Liebster Award Meme

I spent most of Sunday writing this, inserting Roz's answers, links, pictures and formatting it.  Then just as I was about to go to bed, added a link and then somehow managed to delete the entire post!  The auto-save then did it's magic and saved it so I couldn't go back and see what was written to try to salvage it!  Needless to say I was gutted, (and really should listen to my husband about getting an offline blog editor)!  I was never going to sleep right after that distressing accident and didn't want to forget everything I'd written so here is take 2 below, finally finished at 3am!  I still can't remember what my 5th fact was, I'm hoping Roz might when she wakes up!  Edit: I remembered and it wasn't that good anyway so I've made up another!

I spotted that I was tagged in SingleMan75's post on his blog, Life as a Single Man last week but it was a crazy week.  I have now had time to read it and fill in the meme below.  He also tagged Sarah who tagged Roz with 11 different questions.  Since we're cheating and doing one post between us, we've both answered both sets of questions, that way we don't have to think of 22  bloggers to tag!  My answers are in green, Roz's are in purple.

The rules are to share 11 facts about yourself, answer the 11 questions then choose 11 bloggers to tag for the meme and make up 11 different questions for them.  It's just a bit of fun to get to know more behind the bloggers so if you fancy taking part, feel free - leave us a comment below with the link and we'll come and have a nosey!  (I've done a similar meme before too, the A-Z of Me.)

So, here are 11 facts about me (I've tried to think of things you don't already know):

1. I used to work in H&M.  I worked there for 5 years while I was a student, it's when my obsession with clothes began.  I still miss the 25% discount.
2. I once wrote a letter to The Disney Club and it was read out on air.  I won a super-soaker 2000 and a Donald Duck swimming bag!
3. My hair grows really slowly, when I was little I looked like a boy and didn't get my first hair cut until I was 5 years old!
4. I have a weird phobia about anyone touching my chin (including myself) since I burst it open when I fell down a flight of steps aged 7.  The local GP stitched it up on the sofa without anaesthetic.
5. I'm not Scottish, I grew up in a tiny village in North East Fife but I was born in Cardiff as my Dad was a technician in the RAF, luckily we didn't get posted anywhere else after I was 5 as I love where I grew up!
6. I trained to skydive solo in 2003 and completed a solo static line jump from 2000 feet.  I did a tandem skydive in New Zealand in 2004 during my round the world trip.
7. I find it very difficult to choose a single favourite of anything (film, food, song, book, photo...) other than colour - green obviously!
8. I want a tattoo.
9. I love reading, all the books I've read are listed on Goodreads.
10. I have seen 853 films, listed at IMDB.
11. I did a placement with the flying doctors in the Australian outback during my round the word trip.  It was a fantastic experience, getting up at 6am, watching the amazing outback sunrises, flying to tiny 'villages', sitting up front with the pilot in a tiny plane, watching out for kangaroos as we land on a strip of dirt in the middle of nowhere.  I really should write about it all!

11 things about Roz:

1. I'm 5'11 and I love being tall :)
2. My favourite colour is purple
3. I am very competitive
4. I miss my friends from Reading nearly every single day
5. I'll be happy if I never have to sit another exam in my life!
6. Mint choc chip is THE BEST ice cream in the whole world
7. I regret not learning another language at school
8. My sweet tooth will always win over my savoury one
9. I wish my job didn't involve such long hours
10. I attended a course at London Zoo to cure my fear of spiders
11. I am so thankful for the amazing friends in my life

11 questions from SingleMan75:

1. 1. Why did you start blogging?  I started writing about my wedding planning when I became addicted to Rock My Wedding in 2011.  I started blogging in January this year. Bex asked me if I wanted to help contribute to The Olive Dragonfly and I jumped at the chance!
2. Do you have any secrets you will go to your grave with?  No, I tend to be a pretty open person and share my secrets with my friends.  Unless it's someone else's secret, then I will keep it that way.  Yes. (This is a very strange question in my opinion because I'm clearly not going to reveal them here!)
3. If people could read your mind, what would surprise them?  Nothing, like I said, I'm a pretty open person, you can read me like a book.  My husband always knows what mood I'm in.  At the moment people would be surprised at how very different I'm feeling on the inside versus the outside.
4. What one thing would you change about yourself and why?  To  get stressed less easily and be more patient.  On a completely superficial level, I'd like to have a skinner ass as buying jeans that fit properly is pretty much impossible.
5. If you were to have another child, what would you name him/her and why?  I don't want to answer this until I actually have a child.  Similar to Bex, I refuse to answer this question.
6. Have you ever left a restaurant without paying?  Yes.  I once had coffee in the DCA with a friend and we were so excited to go and wander round the exhibition we could see from the cafe, we completely forgot to pay.  We realised when we got outside and went back in to pay. Yes.
7. Where's the best holiday you have ever had and why?  This is so difficult - probably the 3 month round the world trip I took as a student, I travelled up the East coast of Australia by myself and then to New Zealand, Tonga and LA with friends.  I learned so much about myself and had so many amazing experiences, including learning to scuba dive.  Or when Nik and I toured round Sri Lanka followed by a week diving in the Maldives.  He proposed on that trip.  Our honeymoon safari was also a major highlight - the best photography holiday, I was so excited!  Oooh this is a tough question. I'm going to go with our honeymoon in New Zealand and Fiji, we put in so much planning and saved like crazy to go away for nearly a whole month, and it exceeded our expectations. It was sunny and warm EVERY SINGLE DAY! We only saw one brief rain shower but we were driving in our campervan at the time anyway. My memories are: happiness, sunshine, wine, love, the great outdoors and lots of new adventures :)
8. As you've moved into adulthood, have you become like your mum or dad?  Unfortunately I have my Dad's short temper when things go wrong.  I do share his passion for travelling and scuba diving though!  And I inherited my Mum's creativity and love of shopping!  I think I have traits from both my parents, both good and bad.  B actually said in his wedding speech that I inherited my mum's love of shopping and my dad's competitiveness!
9. What's the one thing in your life that, if you died because of it, people who knew you well would just shrug and say "well, I'm not surprised"?  Probably one of my crazy activities like bungee jumping or skydiving.  I have no idea!
10. What's the one food you hate more than any other?  Dill!  Ever since I worked in Livingston, they put it on everything in the canteen (not just fish, pork chops, lasagne, anything!) and it's put me off for life!  I can smell it in food and it makes me feel sick!  I also hate liver but love pâté,  weird.  This is a difficult one, I like my food! Without naming something obscure I'm not sure what to write here.  I hate the smell of honey (seriously it makes me fell nauseous) but I know I like it in things, I could never eat it straight up.
11. Who was the baddie in any childhood nightmares you used to have?  I used to have nightmares about death, until my Aunt explained that there's no point as once you're gone, you're gone and you won't be worried anymore.  Just make the most of living while you can.  Urgh too many to remember! I have a ridiculously over active imagination, especially if I'm alone in the house, which still gives me nightmares as an adult.

