Thursday, March 21, 2013

Liebsters and 5 Things and TMI...oh my!

First things first - THANK YOU Jessie, Erika, Rosie, Brooke, and Heather - for nominating me for Liebsters and/or 5 things. You are all awesome and I'm a total loser for taking so long to finish these.

Since it has taken an embarrassing amount of time to finish these questions, I'm going to stick with 5 random facts about me instead of 11.  Come in!! And know me better, man!!

There is no end to these types of photos of me.

1. I am a nerdy former homeschooler.

Ok I went to a Catholic school until 3rd grade.  Then I was homeschooled.

2. As such, I started taking classes at a local community college when I was 12, started college full time at age 15, and graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science when I was 19.

Not kidding about the nerd thing.

3. I have fainting diseases...

...whatever that means.  

I, along with my sisters, mom, and grandma, pass out regularly due to pain, disturbing images, bad smells, claustrophobia, paper mache (ok that one is all Haley)...the whole lot of us are delicate little butterflies.  Here's to hoping my girls have NOT inherited this gene.

However, I alone have inherited the added bonus of seizure like behavior when I pass out - that's right, I get the whole "losing control of bodily functions" package.  Which leads me to my next point...

4. I once passed out on an airplane and peed my pants.

I was 17, and flying alone across the country, still had a connecting flight to make after it happened, and no change of clothes in my carry on bag.

It was awesome.

5.  I kind of drive like your grandma.

I have never gotten a speeding ticket.  Let me also clarify that I have never been pulled over for speeding :)


So....wow.  I don't think I realized how many questions these were until I sat down and copied them into blogger.  Not going to lie, I think I might know myself a little better after answering these questions.  It's intense.


Questions from Jessie Pope:


1. What's your favorite TV show ever?
I'm a little ashamed to admit it's probably Covert Affairs at the moment.  Don't judge me.

2. Who do you think is the most attractive actor from the classic era of film? I'm thinking 1960's and before? (I'm not supposed to answer my own questions but PAUL NEWMAN.)


Stephen was reading over my shoulder and agreed about Paul Newman.  Who am I to disagree with Stephen and Jessie Pope??

3. When you were a kid planning your life out, is there something you always thought you'd have done by now that you haven't done yet? 


I don't think so...my life looks very different than I imagined when I was younger, but mainly I always wanted to be a mom, and I am.  Boooooring answer, sorry :)

4. What's your favorite holiday and why?


Christmas, but strangely enough I think July 4th is second.  Please don't think I'm a heathen.

5. Do you have a go-to meal that you make allll the time? What is it?


Does ordering pizza count??  Because...we order pizza way way way more than I'd like to admit.
And after that, crepes.

6. Playing of Chalayn's question: Beach Boys or Beatles?


I like them both, but I'm gonna have to go with the Beatles.

7. Do you have a book you've read more than once or twice? Which book?


I've read a few books twice but I don't think I've read any more than that.

8. If the rain or snow has you stuck inside, what's one way you try and beat the cabin fever?


If it were just me, I don't think I would ever get cabin fever.  Did you ever see the cabin fever episode of Mythbusters??  I'm totally just like Jamie.  It's probably because my name is Jamie too.

But when I'm stuck inside with the kids...gahhhhhh!!!
Cry a lot, browse Pinterest, and drink?? 
Just kidding.
Kind of.

9. If you have a garden: what do you grow? If you had a garden: what would you grow?


I have no garden.  If I had a garden, I would grow ALL THE THINGS!!!!
I'm thinking about starting an indoor herb garden, though.

10. In your opinion, which is the best Disney/Pixar collaboration? (Monster, Inc., definitely.)


True story - Monsters Inc. makes me cry now that I have children.  I'm kind of a sucker for the original Toy Story.

11. Are you a Kindle fan or an advocate for hard copies of books? Or both?


Both.  I like real books but the instant gratification and cheap prices of Kindle books is soooo...addicting...


Questions from Erika:


1. Best trip ever:


WOW this is a hard question.  It's kind of like asking me to pick my favorite child...I love all of my travels in different ways hahaha.  My honeymoon was probably the most relaxing though.  We rent a cabin in the Smokey Mountains.

2. Favorite saint and why:


I'm woefully inadequate in my knowledge of saints, but I chose Martha as my confirmation saint because we are most definitely kindred spirits.  I can be a real type A, and I think my greatest struggle in my adult life has been to tear myself away from the things that need to be done, and the things I think should be done, and just be present with my loved ones.

3. Fav recipe:


Right now it is most definitely crepes.  Is everyone sick of me talking about crepes yet??  Ummm...I unashamedly love crepes.

I use this recipe and spread the Nutella reeeeal thick and top with whipped cream and sliced strawberries :)

4. Your wedding colors and flowers (potential, if you're not married yet):


Brown and white - and chocolate roses!!

