I received this little blogger award from one of my new Reluctant Losers (thanks, Yerttle!) and since it’s my first one EVER, I decided to partake in the fun.  Plus it’s a good way to let you all know about some other great blogs and some random facts about myself.  That’s worth it, right?!?!

This little badge is sort of a blogging chain letter…it can only be accepted by passing it along and then sharing a bit about yourself. So, I’m passing it along to seven random blogs that I love.

1. TJ’s Test Kitchen – TJ’s already lost a whole bunch of weight, but she’s still on the journey.  I love her randomness, fun recipes, lots of pictures and suggestions.  I look forward to her new posts because they’re always entertaining (especially with her high usage of exclamation points!!)

2. Teresa-Car – this is the weight-loss blog of a friend of mine from college.  She blogs about her journey, cusses like a sailor and gives some really good insights.  She’s been through some crazy sh*t, and now that life is calmer, she’s putting herself first and having fun!

3. Shannon’s Kitchen Creations – this awesome lady does giveaways ALL THE TIME!!  Love it!  She’s also a great cook and a fun writer.

4. Jack Sh*t, Gettin Fit – he’s hilarious.  In the middle of his journey, Jack offers great bits of anecdotal wisdom for all of us trying to get healthier without taking life too seriously.

5. Point-less Meals – tasty recipes from a woman who’s successfully changed her life!  Each one comes with WW points values and yummy pictures.  We all know how much I love yummy pictures.

6. Closet Cooking – take a look at Kevin’s pictures and you’ll know why he’s in my list of seven.  His recipes sound great, but his pictures look like a vacation in my mouth!

7. Skinny Kitchen – this blog has so many awesome recipes!  I’ve posted a bunch of them up here and I plan to put up more in the future.

…and now I’m supposed to tell you all seven random facts about me!

1. I hate lemon flavored baked goods.  I will NOT eat lemon squares, lemon chiffon pie, fruit tarts with lemon flavored cream cheesey stuff on it, lemon glazed items, cheesecake with too much lemon, etc.  I WILL eat sour lemon things, though, like lemon heads, lemon-ices, lemonade.  It’s just something about the baked flavor that gives me migraines.

2. I have always wanted to live somewhere in New England.  It is a goal of mine to some day move to either Connecticut, Rhode Island or Massachusetts.  I want to be within driving distance of an ocean.  I don’t want to have to take a long vacation in order to actually get there.  And I want to eat seafood fresh from the ocean EVERY DAY.

3. I once ran after one of my brothers with a steak knife.  I was baby sitting, he was being the annoying pester that he always was at seven years old and he wouldn’t stop.  I snapped…. He’s lucky he ran faster than me because I kicked a hole in his door trying to get to him!  I probably would have stabbed him too, lol.  And I’m a relaxed, laid back kind of person.  That’s how ANNOYING he was!  But don’t worry, people.  that was like 16 years ago.  I still have not stabbed anyone to this day.

4. I was a music major in college and I don’t do anything musical right now (except singing and harmonizing to every song I hear wherever I am.)  If I could go back to school, I wouldn’t be a music major again.  Sometimes I feel like I wasted my degree on a hobby.  But I’m still not sure what else I would have gone back for.  Maybe art therapy?

5. By day, I am a Data Curator for Wolfram|Alpha.  I am the main curator for all cities, countries, administrative divisions, any and all geographical things (rivers, mountains, volcanoes, etc) and all structural data (buildings, dams, tunnels).  I loooooove what I do!  This is the best job I’ve had so far and I hope to do it for a long time.

6. This spring I finally decided to play a group sport again, so I joined my company’s co-ed softball team.  We’ve lost all our games so far, but we’re getting better!  It’s soooo much fun!  My best position is first base since I can actually catch a ball that’s being thrown to me.  I can’t catch fly balls for the life of me, so I hardly ever play in the outfield.  Being active in group sports again is a HUGE step in this journey.  To feel comfortable and strong enough to play outside in front of others was something I wasn’t willing to do for a long time.

7. Other than being a data curator and a food and health blogger, my other OTHER “job” is being a Stained Glass Artist.  I’ve had five pieces of mine featured in the independent film Leading Ladies, I’ve been commissioned to make a large piece for a guy in Australia, and I’ve sold my stuff in local galleries.  Right now, I’m on a kind of hiatus from it, though, because I want to focus on getting healthy more than anything else!

If you’ve been given the versatile blogger award, in order to accept it, you have to follow this same template: choose 7 bloggers, and spill 7 unknown things about yourself.  You’re welcome.