We Want to Know... Wednesday?

Okay, okay so technically it is Thursday, but you see I just got a new book Arbitrate by Megan Thomason, part of the DayNight series, it doesn't actually come out for a few more days but I have an advanced copy and oh my gosh I can't put it down!  Hence why this post is a day late, better late than never.  So today I am linking up with Kenzie and Scriptor.

Were you athletic as a child?
  Sort of?  I was always a fast runner and in junior high no one could stop me in flag football.  I also did play t-ball and softball.  One year I played third base and would run and dive to catch foul balls, ending up with bloody scratched up knees. I could also make the throw from 3rd to 1st and rarely if ever stuck out.  I even made the all-star team my last year of softball but that was my last year as I chickened out about going to fast-pitch.  Other than softball  I wasn't really allowed encouraged to play too many sports.  I had open heart surgery when I was five and my pediatrician was worried that school coaches might push me too hard.  My heart doctor wasn't as worried though, but I think I used that as a crutch at times.

Did you play organized sports?
  Yep, one year of t-ball and 3 or 4 years of softball (see above) but nothing really after that.

Me the year I played t-ball

What do you do for exercise now?
  Ummmm..... yeah um... nothing.  Chase Ryder around?  Ask me this last year and I would tell you I was working out 3 times a week, hour long boot camp style workout, and running at least 3 miles every Saturday.   Then summer hit and I didn't feel like dragging all my kids to work out.  Then school started again and yea I just never got back to it.  Need to recommit!

Would you rather exercise or diet?
  Exercise for sure!  I love food too much.  Plus I have the hardest time wanting to work out but I never regret doing it and feel so good after the fact.

If you didn't have to worry about calories or fat, what one food would you eat ad nauseam?
  Cheese- any kind of cheese on just about everything and by itself.

Did you play any sports as a kid?

We Want to Know Wednesday

I have been blogging for a long time now, this November will be 5 years!  I have seen a lot of things come and go in the blogging world so definitely wanted to jump in and answer the We Want to Know Questions with Kenzie and Scriptor.



1. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
    Definitely the friendships and connections; knowing that I am not the only one out there going though something and that there are people who have my back.  I have been able to meet some bloggers in real life and it is always so surreal meeting a stranger who you feel like you know everything about.

2. What do you find your inspiration for blog posts?
   Mostly every day life, my kids, things that are happening at home, sometimes things in the world.  If I am drawing a blank I always like finding parties like this one with good ideas for what to write about.

3. Are there any blogging trends you follow?
  I guess social media.  When I began blogging I was not even on Facebook, not my blog didn't have a Facebook page, but I myself was not on facebook.  I didn't want to either as it seemed silly and one more thing to do.  Now I am on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and Instagram to name a few.  It really has changed the whole face of blogging.

4. Any trends you don't like?
   See number 3-- I really have a love/hate relationship with all the social media.  I love that Pinterest is my number one source of traffic.  I love the new bloggers I have met through twitter, etc, but I hate that I feel like I have to keep up with all of that stuff.

5. What advice would you give to a new blogger?
   Decide why you want to do it.  Are you doing it for money?  Are you doing it for journaling?  Are you doing it to share your story?  Whatever you reason may be hold on to that and remember that as there will be days that you will really think, why the heck am I doing this?  Also, go comment on other blogs and if someone comments on your blog please visit their blog (unless they leave a lame comment like, "hi, I liked your post come read my blog"- I give you permission to ignore those people).   I always try and go back to the blog of someone who commented on mine.  I will be honest sometimes it takes me a week (or more) but I will get back to it.

So how about you, what do you like about blogging?  What keeps you going?

We Want to Know Wednesday: This and That

Running a little late this morning but linking up with Kenzie  and Scriptor for We Want to Know Wednesday


{no. 1} Water or coffee/tea/soda? Water for sure.  We rarely ever buy pop (yes pop I was raised in the Midwest) but will have it when we go out to dinner and I don't drink coffee.

{no. 2} Beach or mountains? Both-- which I sort of have.  I live inland and right by a mountain range.  I can get up a full blown mountain resort that people ski at within an hour and can get to the ocean in an hour.  So cheating and saying both.

The mountain range right by my house even gets a snow dusting in the winter

{no. 3} TV or a book? A book- I love getting lost in a good book.  Though at night I would rather watch TV as it is nice to just mindlessly sit. 

{no. 4} Lots of activity or a quiet getaway? If I am going to have the kids with me, then lots of activity so they aren't bored... but I also almost always have the kids with me so the idea of a quiet getaway without kids is heaven! 

{no. 5} Comedy or drama? Romantic comedy-so there is some drama in there.  If I have to pick just one I think I lean more towards the drama.  

What about you? How would you answer the questions?

Winner and Want to Know

First- the winner of Safe Kids, Smart Parents is

AND THE WINNER IS...

results powered by Random.org

Entry #34Chelsea T.

