One of the best things that I’ve discovered about blogging is the support and friendship within the blogging community.
We support each other is by reading and commenting on each other’s blogs, by hosting and joining memes, liking and following each other in various social media, saying hello at the various blogger catch-ups, conferences and brunches, and the ‘virtual hugs’ that are blogging awards.
Danya Banya has been lucky enough to receive two of these awards recently*. Aww, shucks, thanks!
The first one was from Ann from over at Help!! I’m Stuck!! who was so kind as to nominate me for my second Liebster Award. (I blogged about my first one here.)
So what is a Liebster Award? The award is given to support and recognise up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers (on their blog) or likers (on their Facebook page). The word “Liebster” apparently has German origins and is reported to mean sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. By following some basic rules (answer 11 questions set by your nominee, write 11 additional facts about yourself, write 11 new questions of your own and pass the award onto 11 other bloggers to answer) it enables readers to get to know new bloggers and connect with a wider audience.
So first up, thank you Ann! It was lovely getting to know you a little better. We’ve been to Fiji recently too, but not Castaway Island (maybe next time). Thank you for setting such a great bunch of questions for me – here are my answers.
- Do you have any reoccurring dreams? If yes care to share? Normally my dreams are all over the place, but I did start having one recurring dream when Bee was first born. I did a short blog post about it here. Essentially I was afraid of looking after both girls and being pulled in too many directions at once.
- Turkey. Yes or No. Yes! My kidlets love watching the turkeys waddle and gobble around the farm yard section of Taronga Zoo. I love sliced turkey + brie + cranberry on sourdough. 🙂
- What is your favourite type of music? Depends on where and when. Usually if I am listening to the radio, then it’s tuned to Triple J. I also like to boogie to a bit of trancey house in the early hours of the morning. Back in my hey day I was toe tapping to happy hardcore, but I’ve mellowed somewhat in the last decade and a half…
- Any tips for insomnia? For me, it’s quit coffee. I’m really affected by caffeine, so a coffee in the early morning can easily keep me up late at night (and sometimes the following night as well). Which incidentally, is a great help for when I DO want to stay up late at night. Party on people! Oh wait, the kids. Sigh.
- We are out for dinner and drinks and you order…..? Are we at a Thai restaurant? Then definitely red duck curry (especially if it has lychees in it) with a nice glass of pinot noir. OMG drool. Otherwise, if I’m at a fancy pants restaurant, then I tend to order anything that sounds quirky and that I can’t make easily at home. I love trying unusual cuts of meat and things I can’t pronounce.
- Do you have a must watch TV show, old or new? This is really sad to admit, but I’m a closet Survivor fan. Mr Banya and I watch every episode, with lots of intense discussions, analysis and predictions as we go. We also fans of Media Watch, Catalyst, QI, Modern Family and Amazing Race, and I’m partial to a bit of Grey’s Anatomy.
- Sports. Do you play? Generally no. I do ski – but is that counted as a sport if you don’t compete? I like non-competitive exercise – walking, hiking, bike riding…
- What’s a quote or saying you use all the time? “So… what else?” (Apparently, I don’t like pauses in conversation).
- Do you wear perfume? If yes what is your favourite? I don’t wear perfume generally. I stopped when I started breastfeeding the kids (so they wouldn’t get confused by my changing smell), but now that they are old enough I really should start wearing it again. My favourite is J’Adore.
- Favourite household appliance? My sewing machine! I love the creativity sewing allows me. It’s my time\. My old sewing machine’s called Xanadu. And I’ve just received a new one, a hand-me-down from my very talented but elderly Nanna, but I haven’t broken it in (or named it) yet.
- Should Budgie Smugglers be banned? Yes! Sorry, but I don’t really want to see that.
And here are 11 random things that you probably don’t know about me (yet).
- I love “Dad jokes”, so much that friends now call them “Danya jokes”. My favourite one at the moment is “Why are pirates awesome? Because they arrrr.”
- I played an online game called Runescape for about a year and a half. It taught me so much about fantasy animals (such as Minotaurs and Banshees), and other stuff that would have been useful in medieval times (such as flax can be spun into bow strings, or if you combine tin with copper you get bronze). People who say you can’t learn things from computer games just haven’t tried hard enough yet.
- Since having the kids, I’m no longer allowed to play online games. So I took up blogging and candy crush instead.
- I don’t really like the taste of chocolate, unless there’s another flavour. So I would never eat a block of plain chocolate. But a block of fruit and nut chocolate – now that’s a danger zone.
- I can’t sing to save my life. I was kicked out of the kindergarten school choir. Kindergarten people. And it was just the local public school. When my mum complained, they said that I could sing in the rehearsal but not in the concert.
- Despite my aforementioned lack of ability, I score quite well at SingStar. I think volume counts a lot when you play those games, (especially if you can totally put your opponent off by singing so loud they can’t hear the music.)
- I don’t really like the taste of beer. But I like to think that I like the taste of beer. So when someone offers me one, I often accept, drink half, and then give Mr Banya the other half after it’s gone flat and warm. It shits him to tears.
- Mr Banya and I lived in Amsterdam for a year, and can speak very bad Dutch. I can’t seem to roll my r’s as well as he can though.
- I can however vibrate the back of my tongue to make a gargle sound. Bee can do it too. She does it all the time. Neither Mr Banya nor JJ can do it, so I guess it will be our special little thing.
- Mr Banya and I spent 9 months travelling by campervan (RV) around USA, Canada and Mexico, followed by 3 months skiing in Tahoe.
- I love to ski, but my ability gets worse the longer I spend on the slope. It’s because I start out overconfident.
- Dinosaur Diaries
- Stephsjoy
- The Very Inappropriate Blog
- The Lounge (ok technically not a blog, more of a revolving link up, but hey…)
- Fresh Home Cook
- This Is Who I Am… By Marleisa
- Mins Mash
- 10% Inspired
- Freezecheese
- Imperfectly Erin
- Sit Down Mummy
- What’s the best advise you’ve ever received?
- Confess something.
- Any tips on hiding a muffin top?
- What’s your favourite children’s story?
- Know any corny ‘Dad jokes’?
- Why do you blog?
- Who was your first celebrity crush?
- Besides blogging, what’s your favourite thing to do?
- What’s the most unusual thing you’ve eaten?
- Gold or silver?
- Something you’ve learned recently…
Are you new here? Welcome! If you’re enjoy reading this, then I’d love it if you’d also “like” the Danya Banya Facebook page, follow @danya_banya on Twitter or follow Danya Banya on Pinterest.
Thanks for reading!