Yesterday I was nominated by the writer of The Last Song I Heard… for a Versatile Blogger Award.  This award comes with it’s own set of rules:

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award on to 15 other bloggers.
4. Contact your nominees.

First things first, thank you so much Richard!  I just figured out Richard’s name by reading some comments on his blog.  When he nominated me for the award, he said I honestly don’t know the real name of the lady who writes this…  I thought for sure I had used my name on my “About” page, but after further inspection, I see I have not.  It’s nice to meet you Richard, my name is Amy.  I highly suggest you check out Richard’s blog, The Last Song I Heard…  He writes primarily for his son, J, but his posts are so interesting, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the story he is telling.  The best part is that each post is based on a song and what that song means to Richard or an event that he is reminded of when he hears the song.  I loved the premise of the blog immediately and kind of want to copy his idea for a few posts in the future.

Seven Things About Me

1. I was born and raised in Iowa.  I have lived all over the state and love everything about it, but the winter.  I hate snow.  You can learn more about my feelings of my homeland in my I-O-W-A post.  I live in California now and although my heart will always be in Iowa, I kind of feel like I am more of a California girl.
2. I have never seen any of the following movies in their entirety…The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars (any of them), The Godfather (any of them) and probably some other “key” movies that most people feel that I should have seen.  I have seen bits and pieces of all of them, but something always comes up and it ends up being more interesting than the movie.
3. I hate the phrase “Everything happens for a reason.”  I believe we choose our own fate.  Don’t get me wrong, there are variables that will definitely interfere with your path, but eventually, you’ll right the wrongs and continue on your way.  Don’t be so quick to mistake a coincidence for a sign from above.
4. I don’t like to do something based solely on the fact that everyone else is doing it.  I tend to fight fads and trends for as long as I can.  A good example is The Hunger Games.  I haven’t read it yet, but I will be starting it tonight.  The only reason why I’m reading it now is because I know very little about the storyline and with the movie coming out this weekend, it’s only a matter of time before that gets to be common knowledge.  I hate hearing about parts of a movie or book because then I’m always anticipating that specific part.
5. I love, love, love college sports music montages.  I just admitted this for the first time to my husband about a month ago.  And when I say I love them, I mean the hairs on my neck stand up, I get chills and if it happens to be particularly moving, I may even get a little teary.
6. My favorite game is Trivial Pursuit or any other similar trivia game, like Jeopardy.  I’m not exceptionally good at these games, but I do tend to carry around a lot of seemingly useless facts in my head.
7. I have never had a bloody nose, been stung by a bee, wasp or other stingy creature, but I have ridden an elephant.

My 15 5 Nominee (I don’t read 15 blogs on a regular basis.)

1. Mommy Huh – The whats, whys, and hows of motherhood from a working mom.  Jen has awesome stories and ideas amongst many other delights for all her readers.  She may be my Soul Blogger.
2. Crafting Crazy – Life is crazy.  Craft it well.  Natalie has great crafting ideas for a beginner to a master DIYer as well as lots of fun things for kids.
3. A Detailed House – For those with a refined eye…  Kearney compiles multiple ideas with one central theme, ie Sophisticated Rooms in Black and White, my personal favorite.  Tons of great pictures and ideas for you to design your home.
4. A Girl Named Michael – The strange thoughts and adventures of a loud mouth small town girl full of contradictions.  Michael’s blog is not only hilarious, but she has an interesting story about her boyfriend.
5. Things That Keep Me Sane -I embrace every challenge, life is good. This is my journey to find my sanity among it all.  Heather got me interested in blogging.  She has healthy recipes a I can always count on her blog to motivate me to work out.

When I first started blogging, I did it just to write something every now and again.  Now that I have committed to writing everyday and taken steps to actually improve my blog, I have discovered this huge community of fellow bloggers.  I had no idea there were linking parties, guest bloggers, awards, features, etc.  I quite enjoy my little blogging world that I live in everyday and I encourage anyone that thinks they may want to start a blog to do it and have fun with it.