I've Got Sunshine

I received the Sunshine Award last week from Patty @ Reasons for Chocolate. She's my FAVORITE Texas friend and totally exudes Sunshine! When she nominated me I believe her words were 'she has to be the sweetest, kindest, gentlest mama out there...' and I just about died laughing (I won't even tell ya what my kids said when I told them). Her words are too kind and definitely something for me to aspire to.

Well, when you blog you kind of tend to share a whole lot so I struggled to come up with 10 pieces of information about myself. I'll give it a go.

In no particular order:

1.

I have had braces three times in my life. And one wonders why I kinda hate going to the dentist and shelling out exorbitant amounts of money? Um, because my parents already did that with these pearly whites. I would tell you how old I was each time, but those years are kind of blocked out of my memory. For good reason, my friends.
I do know that originally it was due to a really crocked front tooth and then again for crowding maybe and finally, because I hit puberty/maturity and some of them shifted again. At least that's how I remember it. I really spent large quantities of my tween/early teen life at the orthodontist office and hated it. Thankfully, my parents are like saints and drove me there like a bazillion times plus shelled out the moola.

2.

I have lived in Minnesota my entire life. I have now driven 19 years in the winter and I have never gone in the ditch. Never slid off the road due to the bad road conditions and gone plowing in the ditch. By now hereby declaring this I have just sealed my fate and will not make it 20 years without incident. Seriously though, I drive like an over cautious grandma in the winter so for obvious reasons I've never gone in the ditch.

3.

My hometown had 16 state lottery winners. I think most are still in the area. Anyone recall in 2003 hearing the story of the 'Lunch Ladies' who won the Powerball of $95 MILLION? Those were my peeps. A few of them served lunch way back when I was in school. 

Unfortunately, none of them were relatives or chose to give me a hand out. 

4.

I have extensive experience in the food service industry. Read: I was a waitress in several establishments that were in dire need of trained waitresses that knew the menu and didn't mind serving annoying customers. At the time it wasn't really my most favorite thing to do, but looking back I still kind of miss the tip money. That was like the best. An hourly (minimum) wage, plus the bonus of tips. I loved the days of putting together my pile of ones at the end of the night and counting my change to see it all add up. Then every two weeks getting an 'additional' amount of money in the form of a check for my hourly wage. I thought that was the best, but it definitely didn't make up for rude customers and cranky pants that complained all.the.time. I can do without that.

5.

I have never been on a warm weather vacation. By this I mean I've never traveled away from this miserable season that is named Winter in order to go to a warm climate to get away. With each passing winter I wonder why on earth I've never done so. Patty, are you reading this one? This would mean that you are like my #1 favorite warm climate friend and you may be the lucky winner of me at your doorstep one day. You've been warned. 

To be completely honest, I did spend three months of winter out of the cold one year. I spend two months in Louisiana and one month in Alabama. Of course I wasn't really 'vacationing' because I was serving a year with NET Ministries and I wasn't outside enjoying the sun every day. But I will say, despite all that, it was my favorite winter EVER. 

That was also the first and only time I've seen the ocean.

6.

I kind of have a thing (ok, a slight crush) on Jim Caviezel. Hey, who doesn't?! It just so happens that he's on one of my current favorite shows, Person of Interest. Reed also enjoys the show so Friday nights are generally 'date night' and we watch an episode we have on DVR. It's like the best of both worlds, my husband, my crush and myself in our living room. What? Is that weird? At least they are both good Catholic guys.
My new favorite line another character said from a recent episode that I thought was hilarious (referring to Mr. Reese):

'You kind of have that salt & pepper thing going on. It's like catnip to soccer moms.'

Um, pretty much.


7.

I currently weigh about 85 lbs less than on the day I delivered Lily. In my defense, I also gained the most weight in Lily's pregnancy (42 lbs), due to it being my first and me not knowing any better. I also gained the most water weight and retained the weight being quite swollen for the entire third trimester. All the babies after that I was far wiser and realized that it took a lot of effort to get rid of that baby weight, so I was a bit more cautious.

The above photo is me after going through almost exactly 24 hours of natural labor. Not my best photo. And you know what those nurses brought me to eat after all that work over all those hours? Toast and jam and I think a muffin. Sure, it was midnight, but seriously?
I've never gotten over that one.



8.

One of my biggest pet peeves and I absolutely do.not.like. is my nose being touched. There, I said it. I know, like how many people even touch another persons nose? Hardly ever. But really, don't touch, flick, tweek or pinch it. Ever.
It may be weird, but it's kind of my 'thing'. I think it goes back to when I had some issues with what I thought were the beginning of allergies and went to an allergist for testing. I had something else, but it stems from this sensitivity to my nose. It would cause instant tickling in my nose and sneezing and it bugged the heck out of me.
I probably no longer have the issue, but my nose bugs me. My husband knows this and has made sure my kids do too.
Do not touch mommy's nose. Just don't do it.

9.

My favorite times of the day are 1) the little girls' nap time and 2) when my head hits the pillow at night.  Sure, there are other real times during the day that are great but day in and day out these two seem to remain. The bedtime one is obvious, because I'm exhausted and I just love to snuggle in under the covers. I can fall asleep within about 3 minutes, never fail. The nap time has perhaps only been in the last 6 months or so that I've really become fond of it. Not because the house is finally quiet or I can go clean up all the tornadoes throughout or because that's usually my "me" time when I exercise.
I know I should just read the girls their stories before nap, tuck them in and leave, but I don't. There's something about singing to them or sitting in their room awaiting the slow rhythmic breathing of two sleeping beauties. I walk to each of their beds, cast a glance and give a kiss to their cheeks. That daily moment is caught in a still-frame on my heart. Priceless.

10.

I am a Knights of Columbus free throw champion, three years running. You heard it here folks, super athlete right here.
These were way back in the '90's when the KC's did an annual free throw championship on a Saturday in the middle of the winter. The categories were broke up into age or grade and then gender.
I practiced for weeks. I had my form down. I was gonna rock it. Fifteen free throws, that's all it was. Whomever from your group nailed the most, was the winner of the plaque. Super simple.

I just happened to make the most free throws those three years.
I also just happened to be the only female in my age group each of those three years.

Yup, I only had to make one free throw to get the plaque (one year it was even a trophy). And one (or two) free throws was all I made those years and then the following year I had competition. Or maybe I just didn't enter because I got so completely nervous to shoot those fifteen free throws.
Or maybe I was a little less eager to be patronized because although I won, I didn't really 'win'. You know what I mean?
It doesn't matter, my husband still thinks I was like awesome at bball. He just doesn't know any better.



Here are the rules for the Sunshine Award:

1.  Use the award logo in your post.
2. Link to whoever nominated you.
3. Tell us 10 pieces of information about yourself.
4. Nominate fellow bloggers who "positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere".
5. Leave a comment on the nominees' blogs to tell them of the award.

I now nominate for the Sunshine Award three very sweet and Sunshiny ladies:

Hope from Memoirs of a Hopeful Housewife 

Marijanna from Because two people fell in LOVE

Colleen from Martin Family Moments

Go check them out in their little corners of the Blogosphere!