Challenging Charity

Sitting at our booth that we always sit at whenever we have a meal at Denny's, I tried to entertain the boys while we waited to be served. We don't eat at Denny's very often, maybe once or twice a year at most (you know, when one of us has that crazy pang for French toast and sausage drenched in sweet, sweet syrup!), so whenever we've gone in we have always been seated unintentionally at the same booth. It's set back in a cozy, little corner and sort of makes it feel like 'our' booth. It always feels so much like how family time is supposed to be when we head to Denny's, as odd as that sounds. This time, however, was particularly difficult for me because the boys were extra hungry and extra anxious (note, extra wiggly!). They wanted nothing more than to climb under, over, on top of and all around that booth and made it clear that Mom and Dad's protests wouldn't be tolerated. They had excitedly picked out their food that had an outer-space theme, but that fad died soon after the menus were picked up and taken away. Then their interests went right back to climbing Mt. Momanddad. We were so preoccupied with settling the boys down that we hardly noticed a quiet, elderly couple choose a table in the center of the room to eat at, and another family with kids at a table nearby. Our food arrived a few minutes later and we all enjoyed our meals as we chatted over this, that and the other.

Not 5 minutes before we were about to leave, the older woman came up to our table and started to compliment the boys on how cute (and well-behaved, ha ha!) they were. I thanked her for the compliments and as I did so, she stuck out a hand to Bruce and in it was a coupon for 10% off an entire order. She insisted that we use it up because they already had a different coupon they were using and surely wouldn't use this one before it expired in a month. We thanked her again and then she hurriedly went to the next family and gave them a coupon as well before rushing out the door to meet up with her spouse.

'What a nice thing to do for complete strangers!' I remember thinking to myself. I thought about it a lot as we drove home and over the course of the next few days. It was just such a nice reminder that sometimes there is so much good in the world that may be so insignificant to the giver, but so grand that it can put a smile on our faces and a warm glow in our hearts when we are the receiver.

A few days ago I was reading the blog of a dear friend of mine, Noelle from Noelle's Noodle, when I read something that really stuck with me. I asked her permission to share it here, and she agreed to it, so I have. Here it is:

After we left Wal*Mart this young guy came up to the van holding an adorable, large Teddy Bear that he had just won from one of those Claw-Catching-Vending-Machines. Apparently, he’s really good at those games (or he’s got a lot of money to spend and time to spare) because he said that he always gives away his winnings to the first family he sees.

I said, "Well, thank you very much!"

And he said, “You’re welcome! Have a great weekend!”

Wasn’t that so sweet? The boys loved it!

This excerpt jumped out at me and brought thoughts of the lady with the coupon from a few months ago flooding right back to my mind. I had forgotten, and I hate to forget things like this. These random acts of kindness that people do for one another. That people do for me and my family. That people do for my friends, and my loved ones. It left me pondering events in my life that I considered random acts of kindness and one in particular couldn't escape me.

Earlier this year we had reached a stumbling block, as so many people do from time to time. I was dealing with a major health issue that was causing me a lot of pain and discomfort. I blogged about that and although I had shared that bit of information with my friends, my emphasis was how we were in a tight spot at the moment. I thought nothing of it, as I was just venting my frustration with our situation and my feelings of helplessness, but a few days later a card arrived in the mail and tucked inside was enough money to cover the basic cost of the treatment I really needed to relieve the pain I was in. I was taken by surprise because I didn't consider this to be a particularly good friend who would care so much as to send money, so I was reluctant to accept it at first. My initial response was to sit down and write a card to send back with the money inside, explaining why I couldn't accept the money (we needed to provide our own remedies to bad situations) but how I appreciated the gesture. Ugh. I was in so much pain, though! How could I refuse it? I really turned it over and over in my mind and finally sought the counsel of a friend who convinced me that I should humble myself to the gift because, not only did I need it at just that very time, but the person who sent it would likely be deeply offended if I returned it. I know that this friend was probably right.

