Dearest Beloved, we are gathered here today….

…to celebrate my being awarded the Liebster Award!!

Recently I have received not one, not two, not even three, but four nominations for The Liebster Award! How amazing is that?! Definitely a reason to celebrate!

Thank you so much to Michelle, Dawn, Jenny and Julie for nominating me for this award. I am truly touched and honoured to receive this award from all of you.

Trawling back through my brain to my A-Level German and Gap Year time in Munich, I can tell you that in German the word “liebster” means favourite, beloved or dearest.  It is an award created by bloggers for fellow bloggers to recognize blogs that you love. I am really flattered to have received this award and especially to have received it from four fellow bloggers whose blogs I love to read.

There are a few easy to follow ‘rules’ for accepting your award: 

1. Link back and recognize the blogger who nominated you.

2. Answer ten questions given to you, by the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate ten other bloggers for the award.

4. Create ten questions for your nominees to answer.

5. Notify your nominees.

6. You may copy and paste the award (which is at the top of this post) to display on your blog.

As pacing is the name of the game with ME/CFS, I am going to take 4 posts to fully comply with the rules. I will answer the ten questions set by each of my four nominators in four separate posts. This way I spread out the cognitive and physical energy needed and will hopefully keep my good friend ME/CFS happy. My ten nominations and my own ten questions for my ten nominees to answer will be the same across all four posts. Got it? Gosh this awards business is complicated!

Do the Hokey Pokey! Photo credit: http://www.forbes.com

So today I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Michelle over at Fibro…Dealing and Coping Through Laughter and Tears for nominating me for this award. Michelle’s blog does exactly what the title says. She shares her experiences of living with Fibromyalgia, the ups, the downs and all the bits in between.

Michelle’s 10 questions for me are:

1.  What inspires you to blog?

My illness and experience of it. My fellow bloggers and readers and their lovely comments. Positivity and happiness. Delicious food. Anything and everything!

2.  What are your other hobbies?

Allergy free baking and cooking. Yoga. Reading. 

3.  Do you hope to make money blogging?

One day when energy allows I’d love to make blogging my paid work.

Cornish honeycomb is known as hokey pokey! Photo credit: http://anniescitykitchen.blogspot.co.uk/

4. Do you hokey pokey?

You put your left foot in, your left foot out, you turn yourself around and that’s what it’s all about! Do….the hokey pokey (though I know it as hokey cokey!!) Awh such a happy song! If you need a reminder check out this You Tube video and have a sing-a-long!

5.  What is the most inspiring place you’ve traveled to?

Lake Atilian in Guatemala. It was so beautiful and still. Or maybe actually Vancouver, Canada which seemed to have it all, sunshine, the ocean, mountains, a true melting pot. That’s a tough question!

6.  What quote, and by whom, inspires you?

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain” by Vivian Greene. This is how I try to live my life with ME/CFS.

7. If you thought the government powers that be would actually listen to you what would you say?

Good health is at the heart of a good life so health care provision must be at the heart of government policy, both in big and small ways.

8. What is your favorite movie genre? why?

Feel Good – who wants to watch a sad movie?!

9.  Whom do you hope to be an inspiration to?

Anyone who wants to be inspired. In particular I hope I inspire others to keep faith and stay positive even when life throws you health hurdles.

10. My life is: not what I intended but it is still wonderful in so many ways.

Here are my ten dearest and beloved nominee blogs for The Liebster Award:

1. Currankentucky – a fellow ME/CFS fighter who writes beautifully and poetically about the travesties this illness inflicts on her.
2. A Very Frank Senior  – a welcome break from all my health and foodie interests. Frank writes rants and lilts about life. Always interesting, often controversial and his photography is great too.
3. Lethargic Smiles – one girl’s fight to overcome POTs. Positive and inspiring. We share a similar positive attitude and obsessional drive to recover our health.
4. Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart – an Irish lady living in America’s battle with ME/CFS. Sometimes emotional. Sometimes medical. Always easy to relate to, informative and thoughtful.
5. The Homeschooling Doctor – medical doctor turned stay at home mum. Firm believer in the power of diet and nutrition for optimal health. Witty, informative posts about battling sub-optimal bowel function!
6. Me, Myself and ME – a well written and easy to read insight into the daily life and struggles of living with ME/CFS and its impact on every aspect of life.
7. Living Being Doing with CFS – posts about living and thriving with ME/CFS. Claire is positive and pragmatic in her approach, I relate to her writings and get real encouragement from them.
8. The Pollyanna Plan – the power of positivity, joy and happiness to improve chronic health conditions. So uplifting, inspiring and always makes me smile.
9. Deliciously Ella – Ella has POTs and is healing herself through the power of food. Inspiring, delicious recipes with stunning photography.
10. Notes From The Fog – daily life with chronic pain and the joy of brain fog. I totally relate to Trisha’s posts and enjoy every word.

Congratulations to you all 🙂

And here are the ten questions that I would like each of you lucky nominees to answer in accepting this award:

1. Why did you start a blog?
2. Describe yourself in 3 words:
3. How would you describe your diet?
4. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement to date?
5. What’s the best novel you have ever read?
6. What makes you smile?
7. What is your favourite season?
8. What is your goal in life?
9. Where would you like to go on holiday (vacation to my American readers!)?
10. Did you have any new years resolutions for 2013? If yes, have you kept to them?

Next post, I’ll be answering the 10 questions posed by Dawn from Dawnyhosking, so look out for that!