"7 more fans and I'll do a lip sync for Kelly!" I thought.  

"Long shot!  It takes forever to get facebook likes!" I thought...

Well, apparently bribing with boy bands is the way to go :P

So thanks for that!

Actually, it was fun - we had kind of a blast (except for the crying, but even that wasn't exactly out of the ordinary)!

He still has his facial hair today - he tells me it can't be washed off, it can only come off on its own.  Yet something tells me his face will magically be clean before Mass tomorrow...

She's the only one who DIDN'T want facial hair, but her dancing made up for it.

She did NOT like this whole "wearing jeans" thing, but she begged for a mustache...

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!" She sobbed, probably for about 50% of the video...

Intrigued? Want to cheer yourself up with some awkward pregnant dancing and amazing baby dancing?

Give it a watch, and click "like" over on YouTube!  It's a contest or something, but I'm not sure that there are actually prizes...

7 Quick Takes: Chunky Legs, Awkward Dance Moves, and Epic Meltdowns

--1--

Can we just appreciate how absolutely adorable a toddler is, even from behind?  The chunky legs, the poofy skirt (puffed up more by a cloth diaper), wispy hair...  I'm so spoiled to have two of them at once!

--2--

And it's a good thing, because Cecilia is distinctly NOT a toddler anymore... 

She wanted me to take pictures of her dancing, and I'm just really confused by the hands behind the head...

She was trying so hard to do her "ballet" but it just doesn't work up on a bookshelf...  And makes it look like the hip pop is a little too purposeful!

Of course, this one was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself!

--3--

And no, those shorts in the picture above are not shorts that can be classified as "clothing" - they're intended to be layered under a skirt or dress so that she can flip or somersault to her heart's content without flashing everyone...  But she's convinced that if she pairs them with a similar t-shirt, it makes the outfit into a romper.  As long as she doesn't leave the house, I'm not arguing - I pick my battles.

And I really pick my battles these days, because this girl for whom 2 was a breeze is making up for it in spades now that she's 3...

"YOU CAN'T HOLD ME!  I'M NUFFIN' AND YOU CAN'T HOLD NUFFIN!!!"

"I WANT ALL DA DOORS IN DA HOUSE TO BWEAK SO DAT SQUIRRELS CAN GET IN!!!"

"DAT WOULD NEVER HELP!"

"I'LL KEEP DA POTTY CLOSED FOREVEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!"

"DAD, YOU DIMWIT!!!"

"NO DON'T CALL ME CECILIA!  I'M NOBODY!!!"

"NOBODY SAY ANYFING!!!  STOP TALKING!!!"

Not once has she thrown one of her epic tantrums over something that matters - she just seems to arbitrarily choose to be the grumpiest child on the planet and take it out on everybody...  But oh, her threats are so hilarious that I can't help but enjoy the tantrums, which I probably shouldn't do!

--4--

Despite the tantrums, most of the time she's lovely - we're getting close to the end of our Lenten prayer chain and she and John Paul have started leading the prayers which is adooooooorable!  They're still pretty formulaic, but last night she was praying, "God, please bless Father Andrew with...  Please help him be a good pwiest for his people, and...  Please help him be healthy and...  Please...  Help him be healthy...  And please bless him wif love.  And John Paul, what do you want God to bless him wif?"

Adorable.  I about died at that last line, where she just parroted what Andrew and I say during these prayers!

--5--

John Paul found Andrew's Jerome Biblical Commentary today (an old hardcover, not the edition in the Amazon link) and just about died of excitement...  A BIG book!  Maps!  All the facts!

He's just. So. Strange.  Whenever Kelly gets around to writing her list of:

Well, I can tell you one 4-year-old who will ABSOLUTELY choose those books over video games.

Nerd.

Big nerd.

But you knew that.

--6--

This week's posts:

Easter Basket Ideas 

Growing Up (my kids are weird...  REALLY weird...)

Is that it?  Well, I got the skirts on the Easter dresses sewn AND the bodices are halfway done...  Productivity and blogging don't exactly go hand-in-hand!

--7--

Not all the daffodils have been picked by the kids...  They've actually been doing a halfway decent job leaving them alone, and Cecilia knows she's allowed to pick any and all dandelions and wildflowers she sees growing, so she usually comes in every afternoon with a handful of wildflowers clutched in her chubby little grip so that she can give them to Mary whenever we go to church next.  Maybe this will be the year we get an outdoor statue and plant our own Mary garden?  I know Cecilia would love love LOVE it...  Any suggestions for statues?  

