Tag, I’m It!

Every once in a while blog awards and memes go around and this is one of those days!  This week two of my blogging buddies asked me to ‘pass it on’ so that is what I’m doing.  I’ll do one now and one tomorrow.

First,  Alison from A Flamingo in Utrecht named me as one of her most loyal followers.  She mentioned that she was finally going to meet me on Saturday, which was last night and meet we did!

She helped school me on margarita’s and cooking flamingos while we ate the most gigantic hamburgers on the face of the earth.  We also got to hang out with a celebrity!  More on that later…

So apparently the way the award works is that you answer a few questions and then pass it on for other people to answer.  People that you feel are loyal followers of your blog.  You know, the usual meme / award thing.

So here goes…  I think I’ve answered a lot of these questions on my blog already but maybe my views have changed over the last little while, so I’ll give it a go again.

1. Why did you start your blog? Did you expect it to become popular?

I started my blog because I was lonely.  I had already been in the Netherlands for a few years when I started it but I was still struggling quite badly. I needed a place where I could vent freely and get out some of the negative energy so that not so much of it was pouring out in my home.

I never expected it to be popular at all.  I had hoped that there were other expats who would read it, understand and maybe tell me it would get better or offer me friendship, but beyond that I didn’t expect that anyone would be interested.  I’ve had a lot of people from all different countries and walks of life visit my blog, and it’s surprising because I must admit I feel like I lead quite a boring life at times.  I don’t think I’d call my blog popular but it’s been a lot more rewarding than I ever would have expected.  I met my best friend when she urged me to meet up after finding my blog, as well as other friends and expats I never would have encountered otherwise.

2. When exactly did you start your blog?

My first blog entry was May 2, 2004, just over 6 years ago.  I just laughed out loud here because when I checked the post to see when it was I saw that the very first words I said on this blog were “THREE MORE SLEEPS TILL I GET OUT OF HOLLAND!!”.  I have to laugh because that is SO six-years-ago me.  I was just about to leave for a holiday in Canada, from which I would return full of hopes and dreams of moving back there.  A lot has changed since then. Nowadays when I go home I love seeing my home town, friends and family but by the end of my visit I’m happy to return to my other home here in the Netherlands.  Some things haven’t changed though, I still look forward to those Wendy’s burgers and dread the flight in those squishy ass seats!

3. Who are three of your most loyal followers?

I am willing to bet that I don’t even know my most loyal followers are there.  I often speak to people who tell me they read my blog, but I’ve never seen them comment which causes a bit of surprise when I realize they’ve been reading.  Sometimes my husband will tell me that people he knows have said that they read it faithfully, and then I get a bit weirded out.  It’s easy to see your blog as just your own random little space and forget that there is a whole world out there who may be reading it… random strangers, old friends, family, maybe the odd ex-boyfriend or two.  If only we could get that much info from our blog statistics… rather than just general areas that our readers come from.

So I will choose from those that I think visit and comment most often, thanks to my trusty little widget for telling me who they are!  You will have to answer these questions too!

I’ll have to skip my most popular commenter, because it’s Alison!!  The same Alison who had me answer these questions to begin with, so she’s already done it.  Still, she deserves a bit of a shout out!

The next most gabby visitor I have is Sonya!  An American expat living on the opposite side of the country from me.  I’m pretty sure she’s the devil because she bakes a lot of really sinful looking food and then puts photos up on the internet to taunt me.  I love her anyway though and after communicating online and not meeting in RL for far too long we will finally be getting together later this month!

Next is Kara!  A gal I met randomly when I found her blog and started reading about her life with her family in the Yukon.  We have a lot in common, I’m a Cape Bretoner, she’s married to one… we are both trying to lose weight… she has really cute kids and loves taking photos of them, I like looking at those photos.  You get my point.  Chances of meeting are pretty slim at the moment as I don’t think we have any plans to visit the Yukon (although I’d TOTALLY move there if it were possible, call me crazy!) and I don’t think they’ll be coming to NL… but perhaps one day our visits to Cape Breton will coincide and we’ll get together and chat over some Timmies!

Next on my chatterbox list is Gaby, but unfortunately she doesn’t have a blog… or if she does, she never links to it so I can’t really ask her to return the favor on this one.  Like Alison though – SHOUT OUT! :)

Oh lordy, that leaves us with none other than the infamous Invader Stu, the neighbour I’ve never met even though you could probably throw a stone toss a chicken from his house to mine… if you can really throw.  Who is also leaving us soon for Amsterdam, BOO!  Super duper comic maker, boat owner and all around funny guy, dating a super cutie who makes super cute cakes.  One day I am going to nail them down and force them to meet me, perhaps on the next day I hear that there is cake!

Getting back to the whole people who visit and never comment thing, I’d love to hear from some of you lurkers. I’m always SO curious who is out there that I don’t know about.  If you are someone I don’t know, an old friend, the creepy dude who keeps stalking me on your bike while I walk the dogs, a neighbour, former colleague or any other sort of random person… l’d love to hear from you.

If you are some jackass (or non-jackass) ex-boyfriend that reads just because you’re nosy or for entertainment value, I don’t expect that you’ll fess up, but still – I dare you.