I've been "Liebstered"!

This sweet lady awarded me the Liebster a couple weeks ago! [Yes, a couple weeks ago. I'm quick, I know. ;)] To accept it, I, and anyone else who is awarded it, must follow these rules. Ready?


1. Each person must list 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions that the tagger has set for you, and you must also create 11 questions of your own for the 11 people you will present this award to.
3. Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post.
4. Go to their page and inform them of the nomination.
5. Absolutely NO tag-backs.
6. Remember to ONLY tag bloggers with less than 200 followers.


Eleven random facts about miss Shaylee Ann:
1) I have created a private blog specifically for when I meet my man and become engaged. I thought of a title one day and I had to secure it before someone else used it. I would post the name, but I want to keep it a secret. ;)


2) I only like [milk] chocolate in the forms of ice cream, milk (half white, half chocolate), and a few select candy bars (with caramel, peanuts, or wafers to hide the chocolaty taste). Any other form makes me gag. I detest dark chocolate! White chocolate is okay, but only a little bit every once-in-a-while. And chocolate most certainly does not cure PMS.


3) I'm a stickler for correct grammar. That doesn't mean that my grammar is always correct though. ;)


4) I have never dyed my hair.


5) I stopped growing about two years ago, at 4' 11" and 7/8.


6) I loathe fantasy and struggle mightily with reality.


7) I never intend to go to college.


8) I have always had a passion for birth and babies.


9) I have never read Persuasion.


10) Loud music of any kind gives me a headache.


11) I've had glasses since I was six years old.


My answers to Dina's questions:
1) What is/are (they could be the same thing or different things) the: craziest, bravest, most daring thing you have ever done?
I'm not one to be crazy or daring. I prefer to act sensible. Most of the time. ;) 

2) How did you start blogging and what are your goals from it?
I started my blog after playing with blog formats and design for a while, then finally decided to ask my parents for permission to start a private blog for friends and family. Amo Vita: I Love Life evolved into Simple Elegance - later Simple & Elegant - and is now Mother {at} Heart. The title has changed as I have, but next time, I'm just going to use a whole new blog.
My goals are to help bring joy to others, to share the true Gospel of Christ, and to express myself better than I normally would "out loud".


3) Do you have any nicknames or "alternate" names? If so, what are they? 
"Missy Poo" has been my nickname since I was really young. I used to be too afraid slash embarrassed slash mortified to admit the full nickname, but now that I'm older I just chuckle and smile at my mother's awesome sense of humor. ;) :) I also went by "Felicity" on Simple Elegance slash Simple and Elegant for a while. 


4) If you could take back one moment from your life and re-do it, would you do it? What would it be? 
I wouldn't take back any moment from my life. Every foolish moment has brought me growth and wisdom, bit by bit. I wouldn't change who I am today, due to my many mistakes and bad habits, for anything. 


5) Have you ever experienced a "eureka!" "aha!" or a sense of closure at least that was fulfilling? What did you learn from it?
Many. The one that I continue to have over and over is explained in this little metaphor that I created a while ago: Life is like a woman in labor. She experiences pain, lots and lots of it, but as she endures the pressure, as she pushes through her tears and stretches herself to her full potential, through the hand of God, she brings about the most magnificent joy that she could ever imagine . . . the most precious gift - her child. As we experience trials and feel like we can't go on, there is One waiting there to reach out to us and pull us above the pain. He is always there, but as He is a perfectly loving Father, He allows us to stretch, to hurt and cry in pain, because He knows that through our struggles, we grow and progress, and our joy in His Presence . . . in the world to come, will be indescribable, glorious. We will be grateful for the things we had to endure then. As I remember that, I am determined to find joy in my trials now. I am not perfect at it, but when I do have those moments where I find the light in the midst of darkness, I find happiness.


6) Do you have crushes on literary characters or characters in films? If so, list 2 and explain why you like them.
Not crushes, exactly. Just great admiration, and longing for a man like them: Mr. Knightley (Jane Austen's Emma) and Mr. Ferrars (Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility) simply because of their strength, gentlemanly traits, and goodness. And because they act like men.


7) Would you change your name? If so, what would you like to be called?
Never. Well, maybe my middle name. Only because I would rather not be named after the person I am named after. . . . I would add an "e" to the end of Ann. But then, I'm not sure I could be Shaylee Anne-with-an-e. 

8) If someone were to write your memoir, what would you like readers to take away from your story?
That I was human, certainly imperfect, that I had a passion for life, and that I did my best to live my religion - even and especially in a world where doing so was not popular in the least. 

9) Have you ever misinterpreted or misheard the lyrics of a song before? If so, what were the lyrics and what did you think they were?
Numerous. I don't recall what they were though. Oh, wait! I used to think that the line, "Praise the mount . . . " in Come Thou Fount was "Raise the mount".


10) List your favorite band from your teen years.
I didn't have a favorite band. Still don't. My favorite music is/are (which?) hymns, though, including some modern hymn-like music.  

11) If you were to be defined by an EP of five songs, what would they be?
What's an EP . . . ?


Awardees:
Amber | The Official Life of Me
Alesha | Blessed to be a Blessing
April | Dimples and Delights
Britt | Yellow Umbrella
Brooklyn | This Little Blonde
Courtney | Thoughts from the Birdhouse
Elisabeth | Imma Walking Fashion Crime
Elise slash Nichelle | The Slash Blog
Emma | {Race&Emma|
Katie | Katilda
Melissa | Bless This Mess



And here are my questions for the ladies I have awarded!
1) What is your absolute favorite book?
2) What's your favorite source of comfort?
3) What is the highest amount of hot dogs that you managed to eat in one sitting?
{Look at me ask a question about food!}
4) What is your favorite boy-child name?
5) What is your favorite girl-child name?
6) What's your most embarrassing blog post? 
{Yep, link it up! :)}
7) Who is your favorite mother?
8) When did you get your first cell phone?
9) What's your favorite accessory?
10) What is your shoe size?
11) What is your favorite get-away place?

Thank you so much, Dina!! :)