Congrats to Chelsea!


Now I will be answering some We Want to Know Wednesday Questions with Kenzie and Scriptor again

1. Show us in pictures how your summer is going so far.
  I shared a lot of pictures from our summer yesterday; so here are some repeats and some new ones.

2. What is one thing you are never to busy for?
   That is a tough one.. I wish (and should be able to say) my kids... but that is not always true.  I guess one thing though if my toddler asks me to cuddle I always stop and cuddle with him,

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
    When I wrote this post last night, 30 minutes before I was reading scriptures and saying prayers with my family and then getting the kids in bed.

4. What is the best advice you ever received?
   To treat your spouse like a gift.  On Christmas morning you don't run downstairs open your presents only to say, "oh man I wish this was this instead" or "I don't like this about it".. so why do we do that with the people in our lives?  Why look at and focus on the bad or things that bother us?   If we do that is all we will soon see.

5. Share some of your favorite quotes:

We Want to Know Wednesday: Summer

Linking up today with Kenzie and Scriptor  for We Want to know Wednesday

{no. 1} Now that it is officially Summer, what season is your favorite and why?

I think my favorite season is fall.  In SoCal we definitely do not have traditional seasons, but in Illinois where I grew up we did.  I loved the cool nights, the leaves changing colors, football season, my birthday... so yep fall.

{no. 2} What does Summer look like in your house? Sound like?

Summer looks and sounds loud, crazy and lazy.  My kids seem to have two volumes, loud and louder (well except for Ryder he can be quiet still), so when they are home all day it is loud.  There are lots of days where we all stay in our pajamas, lots of games, book reading and yes way too many shows. There are also pool days, trips to the beach,  and vacations.

{no. 3} Recount a Summer memory from your childhood:

I grew up in Illinois on a small street that was surrounded by and ended in a cornfield- literally it was a dead end.  We lived near the end so all of the neighborhood kids would spend our summer nights playing outside in the yards and in the street.   We would play war, ghost in the graveyard, and other games until it got to dark to safely run around (there were not street lights).  Many days I spent the whole day in my bathing suit either swimming at my friend's across the street, playing in the sprinklers or on the slip and slide only changing before bedtime.

My childhood home today (well in early June)

{no. 4} Do you have 4th of July plans?

I will be waking up ridiculously early on the 4th of July to go and help with registration for a Free 5K and pancake breakfast my church is hosting.  I have to be there at 6:15- so that means I have to be up before then to get ready-- yea.   My family will join me at 8:00 for the 4th of July program and breakfast.  Then that night we are going to BBQ with some friends and find our favorite spot in front of the Home Depot to watch the fireworks from the stadium, the view is great and it's free that way.

{no. 5} Does it get super hot where you are in the Summer and how do you deal with it?

It does get super hot (though I used to live in AZ so only relatively super hot).  August is the worst and we usually have a week or two in the 110's.  Thankfully it does cool down at night and that only lasts a couple of weeks; plus we just have to head to the beach where it is 20 degrees cooler.  

What are your summer days like?

We Want To Know Wednesdays

Okay- I have a million great ideas for blog posts floating in my head but finding the time to sit down and write them has not been easy, between kids, a couple of photo shoots to edit and all of the end of the year school stuff, oh yeah and house hunting, things are crazy.

So I figured I would link up again with a fun meme We Want to Know Wednesdays.

This is hosted by Mamarazzi, Seriously Shawn, Impulse Addict and Janette-all great reads!!

This week the questions came from Shawn

1.} What must you do before you go to bed at night?
A: Brush my teeth-but no I think there have been some camping trips where I might have skipped this. You know I don't know if there is anything I must do, so instead I will tell you what I usually do- take my multi-vitamin, go potty, get into my "pajamas", brush my teeth, floss, say my own prayers, and say couples prayer with Eric.

2.} What is one thing you must snack on at the theater?
A: Initially I thought popcorn.. but well by the time we pay the second mortgage-i.e. the movie ticket price and the baby sitter- we usually just go snack free as really who wants a third mortgage??

3.} Before going on vacation what must you do?
A: Pack everyone-yep that joy of being the mom, I am in charge of packing everything. And I also must make sure I either have posts scheduled on my blog or a post saying I am going on vacation.--I had one of those vacation posts a year ago-wasn't quite the vacation I planned.

4.} What is one thing you must do every day?
A: Go potty--what it's true! And this is the second time I mentioned potty-- I think it is because I really need to go right now- I am just trying to get this post done first.

5.} Is there something you do that must be done in a particular order?
A: My makeup- concealer, bronzer, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara- that is just how I always do it

So there you go-fun huh? Head over to any or all of those sites and join along! And don't forget--tomorrow it's Thursday which means Proud Mommy Moments!!