And the award goes to...

As you know, I've been super busy the past few weeks, so I'm playing catch up. I was given a few blog awards over the past month (why, I'm sure I don't know, as there's not all that much here to love yet!) so I spent some time today going through all my blog subscriptions and picking out five that I honestly felt deserved what each of these awards represents. I tried not to duplicate, though there are a few that I listed for two awards, and I mean each of these honestly.

Though I will admit I only went through the first half of the alphabet in my Google Reader! So if your blog name starts with N or later, it's not that I don't love your blog, too - it's just that I subscribe to a LOT of blogs! Also, for the most part I didn't contemplate blogs with over 1000 followers (though with the drop off of GFC use, these numbers might be less than accurate!) These are blogs that I think deserve more attention, and that some of you might not have seen yet, and I was *picky*...and I also did a search for "award" on each blog to make sure they haven't already received this award, to the best of my ability.

Though I'll admit, the number of "you" is pretty low, but if some of you I tagged come check out your awards, and then browse through some of the others I've awarded, that'll still do the job. If even one person finds a new blog they love enough to follow, my work here is done. :)

That said, this is a loooong post, so the awards are after the cut:

The Liebster Award is for blogs with under 200 followers. I was nominated for this by: Absolutely Cee - I love her nail art, and her picture-posting style is just adorable.

1. 10 Blank Canvases - This woman does some of THE most amazing nail art I have seen, and I have no idea why her blog has so few followers. Did I find a hidden gem here?
2. Little Nails - Again, just wonderful nail art (though I feel a little more capable of being as good as her, with practice.) I think the only reason she has less than 200 followers is because the blog has only been around for a few months.
3. It's all about the accent... - Go look at what you're missing! Seriously, how have I amassed so many cool blogs to read in such a short time and y'all have missed them?
4. Fancy Phalanges - If you don't grok this blog title, phalanges are finger bones, and I love her creativity in nails as well as her way with words. :)
5. Gypsy's Glitter - You've had almost a year to find this blog, where have *you* been?

Goingtotheshowing gave me this award, and I'm passing it on. I tried doing research into each of these awards, but this was the only one I could find a source for. This was originally created by devilishpolish who said, "This award is for the bloggers who I want to show love to." So, without further ado, five blogs that I think deserve your attention, because I love them.

1. ! Maryam Maquillage ! does nail art, makeup, and fashion posts with fabulous flair
2. Bee Polished - y'all know I'm here for the nail art!
3. Bookworm Nails - lots of swatches, and the nail art boggles my brain
4. Cutesville - I don't do stamping, so for me to <3 a blog that's mostly stamping? You know they're pretty!
5. Fancy Phalanges - Yeah, I had to give her LOVE here as well. :)

Asa Nisi Masa Nail Spot cheated and gave all of the next three awards to the same five blogs. ::pthhhh::

The One Lovely Blog Awards asks that you tell seven things about yourself. I'll give it a try, anyway. Be warned, I'm one wordy woman!

