I'm Inspiring (yep, another award)

I know!  It's craziness.  It's like winning Best Dressed, Most Likely to Succeed, Homecoming Queen and Class President all at once!

 (Note:  I was never ANY of those things.....but I was voted Class Clown a few times and Most School Spirit twice!)

The super-sweet Megan over at Megan Moments awarded me with the Fall 2010 Favorites "Blogs that Inspire" Award.

See?

The award was created by Megan to acknowledge those bloggers who inspired her in various ways.  I personally think this is an awesome idea, and not just becuase I was one of the recipients!

Y'all go check Megan's blog out.  I've just discovered her, and so far what I've read is great! Thanks, Megan!

As with every award, there are some rules you must follow in order to accept, and here they are:

1. Make a post thanking and linking back to the person's blog who awarded you. (CHECK)
2. Tell everyone in that post what 7 things are that inspire your life - people, places, things?
3. Pass the award to 7 more blogs.
4. Contact the bloggers you picked and tell them about the award! (:

Since I've taken care of number one, let's move on to two.....

Seven things/people that inspire my life:

1. My mom

My mother has faced various forms of adversity in her life - some devastating, some just minor setbacks - but she never let any of them affect her outlook, her kindness, or her devotion to myself, my sister and our family.  She's the greatest person I've ever known, and now that I'm an adult, wife and mother, I appreciate her so much more.  I also rely on her much more and look to her for advice.  My mom is by far the most inspiring person in my life. 

2. Nature

Everyday I try to stop and look at the many wonderful things God created and be thankful for the opportunity to enjoy them.  There is so much magnificence, beauty and wonder all around us, and we tend to forget about it all because of the fast pace in which life moves. 

3. My grandparents

My mother's parents will reach their 53rd wedding anniversary this December, and that - to me - is a huge accomplishment.  They have gone through so much together - having and raising children, losing parents, siblings and friends, losing jobs, economic hardships, natural disasters, grandchildren, great grandchildren....and through all of that, they still love each other as much as they did when they were newlyweds.  Every day they go out on their porch, sit together and just enjoy each other's company.  They're so stinkin' cute, and I hope the hubs and I will be able to look back 50 years from now and love each other just as much. 

4. My children

The loves of my life.  Before they came along, of course I had dreams and goals, but none of them compared to the absolute need to improve myself once I became a mother.  Now they inspire me to be the best mom, the best wife, finish my education, just be better in general.  They inspire me every single day to be the best person I can be.

5. My Dad

My dad is the coolest, most laid-back dude.  Ever.  He always says life is too short to be stressed out all the time.  He doesn't let the small things in life bother him, and he inspires me to be the same.  If everyone was as chill as my dad, there'd be a lot less evil in the world!

6. Celebrities like Paris Hilton, Speidi, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan

                                 

These idiots inspire me to think before I speak, say no to drugs, refuse to do reality shows and ALWAYS wear undies!

7. Michael Myers

This terrifying dude (along with Pennywise, Jason, Freddy and all other horror movie villians) has inspired me to avoid dark houses, cemeteries, camps by the lake.... and to just stay home on Halloween night.

So, those are my seven (7) inspirations. 

Now to award the seven bloggers who inspire me - whether it's inspiration to try a new recipe, read a good book, look at the goodness in life, look for the humor in life, get off my butt and exercise, etc.  Here they are:

Naida

Heather

Amy

Cole

Beatles and Booze

Allie

Meg

Thanks for being inspiring guys! 

I'm Versatile....who knew?

The awesome John Smith gave me the Versatile Blogger award.

He blogs about writing, and gives great tips and ideas on things like character and plot development, as well as the occasional random post. Check him out, you'll love his stuff! (Thanks so much, John! I appreciate the encouragement!)

The rules of acceptance of this fantabulous award are as follows:

1) Thank and link back to the person who gave me this award.

2) Tell everyone 7 things about myself

3) Pass this award to 15 other bloggers

4) Contact the bloggers that I've picked and tell them about the award

I've already said thanks to John, but again, THANK YOU JOHN! You rock!

Here's seven (7) things about me you never knew:

1. Back in the 90s I memorized the dance to N'Sync's "I Want You Back" and I still remember it. I even
bust it out occasionally when the mood strikes me.
2. I can sing four songs in Spanish.
3. I wish I could shave my head and not look ridiculous.
4. I hate fairs; they creep me out.
5. I once won a spelling bee with the word "hyperbole."
6. I tried to read Helter Skelter three years ago, but it scared me so much that I couldn't finish it (that's the
only book I've been unable to finish). I've since been hesitant to try again.
7. Halloween is my most favorite horror movie, but Michael Myers frightens me more than any other villian.

