In Which I Bend Rules and Answer All the Questions

One thing I love about blog awards is being able to answer all the things. It's like settling back for a relaxing conversation with dear friends. In this case: you!

Laura at String of Pearls has generously nominated me for a Liebster award. Thank you, Laura, for such a great honor! And while I'm going to break bend the official Leibster rules a bit (more on that later), I will answer the questions Laura presented, and I'll have fun with them, and I solemnly promise to respond to the best of my ability so help me Aging Brain.

Laura's questions:

1. Do you have a favorite saint, and what drew you to him/her?
    I'd have to go with St. Francis de Sales. I was drawn to him by... I think by him! That's a long story, of post-length all on its own, and maybe I'll write it down one day. The main thing is that this saint and Doctor of the Church taught lay people about their call to live totally for Christ.
     Not so radical, you say? Actually, In the 1600s .... it kind of was.

 2. Do you have a best-loved book that you've read multiple times?  (And will you probably read it again?)  Or do you always just read a book once and pass it on to others?
     Admission: my books alone would qualify me for one of those programs about hoarders.
     Oh dear. Did I just write that out loud? The thing is: after (and before) they've been read, books become my wallpaper. I love living surrounded by them. I "blame" that, in large part, on cozy rainy afternoons in the used books store when I was a child. Which is all to say I'm rather selfish about passing them on. BUT!  I do actually re-read many of them, and pass portions on to you, right here.
     And best loved ones? Oh, so many! Treatise on the Love of God by St. Francis de Sales. St. Faustina's Diary. And from the strictly secular end: To Kill a Mockingbird (is that everyone's favorite?), and the poetry of Robert Frost. 

3. What is your family's Christmas Eve tradition?
    That changes year-to-year, now that the children are grown and cherished grandchildren are in the picture.

4. When you dress up in heels, do you wear panty hose/tights, or do you go bare-legged?
    I haven't worn heels in ages, but when I wear 'dress' shoes, I always wear hose.

5. How did you and your husband meet?
    Through God's grace to help me make a good decision, and I'm absolutely certain that was the case. It was a Memorial Day, I was in college, and I was invited to a party. I'd been to a gathering with this basic group of people before, and it had gotten a bit wilder than I was comfortable with. But this was a holiday, after all, so I figured I'd probably just go.
    Then I got a phone call from the president of the Catholic student center at my University. Would I like to come over that night to do some typing for their Mass bulletin? I'd wanted to get to know some Catholic students, so I made a decision right there on the spot. I'd go for the typing.
    Boy, did I take flak for that one! Type instead of going to a cool party...? On Memorial Day?!?! ("what on EARTH has happened to Nancy?!"). The typing took about half an hour, and then - well, what do you know. There was a party right there, in the kitchen of a priest-chaplain! Into the gathering walked a tall, smiling young man and that, as they say, was that. He called me the next night and talked for over two hours (he told me later that he was trying to get up the nerve to ask me out). We dated for a year, became best friends as well as sweethearts, saw each other nearly every day, and he called me absolutely every day. We sent silly greeting cards to each other constantly, and we went to the Catholic student center chapel to make visits to the Blessed Sacrament as an end to many of our dates (his idea). We married thirteen months after that first meeting.
    Typing on Memorial Day? It turned out that decision was worth any amount of "flak" I had to endure.

6. What's your go-to prayer in times of distress?
    The Sign of the Cross, and the aspiration "'Jesus, I trust in You."

7. Where is the one place in the world you would visit if you could?
    Annecy, France, where Sts, Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. Anyway, Annecy is a charming little town.  See...............................................?

8. How many siblings do you have?
    I had one sister, thirteen years older than I. She's no longer living.

9. Are you a worrier?  (I'm worried you'll think that's a weird question.)
    I'm worried that if I say yes, you'll think I don't trust in God enough. And I'm worried that if I say no, I won't be entirely truthful. I'm worried that I'm worrying too much about what you'll think, either way. I'm worried that I should trust God with my feelings as much as with my decisions, but of course I can help my decisions but not my feelings. I'm worried that I might be over-thinking this. I'm worried that I might be, in fact, a worrier. I'm worried that I will never actually get around to answering this question.
    Am I a worrier? Hmm. Think I need some help answering that. What do you think......

