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Monday, March 03, 2014

The Sunflower Blogger Award


Victoria over at Hope Writer and Lizzie of His Redeemed Child (edit) AND Whimsey Keith AND Heidi of The Far Side of Forever have all nominated me for the Sunflower Blogger Award.  Isn't that sweet?  What a sunny way to brighten up the dregs of winter :-)

The rules:
  1. Share 11 facts about yourself. 
  2. Answer the questions set by your Nomination Blogger 
  3. Nominate 11 bloggers. 
  4. Set questions for the nominated bloggers.
So here are my 11 facts:

1.  My second-favorite candy bar is Almond Joy.
2.  I eat peanut butter straight out of the jar.  With a spoon -- stop looking at me askance.
3.  I hate wearing shoes and socks.
4.  If I had been a boy, my name would have been John.
5.  I was in the chorus of three Gilbert and Sullivan musicals while I was in college.
6.  I was born near where Jesse James robbed his first train.
7.  I've never had a haircut.  I just get it trimmed every six months or so.
8.  I collect Coca-cola stuff, and my kitchen is decorated with Coke items.
9.  I've had the same favorite movie since I was 2 1/2 years old (The Man from Snowy River).
10.  My seasonal allergies disappeared after I gave birth to my first child.
11.  My favorite candy bar is Snickers (in case you've been wondering since fact 1).

Here are my answers to Victoria's questions:

What time period would you travel back to if you had the chance? Why? 

The Old West, of course.  I'd do as much research as possible, drink in the atmosphere and clothes and dirt and dialect and everything about life back then.  Then I'd come back to the present and write smashing novels unlike any western novels ever written before.

Is there a book that you’ve read at least five times from beginning to end?

Sure, quite a few, actually.  I'm on my sixth read-through of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, I've read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte at least five times, and I know I've read The Black Stallion by Walter Farley far more than five times.

Has the Lord done anything recently in your life that has strengthened your faith in Him? 

He's given me the answer to a decision I've been wrestling with, and I feel so free and peaceful now.

What is your favorite family tradition? 

Listening to Elvis' Christmas album while trimming the Christmas tree.  It's kind of a tradition I created -- as a kid, I would insist that his be the first album we put on the record player when Mom started decorating the tree, and I've just continued that throughout my adult life too.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? 

Be more patient.  I've been working on it, but I still have a lot more patience to learn.

What has been your favorite movie this year? This can be in theaters or just from your own personal home viewing.

If mean favorite new movie I've never seen before, I'd say Frozen (2013).  If you mean favorite movie I've seen before but watched again this year, I'd say The Lone Ranger (2013).


And here are my answers to Lizzie's questions:

What name would you choose if you could or had to change your name?

Right now I like the name Reid.

What place in the world (time travel included) would you most like to visit? e. g. Paris in the 1920's, Egypt, 1500 B. C., etc.

Okay, to be different from the above answer, I'll say Paris in the 1920s, like in Midnight in Paris, so I could meet my literary heroes, Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

How would you choose to spend a lovely, sunny spring day?

Planting things in my garden and containers!  I'm looking forward to doing just that very soon.

What are three of your favorite books?

To be different from above, I'll say The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King, and The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

Three favorite movies?

My three absolute favorite movies are The Man from Snowy River, The Fugitive, and The Sons of Katie Elder.

Books that were made into movies?

The Fellowship of the Ring, Ben-Hur, and Master and Commander:  The Far Side of the World.

Do you play an instrument? If so, which one?

I play the piano and trumpet, and I used to play the flute, but I haven't touched one in 15 years.

If not, is there an instrument you would like to learn?

I'd like to learn to play the trumpet better than I do.

What kind of pets/animals do have, if any? If none, what would you like to have?

We currently have a Betta fish named Winter.  But I'd like to have a large dog.  Some day, when the kids are older, maybe we will.


(edit) Here are my answers to Whimsey's Questions:

If you ever were to meet John Cleese from Monty Python in person, what would you say? :) 

"Is Michael Palin as nice in real life as he seems?"

If Anne Elliot and Jane Eyre were real people, which one would you rather meet? 

(You are a mean person, Whimsey.  What a choice!!!)  Oh, probably Anne Elliot.  I think we'd get along better than Jane and I would.  I've noticed that I don't always get along with other strong-minded, take-charge women -- we both want to take charge, hee!

Llamas or goats--which do you like better? 

Goats.  I've never had a goat spit at me, but a llama spat right in my face at a petting zoo once.

What is your favorite vegetable? 

Corn!  Especially corn on the cob.  Nom nom nom.

I know that you are a homeschool mother! Which subject is your favorite to teach so far? 

