I Won A Liebster Award!

Back in December, Lydia Schoch nominated me for a Liebster Award. Unfortunately, I was caught in the whirlwind of preparations for the holiday season, and I didn’t get a chance to respond to the nomination until just now. I’m both thrilled and flattered that Lydia found my blog worth mentioning. We have been sharing each other’s posts on and off on twitter for the past several months, and I always find her perspective interesting. Her posts have encouraged me to resume both yoga and meditation, and both have provided great ease from life’s everyday stresses.

Looking at the official site, it seems I might be too late to act on my nomination, but I wanted to at least answer the questions Lydia posted.

What is the most creative story, poem, song, or other piece of writing you’ve created so far?
I always have a hard time choosing among my creations. I feel like each has their own merits, and I hate to elevate one above the other (no matter how much Domerin kicks and screams and insists that he’s my favorite). But if I had to choose, the one that always sticks out in my mind is Only Human. I wrote this in response to a writing prompt with the same name. I had been tossing the prompt around in my head for a few days and I woke up suddenly on a Saturday morning far earlier than usual with the scene in my head demanding to be written.

Where, if anywhere, do you volunteer? If you don’t currently volunteer, where have you donated your time and skills to in the past or hope to donate them to in the future?
At the moment, I don’t volunteer. My mobility is somewhat limited by the fact that I don’t drive, and this city doesn’t exactly have a massive transit system (we have one bus, LOL). I used to help out with a homework club when my husband worked in Quebec, but his new school actually pays staff to do that kind of stuff. This probably sounds like a list of excuses, but since I don’t volunteer anymore, I try to make up for it with donations, when income allows. For the past year, we’ve been donating monthly to the BC Children’s Hospital, and they regularly send us updates on their program as a result. We also donate to the Yogscast’s Jingle Jam Charity Drive every year in December; they partner with the guys at Humble Bundle to allow you to choose which charities you want to donate to. This year our donations went to: Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Special Effect (which helps disabled children acquire specialized equipment to play video games), the Mental Health Foundation, and Save the Children.

How do you like your coffee or tea?
I’m probably somewhat backwards in that I like my coffee sweet and my tea rich and bold. My favorite coffee is Tim Horton’s French Vanilla and I always have a tin of the mix somewhere in the house. My favorite teas are Lady Grey, for a black tea, and Kukicha for greens.

What was the last song you listened to?
The song is called Free! It’s from an anime called Splash Free, which I have actually never seen. But I stumbled on the song while I was going through a youtube black hole, and it’s so catchy it just got stuck in my head! So I listen to it with a fair amount of regularity.

If you could only watch one genre of movies for the rest of your life, which genre would it be?
Would it be cheating to choose speculative fiction? That’s a pretty broad branch! Honestly, I’d be happy with either fantasy or science-fiction (though I’d really like to have both in my life. It would be tough to choose between the two). Both fulfill my love of other worlds that work in various different ways. I don’t even need a ton of science in my science-fiction, so long as it’s intellectual. I’m not a huge fan of blowing stuff up for the sake of action.

Do you have any hidden talents or surprising hobbies? If so, what are they?
I definitely don’t think I have any hidden talents. I’m a decent singer, though I almost never sing in front of other people. My most surprising hobby is probably that I crossstich, but lots of people do. I’m pretty adept at figuring out weird, obscure references to the late 80’s and early 90’s… does that count?

What is the furthest distance you’ve ever traveled from home? Why did you go on that trip?
The hubby and I moved to England for a year. That might sound like a weird answer, since it was technically home for that year, but to us it felt like we were far away from all things familiar the entire time. There was only one place in the entire country where we could get poutine, and it wasn’t actually any good (we shed tears over this). We made that move because the hubby got a job teaching at a school over there, but he wasn’t fond of the way England treats its teachers. Nor were we thrilled by the state of the housing market. In the end, it was a relief to come back to Canada. Though, ironically, we moved to the west coast when we came back, making our England to BC move the farthest we ever traveled from a current home.

Which do you prefer: sweet, salty, sour, or savoury snacks? Why?
Honestly, each has its time and place. I like to mix and match. Sweet and sour is a favorite combo, as is salty and sweet. Savoury snacks are like comfort food on long, dreary nights. So I guess my answer is all of the above? ^^;;

How many languages do you speak? Which languages are they?
Sadly, English is the only language I speak fluently. I know a smattering of words in other languages, but not enough to get by in conversation. I keep promising myself I’m going to learn French, since I live in a bilingual country, but I keep failing to follow through.

What did you have for breakfast today?
The standard breakfast of a flavored yogurt cup. Today’s was peach, which is my favorite :3

Normally this is where I would create a bunch of questions and nominate other blogs, but I’m not sure if the official rules allow me to cross between 2017 and 2018. Instead, here’s a small list of blogs I think are worth your time:

Writing and Wellness which focuses on how writers can live a healthy lifestyle while pursuing their passions.
Icy Sedgwick – her folklore posts are amazing!
Dianna L. Gunn’s blog The Dabbler always informs and inspires.
Mimi Matthews provides all the information you could ever want about the Victorian era (and a lot you didn’t realize you wanted to know!)
And of course, check out Ithilear, the blog of my editor and cover artist, Beth Alvarez!

And here are some questions for everyone to answer in the comments!

What’s your favorite part of the day (morning, afternoon, lunch, ect) and why?
What do you do when you’re having a rough day to try to turn things back around?
What would your ideal day look like?