Liebster Award

I got this awesome comment on my ‘about me‘ page that I’d been nominated for this thing called the Liebster Blog Award from a fellow blogger Elaine. I got this spike of excitement like that one time I got student of the month in elementary school. ‘What? Me? YES!’

I did a tiny bit of research to find out about this award (as most online searches go I didn’t move past the first page on Google) and I found this very handy post from a blogger Sopphey on her, more thorough, research on Liebster. Although the origins are a little obscure (it seems to have started in Germany), like so many things born in the internet it takes on a life of its own and evolves to suit the users need. So it seems this is kind of a chain letter, blogger-to-blogger award where one can acknowledge other starting bloggers to let them know they are loved and appreciated. To that I say Danke mein liebster Elaine für Ihre Nominierung! I truly appreciate your recognition and I’m glad I’m part of your circle of health/fitness/weight-loss/everyday-life bloggers. Although us non-journalist bloggers are many, we are pretty scattered and finding ones with similar interests and themes to our blogs takes time. Being recognized makes us feel special and lets us know our journaling shouldn’t be relegated to secret diaries tucked away in our dresser because no one cares. Yes you do care and that feels motivating.

So it seems there’s some guidelines to this award and in the spirit of participation and to avoid 7 years of bad luck/love/money/sex/etc I’d like to follow through with them as suggested by Elaine:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog. Danke liebster Elaine
2. List 11 random facts about yourself. I already did this but it took me fo’evah to find an 11th so it’s 10 Random Facts about Jos
3. Answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominator. Here you go:
   1. What is your favorite vegetable and how do you like it cooked/prepared? Currently into all kinds of squash because they’re easy to prepare: ziploc bag, 3 minutes in the microwave
   2. What have you done today that you are proud of? I posted on my blog. #WIN
   3. Do you prefer to exercise alone or with a partner or group?  Why? Running alone to gather my thoughts and work on my timing but love group circuit training like the ones in Fit in 42 where we motivate each other to work harder than we thought we were capable of.
   4. What kind of house, condo, etc. would be your ideal home? Right now my dream is an apartment in a colorful gentrified favela in Brazil. I can dream right?
   5. What is your favorite concert that you have attended? Zac Brown and Toby Keith at Stagecoach 2013. Yep, I’m a Mexican girl who loves me some country music. Best show ever.
   6. What kind of profession do you work in? (…or most recently worked in?) I manage an archery shop. I’m a pretty good instructor to be honest.
   7. Do you have any pets?  If so, what are they? I have two dogs. They are nuts and I question their intelligence at times but they love me and I love them.
   8. What are you grateful for? I have a GREAT family I’m very proud of.
   9. What is the weirdest food you have ever eaten?  Would you eat it again? I had Cambodian lemon-cured tripe salad once. Might not try it again.
   10. Would you prefer hiking or biking?  Why? Hiking for sure. I love being out in trails and getting away from civilization.
   11. What has been your most difficult habit to give up or change? Food, I am terribly addicted to eating out of pure habit rather than hunger. I have to deal with it every day. Living in a house of mostly adults there are no set meal times so there’s food available all the time. Getting over it is a daily work in progress.
4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers to nominate and include links to their blogs. I’m taking some liberty with this one and nominating blogs I like and think other people should check out.
• Running My Ass Off This guy’s my favorite blogger. I admire his journey and enjoy his writing style. 
• Fitwithlyn  I like how positive and motivated she is. It’s infectious.
• Andy’s Weight Loss Oddessey Another blogger that lost weight running. Also great insightful posts.
• Matty Migs (nunomm1) This guy is pretty diligent about his training posts, something I want to do as well.
• Rants and Raves of a Dieting Waitress What I like about this blogger is she includes her adventures in life as part of her blog. Feel like I could get to know her in a non creeper way. Creeper, that’s what the kids say these days.
• Aly Garlic Hands This guy has an amazing food blog. Can you say food porn?
• Forage & Fodder This blog makes me appreciate the little things that make it all worthwhile.
• Damn girl, that’s a lot of fattitude It’s fun to read this girl’s posts and I want to lose weight like she did.
• The Militant Baker I love this blog, this woman is all about stomping out fat shaming and loving your body. She recently got publicity with her Abercrobie & Fitch spoof shoots. She’s great.
• Healthy Fit This is a blog from one of my first personal trainers. His influence is with me to this day. His blog is great and he’s just a fantastic human being.
• Losing It This lady shows you how crazy hectic it is to lose weight while being a mom to babies, admirable.
1. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.
   1. In a world where you get to chose one super power, what would yours be?
   2. What would be your new super hero name? Cape or no cape?
   3. What kind of student were you?
   4. Hidden talent? Photos or video get extra ‘Jos’ credit
   5. Finish this sentence: At a party I am the person most likely to _______
   6. Name a guilty pleasure in your iPod playlists.
   7. What inspired you to become a blogger?
   8. What is your favorite quote?
   9. Finish THIS sentence: If I knew I could not fail I would _______
   10. What are you proudest of in your life?
   11. How do you want to be remembered?
2. Go to each bloggers page and let them know you have nominated them. I’m on it!

To my fellow bloggers. You add to the world’s bank of information in ways others wish but don’t resolve to put into ‘ink’. Their experience and wisdom one day will fade but yours has a better chance of existing for others to learn  from and that has real worth. So keep writing, because it means that you’re Living with a capital ‘L’.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. -Benjamin Franklin