It’s been awhile since I have won anything so when I heard from a blogger whose posts never fail to make me laugh, cry or both that I won The Sunshine Award, I was pretty pumped.

Sunshine Award: an award for bloggers, by bloggers, that is “a way to recognize people who have charmed, supported, enlightened, and inspired the awarder in recent months.” When one receives said award, the recipient must then answer some questions, tag the next recipients of their choosing, and ask them a handful of questions to answer a well.

Well, I can’t think of anything nicer to receive- thank you, Lyndsey! Lyndsey’s blog, And Then I Began, is beautiful. Heart pouring out of every word. Vulnerable, real, inspiring.

Here are the questions she asked:

1) What do you want to be known for?

Creating an environment in my home and in my community where people are heard, seen, fed, warmed and drawn to and supported. A host of epic proportions.

2) What inspires you most about others?

People who are so authentically themselves blow me away. There is something so brave and vulnerable to me when I am with someone who put themselves out there, heed their own voices and create because they know they have the innate right to.

3) Share with us something you are so proud of.

Gosh, my whole life. The people in it, my career, my relationship, my home, my passions…I have worked so hard to intentionally choose every aspect of my life, even when there were hard decisions to be made or a perceived easier road to take. I am so proud of it because I feel like I have truly built it.

4) Give us a snapshot of your life in 5 years.

Happy. In love. Chicago. Toddler. Vacations to warm places in the books.

5) Whats the best advice you have ever been given, and by whom.

“Don’t bite your nails”-my grandma. Just kidding (although she was right). My Mom has always been a big Golden Rule fan and it’s such always applicable advice- treat others the way you want to be treated.

6) Whats the best/worst purchase you have ever made?

Best: My plane ticket to Italy when I studied abroad for 6 months in college. How that trip formed me was priceless. My purple Hunter boots also come in handy in Chicago 300+ days a year… Worst: This Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirt I saved up all my money for in the 7th grade because the cool girl in my class had one. Once I had it, I hated it because I recognized the cost wasn’t about the money, it was that it doesn’t feel good to work hard to be like someone else. I think that was my first lesson in that it simply doesn’t do to be anything other than yourself…a lesson I have been taught many times over.

7) What word makes you cringe? (sorry to make you type it)

I won’t, actually, but it’s a derogatory word toward homosexuals. My blood boils when I hear it and I don’t care about context- it makes me cringe and it’s not okay to say. And I can’t believe people do.

8) What is your signature dance move?

Haha, I don’t know about signature but the secret is that I think I can actually dance and while this is likely not true, I love it! I do a mean shoulder inward shrug thing and my hips don’t lie.

Now it’s my turn to give the sunshine award- stay tuned!