We can always use a little Sunshine!

It’s a beautiful, sunny Thursday here in my neck of the woods, so I thought it a perfect day to “accept” my Sunshine Award! 

Last week, I was pleasantly surprised to find I’d been nominated by Jo at Will the kids turn out ok? for the Sunshine Award.  Thank you Jo!  Please go visit Jo and show her some love :)  She’s one of my fave blog pals, and she’s unique in that I do believe she’s the only person I know who lives in Belgium!!  I’ve had a great time getting to know her, and reading about her family these past few years.

So here’s the scoop with the Sunshine Award…

The award is circulated to those bloggers that you want to inform that  their posts brighten your day.

1. Include the award logo on your post or blog
2. Link to the person who nominated you
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself.
4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award. Link your nominees in your post and leave them a comment letting them know that they have been nominated and give them 10 questions to answer about themselves.

Here are Jo’s questions for me:

1. Do you have a nick name(s)? What is it and how did you get it?  I mostly just get Jilly, Jilly Bean, one of the guys here at work apparently can’t say “Jillian” so he calls me “Julia” instead, and now a bunch of the other guys here call me that, too.  My dad always called me “Gilly” (so do a few of my cousins), but I hate that one.  It’s apparently because in my birth announcement in the local paper, they mistakenly spelled my name with a “G”, and thus, Dad started calling me Gilly. ugh.

2.  What is your favorite piece of clothing?  Tough one… I’ve been going through sizes so quickly these past few months that I barely have time to get attached to anything!  I have a comfy grey Aeropostale zip-up hoodie that gets a lot of wear.  And good ol’ Yoga pants too, of course!  I don’t know if it counts as clothing, but I got my riding boots at Payless last Friday night and even though I haven’t actually worn them yet, I love them.

3. Do you buy any magazines regularly? Which?  Nah.  I pick up a copy of People now and then if there’s something on the cover that attracts me (as in, Channing Tatum as the Sexiest Man Alive!!!), but that’s about it.

4. Who is on your 'Celebrity Freebie'  list (yes you are allowed more than one)?  I’ve always got my Top 5 Freebie list in mind – it changes occasionally, but here’s my current list:

Adam Levine

James Marsden

Ian Somerhalder

Channing Tatum

Wade Redden

(Wentworth Miller was on this list, but I kind of had to remove him after his recent letter to Russia…)

5. If you are married/ or have a significant other, do you know who is on their celebrity freebie list?   Single as single can be, and I’ve never asked my invisible boyfriend who is on his list.  (By the way… have I ever mentioned my invisible boyfriend before?  I got him a few years back, and his name is Dexter.  I named him that WAY before I fell in love with the show.  But now I kind of like to think of my invisible boyfriend as a nice serial killer.)

6. Is there something that would be totally out of character for you to do but that you've always wanted to do?  This tattoo that I keep talking about… I’ve never been much of a fan of tattoos on others, my parents definitely discouraged us from ever get one, and yet, I’ve always kind of wanted one of my own.  I keep thinking that if I really wanted one, I’d have it by now, so maybe it’s not meant to be.  But I haven’t shut the door on it completely yet.

7. If you could befriend one celebrity who would it be and why? Right now, I have a girl crush on Jennifer Carpenter.  She plays Dexter’s sister Debra Morgan, and I think she’s just about as badass as they come.  She was also actually married to Michael C. Hall in real life for a while.  I’d be interested to see what she’s like outside of her character.

(Also, if I get to be friends with her, maybe I get to be friends with him, too… mmm Quinn…)

8.  Best lesson you've learned in life?  Put your head down, dig deep, push hard, and you can do anything.  Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t or you shouldn’t.

9. Are you turning into your mother?  Ha!  In many ways, I would say no.  And yet, there are definite similarities.  I discovered many of them when I first moved out on my own.  I would catch myself thinking of something or complaining about something and think, “Holy crap, I sound like Mom.”  I still think my sister is much more like her than I am, though.

10. What is your favorite cocktail? Red wine? (tell me the name so I can try out new wines), White wine?  Since I’ve pretty much given up the booze this past year, I don’t have much to offer here, Jo!  Sorry!  I’ve never been much of a wine fan, but when it comes to choosing something off a cocktail menu, I usually go with a Strawberry Daiquiri or a Caesar.

Here are my 10 questions:

1.  I believe everyone has a “theme song” – one song that defines them, speaks to them, moves them...  What is yours?

2. They’re making a movie about your life.  Who do choose to play you on the big screen?

3. What is your favourite holiday, and why?

4. You are given a free ticket to travel anywhere in the world for one month – where do you go, and what sights do you see?

5. Are you a fan of Reality TV?  If so, which show would you like to be on and why?

6. What is your biggest pet peeve?

7. What is your favourite thing about Autumn?  What is this season like where you live?

8. Do you play an instrument?  If not, what instrument would you like to learn to play?

9. You’re on a diet, and trying to avoid certain junk foods… which is your biggest temptation – the hardest to resist?

10. Do you have a Bucket List?  Tell me one of the items on it that you hope to cross off someday.

And here are the 10 bloggers I’d like to pass this Sunshine Award on to!

Stacy at Family Life

Lindsay at A Small Town Kind of Life

Nicole at Life’s a Beach

Steph at Watching Airplanes

Brittin at Olson’s Travels

Stacie at Park Avenue

Mrs. Match at The Diary of Mrs. Match

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me

Incognitus Scriptor

Ricki Jill at Art @ Home

… And ANY of you out there reading that wish to play along!  I don’t want to withhold any of the sunshine from any of you :)

Feel free to answer the questions in your own blog post, or in the comments section here – I'd love to read your answers!

Happy Thursday :)