Lovely Melissa has tagged me for the Liebster Award!

With that honor comes certain responsibilities:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

11 Things About Me:

1. My middle name is Michelle.

2. I’m a night owl.

3. My favorite TV show is The Vampire Diaries and I’m addicted to HGTV.

4. I’m a huge Trekkie, and I even have several autographs from various Star Trek series actors.

5. I’ve been out of the country twice, to France when I was 18 and England when I was 23, and I would love to visit Italy next! (Among others…)

6. My very first blog was on Diaryland. I think I lasted a month before moving to Livejournal.

7. My favorite number is 7.

8. Purple is my favorite color.

9. I would love to go on a mission’s trip.

10. My new-found goal is to run a marathon.

11. This is not my natural color.

My answers to Melissa’s questions:

1. Why did you start blogging, and more importantly why have you chosen to continue it over the years?
I started blogging primarily to reach out to the diabetes community. I was in college and I felt like the college voice wasn’t very well-represented. And to be honest, in 2005, it wasn’t. I was probably the youngest diabetes blogger at the time, although I’m certainly not anymore! I have kept going over the years because I enjoy writing. I enjoy connecting with people. I enjoy learning knew things and then sharing them. And finally, I enjoy having a chronicle of my own life, although it’s not quite a full representation, but it’s captured enough of my big moments, like my move to the East Coast, meeting my husband and getting married. All the good things that I want to remember are more or less here. And I suppose having a record of all the good things will also make it easier to forget the bad.

2. What was the ONE most important moment of 2012 for you, and why?
I think the most important moment of 2012 was when I quit my job and went back to school to become a diabetes educator. It is definitely a defining moment not just of 2012 but of my life. It was the end of one path that I thought was going to last for many years, and the beginning of another journey, which I do think will last for many years. I’m very excited about that.

3. If you were on a deserted island and could have any three things, what would they be?
I’m going to ignore the impracticalities of a diabetic surviving on just three things, and answer this in the sarcastic, fantastical way the question is intended. My three things would probably be my Bible, a really big, soft blanket to lie out in the sun on, and an iPod stuffed full of all my favorite songs.

4. What is your current favorite song that I should be listening to?
I really love Florence + The Machine, so I’ll go with her new one “Sweet Nothings.”

5. What is one favorite blog post you have written? (post a link!)
I’m not sure I have a favorite, but I published a post a couple weeks ago about being skinnier and how my body is and isn’t changing through my weight loss, and only one person commented on it! I actually thought it would get more of a response, so if you didn’t check it out, I would love to hear what other people think.

6. Name one of your guilty pleasures.
Honestly? Smoking. Hey, you said guilty pleasure and it definitely makes me feel guilty. It’s also not something I’ve indulged in in a long time, so no need to worry. I’m not some closet puffer. And please don’t tell me how bad it is or how you don’t understand why someone would do that. I know it’s bad and honestly, the desire is not something that can be explained to someone else.

7. If you could give a piece of advice to yourself when you were 15, what would it be?
Oh, dear Lord. I would probably tell my 15-year-old self not to listen to me. Ha. Actually, I would probably tell my 15-year-old self to not be so judgmental. I was really judgmental of people who did “bad” things or made poor decisions. But when faced with certain situations later on in life, I myself made some poor decisions and I have dealt with a lot of guilt, because I’m as hard on myself as I was (and sometimes still am) on other people. So I wish that I had learned to chill out and be more accepting, because sometimes I wonder if that would make me more accepting of myself.

Damn, that got deep.

8. What book are you looking forward to reading in the near future?
I’ve had The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf on my to-read list for awhile, so I’ll go with that!

9. Tell your readers something they may not know about you!
I eat kiwis with the skins on.

10. You’re told that you have to drop one of your social media accounts- which one, and why?
I would probably get rid of one that I don’t use, like Instagram! I never use it so it would be very easy to give up.

11. What is one thing that you truly could not live without?
Insulin? Okay, okay. I know that’s the cop-out answer. Let’s see… I would say my husband. He’s my friend, lover, companion, cheerleader, do-er of things I don’t like to do. He’s pretty awesome. Maybe I could live without him, but I certainly don’t want to.

11 People I’m Tagging:

I’m picking 5 from the diabetes community, 5 from the twentysomething community, and bonus 11th person is my cousin!

Brown Leather Blog | Our Little Apartment | Suburban Sweetheart | Life By Kristen | A Little Pink in the Cornfields | Dorkabetic | Every Day Every Hour Every Minute | Lisa From Scratch | The Girl With The Portable Pancreas | The Corner Booth | Strangely Diabetic | Sweet and Simple Things

11 Questions For The People I Tagged:

1. What is one thing you want to accomplish in your life?

2. Who is an influential person in your life? Why?

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world for free, where would it be?

4. Would you rather be blind or deaf? Why?

5. What is one goal you have for your blog?

6. If you could have dinner with three people, alive or dead, who would they be?

7. If you could go back in time and do one thing differently, what would it be?

8. What is your favorite thing about where you live?

9. What is one book you think everyone should read?

10. What is your biggest pet peeve?

11. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment thus far?