Thursday, April 17, 2014

Liebster Award

A BIG Thank You to Kayla over at HALFway to the CASTle for nominating me for a Liebster Award - YAY! Seems like a great way to discover new blogs. Although I have been blogging for QUITE A WHILE (I started when I moved to California in 2006 as a way to help my family keep up on what was going on in my life), it hasn't been until fairly recently that I have started to get a few people (other than my parents) actually checking out what I am posting about. 

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:



  1. You must link back to the person who nominated you
  2. You must answer the 10 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee before you
  3. You must pick 10 bloggers to be nominated for the award
  4. You must create 10 questions for your nominees
  5. You must go to their blogs and notify the nominees

Well, better get on it then. Below are my answers to Kayla's questions:

1. Why did you decide to start running?

I got into running a little over 2 years ago. At the beginning of 2012 I was looking for something I could call "mine". My hubby had different hobbies (surfing, a motorcycle, his art, etc) and I wanted an activity I could call my own. A friend of mine from college, Megan over at Running Toward The Prize, had been getting involved in runDisney events and got me interested. I signed up for the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon and started training. I figured, even if I hated (or sucked at) running, at least I would be doing it at the Happiest Place on Earth. The first two months I simply added walking a couple miles on my lunch break to my daily routine, then I added going to the gym after work (using the elliptical and stationary bike), and finally I worked up to running outside. I knew if I wanted to make this a lifestyle change I would need to do it slowly and make sure it worked for me. I guess you can say running is now "my thing" :)

2. What would your best piece of advice for a new runner be?
Don't compare yourself with others! I know it will be hard, but your only competition should be the YOU from YESTERDAY! 

Source

3. If you had 3 wishes, what would they be?
First - World Peace, Second - End World Hunger, Third - Live Happily Ever After {although I sort of already have this one.... And a collective "awwwwww" spread over the crowd}

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?
I have to say, I am pretty blessed living in Southern California. Other than the HIGH Sunshine Tax we pay, it is pretty freakin' sweet. I mean, it is like summer all year round, with tons of things to do and folks living an active lifestyle - what could be better?!

5. Dog or Cat?
DOG, definitely dog! Cats scare me... I don't know what they are thinking and it often feels as though they are plotting against me.

6. If you were an Olympic athlete, what event would you compete in?
Curling! Ha. Ryan and I tried out curling a few months back (they were having an open house at the ice rink near us) and we had a blast. It is actually MUCH harder than it appears. One thing that my hubby pointed out to me was that the average age of the Olympic Curlers is around 35, so we still had time to hit our prime :) 


7. What can always make you smile?
My husband! If you know him, you understand this immediately. He is quite the goofball. He is absolutely amazing! His brain doesn't work the way that most others do (but I mean that is the nicest way possible), so he is always thinking of craziness and he just can't keep it to himself.

8. Favorite flavor of ice cream?
Superman! But I am normally not an ice cream person - too rich and creamy for my blood. I would prefer a rainbow sherbet (which I guess is pretty similar to Superman ice cream). 

9. Have you ever been fired from a job?
Originally I was going to say "No way José", but then I remembered I was... 

Between my Freshman and Sophomore year of college I lived in Orlando for the summer (I did it again between my Sophomore and Junior year as well) as a part of a Leadership Training program with our college church. We all worked during the day (95% of us at Universal Studios) and then had training, sermons, and outreach in the evenings and on the weekends.


That first summer I was working in the "food" department - selling Dipin' Dots, working a slushie hut, etc. They told us we were not allowed to accept tips. Every once in a while folks would just leave their change ($.20 here, $.65 there). Well, we wouldn't want our drawers to be over, so we would use the spare change for the tolls we went through on the way to and from Universal. 


Towards the end of the summer, I guess there were "secret shoppers" out and one of them told me I could keep the change. In Universal's eyes it was a BIG NO-NO. They called me in, took the $.45, and fired me. Thankfully it was only a week or so before we were heading back to Michigan so I was able to finish out the rest of the LT Program. And it couldn't have been too bad of an infraction because they hired me back the following year (I was an attendant at the Twister attraction the next summer). 

10. Tell us something we might not know about you from first meeting you!
Every time I tell people this they are stunned, so I guess I will use it here - I was a cheerleader. 


Drum roll please! My nominations for the Liebster Award are:

1. Megan at Running Toward the Prize
2. Krissy at Shiawase Life
3. Joe at Run 8va
4. Brian at Pavement Runner
5. Evelin at EvelinRuns
6. Danielle at Live, Run, Grow
7. Linzie at See Sharp Run!
8. Kat at Katrina Elle
9. Monica at Running Happily Ever After
10. Kelly at According to Kelly

Now for the hard hitting questions:

1. What is your favorite race distance?
2. If you have a significant other, how did you two meet?
3. What do you think your biggest accomplishment has been up to this point in your life?
4. If you could be known for one thing, what would that be?
5. What is your favorite pizza topping(s)?
6. Biggest fear?
7. What is your favorite thing to listen to when running/ working out?
8. Favorite place to visit?
9. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
10. What do you love most about the running community?

Even if you weren't selected as a nominee above, I'd love to hear your answers too!!

2 comments:

Danielle said...

Thanks for the nomination Carlee! I have to say I'm totally with you on cats...I love all animals, but cats sort of freak me out! I think it's because I've always been allergic to them so I've never really gotten interacted with them at all.

I also didn't know you and Megan knew each other in college - how fun!

HALFway to the CASTle said...

I love your advice for new runners! It's something we all need to remind ourselves of every once in a while!