Blogger 411 - All you need to know about me!

Ok, so everyone else has been doing this linky up party....I finally  caved in and decided to do it too :-)

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?

I might  win the award for doing this the longest haha...before blogging was the cool thing to do. I started in 2004! I had a different blog at that  time...and  many of my  posts were "friends only" protected---because apparently I thought I had all  kinds of juicy secrets to blog ;-) I blogged  a lot  about  my college classes, crazy things that  happened  to me when working at Four Oaks (treatment center  for kids with behavior disabilities), etc.

Then when Raya was born I switched to a new  blog specifically for her. And  then when she was about 1.5 years  old I switched yet again to my current blog, still  about Raya (and Brielle) but  I finally made the  jump  from using Livejournal to using blogger (which is sooo much better!)

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?
Yes, I  did  my undergraduate degree at the private college here (my mom is a nurse, but she took a job in food service at the college just  so my brother  and I  could  attend there  for FREE....worked  out  pretty sweet :-)  Once  we graduated  she went  back  to nursing.  My undergraduate degree was a double major in Psychology and English (yes English....please note that  I *never* proofread my  blog entries...I just  don't  have  time! ...so poor  spelling  and  grammar is simply because  I'm typing fast and not proofing haha)  .....then I got a Master's of Education degree at the University of Northern Iowa, and then on top of that  I got an Education Specialist  degree (to practice as a School Psychologist) ...so I had 7 years of schooling past high school....don't  care to ever go back  to school  again!!! :-P And yes, after 4 years of working as a school psychologist  I became a SAHM ....I'll  be  paying  on my student loans for quite some time, but  I  don't "regret" getting my degree at all.  As I  always say, it's not  like  being a SAHM has taken away my degree in any  way....it's  still  there if I ever choose  to go back to it! Nice to have  options :-)

3. Where have you traveled?

In middle school  my family took  our one big family vacation---out west to the badlands, Yellowstone, Colorado, etc. Then in high school I went  to Germany for 2 weeks with my German Class, and  that  same summer  I went to Washington DC for a week  for a youth leadership thingy. In college for one of my English classes we went to England for a month! And then when working as a school psychologist  I went  with one of my schools to Washington DC again for a week---for a conference, but also sightseeing and such. I have  been to Texas for spring break  with a former college roommate. And  our  honeymoon we went out west again to badlands, Yellowstone, etc.  Oh, I've  also  been to Ohio visiting my brother in law/sister  in law...and from there we've  gone to  Niagra Falls/Canada for a day trip. Oh, and  in high school we went to Florida  and Disney World for a band trip. I  think that might be  all ;-)

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
I'd  love to buy a big  RV and  have Lee  quit his  job so that our family could  road trip cross country in luxury hehe.

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?

Frankly I have a lot of pet peeves haha. I'll  narrow it down to some of the more "interesting" ones.

Instagram--Seriously, I  realize I'm probably  the only person on the face of the planet who dislikes  this, but instagram photos are not  cool haha. They are either boring pictures  of food/clothing/buildings/etc. that people try to make cool by putting the instagram effect on them, or they are  super cute pictures of kids/pets/events etc.  that are ruined by what  I  think is going to be a very short  lived  fad! I compare it to  looking  back  at my high school pictures and r eally wishing I hadn't cut them up and scrapbooked  them  with goofy stickers and  such...I  just  want the normal pictures back. I  think  people will  feel the same  way about  instagram years later haha (but  once  again,  I  realize I'm in the  minority here!!!!! :-P)

Laundry--specifically the  fact that  my  husband is  incapable of emptying his  pockets  before putting  his  pants in the  laundry.  So  then I  have  to reach my hand into the  unknown and  pull out dirty kleenex, pens, and random icky things before  washing. Not cool! The  only plus  is that I  often find  money too---and  finders keepers is the rule in this house! :-)

Parents who ignore their  kids (monsters) at  play  areas, parks, etc.  ....and let it be  known, I'm one of "those" parents  who has no problem correcting your  child if you aren't paying attention! It  drives me crazy when  parents  are off socializing while their kids run wild and push my kids down or are otherwise mean. I  sure  do stop those  kids  and (loudly) correct them so that  hopefully  their  parents hear me! haha


6. What is your favorite movie?

I"m not  sure I have a favorite. It's  been  years since  I  was  "into" movies...I  just don't  have the attention span anymore or something! If I ever do have a 2 hour chunk to do something like watch a movie I'd  usually  prefer to be on the computer instead.

