Liebster Award!

Back in September, Anne from The Second Bedroom nominated me for a Liebster Award! I'm just getting around to posting about it now, but I wanted to thank Anne for the nomination!

So, 11 random facts about myself....

1. My first concert experience was seeing Kitty and Otep when they came to the local music venue in my hometown. If you're not familiar with the hard rock scene, Kitty and Otep are known for being somewhat extreme. Since I was only 16, my mom felt more comfortable accompanying my friends and I to the concert. When Otep came out with a (fake) pig's head on a spear, she turned to me with wide eyes and said she was going to go watch the baseball game with the bartender. She never came to a concert with me again. 

2. I have an extremely wide taste in music. If you look on my Pandora, you'd find songs from Dropkick Murphys, Shakeria, Green Day, Celtic Woman, Eminem, Fun, Tegan and Sara, Maclemore, Broadway tunes (I love the soundtrack from Wicked) The Avett Brothers, and more. If a song has a good beat and lyrics I can sing to, there's a good chance that I'll like it.

3. I went to the same university that my dad is a professor at. During my graduation, he surprised me by being up on stage to be the one who gave me my diploma and a hug....in front of thousands of people.

 

4. I have 7 piercings (two in each lobe, one cartilage, and one industrial) and a Celtic knot tattoo on my foot.

5. Keegan and I were long distance our entire relationship until we moved together to Mississippi. We went to school about an hour and a half from each other, and Keegan did two co-ops, (one in Alabama, one in Memphis,) while we were dating. Since we never spent more than a week together, moving together to a different state was one of the scariest things we've ever done. 5 months after moving we got engaged, and 10 months after that, we were married.

6. During college, I worked at Hot Topic. It was a great job; flexible hours, great music, angsty teens who wanted to shove metal through their faces... But in all honesty, I loved working there. Sometimes I miss the easiness of it all, but then I remember those parents who had to get those band t-shirts for their whiny children on Black Friday.

Yes, we're posing with a cardboard Edward. Those teenage girls (and their mothers,) love them some Edward

7. If I had to shop at one store for the rest of my life, it would be Target. It kills me that the closest one is now an hour away, but my wallet is thankful. 

8. On my university's campus, there is a tiled clover with the word "engineers" below it. Legend is, if you walk across the tiles, you're fated to marry an engineer. I walked across those tiles about a month before I met Keegan, who's a metallurgical engineer. Everyone with me, "aaaaaawwwwwwww"

9. I had Shirley Temple hair when I was young. My mom actually had someone ask if she permed my hair when I was 2. 

10. I still have my comfort item from when I was a baby. He's a little worse for wear than the picture below, and currently resides under my pillows. My dad surprised me with another one for my 21st birthday, so now I have one to give to my future child. 

11. My favorite food is pasta, specifically mac n' cheese and chicken alfredo, and I've been craving both like none other lately. My craving is so bad that I made Keegan promise me that we'll get mac n' cheese from Noodles and Co. when we're in Missouri for Thanksgiving. 

Here are the 11 questions Anne asked:

1. What do you turn to for comfort?
I wish it was something different, but food a lot of the times. There's something special about lunch with a good friend you can confide in, or a romantic dinner with my husband. Perhaps it's not the food that really comforts me, but the people I'm with. Keegan is definitely a big source of comfort, as well as my parents. 
2. Do you have any habits/mannerisms other people consider odd but you couldn't do without?
Yes actually! It's hard to explain, but I do this strange tapping thing with my fingers. I'll go thumb, middle, pointer, fourth finger, middle, pinky, then pinky, fourth, pointer and thumb over and over again. If I'm listening to music, it's in time with the music, but I'll also do it to a tune in my head. I'm one that can't just watch TV or a movie without doing something with my hands, so this tapping sequence keeps my hands occupied. I should probably take up knitting or something more productive. 
3. What is your favorite thing to cook? Or, for non-cooks, to order in?
I am more of the baker in our house, and I love to bake cookies. I found a recipe for chocolate chip cheesecake cookies on Pintrest and they're to die for. I've made them for a lot of get togethers with Keegan's co-workers and they've been a big hit.  
4. It's your day off. No commitments yet. Shockingly, ALL your laundry is clean. What do you wear?
I suppose it depends on what I was going to do that day. If I was just going to laze around the house, probably yoga pants and an old t-shirt. If I was going out to run errands, jeans and a t-shirt. I'm not one to dress up unless I have a special event to go to.
5. You can have one word or phrase stricken from the minds of humanity--they just forget it existed and you NEVER have to hear it again. What is it? "That type of thing..." It's a phrase my co-workers says all.the.time and it drive me up the walls. I've caught myself saying it once or twice and it makes me cringe. 
6. You're a billionaire, hooray! What charity do you make your pet cause?
This is such a hard question. I don't think I could choose just one charity, I'd have to give money to many. I'd give money to a local Humane Society, a woman's shelter, a youth reading program, and any other charities doing good in the community. I'd more than likely keep the money local so that it could affect the community I was residing in. 
7. Do you wear socks to bed?
I do during the winter. My feet and hands get so cold that they'll keep me up at night, and startle Keegan awake if they touch him. During the summer, though, I'm usually ok without. 
8. I've got a gift card for you! You can't spend it on bills. Only frivolous things. Where do you go?
Probably Target or Old Navy. I've found that their clothes fit me best while I'm in those strange in between sizes during my weight loss. Also, they're cute and cheap so I could buy a lot without spending much. Oh, and also Starbucks. Om nom nom. 
9. What one thing that you do on a regular basis do you wish you never had to do again? Honestly? Try to figure out what's for dinner. With this diet, dinners have become hard to plan and it's the biggest pain in the butt to try and figure out what we're eating every night. Every day, for the last two-ish hours of the workday, Keegan and I are texting back and forth trying to figure out what we want to eat. If we had an unlimited budget to eat out, or an in-house chef, that would make life so much easier. Besides that, dishes. I hate doing the dishes. Dishes soaking in the sink make me shudder.
10. If you were an expert in one area, and people came from miles away just to ask your thoughts, what area would that be? I don't think I have the discipline to become and expert in anything. I'd much rather have a little knowledge in many areas than a lot of knowledge in one area. 


I'm being lame and not nominating anyone. I know this award has been circulating for a while now, and I don't feel like trying to figure out who hasn't been nominated. Just know that I love you all, so consider yourselves nominated if you want to answer Anne's questions.