Liebster Award!

Who me?? Nominated for an award, really??!  I am super excited to announce that Jaime over at All that Srocks! nominated me for the Liebster Award!  Super humbled and honored over here, that she thought of me, and my little corner of the Internet.

Never heard of this Award?  Well, I promise I didn’t make it up. The Liebster Award is a blogger to fellow blogger award, in hopes to spreading the word about up and coming blogs.  Blogs that have a small following but are offering great content.  As a nominee I will now be able to bestow the fabulous honor onto a few other great bloggers that I have been following working on growing their corner of the blogosphere.

It feels pretty great to see other bloggers noticing what you are doing, because only a fellow blogger really knows all the blood, sweat, and tears… and maybe wine…. that goes into creating, maintaining, and growing a blog.  This Award to is meant to help bloggers interact with new followers, as well as share more about themselves in hopes to create a better connection with their readers. And of course that is what this whole blog thing is about, right?!

Now for how this nomination works.  Jaime has sent me 10 questions, that I will answer for you all. After, I will nominate 7 other bloggers for this super fun award, and they too will answer a group of questions.  I can’t wait for us to learn more about them too, they are pretty great!

I hope you enjoy this over share today… for the sake of the Award of course 😉

1. How did you decide on the title of your blog and what’s it about?

That is a good question. Coming up with a name took me over a year.  I wanted to start a blog, but felt I needed a solid name before starting. I might have also been putting off starting a blog because I really didn’t know if I truly had the courage to do it.  I brain stormed names for months, sending lists to friends asking for advice. Then one day my friend said to me, why not My Urban Oven. It stuck.  At the time I started this blog I had moved to a big city after growing up and going to college in rural Minnesota. My plans for the blog were to talk about my cooking, and the adventures of small town girl turned city girl. Along with my title, I also added, One City Block and Country Mile at a Time.  Fast forward to today, and I am on my 3rd year of blogging (almost 4, eek!) and my content has evolved some.  My Urban Oven focus  still on food, but more on me.  I blog about more lifestyle topics: DIY, Fitness, Health, Food, and Life.  As my blog has evolved with my life, I assume it will continue to evolve as my life evolves. In time, you can be some of these food and DIY topics will be more focused around babies… but there is still time for that.

2. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Ironically, I told The Hubby this the other day, but I have a very distinct memory of the 3rd grade and needing to do a project on what I wanted to be when I grew up.  The funny thing is it was to be a Writer.  Crazy that so many years later I find myself coming back to that dream in a modern day form, blogging. Alternatively, when I was in high school, I was very practical.  I had dreams of going to culinary school {which never really have gone away} but decided to go to a 4 year college instead because a career as a chef seemed to have too many cons.  I didn’t like the hours a chef lead, I didn’t like the fact that your earning potential as a chef is crazy varied, and I didn’t like the fact that when I some day started a family I would have to be away from them during holidays/nights/weekends.  See, way to practical for a teenager.  Again, I find my “hobbies” are truly rooted in my childhood dreams, and have manifested themselves into this blog.   I like the way this is panning out.

3. What is your favorite holiday and why?

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving!  Being a Minnesotan, through and through, you can’t beat a MN Fall.  Thanksgiving not only falls at the perfect part of the year, it has all the makings of other holidays, without the pressure.  You get the same great food as other holidays, the extended family time that seems always to infrequent, and no pressure of having to buy presents. Which all add up to a fabulous holiday to me. Since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I started a tradition 6 years go, and started throwing a Friendsgiving the weekend prior to actual Thanksgiving.  This coming year will mark 7 years, and I look forward to each years gathering like a kid waiting for Christmas morning.  You can ask my friends, it is kind of a big deal.

4. What surprised you most about blogging?

There is so much to learn! Every day I am trying to learn something new.  To be a successful blogger you not only have to have ideas and topics to write about, but you have to build an arsenal of other traits. You have to be a pretty decent/professional photographer, you have to know something about coding, you have to know how to find advertisers, you have to market yourself/your blog, you have to be social media savvy, you have to know the “rules”- both written or just understood, and you have to have an appetite to do all of it to be able to write down your ideas for the internet. Blogging isn’t easy, and being successful is even harder.

