random things and an award

Stephanie over at Fun Foods on a Budget has given me two things to blog about today! How nice! First, she gave me another award!! I've always thought this one was cute, thanks so much!


And second, she tagged me for this list of 7 random things about myself. I actually just did this one over at my personal blog, but there are way more than 7 random things to share about me - especially when most of you reading this don't know me outside of the internet . So let the fun begin!

Here are The Rules:

• Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.

• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I just got a new laptop and I *love* it. It's an Asus eee and its perfect for blogging sitting on the bed while Aidan runs around and plays.

2. I am sitting on my bed blogging and Aidan is running around playing. Is that cheating? haha!

3. Growing up, I loved peanut butter, but hated peanuts. I loved fresh green salads, but hated cooked spinach. I also loved coconut milk, but *hated* flaked coconut. Texture issues much? (I've gotten over all of the above and love them equally now.)

4. I spent 9 months in Japan studying at Nanzan University and ended up getting my Bachelor's degree in Japanese Area Studies. How's that for random?

5. I had braces from middle school until my second year of college. They wanted me to keep them on longer but I was *not* going to go to Japan with braces! I was supposed to get them put back on when I returned to the states and guess who hasn't seen an orthodontist since? :)

6. I have all sorts of crazy aspirations to write books and record music. I want to record a vocal cd of jazz standards and another of all of my favorite hymns. I actually have a long list of book titles and ideas ranging from parenting issues to crafts to onomastics (the study of names and naming practices).

7. I plan to homeschool my child(ren) in the method of Classical Education.

There you go! I know the rules are to tag people, but I don't want to make anyone feel obligated. So how about this: if you decide to complete it on your blog, let me know, and I'll give you that cute little award up there and even make a post about your blog! :)

Blog Award

I've been quite busy recently preparing for a week long trip to Denver. My husband prefers not to cook, so I've been cooking ahead of time to make his life a little easier - the withdrawal from me and our little boy will be hard enough. haha! Expect some good ideas to pop up on here soon! I'm going to post date entries so that they appear while I'm gone.

In the meantime, Stephanie from Fun Foods on a Budget passed along an award to me!!! What an honor. She had this to say:
"Anjanette's Eating From Your Pantry - She works at a housing ministry where they provide a food pantry for their residents. Her blog is to provide wholesome recipes that use pantry foods. Good recipes for a good cause - now that's "Brillante!""


I've seen the award elsewhere and read that it should be given to 7 other blogs of my choice. It's hard to choose just 7, but I'd be here all day if I chose many more! So here are a few I haven't posted about before:

Bittersweet - This is one of my all-time favorite blogs in any category - mostly because she covers so many (categories). In addition to amazing recipe (especially baked goods) and food photography to die for, she's got a ton of free patterns for knitting, chrocheting, and sewing. That's a Jill of all trades!

Cheap Healthy Good - It's not hard to see why this blog would be among my favorites. My focus here is primarily "cheap." I love finding things on this blog that are good and good for me! An organized posting schedule also makes this blog fun to follow.

Frantic Home Cook - What a wealth of information!! And the style and personality of the site make it a must-see, not just an RSS feed read. :) I especially love her wonderful photo-captions!

Let's Get Wokking - I enjoy all of WokkingMum's blogs, but especially this one. Honestly, most of her foods looks too delectable for me to attempt - but I aspire to be like her!

Nook and Pantry - The name of this blog alone makes me feel like we are kindred spirits, but oh! what content! And organized to boot! Recipes, how-to guides, a series of posts specifically about pantry ingredients, and her layout is simple and adorable.

My Wooden Spoon - More than a blog! Along with yummy recipes you'll find a newsletter, giveaways, and a grand store to rummage through.

The Peanut Butter Boy - This blog is a recent addition to my favorites. I love the rotating funny sayings that pop up when the page loads. And I love that he is a male food blogger! Way to go! As you can imagine, you'll mostly find peanut butter recipes here, with a few surprises thrown in. Peanut Butter & Pomegranate stew with edamame bulgur anyone?

Thanks for all of the wonderful blogging and hope this introduces some of you to some great new reads!