My husband and I decided to keep it and use it for the treatment I needed, and we did. I was so, so very grateful for that act of kindness, as stubborn as my pride was before I would actually accept it and use it. I later came to find that this person who sent the money wasn't really the type of person with whom I could be friends with, and I'm sure they felt similarly about me. They valued things that I didn't, and I valued things that they didn't, so in the end we went our separate ways but I never did, and never will, forget that one random act of kindness that truly benefited me and my family at a very trying time. That was one thing that this person and I both valued and strived for, compassionate hearts, and I am glad that I can acknowledge this person's good traits as opposed to those that I don't agree with. I don't know that this person believes they truly did something right by doing what they did, but I hope they don't regret it. I didn't tell them, but I vowed to return the favor by doing something for someone else when things were back to normal for us. I really did appreciate their gift.

A few months later in spring, my family and I did have the chance to turn around and do something for someone else in return for that favor. I hope that those whom we chose not only enjoyed it, but that they continued the repetition in one form or another - by doing something so small but with such impact that the next person can do nothing more than be inspired to also continue on with it. I can just imagine how many people we all can touch when we each take the time to do something simple and kind for someone else whenever someone else does something kind and simple for us. I am very glad that Noelle took the time to add her story into her blog so that I could reflect, once again, on the amazing abilities we have to touch and impact one another as loving and charitable human beings.

I don't believe that we have to be all sweets and sugar all of the time (heaven forbids me to), but sometimes when we feel prompted to, we can share such treats with those around us and make this world a better place. (Did anyone else hear Michael Jackson when reading that? *LoL*)

I am challenging myself now to make a more thoughtful and inspired effort to reach out and hand someone a coupon, share with them the dime to get them through, provide them a safer place to gather for meals, give them a soft, stuffed animal to hold on to, or any other random acts of kindness. I love to help people, but sometimes I feel that I can't do nearly enough when a task is overwhelming so I end up doing nothing at all. That doesn't sit right, so I am permitting myself here and now to make more of the simple acts of kindness. The ones that just might mean as much to someone else as those that have been passed to me were.

And I challenge you to do the same.

Melody's Bouquet - WE@TToo Version 1

I have admired the work of many women across the internet who participate in an amazing expression of emotion each week. They gather at Wrapped Emotions where the creator, Melody, or a chosen guest blogger presents a new challenge for the week and women all over the blogosphere opt to join in and share their creations. This week the guest blogger is Jenny from Live! And in Color and is doing a special challenge (read about it here) for Melody. All of those who were willing to participate were asked to create a flower for a cyberspace bouquet, and if the reasons are unclear, please do visit the links in the text above. This is an incredible movement. I have contemplated the different things I could do to join in for weeks. I had crayon rubbings floating around my desk, and thoughts of what on earth I could smash to create some beautiful masterpiece with each seperate shard. But alas, I never did get around to posting about those things, or even doing some of them, so I haven't had a chance to join in on the fun... until now. When I read this week's challenge, I immediately knew what to do. It was simple, for me, but it was the least I could do for the little bits of joy that Melody and her fantastic projects at Wrapped Emotions has brought to me, by creating a community of women who can share, express and create from nothing but raw emotion. It's such a beautiful thing! So here is my little contribution, my little 'thanks' to Melody and all of the other women who are on the WE bandwagon. This is my flower for the bouquet to let you know that, even though I haven't shared myself and the things I've made for WE on WE yet, I love it, have enjoyed it, and find so much comfort in reading the WE posts of others. Thank you! And I hope that life's obstacles that are in your path right now will provide you a way to come to an even greater path in life.

I'm late! I'm late!

I feel like the white rabbit today, and don't have enough time to do what I need to get done. I really don't have time to post about my exciting weekend spent with my family, but will when I get other things done. I have a Mid-term this week, and have a lot of studying to do. I have a lot of projects around the home that I need to do as well, but hopefully I'll have them finished in a day or two and will be able to share my time online with you again.
Be back soon!

Eight Maids a Milking

I know that Meme's are not always popular (and alternatively, some are far too popular), but I found this one to be very sweet and simplistic and I rather like that. Sheila transformed an old meme into a new version which she's called Eight Maids a-Milking, and has tagged me to do it also. I was planning to write a deeper blog entry, but kept putting it off and will write about it later. In the meantime, here is my Eight Maids a-Milking Meme.

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
* My family
* Honesty
* Respect
* Art
* Self-Worth
* Blogging
* Helping others
* My Friends

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
* Visit Curacao with my hubby
* See my boys make their way through school
* See my boys wed
* Become a grandma
* Own a home on the East Coast
* Sell my artwork
* Visit another country (or several, for that matter)

6 Things That I Say Often:
* "Awesome!"
* "Oh, good heavens!"
* "You silly goose!"
* "I love you!"
* "I'm so proud of you."
* "Knock it off!"