Today I let her pick ONE daffodil.  She took that to mean 4.  Close enough.

Check out more Quick Takes at Jen's (and convince her to make my house a stop on her DC tour)!

Growing up...

Too fast?

Me:  What did you guys do during nap?

Cecilia:  We played Mommy and Daddy and I was da Mommy and I was pwegnant!

John Paul:  Yeah, and the BOY sperm met the egg!

Cecilia:  And we had a baby!

Me:  And what did you name the baby?

Cecilia:  Jesus.

Of course.

Me:  And what did you do after the baby was born?

Cecilia:  We had a picnic!!!

Of course.

Me:  And what did the baby eat at the picnic?

Cecilia:  Oh, he just sat in my lap.

Me:  And did he eat anything?

Cecilia:  Just drank milk.  I nursed him a little bit.

Of course.

To add a cherry on top, I walked into their room to see that Cecilia had been reading "The Art of Natural Family Planning" while John Paul perused (his favorite for months now) "The Pregnancy Bible."

Methinks they're taking this game of pretend a little too seriously.

An Amazingly Awkward Love Story, Part III

Last time we left off with the beginning of our long-distance relationship.  I was gearing up for my junior year in high school, Andrew was starting his freshman year in college 700 miles away at Northwestern University (Go 'Cats!).

The first time I ever got between Andrew and his best friend...  Wish I had found this to add it to the last post!

Once again, our relationship became one that survived mainly on Instant Messenger, where we discussed very nebulous future plans that involved moving to Delaware?  Probably because of the no sales tax thing...  At some point we stopped dancing around the issue and realized that we both kind of knew we were getting married some day.  I made the mistake of referring to us as "unofficially engaged" and had an awkward conversation with my youth minister after my sister told him about that...  But look at us now!

We talked on the phone every night starting at 10 pm (9 his time, when free nights started on his phone), usually until I fell asleep.  I'm just now remembering the completely random places I used to sit to have these conversations...like in the dorm hallway or outside in one of the stairwells.  Needless to say, I didn't have much of a social life freshman year.  We wrote each other long letters (about...  nothing?  Mostly how much we loved each other.  Gag.) and counted the days until we would see each other again (literally.  I think I always had a ticker in my IM profile saying how many days left.  Again, gag.).  We also had secret AIM screen names that we would only use to talk to each other (I left this out because it's soooooooo awkward...).  I was SO sad that he wouldn't be able to come home for the homecoming dance, but I only had to wait until Thanksgiving to see him again.  Until his parents decided that they were going to visit relatives for Thanksgiving (in all fairness, his grandpa's wife was pretty much on her deathbed...).

Somehow or other, this meant he got to come home for homecoming?  Because I asked my uncle for help after my parents declined to pay for a plane ticket.

Our first reunion after that looooooong 2.5 months

And I think that was when he broke the news to his parents that he was converting to Catholicism.  They were NOT pleased (his mom told him that 99% of Catholics are going to hell).  We got caught making out in the back seat of his car by the cops (Fully clothed.  No parks after dark, friends!).  And he went back to school until Christmas.

We decided to dress up and go out for New Year's that year, and used a coupon to get our picture taken together at a JC Penney portrait studio.  The woman looked at us holding hands and said, "So...  Are you brother and sister?"  Awkward.

I went to visit him in the spring to see him received into the Church.  Afterwards I asked him how his first confession was.  He said, "I was supposed to go to confession BEFORE the vigil?" Ah, the joys of one of *those* Newman Centers...

Ah yes, I had discovered a curling iron for my too-thick bangs.  Not much of an improvement, nor is the flesh-colored dress...  But look, he's got the shiny new Catholic glow!

Needless to say, we went downtown the next day to go to confession and Easter Mass again.  So...  Not the best RCIA program?

And thus continued our lives, until the next summer, in which he worked fairly regular hours and I did summer school (not remedial, but because that's what you did at our high school if you wanted to do music all 4 years...).  We spent every spare moment together again, I'm sure, and the next year went by essentially the same.  

