Welcome New Blogger and Congrats on the Liebster Award!

Thanks so much to Elizabeth at The Pantry Project for nominating my blog for the Liebster Award! Newer to the community, I greatly appreciate encouragement like this from my fellow bloggers. After a little reading on Wording Well, I discovered that The Liebster Award is somewhat of a welcoming wagon for new bloggers, boosting their blogging confidence and increasing their followers! This is a fantastic way to “meet” and get connected with those that are newer to the blogosphere! 

Part of the beauty of The Liebster Award is learning more about other bloggers and sharing a bit about yourself too! Here are the rules!

1. Post the award to your blog.

2. Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

3. Write 11 random facts about yourself.

4. Answer 11 questions about yourself; these will be provided posted by the person that nominated you.

5. Nominate 5-11 bloggers who have less than 1,000 followers and who you feel deserve this award.

6. Create a new list of 11 questions for your nominees to answer.

7. List these rules in your post. 

8. Finally, inform the blogs whom you have nominated and provide a link back to your post so they can learn about The Liebster Award!

So here we go for the Gluten Free Mom To Be!

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I was born and raised in New Jersey.

2. When I was 13, my family of five traveled cross country for one month during the summer packed into a suburban with a trailer in tow. Probably one of my longest but most favorite family vacations.

3. I might be a bit neurotic when it comes to organization and cleanliness…okay I might be a lot neurotic when it comes to organization.

4. I love shopping clearance at Target, especially after holidays!

5. I met my soulmate weeks before my big move to Maryland for graduate school. I quickly learned how amazing of a person he was after not a weekend went by without my seeing him. He drove over 300 miles almost every weekend to come see me for about year. After a year, I decided to transfer to a New Jersey graduate school and we got engaged soon after my move back.

6. I have over five publications in the science world for my work in graduate school.

7. I love everything Disney, and now I’m passing that on to my little girl.

8. I have a rambunctious furry family member who is a Border Collie/Fox Terrier mix. Funny story about how she became a member of our family. When my then fiance and I went looking for a puppy, he stressed that we were just going to “look” not necessarily buy. I agreed to his condition however knew that if we found one that both of us loved that we certainly couldn’t walk away from it that day. Low and behold we met our precious little black and white ball of fur. I fell in love with her instantly and couldn’t stop holding and playing with her. Shockingly though, my husband insisted that we think on it and come back the next day to pick her up. The entire ride home I was overwhelmed with panic and worry that she wouldn’t be there if we were to go back the next day, and then the waterworks started. Needless to say, only minutes after pulling into our driveway, we were headed back to pick up our new little girl. That night, my husband quickly learned that there is no such thing as just “looking” at puppies for me.

9. I’m not a huge fan of flying. I’ll certainly do it so we can go see the world but I am not a flyer by any means.

10. I love everything about being a mother and I thank God everyday for giving me my little girl.

11. With a couple of health challenges during and after my pregnancy, my dream of helping others has became more and more relevant to me. Hence, the birth of Gluten Free Mom To Be where I hope to help others overcome obstacles and succeed at maintaining a positive outlook on life. 

My Answers to Elizabeth’s Questions: 

1. What’s your take on pets in the house? I love them. Unfortunately though I do have a severe cat allergy, so cats are a no go in our house.

2. What’s your opinion on dogs licking your face? I know this one probably would gross out many people but I don’t personally mind my dog licking my face. I truly look at her as so much more than our dog anyway, so to me, that’s just her showing her love and I love it!

3. Do you have a mantra or bible verse or other spiritual saying that gets you through tough times? I’m a firm believer in the saying that everything happens for a reason. Although it’s incredibly hard at times to remember this, I always keep it in the back of my mind and it helps. 

4. What’s your favorite healthy food? I love fruit salads! 

5. What’s your favorite junk food? I’m a sweet and salty girl so whenever I have a sweet I have to follow it with a salty. My favorite sweet is ice cream and I usually take a few Snyder’s gluten free pretzels to nibble on after. 

6. What’s your go-to recipe you can count on every time? My Baked Macaroni and Cheese is by far one of my favorite gluten free dishes.

7. What’s your favorite blog? I love I Heart Organizing. This site has so many useful and creative ideas on keeping your house need and tidy.

8. Where does your inspiration come from when coming up with blogging ideas? I base my blogging on my own life and what I’m either going through now or what I had gone through during my pregnancy. 

9. Favorite place to visit? This one is tough because I have a few. Prior to having a baby, my husband and I had been to Italy, Spain, and Greece for our honeymoon and anniversary trip and fell in love with almost everyplace we went, mainly Venice and Santorini. Although we look forward to returning there someday with our family grown up a bit, while our family is growing our ultimate favorite destination is Disney. In fact, our little girl will have been there three times by the time she’s two. We love experiencing the magic that Disney offers and watching our daughter be enchanted by it all. Plus, Disney is extremely fantastic in catering to my gluten free lifestyle which makes travel there that much more enjoyable!

10. Do you have a “regular night” each week- date night, game night, Sunday dinner? We usually go out to dinner or order in on Friday nights and occasionally share Sunday dinner with my side of the family where my little one can play with her cousins. 

11. How do you unplug? or do you?? My favorite break is to play with my daughter and spend time with my family. Family time is so precious and I really try to enjoy each moment as much as possible when we’re all together at the same time. Whether we just stay home and play, go for a walk, or on an adventure of some kind, just being together is my idea of a perfect way to unwind. 

My nominees for The Liebster Award: 

Alexis at Gluten Free in Orlando

Sorcha at Absoglutenfree

Jordie at The Fit Nut

Janis at JanisCakes.com

Lauren Marie at Gluten Free with Lauren Marie

Taylor at Mommy Does It All

My 11 Questions For All Of The Nominees:

1.  Do you like to travel? If so where are your favorite places?

2. How do you spend time with your family on the weekends?

3. What’s your favorite blog?

4. How do you balance family time and blogging?

5. What are your family’s favorite meals?

6. Why did you start blogging?

7. What’s your favorite childhood memory?

8. Any vacation plans for this summer?

9. What do your friends and family think about your blog?

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

11. What is your favorite social media?

Hope you enjoy this award as much as I have!

Sincerely,

Lindsay