I've Been Tagged!

So, I got a lovely comment from a sweet new follower named DeAnne from The S.I.P. Project. She tagged me and asked me 11 questions to get to know a little more about me. I have to admit, I love stuff like this. When we see someone's blog all we see are the "successes" and we get this crazy image of this perfect gorgeous person who does everything right and is probably wearing heels, an apron, a glue gun in one hand and a mop in the other. What they don't see is the REAL chick sitting at the computer in sweats and a T-shirt with a messy ponytail, a lovely white glob of Clearasil on her pimple and peanut butter smeared on her arm from her two year old who is eating lunch and giving her a quick break to check her email. :) So, sometimes it's nice to get to meet the REAL person behind the blog. The not so perfect one, who if you met on the street you probably wouldn't give them a second glance. But if you did, chances are you'd start to chat and soon you'd be great friends. Okay...so here we go.

1. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

That's a good one. I've lived so many nice places, it's hard to pick one! We lived in Golden, CO for about 4 years while my husband went to school and we loved it there. It's a quiet little town in the foothills of the Rockies, yet close enough to the city that anything you need is a short drive away. Sometimes I think it would be fun to move back to the Denver area. But moving away from family would be hard.

2. What keeps you going back to a blog time and time again?

I love blogs that are REAL. I love blogs that make me laugh. I love blogs where when you're reading a post you feel like you're reading about your best friend who you've known forever. I love blogs where the crafts are cute, fast and easy. I love blogs that inspire me to be a better person. (Like the S.I.P. Blog....which stands for Service Is Painless. How awesome is that!) There are just so many great blogs out there!

3. What are your top 3 favorite places to shop?

Ooooh...that one is really hard, too! Hahaha! I'm going to have to say Target, Hobby Lobby, and JCPenney (gotta give a shout out to my Daddy who manages the local store here in Alamosa! Go Dad!) I also love Kohls, Maurices, Bath and Body Works and Old Navy. I know...so original, huh!

4. What gadget are you drooling over right now?

Um...does a paint roller count as a gadget? I'm dying to get rid of the creamy yellow that takes over most of our house right now. I'm thinking something like Benjamin Moore Copley Grey...*drool*

5. What do you hate about blogging, if anything?

Probably the only thing I don't like is when I hit a creative slump. I don't know how all these bloggers come up with some genius post EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. It amazes me! Some days I have a hard enough time spelling my name right! :)

6. Which tech skill do you wish you were better at?

Um...I wish I had any tech skill at all! Hahah! Today at church I was sitting next to a friend and she was reading the scripture from the lesson on her spiffy iphone, and she let me play with it. I literally squealed in the middle of the lesson when I turned the phone and the words turned with the phone. It was the coolest thing EVER.

7. What makes your heart smile?

So many things! Early morning snuggles with Kate, the smell of clean kids after their baths, when my kids make good choices without my making them, my husband telling me he loves me and I'm beautiful, when I read my scriptures and I find a verse that I swear was written just for me, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, hugs, laughter (it doesn't matter who it is...it just makes me happy!) snow cones, bubble baths, cooing babies, dates with my husband, Christmas Eve at my parent's house, chick flicks, good music, and my friends. :) I know there are hundreds more, but that would take all night!

8. What is your dream job?

Right now it's getting to be a stay at home mom. But, some day I'd love to get back into nursing. I would LOVE to be a labor and delivery nurse. I absolutely love making miserable people happy. I love to bring that smile when it's the last thing someone wants to do. I would love to be able to witness a miracle EVERY.SINGLE.DAY at work! I know what a difference having a good nurse makes...and I want to help someone else get that experience!

9. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Awww, just one? Hahah! Okay...I hate, and I mean HATE walking through other people's farts (is that a bad word???) There. I said it. I swear, it happens to me ALL the time!!! I'm walking down the isle of a store and suddenly, that whiff hits you and you just want to vomit everywhere...I have to try my hardest to not remember that that was someone else's gas...*shudder* If you HAVE to toot, and you can't make it to a bathroom, PLLLLEASE, at least go to an isle without other people behind you! That is all.

