Sunshine Award!

I don't get very many awards anymore, not since Gogo died, but I've been nominated for one! Hooray!

The Sunshine Award is for people who “positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” The nominee must do the following: thank the person who nominated her, nominate ten bloggers of her own, answer the ten questions given to her, and post them and the Sunshine Award button to her blog.

Thank you to The Polka-Dot Periodical (and anyone else that also did) for nominating me!  

1. Mares or Geldings? Ok, seriously, if you've been reading this blog or Gogo's blog for more than 5 seconds, I think you can answer that question!
2. English or Western? Well, both, I suppose! A few months ago I would have still told you that I am a die-hard eventer/dressage rider/jumper/foxhunter, and those things are all still true, but I've been doing an awful lot of trail riding, barrel racing, and chasing cows as of late... so I guess both! 
3. Do you prefer “younger” or “older” horses? Well, it depends. My "old" mare acts like a two year old half the time and the new freshly-five year old acts like she is 20 half the time! Rather than "younger" or "older" I think of them more as "schooled" or "green".... if they are green, I like them to be a blank slate that can be trained, and if they are trained, I like them to be well trained so there doesn't have to be a lot of erasing and re-training that has to be done!
4. Have you trained a horse from ground zero? Yes, a few now! Mostly I like to take them when they are green but w-t-c and maybe going over small obstacles, that is my favorite. 
5. Do you prefer riding or groundwork? Good question.... I love them both! 
6. Do you board your horse or keep it at home? I don't officially board, but I don't keep them at home... the horses are at S's house. I don't pay board, I just take care of her horses while she is gone. It's a win win situation! 
7. Do you do all natural things or just commercial stuff?(in sense of products) I don't think I understand the question.... how do you 'do' products? Can anyone explain that one to me?
8. All tacked up or bareback? Both! I guess it just depends on what I am doing (and who I am riding!!).
9. Equestrian role model? Anyone from any discipline that puts the horse first, and isn't in it for money or gain.
10. What’s your one, main goal, while being in the horses world? To make a positive difference in any horse's life that is in my care. That's my number one. 
    
    
    

So who is nominated  As usual.... YOU! I nominate YOU if you are reading it and you haven't been nominated yet! I hate to pick and choose, you all deserve it!

(Recognize that monster? Yes, that is the little shitten that YOU helped me rescue! He is five months old is and almost EIGHT pounds already. The vet thinks he will make 20lbs!! He'll always have a slight limp, and one leg is shorter than the other, but that doesn't stop him from leaping up on the counters and causing general chaos in the house 24/7!)

Liebster Award

Hey Project Runaway won an award! :D Eventing-A-Gogo! had a ton of awards, but this is my first one over here! When I had Gogo, I religiously followed a ton of blogs and always was keen to add new ones. I had a zillion people to follow and that followed me, and we tossed awards back and forth at each other with reckless abandon. With my busy schedule, I've just not been keeping up as well, and haven't even added in a sidebar with my followed blogs... I just haven't put the same sort of loving care into this blog that I did into Gogo's blog. I think I've just been too sad ever since she died to do it. It's been almost two years now though... I should change that.

Hawk at Forging Fiction nominated me for this one! Many thanks, and here goes!

HOW TO ACCEPT THE AWARD: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize blogs who have less than 200 followers. (I barely squeak by with this one - I have 193!) Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued.  Here are the rules for accepting the award:

Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog. List 11 random facts about yourself.Answer the 11 questions given to you.Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.Go to each blogger's page and let them know you have nominated them.

11 random facts about me:

- I have to set my alarm clock in series of five minutes. I can't get up if the clock isn't directly on a 0 or a 5 minute mark.... I have no idea why.

- I actually am starting to feel somewhat like a proper adult who has her stuff more or less together, mostly. Sort of. Well, we're getting there.

- Secretly, I love really wacky colored horses... funny colors, crazy spots, weird markings, you name it.... I love it!

- Come to think of it, I love unique EVERYTHING.... run of the mill things just don't sit well with me. I can't stand the mundane, the boring, the everyday.

- If I didn't have horses, I would assuredly be a crazy cat lady. No doubt about it.

