Thank you very much to Kelsee B Hankins for nominating me for the Liebster Award, on October 23, 2017. Kelsee is an American blogger of many talents; she’s also a singer, actor, teacher, and content writer! She loves iced coffee, minimalism, and musical theatre.

I can totally get on board with the iced coffee; coffee is my favourite beverage, and essentially what runs through my veins. No coffee means no morning and a tired, grouchy mommy. I’m not so sure about the minimalist thing; I’m trying to shake the habit of hanging on to the past, and “just in case” clutter. It’s not easy – especially when my kids seem to be natural born hoarders!

“You know nothing, Jon Snow.” When it comes to Game of Thrones, neither does Kelsee; she loves TV and Netflix, excluding sci-fi and fantasy. To be honest, neither do I, as I rarely have time for live television these days. Catch her blog for the latest on travel and millennial lifestyle in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Anyway, I duly accept my blog award with gratitude, and will issue my nominations further on in this post. The official rules of the Liebster Award 2017 can be found at The Global Aussie. However, I thought you might like to know a little more about this lovely award, as it’s been a blogging main staple for many years.

Liebster Award 2017

Liebster Award Origins

Anyone of a certain age will remember that the Liebster Award has a lengthy history. It’s actually quite difficult to research, due to the sheer volume of blogs on the internet. (Another difficulty is that it was originally German and my Deutsch is minimal!) Bird of a Paradise is one of the earliest I could find, dated December 19, 2010. You will note that Bird of a Paradise states: “Und auch wenn sie ihn schon bekommen hat und sie ihn mir auch verliehen hat kriegt meine liebe Aylin ihn auch nochmal zurück.” (And even if she already has it and gave it to me, I nominate my dear Aylin again.) That makes it perfectly clear that the Liebster award predates this particular 2010 blog post. From my own memory, I’m sure it goes back to at least 2009.

The original Liebster Award directions were simply: nominate 3-5 favourite blogs that have fewer than 3000 readers. It was intended to raise awareness for talented new and longtime bloggers that had a flair for writing but not enough readers. Or, in German: “Das Ziel, dieser Aktion ist, dass wir unbekannte, gute Blogs an’s Licht bringen, deswegen würde ich euch bitten keine Blogs zu Posten, die ohnehin schon 3000 Leser haben.”

As I recall, at some point the Liebster was crossed with another peer-awarded blogging award that required answering a list of questions. (Possibly, it was the Versatile Blogger Award, as that was nearly as ubiquitous way back when.) Thereafter, the original award directions were abandoned in favour of the new, fusion directions. You could say it was longstanding game of Chinese whispers. Or, you can say it has evolved over the years. Either way, it’s still a lovely mark of peer recognition and a great way to discover new blogs!

Liebster Award Acceptance Speech

Drum roll, please! I, hereby, accept my Liebster Award with many thanks to Kelsee and all my lovely readers. Without you, I’d be talking to myself. Blogging has given me confidence, resilience, and a great deal of joy over the past year and a bit. This isn’t my first time blogging but this is my favourite blog ever. I’ve had a creative outlet, discovered lots of new resources, and made some lovely online friends. With the difficult year I’ve had, in 2017, moments like this are very special. Thank you for reading with me, whether this is your first visit or your fiftieth. You are all meine Lieblinge and I love you.

Liebster Award acceptance speech.

Q&A with SLOAH

Here are my answers to Kelsee’s questions:

  1. What did you do on your last vacation?
    Collect souvenirs; button badges and keychains are my favourites!
  2. What three words best describe you?
    Loyal, intelligent, kind.
  3. Besides your phone, what’s one thing you bring with you everywhere you go?
    Hope.
  4. What is a controversial opinion that you have?
    Homework should always be optional. Legally, it’s unenforceable. Children shouldn’t study outside school hours unless they’re genuinely motivated. Learning should be fun, not a chore.
  5. What is/was your latest Netflix binge?
    The Vampire Diaries.
  6. What’s the most useful app you have on your phone?
    Google Calendar.
  7. Away from your blog, do you journal? If so, how? If not, why don’t you?
    No; I don’t have enough spare time.
  8. What’s the craziest/most outrageous thing you want to achieve?
    I quite fancy writing a book… Anyone else up for NaNoWriMo this year?
  9. If you could make a holiday, what would it be like? How would people celebrate it?
    As there already is World Kindness Day, and International Hope Day, I think I’ll go with World Courage Day. A day to remember that courage isn’t being fearless; courage is doing the right thing even though you’re scared. People would celebrate it by standing up for those in need, and for themselves. Blogging is sometimes scary; I worry about how much of myself I’m giving away. Yet, sometimes, you feel compelled to act and use your voice; even the smallest whisper can be heard.
  10. Time freezes for everyone but you for one day – what do you do?
    There’s many answers I could give for this question. (All perfectly clean, thank you!) However, I’ll go with: hibernate in peace. I think many parents would agree!

SLOAH Liebster Award Nominations

There are so many great blogs out there, that I couldn’t possibly nominate every deserving blogger in one go! If I haven’t nominated a particular blog, I still love them and look forward to the chance to nominate them in the future.

Here are my nominees:

With an extra special mention for Deb’s Random Writings and Stick Mud & Belly Laughs for their support of SLOAH via the Monday Morning Blog Club. I’d like to award both of them honorary Liebsters as they don’t need it but deserve the additional recognition nonetheless.

And here are my questions:

  1. What’s your favourite season?
  2. What 3 words best describe you?
  3. When do you find time to blog?
  4. Which 3 historical figures would be your ideal dinner party guests?
  5. What is your favourite book or series?
  6. Apple or Samsung?
  7. Do you believe in karma?
  8. What’s your favourite animal, and why?
  9. Are you a tea or coffee person?
  10. What’s one cause or charity close to your heart?
  11. What’s your favourite thing about blogging?

Please have a look at these fantastic blogs, and tell them hello from SLOAH! 🙂