Security and Awards

I swear I wasn’t avoiding you guys on purpose. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you may have seen a post about locking myself out of WordPress. That was exactly one month ago today. I had such tight security that after one wrong password you couldn’t try again for for multiple days. After the week or so that I had to wait, I tried again and got my second lock out. I keep doing this pretty much every week. Well, today I finally got back into my account! So here I am haha.

Liebster Award

Since that happened I’ve been nominated for the 2017 Liebster Award twice! I want to thank both Megan and Sakura for thinking of me. This is the first time I’ve ever been nominated for this award so I googled it to find out what it meant. According to the website I believe to be the founder of this award, the rules are:

1. 1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you. They will thank you for it and those who you nominate will also help you out as well.
   2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”.
   3. Write a 150-300 word post about your favourite blog that is not your own. Explain why you like the blog, provide links.
   4. Provide 10 random facts about yourself. (This year I’m making this optional. If you wish to engage with your readers it’s a great idea to include random facts about you.)
   5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 200 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
   6. List these rules in your post.
   7. 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.

I noticed that the girls who nominated me had a couple different rules listed on their websites which I have also included below:

1. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
2. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

My Favorite Blog

So, I haven’t really been following along with a whole lot of blogs over the last few years. My favorite ones have disappeared over time which is sad, but there are still some great ones out there.

One that I do enjoy is Imaginary Karin. Karin is one of those old-school bloggers who’s been around on the internet about as long as I have been. I believe we have a similar beginning to our blogs and have been through similar things with our blogging history.

I also believe we are around the same age, which gives me more of a connection to the things she blogs about in her life. I like that she lives in a whole different part of the world than me so I get to see the beautiful scenery and hear about the different activities that are to be found in Sweden.

I like that she designs, creates, and codes her website herself just like I used to. I can use websites like hers to try and motivate myself to get back in web design like I was 10 years ago. That is something I greatly miss about blogging in the past. Layout originality isn’t what it used to be.

I was asked…

Since I was nominated twice, I have chosen some questions from both girls to answer for you.

1. 1. Do you ever worry?

Of course I worry, I think everyone does. The trick is to make sure you only worry about the things you have control over. I think in general, I worry less than the average person does. My stress level has always been pretty low.

1. 1. How about a favorite game?

I love board games and card games. My favorite board game is either Pay Day or the game of Life. As for cards, I really like one called Up The River which I try to play anytime I go home to visit my parents, and Rummy 500 is another of my favorites.

1. 1. What kind of kid were you?

I was a very shy kid. I was a goody two-shoes who hated to get in trouble. I was also picked on throughout much is my schooling by one person in particular, and made fun of by others because I was so quiet.

1. 1. Is your room messy or clean?

My room is clean but my house is messy. I hate having a messy space. It increases my stress levels. But I live with my boyfriend and he has a hard time putting things where they belong. That is one of the biggest annoyances in our relationship on my side.

1. 1. How many pets do you have?

I have one fish named Levi. He has been with us since last September, so almost one year.

1. 1. When did you start blogging?

When I was in high school I took a class that introduced me to web design. I think I was in grade 11 when I took that class and probably started making blogs that year. That would have been in 2001 or 2002. One of my first blogs was called Deannaland, which was then renamed in University to Fantasy Nerd (around 2005), and then finally turned into Stubborn Ox around 2010.

1. 1. What is your current motivation to blog?

Blogging became extremely difficult once Social Media came around. I find it very hard to motivate myself to blog now that everything is done through quick updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What I do like about blogging is that I can organize my posts through tags and also that you can have people comment on the things you write. It’s fun finding new people that relate to your thoughts which I feel is unique to blogging.

1. 1. What is your favourite hobby at the moment?

I feel like I am in between hobbies right now. I wish I had something that I was passionate about. Some hobbies that I used to do that I would like to get back into are webdesign and playing music. I also would like to learn how to knit again and also learn to crochet.

1. 1. How do you spend your free/off days?

My free days are spent cleaning up the house, watching Youtube Vlogs, and playing video games.

1. 1. Do you play any instruments?

In the past I used to play the keyboard (piano) but haven’t played since I lived at home about 10 years ago.

1. 1. What is the last gadget that you bought for yourself?

Probably a fitness tracker like two years ago. It doesn’t work now and I want to buy a new one. Any suggestions on a good smart watch?

1. 1. Eye, lip, cheeks, foundation makeup – what do you like most?

I like mascara the most.

1. 1. Are you the daydream or realistic kind of person?

I am a very rational person. But at the same time, I do a lot of daydreaming. I’m always thinking about different scenarios that could happen in my life and how to make them happen. But I go through all the options and outcomes to figure out which one makes the most sense.

1. 1. Do you like shopping?

I am weird when it comes to shopping. I hate spending money. I will often go to the mall to look around and come home empty handed. I have to really love something in order to buy it. But on the other hand, if I’ve decided that today is the day where I am going to spend money, I will spend all of the money haha. Once I start spending I have a hard time stopping. But I can’t go clothes shopping with other people. I feel like I am holding them up and taking too long. So when I need/want to buy clothes I always go alone so I can take my time.

I Nominate…

• Imaginary Karin
• Mellie Anne
• Curls.nu
• Velvet Rose
• Stupid Eyed
• ByJenni

Your Questions to Answer

1. Out of all the countries you have visited, which one did you like the most?
2. What is your favorite mode of transportation and why? (walking, bike, car, plane, train, ect.)
3. What is the scariest thing you have experienced while traveling?
4. What is your favourite book or series?
5. Where would you like to visit that you haven’t already?
6. How do you keep active?
7. What is your favorite childhood memory?
8. How many hours per day do you spend on the computer?
9. How do you plan to make tomorrow better than today?
10. What year did you start blogging and how old were you?
11. What is your favorite snack?