I got an award!

I received an award today from Teale, at Teales Meals, my first award ever! It totally made my day last night when I saw the email. It is really wonderful to get support from the people who read my blog, and to give support to those who need it!

The rules of the award is that you must choose 7 bloggers to pass the award on to, and must share 7 things about yourself that your readers may not know.

Here’s my 7 things that I’m sure you don’t know about me.


1. I don’t really like chocolate, at any time. About 2 or 3 times a year, I’ll buy myself a candy bar, but other than that, I don’t go crazy over it. Now, my hubby on the other hand is like a girl in a chocolate store. He longs for and craves chocolate like it’s going out of style. LOL, whenever I receive a gift of chocolate (birthday, secretary’s day, Christmas, etc.) I bring it home to Jeff who makes it vanish within 5 minutes, if that. (And it saves me calories!!!)

2. I can’t stand to wear necklaces. They make me feel constricted, and I get a claustrophobic feeling. Then they sometimes pull on the little hairs on your neck (the ones you can’t see) or if you get a little warm and sticky, they kind of bunch up and are hard to turn, etc. When I got married to Jeff, this made the gift giving portion of our marriage a little tougher for him. His first gift to me when we were dating? A necklace. And it’s really pretty. And I’ve worn it once. 3 years ago. Otherwise it’s enjoying the confines of my jewelry box.

3. I am the second of eight kids. I have one older brother, 5 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers, not in that order. I am 13 years older than my youngest sister who just turned 15 years old this month. I have to say, I loved growing up in a big family. We’re all really close, even with the two who live in different states. We always had someone to play with or talk to. I can truly appreciate the gift I got, growing up in a large family. I will always have someone I can depend on, and who will support me and vice versa.

4. (Following Teale here) I met my husband on-line. It was a Catholic website, since we’re both catholic and it’s important to us. I had been on there for about 3 years, and he was on there for 1 month. He lived in my state, over in Eastern Oregon, but I thought he looked cute in his picture, so I introduced myself in March of 2007 and he wrote back, and we carried on like that for 2 months. Then in May, I drove over and met him and we really hit it off. We did the long distance dating thing until September when he moved to my area. And did the actual short-distance dating thing for 2 months until we got engaged in November. We got married on the hottest day of the year in July of 2008. It was 96 degrees. And unbearable temperature, considering how many layers I was wearing. Jeff and the groomsmen (his brothers) have Scotland in their blood, so they wore kilts (air circulation!!!) and we had a bagpiper. It was a truly beautiful day!

5. I don’t drink coffee. I think it tastes yucky, the flavor is such a turn-off for me. It ranks right up there with Brussels Sprouts. They’re both bitter and require something (or in my case, a lot of somethings) to make it tolerable. Nuff said.

6. I love to drive. Through the years, I’ve noticed that a few times a year, I get restless. I need to get out and do something or go somewhere. That’s actually why we went to the beach this last weekend. Anyways, I’ve noticed that in the past, that’s the point where I’d quit my job and find something new. Luckily, I’ve stayed where I’m at for over 4 years which is, for me, a huge deal. Despite not being very happy with my job sometimes, I’ve stayed. Oops, I totally veered away from the original subject. LOL. Anyways, my point is that when I get restless, I take an hour or so long drive. I go up into the hills, or down to the lake, just to go somewhere. When we go to the beach, I love to drive. I’m not sure about this, but it just might be the power and control that’s in my hands at those times.

7. I get carsick easily. There’s a reason Jeff doesn’t drive me around much. It seems, lately, no matter who drives, I get nauseous and uncomfortable. When we are visiting my in-laws, and we go to see my husband’s brother’s family, they always have me drive, so that I don’t get sick. When we went to eastern Washington a month ago to see my cousin and her husband, I got to drive an Audi, because he figured he’d rather have me driving it, than throwing up in it. When I was a kid and we went on road trips, my Mom always made sure to pack “Laura’s bucket”. You know what that was for. At one point, I think it even had my name on it. Crazy part was, if Mom drove, I had no problem. Now, of course, it’s a different story. My Mom’s driving makes me crazy!!!

So there you go! And now, [drumroll please] I present to you the 7 bloggers I am giving to Beautiful Blogger Award to.

1 & 2. Jennifer and Teresa at Weight Loss Journey~ Our Medifast blog. While doing Medifast, they both focus strongly on health. I’ve been following their blog for quite some time now, and really enjoy reading about their journey and their struggles and successes.

3. Lyn at Escape from Obesity who has really struggled on her amazing journey, but is succeeding and winning! Lyn writes fantastic blogs about her struggles, and I always make a point to check out her blog every day so I don’t miss anything.

4. Overcoming Obesity at 365 days with the 330 pound woman. She has been a real inspiration. I started at 315 and am down to 283 in about 8-ish months. And she started at 330 and is down to 277 in just 6 months! What a fantastic job! If I buckled down, maybe I could do this. :)

5. Mrs. Fata$$ at Did I just eat that out loud. I get a real kick out of her blog. She literally writes whatever comes out of her mouth, whether the natural world would think it’s too much information or not. Reading about her struggles and day to day life is a real kick in the pants.

6. John at Taking it off for life is a new blog I recently came across. John’s doing a good job with his weight loss, and even though he struggles, he gets back up and keeps on going. I admire those who can do that!

7. Ericka at Thunder Thigh Bride. Ericka blogs about daily life, weight loss and planning her wedding all in one! What a multi-tasker!

Even though this is only 7 people, I read probably 30 blogs daily and would choose everyone if I could. It takes great strength and courage to share the most personal aspects of your life with people you do not know. Those who are struggling with weight loss are an amazing inspiration to me.