The Sunshine Blogger Award!

I added a smiley to a sun picture. Cute, isn’t it? 😆

Wow. Somehow last week I received three different blogger award nominations from three different bloggers! Yes, three! In the same week!

Yes, that’s how I feel now! [🖼❗]

Thanks very much for nominating me! I really appreciate and feel glad that you think so highly of my blog! ❤❤❤

And yes, I’ll be participating in all three nominations – I like answering those questions – though I’ll be posting the other two later on. Most likely one a week. 😀

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Sunshine ☀☀☀

I have been nominated by Ha N @ Living Libra! From her blog: the Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive, and inspiring, while spreading sunshine to the blogging community. Aw, thanks, Ha! ❤

Here’s how it works:

• Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or on your blog
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions

And let’s start! 😀

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My Answers

1. What TV show are you bingeing right now?

I usually watch TV shows in short bursts, but I’d have to say The Mentalist! I love how the protagonist Patrick Jane has that “that’s interesting” grin about everything and yet has razor-sharp observation and mental tricks to get answers from crime suspects. Plus it’s episodic so I can watch each chapter whenever without really needing to refresh my mind on the previous episodes. 😆

2. Name a book that spoke to you on a personal level. Why?

I don’t have any books that really speaks to me on a personal level; I’d say the closest is Matilda by Roald Dahl! A brief synopsis: Matilda is a six-year-old child with incredible intellectual capabilities, yet her callous parents merely call her a chatterbox and an idiot, and she is forced to remain at the first grade at kindergarten because the scary and mean principal has a “my way or the highway” method of doing things… and that’s quite understating things. 😅

Although my childhood wasn’t as bad (for a start I wasn’t a genius and my parents aren’t callous), there were many times I felt like Matilda and wished I was as strong as she was. But at least that’s then and now things are better. 😀

3. What is your spirit animal?

Actually when I first read this question, I wasn’t sure; I don’t usually get any vision when I meditate, even the last couple of times I tried to find out my spirit animal. 😅

So I took the “What’s My Spirit Animal?” quiz here! Apparently I have a turtle as my spirit animal, whose wisdom teaches about walking the path of peace and sticking to it with determination and serenity. While at first I was like “Huh?”, after it while it makes sense – I do have a slow and steady take on life like a turtle on land, but I feel like my mind works fast like a turtle in the sea! Not like genius-fast, but you get the idea. 😆

It’s hard not to feel in awe with this beautiful picture of a swimming turtle! Picture from SpiritAnimal.info

4. When was the moment in your life you laughed the hardest?

There were many times I laughed until I cried at a joke, but I can’t even remember the jokes anymore! But I still remember one from a couple of weeks ago. 😀

It was at a first aider training (I volunteered to be a first aider at my office, for those who are curious!), where we were supposed to role play an accident. We were divided into three groups; the first aiders, the victims and – my group at the time – the busybodies! As busybodies, we were generally supposed to go wild in the scene and hinder the first aiders either by enthusiastically taking photos or screaming, “My [family/friend/etc]! Please help him/her!!” It was total chaos, and we all couldn’t stop laughing. 😆

5. Who do you look up to the most, and what qualities do you love about that person?

There are loads of people I look up to for different reasons (including you bloggers who seem fearless when you blog!). If I had to pick just one person I know personally, it would be my dear husband. ❤

Many of you may know by now that my memory sucks when it comes to numbers and details. I may be fantastic with calculations done with Microsoft Excel (and I work with numbers a lot), but I can’t for the life of me remember any little detail that involves numbers, like, say, the price range of a carrot. 😅

But my husband not only remembers the price range of all grocery items that we usually buy, he can tell at a glance whether the current price is good or not. He also remembers every little feature that a car, phone, computer model has, while I can barely remember how much RAM my own computer have! He’s also an epic planner – for any situation he can have Plan A, Plan B and all the way to Plan Z – and he can tell how each of them will turn out. And yet he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a cold, calculating man; while he’s not fantastic with picking up subtle emotional cues from me, he responds lovingly if I tell him that I’m not feeling good emotionally. 😀

I could go on, but I’ll stop here as this answer is already a wall of text as it is. 😆

6. What’s your favorite thing you own and why?

At this moment, I’d say my crystal jewellery! Particularly my pink agate bracelet (I haven’t written about this yet; one day, I promise 😆), labradorite bracelet and blue kyanite pendant. ❤

I’m not a person who gets too attached to things (I get attached to people and animals instead!) so I don’t have many things from my childhood that I still have now. These crystals feel like companions to me, especially when I’m alone, so they didn’t feel like “just things” to me. 😀

7. What did you dream about last night?

Honestly I only remember dreams on some nights, and last night wasn’t one of them! So instead I’ll tell you what I dreamed a couple of nights ago. 😛

I was in a tall glass building of some sort in a city of skyscrapers, in some kind of fancy clothes and attending a formal party at the top floor, with white round tables and chairs, grass-green carpet and clear glass walls through which we could see other buildings. Suddenly the situation became a terrorist attack – we received a warning that all wireless devices (phones, tablets etc) would explode! I threw my phone out the window and it exploded harmlessly in midair. A few other devices in the room exploded, affecting a 2-feet radius around them, and I yelled the others, “We have to get out of here!” And we were running down the winding staircase when I woke up. 😅

Yep, I get interesting, detailed and movie-like dreams like that. 😆

8. What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I’m a hobbyist writer and I write fantasy novels, mainly video game novelisations! Yep, it’s still something I don’t openly share with people except those I’m really close with, especially because I’m still writing under a pseudonym. One day hopefully I’ll be courageous enough to reveal my pseudonyms. 😀

9. What kind of music do you listen to?

Video game soundtracks! Because I love music that tells a story without words, and video game soundtracks do that very well. 🎼

In fact I just shared this soundtrack a couple of days ago; do check it out! 😀

10. What is your biggest pet peeve?

People who think they’re royalty and have the ticket to command others! I’ve seen a few people like that on the TV show Hello Counselor, like the husband who thinks he’s a king and makes his wife do everything, the girlfriend who insists her needs are above everyone else including her boyfriend… oh, that drives me nuts! 😫

11. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones?

Of the three, definitely Harry Potter! It’s one book series I can keep re-reading. 😀

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My Questions

Here are my questions for you nominees!

1. Describe yourself in three words!
2. What is your favourite colour?
3. What is your favourite season?
4. What is your favourite board game?
5. What is your favourite mythical creature?
6. What music instruments have you learned to play?
7. What do you do on a rainy day?
8. Cake or ice cream? (Or both!)
9. Tea or coffee? With or without milk?
10. What is the fun thing you want to do most now?
11. What would your dream home be like?

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My Nominations

Do note that this isn’t compulsory! Feel free to not participate for any reason; I promise I won’t mind. 😀

• Ajibola Sunday @ Inspirational Motivation
• Dr. Andrea Dinardo @ Thriving Under Pressure
• Jane Love @ Harmonious Joy
• Josiah Harry @ Skylarity
• Jothish Joseph
• Ipuna Black
• Oristel Guenael @ Keep on Moving
• Sadaf Siddiqi @ HeartAttachSite
• Tajwar Fatma @ LifeAsWeHaveNeverKnowIt
• Wanda Luthman @ Wanda Luthman’s Children’s Books

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Hope you enjoyed my answers and questions. ❤

~Nicolle ❤

A Short Self-Compassionate Letter

Dear Self,

Congratulations! This shows there are people who think highly of your blog. 😀