The Liebster Award

I am totally stealing this from Kate over at Once Upon the Ordinary, who got it from Bookish Doughters of the King because it looked like so much fun! I'm currently buried under a mountain of work, so It was nice to take a break and do this!

The Questions:

1. What is your favorite Bible verse and why is it special to you?

My favorite verse is Romans 8:28 Romans 8:38-39. Or Jerimiah 29:11. It depends on the day. I also love the whole books of 1&2 Timothy. I love reminders that God is here, working, and has a plan. <3

2. What is your favorite movie and why?

Okay, that's a tough one. I really love The War Within when I'm in the mood for something serious. If I feel in the mood for lighthearted I really love the Lego movies. 

3. What would you consider your hidden talent?

Oh, I am pretty good at buying last-minute gifts. This comes in real handy when I forget it's someone's birthday and only have 10 minutes in Walmart to buy a gift. I consider myself fairly good at picking out quick gifts but I guess you'd have to confirm that with people who have received the gifts. XD

4. What book could you read over and over again?

Dear Mr. Knightly by Kathryn Reay. Which I have proven by reading it seven times. It's amazing! Also Red Rain by Aubrey Hanson. 

5. What are your favorite names?

I really love Alyssa, Kathryn, Autumn, and Kate. For boys, I like David, Luke, and Jack. I love collecting names for my books, so I have whole lists of names. I tend to lean towards one or syllable names, or nicknames. 

6. What’s your favorite place on earth?

My home. I love it here. <3 My family is here, my dog, and my epic room. I love being here more than anywhere else. 

7. If you had a TV show or book made about you, what would the title be?

Adventures in Babysitting? Oops, that one's already taken. XD The Extroverted Writer? That's a rare one. ;)

8. Who is your top favorite author?

I love Sarah Holman, Kate (Willis) Hoppman, and Jaye L. Knight. All of them are just incredible!

9. Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

An extrovert. Not to be mistaken with someone who wants to be with people 24/7. I REALLY love people and will go nuts without seeing someone for a few hours, but I love alone time (Don't ask how those two co-exist, I have no idea myself). I love family parties, but am not into hanging with a lot of strangers. I have been called an ambivert and I'm cool with that to. 

10. What’s your biggest goal in life?

To love God with my whole heart and to share His love with others. 

11. What’s your favorite TV show?

I really love The Bionic Woman (with Lindsey Wagner), but I really love older TV shows so I love a lot of shows. 

What book could you read over and over again?

Ideal Inspitaion Tag

I got tagged by Izzy from the blog Isabella Kate to do the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award. I'm honestly going to skip over almost all of the steps because I hate rules, but I'm going to answer the questions! 

 1. What is your favorite summer activity?

Obviously, I've waited too long to answer this since there is now ice on my windows. But, in the summer I really like to take nighttime walks in the warm weather. That makes me very happy. Also, I really love eating watermelon on the porch. 

2. Favorite stationary product and why?

Well, I really love wax seals. Those are just fun to put on and they make the letters feel fancy. But I also really love pens. I am fairly picky about my pens, but I just really love them. I have never really liked pencils unless we're talking about drawing. 

3. How did you first get introduced to blogging?

My older sister started blogging when I was a kid, and so I knew about it from her. She helped me set up my very first blog, The Bubblegum Ballerina when I was thirteen. 

4. How do you manage blogging and school + life?

I am not in school anymore, but I do work three days a week. When I'm not working, I am able to spend a lot of my free time doing whatever I want. So it's pretty easy for me to fit in a blog post once a week. I used to spend a lot more time writing blog posts and networking, but now I have cut back to accommodate how much time I'm working, and doing other projects. 

5. Best tips for how to start blogging

1. Start out simple. Post once a week to start with. Don't burn yourself out or overwhelm your readers. Twice a week is probably the max you want to do or else people are going to stop paying attention. You can always schedule out posts! 