10. What, if any, sport do you enjoy watching the most?
    Thank you for the "if any." In my case, it definitely applies.  In my high school and college days I did like basketball, but that was looooooong ago. Now I can ... sort of ... tolerate watching ice skating and surfing, but I get bored quickly even with those.

Now: here's the part where I break the rules. I do hope you will forgive me, but you see, I really wanted to answer Laura's fun questions, and this blog has been "'Liebstered" before, and I think I've passed the award on to a number of other bloggers and now I can't remember who they are (oooops), and there are many blogs I'd like to pass it along to but I'm WORRIED that I'll leave out a blog that I love, love, love simply because my memory is old and creaky, creaky, creaky.

So - instead of posing questions and officially nominating anyone, I am simply going to call your attention to a few blogs that probably don't take "blog questions" anyway.  If you have not found these yet, you just might thank me for telling you about them (and you're welcome!).

I encourage you to visit these ....

Ben O'Neill at Walk with Me.  Ben is a young man serving as a missionary with FOCUS, and his enthusiastic dedication to God is contagious.

Victoria's Art. I find Victoria's artwork stunning. It's a big word, 'stunning,' and I mean every bit of its bigness. Not only does Victoria share her finished work, she often takes us through her process of creating it. Check it out!

The Mad Eyed Monk.  I've mentioned this blog here before, but the writer has begun posting again after a little break. Hers is good poetry.  And I mean really good poetry.  Poetry shows, it does not tell, a writing teacher said years ago. Check out this blog and I think you'll see what that means.

Linda Maran's blogs, particularly It's Time for Pain Free, Prep Free Living and Linda Maran, Freelance Writer. Linda writes Christian fiction, Amish novels, and self-help nonfiction.

If any of these four bloggers would like to accept the Liebster Award, please consider this a nomination. You can add this (or any as I understand it) Liebster "badge" to your sidebar.

Thank you again, Laura. And may God bless us, every one!

Catholic Writer's Award - Fresh out of the Box!

Pinch me.

I have just received a newly minted Catholic Writer's Award, fresh out of the box, from none other than Melanie Jean Juneau.  And to make the whole thing even more interesting, Melanie was writing about this while I (not having a clue that any such thing was being done) sat at Mass with what I considered a 'distraction' suddenly popping into my head.  Wouldn't it be nice, thought I, if there were a simple, attractive, no-strings-attached-Catholic-bloggers' award, one acknowledging really good faith-blogging.  

 

I came home, turned on the computer, and found It Had Just Been Done.  Then, even as I was reeling from the timing of that, I discovered that I was actually one of the first recipients.  

 

Pinch me.  

 

The award itself is beautiful (isn't it beautiful?!!!!?!), and I love what Melanie wrote about it.  Which can be found here:  http://melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/a-new-catholic-writing-award/ ) '

What a wonderful job you have done, Melanie.  May this beautiful award spread far and wide!

Pinch me.  But not just yet.  I'm not quite ready to wake up.

Thank You...

It's still awards season in the blog world.  I suppose it always is, as long as someone has been kind enough to pass along such treasures as the Semper Fidelis Award.  Thank you, Anabelle at Written by the Finger of God, for nominating The Breadbox Letters for this!

But alas.  It seems this blog does not technically qualify.  Intrigued by the words 'may you never howl alone,' I checked on the award, and from what I can tell it's for Word Press blogs.  Which The Breadbox Letters is not.  However, I hope no one minds if I slip a teeny picture of the award on this teeny post, along with a teeny bit of information about ... well, about never going it alone.

Semper Fidelis is Latin for always faithful.  Wolves are used to exemplify this (here) because they have strong links with their pack.  Put simply: they need one another.

A quick look at blogs listed under 'we have mail' on my sidebar will reveal a number of bloggers whose companionship I 'need.'   There is quite a variety.  Homeschoolers, crafters, prayer-sharers, apologists, priests, cooks, poets, nuns, grandparents, painters, photographers, and a few who cause their readers to laugh out loud.  Different ages, personalities, writing styles; yes, it's a remarkable mix.  But all have the same core goal.

Sainthood.  

'The most wonderful thing about the saints, after their dissimilarity, is their similarity, which is a golden chain binding them all together.  In the Calendar of saints we find all sorts and conditions of men: all trades and professions, from the tramp to the king, from the former wanton to the virgin, from the child to the centenarian.  Some particular vice, or tendency to vice, had to be overcome by nearly all of them.  But when all is said and done, the bedrock principle underlying each life is an intense, personal love of God, showing itself outwardly in sanctity of life, and in zeal to bring souls to Him.  To get to Heaven each of us must be a saint...