11 questions from Sarah:

1. Have you ever been pulled over by the traffic police?  Yes :(  Never the traffic police no.
2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?  It used to be Australia but now it's Malaysia.  My parents will be retiring there when they leave Saudi Arabia and have already bought a house.  It's an amazing place, not just because of the weather, but the way of life, the easy access to great diving and the pick 'n' mix sushi which is cheap but delicious!  I think it would have to be New Zealand.
3. What is your favourite flavour of crisps?  Bacon - Walkers, Frazzles or Wheat Crunchies!  I actually rarely eat crisps, when I do I like something strong flavoured so I'll go with ham and english mustard.  Oh, I forgot about Brannigans - I love the beef & mustard ones!
4. 4. What's the last movie you watched?  I have been watching Broken Arrow while writing this.  I love watching cheesy 90s action films!  Grown ups. It wasn't that great but it was the boys choice!
5. What is your favourite thing to wear?  I obviously have a thing for maxi skirts, especially this coral maxi.  I also LOVE wearing my Tiffany dragonfly necklace, it goes with everything and I wear it all the time!  A party dress, I love getting dressed up.
6. What does your last text message say?  "Let's make it ten, then we have longer x"  Arranging to meet for coffee with my friend Julie next week.  I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the last message you sent or the last message you received?  The last message I sent was to Sarah to thank her for hosting a fabulous wine tasting event at her house last night - review to follow.  The last message I received was actually from my friend Lynne that she sent on Thursday  night when we were arranging to go for a run after work in the rain.  Her phone is clearly broken!
7. What were you doing at 12 noon yesterday?  Lounging on the sofa in my pyjamas, blogging and watching TV after a stressful week!  Out for a nice long walk with B in the sunshine around the west end.
8. What is your most treasured memory?  My most treasured recent memory is seeing Nik's face as I walked into our wedding.  We were both grinning and teary and so exited!  Also, when my Dad got all choked up in his speech, I felt so loved.  My most treasured childhood memory is when I was supposed to be babysitting but completely forgot and was in the woods with my friends and dog.  When I got home I was in BIG trouble because my Mum had had to babysit in my place.  I was crying while drying the dog and as I knelt next to her she put her paw on my shoulder.  I was always convinced Gigha understood me!  I think it has to be my wedding day, aside from marrying B, everyone I loved the most in the entire world in the same place at once.  Not sure that'll happen again any time soon.
9. What do you think is the single best decision you've made in your life so far?  Moving to Edinburgh to work in Maxillo-facial surgery.  I learned so much, made amazing friends and met my husband.  Probably deciding to go to the University of Glasgow.  It's more than a little scary to think how my life would have turned out if I have picked another university.
10. Do you have a pet?  No but I'd love a dog.  Nik's allergic but I'm still trying to convince him we should get a hypo-allergenic breed.  No but I'd love one, ideally a dog.
11. What is on your bedside table?  A lamp, my kindle, a lovely wooden box which was a birthday present from Sarah, our wedding ring bowl which I keep jewellery in and a photo frame with a picture of us on our wedding day.  Arghhhh it's a mess! Items include: radio alarm clock, heart shaped mini jewellery box, a few books, concert ticket stubs, receipts, a lamp, pens, pencils and always a glass of water.

Since I can't write a blog post without pictures, here's my bedside cabinet:

The 11 bloggers we tag are (this list may have changed as I couldn't remember who was on it - I just went to Bloglovin and chose the first ones I follow who I thought might fill it in!  If you're not on the list but want to take part, please do!):

1. Anna at Skin & Blister
2. Amanda at Poppies and Ice-cream
3. Esme at Esme Wins
4. Linsey at Busy Doing Something
5. Katie at The Molecular Circus
6. Laura at A Parliament of Owls
7. Rachie at A Chi Chi Affair
8. Siobhan at Siobhan Claude Van Damme
9. Ashleigh at Made In Morningside
10. Claire at You And Me Are Family
11. Laura at The Mrs Makes

And our 11 questions (I can't claim any of these - Roz is the star question master!):

1. What is your favourite song in the whole world and why?
2. If you were invisible, where would you go?
3. What is your favourite way to relax?
4. Salted or sweet?
5. What was the last film that really moved / disturbed / thrilled you and why?
6. What book are you reading right now?
7. What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?
8. If you could have any animal / creature, what would be your ultimate pet?
9. What's the next planned event you're looking forward to in your life?
10. What was your favourite toy as a child....and now?
11. When was the last time you cried laughing and why?

Leave us a comment below if you participate so we can all see your answers!