I was praying and trying to to discern where God wanted me in the future.  My sister was at Notre Dame.  Andrew was at Northwestern.  I didn't have stellar grades, so I wasn't sure I'd get into either school...  I applied to the typical Virginia state schools (UVA, JMU, W&M) and got into all of them, but Northwestern and Notre Dame BOTH wait listed me!  I figured Northwestern just wasn't meant to be, but I REALLY wanted to go to Notre Dame (and my sister really wanted me to go there, too!).  Music was kind of my thing, and Notre Dame is not so strong in that area, but I figured I'd just major in whatever and then marry Andrew once I graduated and stay home and have babies.  So I started calling Notre Dame's admissions office, sending them letters, trying to convince them to let me in!  I visited the admissions office in person when I went to visit my sister for spring break, and tearfully begged a woman to reconsider, because I KNEW I would go to Notre Dame if they would just let me in!

Meanwhile, I accepted a spot on the Northwestern School of Music's wait list too, because I figured it wouldn't hurt and maybe they'd let me in?  But I wasn't sure I really wanted to major in music, because what's the point?

Then I had one of those life-changing experiences at All State Chorus, and KNEW that teaching music is what I needed to do with my life.  I was all set to go to UVA and major in music, when Northwestern called and let me know that I had been accepted off the wait list!  I was going to go to school with my future husband!

I was a little upset that Notre Dame hadn't worked out, but I was absolutely sure that I needed to major in music education, and Notre Dame didn't even have that as a major, so Northwestern was perfect!  I gladly accepted, and got ready to head to Northwestern for college.

Awkwardly, a few days after I accepted, the woman from Notre Dame called and offered me a spot off their wait list.  I felt horrible telling her that I had accepted Northwestern's offer, and she got really annoyed about how she had really tried hard to get me in and I'm pretty sure my kids are going to be blacklisted there forever...  So, if you know anyone in admissions, let them know that if they had had my major, I totally would have gone there!

Two years of long distance was HARD.  But we were finally going to be together!

At least we got to go to MY prom together!

Look!  I graduated!

I'm going to go ahead and finish this up, because we've gotten through the exciting-ish parts...

 College was not particularly memorable, as far as romance goes - our relationship continued to grow, but we had known early on that we were getting married, so there wasn't a whole lot of excitement or drama, just a contented companionship and an itching to graduate already so we could get married!

Ah yes, I was that freshman girl who already had a junior boyfriend...

I had some REALLY good dorm style

Andrew graduated in 2006 and moved back to Virginia, so we started another 2-year long-distance stint.  Sigh.  But he proposed soon after he graduated (DC, reflecting pool, sunset -- That's right, I'm just that awesome) and I anxiously started planning our wedding for 2008.

Meanwhile, we tried to live it up at other weddings...

Fast forward 2 years, I graduated on June 21...

 

We got married in Illinois on June 28...

 

Moved back to Virginia right after our honeymoon...

Taking "selfies" before they were cool.

Got pregnant in October, and had our first baby 2 weeks (two and a half weeks, thank you very much) after our first anniversary...

 

Had ANOTHER baby 18 months later...

And TWO more babies 21 months after THAT!

  5 years of marriage, 6 years of dating, 4 kids, and all at the ripe old ages of 27 and 28.  Whew!

An Amazingly Awkward Love Story: Part II

When we last left off, I had just gotten out of a relationship and Andrew had a new love interest (he reminded me of her and I TOTALLY remember now - that absolutely would have been a disaster!).  Our choir spring trip to NYC was fast approaching, and we were furiously making plans - he would be rooming with his best friend and two other hilarious tenors, and I would room with MY best friends, 3 other sophomore girls.

Somehow our rooms started hanging out with each other a LOT during that trip (possibly because the senior girls had no interest whatsoever in hanging out with high school  boys anymore...Or because none of us wanted anything to do with their little clique) - here we all are crammed into two VERY crowded charter bus seats:

You have never seem a cooler group of people in your life.  Admit it.

Somewhere along the way, we were all told that, for safety's sake, we shouldn't go anywhere without a buddy.  And somehow it made sense for Andrew and me to pair up?  So we sat together at the musicals (Rent & Thoroughly Modern Millie.  You guess which was awesome and which made us both reeeeeeeeeeally uncomfortable...Neither was awesome.  Musicals are awful.  Says the guy who owned more musical soundtracks than any other high school guy I knew...), on the bus, at concerts.  I even suggested that maybe we should link arms while walking to make sure we didn't get separated.  Not surprisingly, he also thought this was a terrific idea.  I used my flirting prowess learned from Saved by the Bell and oh-so-casually rested my head on his shoulder during a concert, pretending to fall asleep.

Smooth.

