Fifteen

Day fifteen: If you were an animal, what would you be, and why?


On a total superficial, fun level, I guess I'd be a dog, so I could hang out with mine, and figure out what they do all day. Plus, they just sleep, eat, and play all day. Exciting stuff.

On a deeper, philosophical level, I'd say a bird. I'm afraid of heights, so maybe with the ability to fly, without the fear of falling, I could see things in a whole new light.

Fourteen

Day Fourteen: Describe 5 strengths you have.


Strengths I possess:

1. Good at listening
2. Sense of direction
3. Extensive knowledge of song lyrics
4. Being awesome - it's a strategy
5. Proofreading

Too bad I can't just list these on a resume and be done.

13

Day Thirteen: Describe 5 weaknesses you have.


weaknesses (sometimes physical, sometimes mental):

1. Dr. Pepper
2. Cute dogs
3. Upper body strength (as in, I have very little)
4. A good home-cooked meal
5. Love - that's not really a negative though...

Twelve

Twelve: Describe a typical day in your current life.

Watch out folks, things are about to get wild. And by wild, I mean boring. A typical day for me...hmm...

Well, I usually wake up when Harry does and take Lola outside. Then, I go get Bridgette, Charlie, and Bella and let them out. Lola comes back in. I might piddle around the house, getting things done around here. Fun stuff like scrubbing toilets, vacuuming, laundry, dishes, your typical housework. Work in the garden. Hang out with the pups. Lunch. Maybe watch Ellen and/or Dr. Phil. Any other housework that needs done, or errands that need to be ran. Decide what to make for dinner. Take food out of freezer to thaw. Dinner. Maybe catch some re-runs of comedies that are actually funny like Friends, Dharma and Greg, Reba, New Adventures of Old Christine. Go to gym/bike ride/walk. Watch Harry and kids play Call of Duty or FaceTime with kids. Shower. Snuggle in bed and watch DVR'd shows or movies. Sleep. Intermix FaceBook, Pinterest, Blogging, Words with Friends, job applications, phone calls catching up with friends/family, in there, too. If I'm lucky, I'll get some reading or sewing or painting done.

I lead an exciting life, people, I really need to calm down before I hurt myself.

Six through...um...eleven? Geez, Louise.

Well I really dropped the ball on this one! So much for blogging every day. That definitely did not work for me last week. I resolve to do better this week. Here goes nothing.

P.S. This might be a long one. Please bear with me...

Six: What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?


I would be lying if I didn't say that my mom's death wasn't the hardest thing I've ever experienced. There's no need to go into detail about it, since I frequently write about it on this blog. I will say this, though: I believe that out of bad comes good, and I believe there was good that came from such a tragedy.



Seven: What is your dream job, and why?


This is such a timely question for me right now since I have been doing some soul-searching on this topic. I feel like so many things could be my dream job. I love to write, because it's a great way to express your feelings and get your point across without fear of interruption. It's also a wonderful outlet to create new worlds to travel to within your mind. On the other hand, I've always loved fashion and think it would be awesome to be a fashion merchandiser or buyer - though I have no classical training in this field whatsoever. And on the third imaginary hand, I would still love to work in the field of psychology, possibly as a family therapist. So basically my answer is, "I have no freaking clue." Try looking for that one in the classifieds!



Eight: What are 5 passions you have?

1. I am passionate about my family.
2. I am passionate about my home and making it "homey" and an inviting place for family and friends.
3. I am passionate about my friendships.
4. I am passionate about documenting our lives through pictures and written histories, like this blog.
5. I am passionate about learning about history, including my own.

Nine: List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.

1. My dad has influenced me to work hard to support your family (not only financially but through actions as well), be frugal, and enjoy the small things in life.
2. My mom influenced me to follow my dreams, pursue my education, read, and put your children first.
3. Harry has influenced me to never settle for less than you deserve.
4. Samantha and Michael have influenced/taught me what unconditional love is.
5. Mrs. Kelly influenced me to never stop learning. Also, to play nice with others.
6. Professor K influenced me to have a "just in case" file - also to remember that every day above the ground is better than being under it. (She was my professor in my "Sociology of Death and Dying" class, in case you were wondering).
7. People reading this blog have influenced me to keep writing it.
8. Bella influenced me to put a border fence up around the garden. Bella is one of my dogs.
9. All of my friends influence me to be a better person, while always being myself.
10. The Homeowners Association influences me (and Harry) to cut our yard and weed the flower bed.

