A Liebster Award and Creating Contentment.

I have been gifted a Liebster award by Sarah of Creating Contentment. Sarah writes unflinchingly honest posts about the challenges she faces and the ways she manages to find contentment in this crazy, busy, stressful world. I am a little in awe of how she manages to wrangle five kids and still find time to really look after herself. Definitely worth popping over for a read.

The Liebster award is essentially a little bloggy thing that has been going around for a while. Bloggers nominate others that write good blog and pass forward the goodwill and attention that bloggers crave. While I started this to write for myself, I delight in writing for you lot and am thrilled that my readers are constantly growing. I also love being part of this little community. It may not quite be the communities of old but people who are passionate about writing and talking and helping each other is something that should be fostered, IRL or URL.

So the deal is that Sarah has given me ten questions which I shall answer for you now:

1. What are your hobbies?

Umm... blogging... Shite, I think that's it. By the time I work full time, keep Ted in the style to which he has become accustomed, do a spot of study for my Diploma, sling the odd meal out of the kitchen and scoop up hairballs (in lieu of actually getting the vacuum cleaner out); that pretty much sorts out my waking hours. I would like to read, learn to crochet and become addicted to a HBO series but I would need to sleep less.
Technically it falls under blogging but I am developing a real passion for photography and cannot wait until the day I upgrade my point-and-shoot.

2. Do you dance in the car?

Yeah, I'll do a bit of a shoulder-rocking wiggle when the mood takes me.

3. What is your comfort food?

This makes me sound boring as hell but it is dahl. I love a big bowl of mushy, spicy lentils and unlike the 'traditional' comfort foods it has zero guilt factor.

4. What does self care mean to you?

Something I don't do. Erghh. I have actually been thinking about this a lot lately. I do not look after myself at all. I eat well and I go to the gym because keeping the size of my thighs under control is desperately important to me; but in terms of mental health....nuh uh. I don't take time out to do things I enjoy and when I do, I feel guilty because I am not doing the things I need to do. It is a horrible unhealthy cycle and it is making me sick. The last two weeks, after yet more health scares (it seems I pay about as much attention to a wake-up call as I do to my alarm), I have started setting out with my camera and just taking pictures of things and getting an immense amount of peace out of it. Hopefully I can continue. I would desperately love to have Elizabeth Gilbert's budget to Eat, Pray, Love my ass into gear.

5. What are you really good at?

Organising, eating, stressing. Does anybody want to fund me to write that book?

6. What do you do to change a bad mood into a good mood?

Be proactive. Cross off my to-do list and schedule in some things I need/want to do.

7. What does your everyday style look like?

Well, it's large, fluffy and purple with green spots, enormous teeth and... it doesn't exist. I am astylual (new word meaning 'without style'). I have a couple of frocks I throw on when I'm feeling special but the rest of the time I schlepp around in ill-fitting trousers, cheap skivvies (if ever the Wiggles need a new member...) and practical flat shoes. I would like to be stylish, but getting up even 5 minutes earlier to put together an outfit or apply make-up just doesn't make the priority list and I HATE shopping.

8. How do you like your eggs?

Poached, perfectly, using Top Paddocks instructions.

9. Are you a green smoothie drinker?

I drink sludgy brown smoothies (which you can read about here). I am a bit of a health nut, but I also love gluttony and burgers and ice cream and pizza and wine (oh my! It's like Dorothy on a sugar high) so I need something to balance it all out and sludgy brown smoothies are my go-to.

10. Share your favourite blog post that you have written.

I am excessively and daggily (new word) proud of this blog even though I am well-aware that it can be a bit excessive and daggy, so this was a hard question. I think the current winner is Seeking's adventures in Wine-derland because it took me a while to write and wine is such a huge part of my life. It's a funny thing because most people just don't get it, and think that because I swoon when I talk about wine I must be bordering on a drinking problem. The reality is quite the opposite (and it really upsets me when people make comments that allude to alcoholism because I do have significant experience of it in my family) and this post attempts to explain why I get so excited about wine.

So, the Liebster award needs to be passed on.

There is a set a rules which are:
Thank the blogger who gave it to you including a link back to their website.
Answer the ten questions they ask you.
Nominate ten bloggers with less than 500 followers.
Ask those ten bloggers ten questions.
Let those bloggers know that they have been nominated so they can continue the chain.

But bugger that, I don't really like to follow rules so I'm just going to nominate 6 of my favourite blogs who, as far as I can tell haven't got one of these before. Some of these ladies have quite a few followers but never mind, they deserve a few more.

And the nominees are:

Tune into Radio Carly
Every Bit Samantha -Response here
The Girl Has Sparke
Not Quite Enough
Life Outside London
A Splash of Vanilla

No pressure lovely ones if you don't want to play along, but if you do, your questions are:

1. Are you a rule-breaker or a rule-maker?
2. What do you do to relax?
3. What are you absolutely rubbish at?
4. I hate the idea of 'a last meal', but along those lines, what is your ideal birthday dinner?
5. Is there a book from your childhood that triggers a special memory?
6. What do you spend too much time doing?
7. Where do you feel most at peace?
8. What is the film you can watch over and over again and never tire of?
9. What is the one thing you really hope to achieve or do in the next five years?
10. Share your favourite blog post that you have written (stealing this one from Sarah).

If you write a blog and would like to join on in, answer these questions on your blog and let me know so I can link back to you.

If you don't write a blog but want to play along, answer three of these questions in the comments below so I can get to know a bit more about you.