Almost six months ago the lovely Hannah @ I have Thoughts on Books nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award – thank you so much, Hannah! If you aren’t already following Hannah, please be sure to check out her blog! She reads a lot of Literary Fiction and her reviews are so well written.
🔍 As a note, I have done some Google Sleuthing to try and find the original creator of this award. This tag dates all the way back to 2008 and appears to have been created by Works of Art by Sara. Unfortunately, the original creator’s blog has been deleted so I cannot properly link back, but I thought you would enjoy the history I uncovered!
- Acknowledge, link back and thank the blog that nominated you
- Display the award + rules in your blog
- Tell your subscribers seven things about you.
- Re-nominate 10-15 people.
Seven Things About Me
- I love to travel. Growing up, my family never really went on vacation as we couldn’t afford it but as long as I can remember I have wanted to see the world.
- The first time I ever got on an airplane was when I was 21 years old. I spent five or so hours flying over the Pacific Ocean strapped into a seat flying through the air in a metal tube terrified.
- My fear of flying was just not acceptable to me, so I did what any rational person with a phobia did: took private pilot lessons at a local airfield. Incredibly it worked! For me, the fear was rooted in a fear of the unknown – and understanding how to fly and being able to do it myself made me a much less nervous flyer.
- The one family vacation I remember from growing up was when we went to “Vegas.” We stayed at Buffalo Bill’s and I rode a roller coaster, but imagine my surprise when I started going to Vegas on weekend trips after turning 21 and realizing that we went to State Line and not actual Vegas. That trip we were also supposed to visit the Grand Canyon, but we got lost and never made it.
- I finally visited the Grand Canyon in 2008, and it was truly grand.
- You may or may not know that I took several years off after high school and transferred from a community college to a tier 1 research university when I was 28. I was one of the older students and had a lot more in common with my professors, but that is a choice I am so glad I made. By the time I was finally at university, it was because I wanted to be, and it meant a lot more to me. I graduated with high honors at 30 years old. It is never too late to follow your dreams.
- I studied abroad twice during my two years of undergrad, a decision that I am so thankful for as the opportunity to study for four weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland and Cusco, Peru was incredible. I extended both of those trips beyond my classes, spending an extra month backpacking around Scotland and an extra two months backpacking through Peru and Ecuador (and 3 days in Colombia).
TAGS:
Julia @ Fable Hunter | Norrie @ Reading Under the Blankie | Kate @ The Backwards Bookshelf | Brittany the Book Guru | Paul @ Paul’s Picks | Meaghan @ Words Gremlin | Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams | Victoria @ The Contended Reader | Justine @ Bookish Wisps | Malanie Loves Fiction | Hamad @ The Book Prescription | Kathy @ Books and Bunches | Kat @ Novels and Waffles | CW @ The Quiet Pond
Let’s go on another adventure together!
PILOT LESSONS? 😱 You’re so much braver than I am lol. I’ve never flown and I’m 21, and the idea of it is just NOT friendly to my anxiety. Good for you, getting over that!
And of course, thank you for the tag! ❤
Thinking about it now I have NO IDEA HOW I GOT THE COURAGE TO DO IT! I am still pretty anxious about flying and kind of internally panic during turbulence, but I can say that knowing how a plane flies really helps calm those irrational thoughts! It was a big group thing though the first time, so I had a friend with me.
And you’re welcome, I can’t wait to see your post!
Love your way of handling fear of flying 😀
Peru is one of the places i still need to visit. Not sure i’ll ever make it tho 😀
I would highly recommend Peru if you can ever manage it! The country is beautiful and the people are incredibly friendly. Once you are there it is really cheap, too!
Pilot lessons! That’s awesome!
Hehe thank you! I still have my log somewhere of my three or four lessons.
Congrats on your award! I loved reading those facts about you. It’s so cool that you took pilot lessons! I just flew for the first time this year (I am 21) and I was nervous the first time but my second plane ride wasn’t so bad (even though it was through Hurricane Michael at midnight and my stomach was still somewhere in New Jersey while my physical body was headed towards North Carolina 😅).
Thank you for the tag! I can’t wait to do this.
Aww thank you so much, Brittany! …you flew through Hurricane Michael?! I think after surviving that flight I wouldn’t have trouble flying anymore! Heh!
You’re welcome! And YES! It was very scary. The flight was from Newark New Jersey to Greensboro North Carolina, which is usually a 1.5 hour ride, give or take a few minutes. That night, however, was almost two and a half! It was sooo scary because of all the turbulence, but thankfully it was dark outside so I couldn’t see much of what was going on!
Yea that sounds like my worst nightmare and I am not sure that I would ever fly again if I experienced that.
Thank you for the tag!
“Never too late to follow you dreams” Nice!!
You’re welcome, and I look forward to your post if you decide to do the tag!
These facts just cemented how awesome you are detective Kaleena <3
Thanks for tagging me
Awww, I am blushing! Thank you Hamad, and I look forward to reading your answers if you decide to so the tag!
you’re welcome 🙂
Love how inspiration this post was!! And loved getting to know more about you!! <3
Inspiring?! Me?! Nah! But thank you love!