'The saint is one who makes Christ his Friend, Confidant and Companion; who walks arm-in-arm with Christ through life; who makes God's opinion his opinion, God's laws his laws, God's judgments his judgments, God's will his will...

'Is this easy?  By no means.  Try it for awhile, and see what daily, hourly repression of self it implies; what stabs of self-love and self-esteem, what patience and sweetness with others.'  (from Fervorinos From the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, pp. 339-341)

I thank God for the faithful bloggers who help me on the path to heaven.

And I thank God for the saints who have already made it Home.  They are the ones who inspire and pray for us as we continue to stumble along. 

If I were able to accept this award, I'd pass it on to some of my friends the saints.  I would link to their stories and their writings.  So thank you, Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal, Margaret Mary, Faustina, Teresa of Avila, Paul of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, John of the Cross, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi, the writers of the Gospels (and dear Sts. Peter and Paul), and all saints of Heaven.  Thank you for your prayer, your witness, and for the writings you have left us (and we all know you're the primary writers of this blog, so this one's definitely for you).   

I've only mentioned a handful of your number, but you are our Heavenly family.  You are our 'pack.' 

Thank you that we need not walk alone.

Painting:  James Sant, A Thorn amidst the Roses 1887

And the Winners Are....

You won't find The Breadbox Letters in the list of final winners of the Sheenazing Award.  But as I wrote two days ago, I have won, and won big.

In fact, I have one more thing to add to the list of winnings.  That is:  a new appeciation of the writings of the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.  It is for him that the Sheenazing Awards are named and presented; because of this, I've dug into his writings just a bit more over the last few days. 

And all I can say about that is:  well, take a look at what I mean.....

"Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote.  Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right." 

"Not many men want to die to their lower selves; it costs so much. Some prefer to have a cosmic religion, which neither puts restraint on their pride nor curbs their passions." 

"A spirit of license makes a man refuse to commit himself to any standards. The right time is the way he sets his watch. The yardstick has the number of inches that he wills it to have. Liberty becomes license and unbounded license leads to unbounded tyranny. When society reaches this stage, and there is no standard of right and wrong outside of the individual himself, then the individual is defenseless against the onslaughts of cruder and more violent men who proclaim their own subjective sense of values." 

"The Western world has been attempting to preserve the fruits of Christianity after having surrendered the roots."   

(all quotes from Archbishop Sheen)

Thanks be to God for the Sheenazing Awards!  I continue to be deeply honored by my nomination. 

All of the winners of the Sheenazing Awards can be found by clicking here.  Congratulations all! 

It's a Major Award!

No, this is not an announcement of a win.  Voting for the Sheenazing Award won't close for a few hours yet, and anyway - this new kid on the blogk definitely doesn't consider herself an actual contender.  After all, there sits little breadbox letters among the ranks of the biggie-blogs like... well, you know.  THOSE.

Which is why I consider the nomination itself a major win.  I feel like a starsblogstruck extra finding herself on the set of a movie starring Meryl Streep.

It's enough just to gaze open-mouthed at the amazing Sheenazing work being done in one's presence.  It's also enough to say to whoever nominated this blog:  thank you.  Sometimes a blogger wonders if she's composing (or in my case, often quoting) anything that truly touches anyone "out there."  The person who nominated this blog...  my new BFF... probably knows this, because you're likely to be a blogger yourself.  You know it's nice to, every now and then, get an "attagirl" to help you keep on going.

Thank you to everyone who reads, everyone who comments, everyone who subscribes, everyone who nudges me toward the keyboard.  Because you're here, I'm encouraged to live chunks of my days steeped in:

1)  Scripture

2)  Writings of saints

3)  Magnificent artwork 

4)  Prayer (I pray every time I look for a match up of picture and post; yes, every time)

5)  You, my blog friends

6)  And sharing in The Sheenazing Awards!  I hope to visit, in time, every single nominee.  What a treasure trove of wisdom and inspiration and fun!

I look forward to congratulating the winners in each category.  As for me, I see six things I've listed above and know for certain:  

I have won a major award. 

GOSH.

A person could get used to this.

Anabelle at Written by the Finger of God has been kind enough to honor The Breadbox Letters with three blog awards!  One of which is the glorious, beautiful, gleaming, red-carpet-worthy, Best Moment Award.  