5. Article of clothing that you can't live without:


Right now it would definitely be my Gap Jeggings :)

6. Favorite blog for your morning coffee read:


I just started typing out a narration of my morning coffee...
Let's just say I haven't really read any blogs this entire Lent since we gave up TV.
Really looking forward to Super Why helping me to reclaim my morning coffee blog time :)

7. Polka dots or stripes?


Ok your questions are way harder than Jessies.  Seriously.
I think stripes...probably.  Maybe.  Sometimes.

8. Top favorite mass song:


I love the "taste and see" responsorial psalm because it reminds me of our wedding :)

9. If you could meet anyone, who would it be:


I once told Stephen if I could meet anyone in the world it would be Stacy London, and he chastized me for not picking the Pope.
I don't think it would still be Stacy London, but I still don't think it would be the Pope.  That would be way too intimidating.

10. Most essential beauty item:


I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo -
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Origins skin care.  I've tried several face wash/lotion combos and they are all fabulous. 

11. Why you started blogging:


I was an internet lurker for a while, reading blogs but never commenting and all that....when I started talking about blogger people in conversations as if I knew them in real life I knew it was time to stop being so creepy and start my own blog and interact with people.  

Also Stephen kept telling me to do it.  Probably because he was concerned about my creepy stalking.


Questions from Rosie:


1.  If you had to choose only ONE animal (cow, pig, chicken, other) whose meat/products you could eat for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?


Wait so if I pick chicken that means no milk??  That means no...butter????

I guess that means I'm picking the cow.

2.  What is your favorite article of clothing, the one you would seriously miss if it were gone?


I have this scarf from Loft that I absolutely love...pretty, shiny colors!!  I can't seem to find a pic of me wearing it at the moment...

3.  Which one of your children do you love the most?


Not playing favorites, but Emeric wins the best baby award hands down.

3.  What do you tell your kids about Santa/the Easter Bunny/the tooth fairy/other secular(ized) characters?


We decided not to do them.  Then last year I asked Ava whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas, and she said Santa.  ??????

I have nothing against integrating secular characters into religious holidays, it's mostly just that Stephen and I don't really have a lot of memories of believing in Santa (he's too logical/skeptical and my brother spilled the beans to me before I was old enough to remember...) so I think we're slightly nervous about scarring our children with our horrific lies since we don't have the experience of having to find out the truth when we are at an age where we really remember it or are affected by it.

And as for the other characters, I'm guessing our tactic will be to mention them so as to integrate our children into American culture and not give people any more reasons to think they are weirdo homeschoolers but not go out of our way to overtly deceive them or let them believe these mythical creatures exist once they are at an age to really know better.  I feel like right now they are still constructing their view of reality, and it's not weird to talk about leprechauns and fairies because they just take it as -"ok, there are leprechauns and fairies out there. cool. whatever." But I'm assuming Ava will at some point be alarmed when I start talking about these things because she will realize they are inconsistent with reality and start asking more questions, at which point we would most definitely inform her that they are not real.

Wow that was kind of a novel.

4.  How many pairs of shoes do you own?


I own:
A pair of black flats for everyday wear in cold weather
Woven sperries for everyday wear in warm weather
Thong sandals for summer 
Sneakers for running

I also have some nude peep toe (wow...that's what they are, but did I really just write "nude peep toe"?!) heels that absolutely do not fit and are absolutely inappropriate for winter and yet I wear them to church every week of the year because if you haven't guessed yet - I'm so not a shoe person.

Somebody stage an intervention and take me shopping, please???

5.  What is your favorite thing about where you live?


At the risk of sounding like a nut job...I feel pretty safe here.  We live above the leasing office in an apartment building that screens everyone who enters.  Even the poor pizza guy that is practically part of our family by now.  Coming from the boonies to a more urban(ish) area I still feel a little terrified to be raising my kids in a place where neighbors barely know each other and I'm a little freaked out about being on my own in a house all day with the kids.

6.  How did you choose your children's names?


Ava Marie - We both liked the name Ava...we picked Marie in honor of the blessed mother and to be a play on "Ave Maria" (and Ava is actually a PRINCESS saint name...which must be why she is so obsessed with princesses.  It's definitely not related to the amount of Disney we've let her watch.  Definitely not.)

Clare Anne - Stephen had heard the name "Anne Clare" somewhere and liked it but I thought it would be too confusing because his sister's name is Anne.  So we changed it to Clare Anne, also both awesome saint names :)


Emeric Stephen - This is weird but Stephen and I are computer science people so we see patterns in everything and we thought we should look for an "E" name and start naming children on every other letter.  We found saint Emeric - the son of St. Stephen of Hungary - and thought it would be funny since our Emeric would be the son of Stephen who is always hungry.  Ok I'm the only one who thought that was funny.  And Stephen's middle name is his father's first name and so we continued that trend.

