on the daily.

9. When I was younger I wanted to be a professional wrestler. (Seriously, I'm not joking in the slightest)

10. I ran my own YouTube channel to help support myself financially through most of my teenage years.

11. I'm a little on the shorter side at 5'3...Reaching items on high shelves is not my strong suit. 

12. One of my favorite places to eat is Steak n' Shake and it crushes me that we don't have it in our town.

13. I love hot chocolate and simply cannot get enough of it during the winter season.

14. My favorite sport is hockey, but we're currently on hiatus after my team traded my favorite player. 

15. One of my favorite things to do with my family is watching The Office together.

16. I am a proud Christian and believe in God with all of my heart and soul.

17. My favorite thing to eat is shrimp, I think I could have that every day and never get tired of it.

18. I have one sibling, my brother Ryan, who is nine years older than me...I tease him about that relentlessly.

19. I'm obsessed with the game Five Nights At Freddy's but I can't play it because it makes me jittery.

20. If I weren't pursuing a career in writing, I would want to be a professional photographer.

21. My favorite book series to this day is Diary of a Wimpy Kid...Read them, they're actually hilarious.

22. Spider-Man Homecoming was the best movie I'd ever seen in my entire life.

23. I have the absolute biggest crush on Tom Holland and talk about him constantly...It's a little sad.

24. I got my ears pierced for the first time on my 21st birthday, just last year.

25. I use the word "dope" to describe my excitement in almost everything...It's my favorite thing to say.

26. I had my first kiss when I was around eighteen and I ain't mad about it because I don't like rushing things. 

27.  I've never dyed my hair because I actually really like my natural color.

28.  My mother has been my best friend since I was a little girl and I love her with all my heart. 

29. Team Edge and Dan and Phil are my favorite channels to watch on YouTube.

30. I love thrift shopping and finding good deals on clothes, so much that I rarely by an item at its full-price.

I hope that you were able to learn a little somethin' about yours truly, that you may not have known before! I am super thankful to have this platform where I am able to share a small part of my life with you while getting to know some amazing new people in the process! This is something I love so dearly and my blogging experience has been a blast, so far. I can't wait to continue on and get to know all of you, even better along the way!