- Don't tell anybody, but I LOVE Texas.

- Everytime a tornado comes through our area, I fight the urge to get in my car and go find it. I WANNA SEE. Which, coincidentally, is how people get killed... who knew?

-  When we get a proper house, I'm going to have some lawn ornament Longhorns.  

- My dream car is a red 1973 Pontiac Trans-Am Firebird Super Duty with a big Firebird on the hood. I'll never own it, but I love it anyway.

- I can back up my truck and trailer almost as well as I can drive them forwards. I am a MASTA BACKA.

- I think most people are good deep down inside, but I don't trust anybody anyway.

11 Questions for Me:

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Oh, hell. I don't know. I had a good childhood, I had lots of good memories. I think all of them centered around playing games outside in the woods.... I was a total tomboy who spent all her time outside. I can't narrow it down to just one!

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Flying. DEFINITELY flying.

You have one wish - what would you do with it?

Aaaah, good question. Probably something along the lines of world peace, harmony, no more harm to the planet, and a gallon of fresh ice cream every time I opened my freezer. Does that all count as one?

What is your favorite color?

Light blue - duh! EVERYTHING I own horse-related is light blue, black, or gold - my eventing colors. Light blue looks AMAZING on dark bay horses (I'm on dark bay #4, although dark bay #1 admittedly evented in outrageous purple). You want to know what color light blue does NOT look good on? Orangey chestnut. Of course, right?

What are you most passionate about right now?

My small business, Future Hubs, my hunt for a possible house (maybe??), my Furkids, my horses. And weather-watching.

You win the lottery. What is the first thing you buy?

A big, gorgeous ranch and a new truck. Who wouldn't?

What is something that intimidates you?

NEEDLES. Don't you DARE get anywhere near me with one. I might cry and/or poop my pants. I am deathly, deathly afraid of them.

What is a quote that best describes you?

"Are you ready?" Klaus asked finally.

"No," Sunny answered.

"Me neither," Violet said, "but if we wait until we're ready we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives, Let's go."

- Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator

If you had a week off from work, what would you do?

Well, in my case it's not so much if I had a week off of WORK per se, because if I want to arrange my schedule to accomodate a vacation I can do that. It's just finding someone to watch the pets and the horses that is the real issue! But, I would go to Michigan, go to Florida, go to California, and then go wherever the hell I wanted after that - probably sailing in the Caribbean. 

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Back to New Zealand.... and I might never come back!!

What is the most dangerous/daring activity you have ever partaken in?

Honestly? Hiking unprepared in the wilderness. Having gotten severely hypothermic from improper clothing in a wet environment and also having gotten very lost in the mountains with no GPS/clothes/food/anything, I can safely say that being stupid is the stupidest thing I've ever done. Horseback riding is one thing... being irresponsible in a potentially dangerous situation is another!

11 Questions for Readers:

- You have to choose only 5 things to survive the zombie apocalypse. What do you bring along?

- Quick! There are zombies chasing you and your best friend is slowing you down. Do you trip them up and let them get eaten, or help them along at the risk of being eaten yourself?

- You get to the barn and find that your horse is a zombie! What do you do?

- If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?

- Do you think zombies have feelings and can they be cured?

- In this world of Smartphones and technology, do you ever wonder if we're ALREADY all zombies?

- You found the cure for zombification! What is it?

- You have a choice for vehicles to survive a zombie apocalypse: a heavily armored but slow tank, a very speedy jacked up truck with a gun rack, or a small cargo carrier airplane. Which do you choose and why?

- Where is your safe hiding spot going to be during the zombie apocalypse?

- The zombies have caught you and you're about to be eaten. Which part would you want them to consume first?

- You're up for some hand to hand combat with zombies. You have a choice between a baseball bat, a Swiss army knife, and a meat tenderizer hammer. Which do you choose?

- If zombies could dance, what kind of dance would they do?

(By the way, contrary to what you probably are thinking right now, I'm not particularly interested in zombies beyond the novelty. I've only seen one episode of the Walking Dead and it was too scary to keep watching.)

11 Tags:

I'm going to break the rules here. I nominate YOU, reader! I'm tagging you ALL because you all are awesome and deserve it!