Liebster Award

Thanks for thinking of me,  Nicki! ♥

http://offthebeatenplan.com/whatever/liebster-ed/

Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog in your post.
Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”.
Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers.
Create a new list of 11 questions for the nominees to answer
List these rules in your post (copy and paste).
Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

11 Questions Nicki asked:

1- Whatchya doin’? (Besides answering these questions.)

Watching Stargate. Hoping to go to sleep soon. I'd like to leave for Knoebels in 5 hours. (Which won't apply when you read this, because I'll finish this post later.)

2-Do you find these types of awards to be genuine, or just another “chain mail of the Internet” kind of thing?

In a world where "world's greatest (whatever)" is mass produced on mugs, shirts, etc... This award at least makes no such claim. It just says you're here, you blog, and someone recognized that effort. It isn't Writer's Digest top 100 or something, but not everyone blogs to such a purpose.

3- Why do you blog? (Or if you haven’t been for a while, why not?)

For fun, to vent, to express myself.

4- Over or under? (toilet paper)

Nope! Okay, it'd be over, but my apartment is set up in such a way that I wouldn't be able to reach the tp while on the toilet. So I set it on the towel rack. Thereby it is neither over or under.

5- Name one thing that other people do that drives you nuts (doesn’t have to be the worst thing).

There are those who believe they have the only right way. "Cups should go in that cabinet, not this one." You know what? It's my damn house. I'll put my cups wherever I damn well please. So when they try to change things that are, seriously, of no real consequence, that drives me nuts. Genuine improvement, okay. Minor nitpick crap, shut the hell up.

6- Which of the following would you prefer:
To be rich, but lonely and without friends.
To be poor, but to have lots of friends who love you.
Or to assign the person who thought you could only have one or the other to write “I will not live in absolutes” on the blackboard 1,000 times?

I already am the second one!  I'm still lonely some days, but not rich. I like the third choice because it adds to Nicki's word count, and that'll make her happy.

7- What’s your favorite quote?

Don't be afraid to take a big step. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.

8- Do you get your energy from solitude, by having other people around you, or a mix of both?

Solitude gives me no energy, it's just what I survive in because that's what there is. People... Seriously depends on the peoples. I ♡ Tuesday.

9- Have you ever learned to use chopsticks?

Yup. When I was in Canada. But I only use them once in a great while, when social situations that I care about for a logical reason dictate it appropriate.

10- Are you living your dream right now?

No. With the exception of a great husband, basically everything else has gone wrong. Every fix I work on makes it worse. I know it can be even more worse than it is, but that doesn't help because it actually does keep on declining. I've also tried reducing the dream, being more realistic, aiming lower. Didn't help. Now I can't even manage a tiny dream. I tried just reach little goals for 1 hour one day... The power went out and I couldn't breathe, I ran out of gas, and my credit card went over the limit trying to fix that. 1 HOUR. Raise your hand if you know what a curse is.

11- What is your preferred writing implement?

Pilot Easy Touch pen, especially fine size.

11 random facts about me:

1- I'm writing these facts 24 hours after I started the above stuff.
2- I drove past Centralia twice in that time period. It's been on fire since 1962. I think that's fascinating.
3- I hate rollercoasters. Most of my family loves them.
4- I love to ride the Ferris Wheel. Most of my family hates that ride.

 

5- I love toffee, but am frequently disappointed by toffee flavored items (especially coffee).
6- My mom HATES dinosaurs. Which wouldn't be about me, but I took this picture:

7- I love me some Starbucks.

 8- DrawSomething is my favorite Android App Game.

 9- I made a friend (Dori) playing app games on MySpace a dozen years ago. Still friends! <3
10- I started a mini journal on Tues, May 3rd. This is largely because of Nicki.
11- My husband and I have the same initials. (So does his uncle, grandfather RIP, some cousins, etc.)

