Liebster Award

One of my favorite bloggers nominated me for a Liebster Award! I had no idea what this was, so I looked it up. There is no official website, but I did find out that Liebster is German for "dearest", and the award is a way to recognize bloggers who don't have many readers. I absolutely fit into that category. Thanks to Green Girl Running for nominating me!

To accept the award, I have to do three things:

• Post 11 random facts about myself.
• Answer the questions that Green Girl Running asked in her post.
• Pass the Liebster Award on by nominating up to 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers, and giving them 11 questions to answer.

Here are 11 random facts about me:

1. I have a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering.
2. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis over 9 years ago.
3. I was a competitive gymnast from age 4 to 14.
4. I took a lot of lessons as a kid: guitar, saxophone, flute, piano, violin, ice skating, French, ballet/jazz/tap, gymnastics, voice, horseback riding. 
5. I gave birth to my daughter at home, by choice, with no drugs.
6. My husband and I lived on top of a mountain in Big Sur, CA with no electricity.
7. I used to have secret government clearance (but I never knew anything remotely interesting).
8. I'm from Pittsburgh and I wish I still lived there.
9. I cry easily - usually at least once a day.
10. I was in the marching band in high school - I played saxophone - and I never watched one football game even though I attended hundreds of them.
11. I've hiked over 1700 miles of the Appalachian Trail, most of it in one 4-month chunk in 2001.

Here are the answers to GGR's questions:

1. At what age did you learn to ride a bike? 5
2. Have you ever broken a bone? A couple of toes (I was stepped on by a horse)
3. Are you a morning person or a night owl? I used to be a night owl, but now I'm definitely a morning person.
4. What was the first car you ever owned? Honda Accord
5. Do you prefer mountain or beach towns? Both! Big Sur!
6. What's your favorite weekend activity? Sleeping in
7. Cat person or dog person? Cat
8. What's your proudest accomplishment? Having a home birth
9. What's the nicest thing you've ever done for someone? I helped my husband get clean and sober almost 9 years ago.
10. What's the nicest thing someone has done for you? In college, I had to drive home from Vermont to Pittsburgh after a snowstorm. I was completely freaked out about the drive, so my dad flew to Vermont and drove me home.
11. If you had to live one day over and over (like that movie Groundhog Day) what day would you choose? The first day of the first road trip I took with my husband (before he was my husband).

Here are 9 awesome women who I'd like to accept the Liebster Award. I love reading these blogs and I get so excited when I see updates from them in my feed reader!

• Pittsburgh Runner
• Just Keep Running
• Eating the Week
• Maine Mom on the Run
• Running Escapades
• Running on Ipsum
• Middle Aged Runner
• Miles and Trials
• Westford Mommy

Here are the questions I'd like you to answer:

1. What profession would you be doing if not the one you're doing now?
2. What book would you bring with you to a deserted island, if you could only bring one book?
3. What language do you wish you could speak?
4. If you could only obtain one goal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
5. If you won the lottery, what would you do?
6. If you had only three days to live, what would you do?
7. Do you believe that there are other living things in the universe, besides us?
8. What's one non-trivial thing that you Know?
9. What is your least favorite word?
10. What is your favorite modern device or appliance?
11. What is your favorite song?

If you want to play along, answer one or more of these questions in the comments!