I would like to thank Taylor Vincent at The Darkroom Nerd for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. It never dawned on me that I might inspire someone. I still feel like I am stumbling my way through and trying to figure it all out. If you all have not visited Taylor’s page, do yourself a favor and skip on over there. Taylor is a very talented photographer that inspires me to be better!
One of the rules is to share 7 facts about myself…you will see what I shared below. Many of my friends say I have no boundaries and that is probably true! Once I started writing the 7 facts…they just rolled off my fingers. Its probably more information than some want to know…but its me….so here you go!
Rules:
- Thank the blogger who nominated you
- List the rules and display the award
- Share seven facts about yourself
- Nominate other amazing blogs and comment on their blog to let them know you nominated them
1) I am a 51 year old woman. I am frequently mistaken for a man. For as long as I can remember I played sports with the boys, preferred pants to dresses and never understood why girls wore make-up! By the time I became a young adult I realized I was a lesbian and most certainly a masculine lesbian. Do I want to be a man? NO! But I am very comfortable being the person I am. The one area my androgyny is an issue is in public restrooms. My closest friends know it is part of their duty to escort me to the restroom in public in an attempt to avoid a confrontation. Because (trust me) people have confronted me and insisted I was not in the right place!
2) I originally went to college (a long time ago!) on a full ride scholarship to play volleyball. Even though my volleyball skills allowed me to letter my Freshman year, I was woefully unprepared for college. I dropped out and stayed out until I realized I would get nowhere without a degree. I spent many years taking classes, as I could afford them, and finally finished my Bachelor’s in Social Work in 2011 at the age of 48. I love to learn and shove information into my brain whenever I get a chance.
3) It also took me until late in this life to finally meet “the” person! My partner and I share a great life together. We share our house with 3 individuals with developmental disabilities. There is a lot of laughter, singing (not necessarily good singing!) and goofiness that bounces regularly off our walls!
4) Any of you that have followed my blog for even a short period of time know we have several dogs that rule our lives. I know the animal lovers out there will understand the joy fur-babies bring into a household…and how much room they can take up whether it be in your heart, on the recliner or in the bed!
5) I have worked with people with developmental disabilities for 29 years. I ended up in the field accidentally but quickly learned this is where my heart and skills belong. I have learned a lot about myself through this job. I have also learned a lot about the importance of respecting all people and their ability to learn and their rights to make decisions for themselves.
6) I love to exercise! I’ve played sports for as long as I can remember! I started running several years ago. I love running. My life-long friend and I celebrated our 50th birthdays by running a half marathon together. Sadly my knees don’t enjoy running as much as I do….they seem to out vote me when I consider a return to running. (I think they text privately with my orthopedic surgeon – who suggested biking as a better sport choice!) I have taken up biking and I enjoy long distance walking. I have several good friends that I walk with….we walk 60 miles in 3 days for Susan G Koman (breast cancer) every November. We walk so much that we refer to anything under 10 miles as “only ____ miles!”
7) And finally….my partner and I are on week 6 of a plant based diet. Our original goal was to eat this way for 6 weeks….now we’ve pushed it out to 12 weeks. We may decide to maintain this way of eating. We both feel so much better and neither of us are craving the things that once talked to us (like ice cream or chocolate!) Sushi is the one thing I miss….so I may need to slip some raw fish back into my diet at some point….but I really don’t miss the other meats…it is a lifestyle change in the making
So there you go…7 facts about me.
Now I must nominate other amazing bloggers. The only hard part about this is that I can’t name all the bloggers I follow. So many bloggers on WordPress have been generous with the knowledge they have gained during their time blogging.
I nominate the following…I know each of the bloggers I have nominated are extremely busy and may not have time to actually act on this award. However, its important to me that I let them know how much they have inspired and encouraged me in this world of blogging!
Joanne at My Life Lived Full
Cee at Cee’s Photography
Rochelle at Addicted to Purple
Sue at Brick House
Conversations Around the Tree 
It was so much fun reading a bit about you Tree. You are an amazing person. I wish you all the luck and blessings in this world. Thanks so much for passing this award on. 🙂
Thank you Cee for taking time to read the post. You have truly been an inspiration to me. Your photo challenges helped me get my footing in this blogging world and helped me find a way to interact with other bloggers!
Are you seriously 51? I AM 51! January, 1964 baby! And although I am straight, my friends do tease me a bit about my “man hands” and male tendencies (I also hate wearing make up, keep my hair short to avoid having to fuss with it and I rarely wear dresses. The older I get, the more I look just like my dad). I do have a big chest so nobody has ever told me I was in the wrong bathroom!