Now to pass this award on to 15 people....

These are the folks who I feel are the most versatile and entertaining:

Heather
Nicole
Emily
Roberta
Novie
Alice
Cole
Kate
Lydia
Molly
Amy
Annah
Emy
Jumble
Violet

I love reading y'all's stuff! Keep it up, guys.

Also, my BBBF (Blogging Best Bud Forever), Jumble Mash, also gave me an award today!

I just freaking love you!


Toodles!

I KNEW IT!

I have substance.

You know, I always suspected that my blog was one of substance (or at least occasional insight), but it has now been PROVEN thanks to one of the coolest chicks in the world, Nicole Miller. (I am so in love with you right now - in a totally non-lesbian way, though..........ahem.)

Nicole has awarded me with the

award.

See? I TOLD YA!

Is it ridiculous that I feel like sticking my tongue out and saying, "Na na na na boo boo!" to certain blog-haters?

I know I should say that we're all adults here, and now others will just respect my writing, and that should be enough, but I'm just not that mature. I'd like to rub it in a bit. Just a little.

So here's me rubbing it in a little:



I feel so much better now.

Anyhoo, there are a few rules that must be followed in order to accept this totally rad award, and they are:

•Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.
•Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five (5) words.
•Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.


So first up,

to Nicole over at It's All Random. She has special posts for each day of the week, and they're all great. My favorites are My 5 Mondays, YouTube Tuesdays and Sick of Them Saturdays. She's also great about encouraging her followers to check out blogs that she follows on Follow Them Fridays. Go check her out and I know you'll follow her, because she really does have a great blog!

Now for the hard part:

Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation and experience in five (5) words.

This is really difficult, because when I started this blog, it wasn't with any particular intention other than sharing my opinions on various topics with hopefully a little bit of humor thrown in. I'll give this a shot though...

My blogging philosophy and motivation are basically the same, so I'd say ENTERTAINMENT, HUMOR, HONESTY, BOREDOM and LOVE OF THE ARTS (which is four words, but one idea, so hush). They all go hand-in-hand and so far have made for a pretty successful blog. I'm happy.

Lastly, I am supposed to pass this on to ten (10) other blogs that I feel possess REAL substance. This is super-hard because I follow a ton of blogs and they're all great. After much debate, I have decided on the following ten, who are blogs that I feel either have great general content (like those that are specifically books or movies, etc.) or are just such good writers that you can't help but lose yourself in their posts. Basically, these are the people who I look forward to reading the most:

Fantasy Casting

I Left My Heart In London

Jumble Mash

Long Distance Love Affair

Random Ramblings

The Bookworm

The Date Experiment

Without Obsession Life Is Nothing

Twenty-something Florida Wife

You're Only As Tall As Your Heart Will Let You Be

I know I've already given some of you guys previous awards, but hey - when it's good, it's good. So cheers to all of you, and me, and Nicole.May we continue to be substantial. Heh.

(NOTE: Nicole's blog is definitely one that I feel has serious substance, but since she was just given the award, I only thought it fair to share it with others.)

Oh and HEY - don't forget to mosey over to my 100th Post Celebratory Giveaway Extravaganza post to submit your funny first date story to win a totally awesome 80s tee!

Toodles!

A Celebration, A Giveaway, An Anniversary & Another Blog Award

First up, let me give a big 'ol

MUCHAS GRACIAS

to Philly Girl over at Confessions of a Philly Girl. I gave her the Awesome Blog Award a few weeks ago, and when she selected her favorite blogs, she picked me as one! So....I have been awarded the award that I made!

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

Here it is, in all of its awesome glory:

I'm just uber-excited and feel all warm and fuzzy inside about it .

But enough of that...

There are two - count 'em, TWO - big announcements I need to make today.

Number One:

In a mere six days the hubs and I will celebrate our third anniversary.

Yep, three years ago September 1st we tied the knot, signed our lives away, bought the cow, made the big leap, said adios to the single life....and any/all other marriage-related phrases.

(You don't need to share congrats or well-wishes or anything, I just felt like sharing it with y'all since we're all BFFs here.)

Number Two (and the announcement YOU, THE READER will be more interested in):

In a few days I will hit the milestone of

100th POST!

This is me when I realized I'm nearing 100 (minus the fur and whiskers).