2. Get a good design. My blog may not be the best example of this, since I made my own, but get a good design for your blog. Either pay someone or get a friend who knows their stuff to help. I would always lean towards simplistic, you can always add more to it later but you really don't want your blog to be overwhelming with colors and pictures. 

3. Have fun. If the blog isn't fun for you, it probably isn't fun for anyone. Choose subjects you are passionate about and just enjoy writing about them.

So there you have it. If you don't already follow Izzy, you should check out her blog! What are you looking forward to most come summer?

The Narnia Tag

I found this tag over on Jenna Terese's blog and it looked fun, so I decided to pick it up! I wouldn't call myself a huge Narnia fan, but I do love the storys. 

Rules: 

Thank the person who nominated you (Thank you, Jenna!)

Describe the rate of your Narnia fanatic (Nostalgic, Serious, Maniacal)

Answer the questions below

Tag 5+ bloggers

Have fun!

Rate of Narnia Fanatics:

01. Nostalgic Fanatic—You read the book and/or watched the movies as a child and the word Narnia gives you a warm feeling

02. Serious Fanatic—You rediscovered the wonder of Narnia after you were older and have read the books and watched the movies

03. Maniacal Fanatic—You have lived Narnia from childhood, hid in closets on more accounts than is healthy, have read and watched all the movies including the BBC version

I'm going with Serious Fanatic. I listened to the audio drama's when I was around 10-12, but didn't watch the movies and read the real books until I was older. 

A screenshot from my last re-watch of Prince Caspian

The questions: 

01. Who’s your favorite Pevensie child?

Honestly, it's a toss-up between Lucy and Edmund. I used to love Lucy hands down the best, but I have related to Edmund more as I've gotten older so now they're both kind of my favorite. 

02. What is the most underrated book in Narnia?

The Horse and His Boy. It's the best Narnia book but highly underrated. 

03. Who is your favorite Narnian king?

Peter. He made a fantastic king. 

04. Who is your favorite Narnia queen?

Lucy. <3 I felt like she was a bit stronger of a queen than Susan. 

05. Which non-human Narnian do you like best?

Mr. Tumnus. He was so awesome and kind. <3 

06. Which book deserves a movie?

The Horse and His Boy. I've always wanted to see a movie of it.

07. What is one thing you did as a Narnia fan that you do not regret?

The first time I watched Narnia I watched all three of them in one day. That was a long day, and I was super brain dead but it was 100% worth it. I still intend to do that again someday, but I haven't made time.  

That was fun! If anyone wants to do it, just go ahead and grab the tag! 

What's your favorite Narnia book?

The Mystery Blogger Award

I was tagged by Katja to do the Mystery Blogger Award! I also picked up Kate's questions, cause they were fun. It's been a while since I've done a tag like this, so this should be fun!


Katja questions: 

1. How many notebooks do you think you own? 
Ha, I have no idea. Maybe 20 empty and about three full? I don't actually keep full notebooks, just pages from them. My notebooks are more for writing letters or scribbling ideas in that I just input into the computer.

2. What's your favorite male name and your favorite female name? 
Well, I can't say I've really thought about it that much. I really like the name David, and honestly, I don't know for girl's names. I really like Kate and Amanda. I have fond memories attached to those names.

3. What is your passion? Your driving passion? 
My passion is really to live a life that honors God and to show His love to others.

4. Chicken burgers and fish sticks... with or without breadcrumbs? 
With. It makes chicken delicious, and it's the only thing that could make fish sticks palatable.

5. Any opinion on poetry, specifically classical poetry? 
As all my readers probably know, I love poetry. I've written poetry since I was about 12, and really got into when I was 16. But classical poetry? Not my thing. I have tried several different authors and... mostly just ended up board. Or confused. Metaphors are not my thing, and most poetry uses them really heavily.

Kate's questions: 

What is one song that makes you happy every time it comes on?
Speak Life by Toby Mac is always a guaranteed smile, but for some reason the song I always turn to when I just need a smile is the theme from Greatest American Hero. I don't really like that show, but the song has some really fond memories, and it's just fun and happy.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever baked?
Um, those little shrink plastic toys? I'm not much of a baker. I'd rather be cooking.

