The Liebster Award for Financial Blogs

I want to thank David Rudd at My 2 Cent Opinion for nominating Brown's Balanced Life for the Liebster Award.  This is an award that is passed onto new bloggers so they can introduce themselves to other members of the blogosphere.  I have really enjoyed blogging on living a balanced life and talking about my journey toward financial freedom. 

So here’s the deal:

1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
2. Then each award winner should answer the questions the nominator has created. 
3. As a recipient you then choose 5 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
4. Now it is your turn to create 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer.
5. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

Random Facts about Josh:

1. I am a Christian.  My faith is an important part of how I live my life. 
2. I am the husband of Anna Brown.  My wife is an amazing woman and I am blessed to have her in my life. 
3. I am the father of William, a 7 year old boy, who will begin 2nd grade in the fall.  William can make any day better with his smile. 
4. I am a teacher.  I teach 6th graders and enjoy building relationships with my students and watching them grow and learn throughout a school year. 
5. I love to exercise. I have not done this nearly enough this year due to breaking my foot.  Some of my passions are biking, running and playing sports. 
6. I am very goal-orientated. I set goals regularly and then work to achieve them. 
7. I am working hard to lead my family toward debt freedom.  We will currently have a debt free date of no later than July 1st, 2016. 
8. I have three brothers who are all married.  Two of them have beautiful baby girls who are both less than a year old. 
9. I am very active in the the education union.  I have served my association in many roles and most recently was elected to the National Education Association's Board of Directors to represent the state of Iowa. 
10. I love to learn new things.  I currently subscribe to 20 podcasts and have a goal to read 100 books in 2013. 
11. I have been blogging for just over a year.  I cannot believe I passed my 1 year anniversary without noticing.  Maybe I will notice for year 2. 

Questions from David Rudd:

1. What is your favorite movie?  I really don't have a favorite movie anymore.  I enjoy watching movies with my son, so right now some of our favorites are any with super heroes.  
2. If you had a super power what would it be? I would love to have the ability to fly.  It would save a lot of money on transportation and help me get places faster. 
3. What’s the worst thing you've ever eaten? The worst thing I have ever eaten were frog legs.  I had them while in New Orleans and even tried them at two different restaurants incase I had a bad batch.  They were terrible.  
4. What will be your next technology purchase?  Likely a new phone.  I have been out of my contract for nearly two years now and have a cracked screen.  I will make my current phone last as long as possible though. 
5. What is your favorite show?  I really don't watch TV.   I do love listening to the Dave Ramsey Show on the radio though. 
6. Would you rather have no teeth or no arms?  While neither would be preferable, I would probably choose no teeth since I could get dentures to substitute for my teeth. 
7. What’s your favorite televisions show of all time?  Again I don't watch TV, but I loved The West Wing when it was on.  
8. Why do you blog?  I blog as a way to process my own thoughts and to help other people. 
9. What was the last book you read?  The last book I finished was A Leader's Legacy by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.   In the book they talk about questions and challenges leaders have as they build a lasting legacy.
10. What’s the funnest trip your taken?  One of the funnest trips I have ever taken was with my wife a couple years ago.  We went to Italy to visit some friends and see the sites.  It was fun to be in another country and experience their culture. 
11. If you friends had to describe you in 1 word what would it be?  It is funny, I actually just asked some of my friends what they thought I was known for and the two words that came up the most often were motivated and positive. 

Some of my nominees may not follow rules exactly, but I really dont' know how long people have been blogging or how many followers they have so I just picked five.  I know that MoneyPlanSOS has way more than 200 followers, but consider yourself nominated if you want to play along! 

1.  MLISunderstanding

2.  My Debt Free Road

3.  The Financial Duckie

4.  Focused Intensity Coaching 

5.  JW's Financial Coaching

Questions for nominees

1. Why do you blog?
2. What is your favorite financial book?
3. Who are some of your mentors?
4. What are some of your struggles balancing blogging with the rest of your life?
5. What is your favorite thing to do when you have "free time"?
6. What would you do if you were given a million dollars?
7. What is some of the best advice you have ever been given?
8. What is one of your long-term goals?
9. If you could go back to a point of your history and give yourself some advice, what would it be?
10. Would you rather give up the internet or your phone?
11. What do you want your lasting legacy to be?