Feeling Encouraged :-D

First of all, thanks for your grace to all of you who have nominated me for awards recently….yes, I am a little behind! 🙂

Receiving awards are always a great encouragement to me! I still sometimes can’t believe I have only been cooking for about 3 months! I also sometimes can’t believe that my hatred of cooking has turned into a love of cooking! 😀 All that said, these awards encourage me as I continue down this adventurous road! Thank you for blessing me and spurring me on!

I had never heard of the Versatile Blogger Award so I was so excited to get nominated on pretty much the same day by Ayesha and Apsara.

I love that the subtitle on Ayesha’s blog called Cooking with Ayesha is “life is foodiful.” I think that reflects her fun personality! I can hardly believe she is only 19 with all the wonderful cooking she does! Look at this amazing Tres Leches Cake that she made the other day! Don’t you just want a piece?! Or two?!  If you don’t know Ayesha yet, please check out her site!

And Apsara… I just have to show off this whole wheat, egg free cake she made recently…wow! Not only does it sound good, but it is absolutely gorgeous!! I can’t imagine making something that looks this amazing! You will definitely want to check out her blog as well…she cooks such a variety of wonderful dishes!

Thanks so much Ayesha and Apsara!

The Rules:

• Put the Versatile picture in your post
• Link to the blogger who nominated you
• Give 7 facts about yourself
• Nominate 15 people

7 Facts About Me: (Again, working hard to make these NEW facts that I haven’t already told you. 🙂 )

1.  I really want to learn how to play the guitar.
2. When I am really tired, if I had to pick between food or sleep, I would pick sleep any day. And that says a lot, because you know I love food! 🙂
3. I can’t even calculate how much water I drink a day….that’s how much of it I drink! The funny thing is that I used to hate water and never drink it.
4. I love candles! I love the ambiance they give…warm and cozy. In fact, I have 14 just in this one room I am sitting in.
5. I hate the color maroon….I mean, I really hate it!
6. One of my favorite sounds is frogs at night. I could fall asleep listening to them…music to my ears!
7. I love playing boardgames, and have to admit that I am definitely competitive.

My Nominees: This time I am nominating blogs that I have recently been introduced to and have never nominated before. (Congrats to each of you!)

1. Project Pastry
2. Hungry Tales
3. My Simple Delights
4. Drizzling Delicacies
5. Mademoiselle Gourmande
6. The Optimistic Househusband
7. Scratch It
8. Ocean View Kitchen
9. Malar’s Kitchen
10. Churros ‘n’ Chai
11. Jo Blogs Jo Bakes
12. Work, Love, and Have Fun
13. Art of Finding Myself
14. D’s Bistro
15. Cooking Without Grace

And now onto the Sunshine Award…

JoJo was so kind to nominate me for this! I really enjoy this sweet girl! Her blog, The Wobbly Way of Life (I totally love the name, by the way) is about her processing life in the form of writing. I love reading what she says and what she is thinking about! She is very engaging! Please drop by, read a bit, and say hi to her! I know it would be an encouragement!

Okay, The Rules:

1. Include the Sunshine Award icon in your post and/or on your blog
2. Link to the blogger who nominated you
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers to receive the award
5. Link to your nominees and let them know you nominated them
6. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer

The Questions JoJo gave me to Answer:

1. If you could have a part of the day frozen for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?

I wouldn’t want it frozen. I feel like I would miss out on all the things God has planned for my life. Whether fun, easy, delightful, difficult, challenging….I wouldn’t want to miss out on them. All the things I walk through are part of what has made me who I am today and cause me to grow.

2. What does your style say about you?

This is just my opinion of course (LOL), but I think it says that I am fun, spunky, approachable, and real.

3. Flats or heels?

This question is kind of hard for me, because it makes me think of high heels (which I definitely don’t like to wear), or flat dress shoes (which I also don’t like. ) 🙂 So, I will say this: I love flipflops (flats) and boots (with a small heel.) So I guess in that case, both. 😀

4. Would you rather be the nose or the ears? Why?

Ears all the way! I love spending time with people, listening to them, hearing their hearts, finding out about their stories.

5. How old were you when you started using the internet?

I’m pretty sure I was in college, because that is when we first got a computer. I think that shows my age a bit. 😉

6. Have you ever wanted to be someone else when you were young? Explain.

Sure. I was very insecure growing up…wasn’t comfortable in my own skin or confident about who I was. I cared way too much about what others thought. I wish I knew then what I know now, but I guess that is all part of growing up.

7. If you were to be stranded on the desert and had only one type of dessert, what would it be?

Only One JoJo?! Ugh! 🙂 Dark Chocolate Chip Almond Balls made with almond flour, honey, coconut oil, chocolate chips, and almond extract…I LOVE this and could eat it every day!

8. What’s your ideal weekend?

It would probably be going away to a bed and breakfast with my hubby out in the woods…laughing together, exploring, having fun, talking, reading, and relaxing!

9. What do you like most about fruits?

Their sweet taste! They are good for you and yet they taste like dessert! 🙂

10. What do you hope to accomplish through your blog?

I hope to encourage others in their own cooking adventures, to get people excited about being in the kitchen, to show people creative ways to eat delicious food without using all the refined sugar, and to be real with my own adventure in order that it may be a blessing to others.

My Nominees: These are all blogs that I enjoy following and haven’t had a chance to nominate before. Please check them out if you are not already familiar with them!

1. ‘a la main
2. Indu’s International Kitchen
3. The Wordy Baker
4. Deliciously Nell
5. Gluten Free Fabulous 
6. Loving Homemade
7. Confused Bawarchis
8. Tea with Erika
9. La Petite Casserole
10. My Kitchen Adventures

For the nominees, here are the 10 questions for you to answer:

1. How old were you when you began cooking?
2. Who taught you to cook?
3. What did you want to be when you grew up?
4. Who/what inspires you?
5. What do you like to do besides cooking?
6. What is your favorite time of year?
7. Do you love to blog as much as you did when you first began? Why/why not?
8. Wake up early or stay up late?
9. What place have you always wanted to visit?
10. Tell us something unique about yourself.

Congrats to every one of you, and may you each be encouraged!