Oooooh.

                                                                    
All I can think of to do, in my blushing, head-ducking, shyly smiling flusterment, is to quote a character from my favorite BBC program.  So, in words of Camilla Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne Noakes:

                                                                     "Gosh!"

Because this is called the "Best Moment" award, I think I'll get all thematic AGAIN (I'm having fun with that) and make my list about the 10 best moments of my own life.  

That I can think of.  We all know that fifty other obvious ones will pop into my mind as soon as I click "publish."  Because I have shared many of my more significant holy moments either here or on my other blog, I think I'll stick to some "lighter" things for this list.  Which will be random, as (and if) I think of them.....

(do I have to limit it to only ten?  Gosh!  Maybe I can combine a few...)

1.  My wedding day.  Every moment was a best moment.  Even the one in which I tried to place the ring on my groom's right hand.  He kept giving me his left and I kept giving it back and grabbing for his right.  Poor thing, thought I, he's so nervous and confused.   Thankfully I gave up and humored him.  

2.  The moments when my children were born. 

3.  The moment I learned my first grandchild had been born.  I set this one slightly apart from the births of my other grands because I was there, within "hearing distance" of the delivery room, straining for the sound of my grandchild's first cry.  We'd been told the labor wasn't progressing smoothly.  I was stressed.   My interior prayer was constant and intense.  Then: the moment of joyous relief.   

4.  The moments when I learned that grandchildren numbers two and three had been born.  This news was delivered by phone, because both times I was at home caring for the older ones.  The prayer had been just as intense, however, and I sobbed both times.  

5.  When my grandchildren's parents were married (which DID happen before the grands were born, but I'm just now thinking of it.  Told you this would be random).  I sobbed. 

6.  (My Best Moments tend to be damp).

7.  The first moment I tore open an envelope to read: "thank you for your article.  We would like to publish it..."  I had never submitted an article before.  I'd never WRITTEN an article before.  No one, including me, even knew I was writing an article.  I was just clacking out thoughts on my handy dandy electric typewriter (Yes. This happened That Long Ago) during hours when the kids were in school.  On a whim, I sent it to a Catholic magazine.  I told no one I'd done such a reckless thing.  I didn't even tell my husband.  

When I called Hubby at his office to say that, um, I'd had an article accepted for publication, his immediate response was "I didn't know you wrote articles!"  I replied "I don't."  

There was a moment of puzzled silence from the other end of the line.  Which is understandable.  ("she couldn't tell her left hand from her right, and now she's having articles published without writing them?!?   What next...?" )  He recovered from his puzzlement when he learned I was being paid.

8.  The moment my husband proposed.  He simply got down on his knees and asked me to marry him.  This was long before proposals involved videos and skywriting and choreography.   

9.  I know I said I'd keep this list to the lighter, less "holy" moments.... but you know what? 

Every one of the above moments was holy.  Every single one was a marvelous work of God.  I look over this list and see the holiest moments of my life.  It would not be a complete package, however, if I didn't mention one moment that was utterly life-changing.  That was the moment, the instant, when I realized for sure that God was real. 

Having spent several years as a "closet agnostic," then having told God I didn't believe in Him but that if He were real I'd like for Him to show me, and then having begun reading the Gospels, I suddenly believed.  It was a moment beyond time, a moment beyond all I'd ever known before or since.  Jesus was real and I knew it.  That one moment has gloriously altered every moment since.  

It was the most significant moment of my life.  

And moment number ten?  I'll get to that in a minute.  First, I'd like to pass this award along to a few bloggers who brought me special moments of reading enjoyment in 2013. 
_____________________________________________________________________
The envelopes please...

Moments of Humor, Smiles, and Outright Laughter:  The blogs of Sue Elvis.  Since she has just accepted this very same award on Sue Elvis Writes, I pass this on to another of her blogs:  Stories of an Unschooling Family.  

Moments of Prayer:  I don't think this blog accepts awards, but I cannot help myself.  So here is a nod to the ever inspiring Truth Himself.  

Moments of Poetry:  The Mad Eyed Monk.  It is simply amazing.   

Moments of Photography:   Totus Tuus Family and Catholic Homeschool. I especially love what Allison does putting text into pictures... wow!