7.  Can we all agree that it's obnoxious when parents make up new spellings for names?  Like Madisyn and Abagayle and McKinzEe?


Hahaha whatever floats your boat I guess??  Just don't get mad when I spell it wrong :)

8.  Have you watched Toddlers and Tiaras?  Are you as intrigued by it as I am?  Give me your thoughts, please.


I am highly disturbed.  I don't think I've ever seen an entire episode, it gives me the heebeeejeebies...however you spell that...

9.  How many crucifixes/icons/saint statues do you have in your house?  Do you wish you had more/less?


5 crucifixes, 1 statue of the Blessed Mother, I think that's it.  Yeah I definitely wish we had more...

10.  What is one thing about your life right now that makes you ecstaticly happy?

That my 4 month old sleeps reasonably well.  I am eeeee-lated :)


Questions from Brooke:


1. Do you subscribe to any magazines, and if so what are they?


I'm kind of proud of the fact that I have gotten free subscriptions to Family Fun, Martha Stewart Living, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Parenting, and I know I'm forgetting some others...but the point is I don't pay for subscriptions because as much as I love the idea of magazines I rarely make time to sit and read them.

I wish I had a subscription to Cook's Illustrated, but sadly that is not a subscription you can get free with ninja couponing skills :)  One of these days I'll get over it and fork over the cash.

2. Best dessert you ever had?



Is anyone going to smack me if I say crepes again??

3. If money didn't matter what is the one thing you would splurge on right now?


Probably a shopping spree with Stacy London :)  Will someone please nominate me for the show already!!!

4. Dream vacay? DISH!



When Stephen and I got married, I desperately wanted to honeymoon in Bora Bora in one of those huts over the water.  It wasn't doable then, but I made him promise we would go someday, like on our 10th anniversary or something.  Insert snort laugh here.  But seriously...I'm going someday...OR ELSE.

5. Share something that made you smile or LaughOutLoud today.


Ava singing "Ice Ice Baby Emeric"...

6. If there was one thing that you could learn how to do what would it be?


Learn to sew!!

7. What are your hobbies?



The hobbies I indulge most at the moment are reading, cooking and baking, and (very poor) crocheting...

8. Summer plans?


Those depend a lot on whether or not we stay in this apartment or find a home to rent...I have visions of the kids splashing outside in a backyard pool or sprinkler while I lounge with a glass of lemonade...but that's about the pinnacle of my summer ambitions thus far.  If we're still in this apartment it's going to be even less glamorous than that :)

9. Do you hit the "snooze" button in the morning and if so how many times?


My alarm is 2 little girls standing at the baby gate guarding our bedroom door whispering "good morning mommy!!"  Really not a bad way to wake up...just wish it was not at 6am.

My attempts to hit the snooze button (aka "go play quietly for a few minutes...") result in loud protests of "WE ARE HUNGRY WE ARE HUNGRY WE ARE HUNGRY!!!"  

10. If your day had a soundtrack what would be the top 3 songs?



Hmmmm...I was just trying to google songs about poop, and came across this article. Hahaahahaahahahaahah...

Ok I give up, I just know they should definitely be about poop.



You know what, I am just going to post this right now - I will update later with who I am tagging :)

6 comments:

  1. Crepes=delicious. Never be ashamed :) I was homeschooled from 7th grade on and always enjoy finding out how many of the other mommy bloggers are homeschool alums.

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  2. That's a REALLY good story about Emeric's name! I didn't realize it was that complex, and I'm REALLY excited that your kids have alternating alphabetic names. Like, REALLY excited. Amazing.

    Also, your 4th fact is kind of amazing. We need to share pee stories with each other some time. I've got some good ones :P

    John Paul and Cecilia keep singing, "Everybody Poops" to the tune of "Everybody Hurts" so I think I have your song for you.

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  3. Re: #3 My biological siblings (I also have adopted siblings) and my dad and I faint too! We don't understand why and neither do the doctors. Well, ok, getting a spinal tap for a c-section might cause anyone to faint, but it also happens due to stress, pain, emotionally difficult subject matter etc. If you ever figure out why, I want to know!

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  4. Well now that you have to go and mention how creepy it is to read blogs and not comment on them, I figured I should comment, you know, to avoid the whole "living in someone else's world via their blog and acting like we're friends" thing.

    So hi there! I've been reading for a couple of weeks... your blog is fun!

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  5. Ordering pizza counts if scrambled eggs for dinner at least twice a week counts.

    Ice ice baby emeric? I die. Your kids are hilarious.

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  6. The 4th of July is my favorite by a landslide. I'm no heathen...I don't think. lol

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