Violets & Daisies Brilliant Blog Bouquet Award!

Salut mes amis,

My friend Taryn from The Bolton Girls' Travel Journal recently nominated me for the Violets & Daisies Brilliant Blog Bouquet Award. Merci beaucoup, Taryn! Thanks so much!
 

Now to answer the questions:

1. If you could have a 'flower pen name' like we have here on our blog, Violets and Daisies, what would it be?

'Une Rose Sous Un Autre Nom . . . '  which translates to 'A Rose By Any Other Name . . . ' which is the beginning of a common phrase that I'm sure you've all heard of before ("A rose by any other name would smell as sweet") as it's in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

2. What is your favorite ever Bible verse and why?

I love Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 best because it seems to sum up life in general, that there is a time for everything including a "time to dance."

. . . which brings me to my next reason. I fell in love with the book/movie A Time For Dancing, and this Bible verse is a big part of that storyline. I don't read the Bible as much as I probably should, so sometimes I rely on books and movies to introduce me to particular biblical passages.

3. What are the blogs that inspire you most?

The blogs that inspire me the most are the ones who've been around much longer than mine (in some form or another) because they are the ones who originally inspired my blog in the first place. These blogs include Super Inky!, As Told By Susie, and Violet's Space. I was so enchanted with the idea of having a blog to document my own travel adventures, as all of these girls have done/still do. Even though I blog about day-to-day life at times, my favorite posts are always the ones that tell about some trip I've gotten to take, and consequently, travel adventures are my favorites to read about on other blogs, too - especially if there are lots of clear, well-taken photos to go along with the words!

4. If you and your friends could visit any country in the world, where would you go?

Other than France, which in my case would be the obvious choice, I'll love to visit Canada again. Also, England, Wales, Austria, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Greece . . . well, you get the idea. Europe in general. 


I nominate the following blogs:

1. As Told By Susie
2. Wendy's Life
3. Violet, Girl of Today
4. Water Street Girls' Blog
5. Dabbling Dani 

~Sophie

The Versatile Blogger Award & Tag!

Tirya and friends over at the Bolton Girls' Travel Journal nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you, girls! I really appreciate you remembering me and my blog. It means so much to my human and me that my blog is followed and read because we've never really consistently updated a blog before. I have really enjoyed sharing my travel adventures here, and I really hope to do that again - just as soon as I can venture out of the house again!

So, seven completely random facts about myself? Let's see:

1. I like to dance. I quit lessons because I felt like I could never keep up with my sister in terms of dancing ability. I think I hurt my mother's feelings when I quit dancing, though she never showed it. I allowed myself to repress the joy I'd experienced while dancing, until very recently. I must blame Inky for taking me to Lincoln Center. That trip really triggered me wanting to dance again!

2. I love everything about science, particularly Biology and Chemistry. I like to solve mysteries, but rather than being the sleuth in the trench coat, I'd rather be the scientist in the lab coat helping out with the forensics involved in the mystery. I want to be a forensic scientist when I grow up.

3. I love when people share my name. Having a common name like Sophie, it's easy to connect with other Sophies! I also love movie characters named Sophie (like Marion Cotillard plays a girl named Sophie in Jeux d'Enfants) and hearing songs written about people named Sophie (like the one by Édith Piaf). It makes me smile to hear my name in the spotlight - even if I'm not the one being referred to!

4. I miss my best friend Nathalie A LOT. She is my bosom friend, and I hate that she left Fair Hollow without saying goodbye. I'm counting the days until she returns. I love that my twin sister is here to keep me company, but I'll be in an even better mood when Nathalie returns.

5. Although I may seem self-confident on the outside, I'm really quite lacking in confidence. I doubt everything, even when it comes to writing. I'm constantly checking and re-checking my grammar (even my French grammar - I was never that great when it came to learning French grammar in school).

6. My biggest wish, besides seeing Nathalie again, is to get a desk of my own! Some girl named Kit called and wanted her desk back, so now I don't have a proper desk in my room. I want one quite badly, one that is really mine.

7. I'd like to tour around Europe one day, returning home to Paris, seeing other regions of France, visiting England, Greece, Ireland, Italy, etc. Of course, that probably shouldn't come as a surprise!

I nominate these four bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award:

1. The Valdez Quintuplets

2. Wendy

3. Anna Lee

4. Rory

Sorry I can't nominate everyone! I wish I could. And, Inky and Piper, you both have AWESOME blogs, but you two are always recognized anyway. I would nominate both of you, but I wanted to give a shout-out to other blogs that don't get as much recognition. ;)

~Sophie

RULES:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 4 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each

their blogs.

