Irresistibly Sweet

My friend Samantha keeps passing on all of these really cool awards and surveys to me. I'm a bad blogger and I don't always do them and pass them on, but I really liked the questions on this one, so here goes. I don't know how many people who read my blog like to do this kind of thing, so I'm passing it on to anyone who reads this and wants to post it on their own blog.

You get a cool little button too! :)

1.If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?
I started this blog mainly because I wanted a way to document Raegan's milestones and accomplishments, and I am crap at keeping up her baby book. (Seven years from now when I decide that I would like her to have a finished baby book I can come back here and fill in all the details. I don't fall into the "bad mom" category as long as I get the baby book done before she goes to college, right?) So for that reason, I really don't have a need to blog anonymously. Occasionally I wish that I did blog anonymously, so that I could talk more about stepparenting and issues related to that. I feel like I can't touch too much on this topic in a public setting because there are certain people within my stepparenting relationship that I wouldn't want to take my words and twist them.

2.Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
Just "an" incident? If you know me at all, you know I am S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N. :) Going 100% drug free for Raegan's birth. It was one of those things where I told everyone that I really didn't want an epidural or other drugs, because I knew if I had put it out there to everyone I would want to stick by what I had said. My labor was not easy - I was in labor for 28 hours total, I pushed for about 2 hours, and I was stuck at an 8 forever. Forever. But I had said I didn't want any interventions unless completely medically necessary, so by God was I sticking by that. Will I go the same route if we have another? Let me get back to you on that one....

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror? Overall I'm pretty pleased with what I see. I have a few lingering pounds from Raegan, but other than that I think I bounced back fairly well. The only thing I really don't like is all of the stretch marks that being pregnant left me with. I've discovered that since I started running I have a better self-image. I'm proud of what my body is able to do and that helps a lot with any body issues I have.

4.What is your favorite summer cold drink?
I like strawberry lemonade, but I'm not someone who thinks you have to drink cold drinks in the summer and hot ones in the winter. I'll drink hot cocoa in the summer if we have it. :)

5.When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
Go out of town and go shopping. I love to go shopping by myself, much moreso than I do with anyone else. If I don't have *that* much time to myself, I like to read, mess around on the internet and bake. In the spring and summer I love to putter around in my flower garden.

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life?
Run a 5K. Ultimately, I would like to run a half marathon or marathon someday, but let's start with the easiest race first.

7.When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person or always ditching?
I have always been an overachiever. And super shy. When I started taking smaller classes specifically for my major, it was hell because I had to actually SPEAK and participate in front of people that I didn't know very well.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?
It's definitely not a moment that I *want* to see, but it's one that's been on my mind lately after going through old photographs. There was a span of a couple months before I went to college that was a very crappy time because of some select kids in my church youth group. There were a couple kids who were very involved in the church and very well liked by adults, who treated me, quite frankly and honestly, like shit. I had a few good friends in that youth group, and a few from the grocery store I worked at, who made life bearable, but it was horrible to see these supposed "great leaders" turn around and be hateful and backstabbing when adults weren't around. The ironic thing to me then was that some of the people who treated me the best were kids I worked with who were not Christians or had no church affiliation. I learned that the world is not all black and white - "good" people can do hurtful, cruel things, and people that are considered not good to hang around can be much kinder than the "preferred" kids.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?
I'm a pretty closed person, so not always. I can blog easily about my feelings on current events or parenting topics. I won't share my feelings about everything publicly. Stepparenting again is one area that I keep pretty closed up about, just to keep my family safe. I don't really write to please anyone, so I would say in that sense I share my true self in my writing style. Things like what I just wrote above are very hard for me to share. I'm discovering that sometimes it's easier to just let it all out that hold it tight against you. When you hold onto something tightly for a long time, you might think that it's gone and buried and then a box of memories lets it all back out again.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
I don't really like talking on the phone. I make that exception for my mom and a couple friends, but beyond that I much prefer texting. If I had the time, I would love to lose myself in a book. I love reading, and always have. When I find a good book I can read it over and over again, but I love finding the treasure of a new book also.