Moments of Classy Catholic Womanhood:  The Feminine Gift

Moments of Inspiration:  I Want to See God 

Moments of Being Inspired to Cook:  (and for me, that doesn't happen easily).  Reasons for Chocolate has shared two of my favorite recipes ever.  I'm linking this directly up to one of them (because I make this often!).  Patty shares beautiful family moments as well.

There are so many blogs I love, but I've decided to stick to just these categories.  For now.  (wink)
 _____________________________________________________________________

And my last random best moment?

10.  Right now, right here, as I write this.  For, looking at the above list of moments, I realize how utterly blessed I have been.  Grabbing a box of tissues, I know I can say (for real) EXACTLY this: 






Thank you, Anabelle.  I've had great fun. 

Appendix:  "the rules for acceptance" via Anabelle

Post a picture of the award on my blog (check)

Link to who nominated me (check)

List ten random things about myself (check)

Pass the awards on to other bloggers and inform my awardees via their comment boxes  (check..... and away we go.....!)

Gosh

 
This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Linkup Blitz

Awards, Kisses, and UH OH! SHARKS!

I am terrible at titles.  Had I been a world famous novelist, I would not have been one.  I'd just be an aging collector of rejection slips for things like Fun With Elizabeth Bennett and Mockingbirds Shouldn't Be Shot.

That could change, however.  After reading the last two posts on Sue Elvis Writes, I am seriously inspired.  I mean:  wouldn't you like to read a post called "Man Bites Shark?"

Of course you would.  And you should.  Which is why I am starting my "acceptance post" with a mention of the very first blog I'm going to pass the award on to.  Acceptance post for what? (I know you're asking). Welll...

Gloria at A Life Dedicated to Prayer has generously passed along the Sunshine Award to The Breadbox Letters.  As part of my acceptance, I am to divulge ten pieces of information about myself. 

In the interest of keeping up with the Elvises and thus offering a noteworthy subject, I choose that all time greatest attention grabber:  Romance! 

Yes. I've decided to share 10 ROMANTIC Things About Me.  

How's THAT for intrigue?

1.  I am a former Art major who married a mechanical engineer.  It happens.  Especially when said engineer is good hearted, quietly devout, super intelligent, lots of fun, and the love of one's life. 

2.  I had a "sock hop steady" when I was twelve, at dances held weekly in a local school.  I wouldn't dance with him to Ricky Nelson records though, no sir.  I had a big crush on Ricky, and dancing with another man to his songs would be just - wrong.  

3. You're too young to know who Ricky Nelson was (admit it). 

4.  On my first date, I panicked at hearing the doorbell, so I hid in my closet.  My skirt got caught in the door as my mother called out in a loud whisper "Nancy!  Get OUT here! I don't KNOW this boy!"  I eventually untangled my cotton skirt from the doorlock, and headed out to the guillotine afternoon date.  We walked three blocks to a neighborhood movie theatre in utter silence.  When we got back to my house, I said "thank-you-very-much-I-had-a-lovely-time.  Goodbye."  (I read Teen magazines, I knew how to behave).  I was thirteen.

5. My first kiss was in the springtime.  A boy brought me home from a date and looked shockingly handsome in the moonlight as it fell across my porch. He leaned in close to ask "can I kiss you goodnight?"  I gazed into his deep brown eyes and uttered the most romantic words I could think of: 

"I can't think of any reason why not...." 

I was older than thirteen by then, but am too embarrassed to tell you by how many months years. 

6.  I did not kiss on first dates... at least, not in my teens (okay, I made it to eighteen with that).  I read Teen magazines; they told me how to act (and kissing on first dates was Not How Nice Girls Acted).

7.  Teen magazines in "my day" were a far cry from what they are now.  Which tells you two things:  a) I grew up a long time ago, and b) I'm glad I grew up a long time ago.  

8.  Teen magazines are extremely influential.  About that, I am utterly serious.  They present life as they want you to think it should be .... complete with ads.  I shudder to think of what advice I'd be taking if I were a young girl dating now. 

9.  I had glasses, but never wore them on dates (or anywhere else).  After getting my glasses locked with a boy's during a movie (we'd both snuck on our specs when the film began, and I don't know how in the WORLD we managed to "lock frames" as he bent his head toward mine), I decided that hearing a movie was just fine with me.   

10.  Several friends have told me I should write about "my dating experiences," as they tend to be a bit... .. different ...from those of other people.  Ah ha, girls!  It has been done!  