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?

Diet Coke----loooooove it. My alcoholic drink  of choice  is a White  Russian, Bloody Mary, or Margarita---depending on my mood.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?

Shopping.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?

Target! And I'd probably  spend at least  half on clothes  for the girls LOL

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.

Ok, so I recently realized I  don't think  I've  shared this story here before.  But  in college I worked at a gas station right by the college...it was a small gas station---only  one employee worked at a time and I usually  sat there reading books. Well I was working a Saturday morning at 6am when we opened and I  was sitting there reading a book when all the sudden a NAKED MAN came  in! I  recognized him as a student  at the college---let's just say not my first  choice of naked man either (long red hair in pony tail, scrawny,....no hottie ;-)  ....I  was sort of shocked and said "get out!" and he said something like "why?" and  I was just like "um, because you are naked and don't  have any clothes on!" ....so then he came  back  a little  while  later ,  and  I can't  remember what  he had on but  I think he put on shoes  and something else---but  still naked haha. This went on 3 different times and finally I let him "shop" in boxers and guess what  he buys? CONDOMS! haha.  I'm dying at this point of course.  Well, long story short, I never  called the cops because I  thought it was some sort of dare or something but then later come to find out he robbed  3 houses or  something and was found  passed out naked on the last house's porch---he was high on drugs. So I had  to go to the police station and give a statement and the cops (who I  knew) watched the gas station's sercurity video for evidence and all had a good  laugh at my face as I was dealing with naked  man haha :-P

11. What day would you love to relive again?
As other's  have  said, the birth of my daughters. Nothing quite like that  day!

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?

Maybe Katie Holmes? I love her.

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?
I babysat full  time every summer and pretty much every weekend since I was about 12 years old all through high school! I was a very sought after sitter :-) My  very first baby graduates  high  school next year I believe---so I definitely  feel old! One summer  in high  school I  worked at Hardees with my brother and a bunch of friends, but  every other  summer  I nannied. In college I  was a tour guide for the college one summer, I  was also a tutor in the writing  center  during the school year, and I worked  at Four Oaks (for behavior disorders), and at the gas station. I worked a lot in college! Then in graduate school I had an assistantship with a professor  helping him  conduct studies on elementary students and math.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.

I  don't  have  old pictures on my computer. The best I can do is this picture of me holding my puppy Griffin right after  I got him--I was  technically  in grad school so it counts as college right? haha. How cute  was Griffin?!

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?

Australia I  think. 

16. Show us the most current picture of you or you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you.

You've  all  seen my recent family  pics---so how about a couple wedding pics? :-) Our 5 year anniversary is  coming up this  fall  and  I just was  looking through my pics the other  day to  find some to print.

It was really  overcast on our wedding, but  it never rained  on us during pictures luckily!

I laugh at this pic  every time...Look  at Lee's brother (right above  our heads)...he's so excited  to jump you  can tell, but he totally misses the cue when  everyone else  jumps! hahaha. And still  now, 5 years later, I  love my dress...and in case you didn't  know me then, it's actually  a bridesmaid dress that I  paid  less  than $200 for hehe. :-)

17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?

I would love to maybe work as a school  psych 2 days a week(mostly just for  retirement benefits), and then do Etsy/photography/and whatever  else  interests me the rest of the time! Keep my summers off and have  freedom to help at the girls' school.....and just  have  tons of fun with my family!