1. I was a baby making MACHINE before I got my tubal. I've been pregnant twelve times and given birth to seven wonderful children. My two firstborn passed on twelve years ago (they were 10 and 8 years old at the time), the next three live with their dad and stepmom in Kentucky and are quickly turning into awesome people, and my youngest two live with me and my husband of nearly-twelve years. I would say they're currently 8 and 5, but Brianna (my lovely daughter who can only be described as a cross between Princess Barbie and Wednesday Addams) would yell over the 'net if she could that she's only 7. (She doesn't turn 8 until April 5. :)
2. I'm almost the same age as life, the universe, and everything.
3. I love cats and dogs, though I currently have none because my husband hates animal hair. I greatly dislike little dogs, though - I refer to them as "yip-yip" dogs. Their constant state of nerves and high-pitched yipping gets on my nerves far too quickly for me to ever live with one. If I lived in a house with a big fenced yard so it could live outside most of the year, I'd want a Rottweiler.
4. I spent the first 18 years of my life in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I went off to college, quit college to get married, and for a variety of other reasons, the year between my 18th and 19th birthdays, I lived in about four different cities. Then I "settled down" in the D/FW, Texas metroplex...and proceeded to spend the next 18 years of my life there! I don't specify a city, because over the course of those 18 years, I lived in nearly a dozen different suburbs that all qualify as "Dallas" to anyone who doesn't live near D/FW. And now I live half-way between the two, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I wonder if I'll end up here for 18 years??
5. I played keyboard in a band for two weeks, busking on Jackson Square in New Orleans.
6. I wear the same size clothes I did in high school, which has more to do with an awesome genetically-gifted metabolism than any effort on my part. I NEVER, EVER diet, and I don't set aside time for exercise. On the other hand, I do have a habit of walking briskly, whether I'm in a hurry or not, just because the pace and breeze feel good on my skin, and I love to dance. (Not to mention my ADHD means I fidget all the time so I'm constantly burning at least a few extra calories.)
7. My husband is getting waaaay too much enjoyment out of joking that I'm turning into ::gasp:: a typical woman! ("When does the makeup invasion happen?" "Oh, look, you've got the frou-frou hand gesture down pat! 'Look at my naaaails!'") But my best friend is frequently known to say that if she didn't know better, you'd get the idea we had a horrible relationship with the amount of snarking we do at each other. It's our favorite form of humor. :)

And that's *enough* about me! (At least until the next award on the list. ;) This award is for one LOVELY blog, and that's what I gave it for. All five of the following blogs are beautiful.

1. Amandalandish 
2. Gnarly Gnails 
3. GaGa for Nails
4. Goose's Glitter
5. here comes the sun

I didn't find any source reference for The Versatile Blogger award, but I did find a handy-dandy Web Page about it! This award also requests seven random facts about myself, so you get another seven things below, and after that, what you're really interested in - blogs I think qualify as versatile! (Yes, I did not just randomly pick these blogs for the awards, but actually chose ones I thought fit the award. This post was a lot more work than doing a manicure, let me tell you!)

1. I type over 120 words per minute (which comes in handy when doing posts like this, let me tell you!)
2. I taught myself to read some time before my 3rd birthday (Mom said I'd been "reading" my kids books for months, but she thought I just had them memorized, until she caught me reading the comics in the newspaper!)
3. Not that it will show up in this blog, but I have a dirty mind. I wrote my first erotic fiction when I was twelve. (Hey, it said random!)
4. I love reading fanfiction, preferably crossovers. 
5. I paid $110 dollars for my name 13 years ago. ^_^ Yes, "Iroshi Windwalker" is actually on my driver's license. No, that isn't what my mother named me.Yes, there's a story behind it, but it's almost longer than this blog post!
6. I have a huuuuuuge sweet tooth. Which is probably why I also have dentures.
7. I know how to square dance and how to clog, and I enjoy embarrassing my husband by breaking out into clogging at random moments in public if I hear certain types of music. ^_^

The rules for this award state to pass it on to 15, but you know what? That's a lot of work, going through all my blog subscriptions, spending a few minutes browsing through the site and deciding whether they qualify as "versatile", and then searching to make sure they haven't already been given the award...so you get five, just like every other award on here. :)

1. Ash-Lilly's Lacquer Lust has art, stamping, swatching, and product reviews, all with great photography (you can assume good photography on anybody I've awarded here today, actually, though some really stand out!)
2. deez nails has several years' worth of beautiful swatches built up
3. flouncy skirts
4. Jessica's Nail Art  - hasn’t been updated in a while, but such a stylish combination of nail art and excellent photography I had to mention it
5. MakeupWithdrawal - makeup, polish, nail art, reviews - anything your beauty-seeking heart desirse!

::Deeeeep breath!::  LAST! but definitely NOT least! The Butterfly Award! 

