The Liebster Award

Our blog has been nominated for the Liebster Award by Anna, who writes a super cute blog about being a parent and all of the wonderful things associated with new babies, The Baby Bump Diaries.  Thank you Anna for passing along this award in an effort to help people discover new blogs.

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn't that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.

Here are the rules for receiving the award:

1. Answer the 11 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee before you
2. Link back to the person who nominated you
3. Pick up to 11 bloggers with under 200 followers to nominate
4. Come up with 11 questions for your nominees to answer
5. Notify the nominees

Since Jon occasionally writes for this blog too so you get 2 answers for each question. Aren't y'all lucky?  I didn't let Jon see my answers to these questions so his answers aren't influenced AT ALL by mine.

Questions:

1. What has your favorite motherhood/fatherhood moment been (thus far)?
Lisa: Oh there are so many moments it is impossible to have just one favorite.  I will say that one of my
favorite moments was picking up sticks (wands) and singing the Bippity Boppity Boo fairy godmother song from Cinderella with Calvin in the woods behind our house.  The entire song is like 45 seconds long but Calvin made me sing it endlessly on loop while he bopped around the forest waving his wand.  I learned all of the lyrics just so I could do it "properly" for him. He loves it so much!

Jon: One day, in Italy, I was drinking wine and Lisa and Sam were chatting and sitting outside on the patio of a cafe.  Calvin and I were just driving cars on the doors in side alleys and watching people pass by and we played hide and seek in the alleys.

2. What is the one parenting "thing" you do that you swore you never would?
Lisa:  Use TV, iPhone, Youtube, etc as a distraction tool.  I didn't say, "Oh I would never do...so-and-so" very much before I became a mom but I thought I'd be able to hold out a bit on the electronic distractions.  Uhh, thanks to solely relying on public transportation (read: instant public humiliation if you have a screaming child), I gave into the electronic distraction approach pretty quickly. Hopefully Calvin's brain doesn't turn to mush because of it.

Jon: I never swore that I wouldn't do anything while parenting...game on!

3. What is the best meal you've ever eaten and where did you have it?
Lisa: Lasagna al forno at Arlu's in the Vatican City - oh my gosh, so delicious!

Jon: Our home cooked meal of cod with bacon and mushrooms on potato puree in Stockholm, Sweden.

4. If you won the lottery, what would you do first?
Lisa:  Pay off our mortgage and all student loans.  To live completely debt-free would be amazing!

Jon: Pay off our loans, but that would be boring. We would pay for a friends-family reunion out here in Sweden.

5.  What is your dream vacation?
Lisa:  I'd love to go to Spain, eat tapas, drink wine, become fluent (again) in Spanish, and relax in the mountains or on the beach.

Jon: A drive through the Mediterranean countries.

6. What is your preference, Salty or Sweet?
Lisa:  I'm pregnant so this answer depends on the hour...right now it's sweet

Jon: Salty

7. What is your all time favorite movie?
Lisa: Love Actually

Jon: The Big Lebowski

8. What was your best childhood vacation or family memory?
Lisa: Camping in Bar Harbor, Maine with my family each summer.  It was before cell phones, so we would just pack a bunch of books, our bikes, and would completely relax and go hiking, swimming, kayaking and other outdoorsy things.  It's why I love living in Sweden so much - the environment is so similar to some of my best childhood experiences.

Jon: Whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon when I was 12.

9. What do you like most about blogging?
Lisa: Blogging has allowed me to express whatever issues or adventures we are experiencing at the moment.  It helps me feel somewhat connected with my friends and family since they can read about our lives out here and it's not like I'm a complete stranger whenever we do reconnect.  If I couldn't share everything via blog, many people would be receiving annoying emails. This method is much more passive and enjoyable all around.

Jon: Sharing our experiences with other people who can't come and visit. It really decreases the distance for us.

10. What is the one thing you could never live without?
Lisa: My retainer.  It's the one possession that I'm freakishly dependent on. And yes, I'm a nerd and wear it every night - it's why my teeth are still perfect thank you very much!  I knew Jon was my match for life when he was comfortable enough to put in his own retainer when we were dating.

Jon: Passport

11. Bonus question (Anna only gave me 10): What is your favorite candy?

Lisa:  It's a tie - Sour Patch Kids or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Of course, these are two candies we can't get here in Sweden!

Jon: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

We want to nominate Rebecca Flowers, my friend from Silver Bay YMCA.  She has a sweet blog about her experiences raising two super cute kids called The Little Things.

Here are our questions for Becca:
1. Sail boat or speed boat?
2. If you had to live in a decade other than the current one, which would you choose?
3. If there was a zombie apocalypse and you had to choose between staying in your home with ample food, but little protection (meaning you don't have the supplies to board yourself in completely) or hitting the road with a full tank of gas, but very limited supplies, what would be your course of action?
4. What is your favorite outdoor activity and location?
5. What has been your biggest lesson learned since becoming a mom?
6. If you could have more of any one thing, what would it be?
7. What was the biggest surprise you had with the birth of your second child, versus your first?
8. What is your favorite motherhood moment thus far?
9. If you could travel anywhere, for any length of time, for no cost, where would you go and how long would you stay?
10.  What was your best meal of all time and where was it?
11. What advice would you give someone about to be a parent for the first time?

Have fun!!
~ Lisa and Jon