So smooth.  Not really - no one was fooled.  THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK ME OUT???

And yet, despite the 4-day weekend, he still hadn't asked me out (taking his time, finding the right moment, he says)...  We got back from the trip on Monday (Memorial Day), and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday came and went.  He was a little less chatty on AIM.  I had practically given up on any hope of a relationship (I decided that maybe the Baptist thing was okay because hey, I could convert him!  Mission dating:  Always (never) a good idea!).

Then on Friday of that week, after many a pep talk from his best friend (who had been in THREE whole relationships, and was thus our resident relationship expert), it finally happened!  He brought me a dozen roses and asked me to be his girlfriend!

Back story: it was the end of the year in AP French Literature and the World Cup was going on.  Our class had spent the morning at our teacher's house watching France lose to Senegal.  Senegal!  It was hilarious.  I ran to the grocery store down the street on my way back to school and carried the flowers very hurriedly to my locker.  I sent my friend down to the choir room to fetch Rosie and bring her to my locker.

16-year-old me was ecstatic!  We even got to sit together on stage for our choir's rendition of "Isn't It Romantic" - it WAS romantic!!!  Gag, right?

AND this meant I got to go to prom with him!  Right?  Nope.  He had asked another girl before he asked me out.  And he wasn't going to bail on her because what kind of jerk does that?  So I still give him crap for not taking me to his senior prom even though we were dating at that point... You can see how much we have matured since then.

But just because we were dating doesn't mean we really knew *how* to date...  Our schedules were SUPER busy, so a week into the whole dating thing and we still hadn't had time to go on an actual date.  And being rather inexperienced, we weren't even sure who was supposed to make the first move when it came to HOLDING HANDS!

Well, his best friend fixed that - he came up to us when we were sitting oh-so-close together and took our hands, interlaced our fingers, and walked away.  Disgusted.

Okay, we had the hand holding down.  But a first kiss?  Huh?

It was after our final choir concert of the year (June 7,  he tells me - exactly one week to the day after we started dating).  We were all at Fuddrucker's celebrating (we now live about a mile from that Fudd's and they just TORE IT DOWN!!!), and he and I kept going off on our own, trying to find some way to work up the courage to kiss each other.  But every time we got alone, someone would happen upon us and ruin the moment!

He made sure to take a picture before it was completely demolished - now our kids will always know that whenever they see a yellow tarp, that's where Mom and Dad had their first kiss!

I had my own car now, having just turned 16 (and being EXTREMELY lucky), so I didn't need a ride home from him - there would be no kiss on the door step...

And so it was that our first kiss was witnessed by another girl that he had to drive home.  We hugged close, I craned my neck waaaaaaaay up (he's almost 10 inches taller than me), and experienced the lightest, softest brushing of lips.  Then we sprang apart and said our good byes!

Imagine how awkward that girl felt when she found out she had witnessed our first kiss :P

That first summer of dating was a little bit ridiculous...  We spent practically every waking hour together, to the point where his mom wouldn't let him leave the house to see me some days because he had been spending too much time with me (I thought she was HORRIBLE for doing that to us...  Now that I have kids, I totally understand!).  On days like that, we would simply sit in front of the computer instant messaging each other about nothing all day.  My sister came home for a few short weeks and I totally ignored her because I was so obsessed with my new boyfriend!  (And yes, it hurts to remember how obnoxious I was back then...)

Yeah, we were jerks.  But he was going off to college and I only had a few months before the inevitable breakup!

He went to Peru for a week for a mission trip and left me letters so that I didn't miss him too much.

He got a hair cut!  I chopped mine off, too!  My braces came off!  We were suddenly a FAR more attractive couple than before.

He started coming to Mass with me so that we could have that extra hour together on weekends.  We began to have deep theological discussions on the trunk of his car, in which I questioned how exactly this whole "inerrancy of the Bible" thing worked in the context of John 6.  And then, at the end of the summer, he discerned that God was calling him to convert to Catholicism!

Obviously a very truncated version of the story.  I always tell people that I didn't convert for Rosie, but I did convert because of her.  I'm not one of those people who just converts for their significant others -- besides, who would do that after three months of dating?

Wait, WHAT?  This relationship that I assumed would end by September...  Maybe there was hope?  I still talked about the future in uncertain terms, discussing all the other girls he would date in college (but I didn't)...  But a couple weeks before he left, he told me (in a letter) that he loved me (With some sort of stuffed animal?  I don't exactly remember.  Nor do I want to.)!  And we decided to brave a long-distance relationship.