I love to travel too! So agree that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Such an inspirational, wonderful post! 😀 <3
Thank you so much, and traveling is the best! Especially solo travel – I used to be afraid to travel alone and wanting to wait until I had someone to share it with… but then I realized I would never go anywhere
Ah I really relate to that!! I also felt that way, but then I ended up frustrated with travel plans that fell through and places I felt like I’d never get to see… so I decided to go on some adventures 😉 It’s awesome you see it the same way!
This post was everything – it was inspirational and just plain amazing! Going back to school and pilot lessons? You are so brave and strong, and I agree its never too late to follow ones dreams or conquer fears (I seriously can’t get over the pilot lessons, I think I would just about faint from nervousness trying to do that). Great post, I’m so glad you got tagged and thank you for tagging me <3
Awww thank you so much, Julia that means a lot! I can’t wait to see your post if you decide to do the tag!
OKAY CAN I JUST SAY THAT YOU ARE SO NICE TO NOMINATE ME FOR THIS (I think this is like the 2nd or 3rd award you’ve nominated me for and I’M DYING YOU ARE SO KIND). ALSO, it is so so so sos ososooooooo cool that you took private pilot lessons! Esp. since you were scared of flying! That is about one of the most courageous things ever. Seriously, you are so cool and such an inspiration, Kal! Thanks for being your awesome self 🙂
OKAY SO I LOVE YOUR BLOG AND WILL NOMINATE YOU FOR ALL ZE THINGS OKAY? Thank you so much, in hindsight I am really surprised that I did it but I also really like challenging my fears. I just don’t realize the gravity of the situation until it is happening. I went ziplining in Peru and legit had a panic attack and had tears streaming down my face when I finally went across the line, it was incredible.
I AM SOBBING FROM HAPPINESS NOW. Wow, I need to take a page from your book and try and face my fears more. Usually I run away from them like an Olympic Sprinter hahahahasobs.
It doesn’t hurt that I like adrenaline and want to experience all the things. I try to not let fear stop me. Running is good sometimes tho… like from snakes.
EY PILOT, WHEN YOU GONNA COME FLY OVER HERE AND HANG OUT WITH ME?
also, hi. this is such a wonderful post! I’m so glad you get to travel & do the things you truly love to do, because my friend, you deserve all of the happiness.
AHAHAHA. I only have like 3 hours of lessons under my belt and it’s been like 10 years… I don’t think I can fly anywhere anytime soon. But I live to travel and wanna visit all the states so um, I can hang!
awwwwwwwww Bex thank you so much. ily
YEAH COME TO MICHIGAN!!
ilysm!
wait… where in Michigan?! Some of my besties live in… Ann Arbor??
Jackson! It’s like 40-45 minutes away from AA!
UM EXCUSE EM!?!?!
YEP, SOUNDS LIKE IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR A TRIP TO MICHIGAN, YEAH?
UM YES DEF
Lovely post, Kaleena! And oh my! Pilot lessons!? Damn, girl, you’re fearless! I wish I had the courage to confront my fears like that! So happy to hear that it helped you overcome it! 🤗 And I love what you said about never being too late to follow your dreams! ❤️
Thank you so much Kelly, and I was definitely TERRIFIED in the moment! I remember getting into the Cessna and being like WHAT HAVE I DONE?!!?!? But it was really cool after I calmed down.
Wow, pilot lessons! Talk about facing your fears! I love your bravery!
Thank you!
oh dear god, you have inspired me with enough inspiration to last at least four centuries, i love the idea of flying planes SO MUCHHHH. also thank you so much for nominating me, you’re so amazing and i’m honoreddddd <3 <3
four centuries is quite a long time and I am so honored! Flying a small plane is really cool if you are ever able to do it. It was expensive but we did it as a group thing and brought the cost down per person quite a bit that way by scheduling a “mass flyout” of 6 of us in two Cessnas. We each got like 20 minutes of fly time.
Pilot lessons sounds cool, I’ve been in a helicopter and I gotta say flying doesn’t scare me. At least not in a helicopter, the thought of flying doesn’t actually scare me, its the checking in for your flights, boarding your flight: the before and after which kinda makes me uneasy.
Oh yea the worst part of flying is making sure you get on the damn plane… I am the most nervous flyer when it comes to that and always get to the airport stupid early!
Ahh thank you so much for nominating me for this award, Kaleena! This really means the world to me!! <3 <3
I'd love to pilot a plane someday, wow, that'd be amazing! And I'm even more impressed and in awe of you now?? "It is never too late to follow your dreams." – what an inspiration.
I hope you're having an amazing weekend! xx
You are so welcome, Lily! I love your blog so much and you deserve all the awards!
Flying a place was such a cool experience! Totally recommended if you are able to make it work. My weekend was so wonderful, thank you, and I hope yours was equally awesome! Are you on break from uni yet?