5 Questions From Lost In Splendor

Angela from Lost In Splendor had an interview project posted on her site recently. I signed up and she sent me five questions to answer. She came up with some pretty good ones and I am going to try to answer these with as much thought as she put in to asking them.


1. I met you through the CMHS Group. What do you enjoy about swapping most? Any disappointments?

I found swapping through OMSH's old blog. I thought it sounded interesting and since I love to shop and give and receive presents, I signed up. I think the idea that someone can take a list of someone else's likes and dislikes and find the perfect thing to go along with whatever the theme is, is fantastic. The First swap I participated in was called Creature Comforts, meaning pillow cases, books, magazines. I was so spoiled by my swap partner. We actually created a friendship and exchange emails every so often and sent Christmas cards to each other. I haven't had any disappointments with CMHS so far and I hope not to.


The only down side is that swapping is addictive. I joined another swapping site and haven't been too happy with it.


2. You do something called "Flashback Friday". What do you like most about remaining past experiences. How did that begin.

I have been reading Anne's blog for about a year now and I love it. She is a wonderful writer and the stories she tells about her boys have had me in tears and running to the bathroom to avoid peeing all over my desk chair so many times. When she announced FBF I had just started my blog and I thought it would be a fun way to fill in when I really didn't have much to write about. Plus it is a fun way to spend Friday, reading other stories and seeing the pictures bloggers pick to represent their stories. I have been having fun with it because I don't really go back and look at old pictures too often, so it is fun to see pictures from when I was little and also the pictures of my kids, I have taken close to 4000 pictures of Morgan (in three years) and about 1500 of Carter (not even one year yet) (it really is a joke in my family how many pictures I take), who can remember what pictures were taken with numbers like that.

3. You're the tattooed mama! Do you have any tattoos that you regret? What is your favorite tattoo?

Ahhh, another addiction. Although I don't regret any of them now, I am sure the day will come when I say WTF was I thinking getting a sleeve on my arm but for now I love them. My Mom is always surprised when we are out at how many people stop me and compliment my arm.

I actually have two favorites. I have Morgan's name inside of butterflies on the top of my left foot and Carter's name inside of start on top of my right foot. I wanted to do something that was special to me and that is what I came up with.




4. You have two beautiful children. What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of being a parent?

Thank you. Before I start to answer this question I would like to say (not trying to sound arrogant) that if there is one thing I don't question it is if I am a good mother. Mother's are people too and have good day's and bad ones, whether you stay at home with your kids or go to work, it is one of the hardest jobs out there. Not only because you are responsible for molding the brain and heart of a living, breathing human, but because it is one of the most judged jobs there is.

Parenting is something I wanted no part of until I found out I was about to be one. I thought (still think?) babies were disgusting little creatures who puked on you and peed and pooped their pants. They are needy and once you have one there is no going back. I remember watching other people's kids and freaking out if I had to change a poopy diaper. Now it is nothing. I do it at least twice a day (no, Morgan is still not potty trained at 3 years old, that is a whole week's worth of posts in itself).

The most challenging part of being a parent are the days when you have no patience. Even though I do not doubt if I am a good mother, I still have days when I feel like I could be better. There are plenty of days that I think to myself silently, while I am picking up toys/food/clothes, what in the world was I thinking? There are also days that I scream. Both inside and out. But at the end of the day I would not trade jobs with the richest person in the world if it meant I could not hang out and read stories to my kids.

The most rewarding parts of being a parent are the small things. Right now Morgan is into this thing where you tell her you love her and she says "no, I love you more". This could go on for quite awhile before she finally says "I love you too". She also says "You are my best friend in the whooole world". And Carter is so fun. Everyday is an adventure with him. He is not quite one yet (March 10th) and already walks and talks. The way his face lights up when I walk into the room he is in makes all the delivery pain (natural, not by choice) worth it. He is so adventurous, he will crawl up the stairs (14 steps) but won't get too close when it comes to getting down. He wants to do everything Morgan does but knows the limits. And (although this is fading quicker than I expected) he likes to cuddle in the morning when it is just him & I. I have so much fun watching these two babies grow up and it makes me so proud to see what kind and wonderful kids they are it breaks my heart to see that it really does fly by.

5. How did you and your husband meet? I always love to know that.

I am a professional dog groomer (not as glamorous as it sounds), which is not something I mention because I am not working at this time. I was working at a shop and one of the girls (who is now one of my good friends) told me about her husband's best friend who I would probably like to meet and hang out with. (I copied this from one of my Flashback Friday Posts) She told us both "It wouldn't have to be anything serious, but you might get a new friend out of meeting". The first time we went out was with a group of about 15 people, and we went to see "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Now if you don't know me you wouldn't know that I hate scary movies. I hate being scared. So this was a pretty big deal. A few of the other girls went to see a girly movie but I wanted to go to the same movie as the guy I was meeting. I hated the movie, but played it off pretty cool. When the night ended we said "nice to meet you" and went our own ways. We saw each other again on Thanksgiving. We talked a little bit of small talk and again said goodnight at the end of the night. Kim (the mutual friend) told me that Roy wanted to take me out to dinner so I told her to tell him to call me. I found out later that her husband was telling Roy I wanted to go out to dinner with him and he should call me. He called me and we decided to go to dinner and a movie. Kim and Jeremy wanted to go with us. It was the worst date of my life. I paid for my own dinner and movie and movie snacks. We barely said four words to each other. At the end of the night I was convinced that I had not found my new boyfriend or friend.
Then he called me and asked if I wanted to go get dinner. Just us. I reluctantly agreed. We went out to a sports bar (fine with me) and had the best time. We couldn't quit talking. By the end of the night I knew Roy was a pretty cool guy (and double dating on the first few dates is not a good idea).
We officially moved in together in February of 2004 (I say officially because I pretty much never left after our first date) and on November 7, 2004 we went to Las Vegas (with my parents, brother and about 14 of our friends, those who couldn't make it watched on line) and got married at A Little White Wedding Chapel.

This was such fun for me. I hope these answers are enough for the thought Angela put into the questions. If you would like to participate (even if you don't have a blog you can answer in the comments and I may pick your to be the blog of the day) leave a comment letting me know. Don't forget to leave your email address.