5 Songs I Can Listen To Over And Over:
* "I'll be" by Edwin McCain
* "The Alphabet" sung by my boys! It's so cute!
* "So Simple" by Stacie Orrico
* "Popular" from the musical Wicked!
* "She's so Cute" by Animaniacs

4 Books I've Read Recently (Or Am Reading):
* Robinson Crusoe
* Curious George
* Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose
* Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The Use of Reason in Everyday Life

3 Things That Attract Me To My Friends:
* Personality
* Trustworthiness
* Admirable talents

2 Things That I Learned Last Year:
* How to be more tolerant of others who differ from me in various ways
* I can be who I want to be and I am who I choose - It's never too late to help yourself

Now, 1 last thing, I want these people to also share:
*Liz
*Julie

Who am I?

A challenge passed among friends, I have come to the conclusion that there will be no better time to participate and answer the question, "Who am I?" than right now as I listen to "Everything" by Michael Buble. It's very difficult, and indeed a challenge, to answer such a complex question, but it's a challenge that intrigued me from the get go.
In relation to the song, I feel like there is nothing that can describe me more than 'everything'. I feel as though I am ever-changing and that sometimes I may be something and other times the complete opposite, and still again, there are times when I don't know what I am, what I think, or where I stand. I can be kind or critical. I can be tenacious or open minded and accepting. I can be empathetic, sympathetic, or so cold, so distant. I change, all of the time, and yet I always feel that I am the same, just me, deep inside. I cannot express who I am without admitting that I may not always feel the same about everything, all of the time.
My roles in life are very important to me because they are a definite element to my composition at any given point. These roles I take on, such as wife, mother, student, daughter, friend, artist, sister, may not always stay the same, but in the moment they do make up who I am, and they generate the circumstances in my life.
When I am a wife, I support my husband. I find value in his voice and opinions. I try to create comfort and love for him, and be the one he turns to, for any need or desire. My love for him is unending. I feel as though I am an equal and I love that I can stand in front of, beside, or behind my husband without feeling as though I have to be in the position that I am, for he stands in front of, behind or beside me at times, too. I really believe that he and I were meant for each other.
When I am a mother, subsequent roles come in to play that make up who I am. I cook, I clean, I teach (and therefore I also learn), I promote health and provide security. This position in my life, motherhood, is one that I would not trade for anything in the world. There is nothing on earth at this point in time that could make me love my children any less than I do now, and have from the moment they were each born. That too, the unconditional love that I feel for my family, also makes me who I am. I did not want to be a parent when I was young myself, but this is now who I am and it is nothing that I regret or would ever want to take back. I love being a mother and being the biggest influence on these two amazing boys in my life.
And when I am a student, I am anxious to take in more knowledge. I love to learn, and I love to think. I find stretching my mind to consider new possibilities and questioning truths to be very liberating, and very fulfilling. Although I have my fair share of arguments, stubborn as I am, I really do not enjoy debating and arguing. I feel that I learn more through constructive, tactful discussions rather than the pressures of trying to persuade someone else who is set on persuading me, as often times we are too busy trying to focus on convincing the other person of our stances that we do not take time to carefully consider their stance as well. I learn well on my own, and I learn well by direction. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be a student again, becoming educated in things that interest me and not just things that are instilled in me as a standard for all. I am an artist and being a student has, even in a short time, helped me to grow creatively and given me more means to express who I am.
Aside from the roles that I play day in and day out, my characteristics also make up who I am. I strive to be a better person almost all of the time. I love to help people, and that makes me feel that I am compassionate, but compassion is also a quality that I believe others have to bestow upon you in order to be of any worth. I am loyal, and yet, sometimes this causes so much hurt within me, because even after someone has given up on me, I cling to them, keeping them in my heart and mind despite their absence in my life. I wonder how they are, if they miss me as I do them, if anything new and exciting has happened in their lives. When someone puts their trust in me, I cherish it and value it very much. I also expect the same in return when I put my trust in someone else. Respect, manners and courtesy is very important to me and I try to always carry those things with me, but I also believe that there's a time and place where it is ok to be wild and care-free, let loose and relaxed. I wasn't always an accepting person, but I've recently developed a conviction for tolerance, and I very much strive to be tolerant of different people, different ideas, and different ways of doing things. Despite having suffered with depression a great majority of my life, I am now a very happy, very optimistic person. I have had situations in my life that have humbled me. I am a grateful person, and I try to show my gratitude to others. I think that I have a good sense of humor, for the most part, although I tend to be a little too sarcastic at times. I am easily frustrated, and very easily annoyed, and I think these things are signs that I really need to work on qualities that I really admire in other people; patience and understanding. I am honest, even when I don't want to be. I try my best to use tact when the truth is necessary but not always nice. I believe that criticism can be helpful as long as it is truly constructive and not just called constructive criticism for the sake of avoiding the responsibility of using words that were obviously meant to hurt someone. I don't know which side of the fence I am better off on when it comes to politics, so I sit on the fence to get a better view of things and go with whomever or whatever I feel is right. The characteristic that I like least about myself, at least at the moment, is my need for solitude, even when I don't really want to be alone, and I suppose that is the case right now because I do feel very lonely. The characteristic I like most about myself is my authenticity. I am not afraid to be who I am, whether I am afraid, or nervous, happy or cheerful, angry or hurt, disgusted or pleased, unsatisfied or completely content.
And right now, in closing, I am very much content with who I have shared with you... me.... myself... who I am.

