My Very First Awards!

Okay, I’ll start off with a few blog updates. I’ve been trying to clean up around my blog because it’s been a little cluttered and I’m just slightly OCD (I’m sure it doesn’t seem like it – I’m also very lazy and didn't do much xD). I also cleaned up my Challenges page, which was being a pain in the behind with html. My main reason for doing some cleaning was to add a new awards gadget! I’ve never gotten any awards before, so I wanted a shiny new space for them! :3 

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My very first award was from Hafsah at Icey Books, who gave me the "Life is Good" award! Thank you so much, Hafsah! :) 

"To accept the award you must link back and thank the person who gave you the Life is Good Award and then answer the ten survey questions. Then you can pass it along to other blogs." 

1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now? 

I don't blog anonymously, and I probably wouldn't have wanted to blog anonymously. I don't have anything against it or people who do it, but I like knowing something personal about other book bloggers (i.e. their real name). I think it's easier to connect to them, knowing that they're real people too and not just some generic username book blogger amongst the thousands of other book bloggers. 

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side:

I can think of one when I was blogging. I was recently a part-taker in the September Spectacular Challenge and I had written down all the books I was going to post for the challenge. I had actually read all the books in the very first week of the Challenge and written my reviews for them, but I refused to post the reviews until the next week's linky was up. Why? Because I had written it down already, and even though I was reading other books for that week, I stuck with the list I made pre-challenge. 

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

I don't want to show you guys my pessimistic side, lol! So instead of answering "a sad girl who looks pathetically miserable", I'll answer, "A short, stumpy nerd with bad fashion". 

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

I would have answered Iced Tea before my visit to Texas. But post-Texas, any slush from Sonic (most notably a Watermelon Slush with Pineapple and the Strawberry Slush). I swear, Sonic is the only reason I survived in the hot, humid mess we call the state of Texas. 

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

Read, get addicted to Facebook games, blog on here, watch TV (which I'm behind on =(), or take a walk and soak up the vitamin D. 

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

I have two. Overcome my depression and social phobia (YES a blogger with SAD). The second is to find a good job so I can support myself if *knock-on-wood* my mom dies. 

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

Pre-senior year, I was the overachiever. Everyone went to me for answers/help 'cause I was "the smart chick". I was (still am) also unbearably shy. Then during senior year I was the one always ditching/the person who dropped out. 

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life, what would you see? 

I have three and I can't pick between them so I'll list em all. 1) Being with my dad when he was alive. No specific moment, just in general. 2) DISNEYLAND. Especially during winter -- it's amazingly beautiful. 3) Californian sunsets & the beaches. 

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

I find it easy to share my "true self" on my blog. There's not much to me: I ramble too much and make my reviews too long, and I attempt humor but fail at it, and I use smilies too much. :P I haven't written posts about other people yet, but I have written about events and that is what's hard. :/ 

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Err... Read. Duh! But I also have a significant other, so I have to balance reading and talking on the phone sometimes. 

I'm going to go ahead and give this award to 5 awesome people (I'd give it to more, but goodness I have even MORE people to pick after this :P). 

1. Cass @ Words on Paper

2. Steph @ Thoughts of a Book Junky

3. Deepali @ e-Volving Books

4. Shera @ Book Whispers

5. Angela @ The Book Buzzer

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I also received "The Cherry on Top" award from Tracy at Pen and Paper (which is an awesome blog! You guys should go check it out!). I have a LOT more to thank Tracy for besides the award, but I don't want to scare her off just yet with my newbish adoration, so I'll save that for a later date. I'll just leave it at: Thank you so much for the award, Tracy! <3 

All you have to do for the Cherry on Top award is 1) answer the question "If I had the chance to go back and change one thing in my life, would I, and what would it be?", 2) Pick up to 6 people and give them this award, 3) Thank the person who gave me the award.

As I've done 3 already (thank you again Tracy!), I'll start off with the question.

I sadly have a lot of regrets in my life. I can think of 3 very prominent ones -- of the 3, I'll only mention 2. 

