Liebster!

I know this is primarily a wordpress thingy running around, but I'm putting this over here also since this is the blog I update most often.

Y'all are so sweet!
I was nominated by two super talented individuals: Toxi and Melissa (Cali, Caterpillar.)
*HUGS FOR YOU BOTH!!! Thank you!!!!

The rules for receiving this award are:

1. Post the award on your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who presented the award and link back to their blog.
3. Nominate 5-11 bloggers whom you feel deserve this award and have fewer than or equal to 3,000 followers.
4. Answer 11 questions posted by the nominator, and ask your nominees 11 questions.

Once more, just because it can't be said enough: THANK YOU!!! =D

My nominations are:
1.) FutureCarrie: Her Matthews RLC is really developed. No character left behind and many of them are super super sweet, even when acting a little impulsively.

2.) Cece: The Love Legacy. UUUnnnnnffff! Blaine=HAWT. A war torn civilization with characters who are super adorable, edgy and have realistic flaws. One day we'll learn how they ended up as they are now. Until then, the suspense is killer.

3.) LilMissLau: Hopeless Abandon Oh. Em. GEE. That is one story idea that I've kicked around myself, never able to reconcile all the loose ends in my head. But she did it. And she's doing it. And it's amazing. I don't want to give the plot away as I would rob you of discovering her stunning, poetic visuals and a couple of characters whose adventures consistently leave me breathless.

4.) Nirar: The Kahekilis Gorgeous sims who get up to everything under the sun and make me want to explore my own game further. She's also on the brink of the ultimate Generation 10 and I'mma cry so hard if that proves to be the end. Nirar also has some fantastically funny side blogs. My fave happens to be Jack's Beach Babies. But there might be some prejudice there. ;)

5.) Heaven: The Avendales / Are You the One? The Avendales have had a bumpy road to travel, but things seem to be looking up for the family. Wonderfully unique sims and stunning photos. My graphics card wants to be like hers when it grows up one day.

Are You the One? is a sims version of the MTV guilty pleasure reality show. Love.It! (Harper and Kelley! 5evah! <3)

6.) Buckley: Pixel Rust Sims, soap opera style. I have no idea how she's keeping it all straight, but it's replaced The Young and the Restless as my fav daytime drama. What a twisted web she's woven with some of the most beautiful sims I've ever seen!

7.) Jazen: Kiss of a Vampire I follow this blog in quiet, reading and marveling over the author's ability to make me root for and love the bad guy. Like LOVE.HIM. Swoon over him! Adore him! It's nearing the end and I'm going to be a basket case as I scramble to find something else to read where the bad guy sometimes has to be the knight in shining armor.

8.) Marsar: A Pair of Brown Eyes Will they? Won't they? A tug of war over a woman with enough courage to try and forge her own path set in the Victorian era that makes me sigh over the romance and manly men she writes so well.

9.) ConvictedDreamer: The Marquel RLC Doll lovely sims finding their way through life and death. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sinister I love this story and her vibrant characters.


The Questions:
From Toxi:

1. Have you had a hobby/interest that you have completely given up nowadays? What and why?

Knitting. lol. Because I'm a  s   l   o   w  knitter and I'd rather sim.

2. If you and your family or your friends were to go on an outing nearby, where would you go and what would you do? If you went alone, would you go to the same places or do something completely different?

Oh wow. Uh... we'd most likely go to the local minor league baseball park to watch a game.
If I were alone I'd for sure do something different. lol. I would most likely either go to Crystal Bridges because I don't get to go nearly often enough. Or I'd go poking around in all the flea markets and antique shops I don't get to go to nearly often enough. lol

3. Best memory of something you and a sibling/cousin or a friend did when you were kids?

Oh wow. This is going to sound so awful, but it's really not. My mom was/is an extremely strict parent so when I'd go see my cousin my aunt would often let me do things I wasn't allowed to do normally, like wear shorts that showed my knees or listen to pop music. ZOMG Madonna was so awesome. The year I turned 10 my spring break was during my cousin's not spring break so I was going to go to school with her (yes. I went to school voluntarily for spring break.) and my aunt bought me a pair of shorts and a tank top (holy crow, I got to show knees and shoulders all.in.one.outfit? Scandalous!) that she let me wear and a couple of boys my cousin crushed hard on approached me the day I was there and asked me out. I cried. It was the first time I felt that I might not be so ugly as I often felt. Later, I found out my cousin had heard them talking about how cute I was and she had encouraged them to approach me. That's when I found out that as a person, I might have a little bit of worth. It was also when I found out just how far a little generosity can go.

4. Most useful mod and most useful setting you use while playing TS3? If you don't use mods, why? WHY!???

One? ONE most useful??? ONE SETTING?!?!? But, butbutbut, there are so many that are essential! lol
Prolly the entire NRaas suite of mods. Most helpful to me are the genetic blending settings in SP:Pregnancy or Population of something like that. No.More.Clones! And Retuner is pretty awesome IMO. Don't want your sims staring at the TV all day, but they're rolling constant wishes to own one? Fine! Buy it and make is so they never watch it. HA!