I'm nominating these 11 (without regard to number of followers) :

1. http://thenovelorange.com/
2. http://brandysbustlings.blogspot.ca/
3. https://franklparker.com/
4. http://mommyrnblog.com/
5. http://stephaniesstuff84.blogspot.com/
6. http://pensivepenspost.blogspot.com/
7. https://nananettie1969.com/
8. http://n8ltg.blogspot.com/
9. https://mhsusannematthews.wordpress.com/
10. http://mjfifield.blogspot.com/
11. http://obliqview.blogspot.in/

Your 11 Questions:

1- What's your favorite book with a strong female protagonist? 

2- Have you ever been dead in this lifetime?

3- How many books do you own, approximately? 

4- Would you rather see (as recorded footage) 1500 years in the past or the future and why?

5- Have you ever genuinely tried to USE THE FORCE? (Telekinesis)

6- Would you want your face to be depicted on money?

7- What's the best drink recipe? 

8- Can you contribute answers to any of these: https://www.quora.com/profile/Jamie-Dorner/questions

9- What books, if any, have you read where the protagonist has a close relative in prison?

10- What color pen ink do you prefer?

11- Any exciting plans for the next few months?

N is for Nutrition #atozchallenge #wedding

Yesterday I talked about a food horror story. Today I’ll discuss other foods at your wedding.

THE CAKE

First off, look at the image I used for my logo for this series. It’s cookies and milk. You do not have to serve cake. There is a small percentage of the population that doesn’t even like cake. (What? Yes, really. Not, me. My friend JR @JRVincente of the ADULT blog https://jrvincente.wordpress.com doesn’t like cake. That wedding had Strawberry Shortcake, which isn’t really cake, and white chocolate dipped strawberries for feeding each other. The bride is allergic to chocolate.)

All that being said, the cake (or dessert of choice) will be heavily photographed by the guests. If you really like these guests, consider acquiring little take home boxes. “My husband Stan had to work at the hospital and couldn’t make it. Could I possibly take him a slice of cake?” Someone is going to ask you a question along those lines.

Who cuts the cake? Other than that first slice by the newlyweds, someone has to cut the rest of it. Work out beforehand if your caterer or baker will do this. There are also cases where the cake is fake! That’s right. It’s falling out of style now, but for awhile those big, beautiful cakes were Styrofoam with frosting and decorations. There’d be a sheet cake “in the back” which was served to your people. In some cases, this saved money. In other cases, this service costs extra. Check around.

Important note— there are MANY flavors of cake and icing available. Some have berries and nuts. If you are going to serve any of these, LET YOUR GUESTS KNOW before the cake cutting. Especially with nuts. So many people today have allergies. You don’t want pictures of Uncle Jim being carted away in an ambulance because there was almond extract in the cake.

Just the cake? Of course not. You might consider adding a food allergy line to your wedding RSVP cards. Might it cost a little extra to get cousin Timmy a gluten free, nut free, shellfish free plate? Maybe. Is it better than having Timmy in anaphylactic shock at your reception? Absolutely.

Appetizers should be considered if your guests will be sitting around waiting for the bridal party to get back from pictures. These don’t have to be expensive. Nor should they be overly filling. It could be bar snacks.

Speaking of which, you don’t have to have an open bar. Some people hear “open bar” and decide that it’s a good time to drink more than a college frat house does in a month. Then they drive. So here are some alternative ideas to start:

• A partially open bar where only certain drinks are free, or the first two are free
• A fountain with one kind of drink and a keg, but no other alcohol
• A juice and smoothie bar (can get expensive)
• A cider bar (excellent for autumn weddings)
• A coffee and tea bar
• A flavored water bar

For those of you who want to spend extra on drinks, check out ice luge drinking. A bartender (or whoever) pours the drink at the top, and it slides down the ice into a glass (or open mouth). Beware that children will want to try this, and pouring juice down the same slide that had alcohol is probably not a great idea. Plan accordingly.

Speaking of children… you aren’t paying the same rate for a plate of chicken nuggets as you are for the adult’s chicken cordon bleu, are you? Don’t get ripped off. And don’t pay for babies to get a meal. Parents bring their own food for babies. (Unless, perhaps, you are a baby food maker with a known artisan shop or something.) This is yet another question to add to your RVSP, if you plan to invite children to the wedding.

Tune in tomorrow for a discussion about Offerings, Gifts, and Registries