I’m super excited to announce that Prayers and Apples has been nominated for a Liebster Award – twice! The Liebster Award is designed to recognize small, up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 subscribers. Bloggers nominate sites within like-minded categories as a way to spread the love and introduce new authors!

Melissa at Total Mama Makeover nominated me first (if you haven’t read her blog and are the least bit curious about what cereals share ingredients with jet fuel, you should probably take a look at this post) and then a couple days later, Ashley at Cupcakes n’ Crunches nominated me too! (If you’re a new runner, pro-runner or anyone who does anything besides walk, I definitely suggest checking out Ashley’s tips for a better run!)

How does the Liebster Award work?

The goal is to help readers learn more about new blog authors. After being nominated, each blogger posts 11 random facts about themselves. Then they answer 11 questions that the nominee before them created and then nominate 11 more new kids on the block!

Soooo… remember those ‘100 Things About Me’ surveys you used to email your friends back in high school? (If not, that’s ok… that just means you also missed growing up with Boy Meets World!) Well, that’s basically what’s about to happen here. You’ve got like a one-paragraph warning before this turns into a whole “Marsha-Marsha-Marsha” thing (ok, for real: if you don’t know where that came from, you’re probably not going to enjoy this post!) LOL :)

Alright, you’ve been warned! :) Here we go! (But don’t dismay! We’ll return to our regularly scheduled science programming after this post! …Because I know how sad you guys are that this one doesn’t have any research studies ;) lol righttt…)

11 Random Facts

1. I was born in Sitka, Alaska… that’s where this throwback pic came from ♥

2. I was raised right outside of Pittsburgh – GO STEELERS! …yins are just lucky we’re giving other people a chance to play this year ;) LOL

3. I was accepted into NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and moved to New York City when I was 18 to study film production ♥

4. While we’re talking about college, might as well get this one out of the way: I’ve been to five of them! (In case I disappear in ten years: I’m on a remote island in the middle of nowhere hiding from my student loan officers!) My family bought me a book bag with all of their initials, but I pretty much have them memorized now lol: Westminster (simultaneous classes with my senior year in high school), NYU, USC Honors College, Kent State Honors College and Harvard. No, I still don’t have my degree :/

…And no, I don’t even know how that’s possible either.

5. I grew up acting, and performed in community theatre musicals my entire childhood ♥

6. I LOVE music! Bob Segar, CCR, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan (& The Band!), Otis Redding, the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Marshall Tucker Band, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Dion & The Belmonts (..try going from Time to Lovers Who Wander – Pandora has NO clue what you’re doing lol), Joplin, Marley, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, Etta James… not a big fan of new stuff, but I am kinda feeling The Lumineers ♥ …ok, well maybe a lil new stuff ;) …yep, that’s a pic from a private LMFAO concert! :) the only people in front of me were the bartenders!! :)

7. My two favorite movie/TV characters of all time are Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane in Almost Famous and Whinney Cooper from The Wonder Years ♥ (…If you haven’t watched that clip on my Happiness page yet, you are missing out! It’s the second pic!) ♥

8. I once took a Greyhound bus from South Carolina to Pennsylvania. Never again.

9. I’m a creative writer at heart (I was more surprised than anyone when this whole love affair with science started!) – I’ve published one book, written a screenplay and now I’m working on my first novel (which has been ‘in progress’ for the past several years… which seems to be the way things go with novels lol)

10. I love wine, coffee ice cream and a bunch of other “non-clean” foods – so you’re not alone! haha :) I haven’t jumped off the health foods edge yet ♥

11. I twirl. Fire, knives, batons (1, 2, 3) – you name it. And no, not like that dorky girl from Grease haha :) Like this (…ok maybe not exactly like this because this is Shannon Miller at the 2012 World Championships… but more like this than the girl from Grease lol):

I credit twirling 100% with my fitness obsession! (…And with these calf muscles that everyone makes fun of me for lol)

11 Questions

To keep things short(er), I picked a couple questions each from Melissa and Ashley’s lists:

1. What’s your favorite way to get exercise? See above :)

2. What does a perfect day look like to you? Good workout, scrambled eggs + turkey bacon with peanut butter toast and juice, driving to Daytona Beach with my top down (talking about the car people lol), reading celebrity magazines in the sun, shower + getting dressed up, cocktails + appetizers, random adventure, bubble bath + watching The West Wing then bed ♥ Oh! And a mani-pedi! Definitely need to fit that in somewhere…

3. If you could go for a run with a celebrity, who would you pick? Mark Whalberg :)

4. What made you choose the name of your blog? Instead of popping a pill, I want people to say a prayer and eat an apple! ♥

5. What would you want for your last meal? Pizza from the Sawmill on the Jersey Shore Boardwalk :)

6. What’s your favorite website? What Kate Wore – a blog about Kate Middleton’s fashion ♥ …in my dream life I wear Alexander McQueen dresses and ridiculously gorgeous heels! …and I’m best friends with Kate Middleton, naturally. :)

7. Why did you start blogging? I want people to be happier… and I think explaining how the mind-body-spirit relationship works will help people get happy! :)

8. You can invite any three people in the world to your fantasy dinner party. Who’s coming? This is going to be quite the fantasy because one of these people is dead and the other two aren’t even real lol – Frasier, Jed Bartlet (President from The West Wing) and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throw in some wine and that would make for the most interesting dinner conversation ever! :) …and if I had a fourth seat, it’d go to John Lennon ♥

9. What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I love the show Sister Wives! Everyone is always so surprised by that lol Here’s the deal: I feel very strongly about my own beliefs, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect the right of others to feel just as strongly about theirs. I have more respect for someone who believes something differently than I do with passion, than I do for someone who agrees with me just because. …Plus, Janelle tweeted me on Twitter once so I’m kind of a fan for life now lol :)

Thanks so much @PrayersNApples!

— Janelle Brown (@JanelleBrown117) December 17, 2012

10. Has a piece of art – a book, song, film – ever had a profound impact on your life? I feel like reading The Great Gatsby taught me how to write  ♥ (To see a preview of the new movie, check out my Happiness page!)

11. What do you do to combat stress and anxiety? Say a prayer and eat an apple! haha …come on, you knew that was coming ;)

And the nominees are…

So now that you know way more about me than you ever needed to know (I’ve come a long way with this opening up business! lol), here’s the next round of nominees:

1. Tiffany @ Super Christian Designs

2. Coco @ Running with Perseverance

3. Judy @ Shriner Fitness

4. Krystal @ Coffee Cardio Goddess

5. Celeste @ Healthful Mind Body and Soul

6. Angela @ Health’s Angel

7. Brandi @ Faith Fitness and Laughter (HONORARY – Brandi’s already been nominated, but her blog is one of my favorites!)

Also just want to say that I love Jon Acuff’s blog! He wrote Stuff Christians Like and his posts are hysterical!

(You’re supposed to nominate 11 people, but I’m new to the blogging world and didn’t want to recommend any blogs that I don’t personally read! Feel free to leave suggestions in the comment section!)

If you’re on the list, please email me (editor@prayersandapples.com) for your questions!

Thanks again to Melissa and Ashley! ♥