Rain, Drive-Ins, and Rootbeer

I've receive two major awards! Well, maybe not major, but they are lovely, are they not? They come from my blogger friend, Ali Cross. Her site is always thought-provoking, honest, and fun. Thank you, Ali!

The Rules for The Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to fifteen bloggers that you think deserve it.
4. Lastly, contact all the bloggers that you’ve picked for the award.

One Lovely Blog Award Rules:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Seven things about myself, in no particular order:
1) I love the sound of rain, crickets, and frogs. Not all at the same time.
2) I love drive-in theaters. I lament their passing and avidly support the one in the next town, American Dreams Drive-In. Sometimes I wish my husband and I could move to the back seat. Like we used to. There are kids in the way.
3) I love rootbeer floats. Particularly A&W rootbeer floats, which we used to get at the A&W on the way to the drive-in when I was little and living in Seattle. Where it rains. And there are frogs. At the lakes.
4) I love lakes. I love the calm, the lack of current, the warmth.
5) I would rather live in the mountains than anywhere else; preferably in a lake house. I don't have one yet. But I am in the mountains. Baby steps. The mountains here in Wyoming are different than the mountains of western Washington. In a good, non-rainy kind of way.
6) I LOVE snow, but seasonally. At Easter time, I want tulips and sunshine. Not snowmen and wind-chill. Like here in the mountains.
7) I'm adaptable.

With that out of the way, it's time to move on to 8 out of the 15 bloggers I have chosen to receive these awards. The other 7 will be mentioned in my next post. Give it up for:

• Margot Hovley at Inklings. Margot is a new Covenant author, like me! Her book, GET REAL, is coming out next summer. Congratulations, Margot! 

• Melissa J. Cunningham at A Writer's Reality. Melissa cracks me up and she's a great motivator. Apparently she sings, and I'd like to hear her sometime. Okay, Melissa?

• Donald J. Carey is a sweetheart of a guy and also has a book coming out called BUMPY LANDINGS. Check him out; bring a lei.

• A.L. Sonnichsen over at The Green Bathtub (so named because her writing cuts into her cleaning time) and I are finding we have a bathtub full of things in common, beginning with the areas we call/called home, and our husband's football careers, both on the field and sidelines. She posts her short stories weekly, and is sending me chocolate. What more can you ask from a blogger friend?

• Go see Jayne over at A Novice Novelist. She's British. She's truly delightful.

• I really like how Clarissa Draper critiques chapters at Listen to the Voices. And her posts cover everything from Blogger tips to Forensics.

• Kimberly Vanderhorst at Temporary? Insanity is the embodiment of serenity and anxiety at the same time. Her posts are sweetness to the soul. She would balk at that. But I insist.

• Sara B. Larson is new to blogging and I found her posts really fresh, so she's on the list!

And one more note. My book contract is signed, delivered, and my copy is now in my possession. I feel like the Velveteen Rabbit. Real.