I’m on Facebook now

Well, I’ve been on Facebook for a while, but I now have a public page for my blog that you can all like. Click here to visit and “like” my page. Also, if you actually want to see my posts in your newsfeed, don’t forget to hover over the like button and choose “see first.”

Click to visit and "Like" my blog's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/marissabakerblog
Click to visit and “Like” my blog’s facebook page

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

very-inspiring-blogger-award1I was nominated by PearlGirl of INFJ Ramblings. Thank you so much! I wish I could nominate you back — you’re one of the bloggers whose posts I actually read on a regular basis 🙂 I’m so glad we connected through our blogging about INFJ things.

The Rules

  • Post the award on your blog
  • Thank your nominator because they’re awesome
  • List 7 facts about yourself
  • Nominate 15 other blogs for their awesomeness
  • Post the rules so people know them

Seven Facts About Me:

  1. I can’t decide whether my favorite color is rose-pink or grass-green. Or possibly plum-purple.
  2. Even though my “to-read” list is humongous, there are a few books I take the time to re-read every year or so. Mara: Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw is at the top of that list. Seriously, drop everything and go read that book. There’s danger, love, intrigue, sacrifice and the only romantic attempted murder I’ve ever seen in fiction.
  3. Much as I love Jane Austen, my favorite classic is actually Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
  4. I’d be happy if I could wear Ren Faire Costumes all the time.
  5. I love kayaking. It’s the only “sport” type of activity that I truly enjoy, even though it has been life-threatening twice (caught in bad weather on Lake George and knocked up-side-down in shallow, fast-moving water on the Mohican River).
  6. I’m considered a “Garden Specialist” on eHow, and publish quite a few articles on that site.
  7. Cheesecake is my favorite dessert, and since I started coming up with my own cheesecake recipes I’ve become something of a cheesecake snob.

My Nominees:

Yes, you’re supposed to nominate 15 other bloggers and I’ve only nominated 7. I’ll try and make up for that by telling you why I like each one.

2HelpfulGuys — I only recently started following them, but I like what I’ve read so far.

Baptism For Life — this is my dad’s blog, and while I know he won’t take the time to accept the nomination you really should check out his posts if you’re looking for inspiring bloggers.

Idle Wanderings — I always enjoy Charity’s posts and if you’re watching Grimm, I highly recommend her recent articles.

Introvert, Dear — a blog and Facebook group that is great to follow if you’re an introvert and/or HSP

Science and Faith — he’s a new blogger, and the first two posts are great. Looking forward to more!

See, there’s this thing called biology… — occasionally I disagree with this blogger. Usually, though, I’m bouncing up and down in my seat pointing at the screen and saying “That’s exactly what I think!”

SmileSupport313 — her posts are always encouraging. And she’s one of my very best friends, so of course her blog is worth reading.

 

2014 Blogging Year in Review

While I don’t really feel a new year has started until the spring flowers start blooming around the Passover season, the calender most everyone else is using moves from 2014 to 2015 tonight. The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog, and so I decided to share it.

Here’s an excerpt:

Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 61,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Four of my top five posts were written in 2013 instead of 2014. It’s pretty exciting that people are still interested (they were all MBTI related). I also looked at the stats myself, to see what were the top five posts written this year. Here’s that list:

  1. INFJ Dark Side
  2. How to Be Friends With an INFJ
  3. Fictional MBTI – Steve Rodgers (ISFJ)
  4. The Missing Disney Princesses
  5. Love Languages and MBTI Types

If you’re interested, you can click here to see the complete report.

The One Lovely Blog Award

one-lovely-blog-awardI’ve been nominated for The One Lovely Blog Award by INFJ Ramblings and Wild Blue, and am very pleased to accept. Thank you both! Here’s some info about the award:

The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for those newer and up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and also to help the new blogger to reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “LOVELY” by the fellow bloggers who choose them. This award recognizes bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to CONNECT with viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award the nominated blogger must follow several guidelines:

Thank the person who nominated you for the award.
Add the One Lovely Blog logo to your post.
Share 7 facts or things about yourself.
Nominate 15 or more bloggers you admire and inform the nominees by commenting on their blog.

Here are seven facts about me. I’ll try to pick some that you don’t already know from reading this blog.

  1. I have three freshwater fishtanks. Inhabitants include an upside-down catfish named Bilbo and an anglefish named James Fingolfin.
  2. I’m interested (read: vaguely obsessed) with cryptozoology and have collected a box full of articles, completed more than one cryptozoology-themed art project, and own 8 books devoted to the subject.

    Tiger also appreciates psychology literature on dreaming. He's a well-read cat.
    Tiger also appreciates psychology literature on dreaming. He’s a well-read cat.
  3. My cat is almost the same age as my little brother (they are 16 going on 17 *cue music*).
  4. You can actually read my undergraduate thesis online via The Ohio State University’s Knowledge Bank: Frances Burney and Mary Wollstonecraft: Biblical Answers to the 18th Century Gender Crisis.
  5. I love names. My current favorite first-middle combinations are Callen Alexei, Killian Asher, Marina Simone, and Ashlyn Rebekah.
  6. My favorite fairy tale in every form is “Beauty and the Beast.” Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s version is my favorite “original” fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney film, and Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley is my favorite fairy-tale retelling.
  7. I’m using Duolingo to refresh/build up my French vocabulary. This program let’s you unlock additional lessons, like flirting, which it told me I “mastered” yesterday. Voulez-vous danser avec moi?

And here are my nominations, in no particular order (yes, I know it’s less than 15).