WILL THE LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP BE THE END?  (Hint: No.)

To be continued... Part 3 here!

An Amazingly Awkward Love Story

I think I need to preface this by letting you know a little bit about my high school experience...

See, Andrew (my husband, his snarky input in bold) and I went a high school especially for nerds.

No, seriously - The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (say that 3 times fast, k?) was the place we both called home for 4 years of our lives.  It's a magnet school especially for students with a high aptitude for math & science.  It has a lower acceptance rate than most colleges.  And it's a haven for nerds.

Also, it was the best high school in the country for five years in a row until last year.  I'm still bitter.

Now, most students in 8th grade don't exactly know what they want to do when they grow up, so if you get into TJ, you GO.  Even if you don't particularly like math or science.  And Andrew actually really enjoyed science (and still does, the astronomy nerd).  Whatever, John Paul loves astronomy too.  And I enjoyed math and science to a certain extent, because they were pretty easy.

However, when you get put in a building with 1600 other students who eat, sleep, and BREATHE math and science, you figure out your real interests preeeetty quickly!

Our high school mascot was a calculator (it started out as a TI-83, but was upgraded to a TI-83+ by the time I graduated).

Our chess team had been undefeated for 14 years when I started.  Our freshman football team had never scored a touchdown.

Our cheerleaders routinely got perfect scores on their SAT.

So it was somewhat surprising to many that we both found our niche in...  Choir?

...

The real story begins:

I was a freshman and he was a junior.

I, with my braces, lopsided bangs, and overly-peppy personality was most likely not the most attractive thing to him.

What, you mean YOU didn't have an ugly phase?

He, with his glasses, butt cut, and mom-chosen wardrobe?  Yikes.  False.  My mother had not chosen my clothes since at least sixth grade.  And he was a tenor (well, still is).  No way would I ever go for a tenor!

He perfected his condescending glare early on, as you can see

We had virtually no contact my freshman year.  He was in a different choir, but we were in the musical together.

Kismet.

(That means fate)

No, the title of the musical was Kismet.  It's perhaps one of the worst musicals ever written (False.  Borodin's music is awesome.), and DEFINITELY one of the worst to perform with a high school.

He was the romantic lead.  I was a slave girl.

He was seriously interested in a girl with a boyfriend.  I remember seeing them sitting close together in the halls, him with his hand on her knee, hoping that they would get together some day.  After all, he had been into her for a LONG time.  I didn't really care about him, until I heard him sing.

Hooooooooooooo boy!  I thought I like basses, but this tenor had me converted.  The sweet, lyrical tones of his voice were enough to make any girl look past the hair and the lack of a car.  But still, I wasn't romantically interested.  And I'm pretty sure he had no idea who I was.

Out of nowhere, his best friend asked me to the Valentine's Day dance.  Huh?  I said yes because hey, a junior asks a freshman to a dance?  Why not?

In an exceedingly awkward "date," I was forced to go to dinner alone with my friends, find my own ride to the dance, pay for my own ticket, and meet him there.  I remember slow dancing to a Backstreet Boys song, which he sang VERY loudly in my ear.

No, the best friend was NOT the one.  (Especially since he has turned out to be a militant atheist.)

Then came the Rob the Cradle dance - my sister and her friends all conspired to ask choir freshmen to the dance.  She convinced Andrew to ask me, because she knew I was enamored of his awesome voice.  We went to the dance together and didn't dance together the whole time...  I couldn't seem to find him, and he never asked me to dance.

Apparently he was behind me the whole time.  As I remember it, she was too busy dancing with approximately 4,325 other people to notice me.

So...  Not the best first date?

Fast forward through the summer, and we were in the same choir together!  But he in the tenor section, and I in the soprano section never sat together.  We were in the same after-school singing group, and at some point my dad got tired of picking me up two afternoons a week.  Andrew told me it was on his way home, so he started driving me home most of the time (I later found out that yes, it was sort of on his way home if he took the most traffic-filled way to get home...).  (No, it actually was on my way home.) (But NOT the way he normally drove home!!!  This was a lot more romantic when I thought he was wasting a lot more time...)  We bonded over our love of baseball and soon started having long AOL Instant Messenger chats about nothing in particular.

