February 2015 Blog Awards

I'd like to thank Ashley of Precious Moments for the Awesome Blog Award and Sisterhood of the World Blog Award.  Ashley shares her photography, as well as hymns, Bible verses, and words of encouragement at her blog.  She asked several interesting questions, which I will address in this post.

1. What is your favorite place to shop?

C.W.U. Thrift in Iowa Falls, IA

Does the thrift store above look like paradise to you?  Only accessible from an alley/back road and located in the basement of a couple more prominent businesses, C.W.U. Thrift is a treasure-trove! 

Except for specially marked items, all tops and bottoms are 50 cents.  Greeting cards (which I collect) are two for a quarter, and shoes, coats, clocks, lamps, kitchen gadgets, and nearly everything else imaginable, are similarly priced.  Some items are barely (or never) used and many are very good quality.  The store is run by volunteers from the Church Women's Union, and all proceeds (around $100,000 per year) are donated to good causes within the community.  

While I believe chores like grocery shopping should be done as efficiently as possible, I consider thrift shopping a relaxing pastime--and a lot of fun!  I never know what I might find!

2. What's your favorite thing to eat?

Dessert of basically any type: chocolate, peanut butter, cheesecake, pie, cake, cookies, brownies, ice cream, etc. (You get the idea.)  I also love my grandma's chili, my mother's mashed potatoes and gravy and turkey, Mrs. D.'s chicken soup, my sisters' concoctions (well, most of them), and the list goes on and on.  Midwesterners know how to cook a good, hearty meal!

3. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia

Since I assume that in answering this question I don't have to concern myself with expenses, we'll have to make it a world tour!  There are many places still on my list to visit in Iowa and throughout the U.S., but I won't waste this once in a life-time opportunity on places that I will probably visit in the next few years anyway.

Let's start our journey with Thailand, where my mother was born.  We'll visit the beautiful white sand beaches in the south, stop by to see my cousins in Bangkok, and then head up to Lamphun, a province in Northern Thailand where my grandfather worked farming rice with oxen, and which, it is said, his ancestors once ruled.  

After enjoying our fill of sunshine in the land of smiles, we can visit the United Kingdom.  Scotland, Ireland, and England are places from which many of my progenitors hailed, so we can visit cemeteries and see the beautiful land where they walked.  If by any chance we get tired of visiting cemeteries, I'm told London has its attractions.  Hopefully it will be foggy just like in all the old movies, and we'll stumble upon the answer to a long-unsolved mystery.  

Next, we'll journey to Germany and see Colditz Castle where the most ingenious re-captured escapees and troublemaking U.S. POWs were held during World War 2.  We'll tour other castles, cathedrals, museums, and palaces, and surprise my cousins there (one of my cousins married a German and lives there--my not-as-numerous Dutch, German, and/or Austrian ancestors are way back: so chances are I won't find any of them).

Finally, we'll head to Venice, Italy, to find out if it's really as fascinating a city as it's famed to be.  We'll try some authentic Italian food--pizza, lasagna, and fettucini!

If we're not too exhausted after that, we can visit Spain and perhaps Peru, so I can practice my Spanish!

Throughout the entire world tour, we'll stop at cafes enroute to meet-up with fellow bloggers and chess players, and chat with the locals.  Now I just need to find travelling companions...

Care to join me?  

 4. Do you like writing letters or emailing best?  It's not in how I write, but in what I write and to whom I'm writing.

 5. Do you have a favorite game? If so, what is it?  Overall: Chess.  Outdoors: Volleyball.

Late summer evenings playing volleyball are great fun, even if I do end up putting the net away in the *dark!*

6. What's your favorite activity to do with your family?  My favorite activities with family are giving concerts, going to chess tournaments, hiking, biking, and playing volleyball. 

 7. Are you musical? If so, what instrument(s) do you play? The guitar & piano, and a little harmonica & accordion.

8. What was the last thing you memorized? F#minor chord on the guitar. 

 9. What's your favorite book of the Bible and why? 

Third Timothy--below are a few quotes from there and Second Colossians:

  "Roll with the punches."

"What goes around comes around."

"The devil is the father of flies"

"Cleanliness is next to godliness."
"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Do unto others before they do unto you."

"Hard work never hurt anyone."

"God helps those who help themselves."*

*  Just checking to see if you're on your toes.  If you can't find the above books and "verses" in your Bible, I'll choose the gospel of John, from which I was first taught to read, and the books of Psalms and Proverbs.  My answer is due to my recent research in "non-Biblical Bible verses," and I believe real Bible verses surpass them all.

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?  At present I help with my family's concrete business and attempt to write. My dream job is travel writing.  11. What are some of your hobbies?  Blogging, chess, photography, thrift shopping, language learning, reading, music, genealogy, and I'm thinking of taking up philately again.  

2. Do you like doing different hairdos on your hair?  No.

Thanks again, Ashley!  I'm not sure which of my wonderful blogging friends would like to be nominated, so if you would like to participate, consider yourself nominated.  My questions are below.  Feel free to answer in comments or on your own blog (I've provided a one-time link-up below if you'd like to link your answers in).

1.  If you could have an expenses-paid vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

2.  What would you like to accomplish by the end of 2015?

3.  If you had a million dollars, how would you use it?

4.  What are your favorite foods?

5.  What are your favorite quotes and Bible verses?

6.  What is the best advice on life you can give in up to 3 sentences?

7.  What is your favorite place to shop?

8.  What is your dream car and your dream home?

9.  What languages can you speak?

10.  What sayings can you think of that people quote as Bible verses without realizing they're not in the Bible?