1. I would go back and make the most of the time I had to spend with my dad. I hate that I took him for granted as a kid, and that I was always giving him a hard time despite how much he loved me. I want to go back to the day he died and check on him before I went out to play without permission. I've blamed myself ever since for not checking on him or asking permission before I left. If only I had checked, I might have seen that the nose piece he used for his oxygen tank was out of his nose.

2. I would have NEVER gotten together with my ex-boyfriend, lol! I would have dropped him as soon as he cheated on me and never given him a second chance. Or kicked him where it hurts. Instead, I had wasted two and a half years on an unfaithful douche (excuse my french). 

As for my six people... Hm, this is a little tougher. I'll pick: 

1. The Bookish Snob

2. Hafsah @ Icey Books

3. Brandi @ Blkosiner's Book Blog

4. Ashlie @ Page Turners Gone Wild 

5. Jen @ In the Closet with a Bibliophile 

6. Laura @ Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian

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And lastly (whew!) I've received the Versatile Blogger award from The Bookish Snob! Thank you so much! For the award, here's what I gotta do:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave this award.

2. Write 7 things about yourself

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked to let them know about the award. 

7 Things About Myself:

1. I'm unbearably shy. I'm sure it doesn't seem like it (I hope!), but I am. I have social anxiety disorder and have had problems being around people since my freshmen year. I was actually "expelled" (it doesn't show that in my record -- it was a nicer term saying they let me go) from highschool in senior year because I couldn't handle going to school. Thankfully, my mom is AWESOME and contacted the Superintendent for my district with a letter to appeal for my depression and anxiety and got me set up to finish high school in an "adult school" with a one-on-one teacher I only had to see once a week and I got my HS diploma that way.

2. I'm half filipino, half American. I don't look like I'm filipino at all -- the only testament I have to being Asian is my mom. I used to get asked if I was kidnapped or adopted when I went out with my mom. Mexican ladies in the supermarket come up to me speaking Spanish and I'm always like... "Err, no hablo", but they insist that I can speak Spanish. 

3. I used to be addicted (like WoW addiction) to MMORPG's. I've played over 30, I'm sure. I've never played WoW, but I have played Flyff, Dream of Mirror Online, Bright Shadow, Perfect World International, Dragonica, Maple Story, Vindictus, Mabinogi, Allods, etc. 

4. I AM A DISNEYLAND JUNKIE. I live in Southern California and I used to spend every single weekend at Disneyland. I even applied to work there, seeing as I'm there so much! I haven't been able to renew my annual pass since Dec. '09, and I'm going through MAD WITHDRAWALS. 

5. I LOVE travelling. I haven't traveled since 2007 (not counting my constant trips to Vegas and my last trip to Texas in August) and I'm having a HUGE travel itch. I've been to the Philippines, Mexico, Canada, England, France, and Italy and I reeeeeally want to go back! To any of these places! =( 

6. I hatehatehate the heat. Which is ironic, since I live in a desert in freaking So. Cal. I have every intention to move to Alaska or Antarctica when I'm older. 

7. I gained 40 pounds during my unhealthy 2 and a half year relationship with my ex-boyfriend, and I'm doing everything in my power to lose at least half of what I gained. 

So, wow... 15 people? That's a huge number. xD The bloggers I've found recently who I think are fantastic are:

1. Christina @ Books are Life (she also happens to be my twin!) 

2. Straylights @ A Certain Slant of Light

3. The Ladybug Reads

4. Jessi @ The Elliott Review

5. Enna @ Squeaky Books

6. Faye @ Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm 

7. Namine @ Books I've Read

8. Cindy @ Princess Bookie

9. Jennifer @ Literature for Lunch

10. Mad Steampunkery

11. Tina @ Book Couture

12. Sarah @ That Bookish Girl

13. Heather @ Little Squeed

14. Alissa @ The Grammarian's Reviews

15. Danna @ Friendly Reader Oh Yeah

Whew, okay so I know this is a huge post but these are my very first awards. I get to ramble and be super happy! :) Thank you awarding me, guys! I'm so happy my blog is interesting enough to be granted awards. <3

*** I tried making sure that everyone I awarded actually accepted awards, but if you don't and I put you on my lists, I apologize! =x 

Happy weekend to you all!