I Want You To Know....

Maybe it's the teenager in me but I really enjoy these types of questionnaires.  Or maybe I'm a narcissist and just enjoy talking about myself.  Hmm....either way, here you go.  I stole them from Robin at Farewell Stranger.

1. What is your motto in life?

I don't know if I really have one.  That might be something I have to work on.....

2. Are you a morning or night person?

I am most definitely a morning person - I like to get up, let the pups out and then grab a cup of coffee and settle into surfing the internet before the rest of my family wakes up.

3. Favorite childhood story?

I read a lot of Baby Sitters Club books as well as Sweet Valley High.  I know.  Real high brow literature.

4. What is the farthest road trip you have ever taken?

The summer before I turned 16 my parents and I drove from our house down to Abbeville, Louisiana and then onto New Orleans and then eventually ending up in Destin, Florida.  On the way back we stopped in Jackson, Mississippi and Vicksburg, Louisiana.

5. What collection do you have right now?

I always have a collection of sneakers and t-shirts that I occassionally have to clean out.  But as far as sentimental stuff?  I'm really not a big collector of anything because "collection" to me means "clutter" and "disorganization" and as we all know.......those are two things I simply cannot handle.

6. Coke or Pepsi?

Neither.  No dark sodas for me.  I stick with Sprite.

7. What is your favorite table or board game?

LIFE!  I love this game.  When I would play as a kid I, for some strange reason, would always want to pack my little car FULL of children.  And I remember getting in a fight with a friend about whether the girl could drive the car and her husband sit in the passenger seat.  Seriously.

8. Do you have any piercings/tattoos?

I have my ears pierced just once and I have "passione" which is passionate in Italian tattooed on my left hip. I'm thinking about getting "strength" in Italian tattooed on my right hip so that wherever I go, I have my passion and strength beside me at all times to get through whatever life throws at me.

9. Favorite smell?

Chanel Chance.  I used to wear it all the time when I would "go out" on the weekends but now I just save it for special occasions so that when I do wear it, I feel really feminine and fancy.

10. How do you feel most loved?

Craig is the most fantastic gift giver.  He remembers every single thing that I ever mention that I might like.  I love pretty serving dishes in my kitchen and I found a gorgeous footed turquoise one at Home Goods right before Christmas while we were shopping for his family.  I really fell in love with it but didn't buy it at the time because, you know......it was a week before Christmas and we had other things that we had to spend our money on at that point in time.  Imagine my surprise when I opened a present from his sister on Christmas and she had gotten me that very same bowl that I had seen in the store.  I know that a bowl for my kitchen is a very materialistic way of feeling loved, but I think it's the emotion and intention behind the gift that is important.  Craig, more than anything in this world, lives to make the important women in his life happy and he knew that a pretty bowl to sit on my counter top would put a smile on my face.

11. When was the last time you did something for the first time?

I don't like trying new things.  It goes along with that whole "I don't like failure" thing.  If I have the slightest inkling that I might not be good at something, there's a good chance that I won't be doing it.  But, I'm trying to break out of that mold so I registered for the Warrior Dash at the end of April which is a 5K full of adult obstacle courses.  I'll be swimming through mud and jumping over fire and hopefully earning myself a beer, a turkey leg and a viking helmet.

And here are the questions that Robin thought up and posed to her followers........

1. What's your superpower?

I am pretty intuitive when it comes to people.  I have the ability to read a person and usually (oh gosh, this sounds terrible) the first impression or gut feeling I have about a person is usually pretty spot on and true.  I remember even back to junior high when my two closest friends forged a friendship with a new girl named Lauren.  They were pretty pumped about her but I never trusted her nor did I think she was really someone that we needed to be hanging around.  My other two friends told me I was being too judgmental and harsh and that I should try to get to know her.  I declined.  And sure enough, six months later they were sick of her lies, her pettiness and the fact that she stole things from them.  My intuition about her was right all along and I believe at some point, the words "I told you so" did escape from my lips.

2. What blog do you never miss?

I don't "follow" that many blogs so there really isn't that many that I have to keep up with and therefore I'm able to read all the posts that my bloggy friends make.  One "blog" or website that I check on a daily basis is STFU Parents just because it is absolutely hilarious and helps me to keep my Facebook status updates free and clear of constant Natalie updates.

3. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

I would probably just change my last name back to my maiden name.  I'm pretty fond of my first name, but sometimes I miss my old last name.  I built a persona with that name and it was a very strange experience to change it - I didn't really feel any connection to my married name and I almost felt like a little piece of my identity

4. Do you consider yourself a "blogger" or a "writer"?

I don't really consider myself either to be real honest.  I don't think of this really as a "blog" but more a public journal and online social circle.  I mean, from a teacher's perspective I suppose I am a "writer" because technically, I am putting words together in sentences and these sentences form paragraphs and my paragraphs become a piece of short literature.  But I certainly wouldn't consider myself a GOOD writer.

5. What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?

I wouldn't say I've had any BIG failures in my life but there certainly have had several small ones - a volleyball loss here or a bad boyfriend there.  I don't know if I would call them "failures" but I have made some pretty poor decisions (see bad boyfriend above) and I learned a lot from those..........but I really don't have the time nor the energy to go into those lessons because it would take the rest of the afternoon.

6. What's the most embarrassing song in your collection?

I have every single 'Nsync, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears songs ever made.  And you know what?  I'm not even embarrassed about it.

7. Are you shy?

Surprisingly, yes.  I like the familiar and when I'm placed in a new situation with people I don't know, I get very quiet and reserved because I like to survey the scene before jumping in.  This way, I can gauge how I need to act and which sides of my personality I need to show.  Ooh.  When I put it that way it sounds like I'm fake and not "keeping it real" with people, but I just like to know whether or not I can be sarcastic or if I need to be more straightforward, etc.

8. How do you prioritize yourself in your own life?

I play in a volleyball league every Wednesday night at 7:30 for one hour and starting next week I will be participating in a women's Bible study every Tuesday night.  Craig understands that I need time to recharge and re-energize myself and he has no problem taking care of Natalie.

9. Where do you stand on chocolate?

I'm not the biggest chocolate fan - I'd much rather eat chips or anything else salty.  The one piece of chocolate that I can't resist is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  My goodness.  Those things are a little piece of heaven on this Earth.

10. What's your biggest source of inspiration (other than your family, etc.)?

Hmm.  I would probably say my athletes.  They inspired me to get up in the mornings and get to school at 7:15 for practice because they showed so much enthusiasm for the sport and for each other.  Watching them grow as players and young women inspires me to be the best role model possible for them.

11. What do you hope to do this year that you're really excited about?

I don't know if it's PURE excitement because there's definitely some fear and trepidation mixed in there but I am forging ahead with my Warrior Dash event at the end of April.  It should be interesting and if nothing else, I'll get some good pictures.