But I gotta admit:  they look pretty lame in print.  Not like the shark attacks or dead bodies in Sue Elvis' world.  

To pick up the pace a bit, I will direct you to where you can read of sharks, and of bodies in the woods.  SO - my first nominee for The Sunshine Award is the ever entertaining

Sue Elvis Writes 

I also nominate:  

The Beautiful Gate 

Praying for Grace

These Joyful Mysteries

Reasons for Chocolate

My Desert Heart 

Contemplative Homeschool

MommyNovenas 

Campfires and Cleats

And I hope I nominated my other faves a few weeks ago, from my other blog.  O dear O dear, I hope I did!

I look forward to seeing what the rest of you do with this....

Looking for Something Good to Read?

Look no further!  To find a varied assortment of inspirational blog posts, we can click this line and hop over to Catholic Spirituality Blogs Network.  There, we'll find links to the twenty nominations for the first-ever Frankie Award.  "Frankie" refers, appropriately enough, to St. Francis de Sales - patron of Catholic writers.

We can even vote if we wish.  And there's an entry from right here on The Breadbox Letters... one entitled "Go Through the Motions."

Oh, but there is such marvelous variety among the entries!  I would suggest a few for your edification, but that would amount, pretty much, to suggesting all twenty. 

I'm sure St. Francis de Sales is praying for this adventure!

"Let us always belong to God, unreservedly and without interruption.  May He ever live and reign in our hearts.  Amen."  (St. Francis de Sales)

Painting attributed to Jacques Bizet

I'd Like to Thank the Academy

Thank you to Chris at Campfires and Cleats for this delightful Liebster blog award!  What a beautiful surprise, and from a blog I very much enjoy visiting. 

Now I will pass along some info about this particularly fun award...

What is the "Liebster Award," actually?  The award is given to up and coming bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers.  From what I understand, liebster is German for: "sweetest," "kindest," "nicest," "dearest," "beloved," "valued," "endearing," and "welcoming."

(BLUSH)

Chris' other recipients can be found here, and I have to say that I'm in awe to find myself among them.  And this IS an especially fun award, so...let's just have some merriment! 

Here are the "rules" for The Liebster Award:

1. List 11 things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator has posed for you.

3. Nominate 11 up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

4. Create 11 questions to ask the nominees.

5. Go to the page of each nominee and tell her about her award.

Ta da!  Here are 11 totally random things about me.  I'll try to stick to things you don't already know, and I'll say these without thinking.... 

1.  I often say things without thinking.
2.  I live in what some say is a library with a few pieces of furniture in it.  Books are my wallpaper of choice... in every. single. room. 
3. I like humor, good wholesome humor.  Old "Shoe" comics.  Carol Burnett's classic skit "Went With the Wind" (you know the one, where she glides down the staircase wearing a drapery dress complete with rod... "I saw it in the window and just couldn't resist"). 
4. I prefer overcast days to sunny ones, cool weather to warm.  I find gray skies much more "interesting" than blue ones with decorator clouds. 
5. I began college as an Art major.  I wanted to learn to paint like this....



 
.. BUT it happened to be a time when students were being told we needed to "get with the times" and express our "individuality,"
and we had to paint like this....








Which probably gives you some clue as to why I now happily fill blogs with things like this....  
 

 

6.  I love old, ticking clocks.
7.  I used to write poetry.
8.  If I could visit anywhere in the world, I'd head straight for Annecy, France.
9.  I don't like graham crackers.  Not even in S'mores.
10. I can sit beside the ocean for many hours at a time (like, all day), just staring into the waves, doing nothing else.  Even a book is distracting there.
11. One of my favorite sounds is that of a train rumbling in the distance.
12. I'm dreadful at Math, so have I counted correctly to 11?  

And now the fun continues!   Chris has presented 11 questions that I am to answer.  So here goes:

1. Where did you grow up?
     In the middle part of the USA.  Very all-American.  

2. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?
     1st choice:  where I live now.  2nd choice: perhaps Berkshire County, Massachusetts 
3. What is your favorite book?  
     Is it a dreadful cop-out to say "EVERY one that's on my blogger profile?" ?!

4. Favorite movie?
    "To Kill a Mockingbird."  For the story, the acting, the music, and "hey, Boo...."

5. Saint who inspires you?
    Francis de Sales.  Teresa of Avila.  Faustina.  Ignatius.
6. Hobby?

    Photography.

