Elegant Blogger Award

I've been awarded the Elegant Blogger Award.  Thanks so much, Elliebob. :)

This particular award originated HERE.  Everyone nominated has to answer 12 questions:

1.  Why did you start blogging?
     I started blogging in case I ever became a published author and had to have my own blog (as I've mentioned several times before).  Little did I know what I was starting... ;)

2.  What is your fashion style?
    Heh...frumpy and bland, if the last few weeks are any indicator. :}  Think t-shirts, denim capris, and ankle socks with old tennis shoes.  I do dress up a bit more for my teaching day and for church.  Perhaps someday I'll be amazingly fashionable. ;)

3.  What is something your followers don't know about you?
     Hmm, I've told you so much in the past few years that I think I'm running out of surprises. ;)  Um, I once dreamed of playing Christine Daae on Broadway...although I knew it would never happen because I couldn't hit the note at the end of "The Phantom of the Opera" title song and I would not have been comfortable singing "Past the Point of No Return".  I had the whole soundtrack aside from that song memorized in high school, though.  And hands down, my most embarrassing moment ever was the day that my mom walked in on me while I was dressed in my bathrobe and pearl choker singing "Angel of Music" to my full-length mirror. :}

4.  What is one of your blogging goals?
     To be a little more organized with regular posting and scheduling posts ahead of time. :}  Another would be to continue to grow and learn.  Most importantly, though, I want to create a fun, safe atmosphere for girls and collectors to learn about their favorite dolls and toys. :)

5.  Where is your favorite place to shop?
    Goodwill, Target, Walmart, and ToysRUs. :)

6.  What would your ideal amount of followers be?
     To be honest, I never thought I'd get this far! :)  My goal was always to reach 100 followers, and now I'm up to 268! :D  So really, no matter where I go from here, I'm perfectly happy. :)  Hmm...500 would be pretty awesome, though. ;)

7.  What are your talents?
     I dabble in a lot of things, so I'm not really amazingly accomplished at anything.  I do enjoy drawing, singing, writing, and acting, though.

8.  Are you a leader or a follower?
     I can be a leader when I have to be, but if given the choice, I prefer being a follower...as long as the person leading is a good person to follow! ;)  I don't really enjoy the pressures of leadership.

9.  What is your favorite quote?
     "And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.  And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.  But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.  All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page:  now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read:  which goes on forever:  In which every chapter is better than the one before."
    ~ From "The Last Battle" by C.S. Lewis

10.  Do you have a favorite book or book series?
     I love "Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.  (Actually, I love all of her completed works!) ;)  I also love the Gresham Chronicles by Lawana Blackwell, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Heart of India series by Linda Chaikin.  I used to have a major crush on Jace Buckley. ;)

11.   Out of all the synonyms for elegant, which would you describe yourself with (smart, dressy, stylish, graceful, or fine)?
    Um, really?  Well, I used to get good grades in school, so I suppose I could be called smart.  Although my dad always said I'm one of those smart people with no common sense (I can be a real airhead at times), so maybe that's not the best description.  Dressy?  Hah!  I wish!  Stylish?  In my dreams.  Graceful?  Oh, sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of my entire family bursting out laughing.  Gracefulness is not something I was blessed with. :}  Fine?  What exactly does that mean?
     I guess the best answer in my case is "none of the above". ;)

12.   What is your favorite flower?
     I love roses and gardenias.


I now have to tag 12 people.  I choose:

Emily at The Toy Box Philosopher

Casey at Our Literary Joys

Casey Robin at Casey Robin's Dollyanna

Jen at Dolls and Nachos

BlackKitty at The Multicrafteral Lab

Barb the Evil Genius at My Little Doll Corner

Cindybin at Cindybin's Bin

OurAGAdventures at Our AG Adventures

Nina at American Girl and Other Awesomeness

Belle at Belle, Addy, and Emma (Your sisters can answer too if you like!) :)

OnceUponADollCollection at Once Upon a Doll Collection

Alexandra at Of Trims and Furls and Furbelows


Thanks again for the award, Elliebob. :)  Have fun, everyone! :)

