So this awesome woman named Christy gave me the Liebster blog award a few days ago. Of course I've been a terrible-blogger-slash-awesome-student and haven't even had time to write about it! You can find her post here!

YAY!

I am an award noob and had never heard of this one, so I'm currently catching myself up and hoping that I do this right. ;) Stealing images from Christy who has said that they aren't hers--if you know where I can link back to, please let me know!

There it is!

Okay, so here are my 11 facts:

1. I am currently in the process of getting my associates degree. I'll be out of there in May and ready to pursue my bachelors!
2. I'm living with my dad while I finish college (at least this round of it). I hope to be out on my own very soon.
3. I live in a small 10 x 12 room with my son. I am dying of claustrophobia.
4. I only have one baby, and he's the best thing that ever happened to me. He's named after his grandpa who died of cancer just weeks before I found out I was having a boy, and my best friend who committed suicide our senior year of high school, two very lovely men.
5. I rarely go out anymore. I haven't been out with friends (besides kid-centered birthday parties) since November of last year. It was my birthday.
6. I love photography but don't seem to have enough time to really get into it myself.
7. I have two sisters, a half-brother, a half-sister, two stepbrothers, and two stepsisters. WHOO!
8. My biggest injury ended up getting me stitches in my eyebrow when I was very young--under 5, but I can't remember the exact age. I have never broken any bones.
9. I've started numerous books, but haven't finished any of them. Some that I was very proud of were lost in computer crashes, and I'll never stop being sad about it.
10. I have major depression and general anxiety disorder. I have a crippling fear of embarrassing myself, and it often keeps me from talking on the phone, going out with friends, and doing other people-centered activities. It doesn't matter if it's a big group or a small amount of people. One-on-one situations are just as terrifying to me as speaking to a group.
11. I write about 25 million to-do lists a day, often detailing the same things, because I can't stop thinking them over and over. It's okay to think I'm crazy now. ;)

Here are the questions!

1. Who or what is your inspiration?
   Mark. Always Mark. Everything I do, I do for him. He's the highlight of my life!
2. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
   My son wakes me up in the morning, so I grab him, change his diaper, and we go to the living room to eat breakfast and play.
3. How do you handle a stressful day?
   I usually just try to take it slow. My days are always the same: hang out with this kid, watch TV, eat, play with toys. I don't do much ever! But I try to relax and not run around as much (I tend to be the chauffeur at my house) and just not do anything that's going to upset me in any way.
4. What book do you recommend all parents read to their children?
   That's a toughie. Mark doesn't seem to be taking to any book specifically, so I just read him whatever I feel like...ha! Of course, the classics like Dr. Seuss. Every kid needs that in their life.
5. When the kids go to bed what do you do?
   I blog, do homework, try to do as much relaxing as possible before I fall asleep. It's the only time I have that things are actually quiet!
6. What is one thing about your past you wish you could change?
   I absolutely wish I would have taken college more seriously before I had a baby. I didn't want to be there. I only was because my dad said I had to be...of course I realize now that he wanted me to do better than him, but in my mind I had been at school my whole life and didn't want to do it anymore. I was stubborn.
7. If you had a million dollars, what would you buy?
   Oh jees...a house and a car, definitely. And probably lots and lots of things for Mark. There are a million things that I need and want, but every time I go to a store I drop it all and buy him something!
8. Why did you start blogging?
   I started years ago with no audience just because I needed an outlet. Now it's the same, but I do it for the awesome community that comes with it. Plus I have no friends anymore. ;)
9. Are you going to follow all the award nominees?
   I'm definitely going to try to get over to all of them. I've been bad lately, so bad!
10. What is one thing you hope your children remember about you?
    That I was loving, and fun, and that I did everything for him.
11. How would you define your character?
    I try to be the best person I can be. I think that even if I'm not always the best friend, it's because I devote everything I can to my son. Nothing else really matters after that. If there's extra time and resources, then I'll try my best to use them on others.

Now my nominees. I couldn't find some of your follower counts, so I apologize if you're over the 200 limit! Great blogs no matter what.

1. Once Upon A Time Again
2. Music Teaching and Parenting
3. Second Chances Girl
4. Our Butterfly Haus
5. Not Your Ordinary Psychic Mom
6. Kid Crossing Barefoot
7. A Day in the Life
8. That Gives Me An Idea
9. Woman Scribbles
10. Dancin Moma
11. Dreaming with Midnite

Lastly, my questions for you. Whoo!

