I have been a full time blogger for a few months now, and I can honestly say that I really love it!  I get to research and write about the things I love. I get to meet tons of great people, other bloggers, other tourists, business owners with a story to tell, artists.  And I get to bring it all to you, the readers. The list of what I love about blogging goes on and on.  

I am very honored that Michelle Bynum from My Fictional World nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award.  Michelle is an incredibly talented writer and to be nominated by her means a lot to me. Thanks Michelle.

The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award given to bloggers by bloggers.  It helps fellow bloggers to be recognized for their hard work, for their creativity, and for the valuable information they put out to the world with every post.

This award also helps our readers and fellow bloggers to get to know each other better.  This is what blogging is all about, creating community, learning about each other, making friends and supporting each other.  It’s what I hope I am doing through my writing, creating a relationship with my readers.

So let’s get this party started

Where are you from?  I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York.  I love it here and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else!  Buffalo is rich in history, both good and the not so good.  We’re so much more than chicken wings, the Buffalo Bills and snow.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all three of those. I want to showcase ALL that Buffalo has to offer in the way of city life, architecture, history and the whole Western New York area.  There are endless things to do and discover here!

Do you have any pets?  I am sad to say that I no longer have pets.  I’ve traditionally had cats (only one at a time!) but I am at a point in my life where I need to be able to take off whenever I want for whatever length of time I choose, and that’s not really fair to a pet.  When my husband and I get our wanderlust out of our systems, we’ll get another cat. 🙂

What is your favorite part about blogging?  I love the learning process.  I love the writing process. Meeting and working with other bloggers.  I also love that I can do it from virtually anywhere.

What are your hobbies?  I love camping and hiking.  I love to explore neighborhoods.  I also love to cook! I eat a plant based diet (I know right?! In the land of chicken wings and beef on weck!) and so I cook most of my food from scratch.

Do you travel? If so where was your favorite place? Or dream to go?  I love to travel!  Seeing new places is so exciting to me!  Two trips that stand out for me are Nova Scotia, and Ireland.  We drove to Nova Scotia and treated it like a real road trip – taking our time visiting family and friends and seeing everything along the way.  We were treated like royalty in Cape North, and just overall loved every minute of it! And Ireland, well, it’s Ireland! We toured around in a van, went on bike tours in Dublin, discovered Kilkenney (!) and visited friends in Cork.  Continued on through the west coast and didn’t want to leave! Future travel plans: Greece, Italy, Spain and some giant road trips all over the US!

What type of books/movies/tv-shows do you like?  My favorite books are historical novels (go figure!); Movies, I love old black & whites, and I always love a nice, light, romantic comedy.  Favorite movie of all time: To Have and Have Not. Don’t watch a ton of tv, but I love This is Us; A Million Little Things, and I really miss Downton Abbey.  Have got to make time to see the Downton Abbey movie!

What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas!  Love the whole excitement that surrounds it.  The anticipation that kids feel, I love Christmas music too!

Do you have any family traditions? We have so many.  But here’s my favorite. Getting our Christmas tree as a family every year.  Ever since I was a kid, my parents took us to the country to get a tree. My husband and I very naturally fell into this tradition ourselves.  It quickly became a ‘thing’ for our kids, and we all looked forward to it. We always bring Christmas music to listen to in the car. One year, we were several miles into the trip and realized we had no Christmas music in the car!  Instead of letting it ruin the mood, we put Paul McCartney’s Ram CD on and we all sang at the top of our lungs! Needless to say, listening to Ram on Christmas tree day became our next tradition! We have many more traditions, but that one is my favorite.

What makes you happiest?  I know it may sound corny, but when all my kids, daughters-in law and grandkids come over and we all just hang out talking, eating and listening to music.  Just spending time loving each other. That’s it.

Where do you want to be five years from now?   Simply put, blogging, traveling and spending time with my husband and kids.

When you are on your death bed, what is it that you want to be able to say that you did, and you did it well? or at least tried.  I’d like to be able to say that I loved God,  my family and my friends, and that they all felt my love.

Here are my nominations in no particular order:

When you have a minute, check these blogs out. They are all fantastic, hard working people with something to share. And they’re sharing it.

Momtessorian

Fractured to Fabulous

This HR Life…HR What? 

The Japantry

Holly’s Birds Nest 

Travel and Hike with PCOS

Flower Power

Cindy Goes Beyond

The Short Order Cook

Simply Sonja

Simply Angella

My Eleven Questions for Them

• Where were you born, and tell us a bit about it?
• Do you have any pets?
• What is your favorite part about blogging?
• What do you like to do when you aren’t blogging?
• Do you travel? What is your dream trip?
• All time favorite book/movie/tv show?
• What is your favorite holiday?
• Do you have any family traditions?
• What makes you happiest?
• Where do you want to be five years from now?
• When you are on your death bed, what will you say was most important to you in your life?

Sunshine Award Rules

• Thank the blogger who nominated you in your blog post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger that nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new bloggers and write 11 questions for them.
• List these rules and display the sunshine blogger award and logo in your post.