The Sunshine Award

Brittany Ruth at the fabulous travel blog The Rococo Roamer nominated me for the Sunshine Award ("I've won a major award!"). Definitely go check out her page! And thank you, Brittany Ruth, for nominating me. 

The general rules of this award are:
- Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you.
- Share 11 random facts about yourself.
- Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
- Nominate other bloggers.
- Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate and let them know they have been nominated.

Eleven Random Facts
1. My favorite color is grey. All sorts of greys. I used to say "shades of grey", but obviously now I can't without getting a strange look or two.

2. I have absolutely no interest in reading 50 Shades of Grey, but not because it made answering what my favorite color is slightly more complicated. 

3. The Ender and Shadow series are some of my favorite books. 

4. I once took a class from Orson Scott Card and quickly learned, although I like some of his books and I think he is a good teacher, I do not like him. 

5. Before I moved to Iceland, I was studying anthropology and cinematic studies. Though I find those two things extremely interesting, I probably wouldn't work professionally in either field because one would require many years of extra schooling and the other wouldn't ever be a real job.

6. I can analyze movies for ever and ever and ever.

7. I absolutely can't stand 3D movies or movies with gaudy computer graphics (ie, Avatar). 

8. I saw Gravity last night in 3D and really, really, liked it. 

9. I'm flexible with my absolutes sometimes.

10. I'm fairly certain if my parents shipped me off to Russia when I was 4 years old, I would be a gold medal gymnast by now.

11. I've never been able to do a back flip on a trampoline.   

Eleven Interview Questions from Brittany Ruth
1.) What is the first concert you ever attended?
I went to a Rockapella concert when I was around 4-5 years old. I still remember how cool I felt being at a "real" concert. The first concert I paid for myself (other than local bands) was Maroon 5 when I was around 14 or 15... oh how my musical priorities have evolved. Honestly though, because of my height (right at everyone's sweaty armpit and no-chance-of-seeing-anything level), impatience for people talking, no dance moves to speak of, the off-putting lack of intimacy for a room full of people suffocatingly squished together, and my primal urge to photograph the show instead of watch it, I'm extremely selective about which concerts I go to. I'm just not cool enough to be a regular concert goer, though I really enjoy working with bands on photography and videography projects.

2) Do you have a pet? What is it?

I don't have my own pet, but I do live with a sweet cat named Myra. She has some physical something something with her back legs that stops them from bending properly (think of a cat with rabbit legs), so she just looks really sneaky when she walks. One day though I want to own a fox. 

3) Name a mini goal of yours and a long term goal that you have or will be working on.

Mini goal: Get the most out of the last 3 (or so) months I have left in Iceland.
Long term: Always get better at photography. 

4) Coolest place you've ever traveled to?

Ooo, that's a tough one! Iceland is pretty dang cool, but Uganda might trump it in coolness just because it involved a boat ride down the Nile with crocs and hippos. But really, Earth is cool in general. 

5) If you had no limits, what would be your dream job?

Travel photographer/neuroscientist/philanthropist/writer. One can dream, right? ;-)

6) What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend?
Honesty, because it equates trust. 

Humor, because life isn't worth living if you're not laughing along the way. 

Kindness, because you become who you're with. 

7) What are you obsessed with right now?
Living a meaningful life. Also, Icelandic hot dogs. I think they go hand in hand. 

8) If you could learn to play a new instrument, speak a new language, or instantly fix one of your flaws, what would you choose?
I would definitely pick the language one and that language would be Icelandic. Not being better at Icelandic after living here nearly 9 months is one of my biggest shames! 

9) What is something you regret that you wish you could change, or do you live your life with no regrets?

I definitely have regrets, but I also don't really know what would have happened in my life if I didn't make those mistakes, so I tend to lean more towards the no regrets philosophy. I'm a big fan of learning from mistakes, taking the consequence, and improving from there. 

10) What is a new hobby you've been wanting to try out?

Sewing. It's something I've been wanting to get into for years, but because of a failed pot holder I once "made" in jr. high, I'm a bit skeptical of my skills. One day I'll avenge that pot holder, one day! 

11) What is something readers don't know about you?

I've never taken photography classes nor have any formal photography or photoshop training. I'm all self-taught (with the help of some wonderful online mentors who helped encourage me in my early years of photography).

Bloggers I Nominate
Marie at Marie's Moments
Julia at The Sugary Shrink
Julia at Based on Actual Events
Sóley at How'd Y'all Do That

Sara at Life Wells Lived

Heather at The Parsimonious Princess

Any or all of the sisters at Notes She Wrote

Eleven Interview Questions for my Nominees
1. What do you like to splurge on?
2. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. What is a work of art (could by anything) that has really impacted your life?
4. What do you want to be remembered for?
5. What do you like most about blogging?
6. If you could go anywhere in the world with up to 5 other people, where would you go and who would you take?
7. What's the worst thing you've ever eaten?
8. Name 3 pet peeves?
9. What is your best marriage advice?
10. Here's 2 million dollars. What do you do with it?
11. What's something about you that your readers wouldn't know?

And that's that. Look at me bloggin' all networky and stuff.