This entry was a response to a Meme/Writing challenge presented by my dear friend, Roze. She proposed the question to ask ourselves, "Who am I?" and gave the following instructions:
You can answer it by making a list of what qualities you feel you have, or you can write it out like a letter or story. How ever you want, as long as it is honest, insightful and revealing.
She also included questions to consider while writing your answer. What makes me me? Do others see me as I really am? If not, how do they see me as compared to who I really am? What will I be remembered for?
Feel free to do this challenge yourself and be sure to post back here to let me know who YOU are. ;)

Got the Giveaway!

Wow! I checked my email this morning and was surprised to find a few new comments here on my blog and a note from Sheila saying I'd won her Blog DVD Giveaway! Wuhwho! I've never won a blog giveaway before, so I was VERY excited. Our whole family loves movies (though we only have a limited number of them), and my boys will surely love this one. They've never seen it before, but it was one of my favorites when I was younger. I'm sure they are going to LOVE it because it's such a classic!
I've seen several blogs doing Blog Giveaways, some even do weekly giveaways (like Your Heart Out and From Dates to Diapers). I think it's a fun, new, trendy way to get to know new people through blogging. I think I'll consider doing my own Giveaway before too long, so be sure to check back!
Thanks, Sheila for the DVD and the opportunity to participate in yours!

Time Consuming

Things that will be consuming my time today include:

Laundry. Gosh, I love folding laundry! I just hate putting it away. I am crossing my fingers that we can get a new washer and dryer by the end of the year.

Dishes. I don't like doing dishes! I'll put them away without complaint, but please, don't ask me to stick my hands in dirty dish water. Ick!

Picking up Toys. Why is it that they can never stay in their bins, nice and organized? Is it really too hard to pick up after one's self? Arg. This is a hard lesson to teach children without ending up doing it yourself anyway! (Tips are appreciated, and take note that my children are easily bribed... hmmm...)

Cleaning the crib. So sad, it's time to sell the crib that we won't be using again. I'd like to have it out of our storage unit before the first big snow fall here in the valley, so I need to make sure it's clean and presentable for pictures. Oh, how I wish I had reason to keep it.

Packing clothes for DI. I have come to a place of contentment. I will not be so small again, so I've packed many of my old pre-pregnancy clothes to be taken to DI. It stung a little that a lot of them were brand new and I'd never had the chance to wear them, but someone else will be able to put them to good use.

Hitting the Hot Spots. The top of the armoire and the top of the microwave both need some clearing off again.

And last but... well, hopefully I won't have time to get to this one today. Time for the toilets to have a nice bleach bath. Ick! Thankfully I have a manly husband who can be persuaded to battle the germs that try to settle abode on our thrones.

I'd best stop procrastinating now.