In ridiculously dramatic celebration of this momumentous occasion, I have decided to do a GIVEAWAY.

I never thought I'd do one of these, but we've all gotta cave sometime, right?

So, here we go with the contest explanation and prizes...

I want YOU

(You)

to comment (on this post) your most hilarious first date story. To be specific, it can be hilarious in a good way OR in a bad way (because sometimes bad can be funny). Include details, but don't give me a mini novel. I'll read the hubs all of your stories, and he (in his infinite wisdom) will pick the best story, aka Most Fantabulous.

I decided to go with first date stories partly because of our anniversary, but mostly because I like to laugh and you people are all so wonderfully entertaining.


Our Most Fantabulous winner will get their choice of one of the following AWESOME t-shirts from 80sTees (I will order whatever specific size you need):

(Note: If none of these tickle your fancy, feel free to browse the 80sTees website and maybe we can get you another t-shirt of your choice - be considerate and pick one of the $20 shirts though, please.)

The Most Fantabulous winner will be announced in my 100th Post Celebration (in about five days or so), which will be a post ALL ABOUT ME.

I know, you can't wait. It's okay to be excited.

So, if you have any questions (which you shouldn't because this was pretty detailed) about the contest or my general awesomeness, feel free to comment me or hit me up on the email: jb_parnell@yahoo.com

Love, peace and chicken grease, y'all!

First day of school review and blog lovin'

Had my first day of school today.  (I was so excited/anxious that I woke up at 4:30am and could not go back to sleep.) I know first impressions aren't always accurate or necessarily a good indicator as far as professors go, but my initial opinions were good.  I'm taking six classes - all lecture classes.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm wondering what was I thinking?!, but I'm not going to panic.  Just yet. 

Of course, with my new super-busy schedule (school MWF and work T/Th) I will have a huge chunk of my blogging time cut out, which makes Jess a sad girl. 

So imagine my great delight when I got home to catch up on my bloggin pals' new posts for the day and discovered I've been given another blog award - by not one, but TWO of my blogging pals!

was given to me by both the wonderful Meg at O is Me and Amy at Life's Journey with a Smile.  THEN my pal at Jumble Mash gave me some Blog Lovin' today in her post, which is always awesome.  Nothing like some good blog lovin'! 

Thank you so much ladies!  I really enjoy reading your blogs and hope everyone will wander over and take a peek, because they'll love reading them too!

Note:  Since I just did the whole award/7 things about me/give the award away thing last week, I'm going to ask for a bye on this one.  However, in the next month or so I will be making another award and giving it out!

This day has just been a fantabulously awesome day! However, now I have to go read two chapters of my Psychology textbook and two chapters of a novel about Philosophy for Friday's classes. 

Cheers!

I'd like to thank....

Whatever you're doing right now, STOP.

I have been given. An. AWARD.

I feel like Jim Carrey in The Mask.



It's the Great Blog Award

from my good blogging bud Beatles and Booze. THANK YOU!

According to blogging rules, when you receive a blog award you must do the following:


1. Thank the person who gave you the award
2. Share seven things about you
3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs
4. Let your nominees know about the award!


1. Already done, but again - thanks so much! Beatles and Booze is a really good (and somehow still relatively unknown) blog, and everyone should go check it out!

2. This is a weird one, because I feel like one of those self-obsessed people when I talk about myself. However, a rule is a rule...

• I'm left-handed, but somewhat ambidextrious. I play all sports, cook and do various activities right-handed.
• I love to sing. I've sang in church my entire life, and have also sang for a graduation and several weddings. (I actually considered "wedding singer" as a career once.)
• I can juggle three balls. Like clowns in the circus, not Jenna Jameson. (Dirty-minded people.)
• My favorite colors are LSU purple and gold.
• I hope to someday FINISH a novel that I've started....and be published.
• I'm terrified of driving over bridges.
• In 8th grade my best friend Tiff and I spoke in a strictly Don Juan De Marco accent for two weeks straight.

3. I actually made my own award to give out:

I follow about 50 different blogs, and I have committed to read every single post by each of them. That's a lot of reading and commenting, and there are a few that I really look forward to reading. It wasn't 15, but here they are:

Beatles and Booze
Confessions of a Philly Girl
Cafe' Bellini
Fantasy Casting!
It's All Random
Wasting Words
Without Obsession Life Is Nothing
Sara Swears A Lot
Long Distance Love Affair

So here's to you guys. Thanks for entertaining me on a daily basis! :)

Go check 'em out and give 'em some love, because they deserve it!