Then another friend of his asked me to the homecoming dance.  Again, upperclassman asks underclassman.  Sure?  But this guy had just broken up with his girlfriend of several years, and to make it worse, another one of his friends had asked HER to the dance and we were all in the same group.  AWKWARD.  Andrew didn't even go to the dance.  I'm pretty sure he was still in love with the same girl as the year before.

No, I think I was pretty much over her by then, but I was also into someone else who would have been a disaster in the end.

I was a shameless flirt.  I would have HATED being friends with me back then.  But I was totally not interested in Andrew - after all, he was a Baptist.  No.  Way.  I was going to marry a Catholic, and there's no way I was dating anyone that I wouldn't marry!

At the same time though, we had an awesome time together.  So I started singing alto (HA!), and we sat next to each other joking through much of class.

Sometime around February I started thinking, "Hey, I've never had a boyfriend!  Look, that guy in my chemistry class wears a scapular, we should date!"

So we went about it the high school way - my friends told his friends that I liked him, his friends told my friends that he reciprocated, my friend brought him flowers to give to me to ask me out.  You know, typical high school stuff.

We went on one date.  To see A Beautiful Mind.  He tried to kiss me with his mouth open and I ran into his teeth.

SO romantic.

And thus began my first high school relationship - he didn't understand why I wouldn't sit with him at lunch (his friends had a conversation about how long one of their poops was.  Cecilia would have loved it, but not I...).  Or why I wouldn't let him grab my butt.  I realized that every time he leaned in for a kiss I thought, "Ick!"  So we had "the talk."

Me:  I think we should break up.
Him:  Yeah, we never see each other anyway.

Incidentally, he's married now (to a really beautiful woman) and not Catholic.  So good for both of us!

I still haven't let it go that I married the first girl I dated, but Rosie can't say the same... (You can see that we've both matured a LOT since high school)

Throughout our "relationship" I had many phone conversations with my sister in which I extolled the virtues of the untouchable Andrew Hill.  There came a point where she asked, "So...  Why don't you date HIM instead?"  "Because he's a BAPTIST!" I replied.

At this point, I'm not convinced that we had actually talked about anything faith-related.  So I'm not sure how this was such a large sticking point.  (Because.  BABIES!)

And thus our friendship continued, him driving way out of his way to take me home twice a week, hours and hours of IM conversations about nothing, and what were clearly hints that were TOO subtle on my part (so subtle that they were nonexistent), trying to get him to ask me to his Senior Prom.

WILL ROSIE DISCOVER A CURLING IRON OR SIDE-SWEPT BANGS?  WILL ANDREW STOP PARTING HIS HAIR DOWN THE MIDDLE?  WILL THEY EVER STOP BEATING AROUND THE BUSH AND START DATING???

To be continued...

Stay tuned for Part II, in which a choir bus to NYC brings us closer than we ever would have expected!  Oh and if you're an addict like me, check out more love stories at Camp Patton!

Liebster AND Five Things!

Oh man you guys, I got a blogging award!!!

Wait, it's not an actual award?  Okay I'm gonna pretend that it is.

I got a Liebster award!  Which basically means that I have fewer than 200 followers on my blog AND Cari knows it!  So here are my answers to her questions:

1. When you were little, who did you want to marry?

 I "dated" a boy named Andrew (not the one I actually married) in Montessori and he said he would fly me to England and marry me.  So for a while, it was him.  Then Brian from the Backstreet Boys.  Then Jeff from 98 Degrees.  And at some point my friends and I divvied up the members of Hanson and somehow I ended up with the youngest one...

2. What's the most out-of-character piece of clothing you own? 

I actually gave away all of my tube tops and skanky bikinis (that got worn like, once ever and I felt so skanky that I never wore them again), so I'm not sure there's much left...  I even gave away my sequin-and-chiffon 80s prom dress! 

Oh, but I DO still own my floral Lands End Kids rain boots from college.  But those aren't really out-of-character...

I might still own my ginormous dino footie pajamas?

 

Shoot, this is just turning into another Awkward Photo post...

3. Best piece of advice your mom or dad ever gave you?

My mom is giving me a LOT of gardening advice right now, which is awesome!!!

4. Sandals that go between your toes: are they called "Flip-flops" or "thongs"?

Flip flops, but my mom always called them Zories and I never understood why...

5. In a matchup between a fisher cat and a medium-sized squid, who would win and why?

How big is medium-sized?  Like, halfway between regular and giant?  I dissected a squid once in high school.  And I had to google "fisher cat."  On land, I say fisher cat wins.  Those things can kill PORCUPINES!  They like, jump on their heads Mario-style!  At sea, I vote for squid, because have you seen their sharp sharp beaks!  In neutral territory (say, a vat of jello) both die because they drown in the jello.

