Liebster

My friend Holly nominated me for a Liebster Award, which is basically a way to share some blog-love with your readers. It started out as something that was for blogs with less than ten followers to try and direct more traffic their way (i.e. “I love this blog but no one reads it except me, so I’ll give them a Liebster Award and talk them up!”). Over the years the rules have evolved to be more complicated and more varied, depending on who you receive the award from. Apparently the two rules that haven’t changed are 1) you have to accept it and 2) you have to pass it on by linking to blogs that you love. Since I already wrote a rather lengthy post about the blogs that I love (which included Holly!), I’m not going to pass on the award at this point. But I will do the other things that Holly asked, which are to give 11 random facts about myself and answer the 11 questions that she posted. So here you go, Holly! Thanks for the props!

Random Facts

1. I ate barbecued chicken hearts in Brasil, and liked them.
2. I learned how to ride a bike in 2010. (Thanks, Liz!)
3. My feet are a half size different, so I am perpetually having to choose whether I want one foot to have blisters or the other foot to lose circulation. Plus they are exceptionally narrow, which is also annoying.
4. I’ve been electrocuted twice. The first was by a broken lightbulb on a plugged-in strand of Christmas lights and just gave me a headache. The second was by stepping in a puddle of water that had a frayed electrical cord running through it; I ended up in the next room and had a migraine, whiplash, and felt like throwing up. I don’t recommend this experience.
5. I have very vivid dreams, which I usually remember in the morning. I dream in black and white sometimes and in color sometimes. Once I even dreamed in German (I think) with English subtitles. Those were very convenient for my subconscious.
6. I’m usually cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Ryan says that my body’s thermostat is broken; I think he’s correct.
7. My favorite painting that I’ve seen in person is Picasso’s The Old Guitarist.
8. I really love Ace of Base’s album The Sign. I know I should be ashamed. But I’m not.
9. I took an early childhood education course that was four credit hours at the same time that Ryan was taking quantum mechanics, which was also four credit hours. He was not impressed, especially the night he was studying for an exam and I was making a model of a historical figure out of a paper plate.
10. I really can’t handle people driving around with their windshield wipers halfway up the windshield. And I definitely cannot park my car with the wipers not in their full, downright, and locked position.
11. I don’t like Twizzlers at all but will never refuse if I am offered one. I’m not sure why because I inevitably spend the whole time thinking, “I really hate these.” It’s a strange and decidedly untasty compulsion.

Questions from Holly!

