This week my newish friend Sarah from Oh, the Possibilities! nominated me for my very first blog award.
Sarah and I haven’t met in real life because, well, she lives in Australia. You may remember the sweet gift she sent me for Mother’s Day this year? Sarah is also the co-founder of Whispered Support, which is a great organization that provides practical and emotional support for parents who have lost little ones. (Can you see why I like this gal so much??)
So, Sarah has nominated me for the Honest Scrap Award.
I am supposed to tell you 10 things about me that you may not already know. Hm… since I tend to be fairly open on my blog, this may take some digging. Let’s see…
1} I am left handed. So were 2/3 of the fellas I dated in high school (I only dated three guys). And, for the record, Ryan was/is one of the lefties. Bummer that Oliver is a righty! (That was like 4 facts all in one, wasn’t it? I’m doing great!)
2} I love white flowers best of all – especially tulips and hydrangeas. Many of my friends know this about me, so when Evie was stillborn last year, we came home from the hospital with lots of white flower arrangements. I have really lovely friends.
3} I have an unhealthy obsession with Sudoku. (Yes, I can have very nerdy tendencies.) When things get too stressful and I need to disappear for a bit, I open up my dashboard widget and get to work. And, since we’ve had a overly eventful year and a half (what Ryan and I optimistically refer to it as a “rough patch”), I must say I’ve become highly skilled at the game. My best time on a level four (diablo) game is 4:35.
4} Longevity runs in my family. I had 4 great-grandparents living until I was nearly twenty years old. They were each almost 100 when they died of old age.
5} The only pet I would ever agree to owning is a large breed dog. They’re great protectors, not yappers, and great with climbing children. I’m not a cat person, or a small dog person. Woof. (But, tell us how you really feel, Raechel…)
6} I spend more time reading my friends’ blogs than I do reading my Bible. I am beet red just writing that, but it’s true. I know which will be more useful for my family and for myself (and, which is more God-honoring), but I don’t always make that right choice. I am not perfect, I am learning.
7} I have a bachelor’s degree in Housing and Environmental Design. I used this degree for one year, as a Interior Design Assistant at Ethan Allen. It was glorious. Now I am enjoying a quite fulfilling role as Domestic Engineer in my little home. We will be paying on those school bills for years, but I’m grateful that I have that education. Maybe some day I’ll use it again. I sure do love that work!
8} I am funny about my closet. Several years ago I bought about a hundred wooden hangers from Ikea and the obsession has taken off from there. Now things are on wooden hangers, color coded, and sometimes I even go in there to even out the spacing between things. Weird, yes. It’s a control thing, I guess.
9} It is probably safe to say that I have cried (anything from a single tear to several buckets) approximately 150 of the past 365 days. Maybe that’s too personal, but it’s true. I am full of joy and that joy is apparent in my life as well, but I am still grieving. This is a part of my balance, I guess. When I am sad about Evie or our other two miscarriages this year, I go ahead and feel it and then move on. I don’t hide my tears from Oliver (I think it’s important for him to have this example of healthy grief), but I rarely find myself crying when he’s around. He is one of my greatest joys!
10} I have never left the United States apart from brief excursions across the border to Canada and the Bahamas. Never to Europe – or Australia, for that matter! I’ve always wanted to see these places, and have had to turn down a few opportunities simply because I don’t have a passport and there wasn’t enough time to apply for one. If I could pick, I think the first place I’d go would be Ireland.
**Update**
11} My Mom just read this and reminded me of one other interesting bit that very few people know about me. I am a second generation American! My Mom’s Daddy came to America from Belgium when he was eighteen years old. You can actually see some Belgian traits in Oliver’s bone structure, especially when he’s working very seriously. :)
Well, how’s that for Honest Scrap?
And now, I have the great pleasure of nominating a few folks myself:
Natalie Eve – because she’s been hanging around “Finding My Feet” for a while now and always leaves such nice, sweet comments
Christine – because she loves cats and only tolerates large breed dogs. Plus, she smells nice.
Katy – because she knows all about how much I love white flowers
>I liked reading these facts about you. Oh & I've only been to Canada myself, and it was only for an hour or so.
>You're so funny and fun. I guess I should have taken you on some of my jaunts across the big pond. Also, it might be a little known fact that you're a second generation American.
>positively precious. i just posted a little "about me" yesterday. it was fun.
i think you're a little OCD in the closet, but that is probably just my jealousy talking. mine are crammed so full, wooden hangers would never happen (take up too much room) and evenly spaced?? i flippin wish. . .
>YAY!!! I am beyond honored that you nominated me!!! I'll be thinking on this and will post soon! Eeeeeeeeeee!!
>I enjoyed this post since I am new here! I too am left handed and love white flowers! My favorites are daisies and eidelweiss (bet you can't guess one of my favorite movies because of that! haha). Hope you're staying cool in this crazy heat!!!
>I can only say Canada too when it comes to leaving this country we live in!
Have a fantastic day!
>So let's discuss this closet thing. A friend of mine is the same way about her closet. At first I thought she was nuts. I had never before seen someone color code their clothing but noticing how well organized she is I started to think, "hmm, maybe this isn't such a bad idea". So about six months ago I did it. I cannot tell you the difference just organizing (and yes, color coding) my closet has made in my life. I find myself wanting to organize something else all the time now. So while I won't say I space things out perfectly I don't think you are weird!=-)
Have a wonderful day!
>This was SERIOUSLY interesting to read! And you have given me food for thought about my closet too! And it has been a "rough year" and I think your attitude is an example to us all xxxxx
>Well, now I feel pleased to be able to share that while I may live in the grand old US of A currently, I am actually South African. My husband and I have gypsied all over the globe this last decade or so but, sadly, have never been to Australia. But it is definitely on the list!
Homesickness is the only negative side effect that comes with the many benefits of travel. I was actually writing about it today even before I read this post.
http://lisajosbakerboys.blogspot.com/2009/06/homesick.html
But it's nice to know that we are part of a global community, after all!
>Great facts about yourself!
>I can relate to the closet thing. My husband laughs at me when I do laundry and I set the closet up all nice and neat. Everything is color coded and we have separate color hangers LoL.
>I'll have to come see your closet, now. :) It sounds nice.
>Thanks for sharing with us! I love learning random facts about people. :o)
>i loved reading these "real life" facts about you :)
>You know, my cat smells nice, too. For a cat.
>I like your ten things! I love white flowers…tuberoses are my favorite. I always know it's summer when we can pick some up at the farmer's market! I just got home from a six week study abroad program in the UK. We spent a few days in Ireland and it is BEAUTIFUL!! My very favorite place that we went (besides London…that's where we lived) was Scotland. I think you would love it! It's so peaceful and absolutely breathtaking.