Today, one of my WordPress & Twitter friends nominated me for a Liebster award.

While in some circles this may be seen as a chain letter of sorts, I decided to accept & create a post.

I think it’s a great way for fellow bloggers to highlight their favorite blogs & get to know their community a little better.

In addition, my blogger buddies get to know me a little better, too.

I was nominated for this award by my friend whose blog is called Living A Lung Life.

She asked me to answer 11 questions in her blog post which I have done below.

But first, I will nominate 4 other friends & their WordPress blogs. This is by no means to discredit anyone I didn’t nominate. I am fortunate through WP to have met so many fascinating bloggers & enjoy reading their musings on a wide variety of subjects.

The Sick & The Dating

My 2nd Heartbeat

At Miss Semee

PickWritesNext

I chose these bloggers because I interact with them the most frequently & regularly on both WordPress & social media as a whole & I knew they might get a kick out of this & might recommend some other great blogs in the process.

Answers to the Questions I was asked:

1. Who has been the most influential person in your life & why?
   I have to say my grandmother.  She had been through much in her life including TB as a young nurse with a small child, but she was strong & resilient. She also always showed me love & compassion & many people seemed to love being around her.  Overall, all of my grandparents were very influential & great role models on how to treat your family & treat people in general.
2. How does your family cope with your illness?
   They try to remain as supportive as possible.  They might not always get what I go through but I’m lucky they aren’t the type to try to blame me for it or give unsolicited, unhelpful, or judgemental advice.
3. What’s your favorite clothing item that you couldn’t live without?
   I know this sounds silly but my funny & interesting t-shirts.  Sometimes on my bad days, it helps diffuse some of the frustration.
4. Who was your best teacher & why?
   I’ve had so many wonderful ones, but my love of science was fostered by my high school biology/anatomy & physiology teacher.  That love of science has lead to me being involved in many cool projects over time & helped me understand my own health conditions better.
5. What value do you your friends add to your life?
   They are my second family.  I would be nowhere without them. The few quality friends I call close & have I have been friends with for a very long time & they are there through everything.  My two best friends I live with are always pushing me to try new things which is good.  I probably wouldn’t be blogging if they hadn’t encouraged me to do so.
6. If you are on medication, what is the worst side effect?
   I’m on many meds but luckily most of the side effects are subtle, though my recently upgraded pills for pain make me feel like a space case sometimes. I don’t like that.  When I have to take prednisone, my attitude is not pretty.
7. What is your favorite time of the day?
   Usually mid-afternoon. I’ve woken up, had caffeine, have the most energy, & am most productive.
8. Preference: writing, reading, watching?
   I can’t pick just one. That’s an honest truth.  These days I probably do more watching if you can believe that, the others depend on my stamina & attention span but I have a serious addiction to documentaries.
9. What is one aspect of your life you are most proud of?
   The fact that when I was young, I stepped outside my comfort zone & moved to the east coast.  It was bold for me but it paid off & that early calculated risk encouraged me to take other risks & do other great things in my life.
10. What makes you laugh until you pee?
    I have an odd sense of humor so it might not be as obvious as one thinks.  I was told I laugh at pretty much anything sometimes. I just can’t remember anything off the top of my head right now.
11. Name the one part of your body you love the most?
    I do like my eyes, which are brown but sometimes under a few circumstances they can turn hazel.  (Plus that is a bit obvious for another reason, because as a gemini, I watch everything going on around me. )

    Questions for my fellow blogger nominees:

    1.  What was the biggest risk you ever took?
    2.  What keeps you motivated in difficult times?
    3. What is one goal you have yet to accomplish that you really want to?
    4. Who was your most important mentor & why?
    5.  Are you a dog or a cat person or both?
    6. What is one movie that always makes you cry no matter how many times you’ve seen it?
    7. What was your proudest moment?
    8.  What was the most meaningful gift you were ever given & why?
    9.  If you could be a famous person for a day who would you be?
    10.  Did you ever or do you play sports?  If so, (or even not) do you have a favorite one & what lessons you learned from that sport made it appeal to you?
    11. What is the best book you’ve ever read & why?