What is one book you’ll never forget?
Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay and Rainbow Garden by Patricia St. John. Sorry, I had to do two. These are two of the most impactful books in my life.

Orange Julius or lemonade?
Neither? I do not like lemonade, and I just don't love orange juice.

What is your favorite graphic novel or comic book?
I don't really have one. I feel like I've read one, but I don't really make a habit of it.

This was really fun! If anyone wants to do it, feel free to! Or answer some of the questions in the comments!

Never Have I Ever Tag (Writers Edition)

I saw this tag on Jenna Terese's blog and it looked like so much fun I decided to do it! So here are some things that I have, and have not done as a writer!
Also, I finally updated my profile pictures and the ones in the "about me" page! The photos in this post are ones I had left over. =)

Never have I ever…

…started a novel that I didn’t finish…

Yes, but only once, and that's because it was a co-write that the other author did not want to finish. The only other novel that I have started and not completed is simply waiting for a few months until I get time to finish it. 

…written a story completely by hand…

No. Halfway through writing my very first story by hand I couldn't stand it and I switched to the computer. 

…changed tenses midway through a story…

I don't think so. But that's because I rarely ever use anything other than first-person past tense.  

…not researched anything before starting a story…

All. The. Time. I hate research. Most of the time I write contemporary stories that require little to no research. 

…changed my protagonist’s names halfway through the draft…

I feel like this is something I would do, but I never remember actually doing it. ;)

…written a story in a month or less…

Several times. Most of my stories are novellas, so writing them in a month is pretty easy. 

…fallen asleep while writing…

More times then I care to count. In a family of eight late at night is the quietest time, and one of my favorite times to write, but I don't normally stay up late so I fall asleep easily.

…corrected someone’s grammar IRL/online…

Only with my family, and most of the time just for fun because we never mind. I try to never do it online, or in person. Mostly because I believe it's really rude, but also I do not have fantastic grammar myself.

…yelled in all caps at myself in the middle of a novel…

Yes. Mostly on bad nights in the middle of NaNo. 

…used “I’m writing” as an excuse…

Yes. Sometimes during NaNo, or when I have a deadline I've set for myself, I will put other things off for my writing. 

…killed a character that was based off someone I know in real life…

No. I rarely ever kill characters, but when I do it's rarely the ones based off real people. 

…used pop culture references in a story…

Yes! But not often. Actually, it's been a long time since I've done that. 

…written between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m…

No. I do not like staying up past midnight and I am not really awake until seven at the earliest, and I don't really write before nine. 

…drank an entire pot of coffee while writing…

No. I hate coffee. I do not drink it at all. 

…written down dreams to use in potential novels…

I have actually written a story based off of a dream. But I do write down notable ones. 

…published an unedited story on the internet/blog/Wattpad…

Yes. I published a short story on my blog that was only edited by me. 

…procrastinated homework because I wanted to write…

Honestly, it's been a while since I've been in school, so I don't know. I don't think so, though. I always liked getting school done before writing. 

…typed so long that my wrists hurt…

All the time. My wrists are not super strong. ;D

…spilled a drink on my laptop while writing…

Once, a very long time ago I spilled a drink on my mom's laptop and ruined it. Now I never keep drinks near my computer. 

…forgotten to save my work/draft…

My word document automatically saves, so I never really forget. But I have had it incorrectly save before. 

…finished a novel…

I have finished two full-length (50K) novels and over thirty stories everywhere from 5k-40k. 

…laughed like an evil villain while writing a scene…

Absolutely. 

…cried while writing a scene…

Twice. But both of them were not actually that emotional, but I cry at weird times.

…created maps of my fictional worlds…

Once, I think. I keep a pretty good map in my head and it does not transfer to paper well. 

…researched something shady for a novel…

Of course! It also helps that my brother is a nurse, so all my stabbing/shooting/general medical questions can be directed to him.  

So, when do you normally write? Ever yell at yourself in all caps?