1. What are you doing when you're the happiest?
2. Where is the one place that you're dying to go?
3. What got you to start blogging?
4. What does your blog name mean?
5. Who is your favorite person in the world, and why?
6. What's the perfect Saturday to you?
7. What is your favorite book and why?
8. What do you want your kids (present/future) to remember about you?
9. What is the best memory you have of your own parents (or whoever raised you)?
10. What's something that you never get tired of?
11. What's your weirdest habit?

Aaand...done. Your turn! Send me back a link and a comment so I can check yours out. :)

Guess what happened today? I bet you didn't guess right. No. Um, no, not that either. Actually, you don't get anymore guesses, okay? I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but you're just really bad at guessing.

What did happen is that, thanks to Lindsay at Life As 5,  I got my very first blog award ever! Right now you're thinking, "How freaking exciting!" and I just want to say, "I know, right?" Way more exciting than what you were guessing before, but nice try.

Anyway, before I get on with all of this (because I really don't even know what I'm doing...heh), why don't you click that link right there and be all, "Holy shit, Lindsay is awesome"? Because you should. She writes a mommy blog about life with her two sons, her daughter, and her husband, and if that's not enough for you, you should visit just because she uses the phrase Vicodin rainbow. And you just have to appreciate things like that. I think it's a law or something.

Yeeeeah!

Aaand...now I'm supposed to say stuff about me. Oh, um...shit. As if this wasn't hard enough, I know that I have a bullet point list of facts about myself just sitting over in my About Me tab, taunting me. Don't reuse...be creative...you can do it. I don't know if I can do it, guys.

Here's my attempt:

1. Every time I've gone to the fridge within the last few days, we've been out of whatever it is I was craving. Seriously. Every time. And it's always something that I swear was there the last time I looked (which was probably like ten minutes before because there's this 'get disappointed, sit back down, and then think of something new and get excited all over again' kind of cycle going on). But no, everything delicious on the whole entire planet has mysteriously disappeared, and of all times that I could have possibly had to deal with this horrible fact, I had to be pregnant. This is just not good at all.
2. Sometimes I forget what I'm doing in the middle of doing it. And sometimes I try to put the ice cream away in the cupboard instead of the freezer. I usually notice before it's dead, though...usually.
3. Every time I've ever started an argument in my entire life, I've felt bad like ten seconds in. It always goes something like - I start yelling, and then they start yelling, and then I'm like, "Why are you yelling at me? (Sadface.)" And then I say something along the lines of, "Let's never be mad again for the rest of our lives, okay?" and they either calm down and agree or continue to be mad and I get even sadder. Um, yeah. I don't get it, either.
4. I'm really bad at accepting compliments. I'm just never sure how to respond properly. I'm like, "Uh, thank you (nervous laugh)," and they're like, "You're welcome," and then I'm all, "Thanks for saying you're welcome." And then we just avoid eye contact and pretend that the last five seconds never happened. At least I do. And I'm sure everyone who has ever complimented me is all, "You know what, screw her eyes" afterward, because they think that I'm totally unappreciative. I'm not, I swear!
5. My first name was my grandpa's last name (he wasn't my real grandpa, but my grandma's second husband. My mom's real dad died when she was five). My parents were going to name me Taylor whether I was a girl or a boy, and I once changed my name to Kiwi for a couple of weeks (on the internet) because everyone automatically assumed I was a boy upon seeing my name. I have no idea why Kiwi.
6. My high school Civics teacher often told me that because I "have two last names" (Taylor being a last name, as mentioned above), I am going to grow up to be a serial killer. How sweet, right? I don't think he was right, but hey, I'm sure I still have more growing up to do. I'll keep you posted.
7. I'm freaked out by my own pulse. I'm not even kidding. Whenever I go to the OB they have to take my blood pressure with that little arm band. Obviously, I can feel my blood pulsing through my entire arm because it's so tight - you know what I'm talking about - and this consequently makes me so damn nervous that my heart starts beating faster and I screw up the reading. And then they're afraid that I have high blood pressure so they have to do it like twice more before the appointment's over and I leave feeling so tortured. I'm pretty sure it's the most ridiculous fear ever.

I'm not going to lie, that was hard. You don't even want to know how long it took me to come up with those seven things. Anyway, passing this on to 10 awesome bloggers!

Jen @ A Book, A Girl, A Journey

Kathy @ My Dishwasher's Possessed

Steph @ Our Journey

Kate @ I Dream Loudly

Natalie @ Mr. & Mrs. Smith: our story so far

Janelle @ Renegade Mothering

Carmen @ Cluster Love

Andrea @ Confessions of a First Time Mommy

Babymama @ Ava Grace's Closet

Emma @ Toddler Awesome

Thanks again, Lindsay! I feel so special. I'm pretty much the coolest person in town now, probably.