I'd like to thank Lainey for awarding me the Beautiful Blogger award. It was such a surprise. Now I'm supposed to list 10 things about myself that are not well known. So here goes.

1). I actually have been cross stitching for almost as long as I've been married, which has been about 31 years.

2). I've worked for 3 different cross stitch stores for the past 15 years. I've managed to stay with 2 of them until they closed and have been at the 3rd for 5 years now.

3). I love to read. I received a Kindle for Valentine's Day last year and absolutely love it. My favorite books are techno thrillers, end of the world type stories, fantasy, and sci fi. My favorite books of all time are the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

4). I love going to the movies. There's something about sitting in the dark munching on popcorn with the sound all around and getting engrossed in the story. I love action movies and end of the world movies (do you detect a trend here?). I'm not so big on chick flicks although I occasionally indulge in them.

5). My favorite TV shows are NCIS (love that Mark Harmon), The Big Bang Theory and my all time favorite Lost. I don't know what I'll do when it ends this spring. I guess I'll have to start the series over with the DVDs.

6). In addition to cross stitching, I also knit, crochet, embroider and needlepoint. I've tried Hardanger and Brazilian embroidery but just could never really get into them. No matter what I do, I'll always come back to cross stitching. I'm a frustrated artist and this gives me an outlet for my creativity.

7). I was adopted at birth and recently set out to find out where I come from. With both my parents gone, I don't feel the need to hide it from them. It will be very tough though since I have no information except where I was born. I've even found evidence that the year may be different from what I thought (I may be a year younger than I realized.).

8). Last November I actually wrote a 50,000 word novel. I discovered NaNoWriMo and signed up. I've always loved to write and decided to give it a shot. I almost gave up when I had to spend 2 days in the hospital but managed to finish it in time. Now it will NEVER see the light of day but I can say I did it and I have started another one using ideas from the first.

9). I absolutely love summers here in Arizona. I know that sounds crazy but I really like the heat. Even in July and August, I'll drive with my windows down. People think I'm nuts but I really do like the heat.

10). The most important things in my life are my faith, my family and my animals. Take anything else away and I could handle it. But if I lost any of those three, I'd be a basket case.

There you have it. Now I'm supposed to pass this on to 10 other people. So here they are. Although I may not always comment on them, these are the ones I read regularily and highly enjoy. And I'm not very good at linking to other websites so I'll just list them.

GoldenAngelWorks

Bronny's Bits

A Stitcher's life

A Few of My Favorite Things

Dani Black Belt Stitching Wizard

Sharon's Cross Stitch Obsession

Stitching and Sharing

Stitching With A View

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

Threads of Desire

Now here's what you guys need to do if you accept this award.

1). Thank the person who gave you this award.

2). Paste the award on your blog.

3). Link to the person who nominated you.

4). Tell 10 interesting things about yourself.

5). Nominate 10 blogs and post their links.

There it is. Probably my longest entry yet. And now I need to go to bed. See you on the flip side!