Quirky Confession

Do you ever have thoughts, perhaps while daydreaming or just before you fall asleep at night, where you later look back and wonder how you got from one thought to the next? The connections between each one are so wild or bizzare that you believe if you relayed your thought process to someone they would give you that what-on-earth look that most people get hot cheeks over. Yeah. I had one of those roller-coaster stream of thoughts tonight. I won't even begin to try and explain, and trust me, I already tried, and still don't know how I got from one thing to the next at some points, so I'll just continue on. In the end, I came to the conclusion that most people have a strange, or some strange little quirks about them. They have favorite things, or certain ways that they like to do things, and sometimes they feel funny or 'off' when they knowingly choose to do something completely opposite or unsuiting to their normal little quirks. I read a good example a little while ago (thought I can't remember where or who for some reason) where they got married on an odd day of the month and because they can't stand odd numbers, to this day it still bothers them, even after being married for years. I'm sure they'd rather have all odd numbers in their phone number if they could, or ride buses with odd numbered routes just because they like odd numbers. It's definitely not an obsession, because it doesn't alter every day life - there isn't a threat of the world ending if it's not that way -, but I think it's more of a comfort thing. We all feel more comfortable when we have things our way, just the way we like them, and I think I like that about people. We all like to be comfortable sometimes, and sometimes it's a bit intimidating to share our happy little things, but I'm going to take a deep breath and do it! I hope that when I'm done, if you read this, you will do it, too.

As I reflected on my day this evening I realized that I have a quirk for colors, and this is my confession.

I will pour name-brand dish soap into a generic dishsoap container because I think the generic one looks better in my kitchen.
Even though my older son can dress himself, if we're going out I make sure to lay out clothes that are matching for him to put on (I still let him get himself dressed. He is Mr. Independent after all!) because I like outfits that match and I hate thinking that someone is looking at my child funny because he has an outrageous, mismatched clothes on. Children are not very good at matching clothes and that's just all there is to it. Heh. If only you could see my blushing right now!
I refuse to wear brown masacara, or even soft black. It has to be BLACK because I like the look of my eye color next to dark, dark lashes. Oh boy, more blushing!
Sometimes when I'm bored I will sit and come up with color schemes. For what, it doesn't matter. I just like playing with colors and coming up with an array of them that go well together.
I won't wear socks that don't match, even if they can't be seen by anyone else. It drives me batty!
I like colors to mesh well, so if I decorate for a party, if I get or make new decor for a room, it all has to match or at least look decent together. If it doesn't, well, I was probably in a hurry. Ha!
If I change the background to my blog, you can bet that I'll be changing the hyperlinks and text colors soon after so that it doesn't clash.

And three good things that come from my color quirk...
My kids don't look like they lost their leg of the carnival bandwagon when they're seen in public. Ok, joking! I will still let them wear what they want in public sometimes, but by gosh, if they'll change into something that matches for me, then we're going with it! (I don't care if your kids are mismatched - this quirk is for my kids only! Weird, I know. :")
The rooms in my home all have great color schemes, if I do say so myself. I would seriously love to do interior decorating at some point because I really enjoy mixing and matching colors in home decor.
Selecting accurate colors in different light or darknesses, arranging colors that really contrast or enhance other colors helps with my artistic and creative projects for school assignments, crafts and graphics. Shadows blend well. Words pop out. Things flow when colors go well together! I love that. :)

And now, it's your turn!
Confess your quirk to others, on your own blog, by filling out the sentence: I have a quirk for ______ and this is my confession!
Give at least three examples of ways your quirk has effect in your life, good or bad.
Give at least three ways that your quirk comes in handy and 'works' for you. Don't be ashamed, it's part of what makes you YOU! :D Be as silly or as serious as you like, and make sure to let me know if you do this on your blog so I can read it, too.

Educational Explanation

The first photo here was given to us to color correct, and this is my finished attempt. It had a red overtone to it originally. The second photo is my first attempt at Photo restoration. The third photo was the original photo that I restored. I had a lot of fun doing that one! The fourth and final picture is an assignment I had finished. We were told to take the bug out of a photograph (it was in a woody scene on a gravel road behind a home) and put it on a white background. It was originally green and we were told to change the color, cut out the windows so that they were also white, and add text to the side of the car, making it look as realistic as possible. The text wasn't so easy to do because it was hard to make it look real, which is why I chose to place it as I did, with a curve.