1. If you could eat any breakfast food right now, what would it be?  Please be very descriptive.  I love breakfast food and want to drool all over your descriptions. Well, I have several options for this because I would eat breakfast food for every meal and also for snacks because I love it. First, a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut (or five) hot off the line. Just so delicious. Second, the cinnamon roll French toast at the Egg’lectic Cafe in Wheaton. We went there all the time in college and I’ve never gotten any other item, no matter what meal. They take a homemade cinnamon roll, cut it into slices, and MAKE IT INTO FRENCH TOAST. Then they put homemade glaze on the top slice and give you real, warm maple syrup. I don’t know that breakfast food gets much better. It is so delicious that I willingly overlook the myriad of grammatical and spelling errors on the menu (and the random apostrophe in the name) to patronize the place; that’s how you know I’m really serious about it. And third, my cousin Todd used to own a coffee shop in Texas and my aunts made the bagels fresh every morning. Last year I visited and got to have a homemade cinnamon raisin bagel, hot out of the oven, with cream cheese melting on top. I also had a fresh steamed milk with blackberry syrup and a shot of white chocolate, and ate it sitting in a comfy chair in a room full of books surrounded by family. That was the very best bagel I’ve ever tasted.
2. What book is closest to where you’re sitting, right this very minute? There’s a stack of books on the coffee table next to me, so I don’t know which one is closest. But the list is: Hipster Christianity by Brett McCracken, Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset, A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, Birthing a Better Way by Kalena Cook and Margaret Christensen, and Ha Ha, Maisy! by Lucy Cousins.
3. Think about something you really want to do (you don’t have to share what it is).  What’s holding you back? I would like to get certified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant at some point. There are two things holding me back: time and money. To become an IBCLC, I’d need seven or eight college courses, 90 hours of lactation training, and 500 documented hours of clinical work, plus passing the certification exam (which is only offered once a year). A training course that provides the 90 hours of instruction is around $1000, plus the childcare I’d need to provide for Eli during my clinicals and the tuition for the college courses. And then the fee just to take the exam is nearly $1000. So… it’s going to be awhile. But someday!
4. Which holiday has the traditions that you enjoy the most? Probably Thanksgiving. We always started off the day by moving a tv into the kitchen and watching the Thanksgiving parade while my mom made breakfast. Then we hung out and read books and things until lunch was ready. We each got three kernels of corn, to represent the daily rations of the Pilgrims during their first winter. We then went around in a circle three times, each time saying one thing we were thankful for, and then eating a kernel of corn. And no one could reuse something anyone else had said. Then, we ate all the food we could eat. Once we finished, we’d do the dishes and then play a game until we were un-full enough to eat pie. After pie we took a nap. We’d wake up from the nap and have turkey sandwiches and leftovers for dinner while we watched a movie, usually something like It’s a Wonderful Life. The next morning we’d wake up and go to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. And then on Saturday we decorated the tree, and officially opened the Christmas music listening season.
5. Fill in the blanks: I would do twice as much (insert household task/chore), in exchange for never having to (insert another household task/chore) EVER AGAIN. I would do twice as much diaper changing in exchange for never having to weed the garden EVER AGAIN.
6. Do you like how common your name is?  [ie, “Sarah”s, do you like sharing your name with half the world?  “Shelande”s, do you like having such a unique name?] My name has never been all that common, and I like that. The only catch is that no one is ever sure if my name might actually Stephanie, Tiffany, or Brittany. One semester in college, though, they assigned our seats in chapel alphabetically by first name. So my row was Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Beth, Beth, Beth, Bethany, Bethany, Bethany, Bethany, Bethany, Bethany, Bethany, Brad, and Brad. This made it incredibly impossible for anyone to get anyone else’s attention, because if you said, “Hey, Bethany!” seven Bethanys turned around.
7. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you “grew up”? A marine biologist, until I was in high school, and then I was all about obstetrics & gynecology.
8. Do you have as much trouble with the “Insert Numbered List” function as I do?  It always – ALWAYS – screws up my formatting.  I’ve resigned myself to actually typing the numbers. YES!
9. What are you using to replace/instead of Google Reader? I’ve already been using Feedly in conjunction with Google Reader, so I’m set as far as a reader on my desktop. But Feedly doesn’t work on my 2nd gen. iPod, so I’m also using The Old Reader in hopes that it will. I actually haven’t tried it on my iPod yet because I’ve been waiting to have my links imported. I have over 23,000 people in line ahead of me, though, so hopefully it’ll work before July 1.
10. What smell is nostalgic to you? The smell of passion fruit simultaneously takes me to two places, on two continents. The first is to drinking passion fruit juice in Kenya, overlooking a river where hippos are swimming around, watching the sun set. The second is to eating passion fruit mousse on the balcony of my host family’s apartment in downtown Porto Alegre, Brasil, watching all the lights of the bustling city. Passion fruit is immediately relaxing and transporting for me.
11. Self-Serving Question: What would you like to read more of on this blog? I love your writing about daily life in Singapore the most, I think. But I enjoy all your posts, even the ones about running, and the only way I run is a) if someone – or something – is chasing me or b) if Eli is headed into immediate danger. All that to say that I just enjoy reading what you write, and the only way I’d enjoy it more is if you still lived close enough that I could tell you in person. And also eat the delicious treats you make.