I accept!

The most sparkle-licious girl in blogging – Ms. Blondie from the ever-hysterical blog, Cowboys and Crossbones – has nominated me for the Reality Blogger Award, y’all! Oh, man. She has been keeping me laughing my buns off each morning for months, reading her posts. You’ve simply got to check her out. When I am one day in Nashville again, she and I are going to have drinks. How could the world not love her with a tag line like this: all things that kick ass!???

And, to think, she loves my blog enough to pass her award on to me! Thanks, girlie!

She’s heard my acceptance speech already, but you, dear readers, have not. It’s short. It’s sweet.

I totally accept this award! I’d like to thank the Academy. And Ben Affleck. Forever and ever, amen.

Blog awards come with a requirement to divulge. I’ll do my best not to disappoint.

1. If you could change one thing, what would you change? This is hard. Do we mean a big-time, world change? Or are we talking personal? I want to get a 100% here, so let’s cover both bases. I would love for all of our fifty, nifty United States to label GMO’s on food. I mean, come on. My more selfish change would be to add one more hour to the day. One more hour for awesomeness.

2. If you could repeat an age, what would it be? Tricky, tricky. I loved being twelve. It was so “Wonder Years”-esque. And I loved my turquoise, acid-washed jeans from that time. And listening to Debbie Gibson and the New Kids on the Block. And I miss my hair crimper. Twenty-two is a close second — I mean, all the possibility. Do you notice that I have trouble giving one answer for everything??

3. What one thing really scares you? I feel like I’ve faced some hard things in life that I had dreaded and always assumed I’d never make it past once they came. But I did. There are a million things I could say as a parent, too, but it’s just too scary to go there. So I’m going to go with….sharks. Any shark. When I see a shark (rarely!), my first urge is to vomit. Not good, especially when it’s been a moment with me in the water. Nice reaction, body! I mean, do you want to get eaten?! My parents let me watch HBO as a very small child, so “Jaws” is one of my first memories. Scarred me for life.

4. What is one dream you have not completed, and do you think you’ll be able to complete it? One thing I love about myself {big, smug smile here} is that it never occurs to me that I might not do something I want to do. Yay for blind ambition! My big dream is to write a historical fiction novel. I totally am going to do it. Today’s pretty busy, though, so I’ll start…tomorrow.

5. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be? I’m not gonna lie, I’d be Jennifer Garner. Then I could be married to Ben Affleck for one glorious day. In her rockin’ body. Remember on “Friends” how you could have five celebrities in your “hot tub”? He’s totally in mine. In case you hadn’t realized by now.

The final requirement of this award is that I nominate five more blogs to receive the title of “Reality Blogger.” Don’t mind if I dooooo:

1. Lisa Leonard: Lisa’s blog is the first I ever read. I have read it every.single.day since. Every day. She always lifts me up with her honesty and positive attitude. She find the grace in the imperfect. Plus, she’s my hair-twin! Plus, she makes my favorite jewelry! Plus, she has phenomenal style! Plus, she gives great photography tips! Seriously, she inspires me to no end.

2. Woman in Real Life: Love Ms. Joann! Her blog covers everything from her kids to her dog, Jolene, to her home organization. She offers great tips for vegans, and she posts her weekly menus.  And she and I share an affinity for grunge music.

3. Jennifer Tan: This is my neighbor to the north {B.C.!}. She is a painter. She also runs out of gas in her car sometimes, like someone else we know. We are reading a book together, and we’ve never even met fo’ real.

4. Sparkle Tea: I never cease to be inspired to my toes by Tanya, who is the best mom ever. She is a single parent who seems to always eek out that last little iota of patience needed to get through bedtime and to you-time. Her blog really makes me think about what’s important.

5. Life Rearranged: I’ve gotta shout-out the super-cool Jeannett, who hosts tons of us insta.friday-ers every week as we share our week in photos. She has FOUR kiddos of the small variety, and she’s  not afraid to admit that it’s hard sometimes. Reading her blog is like running into a friend at pick-up at school.

And here’s what you do if you accept your award from me:

1. Acknowledge me on your blog and link back to me.

2. Answer the five questions presented.

3. Nominate five other “Reality Bloggers” for the award and notify them on their blogs.

4. Copy and paste the award on your blog somewhere {this is where I often need assistance!}.

Thanks again to my sparkly friend over at Cowboys and Crossbones for making this little kitchen-dweller extra-happy!