aw: Liebster Award

I'm so pleased to be nominated for a Liebster Award not once, but twice in the same day. I didn't really expect that my little corner of the interwebs would get noticed, and I was fine with that, so I was pleasantly surprised! Thanks to Kristan over at Lavender & Light and Rhea at Rhea, et cetera for their noms! I love both of their blogs so you should definitely go check them out if you haven't already.

The Rules

Mention the person who nominated you with a link to their blog

Answer the 11 questions asked

Nominate 11 other bloggers with a smaller following but with lots of potential

Create 11 of your own questions for them to answer

Notify your nominees

Rhea's questions:

1) Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging a long time ago, with Livejournal. All of those "blogs" quickly fizzled out. It's kind of embarrassing to think of how many dead accounts I must have on that site... I started this blogger account last summer when I was on break from teaching but really got into it this past month. There's something therapeutic about posting every day.

2) What is your favorite blog to visit and why?
This question isn't fair, haha. I like so many. I have to say that Laini Taylor's blog (YA author) will always have a special place in my heart, because it's one of the first blogs I really got into, and she's one of my favorite writers ever. I also like & Kathleen because she seems like the raddest chick ever.

3) What makes you smile?
My students. My dogs. My boyfriend. Books. Writing.

....Target's dollar section.

4) Besides blogging, what do you do in your pastime?
I cook and bake a lot. I just started doing yoga, so that takes up about an hour of my time every night. And I rekindled my love for playing piano.

5) What is the next book you are planning to read, and why?
The Casual Vacancy is waiting for me on my nightstand.

6) Favorite place to eat out?
In Indiana, I love me some Olive Garden. We don't have chain restaurants on the Big Island, but I do like this little pasta place called Cafe Pesto. They make the best drinks.

7) Guilty pleasure?
This is a hard question, because I usually don't feel guilty about the things I like. I guess my biggest one is anything Harry Potter. I'm a die hard Potterhead.

8) How did you come up with the name of your blog?
HI is the abbreviation for Hawaii, so I guess I was trying to be clever. But it can also be read as high and low, and I have a lot of highs and lows on a daily basis, so I guess it's fitting in that way too.

9) If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Tickle-me-pink!

10) What do you feel is the greatest accomplishment you have in life so far?
I think moving to Hawaii was a pretty big accomplishment for me, because it involved overcoming a lot of anxiety about moving away from a life that was comfortable to me and going way, way outside my comfort zone. There have been a lot of highs and lows (hehe, geddit) since I moved here, but honestly... no regrets. I needed to prove to myself that I could do something this brave for myself.

11) Finally, what is the #1 thing on your bucket list?
I really want to go to England. And Australia, to visit one of my bestest friends. :)

And Kristan's questions:

1. - What is something you've made from Pinterest lately?

I did something like this craft a little while ago.

le Frufrù

2.- What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

I push snooze an embarrassing amount of times. Then I snuggle with my dogs for a little while. And then I finally pull myself out of bed and go pee (hey, you asked). :P

3.- What is your favorite mascara?

Honestly, I don't wear mascara. In fact, I don't really wear much makeup at all unless I'm going out or I have some place special to be.

4.- What was the last song stuck in your head?

Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker. I don't even like it that much, honestly, but it just kind of circles in your mind for ages after you've heard it like... a wagon wheel.

5.- What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher and girl, look at me now. :P I'm a teacher.

6.- What is one bad habit you have?

I leave cups lying around the house a lot. I currently have three glasses on my nightstand right now because I haven't taken them downstairs to the sink and it drives Steven crazy. I literally just asked him what one of my bad habits is and he immediately said: "Cups."

7.- What is one thing about your blog you wish you had more time to work on?

I wish I had more time to write DIY posts. Even on the weekends, it's hard to carve out a couple hours to get some projects I want to do done. Life's a you-know-what.

8.- What is your "go to" meal at home?

I make a lot of soup, because it means we'll have leftovers for the next day and I won't have to cook. :P I like making tortilla soup and Hawaiian gumbo and jambalaya. I really like spicy food.

9.- If you had an extra $500 right now, what would you go buy?

I would buy a whole lot of stuff to decorate our house with, because we moved in a while ago and to me, it's still looking a little bare. We also need chairs. I mean, honestly... you'd think chairs were made out of gold given their price tags. They are so freaking expensive. It's the most shocking thing I've discovered as an adult, haha.

10.- Do you live in your hometown?

No, but I live in my mom's!

11.- What is one phrase you feel like you say too much?

Um... I swear a lot in real life. Like a sailor. Does that count?

And I'm nominating these awesome blogs, all of which I stalk like no other:

Jean at Irrational sense of optimism

Sam and Duke

Denise at The Lovely Bohemian

Brittany at Life Changes

Elizabeth at nomElizabeth

Lex at The Ainscough Family

Shay at The Curly Casualista