The picture says this is for the coolest blog I know (I'm sorry, but I can not bring myself to repeat the horrible grammar the picture actually sports), so here are five blogs, mostly from the first half of the alphabet, that I just HAVE to share due to their sheer awesomeness!!!  (And yes, the capital letters, bold, and italics were all necessary to emphasize just how great these blogs are! ;)

1. 10 Blank Canvases  - I put her up in the Liebster Award as well, but this woman really does do some of the most amazing nail art I've seen.
2. Bookworm Nails  - This is another blog I had to double award. I love Love LOVE her nail art! Seriously!!
3. I am Definitely Addicted... - This blog deserves this for her Ugly Monday Manis alone, but the rest is fab, too! J
4. Little Nails - also a double awarder (catching a theme here?) because she has so few followers, since she's only been up for a few months, but really...great nail art, and great pictures make for a great blog!
5. Plisherrific - I only recently discovered this blog because they entered their the nail art contest on More Nail Polish, but WOWOWOWOW what awesome artwork! Seriously, some of it belongs in a museum! Jme and Ev rock my eyeballs.

One more set of questions I have to answer, though I suspect my answers will be less than acceptable, since I don't actually have many favorites, biggests, or bests.

1. What's your favourite song?I don't really have one. I like nearly all music, except dissonance, heavy metal where the singers scream instead of sing, and filthy rap. (That's not my adjective for rap in general, but a specific type of rap I don't enjoy, by the way.) My "theme" song would have to be "Bitch", by Meredith Brooks.
2. What's your favourite dessert?
   I did mention the sweet tooth, right? Dude, if it's sweet, I'm there! It's easier to say what I don't like than name a favorite! I don't like standard sheet cake. White, chocolate, whatever flavor, I just generally don't care for cake. (Doesn't mean I won't eat it most of the time, but it's not what I'd choose when given options. ;) There are exceptions, of course. Death by chocolate cake, carrot cake, red velvet cake...anything that's over and above indulgent beyond "plain" cake. If we're asking for ice cream choices, I frequently ask for "chocolate with stuff"...which means any type of ice cream that has both texture and chocolate, from as simple as chocolate chip to chocolate chocolate chip-rocky road-fudge ripple-gooey-overload. ^_^
3.  What's your favourite pet?You know, I actually did the seven things lists before even reading these questions? Guess I already answered this one! ^_^
    
4. Black or White?
   Context? If I'm wearing it? Probably black. On my nails? More likely to be white because it's easier to do nail art on it.
5. What's your biggest fear? 
   I don't actually spend a lot of time thinking about that, really. I have anxiety issues, but they're not actually about anything. I'm an introvert, and I get overwhelmed by extended social contact, so when I'm having a panic attack, it's usually, "There are people out there!!" but it's not a "fear", really. I suppose I'd have to say bees and wasps, when it comes to actually causing fear.
6. What's your best feature?
   Physically? My hair. It's waist-length, straight, and beautiful. I love it. The natural color is a very dark auburn, liberally mixed with a pretty silver-toned grey, but I use semi-permanent hair dye (the kind that says it washes out after 28 washes) because I hate root lines, and I like to change my shade every couple of months. You might see my tresses sporting anything from pale brown, bright red, mahogany, and black. I need to buy some chalk to do color striping. I don't want to bleach my hair to put colors in (mainly because I don't want to have to commit to always dying my hair - that root thing again) but I'd love to have green stripes from time to time.
7. What's your everyday attitude?
   How can I help you?
8. What is perfection?
   Extremely contextual. A perfect poem evokes emotions in the reader that the poet wanted you to feel. You might not like it, but if it causes the reaction the poet wanted, it is perfect. A perfect day can be anything from gorgeous blue skies, spring temperatures, and a moderate breeze, with a picnic on a lakeshore, to a raging thunderstorm with dramatic lightning strikes crashing across the black night sky. Perfection is listening to a child laugh with abandon, or snuggling up skin to skin with your most loved in a comfortable bed after a long day.
9. What is your guilty pleasure?
   I'll be completely honest - I don't have one. Not because I don't take pleasure in lots of things, but because I'm not embarrassed and don't feel guilty about a single one of them. There are things I enjoy that I won't post about on a nail art blog, or that I hesitate to speak about in mixed company, because I don't think y'all want to hear about that. But I keep quiet because I don't want to offend people, and I don't personally need validation from other people, so I don't have to make sure you know everything about me in order to feel accepted. It's out there, though. I'm extremely open. You want to know more than I've said here? Go to my livejournal profile page. It will list things I don't feel appropriate here, but there's nothing about my life that I feel guilty about.