Ten: Describe your most embarrassing moment.


Um, yeah, that's probably gonna be the banana-peel slip whilst in the middle of a kick line at state cheerleading. Yes, the one you read about in Three, Four. Yes, I do have it on videotape. No, you may not see it.




Eleven: Describe 10 pet peeves you have.

1. People who don't signal while driving
2. Poor grammar and also the use of "text" lingo in actual letters and/or emails
3. Tampon commercials
4. I HATE when people misspell things to be cute. Example: daycares called Kids' Korner. Yeah, I'm not sending a kid somewhere that can't even spell it's own name. It's not cute. It's stupid.
5. When the weather forecast is wrong - I'm looking at you, Weather Channel!
6. People who don't leash their dogs
7. Generic brand Cheetos or Doritos
8. People who interrupt my Desperate Housewives time, although that has apparently come to an end...
9. Couples that share Facebook or email accounts and/or cell phones (even when they have their own cell phones)
10. People who can't figure out a 4-way stop

By the way, I asked Harry to help me out with "Eleven" and he said, "most of your pet peeves have to do with traffic, weather, and grammar." He knows me all too well...

Five.

Day 5: What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

1. My family: Harry, Samantha, Michael
2. My puppies
3. The killer new shoes I just bought
4. The fact that summer is almost here
5. The promise of a bright future

Three. Four. Shut the door.

Sorry, I couldn't resist the title.

Anyway, oops! I missed yesterday. I had a good excuse though, promise. I was at my niece's baby shower, which was tons of fun. I'll catch up today with both 3 and 4.

Three: Describe your relationship with your parents.


Since my mom is in heaven, I like to think that our relationship involves her being my angel. I believe it, too.

My dad and I definitely have our days, as any parent/sibling team does, but believe it or not, we have gotten much closer since my mom passed away. Perhaps that is part of the good coming out of the bad. He still likes to lecture me, but I have learned that letting him "teach" me things, like how to properly remodel a bathroom, is good for us.

I have learned through my relationships with my parents, and now my relationships with my step kids that part of really connecting between parents and kids requires both parties to realize that the other one is their own person - loving, learning, growing, falling down, getting back up -  just trying to make it one day at a time.


Four: List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.

1. Next time you're driving and you smell fire, and wonder, "Is that my car?" it will be, so pull over.
2. You're struggling right now with who you can count on. The people you think you can't count on - you're right. The girls who you are thinking are probably your true friends absolutely are, without a doubt. They'll dance with you at your wedding. You'll share in the joys of their weddings, graduations, and babies. You'll comfort each other through death, divorce, unemployment. And through it all, you'll love each other like sisters.
3. Everything happens for a reason. You'll figure that one out eventually, but the sooner you do, the better off you'll be.
4. Argue less with Mom and Dad. You'll understand where they are coming from (in most cases) soon enough.
5. There is a reason why people make right hand turns into Emma's driveway from the center lane, but go ahead and try it from the right lane. See what happens. It's a good story.
6. Don't bother stressing out about the AP Chemistry exam. You're going to get a 1. The same score you would have gotten if you had only written your name on it. It's okay, you're not destined to be a scientist.
7. Call Grandma and Nana more often.
8. Take a deep breath of fresh, clean, Rocky Mountain air every morning. Even if it's cold and hurts your insides and freezes your boogers.
9. Practice your kick line. More notably, practice not slipping "banana-peel" style while doing said kick line.
10. Take comfort in knowing that you will have fun in high school, you will love college, but they are nowhere near the best things you have waiting for you. But you can't go wrong by carrying band-aids, extra bobby pins, and lip gloss in your purse. And I will leave the rest up to you...

Two.

It's Day Two of the challenge. In case you need catching up, you can read all about it here.