The Bike Course

After our horse ride, Taryn and Taryn G. decided to go on a challenging bike course. Marsali and I, faithful friends that we are, cheered on the two cyclists.

The two girls maneuvered around rocks, rode through a roundabout, and rode up a ramp before crossing the finish line as champions. Even Taryn G., while not as experienced a bike rider as Taryn, made it through without stopping, and we were so proud of her.

We shot our fists into the air while screaming, "Hip-hip-hooray!" It was a perfect ending to a day full of fun.

See the album HERE.

~Sophie

Horseback riding with the girls!

Soon after I'd arrived, Marsali and a few of her friends decided to take me up into the mountains on a horseback ride. I've only gone horseback riding once before, so I was quite nervous! When Marsali told me that we weren't going to be using bridles, I was even more nervous. How would I EVER remember all of the leg movements?!

Marsali led me over to Gyspy, the horse I'd be riding. After checking the cinches, I mounted Gyspy and tried to relax. Marsali soothed me by telling me stories about the first time her Mama rode without a bridle.

Once Tinaia and Audrianna had mounted their horses, we were on our way, heading in the direction of the campsite that Taryn and Angel were setting up for us.

After a while, my nervousness subsided, and I began to talk and laugh with the other girls. Unfortunately, their laughter distracted me, and I found myself giving Gyspy the wrong leg movement! My horse was now on a trail a little lower down the mountain. I was mortified that I'd forgotten a leg movement so quickly and pressured myself to stay more focused. I HAD to get these leg movements down pat! If Marsali and Anya (my horse-loving friend back at school) could do it, so could I.

After a few hours of riding, the girls and I were getting pretty sore. We'd all made it safely to the campsite, and aside from my horse being spooked by Pooka (the girls' canine companion) and my hair being attacked by a ladybug, I'd had a lot of fun. I was glad I'd gotten past my initial nervousness over riding Gyspy. We'd actually become great friends over the course of our ride together. I made sure to give her some love after I'd dismounted.

Soon we were talking and laughing around the campsite. We didn't want to start a fire, so we sat around a pile of pine-cones instead.

Marsali and I chatted about the adventures we'd had in the past year as well as the adventures

awaiting us in Alaska. It was great to be spending time with her again!

You can look at the whole album of our horseback riding adventure by clicking HERE.

Have you ever been horseback riding?

~Sophie

Le Jour de Pâques...quelle surprise!

Quelle surprise! Marsali and I celebrated Le Jour de Pâques [Easter Day] à la française. We had gotten to talking about Easter, and before I knew it, I was telling her about French Easter traditions.

We then decided that it might be fun to celebrate our own French-style Easter right here in America.

First, we trained one of the girls' horses to bring us les oeufs de Pâques [Easter eggs] so that we could take turns hiding and finding them around the house. Quel amusement!

We then posed for pictures in our pretty Easter dresses before settling down to a dinner of gigot d'agneau [lamb].

Finalement, we found the basket left for us by the bunny, and each of us got a few little things. Do you like my new purple polka-dotted high-tops?

Our Easter post on the Bolton girls' blog!

Pâques Traditions

Hope everyone had a fun Easter and/or Passover!

~Sophie

Sleepover fun!

As soon as Kelsyee and I had finished typing up that latest blog entry, we decided to join Emi, Jayd, and Jyzzalyn for a little late night slumber party. The girls lent me some comfy PJs (which were far nicer than the ones Laura made me bring with me!), and we all settled down into sleeping bags, sipping root beer floats - YUM!

I talked more about my travels - going to Florida with Mrs. Jeanette, celebrating Hanukkah with the Valdez quintuplets, getting my ears pierced at AGPLA with Mrs. Sheila - and, when I got tired of talking, Jayd recounted her own traveling adventures.

Soon we were all fast asleep - all except for Jayd, that is. ;) Before going to sleep, she went on the internet and loaded up all of our pictures. What a sweet girl she is!

~Sophie

Finally in Oregon w/ the Bolton girls!

Well, I left California earlier this week bound for Oregon! I'd been chatting with Kelsyee Bolton - and wanting to meet Marsali since FOREVER, hehe - so, of course, I had to ask if I could visit them. ;)

I arrived today after a few days in that stuffy box, which I quickly let myself out of - surprising Kelsyee and Jayd. They'd not expected me to show up until Monday!

Kelsyee and I immediately hit it off! :-) We started chatting about my travels and what fun we'd have with each other. We also wrote a blog entry together which you can view right here. Or, see the Picasa album of my arrival.

I'm loving this picture of us! :-)

I'm sure looking forward to our upcoming adventures together! :-)

~Sophie