It was so cool to read and learn more about you – thank you for giving us this peek! Now I am convinced more than ever that we need to meet at some point in this life – how cool would it be to chat over a cup of coffee or over a long bike ride? You won’t find me yearning for sushi though…but I guess we have to be different somehow. 😉
And finally – THANK YOU for nominating me for this award! I don’t know yet if I will act on it because even though I have people I would love to recognize, I don’t want to put them on the spot either – so I have to think about how I would handle that part. But then again, I do love to talk about myself sooooo…..
Sue
PS – are you guys allowed to eat cake on your plant based diet? hee hee!
Sadly I am April 1963 instead of 1964….I will be 52 any minute now!! But we can share these few months!!
So the good news is….we may be passing through Green Bay this summer!
We will be traveling to Canada in August and we really like the route that takes us through Green Bay and across the Upper Peninsula to Sault Set Marie. I’m thinking we might have to take advantage of this and meet for sushi….oops I mean coffee!!
I understand the concern with putting people on the spot. Thats why I decided to just name you all and not pressure you to respond…I just wanted each of you to know you have made a difference to me!!
hee hee! NO cake!! ugh!! There are actually ways to eat vegan type cakes, cookies, etc…but for now we are trying to avoid things that might knock us off track!!
How cool you are coming thru Green Bay! When in August? It’s our 30 year anniversary August 10th this year, and you may not believe this but we are planning our vacation for that week – guess where? Upper Michigan! Well – partly. First the Apostle Islands (WI) then Pictured Rocks (that might be on your way so if it is you should check it out if you have time) and then lower Michigan to Torch Lake and Sleepy Bear Dunes. Likely we will be gone a week and an extra day or two. So- depending on when you come through, I may or may not be home.
We will be in Canada the 15th – the 22nd. So we will pass through right before and right after. So I am sure we can find a time to catch up with each other.
We will be getting married while in Canada that week! 🙂
How awesome!! Congratulations!! So exciting! What part of Canada? We have never been but since getting to know Sue at Travel Tales of Life, the Banff/Jasper parks are on my bucket list.
We go into Northern Ontario. Its about an hour and a half North East of Sault Ste Marie. Absolutely beautiful area….nothing but wilderness. The camp we stay at is called Kegos. They have a web site if you’d like to look it up. I’ve been going up there since i was a kid.
I’ll check it out! Sounds like we will have to wait till you are on your way home (an old married couple by then – haha) to get together. Like you said- we can work it out!
Yes we can!!
Happy 30 years to you all….quite an accomplishment these days!!
I know, right? 🙂
I LOVED reading 7 things about you and could go for a dose of 7 more. ;-). I’m so glad I decided to follow your blog. I am always conflicted because I can’t keep up as it is, but no mistake here. I’m happy to have met you (and learned so much about you).
P. S. I’ve walked into several men’s rooms in my time by accident. Nobody there complained. Not the same thing but… Hmmm….😍
Gemma, I’m also glad you decided to follow my page. And I certainly love following you.
As for walking into the wrong bathroom…one of my friends was “escorting” me to the restroom (as required 🙂 ) I was leading the way down the hall and yes indeed…I led us right into the men’s room! We both stood their for a minute (several guys at the urinals) and all I could think was….why are there urinals in the women’s room?!! 🙂
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY! That was a ah-ha moment.
🙂
Thank you so much for sharing 7 things about you, Tee! Hope to see you in FW later. 🙂
I am looking forward to our photography day together Amy!
Thanks for being so supportive!!
Same here! 🙂
Thank you so much Tree! I’m deeply flattered that you find my blog inspiring enough to consider me 🙂
As firstandfabulous said before me, I really enjoyed reading your 7 facts and could have happily kept reading more. Seems to me you have stories to tell 🙂
I really am the most fascinated by your 6 week – to now 12 week – transition to a plant based diet. I am so undisciplined when it comes to food and I’m trying to draw inspiration from your experience.
Thanks Joanne….and yes you have truly inspired me!
As for the plant based diet. Food has been an issue for both of us too. Even though I’ve always enjoyed working out I’ve struggled with eating right.
This has gone so much better and easier than either of us would’ve guessed. I think it has helped that we are doing it together.
The hardest part has been keeping it exciting by finding new recipes. We’ve learned a lot and found a lot of food alternatives we knew nothing about.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask…I’ll be happy to help anyway I can.
That’s the other thing that has helped a lot….is the help we’ve gotten from other people who have chosen this way of eating.
Thanks! I have to admit that’s the one thing I’m usually really bad at doing … asking for help. I keep muddling along on my own never thinking to ask for advice. I need to get better at that!
It is a challenge to ask others for advice!!