The Share Your World theme is great way to get to know your fellow bloggers. Thanks go to Cee Neuner for hosting this challenge.

I thought I would shock everyone with my featured image today. It is a picture of our home right after the first snow in the winter of 2010. If this doesn’t make you appreciate spring and early summer, then nothing will.

Here are this weeks questions:

What was one of your first moneymaking jobs (other than babysitting or newspaper delivery)?

What is your favorite month of the year?

What three things in nature do you find most beautiful?

List at least five of your favorite spices? (excluding salt and pepper)

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

My very first moneymaking job was trimming Christmas trees for a friend of my fathers who had many planted acres of property. I used a scythe to give each young tree the perfect shape. After that, I was a short order cook, running the grill for a small breakfast/lunch deli shop. My cooking experience from Boy Scouts was what landed me the job.

My favorite month of the year is August. My wedding anniversary is mid-month and we always try to travel to a new state in the USA. So far we have slept in 27 different states on these vacations. When you see my pictures from Yellowstone National Park, those were taken on one of these vacations where we took a bus trip from Salt Lake City all the way to South Dakota, stopping at all of the great parks along the way.

Some of the most beautiful things I have seen in nature were underwater while I was scuba diving in the Caribbean. One particular spot off of the north shore of Grand Cayman was like swimming in the most beautifully decorated fishbowl ever imagined. Above the oceans surface, I would say snow covered mountains (like the Grand Tetons) are awe inspiring.

Finally, I love small quiet pools covered by a thick forest canopy. The sense of oneness with nature just cannot be beaten.

My favorite five spices are:

Cinnamon, Cardamom, Sage, Thyme, and Herbs of Provence (sorry, I know it is a mix). I use the mix in my Saturday morning omelet, a ritual I have established. Fennel and dill are not far behind the first five, and curry is always welcome.

I am grateful for the rains in North Carolina last week. Our gardens and lawn are looking really great.

I am looking forward to kick starting sales of my first novel by booting my current publisher and taking control through Kindle Direct Publishing. I am planning some great giveaways, including some signed copies of the SciFi novel. Once this is done, I can pick up where I left off on Book 2 of the Nu Trilogy. Stay tuned for details over the coming weeks.