I Was Awarded :)

I was just given the "Your blog is great" award by Lissy at I'll Never Grow Up.  Thanks, Lissy! :)

So, here are the instructions for receiving and passing on this award:

1. Link to the person who gave you the award.

2. Put the award on your post.

3. Choose 5 blogs to receive the award.

4. Let them know you awarded them.

I know this one has been going around for a while, and I haven't kept up with who's gotten it already.  So if I award you and you've already received it, sorry about that! :}

I choose:

1. Elaine from "Musings of an Old-Fashioned Young Woman"

2. The Bolton Girls from "Bolton Girls Travel Journal" 

3. Jenny at "A Doll's Life"

4. Jen at "Dolls and Nachos"

5. Bama at "Dolls of an Era"

Happy blogging, everyone! :)

I've been awarded! :)

I'm finally taking the time to get to this post!!  I was recently (um...sort of recently!) :} awarded with the Versatile Blogger Award!  Thanks, everyone!  I'm honored! :)

When you are awarded, there are 6 things you're supposed to do:

1.  In a post on your blog, nominate 4 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.

2.  In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3.  In the same post, thank the blogger (or bloggers!) who nominated you with a link back to their blog(s).

4.  In the same post, include 7 random pieces of information about you.

5.  In the same post, include this set of rules.

6.  Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination with a comment on their blog.

I'm pretty late getting to this, so if I nominate you and you've already been awarded and participated, you don't have to do it again! ;)

So, here goes!

Here are the bloggers I nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award:

1.  Mia from Mia's Musings:  http://themusingsofmia.blogspot.com/

2. Miss Elizabeth Bennet from Elegance of Fashion:  http://elegance-of-fashion.blogspot.com/  (By the way, Miss Bennet, I'm so sorry that I never did the post for The Sweetest Blogger award you gave me.  The timing  just didn't work out for me.  Thank you so much for the nomination, though!) :}

3.  Elaine from Musings of an Old-Fashioned Young Woman:  http://elaine-allthingsoldfashioned.blogspot.com/ (Have fun, Elaine!  I've really enjoyed your posts so far!) :)

4.  Jen from Dolls and Nachos:  http://dollsandnachos.blogspot.com/ 

And here is the Versatile Blogger Award that I'm supposed to include:

I'd like to thank  Nora and Maple from The Doll Wardrobe ( http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/ ), Phoebe from Love That Doll ( http://lovethatdoll.blogspot.com/ ), and...oh dear...Jessie?  Were you the third one?  If so, I can't seem to find a link to your blog.  Sorry!  You can include it in the comments if you'd like.  If I got my last nomination wrong, feel free to correct me!  (Yikes...how embarrassing!  Obviously I've waited a little long to respond to this!) :{

Okay, so now it's on to the 7 random facts about me.

1.  I've been doing a lot of rearranging in my doll rooms lately.  My dad is actually in the middle of making me a more permanent set of doll rooms that will stack on top of each other (I'd like to condense to one side of the bedroom), so I've been planning out which dolls will be roomies and what furniture they'll use. :D

2.  I have my fourth Weight Watchers meeting tomorrow morning.  My goal is to hit 5 lbs total lost!!  (I'm at 3.8 so far.)

3.  I'm singing in a trio on Sunday morning for our church Easter program.  The name of the song we're singing is called "Victory is Won", and it has some lovely three-part harmony that's really fun to sing!  

4.  I will celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary on June 29th. :D  We're planning on getting a sitter for the kids, going out to eat, and watching Disney Pixar's "Brave" in the theater.

5.  I have the songs from "Piglet's Big Movie" stuck in my head because that has been my 4 year old's movie choice every day for the past week! :}

6.  I still despise broccoli.

7.  I've been really struggling with making the time for my personal devotions lately.  I'm planning on reading through the book of John again for my devotions, starting tomorrow, using the Bible Knowledge Commentary to help me dig a little deeper. :)

Thanks so much, everyone!  This was fun, and amazingly easy once I just made myself sit down and do it. ;)