Yellow Office Supplies And Other Answers

Do you have questions about yellow office supplies? I might have answers to those. I definitely have answers to the ten questions Rabia sent me this week for Ask Away Friday, and some of those answers do involve the color yellow and office supplies. But first, have you met Rabia?

Rabia is the blogger with an awesome name who has been writing at The Liebers since 2007. Rabia is pronounced RAW-bee-uh, and you can read the backstory to her unique name here. I feel a kinship with people who have names that will always be misspelled, because I have that same issue. She has three cute kids and is married to her high school sweetheart.

You definitely don't want to miss all the fun on Rabia's blog.

This is the Ask Away Friday game. Rabia and I sent each other ten questions, and today we are answering them. I was so excited to see how she answered my questions, and you can read her answers, too, here.

Ask Away Friday has recently come under new leadership, and we have Tamara from Tamara Like Camera, Tiffany from Mrs Tee Love Life Laughter, Christy from Uplifting Families, Stacey from This Momma's Ramblings and Amber from BoldFitMom to thank for keeping the fun moving forward. You can play along, too. Just invite another blogger, swap questions, and answer them on Friday. Or answer Rabia's questions in the comments.

1. You say in your “about me” that you’d gladly trade theme parks for some place with seasons and snow. Do you have a specific location in mind? Where would you build your dream/forever home?

I definitely think a LOT about Oregon. If I was really dreaming big, I would imagine a small cottage in the English countryside with lots of book shelves. This is a conversation we have a lot in our family, because we do plan on moving one day, but we haven't made any forever choices yet.


2. Your daughter is adorable! Which of her characteristics does she get from you and which ones does she get from her dad?

Thank you! She gets her love of reading from me, and her sense of silly from her dad. Most people tell me she looks like Thomas...what do you think?

3. You take a lot of yellow pictures. What’s up with that? Why yellow?

It started as a conversation with some friends on twitter almost five years ago (which is basically a lifetime in social media, right?). It is a mission to search for joy in our everyday lives, and we do it by being on the lookout for the color yellow. Even the smallest bit of yellow is a reminder to pause and appreciate life and the dear sisters (of my heart) that God has placed in my life.

I also have a whole blog post about my journey with the color yellow and joy. Seeing the color yellow as a good thing was not a first response for me, but now I can't pass by something yellow without feeling joyful.

Here is a yellow picture for this question and the next one:

4. You and I share a love of office supplies. (I got a little bit giddy about ordering new Sharpies last week.) What supplies do you have a lot of and why?

You just named one of my favorites - Sharpies! I love that you had a giddy Sharpie moment. Besides Sharpies, I love pens, freshly sharpened pencils, post-it notes, stationary, highlighters, crayons, paperclips, and stacks of fresh paper just waiting to be a canvas for creativity.


5. I see your name all over my social media feeds! Where is your favorite place to interact and a tip for using that platform.

I have to pick just one? That is hard! I think my answer depends on what I'm wanting to use it for, because I really approach social media networks in different ways.

Facebook is my favorite for interacting with people I have known for many years in real life as well as people I've met online. I did an #AskAwayFriday with Tamara a couple of weeks ago, and she compared facebook to having all the people in your life in the same room together, which was such a perfect explanation of why I love it. My tip: Be the real you. Don't get pulled into arguments. Use the like button freely.

Twitter is where I leave short thoughts and share links to blog posts and articles that have touched my heart or taught me something. My tip: The key to making twitter awesome is to interact. Don't be afraid to jump into other people's conversations; it is a great way to make new friends. And make sure to tag people when you share their blog posts. 

My new love is Instagram. I feel like, for the most part, Instagram is a collection of all the things that made people happy that day. When I scroll through my feed at night, it never fails to make me smile (especially when someone shares a yellow picture), and I feel a greater connection to people when I get to see those small snippets from their life. I know you can share pictures on other social media platforms, but there is something about Instagram that makes pictures feel more personal to me. My tip: Don't share more than one picture an hour. There will be exceptions to this of course, if you are at a special event, or something like that. But for the most part, it is good manners to spread your pictures out throughout the day. 


6. I read the story about your daughter’s grandmother and their cooking adventures (*LOVE*)  and I noticed you said you don’t cook. So what happens at dinner time at your house?

Honestly? A lot of fast food and pizza. I do heat up things in the microwave, but that doesn't guarantee good results. I didn't grow up in a cooking family, and it is something I'm still not very good at doing. Even hot chocolate isn't safe when I'm microwaving it. My daughter really enjoys cooking, though, so she sometimes makes dinner for us in her crockpot.


7. I noticed that Tamara asked you about your most popular posts, so I want to ask about a post that you really loved writing but maybe didn’t get as much traffic.

I really loved this post about not using celebrities as role models for your children. It was something that sat in my heart for a long time before I wrote it, but didn't get a ton of traffic when I published it.

8. *Silly question alert* Would you rather go for three days without food or three days without sleep?

Three days without sleep! I love my sleep...but I love my food more.


9. Would you rather go 100 years into the future or 100 years into the past? Why and what would you do?

This a hard one. I love studying history, so I think it would be very interesting to go 100 years into the past. 1914 is the year Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, starting World War 1, so there would be a lot to see in that year. Or maybe a lot to prevent? It could certainly be a history-changing trip.

At the same time, the sci-fi lover in me what would happen in the future.


10. Do you have a favorite charity or non-profit you support? Why?

There are several. But since it is April, which is the month for both Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention, I am going to go with RAINN and Child Help. Both of these organizations run hotlines where you can get free crisis counseling if you are a survivor or loved one of a survivor of rape or child abuse.

Rabia, it was so much fun trading questions with you! Let's do it again sometime. I have Alaska-related questions I didn't even begin to cover.  

Tweet