Liebster Award -- how FUN!!

You may have noticed the Liebster Award popping up in bloggyland lately.  This award is given to newish bloggers like myself, and it feels like a great big HUG from the blog community!  I've actually been nominated by 3 different bloggers.  How SWEET!!  

Thank you so much to Sara from Polka Dot Palace, Tiffany from One Fab Teacher, and Brittney from Teacher Inspired for nominating me!  What an honor!! 

Here are the "rules" for this award:
1. Link back to the blog that nominated me
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 readers
3. Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator
4. Share 11 random facts about myself
5. Create 11 questions for my nominees
6. Contact my nominees and let them know I've nominated them


My nominations are:
Holly at Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections
Jaimie at Kinderworld
Jennifer at Teaching with Grace
Danielle at Carolina Teacher
Leslie at First Grade and Flip Flops


I'm only going to be answering Sara's questions, since she was the first person to nominate me.  The questions are all so fun, but I just don't have that much time! :)

Sara's questions for me:

1. What is my favorite childhood memory?
My dad is a farmer, and I have the best memories of riding around with him in his big red feed truck.  The seat was really squishy and I remember bumping all over the place as we drove.  That time with my dad is a great memory from my childhood.

2. Tell about your least favorite teacher in school.
I can't say that I remember a least favorite teacher, but one of my least favorite moments was in Miss Morris' chemistry class in high school when she gave me a detention for talking too much in class!  Ha!  I had to come to school early the next day to clean beakers!! :)

3. What is my dream teaching job?
I love, love, love what I do, so I would say....exactly the job I currently have, only maybe 4 days a week instead of 5 and the ability to use the bathroom when I need to! ;)

4. Would I ever want to be an administrator?  Why or why not?
I don't feel any push to become an administrator.  I LOVE my kindies and can't imagine a better job for me!  BUT, I am SO thankful for all the administrators out there who are fabulous at their jobs (mine is!!).  They make our job as teachers so much more enjoyable and they inspire and challenge us to be better.  YAY for great administrators!!

5. What was my first car?
My first car was a 1994 two-door, red Chevy Cavalier.  I started driving in 1997.

6. What was the last movie I saw in the theater?
We saw Monsters University as a family last week.  It was great!

7. How did I come up with my kids' names?
My husband liked the name Trey.  I remember him mentioning it all the way back when we were dating in high school!  I liked it too, so it was a good fit when we found out we were having a boy first.  Trey's middle name is Matthew, after my younger brother who passed away from cancer when he was 16.

When we found out we were having a girl, my first choice for a name was Hayden.  My hubby didn't love it, so I mentioned the name of a sweet student I had taught my first year in Florida.  I loved sweet Rowan, and John agreed that it was the perfect name for our daughter.  Her middle name is Caroline, a name I have always loved.  It also happened to be John's grandma's name, which made it even more special.

8. Tell about a lesson that went wrong.
The first one that comes to mind is from when I was student teaching.  I was using plastic rulers to teach vibration in a 2nd grade classroom.  I didn't do a good job of setting expectations and the kids were going crazy with the rulers!  They were using them as swords, drumsticks, magic wands....it was awful.  AND I was being observed by my college supervisor.  I left school that day and cried all the way home.
I actually have used plastic rulers to teach vibration with my kindies and it's been great.  A little management goes a long way!!

9. What do I do to relax?
I love spending time with my friends, chilling with my hubby and kids, watching reality TV, and blogging/journaling.  I love having the house to myself, since that never happens.  I also love baking, especially if music is playing that I can sing along to!

10. What is my most memorable vacation?
I love travelling, and have been on many memorable vacations, but the one with the dearest place in my heart is the trip I took to Kenya for an African safari.  It was my brother's Make-a-Wish trip only a couple of months before he passed away, and it was unbelievable.  I can't wait to be able to travel back to Africa one day.  It's incredible!!

11. Am I a Coke or Pepsi gal?
I am not a big pop drinker at all.  I don't really care for juice, either.  I don't drink coffee, and I don't love milk unless it's on my cereal.  Soooo...that leaves water!  Lucky for me, I loooooove icy cold water!  I always have water with me - the colder the better!


11 random facts about me:
1. I grew up on a chicken farm.  Like, LOTS of chickens.  Thousands.
2. My favorite color is green (more specifically, kelly green or granny smith apple green).
3. I get anxious about driving at night.
4. I don't have a spleen.  It was removed when I was 10 because of a blood disorder that I have called Hereditary Spherocytosis.
5. I tend to be a loud talker and a fast walker.
6. I don't really like to talk on the phone.
7. I love the show House Hunters.
8. I always play instrumental hymns during the independent writing block in my classroom.  I teach in a public school, but my students don't know the words.  I do, though, and it serves as such a source of encouragement in my day.
9. I have a stone-age phone.  No data package.  No iPhone.  No Instagram.  Text and talk only.  I know that it keeps me "behind the times", but I do it intentionally.  I know that I would LOVE an iPhone and all of it's fancy features, but I'm not sure it would be wise for me to have all of that with me, all of the time.  Stone-age it is for this gal!
10. Breakfast is my favorite meal.  Love, love, love it!
11. I prefer vegetables over fruits.


Questions for my nominees:
1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
2. What is your favorite type of music to listen to?
3. What is your favorite subject to teach?
4. Where did you go to college?
5. Do you prefer sweet or salty?
6. Name 5 things that are currently in your purse.
7. Where is your favorite vacation destination?
8. How long have you been teaching?
9. What is your favorite children's book?
10. Do you prefer the mountains or the beach?
11. Name one special thing about the town you live in.


Thanks again, girls, for this fun honor!