7. Why did you begin your blog?
    To have a more "out in the world" companion/link to the Cloistered Heart blog, which I 
    began at the same time.  But this one soon took on a "life of its own," and I LOVE doing it!

8. What's your fairy tale wedding like?
    Revelation 19:7-9. The REAL happily-ever-after we've all been awaiting!!!
9. If you could have dinner with a-n-y-o-n-e, who would that be?
     Pope Benedict XVI.

10. Louisa May Alcott or Jane Austen? 
      Harper Lee.   

11. Best spot for a relaxing dinner with the family?
      By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea...

And now for my own nominees for the Liebster award.  I tried to follow the rules, so generally left out (with maybe two exceptions) blogs for which I couldn't find the number of followers.  I don't know any way to tell except by the Google gadget.  And those sometimes appear and disappear from others' sidebars as well as my own (which is why mine is at the very bottom of my sidebar - 'cause when mine goes, it also takes out everything below it).

Drum roll, please, for these genuinely "sweet," "kind," "nice," "dear," "beloved," "valued," "endearing," and "welcoming" blogs! 

Journal of a Nobody

These Joyful Mysteries

My Desert Heart

The Beautiful Gate 

Beautiful Whispers of Catholicism 

My Cozy Nook

Daily Grace

Contemplative Homeschool

Praying for Grace 

Imprisoned in My Bones

Sue Elvis Writes

And now:  do we have another drum?  Here are the 11 questions I present to the above nominees:

1.  If you won a free trip to anywhere, where would you go?
2.  What is your favorite childhood memory? 
3.  What's your favorite season?
4.  Favorite kind of music?
5.  If you could spend tomorrow with one canonized saint, who would it be?
6.  What is your favorite Scripture?  (either chapter and verse, or a whole book)
7.  If you were dressing up for an elegant evening out, what would you wear?....
8.  .... and where would you like to go?
9.  Who has modeled the Christian life for you, or taught it to you, in an inspiring way?   
10. What is your favorite poem?  (if you don't have one, pick a favorite anything-else!)
11.  How do you like to relax and wind-down? 

And now... I finish this at exactly 11 minutes after one a.m.!  How's THAT for timing.  May anyone stopping in here at this ridiculously late hour have 11 good dreams...

Blog Awards

What a Christmas gift!  I came back to the computer after a "mini-Christmas break" with family and friends.... and what to my wondering eyes should appear?!  An award from one of my own favorite bloggers!  I send many thanks to Anabelle Hazard at Written by the Finger of God.  If you haven't yet discovered Anabelle's fine blog, I hope you will click here to do so!

I will quote the text just as I found it, lest anything be left out that the persons I'm passing this to might need to know.

"The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:
1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012′ Award
2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen — there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required — and ‘present’ them with their award.
3 Please include a link back to this page:   — http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.
5 You can now also join our Facebook group — click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012′ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.
6 As a winner of the award — please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award — and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…
Yes — that’s right — there are stars to collect!
Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once — this award is different!
When you begin you will receive the ’1 star’ award — and every time you are given the award by another blog — you can add another star!
There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

Which means that you can check out your favorite blogs — and even if they have already been given the award by someone else — you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!"

As for me:  in the last few months I've found significant inspiration, prayer, humor, and a sense of holy community in the following blogs.  Therefore, I am thoroughly delighted to pass along the Blog Of The Year 2012 Award to these fine bloggers:

http://desertofmyheart.blogspot.com/

http://anabellehazard.blogspot.com/

http://contemplativehomeschool.wordpress.com/

http://theholyfaceofjesus.wordpress.com/  (I Want to See God)

http://annebender.blogspot.com/  (Imprisoned in My Bones)

http://www.sueelviswrites.com/

http://intheirhearts.blogspot.com/  (Heart for God)

http://www.bellofthewanderer.com/

http://crownofroses.blogspot.com/  (Little Flowers Crown of Roses)

http://throughlookinglasslove.blogspot.com/

http://www.thefemininegift.org/

http://beautifulwhispersofcatholicism.blogspot.com/


There is another I'd like to mention, and I doubt that the blog's format allows for awards or for special posts about them.  But I do want to at least call your attention to this beautiful, Eucharistic, prayerful blog:  http://truthhimself.blogspot.com/

I thank God for giving us all this "blogging" way of glorifying Him!