I Won the Liebster Award!

WOW!  Today is my lucky day!

I had a guy come over from a local lawn care service.  I won a free lawn treatment at a community event a couple weeks ago, and now...

Gossip_Grl presented me with the Liebster Award today!  Thanks Gossip_Grl!

The Liebster Award is for "the best kept secret"  blogs with less then 200 followers. It's a great way to find new blogs and help others get discovered.  I feel honored to be chosen for such a prestigious award!  "The word liebster is German for "dearest"

To accept the award you must do a few things:
1) Thank the person that nominated you on your blog and link back to them.
2) Nominate up to 5 other blogs for the award.
3) Let them know via comment on their blog
4) Post the award on your blog

http://universalgibberish.blogspot.com/

So here are my 5 winners:

The Armchair Squid  A Better Life Through Blogging (movies and more)

Tracy Jo  Brand New Day (she has a GREAT story!)

Jay Paoloni Actor (Full of culture)

Jungle Mum A mum, cat lover, and poet

Stephsgrn Reader of paranormal YA, Stephen King, etc

I've Been Tagged

The Armchair Squid  tagged me with the ten questions below. Now, I must answer, then tag seven more people. Here we go...

1. What is your dream vacation? 
      Kayaking with whales in Alaska or Australia

2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?
     I like to plan ahead but my job calls for spontaneity so...oh  
     well.

3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don't dare do it.
     Go back to school.  I don't know what I would study

4. What's your biggest phobia?
     Roller coasters and bungy jumping (I have a heart condition)

5. If you were stranded on a desert island-what three things would you want with you? (Not including your laptop or family)
    A fishing pole
   A kayak
   Rope

6. Name three blessings in your life.
    My friends/family
    My house
    My dog
 
7. What was your nickname in High School?
     Depending on the haircut, either Joan Jett or Cher (It was the
       80s and I was a rocker)

8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?
    You have handled a bad situation with grace under pressure

9. If you could be any literary character, who would you be?
     Jo from Little Women (a little rough around the edges)

10. What is your favorite quote?
       "Be the change you want to see in the world"    -Ghandi
       There are so many but this is a good one


I am tagging the following people:
Rek

Gossip_Girl

Linda Fischer

Jo Jo

Lady Bluestocking

Tracy Jo

Susan Fields
 
If I didn't tag you and you want to play along, please feel free.  I think I a might have tagged some duplicates.  Thanks!

PLAY TAG...for the A-Z Challenge

So here's the thing… Jenny Pearson, a co-host of the 2012 A to Z Challenge, has come up with a fun way to promote the challenge…

If you play the game… she will add your blog to her TAGGED BY PEARSON REPORT Blog List – where everyone will know you are a team player who's kickin' it with the A to Z team. The goal is to see 1,000 participants, on the sign-up list, by March 1st…so here’s your chance to pitch in and show your support by playing TAG (THE ANSWER GAME).

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS:

Are you signed up for the A to Z Challenge?

Yes!  I signed up on the first day.  I am so excited!!!  This is my first challenge
Read my post here to find out why...
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2012/02/teaching-often-makes-you-student.html

What is your sign-up number?

Lucky number 130!

Are you ready? If yes…explain yourself.

Getting closer.  I have my theme, words and a rough draft of each post written

If you’re not ready…what’s your excuse?

I want to be prepared so that I can enjoy reading everyone else's posts, but I work full time so it takes me a while 

Just copy and paste these questions in your post and go for it. Let’s see what makes you a Blogging from A to Z participant!

If you  haven't signed up, do it here:  http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

THANKS JENNY!

The Oscars

I am a little bleary eyed and tired today so I'm posting a little late.  I stayed up waaay past my bedtime to watch The Oscars. 

In general, this is what I learned

1.  The special effects of Hugo must've been REALLY good

2.  Viola Davis was robbed (although I do like Meryl Streep too)

3.  I guess I need to see The Artist

It was a good show overall.  Billy Crystal was classic as usual, everyone looked good, and it seems like the winners were all deserving and gracious.

I hadn't seen about half of the movies nominated but I did see The Help, War Horse, Ides of March and Moneyball.

On my "To See" list now is The Artist, The Descendents, and Hugo.

Did your favorites win last night?  What were your favorite movies of the year?

Georgefest

As expected the 110th anniversary of the Georgefest was a lot of fun.  The parade was preceded by a "Dog run" where dogs of all shapes and sizes made their way downtown.  It was a perfect day for them with 60ish degree weather and a breeze.

The main event was an hour and a half long full of politians, pagent queens, policians, bands and local businesses promoting themselves.  All of them had candy!  Even the children around us were tired of running into the street after their bags were already full.  It was good to see the dentist giving out frisbees and the school board giving out pencils ( I wonder if they were #2???)

The parade was followed by the rest of the festival, which all took place on the water.  Great fun and great crowds!  It seemed as if a fun time was had by all.  They did it again!

Here are some parade highlights...

It's George himself!

And Abe was there too!

 

Tonight we will return to rock out to the 80s with a local band.

What is your hometown famous for?

                                        

Small town fun

When I was in high school I couldn't wait to move out of town, have my identity and get lost in a crowd.  I grew up in a small town where my dad had taught for over 20 years so everyone knew who he was and in turn knew who I was.  I HATED it!

After living out of state for 10-11 years, I moved back to my hometown to be with my mom who had terminal breast cancer.  I wasn't sure the long term plans when I moved back, but I thought eventually I would move away again.

Here I am 10 years later and I bought a house a year ago that is about half mile from my childhood home, where my dad still lives.  The funny thing is that the town and I have both changed (compromised) and I love it here now.

This weekend is their famous George Washington Fest.  It is the longest running celebration in the country.  There will be fireworks tonight followed my a parade and festival on Saturday.  Music, food, baking contests, eating contests, art booths and everything else you would come to expect from a small Southern town festival.

I am home :)

My Happy Place

When I thought about what to blog about today, I was petrified by how pessimistic I was.  Yikes!  I think I need a vacation...Thankfully I have one coming up soon.  Until then, I will just post a picture of my happy place.  This is Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest in NC and it is one of my favorite places ever.  Beautiful!

You can actually walk down to the bottom of the falls also but I don't have any pictures of the bottom.  If you are ever in the area, you should check it out. 

Where is your happy place?