The Liebster Award

Jennifer at Money Aches was kind enough to nominate me for the Liebster Award. This is very cool and unexpected, my favorite combination. The rules of the award are as follows:

1. This award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
2. The award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another.
3. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
4. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
5. Choose 5 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
6. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
7. No tag backs.

11 Random Facts:

1. I have run one marathon and plan to run another this year.
2. Every place I have lived since graduating college has been a state capital: Salt Lake City, Harrisburg, and Richmond.
3. I’ve played in various rock bands in various cities such as Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and New York.
4. I am only two degrees of separation from my favorite band, Silverchair. I opened for a group that played with a group that opened for Silverchair.
5. Generally speaking, I don’t like action movies.
6. I will hold onto my baseball cards until they are finally worth something.
7. If cheese and bacon were the only two things left on earth, I would be ok.
8. I have a hard time reading fiction and stick almost exclusively to non-fiction.
9. I am seriously considering trying my hand at stand-up comedy but need a very big push to finally write my ideas down and jump on stage.
10. As a kid, my idea of heaven was having access to every comic book ever written in sequential order and having the time to read them all. I’m not sure that has changed.
11. My wife wants a cat but I do not. If we get one, I insist that it be named after an old country singer because I think it is funny. Examples, my cat Merle Haggard or Conway Twitty.

11 Questions from Money Aches:

1. Name one blog that you would visit frequently? I visit many often. The one that lead me to Yakezie, which is a network of very smart and helpful PF bloggers was Retire by 40 and that is one that I visit frequently.
   
2. What is one food you could eat almost every day and not get sick of? It is a toss-up between bacon and cheese. I will say cheese because there are more varieties.
3. Name one thing you do that others say is annoying? This sounds awful, but friends and family complain that I don’t care about things enough. Basically, I guess they want me to visibly show more passion.
4. What is the craziest thing you have ever done? When I ran a marathon, I also scheduled my band to play at the finish line once I completed. So, I finished just under four hours and then played music for another hour and a half. You can read about it via this article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
5. What is something you hope to do in the future? Raise a family and become financially independent.
6. Where is your favorite place to visit? My favorite vacation to date is Ireland. I really want to get to Australia.
7. Why did you start blogging? For fun and to experiment as a business venture with low start-up. I am learning a lot and continue to interact with some amazing people.
8. What keeps your motivated? Learning new things. I like to try any and everything I can get my hands on.
9. Where is your favorite place to shop? I like stores like Big Lots and Ollie’s that have factory seconds and overstock items for sale. You never know what they might have and I just have fun digging through it to see what pops up.
10. Would you rather give up your car or internet? I would love to give up my car if I could. Unfortunately, I’m not yet in a place where I can bike everyday or work from home.
11. Do you prefer cats or dogs? Dogs. I know they say they are more maintenance, but I like pets that I can rough house with. I can’t do that with a cat.

11 Questions For My Nominees

1. What is the best deal you have ever gotten?
2. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken?
3. What one piece of advice would you tell your high school self?
4. What is the worst fashion trend you went along with growing up?
5. Who is your favorite band or musical group?
6. What do you like best about blogging?
7. What is your favorite hobby?
8. If you could make that hobby your full-time job, would you?
9. What is the best birthday present you ever received?
10. What season is your favorite?
11. What part of the world have you not yet seen but want to?

My Nominations:

Hopefully I have not tagged anyone that has been nominated. Below are some cool new blogs I read.

Ban Excuses

Mom and Dad Money

Cubicle Sherpa

Living Rich Cheaply

Step Away From the Mall

I hope you had as much fun reading my answers as I did writing them. This is a great idea to encourage folks to find new bloggers and benefit from the ideas they bring to the table.