Two: List 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

1. Fear of losing those I love I feel like this should be a legitimate fear for (1) anyone who is breathing and (2) anyone who loves others who are also breathing. The realities of life have made this a fear.
2. Fear of being run over and/or off the road by a semi-truck/18-wheeler This is a legitimate fear for me because it's already happened to me.
3. Fear of showering during a thunderstorm Okay, in all honesty, I'm not positive this is a legitimate fear, but I've always heard you should steer clear of running water/plumbing while indoors during a thunderstorm (because obviously you shouldn't be outside, anyway) because if your house gets hit by lightning you could be electrocuted. Is this true? I don't know. But I'll keep being afraid of it anyway.

Thanks for reading! Stop by tomorrow for more life-changing revelations.

One.

It's Day One of my 30 day self-challenge, so here goes!

Challenge One: List 20 random things about yourself.

1. I thoroughly enjoy singing along to musicals and pretending I'm the star. 
2. I have a generally excellent sense of direction.
3. I prefer pink shades for nail polish, but secretly wish I was daring enough to rock bolder colors.
4. I dream of traveling the world, but I am a little scared of going to other countries (even though I've been to one before).
5. I do not eat anything that dwells in the water, with the exception of the occasional seaweed.
6. I love the smell of libraries and library books.
7. I wish I had a card catalog - like the whole wooden piece of furniture.
8. Okay, actually I wish I had my own library within my house.
9. I love classic fashion, a la Jackie O. and Kate Middleton.
10. I use my psychology degree to silently diagnose people as I am speaking to them. Other than that, it hasn't really been a lucrative choice for me.
11. I enjoy rainy days so I can stay inside and snuggle.
12. I prefer snow over rain 99% of the time.
13. People-watching is one of my favorite hobbies.
14. I love pictures and the stories one can tell using them.
15. I hate grammatical errors.
16. I save old voicemails from my husband and listen to them when I'm bored or feeling blue.
17. I love family dinners.
18. I am terribly afraid of heights and have a fear of escalators. Don't worry, it's not a debilitating-need to get Dr. Phil's help-kind of fear, but it's still there.
19. Being a {step}mom has been one of the most unexpected (when imagining my life when I was younger), crazy/beautiful, life-altering, and amazing things that's ever happened to me. I like to hope it's worked out pretty well for them, too.
20. My favorite thing is having my family home and the house filled with noise.

Thirty Things

Hi friends! I'm back. I have been busy these last few weeks, but that's not the entire reason I haven't blogged lately.

I actually had several posts for both of my blogs that were thisclose to being done and apparently my "autosave" feature wasn't working. Sadly, when I came back to publish them, they were lost off in cyberspace. Truly tragic. I got pretty discouraged since I had spent so much time writing and loading pictures.

Hopefully I can get ambitious enough to redo the posts because I had some really fabulous thoughts to share with the world. (Or at least they are fabulous to me). I wanted to tell you all about organizing spaces in my house, my new raised bed garden, and more. If you're lucky, you'll be blessed enough to bask in my glory. *Clears throat and blushes at the thought of being glorious*

So much has been going on around here - spring break, job interviews, traveling for the hub's job and to see family, helping my dad get his house ready to put on the market, repairing a water leak at our rental property, blah, blah, blah - that I haven't had time to do many of the projects on my list, and therefore felt I didn't have much to share (except those few posts I did that disappeared).

Needless to say, I've been lacking inspiration of all sorts, so I took to Pinterest to regain some. I found a post by a friend that linked a blog called Hopes and Dreams where the author took time out of each day for 30 days to write something random about herself. My friend had posted it with the pretense of neat ideas to ask your significant other on dates to better understand and know each other.

I like this idea for so many reasons. 1) All of you can catch a glimpse of me, 2) Maybe I'll learn something about myself I never knew, 3) It's a great way to capture who I am RIGHT NOW and reflect on it later, or let my husband or kids read years down the road and learn something about me.

Here are the 30 Things that Jess @ Hopes and Dreams has inspired me to share with the world!

THE LIST:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misundertand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

If you want to try this neat challenge, click on the button below and join the fun! I'm starting this challenge today and I hope you do, too!