Ha Ha Ha! Okay–This is not 1985, I’m not Sally Field and I am not accepting an Academy Award (if you are too young to remember Sally’s “you like me, you really like me” acceptance speech–I don’t want to hear about it.)
I am however ridiculously excited to announce that FabYOUlous Life has been awarded the Liebster Award for new blogs. I am so grateful and humble to have been nominated by Sheena at Pop Goes Perfection. Please take a few minutes to go check out her amazing site–I especially like her product reviews.
In her nomination, this is what Sheena had to say about FabYOUlous Life:
FabYOUlous Life – giveaways, DIY’s and all kinds of fun stuff! She’ll probably be the next big thing, and I’ll feel honored to have mentioned her in this post!
Wow! Thank you Sheena–I hope you’re right about FabYOUlous Life being the “next big thing” and if you are, I know that Pop Goes Perfection will be right there too.
As a Leibster Award winner, I have been instructed to answer 10 questions that Sheena has for me and then I get to nominate 10 other new bloggers to receive the award and answer questions that I pose for them. It is such a fun way to recognize and celebrate bloggers who are new to the blogging scene but who are already making an impact with their work.
To start things off, here are the answers to the questions that Sheena had for me…
How long have you been blogging? I’ve tinkered around with blogging since April of 2014 but I scrapped that site because I hated it and didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. I got serious about FabYOUlous Life after attending the Build Your Blog Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in February of last year, so I’ve really been blogging for just under a year. I’m attending the conference again this weekend (I’m hopping on a plane on Thursday!) and look forward to celebrating what I consider to be my one year blogiversary. Winning this award makes the celebration even sweeter!
What inspires you? People (especially women) who have the courage to live authentically and take responsibility for their lives and their happiness. I know so many people who find themselves stuck in sad, soul-sucking situations (often of their own making) and it breaks my heart. I empathize though because I used to be one of those people. I was struggling in an emotionally (and sometimes physically) abusive marriage and battling a vicious eating disorder that seemed hell bent on killing me. Fortunately, I finally got the counseling that I needed in order to turn things around (read more about that here) and now enjoy a life that is more FabYOUlous than I ever could have imagined. If I can turn things around–anyone can! That’s why I started FabYOUlous Life. I want to encourage women to “ditch the drab and find their fab” and I want to provide a supportive environment where authenticity, creativity and FUN are celebrated.
What’s your favorite social media platform and why? Oh my gosh–Pinterest! I love it but I think that my love has now grown into an obsession. I’m so addicted that my poor family is threatening to stage an intervention (which of course would be called a Pintervention–ha!) I love that it provides such incredible and inspiring content that is easy to access and that it helps to drive traffic to my blog. Now, I just need to STOP pinning recipes and actually 
go cook something…but where’s the fun in that? In all honesty though, I also enjoy Instagram for its images, Facebook for it’s reach (everyone’s on Facebook right?) and Twitter for its immediacy. If you’re not following FabYOUlous Life on these platforms please (pretty please) click the links in the header and do so.
Who is your biggest supporter? Hands down, this would be my Superman–my amazing, handsome and oh-so-patient husband, Dave. Not only does Superman hold down the fort while I go gallivanting off to blogging conferences, he also lets me vent when things aren’t going the way that I think they should be and cheers for me when things go better than I had hoped. He is my soft place to land at the end of a busy day but also my muscle and back bone when I need it. He always has my back and my heart and I am so, so, blessed to have him as my partner in this lifetime (especially when you consider the fact that he married me knowing full well that two teenage sons came along with the package–seriously, the man is a SAINT).
Do you have a “day job” and if so, what is it? Yep–by day I am the Executive Director for the American Red Cross of Northern Colorado. It is a big (make that BIG) job but I love it. I love the Red Cross motto of “sleeves up, hearts open, all in” and I think that it perfectly depicts the work that the Red Cross does to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. To find out more about the Red Cross, click here.
What are your top three hobbies aside from blogging? This is my problem–I have too many hobbies and not enough time to enjoy them all. I suppose my top three would be knitting/crocheting (my sons tease me about being an old lady but when the zombie apocalypse hits, I will be able to knit myself fashionable sw
eaters, scarves and slippers so the joke’s on them!), reading (fiction, non-fiction, blogs, magazines–you name it, I’ll read it) and playing softball with my Superman on our co-ed softball team called “The Sons of Pitches” (we take our softball very seriously–NOT!)
What kind of shoes are you wearing right now? LOL…none! I’m at home so I’ve kicked off my heels and am now wearing the nice, hand knit slippers that I finished knitting while on a flight home from Washington DC a few weeks ago. You can click here for the easy-peasy tutorial.
Do you keep a blogging schedule or just wing it? I used to wing it but now I have to schedule things in order to maintain my sanity. The secret to my scheduling though is flexibility. Basically, I’ve created a rough framework of a schedule but I allow space within it to change things up, add things, delete things etc. It’s definitely a fluid document. Still…it helps to keep me on track and on task.
What’s been the biggest obstacle for you since you started your blog? Patience! I see the other big blogs out there and I want to be like them…RIGHT FREAKIN’ NOW. I’m having to constantly remind myself that that isn’t realistic and that building a platform, creating great content and marketing your work all take time. So, I continue to plug away a little bit every day and learn something new every chance that I get in the hopes that someday FabYOUlous Life will be one of those big blogs with a gazillion pageviews and subscribers (so…how about helping a girl out by subscribing to this site via the little grey subscription box–hint hint!)
List your favorite three blogs to read. Well, of course I love Pop Goes Perfection but I’ve already told you that. My other top three blogs would have to be…
Hobby to Hot –if you are serious about monetizing your blog and making it more than just a hobby, you have GOT to check out this site!
The Dating Diva’s–This site is SO much fun! They offer so many great ideas on how to strengthen your marriage and have fun doing it. I especially love their year of dates binder. Superman and I will never run out of date ideas with this baby.
Helene in Between–I guess I’m on a monetizing/growing my blog kick right now because I also love Helene’s site. I love that she offers great blogging and marketing advice while also sharing posts of her fun adventures and all-around super cool life.
Whew–that was a lot of info. about me, but what about the bloggers that I am now nominating for the Liebster award? I know that you are excited to find out who these awesome new bloggers are so click here for the FabYOUlous list of winners.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.