5. What's your favourite perfume, and if you don't use perfume, favourite lotion/soap or favourite natural smell. 
Victoria's Secret Bombshell. Cause I'm totally a bombshell. L O L

6. What's your least favourite household task to do, and what don't you mind as much?

Cooking/baking. I like good food and I cannot lie. lol. I also can't stand a dirty kitchen and if I made the mess I know what to clean up and where. =D

7. If you were to learn something you know very little about, what would you most like to learn?  

History of any kind. We own probably 8 history text books and a bajillion biographies but I can't get enough. Learning about others' mistakes and glories is a wonderful way to make our world a better place. And there's so much of it, how can anyone ever do more than just scratch the surface?

8. What kind of (non-existing) expansion would you want the most from EA? 

A complete and working OPEN FOR BUSINESS for Sims3. The bits and pieces of PC from the store just isn't enough to really make it work.

9. If you make your own CC, what are you most proud of? Who is your favourite creator of clothes and objects? 

I love you, Toxi. :D I am currently most proud of my drinking fountain collection. I spent a month handpainting textures for those and they are friggin' kickin'. I mean, wow. They look so good in game!
My fav clothes creator... Geez. There are so many. Haha. Buckley and SimplexSims are probably my favorite converters(Buckley for maternity conversions, and SimplexSims for offering my Teens and Elders a much nicer wardrobe than they've ever had before,) though I LOVE Buckley's original creations also, so she's on the creators list... The other would probably be AllAboutStyle.
How could anyone not say their fav object creator is Sandy? (Around the Sims) Wow!

10. Tell me about some weird/special food from your region or where you grew up, or from your own family. If nothing comes to mind, what's your favourite dish? Main course and dessert. 

My family has a top secret fruitcake recipe. lol. So many people don't like fruitcakes, but this one has converted quite a few doubters. I can't stand fruitcake that isn't this fruitcake. Then again, it's soaked in a dessert wine for 2 months before serving. How could it not be amazeballs? xD
A special food from my region would have to be the locally ground blue grits and all the special rices that are grown around here. In fact, a lot of people around here would rather have a bowl of buttered rice with a little sugar sprinkled on than oatmeal for breakfast. (Arkansas, yo. We're nuts.)

11. Which is the best book on the top shelf of your nearest bookcase? (if you're at home - if you're away, just name a good book plz). 

I'm going to randomly 5 select books from that shelf on the bookcase next to me because I love them all and that's why they're on that particular bookshelf to begin with. The Night Circus(Erin Morgenstern,) 1491(Charles C. Mann,) Cinder(Marissa Meyer,) One Summer(Bill Bryson,) and Three Act Tragedy(Agatha Christie.)

Now for Melissa's questions!:

1. What got you into writing stories with the sims?

Hubs. lol. Hubs couldn't figure out why I spent so much time with them if the story was all in my head. He asked if I would write it out for him so I did. He never read it but I kept writing.

2. If you could pick five personality traits for your Simself, what would they be? I know when I do it, there’s always more than five I want to use, but just think of the first five that come to mind.

Absent-Minded, Genius, Bookworm, Shy, Excitable
And those aren't the ones I'd PICK if I were given complete rein, but those are the most true to myself. :)

3. Is there a time of day that’s the best time for you to write?

Weekday mornings, when Hubs is at work and kids are at school.

4. If you could jump into a time machine like the Sims can, where would you choose to go and why?

I would go back to college me and force myself to stay broken up with hubs #1. I would also make myself finish my degree.

5. Have you got a favourite sim?
Just one?!? lol. I'm not usually a fan of sim!toddlers, but I adore my Vivia currently. She's a lot of fun.

6. Are any of your characters or situations based on real life?
Good gracious, of course!  Perhaps not all of them, but still.

7. What made you start playing Sims?
hubs #1's best friend brought the 1 year old TheSims over one night and insisted I try it on my computer, which was in the back room, so the boys could play their RPG's in the living room without me. It backfired. They all ended up swarming after hearing me crack up time after time. xD I also was completely unable to stop playing.

8. Other than Sims and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?
I'm working on a cookbook that collects family and my own recipes. It'll never be finished though since I'm  s   l   o   w.

9. What is your favourite aspect about writing?
The outlet it gives my imagination. I'm not a housewife or a mom or a special needs advocate when I write. I'm a painter, a psychic, a cop, a judge and jury all in one in a world that follows the rules I made up for it.

10. What is your least favorite aspect?
With writing? The polishing. If I polish too much I hate it. If I don't polish enough I hate it. If I hate it how can I show it to anyone else?

11. What inspires you the most? Music? A great book? A walk outside? Something else?

A little bit of everything. Talking with others, reading the news, reading a book, discovering a new artist or song, hearing how my kids day went. I never lack inspiration, motivation is my kryptonite. lol

And now! My questions for my nominees:
1.) What got you hooked on The Sims franchise?

2.) What is your essential CC site? It can offer mods or clothing, or that one piece of CC you can't play without and can be made by you or someone else.

3.) How do you find your CC?

4.) Where were you when the idea for your story first come to you? What was going on?

5.) Where do you stand in the Oxford Comma debate?

6.) If you could try one of the foods in the sims game, which food would you choose?

7.) Do you have an all-time favorite sim?

8.) What is one thing you can do in TheSims (1,2,3,4) that you have yet to try? If you've tried it all (Geez, I'm jealous) what is your favorite thing to do with your sims?

9.) How do you deal with writer's block?

10.) Have you ever based a character off of someone you know? If so, does this person know you based a character on them? Why or Why not? And if not, why?

11.) What do you draw inspiration from?