Well, How Neat!

Lindsey at Memoirs of a Housewife gave me this award... and that makes me feel quite special:


I must admit... I am not entirely sure I understand the rules of this game, but I'm going to try! Thank you so very much, Lindsey!

Okay. Let me do my best to follow along.

The Rules:

Share 7 things that you don't already know about me.
Name 7 other blogs to receive this award.
Leave a comment on each of the blogs I nominated.
Thank the person who gave you the award.

So. My 7 things (which you may or may not know about me; I am pretty much an open book so you may have heard it all before):

1. I conceived my child approximately 3 months after getting married- after two days off the pill... while (more than likely) using protection- can you say potent much?! Liam's due date was the day before our first wedding anniversary and I did not know I was pregnant until I was 9 weeks along. Liam is the absolute definition of SURPRISE!!

2. This weekend, my husband:


Met.. my ex-boyfriend:

Need I say more? Okay, one word more: AWKWARD! But... only for me. They had the nerve to LIKE EACH OTHER! [P.s.- they met when Scott came to our house and did some electrical work for us because he is wow... with a side of awesome. Truly.]

3. I attended private, Christian school from pre-k to 12th grade- plaid skirts, knee highs, school-girl stereotypes and all. Furthermore, I attended approximately 12 different private schools during my education for various reasons. [It should be mentioned that I am, in fact, NOT planning on ever sending any of my children to private school unless they specifically ask for it... however, I am most likely going to homeschool... and some would argue that might be worse. Ha, ha.]

4. My mother is Italian... and I HATE tomatoes. She thinks I was switched at birth.

5. My hair has been [1] Maroon [2] Blue [3] Purple [4] Green [5] Fire Red and [6] Black. I cycle through according to my mood. Maybe some new choices are in order?


6. I will be graduating with my B.A. in English in a couple of weeks. *FINGERS CROSSED* I started out as an Early Childhood Education major and switched it the semester I would have started student teaching- yeah, really. I hope to one day get my Master's in Library Sciences because books... are my refuge.

7. Ryan and I have matching tattoos:Agape is a Greek word for love: divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. There is a story behind the tatoo... it's meaning... and why we have them etched forever on our wrists, but I will save that for another day.

Next- 7 other blogs:

1. That's My Baby. The title of Julia's blog is pretty catchy, don't ya think? We became fast friends at babyfit.com (an amazing resource by the way). Her precious little girl is going to be coming soon and I am excited!

2. A Bitty Blog. [Another catchy title- I am sort of jealous of this title creativity that I apparently didn't get!] Gretchen is the mom of another adorable preemie boy. She just posted some great "Then and Now" shots. I can't get over how much her son has changed! I am so looking forward to Liam's own comparison shots. One day....

3. The Peanut Blog. Becky is another great mom of another sweet preemie boy. And her blog also gives me something to look forward to! [Plus another great title!]

4. Kingz- (Apparently I am a preemie blog whore.) Elisa is a gorgeous little girl right about Liam's age (both actual and adjusted). While I would never wish this experience on anyone.. it is certainly comforting to be able to find other's going through something similiar.

5. Green and Crafty- someone else with a skill I envy. Tristan's crafting skills are pretty much amazing.

6. Mommy Lawyer -another lovely babyfit friend, and a home-school mama! I hope I will be able to get some good tips.

7. The Woodwards- another new blogging friend, Meghan, with an adorable little girl and a baby on the way!

And then.... another big, fat thank you to Lindsey- who chose me. :)
How fun! Who's next?

Read more...

Honest to Blog

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.

Cyril Connolly

I took a little break from blogging this past week to give me some time to adjust to my new (and relatively insane) work/school schedule.

Blogging has made me aware of an interesting trend:: there is something about motherhood that creates in women an urge to blog. I have stumbled upon numerous "mommy blogs" in my pursuit of knowledge these past few months.

It seems that many mothers feel a need to share their experiences and express their opinions; they are often looking for other women to connect to through their writing. They soon become marginally famous because other women relate to their experiences and enjoy their writing style...
then they write a book, go on Oprah, and start selling various homemade goodies and/or motherly advice.

There also seems to be a big debate within the mommy blogging community about "blogging with integrity." Whether accepting sponsers and selling ad space on your blog makes your blog less honorable...but I am not entirely sure where I would stand on this issue, in case you are dying to know.

I suppose it sounds like I do not approve of mommy blogging- but that would be rather silly, wouldn't it? Obviously, I understand the urge to express your feelings about such a huge life-altering experience. I have yet to lay eyes on my son and he has already filled me with so many overwhelming emotions I am not entirely sure what to do with them all. I am also suddenly in need to be in constant contact with other women: instead of being "one of the guys" as I have been my entire life, I find myself joining online communities of women, calling my mom daily and longing for close female friends to talk to.

In fact, I follow two "mommy blogs" ( Soulemama.com and dooce.com)with some regularity and I enjoy them both very much, thank you.

On Fridays, I volunteer in the teen center at the local library. I am meant to be supervising the teens... but as you can imagine, teenagers who spend Friday evenings at the library to not require copius amounts of supervision. As a result, I spend the majority of my time aswering questions about the next anime day, providing change for the copy machine, and staring at a computer so heavily filtered the pope would probably find himself blocked a time or two. Lucky for me, blogs are not (yet) blacklisted so I often find myself browsing other people's thoughts- primarily the two I just mentioned.

These two blogs are written by two very different women with very different personalities and very different writing styles leading very different lives. But I find them both equaling entertaining and informative.

I am not sure you could lump either of them in the same group as the millions of mama bloggers who freckle the world wide web with the ramblings of their daily lives considering they have both written books, have numerous sponsers, and have been featured on various media spots due to the popularity of their blogs; however, I don't see how any of this makes their experience as mothers any less real or their writing any less enjoyable.

But that would just be my opinion, wouldn't it?

Read more...