LIFE IS GOOD, stylish, and makes us smile--truly.

Have any of you attended an awards party? You know, a party on the eve (that's a fancy-schmancy word) of an awards ceremony. The Oscars? The CMAs? The Golden Globes? (oh my...)

What about the ALAs? What? The ALAs (you can admit it if you don't know, we didn't at first either)??

I watch TV (well, occasionally). I watch the news (um, once in awhile). The Today Show provides me with what I need (oops, yep, sometimes). Not so much, I just found out. The ALAs are important to all of us. And the Today show dropped the proverbial ball. Go ahead and boo until your heart's content. Stupid Snooki. (oh, wait, you might not know. click on this for the link) (and really, Snooki? I didn't even know she existed until I read this article. And five minutes from now, I'll forget her. But if you want to know about some really awesome books, click on this.)

So, if you're hosting your local ALA (yeah, I mean Oscar, CMA, Critics Choice, etc.) awards party, you'll need some recipes. Here you go (yes, another link, but wait until you see how long this post is about to get...).

A couple of weeks ago, we got an award. Then another, and then a couple last week,
and then a couple more this weekend.

We got six awards.

We rock.

Unfortunately, we haven't been good blog hoppers lately and haven't gotten around enough to find any new blogs to pass onto you (that you don't already know about and love) (and to pass the award on to). SO - if you're reading this, we love you and trust that you are award-worthy. (CUZ we know we have the most awesomest followers and commenters EVER!  And you stick by us even during our lousy hopping weeks.) Feel free to pick one up - the only thing you need to do is comment on this post (although we'd also really love it if you click on the linky to the right and join our blogfest!).

THANKS PATRICIA TIMMS @ SIMPLICITY IN VOLUMES



with this award comes the task of answering a list of questions. scroll down to read the questions and

our --er, erica's-- answers.

THANKS COLENE MURPHY @ THE JOURNEY

AND

JC MARTIN FIGHTER WRITER 

with this award comes the task of listing seven random things about yourself. scroll down to read those buggers.

THANKS ABBY @ ABOVE WATER

AND

SUMMER @ MY INNER FAIRY

THANKS ALEXIA @

THE LIFE AND LITERARY PURSUITS OF ALEXIA CHAMBERLAIN

We'd like to thank our loyal commenters.  Without you, we'd have no one to talk to (well, except each other and we could just do that via email). We hope you'll take one of these awards as a token of our deeply felt gratitude.  We'd also like to thank all of our followers and we plan to visit your blogs more regularly because the visits we have made were enjoyed immensely.  Thanks all for putting up with our spottiness.  We know most of you also have families and jobs and are trying to finish a novel to query.  Best of luck to you and you and you and you.

(These answers belong to Erica)
1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you are not anonymous, do you wish that you had started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now? Our names really are Erica and Christy. Our blog address and contact emails say Lynnea West because Christy began the blog under that writing pseudonym. We're very happy with how things are going now and hope someday you get to see our names on the cover of a book at stores near you!!

2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side. One time my husband hung a shirt on a hook in the bathroom even though I asked him to put it in the washing machine. I refused to touch it and it hung there for three years. We sold that house and the only reason the shirt didn't come with it is because my mom threw it away. (Um...yuck!!!)
3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror? Unfortunately, the reflection of someone who is much older than I am (my reflection is 35, but I prefer to think I'm still 24 or so).  (Ha!  I stopped aging at 24, too, erica!!!)

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink? I'll will take a regular (lime) margarita on the rocks any time someone wants to make me one. 

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do? Read, blog hop, write (anything but clean).

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it? Becoming published, of course. Also, I love teaching preschool, but it's so time and energy all-consuming, I'm not sure I can do it forever. I have a master's degree in nonprofit management, so someday I'd like to get a management/administration position (if it continues to be with Head Start, that would be awesome).

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching? Other people probably thought I was shy, but I never see myself that way (I prefer to think I was just "choosy" about my friends).

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see? The moment I told my husband we were going to have our first child (which we were trying for) followed by the moment I told him we were having our second (which we were definitely not trying for).

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? My life isn't very exciting, so I'll have to go with the latter.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why? My sister lives in Alaska, so if it's her, I'll take the call (I only see her once every couple of years). Otherwise I probably won't put down my book and answer it.


SEVEN RANDOM BITS OF INFO ABOUT CHRISTY  (If I don't hit the stuff you'd like to hear...ask us anything you want in our comments.  Maybe we'll add it to a post.) (Sorry if this is repeat info you've already heard in the past....)

7-I drink about 6-20 ounces of black coffee every morning.  I drink one diet coke for lunch each day.

6-I drink one (okay, sometimes two) glasses of red wine (usually Malbec) while preparing dinner each (or every other) evening.  I drink 3-4 glasses of water before bedtime.

5-I don't eat fruit.  Except apples (and even then only if they are very crisp and not grainy in any way).  I have texture issues with fruit.  (When I was pregnant with our first son, I freaked out about this and started drinking fruit/yogurt/oj smoothies.  So now I still get my fruit that way (bananas, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches)  And I take vitamins....

4-I'm still using two spaces after each period.  (Don't tell erica.  It drives her nuts.)

3-I run on a treadmill every other day. I finally went back to classes at the Y (it's been four or five months)!  You should ALL work out at least 3-4 times per week. It feels AMAZING!!)

2-I teach elementary school every morning and am scared to death I will be told in the next three months that I'll have to go full-time next year.  I'll be glad to do so when my kids also are in school full-time.  But NOT before.

1-I worry that writing is a phase and at some point during this year I will lose all interest, have to fake my blog posts, and have two incomplete novels, that I currently love, sit forgotten for the rest of eternity. (This is a complete and utter secret.  Shhh.  Don't mention it to anyone.)