Blog Award!

It’s Monday, and I’m going to take a couple days off of nutrition blogging. Yay!

Why?

Because Sara, from the blog Running From the Law, has passed on the Beautiful Blogger award to me. Here are the rules of the award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and insert a link to their blog.

2. Pass on the Beautiful Blogger award to other bloggers (and let them know).

3. Say 10 things about yourself.

Sara is a newlywed who blogs about creating a home and a life, including things like vacations, cooking classes and do-it-yourself projects. I learned how to hang photos in my stairway by following her instructions here. She hung about 40 frames and I hung two, but who’s counting?

See Sara’s stairwell here.

My stairwell:

Sara and my sister Alice are friends and both live in St. Louis. So, another reason I love Sara’s blog is because I can get caught up on what Alice is doing! They do things like take cooking classes together and run races together.

And I cannot forget to mention the absolutely gorgeous wedding Sara and her husband Ryan had in Jackson Hole. I mean, the groom rode in on a horse! Check out the photos here. Thanks, Sara, for passing on this award to me! I am glad to have a break from nutrition blogging!

10 Things About Myself

You guys know I love nutrition and every once in a while I mention a few other things about my personal life, but here are some of the things you may NOT know about me:

1. I hunt. My dad taught my sisters, brother and me how to hunt when we were young and we all make it back to Minnesota almost every year to shoot some ducks and pheasants. He grew up hunting with his family and has continued the tradition with us. Hunting with my family is one of my favorite childhood memories and I hope the tradition stays in our family for a long time. Plus, it’s stunningly beautiful, a very intense workout, extremely satisfying and exciting to shoot a pheasant or duck, and there is nothing better than eating fresh, wild pheasant! So healthy for you (that’s a blog post for another day… wild pheasant or duck vs. farmed!). Below: Ed and me hunting, and my sis Madeline and me with our dog Mayme!

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2. I am learning to flyfish. My husband Ed loves it and has started to teach me. I have my own waders and boots and rod, and we’ve fished in Colorado many times; in Montana with my mom and dad (my mom loves to flyfish too); and in Wyoming. We have some flyfishing excursions planned for 2010 as well. It’s really fun and, like hunting, just so beautiful to be outside on the river. It’s a little less intense than hunting (think fly rod vs. gun) and I hope it’s something Ed and I can do together for a long time.

Now I feel like I need to redeem myself a bit and reclaim my femininity…

3. I love reality tv. It’s my escape from the stresses of life. The Bachelor and 16 & Pregnant/Teen Mom are my two favorites right now. Biggest Loser is up there too. I cannot stand Jersey Shore. I think it’s boring and dumb. But I seriously look forward to Mondays so I can sit and watch The Bachelor.

4. My sibs are my best friends. It wasn’t always that way though – Alice was mean to me; I was mean to Madeline; and we were all tough on Teddy. But luckily that’s all changed and now it’s just funny to remember those times. Teddy lives in Denver too, so Ed and I are lucky to be able to spend time with him and his girlfriend Allison (who we love). We are so thankful to have family in Denver. Alice and her husband Ryan live in St. Louis, and Madeline lives in Cincinnati.

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5. Ed and I love to walk to restaurants. Once we walked to our favorite restaurant, Duo, from our house. It was 6 ½ miles each way. The food tasted amazing by the time we got there. And by the time we got home, we’d done a half marathon of walking (13 miles total!) so our food was digested and we slept really well.

6. I have taken the Myers-Briggs test three times for various reasons (school, work, etc.). Each time, it said I was an extrovert. But I’ve always thought I was more of an introvert, so maybe I’m half of each.

7. I love winter. I used to prefer summer or spring or even fall, but that changed. Snow is beautiful and winter sports are so much fun – skiing, snowshoeing, running or walking in the snow… I don’t think I could ever live somewhere that didn’t have winter weather. Ed and I even chose to get married in Minnesota in January, and it was -11 degrees on our wedding day.

8. I have a speech impediment. I’ve had it since I could talk and had to take speech therapy classes throughout grade school and high school, and even in college I took a few to help me prepare for job interviews. I have trouble saying my “ch” and “sh”. This is a source of endless entertainment for my friends and siblings. My little sister Madeline and I shared a bedroom when she grew out of her crib, so as she was learning to talk, she picked up the same speech impediment. Sorry, Madsie!

9. I invited every girl in my grade to my 9^th birthday party, without telling my parents. Only 1 couldn’t make it. There were 40 girls at my party, and I got 6 koosh balls, 3 skip- its, and 2 skip sticks. After that, my parents made us write “no gifts please” on all birthday invitations. My siblings still resent me for it.

10. I’m working on my decorating skills. It takes a lot of trial and error. My sister Alice is really good – minimalist and modern, but still very warm and personal. Ed’s mom is an amazing decorator, and she’s helped us out a lot in our home. Our most recent project was our bedroom. I think we did a pretty good job – definitely an improvement from its original state! And yes, Ed and I did do it all ourselves. Below: our bedroom Before & After!

Tomorrow I’m going to pass the Beautiful Blogger award on to some of my favorite bloggers! I can’t wait to share them with you.