10. What is the post on your blog you are proudest of?

Honestly, my Stephen posts. The nest necklace one particularly, it was INCREDIBLE to see the outpouring of love and support for that little guy! It made me feel so special to be a part of something so wonderful. I made so many new friends...it is definitely something that makes me feel like I did something that really made a difference. It reminded me that THIS is what life is about. Life is about love. :)

11. Your best piece of advice for new bloggers?

BE YOURSELF! :) And don't get discouraged. It's hard in the beginning, you wonder if anyone is really reading or paying attention. You go to these blogs that have thousands of followers and wonder "How on earth are they doing it!?!" The answer? One person at a time. Don't necessarily write to get followers, write to make friends. I still look at my 515 followers and get so excited! I mean...it's not thousands or anything, but if I were to fill a room with the 515 people who read my blog I would seriously start to cry happy tears and give every single one of you a hug and tell you thank you. Blogland is an incredible place!

I'm Alive, I Swear!

Holy cow, it's been a month since I posted last. I am SOOOO sorry! I'm alive, I swear. There's been a lot of drama lately and I've basically just dropped off of the face of the planet and have been soaked up in my own little world! I have good excuses, I promise. Good excuses...but no pictures. Lame, I know...to be honest, I'm not even sure where my camera is right now! Hahah!

Fist, Whitney got her tonsils out. I really wasn't expecting it to be all that big of a deal. But HOLY COW, I was so wrong! The poor girl woke up in tears at the hospital and the surgeon just kept saying "WOW. Those were BIG tonsils." The nurses said "Keep up with the fluids, keep up with the fluids, MAKE.HER.DRINK.FLUIDS." And I was like, "Psssh. Of course I will!" They weren't kidding, it was HARD to make her drink anything. I know the pain must have been horrible. But then, she started producing this horrible, thick, foamy saliva that she kept choking on. She couldn't swallow it! We tried gum to keep it from forming and to keep her mouth moist, but the gum just fell to pieces in her mouth. We tried popsicles, ice cream, crushed ice, every kind of juice or flavored ANYTHING...everything we could think of. But she just wouldn't swallow. I ended up just bribing the heck out of her and gave her a dime for every gulp of fluid she could get down. She ended up earning almost $10...not too shabby. The other bad part of it was that they took out so much tissue that she has to re-learn to swallow. Whenever she drinks something it also comes out of her nose! I know it's a totally cool trick, but she doesn't think it would make the top finals in the school talent show. We're still working on that. Apparently Sprite really hurts when it comes out of your nose. Just FYI. To make a long story short, she's doing much better now. She lost about 10 pounds total, and I'm pretty sure her breath could have been considered a dangerous weapon of mass destruction or at the least knock out a horse... but it's good to have her sleeping better and not getting strep anymore!

Next matter of business, we noticed that our plumbing was draining really slowly for about two weeks. After running the dishwasher and doing a few loads of laundry it would start to back up into the showers and tubs. We couldn't figure out what the problem was. Mike took off the toilet and ran a snake through the house and couldn't find any blockages anywhere. Then, a few days later, I was flushing some throw up from Aaron who came down with the flu and it wouldn't flush. Then, all of the sudden, sewage started coming out of EVERY.DRAIN. in the house. No joke. It was coming out of the washing machine. It was all over the floors...just....everywhere! So, now our house not only smelled like vomit from Aaron, but sewage as well. To make another long story short, we had to move in with my parents for about a week while the plumbers came to fix it all. It tuns out the culprit was clear over at the city line...a partially frozen pipe. I am SOOOO happy it's all fixed! But it still grosses me out to use the bath or the shower, even though I cleaned it like ten times afterwards. *shudder* And I have been able to catch up on 3 weeks of laundry. UGH. Not so bad washing it, but the whole folding and putting everything away thing just doesn't agree with me. ;)

Then, Mike took me to Boston with him for a 5 day business trip. Our parents were kind enough to take the kids for us while we went. It was really nice to have 5 days of just my husband and I. It was so quiet...nobody came and climbed in bed with us at 2 a.m. and I even got to shower all by myself! It was awesome. However, to be honest I'm having to adjust to being back to this stay at home mom thing. It was nice to get dressed up and go to meetings and talk to people all day...come back to a clean hotel room with a made bed and not having to cook anything! WOW. I had forgotten how hard this whole mom/wife/maid/cook thing is. But I know I'm blessed to be able to get to do it. :)

I'll do an update on Stephen within the next few days. I've had several people ask about him! Which, of course, makes me so happy that people haven't forgotten him! Oh how I love that kid. :)

So, anyway, I apologize for my absence! Thank you for being so patient! I'll be back soon, I promise!