Art, because I can include all three kids in the same lesson.  And they have so much fun expressing themselves in ways I wouldn't have imagined doing.


(Edit) Here are my answers to Heidi's Questions:

If you could meet one person from history, who would it be? 

Daniel Boone

What book have you read more times than any other?

Picture books aside, probably either The Black Stallion by Walter Farley or The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

What was the first movie you saw in a theater? 

I have no idea.  The first movie I can remember seeing on the big screen and not just that I saw it was The Return to Snowy River, which greatly disappointed me.

Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate? 

Dark!

Spring, summer, fall, or winter? 

Spring and fall are the most creative for me, but I love snow... just not summer, I don't like heat.

If you could be part of any race from Middle Earth, what race would you choose and why? 

The Rohirrim.

What is your dream vacation? 

Ever since I was very young, I've dreamed of visiting Alaska and seeing the Northern Lights.

What do you think the greatest invention in modern times (since the birth of Christ) has been?

The printing press.  All kinds of great things have come about because we can spread the written word quickly and cheaply.

What was your favorite movie of 2013? 

The Lone Ranger

Who is your all-time favorite actor and actress? (They don't have to be living) 

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara


And now I nominate these 11 bloggers for this award:

Joanna of "The Squirrel's Diary"
Ruby of "We'll See How This Goes"
Maddie of "The Madd Rose"
Heidi of "The Far Side of Forever"
Hayden of "The Story Girl"
Ivy Miranda of "Revealed in Time"
Melody of "Regency Delight"
Hannah of "Reading in the Dark"
Analiese of "Portrait of a Maiden"
Carissa of "Musings of an Introvert"
Birdie of "Lady of the Manor"

Here are your questions:

If you had to spend the rest of your life in a different century of Earth's past, where would you spend it?
What's your favorite salad dressing?
What's the worst movie (that you liked least) you saw in 2013?
Do you paint your toenails?
What are your three favorite TV shows?
Are there any books or movies you own more than one copy of?  If so, what are they?

Play if you want to!

20 comments:

  1. Hahah!! I eat peanut butter straight out of the jar, too! On the GAPS diet, I can't have bread or jelly, so plain peanut butter is all that's left, and I like it! I'll often eat a plain slice of cheese with it. Or apple slices.
    That's cool that your allergies disappeared!
    I haven't seen or even heard of The Sons of Kate Elder, I'll have to look it up!

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    1. I love peanut butter with a banana. Hmmmmmm. Apple slices are good too, and peanut butter and cheese is wonderful. I love peanut butter and cheese sandwiches.

      The Sons of Katie Elder is a John Wayne western, lots of fun :-)

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  2. I got nominated for this award AGAIN today!!! By Whimsey Keith this time, so I've edited this to include her questions :-) Thank you, Victoria, Lizzie, and Whimsey!

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    1. And Heidi nominated me too! So I've added answers to her questions too. And now this post is looooooong enough!

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  3. *In which Emma rapidly scrolls to the comment box before she's even finished reading because she just can't wait to address the astonishing news she's just read*

    YOU WERE BORN NEAR WHERE JESSE JAMES ROBBED HIS FIRST TRAIN?????!!!!!!

    Ohhhhh. Heart palpitations. How cool is THAT?

    (In case you didn't know, I'm *just a little* obsessed with Jesse James (not to mention the rest of his gang). :-P Blame it on James and Stacy Keach.

    Okay, now I'll go back and read the rest of this. :-)

    Ohhhhh yesss, I'd love to go back to the Old West! *Sigh* Then maybe I could meet Davy Crockett....and Jesse James....and all those other cool people. It might be too much for me, though, if they all turned out to be as awesome as I've imagined them. :-P

    Do you mean Hemingway as in Ernest Hemingway? 'Cause if you do, I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. I hate, loathe, despise and abominate Ernest Hemingway.

    This was most enjoyable, m'dear! :-)

    ~Emma

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    1. Oh, you think that's cool? One of my babysitters when I was a baby actually MET Jesse James when she was a child! He and some of his men stopped at her family's farm and asked her mom to make them some food. So... I've met someone who met Jesse James. (I'm kind of really a big fan too, if you can be a fan of an outlaw.)

      But yes, Ernest Hemingway. Why do you hate him so?

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  4. How funny: I have done the same w/ my kids - play Elvis (Christmas album) while putting up the tree b/c that is what my family did when I was a kid. (But since Pandora, its been the traditional Christmas music station while putting up the tree for the last couple of years. I'm sure mine are glad of it.)