School has been going well still. I finished my Illustrator Basics class and came out with grades that I was pleased with. I won't know my official grade for the class overall, but from the looks of it... again, I'm just pleased. :)
Now that we've moved on to Photoshop, I was a little concerned about whether I would like this program or not because I've always used Paint Shop Pro in the past and others warned me that Photoshop can be difficult to use. So far I've found it to be fairly easy, but that's probably because so many of the tools are the same or very similar. We've moved on from cutting things out of photos and color correction to photo restoration. Oh, boy! I love playing with photos and I'm really loving the photo restoration portion of this class. It can be a bit frustrating, but when all is said and done, I like how my pictures have turned out and that makes it so worth it. This week is the last week of Photoshop Basics so I'm curious about what classes I'll get for the next Module. (Modules are like condensed Semesters, I guess).
I thought I would share some of my assignments since I have several of them up right now. Ugh. Forgive the strange organization of this post. I'm still getting used to how Blogger works with photos when being uploaded from Firefox.

Heaps O'Hormones

Usually a week or so before my lovely Aunt Flo comes to visit there are heaps of hormones raging through my body. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell when things are 'a changin' but other times it's very obviously apparent. Maybe to others more so than myself, but to me, the ease or difficulty varies from month to month.
Well, now is that time, where a week, ten days or so, down the road from now Aunt Flo will be making her uninvited appearance. How do I know this time? I was wandering around blogs this evening and came across one of a beautiful woman who created a beautiful doll for her beautiful little girl. Oh, so what. Who cares, right? Well, anyone who really knows me, knows that I can't have any more children. And anyone who really knows me knows that I wish I could have just one more; a little girl. I have two boys who I love dearly, more than life itself, but occasionally my heart pangs for a little girl to dress up, put bows in her hair and put pearly pink lipgloss on her pouty little lips, twirl around with and sing to Britney Spears. Wait. Sing to Hannah Montanna... that's the popular new idol of young girls these days, isn't it? Anyway, I think most women know that maternal tune that eggs the heartstrings on and on saying, "Give me a baby to hold..." and although I've already been blessed with children, I am still no exception.
So why did that doll have me so forlorn? I had one when I was very little. Just like that, or very similar. I can't recall if it was mine, or something I shared with my sisters, or something I only got to play with at my grandma's house (I keep thinking it was one of grandma's toys), but in any case, I loved her. She had a pretty flowered red dress during the day, and when you flipped her skirt she wore a flowerly blue night gown, eyes closed, just like the doll in the photos on Bethany's post. Love for one little doll just came flooding over me, and I wanted to give that to another little girl, my own little girl. *sigh*
Oh, but that wasn't all. I blew that moment off after longingly looking at Bethany's photos of the doll and reviewing the patterns (I wish I could make one for myself to hold at night, but I think my hubby would consider that a little 'too' strange) for a while. How did I really know that it was 'around that time again' that I should start looking forward to (Yeah right!) my Aunt Flo? Well, I had headed back over to Crunchy Domestic Goddess and read down a few entries. I came to this one and about half way through, I finally broke down and started bawling. Yeah, I did. Where it says, "Not breastfeeding, but support it?" Oh, oh, oh. It made my heart ache. All the memories of having to stop early when Hunter was still a wee babe, and how difficult it was to accept. Not breastfeeding... that's me! :( That's when I had that little lightbulb go off in my head telling me that normally I can keep my composure while reading things like that, but since I obviously can't tonight, then I must be... well, hormonal. *sigh again*

The touchy subjects will have to be faced now and again, and as much as they hurt, I still love them. I love that so many other women are blessed with beautiful little girls that get to dress up and play with dolls (or power tools, if they so choose... no, the toy kind, duh!) and still have children. But for now... it sucks. I just have to remind myself for the next week or so...

I'll be over it in a few days, when my life is all about tampons and cramping and yelling at everyone to shut the hell up and leave me alone. :")

Calendar Review

I've seen Roze's "Who am I?" Challenge, and I've been thinking about how to answer it. I haven't come up with something yet, so in the meantime here is a Meme from Liz. It's a look over the last 10 months or the year of 2007 thus far.

10 MONTHS OF 2007

1. Have you had your birthday yet?
No

2. Are you the same person as you were at the beginning of 2007?
Definitely NOT

3. Are you still in the same job?
Yes, I'm still a stay at home mom and loving it even more now than ever. The boys are growing and threats of preschool and daycare lurk around.

