"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."
-- Unknown
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Monday, January 26, 2009

Nothing like a little love to brighten your day

Me again. I know... twice in one day? Lucky you, right?

Lucky you, indeed. I'm back to share some bloggy love.

The hilarious Lacey over at Don't Make Drugs has graced me with two very cool blog awards.

I did some research (aka: read Diane's blog) and found that the Premios Dardo Award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.





If that is, in fact, what this award is for, then I can think of no better recipient than the wonderful Jenners over at Life With a Little One and More, Find Your Next Book Here and I Can Do It...Maybe. Her blog trifecta covers everything from personal goals to literary reviews. The woman is amazing!

Next, Lacey gave me this jewel:


Which means I have to list 10 honest things about myself, then pass the love along:

  1. I love to be barefoot. I know this doesn't help the preconception that Southerners are all a bunch of barefoot hicks, but I can't help it. I don't put on shoes unless I absolutely have to. The shoes are the first thing to go when I walk in the door everyday.
  2. My Christmas tree is still up. I KNOW. It's been a month. I hate the boxing up and packing away process. I'll get to it this week. I promise.
  3. I expect a lot from people. I tend to put a lot of faith in people. I expect them to live up to the image I have of them, and they fall short sometimes. I don't know if I should be disappointed in them, or in myself for putting them on such a high pedestal to begin with.
  4. I love to cook. Don't get confused. Loving something does not automatically mean that you do it often. I live by myself, so it's hard to muster the motivation needed to cook very much. But I really do enjoy it.
  5. I'm addicted to trashy TV. I already talked about this one. So I'll just leave it at that.
  6. I went through a "sailor" phase. Meaning my language was less than desirable. I won't lie here and say that I don't slip up and say some "ugly words" every now and then, but I'm tons better than I used to be. I used to have a couple choice adjectives to describe nearly everything, but I've learned that it's much more fun (and sounds a lot nicer) to stretch my vocabulary and come up with better, more descriptive words to express my disdain for something.
  7. I have a permanent knot in my right shoulder from carrying a way-too-big-for-me purse. You never know when you might need a flashlight. Or an entire bottle of lotion. Or a notebook. Or whatever else is living in my purse right now.
  8. I don't know how to do a cartwheel. It seems like that was some sort of prerequisite for being a girl, but I never learned. I also never mastered the art of painting my own finger nails. There are probably many other "girly" things that I don't know how to do. But if you need someone to change your tire, I'm all over it.
  9. I want to learn Italian. Impractical? Probably. I can't think of any situation where I'd need to be fluent in Italian (unless I decide to go live there one day, which I'm not opposed to.) But it has always seemed like such a pretty language. I think I'm going to buy the Rosetta Stone program and get to learning. Then I'll write an entire post in Italian and make you translate.
  10. I want to run away. Okay, not really. But I've always imagined spontaneously starting over somewhere new. Once, while I was still in college, I requested relocation information from Montana. I have stacks of papers and pamphlets outlining places to live and work, where to eat, etc. I guess I'm ready if I ever decide to go!

I think I'll pass this one along to my cousin Jen. If you've never checked out her blog, you definitely should. She is a sweet, funny, adorable person. I know you'll love her!

5 comments:

Diane said...

I gave you an award to today, too... come get it.

And take your Christmas tree down, for God's sake!

Rachel Cotterill said...

I'm with you on the shoes, the expectations, the love of cooking, and the knotted shoulder. And I will read your Italian post when you write it :)

Lacey said...

I love to be barefoot, too! When I was little my dad called me his little Blackfoot Indian. I always thought that was weird, because we're not Indians... Years later the lightbulb finally flickered on and I figured it out, ha.

You should look at the book called Betty Crocker's Cooking for Two. I love it because the recipes are really easy, really delicious, and perfectly sized for two servings. It's awesome!

And I really, really want to learn German, so I'm with you on the "learn useless language" boat! Rosetta Stone is DEFINITELY the way to go... I'm going to buy it as soon as I finish school! You post in Italian, and I'll respond in German. And then we'll both laugh and laugh and laugh.

Melanie Gillispie said...

A. Diane's so bossy!
B. 3-check. 4-check. 5-check. 6-check (well, I've graduated to diddly-squat, crappy-doodle and things like that) 8-I think the thing you can do is much more useful in the world than doing a cartwheel (last one done about 25 years ago) or painting fingernails. 9-Oh! If we lived closer we could go to Italian class together and laugh in Italian instead of learning. I so want to learn it and then I want to go to Italy and see statues and paintings.

Jenners said...

Wow! I'm really really honored! Thank you so so so much! I don't think I've ever been called amazing before!

Totally loved your Honest Scrap awards post. I CANNOT believe your Christmas tree is still up. Please tell me you don't light it, though.

It cracks me up that you are big bag person. I've never been and I've always mocked friends who did but I must admit, they always had odd items that came in handy. Please tell me you don't carry a full-size flashlight with you though ... just a tiny one right?

I can't really do a cartwheel or paint my fingernails or toenails (not that I often do) so don't feel bad about that one.

You should so learn Italian. Did you ever read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert? In part of the book, she goes to Italy just to learn the language because she fell in love with it. You might enjoy this book if you haven't read it already! Sounds like you have been bitten by the same bug as her!