5. Tell me 10 random facts about yourself?

1. I stopped growing when I was in the 7th grade. I was 5′ 4″ then, and I still am 5′ 4″. Let’s not talk about width though….
2. I have a brother and a sister who are 23 years younger than me.  Talk about an age gap!
3. I have self diagnosed myself with a mild to mid level case of Misophonia. I try my best to tame it, but sometimes I need to leave the room. God help me when I have children.
4. While in college I studied abroad in China.  I lived there for a whole semester, and would never take a minute of it back.  It was the most eye opening, life changing experience I have ever had.  I made a lot of life choices that have shaped who I am since than.
5. My favorite color is Purple. And if you asked my husband what my favorite color is he would tell you, Pink. I really think once you get married men stop really listening to you.
6. I want to have a lot of kids. I am not going to throw the number out here, because God really only knows how many I really will have, but let’s just say it is more than a few. The Hubby and I have dreams of large family gatherings when we are old, with a home full of loud, crazy kids and grand-kids running around.
7. I can’t cross my eyes. This is a clinically diagnosed fact about me. Every eye doctor I have ever seen has told me “did you know your eyes don’t cross”. Yup, thank you very much, I know I am a freak.
8. I am 10,322 days old. Well, give or take a few days from when I wrote this…. Hmmm, I guess it is just give a few days.
9. I never wore braces. My mom really gifted me with a good set of chompers- pretty sure dad didn’t help with that.  I really hope my children get my teeth and not The Hubby’s. It will be much cheaper on us.
10. Most nights I dream I am a Behavioral Analysis Agent for the FBI or I am an Special Agent for NCIS. The Hubby and I love watching shows that require a bad guy being caught and a “puzzle” solved. I try to tell him I could totally do either of those jobs, but he knows the truth. The first sight of a crime scene and I would book it. I guess I have my dreams.

6. What inspired you to start a blog?

I started reading more blogs after college, and found regular ones that I love to read. At the same time I had started a corporate career, and loved to bring in treats for my coworkers. Some people told me that I should start a blog to share my recipes. I laughed it off for a while, but it really stuck.  I have been a slow starter and go in waves with my blog, but I really do love blogging.  So, inspiration came from other bloggers and my co-workers 🙂

7. If you hosted a Giveaway right now, what is a product you would love to offer your readers and why?

Any of the Beachbody workout programs.  I know that sounds cheesy, but it is really true. I have been working on my health and fitness very actively for the last year, with some pits and valleys, and want to help others. Helping others find a workout plan that works for them is super gratifying.  By giving away a workout program {which I probably will do soon} I will be able to help another person!

8.Who are your top 3 favorite blogs you follow?

The Pioneer Woman– I think everyone knows her, especially with her Food Network show now.  I have been reading her blog for 5 years, and still love reading her whity, crazy personality. I envy her kitchen, her life, her family and just her overall positive approach to life.

Eat Live Run – Jena feels like she is a friend. I too have been reading her blog for 5 years. It has been so fun to watch her grow; from a chef, to an author, move across the country, get married, have a baby. She is super humble and someone I like to look to for advise on food and health.  However, she recently started T25, about a month after I did {and be came a coach, something I have been doing for a year ;)}. So I want to feel like she followed me on something for once {even if I had nothing to do with her starting}.  Like I mentioned, it feels like an old friendship.  {Update to when I wrote this post a few days ago, this week Jena announced she will be discontinuing her blog. She plans to further explore her “online health and fitness coaching”, I read that as be a Beachbody coach.  Still in mourning about this development… much like the McDreamy development last week too…}

Last- I really loved love Young House Love, honestly I did cry the day I read that they were no longer going to blog.  I had been reading them for 5 years at that point (they were only wrote for 7), and felt like I was losing a family member.  I still look back to their blog for how -to’s on projects- guilty of it today even.  I will keep checking back into their site, just in case they change their mind and come back.

Ok… one more… I just can’t leave this one out!! I started following Katie at Bower Power who is like best friends with Young House Love, and I have been hooked. Over the  years it has been like your favorite characters from another show guest staring on your other favorite show. I always loved posts where they planned family vacations together.

As you will notice my favorite blogs have sucked me in and I have been dedicated followers for years! I look forward to the day someones tells me they have been following me for years {and feels like my friend without ever meeting me :)}.

9.What is your favorite Social Media outlet?

I am guilty of a really bad Instagram obsession.  You will notice I post photos {good or bad} multiple times a day. I feel like it is my outlet to share my life with everyone. If they aren’t stopping by my blog, I am still sharing a story with them through my photos/life.

10. Describe yourself in one sentence.

Girl seeking life, love, adventure, great food and lots of wine.

Now on to the fun part, sharing the love!!

I Nominate….

1. Brie from Lean, Clean, and Brie 
2. Christie from Lovely Lemon 
3. Missy from Getting Fit to Find Myself
4. Marie from Child Led Life
5. Kelsey from Life Unabashed
6. Brittany from This Southern Girls Blog
7. Elizabeth from What’s Old Is New DIY

My Questions for the Nominees

1. How did you decide on the title of your blog and what’s it about?
2. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. What was your favorite Christmas present this year?
4. If you could give advise to a new blogger, what would you tell them?
5. Tell me 8 random facts about yourself?
6. What inspired you to start a blog ?
7. If you were to be invited to lunch with your favorite celebrity, who would it be? And what would you ask them?
8. Who are your top 2 favorite bloggers?
9. What is your favorite Social Media outlet?
10. Describe yourself in one sentence.

Nominees…The “Rules”

• Acknowledge the blog who nominated you
• Answers the questions I’ve asked of you
• Nominate [and inform them] 5-11 other bloggers with typically less than 200 followers on any social media outlet. However, I didn’t follow this to a “T”
• Ask them your questions
• Share the LOVE!