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    1. What a coincidence! Though after Elvis I do put on all sorts of other music. Veggie Tales, Bobby Darin, Bing Crosby, Andrea Bocelli, Johnny Cash -- my Christmas collection is pretty diverse :-)

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  5. Ohhhhhmygoodness! THAT IS SO COOL! I can't take all this in. I just can't. :-P

    That is, like, just about the awesomest thing I've ever heard. Okay, not ever heard, but it's pretty amazing! He and his gang actually CAME TO HER HOUSE?!? Was that when they were still at large, being tracked down by the Pinkertons? Did she meet the Youngers too?

    Yeah, when I say I'm a big fan of Jesse James sometimes people look at me like, you're nuts, but I CAN'T HELP IT HE'S JUST SO AWESOME!!! *giggle* I've read books about him, I've seen a movie about him, I know songs about him....:-P And you know, he really wasn't a really ruthless killer or anything like that. He always tried to avoid shooting people, and he never stole from anyone who had fought for the Confederacy. In fact, most everyone except for the law and the rich people he stole from thought he was the greatest. In the south, that is.

    But anyways, sorry for my ranting. :-) That is really amazing!

    Well......I watched a movie about Hemingway's younger life, called In Love and War, which was just about the worst movie I've ever seen. He was pretty much an idiot, so that kind of started me on disliking him. He also had three (or was it four?) wives (which doesn't count all of his, um, friends, when he was younger), he was an atheist, and he killed himself. So no, I don't like him AT ALL. But then, I've never read any of his books, so maybe he was a really great writer.

    ~Emma

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    1. Hee, yes. I didn't actually know that about my babysitter for a long time (I was 3 when we moved away, so I only barely remember her as an elderly lady standing in front of a white house), but my parents told me the story as she'd told it to them. It would have been when the James boys were still at large, kind of in the middle of their career, possibly around the time of that first train robbery in Adair, IA. I don't believe she met the Youngers -- as my dad related it, she said that her mother was terribly polite to these strangers that came to the house asking for a meal, and told all the children to go out back and keep out of the way. After the men left, she told them that those were Jesse James and some of his men.

      BTW, since you love the legend of Jesse, let me warn you not to see the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. An unsettling movie, and with some unsavory things. Brad Pitt was very sweet as Jesse, though.

      And you know what? I was thinking over your comment, and I remembered that back when In Love and War came out, I was in high school and quite a fan of Chris O'Donnell, and I saw that movie at a sleepover and decided I really disliked Hemingway. And then I had to read The Old Man and the Sea for school and began to loathe him. It wasn't until midway through college, when I read one of his novels and some of his short stories for a class, that I started to appreciate his writing. And then I read A Moveable Feast and began loving his writing. As a person, you're right, he wasn't much. But as a writer... zowie! (That's why I said he and Fitzgerald are my literary heroes -- both could write like a dream, but neither were particularly great people.)

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  6. I'm sorry I'm so mean....Or not... ;D I think you know my sentiments on the subject of the Man from Snowy River... One of the best movies ever! Midnight in Paris is a good one, too... I loved reading your {many} answers! Whoa, you are very loved in the blogging community! :D

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    1. Nah, you're not sorry ;-) And yes, either I'm loved or I'm an easy mark, lol!

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  7. Thanks for the tag! Hopefully I'll have my answers up this week :)

    Wow, someone beat me in the longest-running favorite movie category. I've only had the same favorite movie (Beauty and the Beast) since I was 3 ;)

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    1. There's no time limit! Play when and if you want to :-)

      That's cool that you also have a long-running favorite movie! Since you were 3 is a pretty long time too.

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  8. That's really interesting to hear your allergies dissapeared when you had your first child. As a scientist working in the field of immunology that immediately gets my brains whirring. I do know the immune system in general of a pregnant woman goes down to cope with the 'non-self'/fetus it's carrying. So many pregnant women with allergies or auto-immune diseases have less complaints while pregnant. But for it to really stop? Maybe your immune system 'reset' itself!

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    1. I know -- weird, right? I still had them the spring and fall while I was pregnant, but that next spring, nothing. And nothing since. I didn't start having them until I was in high school, and they were never severe, but still, so nice not to have them anymore!

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  9. Wow, your answers were so interesting! If I start responding to them, I'll probably be here for a long time, though, so I'll refrain. Thank you so much for nominating me! As someone who is still kind of casually blogging, it really means a lot to me. I will definitely blog answers to your questions, but it might take some time for me to think of enough random facts about myself!

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    1. Hee, thanks! Yeah, with four nominations, that was a lot of questions to answer (and for people to read).

      You're welcome! There's no expiration date. And yeah, the random facts was the hardest part for me.

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