Liebster Nomination!

I'm very excited to announce that the lovely Michelle from Miss, Hey Miss!, a fantastic special education blog, has nominated my blog for the Liebster Award. This is my first nomination for any award, so I feel very blessed and honored!

So, what is the Liebster Award? Well, from my German language knowledge (that is sadly diminishing), the word "Liebe" means love, so 'Liebster' goes along the lines of 'sweetheart', 'dearest', 'beloved'. Cute meaning for an award, right? And it's main purpose is to help you get to know others in the blogging community! Of course, you don't just get to have your heart melt thinking about the meaning of "Liebster" to receive it. Michelle gives a good summary of the rules, which are [1]:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated you.
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.
3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator.
4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Create 11 questions for your nominees.
6. Contact your nominees by commenting on their blog or sending them an email to communicate the nomination.

Michelle's Questions For Me:

1.  What/Who made you decide to be a teacher?
   Ever since I was little, it's been instilled in me to help others, be it helping with BINGO at a nursing home to making care packages for children around Christmas. Once I was at the age to work I began babysitting and then working at a daycare, so my whole working 'career' has been surrounded by children and helping them. They are just so funny and amaze me with how fast they learn, so I knew I needed a career with children. I later found my love for language and felt the need for a job where I'd be helping others... so I've found that I could combine both by becoming a Speech 'teacher'/therapist. :)
2.  Where did you grow up?
   I grew up in a nice, small-ish town about 40 minutes Northeast of Philadelphia. It's quite a nice area with trees, parks, and lakes nearby. My house is actually over 130 years old, and is on one of the first streets of my town, giving it added antiquity. (I love old things!) 
3.  What is your favorite holiday?
   Oh man, this is somewhat of a toughy. It's not exactly the holiday itself, but I love Christmas time. Just the winter air, joyous feeling and Christmas lights make me feel all warm inside (along with the hot cocoa and toast)! I don't really care about the gifts, but more the atmosphere and being with family.
   Side note: Is hot cocoa and toast a regional thing? Some of my friends don't even know about the deliciousness of toast dipped in hot cocoa!
4.  On Pinterest, what board to you pin to most frequently?
   Ayy, another toughy. It depends on my mood, but I'd say it's a tie between my SLP related board "Speech Speech Speech" and the one dedicated to my love of food, "Yum Yum".  (I promise not all of my boards are repetitions of a word.)
5.  Google, Yahoo, or Bing? Other?
   I'm a Google-er! I hate strongly dislike the layout of Bing, and will occasionally use Yahoo, but Google just trumps them! (Doesn't help that I just have to type in a term in my URL bar and it goes to Google.)
6.  What kind of vehicle do you drive? Does this say anything about your personality?
   Sadly, I don't own my own vehicle. As for now it's parents car or public transport, so I guess that shows I'm somewhat frugal? Haha. My dream car, although not practical, would be a Ford Model T... I just love the look and antiquity of them. :)
7.  Do you have any special talents?
   I'd like to say I'm a self-professed monkey, as I used to prop myself up in the doorway between my kitchen and living room. I'd even talk on the phone like that! (Sadly, I can't fit there anymore.) To further this statement, I will occasionally open the fridge or pick things from the floor with my toes, aka "monkey feet". I can also make my tongue touch my nose and make one eye look inward while the other looks up. 
8.  Mechanical pencil or old school #2?
   Never thought about this really... I do tend to go for mechanical just because you can refill them and don't have to sharpen them. The downside is that those darn erasers can wear down or fall off easily, so I will bring an eraser. I also bring old school #2 to scantron tests just because I'm paranoid about the wrong lead type being used. Silly, I know.
9.  When you were a child, what did you 'want to be when you grew up'?
   This changed many times. I've wanted to be a teacher, vet, speech-language pathologist, marine biologist, geneticist, gymnast, translator...I even considered Cirque Du Soleil when I was super little! 

Random Facts

1. My brother and I were such monkeys that we'd race each other climbing up the water pipes in my house to see who'd reach the ceiling first. It's even videotaped.

2. We used to own a goat, whom my mom once walked, yes, walked,  to school for my Kindergarten "Bring Your Pet To School Day". Luckily he was just a tiny kid at that point.

3. I've had over ...19(?) pets in my life. The most we've had at one time, I belive, was 9.

4. I tried to do track and field in 7th grade. At this point I wasn't even 5 feet tall yet, maybe 4'9''. Needless to say it only lasted 2 weeks as the hurdles were at my waist/chest and the lowest the high jump could be was 4'9'' while ON TOP OF a huge foam mat.

5. I once fractured my wrist when jumping from a picnic table to hold on to a metal clothes line. After a few successful attempts, I guess I just landed the wrong way. My mom, who used to be a nurse, didn't think it was broken as I could move my fingers... still hurt the next morning, went to the doctor, sure enough it was!

6.  For some reason I love and want to visit Georgia, even though I've never been there.

7. I want to visit New Orleans, but considering my name is Katrina and they are known for voodoo around there, I'm slightly weary of visiting. Silly, I know.

8. I did make up for my namesake hurricane though! I volunteered in Mississippi rebuilding houses with my youth group.

9. My brother and I used to race each other to see who could finish an entire Philadelphia cream cheese bar first. Yeah, you read right, an entire bar.

10. I love to write and occasionally write some book ideas down.

11. I'll admit that I have some guilty pleasures on TV. Two of them would the The Real World and The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. It's entertaining to see how they all act and I love seeing the challenges that are done.

Questions for Nominees

1. Who is your favorite author (or favorite book)?

2. Mustard or ketchup?

3. What is a guilty pleasure of yours (food, show, activity...)?

4. What is one language you wish you could be fluent in?

5. If there was one thing you could do again, what would it be?

6. What's one thing you miss from 'the good ol' days'?

7. What is your all-time  favorite recipe/food?

8. Favorite or least favorite form of transportation?

9. What would you do for a Klondike bar?

10. Who do you look up to the most?

11.Which item are you more likely to lose: wallet, phone, accessory, camera or keys?

 Nominees 

~Michelle at Speaking of Kids- A wonderful blog on pediatric speech-language therapy aimed at clinicians and parents, with some extra info on hearing loss.

~Courtney and Lauren of The Talking Owls- Two school-based speech pathologists with lots of wonderful ideas on organization and activities.

~Andy over at Gosh That's Neat!- An Occupational Therapist who blogs about a variety of information on disabilities and therapy.

~Elsy, the writer of Just Another Speechie- An awesome SLP working in Australia with the pediatric population, writing on topics pertaining to therapy and app reviews.

~Julianne of Something To Talk About- A previous Early Intervention SLP, now school-based therapist ready to share her organization tips as well as games, books and ideas for therapy.

~Jill who writes Life Is Just Speechie!- Grad student writing her way through school about the trials of grad school and inspiration for therapy plans.

~Julie, the woman behind Wide World of Speech Therapy- Thoughtful discussion and materials for therapy from a woman who has been in a variety of settings.

~The wonderful writer of The Peachie Speechie- A blog created to share hands-on activities and creative crafting ideas to use in speech therapy.

Sources:

1. http://missheymiss.blogspot.com/2013/07/liebster-award-nomination.html