4. Is your favorite color the same color?
I guess so

5. Have you had the same hair style/color?
I started out the year with a wild hair color. My tips were dark, the middle was a brassy red, and my roots were my natural brown. I was trying to grow it out so I could cut out the color and be all natural again. In April I had it professionally blended as close to my natural color as possible. Now it mostly looks natural with some brassy brown tones mixed in from the faded dye. It's also grown out a lot since the beginning of the year. It's now down past my shoulders and I like it longer like this. I'll probably be getting a trip and new style soon, though, to cut out any left over dye and keep it looking healthy. :)

6. Have you bought a new car this year?
No, but we're almost paid off with our current one so we've been contemplating what we want to get next for our family! So excited at the prospect of another car, finally!

7. Anything exciting happen this year?
Yes! I've finally beat my depression which I could not be happier about! One of my best friends moved nearby. My big boy turned 3! My allergies were the best (as in much less apparent) they've been this spring and summer since I started having them at age 15. My little guy is potty trained and about to turn 2! My husband got an excellent raise and a huge acknowledgement for his contributions at work, and I've finally enrolled in school and am doing well and loving it! A lot of exciting stuff this year, or at least it's exciting to me!

8. Been involved with the police this year?
Hmm... involved, nope. I do have a great friend now who is a corrections officer, though, if that counts for anything.

9. Favorite all time drink for 2007?
What kind of question is this? I hate stupid questions. I guess I'll go with Cherry Limeade.

10. Is your best friend still your best friend?
Yes.

11. Had any tattoos or piercings this year?
No

12. Had a hair cut?
Yes

13. Been in a hospital this year?
Yes, but thankfully it wasn't for myself or anyone in my family this time!

14. Lost someone you cared about this year?
In a physical sense, no. I have lost friends, but I've also gained some, so I count my blessings. :)

15. Where have you been this year, vacation/business?
This year I've been to California for the first time in my life, EVER! We went to Hollywood. I didn't get to see much, though, so I plan on going back again sometime. Wendover, of course. Hubby and I love to go there when we have time alone together. I was supposed to go to Wyoming from my little brother's graduation and to visit my family there, but we couldn't at the time. :( I hope I get to visit next year instead. Hmm, where else? Ah, we went Camping at Deer Creek just a few weekends ago, too.

6. Been in love this year?
Yes! In love with my hubby soooo so much!

17. Fallen out of love this year?
Yes, and right back in again! Love is something you have to work at, and we do it well. :")

18. Been kicked out of a pub this year?
No, pubs are not my scene.

20. Read any books?
Yep!

21. Worst thing to happen this year?
The worst? Well, that's hard to say. I think this has been a great year so far, and aside from personal things that I'd rather not share publicly, I think the worst was the cold that Hunter had this summer. Poor little guy had it for weeks on end, and we couldn't figure out what was going on. Tested him for allergies and he flunked (thank goodness!), but left us with unanswered questions. A good dose of antibiotics nipped it in the bud after a few weeks and we were all much happier.

22. Best thing you’ve done this year?
Committed myself to school. I've got good grades thus far and am learning and loving it! I even get to share it with my family as the boys crawl up on my lap to watch the class when it's in session... it's the best!

23. How many times have you gotten drunk?
No comment. :)

24. Has this year been a good one so far?
It’s been the best!

25. Do you have anything to comment about the year 2007?
Now that it's fall, I really hope that the rest of the year doesn't fly by too fast. I really want to feel prepared for each coming event, birthdays and holidays and such, and I want to enjoy them as much as I can.

Contestify!

Feeling as I do lately, I've been moping around and wandering the net for fun blogs to read. Today I've found one that's Cute as a Bug and holding a contest for a free infant onesie or toddler T-shirt. Very cute stuff! I couldn't help but want to enter. Hunter would look so cute in this one right here, don't you think?
I know a lot of my blog buddies are moms and some have just had babies or will soon (hint, hint, Noelle! JJ!), so if you want to sign up for the contest to try and win a free Halloween shirt for your little ones, too, just hit up Crunchy Domestic Goddess!

In addition to T-shirt, you can also get a brand new DVD of The Jungle Book over on My Memories, a blog written by a SAHM named Sheila. I'm finding fun stuff in the blogosphere right and left!

Run-on Laundry

Don't you hate it when you go to put something in the laundry and then wait for it to finish so you can put it in the dryer and sit forever just waiting for it and then when you go to check on it you realize that you had forgotten to put the lid down to actually start the washer, so they never were washed at all?

Yeah, I hate it, too.