6. Do you like "Monty Python"?

I...  have never seen Monty Python.

7. If not, what's wrong with you? Be detailed, please.

I know, what IS wrong with me???  In high school and college everybody would laugh and talk about it and I would just smile and nod and then not watch it because EVERYBODY watched it and I didn't want to conform for no reason (but, you know, I wore the unofficial uniform of ugly brown skechers, flares with a brown belt, and Hollister/American Eagle polo shirts for an entire year because that's what everyone wore...).  And then it got to the point where it was like I was taking a stand by not watching Monty Python/Star Wars/Indiana Jones and now I've come SO far not watching these movies and I feel like I can't give in now!

My reasoning makes no sense, I know.  You may hate me now.

8. Which do you think will happen first: personal jet packs or teleportation

I hope teleportation, because it seems safer than strapping combustible fuel packs to anyone who wants them...

9. Chocolate chip cookies- with nuts or without?

Without times a trillion.  But also kind of without chocolate chips?  I just really like the cookie part...

10. Why won't my kids go to sleep already?

They're just preparing for the zombie apocalypse, at which time sleep will only be for the weak.

AND NOW my 5 things!  These are supposed to be 5 things you might not know about me...

1.  I won the school spelling bee in 5th grade.  And went on to the next round and was one of the top finishers (they ran out of time and we all kept spelling the words right), so they sent us all to the NEXT round (the final round before the national spelling bee) and I was one of the last 10 or so standing, I think?  I got out on "Denouement" and then read it in a book the next week. 

This is still one of my proudest achievements (aside from my Liebster award!!!).

2.  I almost went to Notre Dame for college instead of Northwestern.  I got wait-listed at both schools and twiddled my thumbs waiting for them to make up their minds.  I called Notre Dame and practically begged for a spot, visited their admissions office and talked to the woman in charge, and was DYING for a chance to go there.  Then I went to All State Choir and had an amaaaaaazing life-changing experience and prayed about it a ton and knew that God was calling me to be a music teacher.  Then Northwestern called and offered me a spot, which I immediately accepted!  I felt bad rescinding my acceptance to UVA but they were totally cool with it (plenty more where that came from, they thought!).

3 days later, the woman from Notre Dame ALSO called to offer me a spot.  And was REALLY annoyed when I turned her down because I had just accepted Northwestern.  And now I think my name might be black listed and maybe my kids won't be able to get in...

3.  One of my great grandfathers was actually a pretty big deal impressionist painter and that's how my college education was paid for.

4.  I grew up with HUGE dogs around all the time (Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Mastiffs, a Doberman, etc.) but now I don't ever want to have a dog.  I loved them, but they are DIRTY and smelly!  Basically I'm one of those jerks who kind of hates pets...

5.  I was a vegetarian for a while when I was a kid (because my sister was and I did what she did) but I snuck meat on the side ALL the time.  Like, entire packages of cold cuts.  And cans of campbell's chicken noodle soup from concentrate, cold.  And I still kind of like the taste of cold campbell's soup from concentrate...  Yeah, not a vegetarian anymore.

Okay, folks, you're tagged for BOTH!  And here are my questions for YOU, Jamie, Brooke, Shannon, Abbey, and Blair:
 
1.  If you had to choose only ONE animal (cow, pig, chicken, other) whose meat/products you could eat for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?
2.  What is your favorite article of clothing, the one you would seriously miss if it were gone?
3.  Which one of your children do you love the most?
3.  What do you tell your kids about Santa/the Easter Bunny/the tooth fairy/other secular(ized) characters?
4.  How many pairs of shoes do you own?
5.  What is your favorite thing about where you live?
6.  How did you choose your children's names?
7.  Can we all agree that it's obnoxious when parents make up new spellings for names?  Like Madisyn and Abagayle and McKinzEe?
8.  Have you watched Toddlers and Tiaras?  Are you as intrigued by it as I am?  Give me your thoughts, please.
9.  How many crucifixes/icons/saint statues do you have in your house?  Do you wish you had more/less?
10.  What is one thing about your life right now that makes you ecstaticly happy?

I'm excited for your answers, ladies!  And even if I didn't tag you, feel free to answer in your own post or in the comments!

Embarrassing pictures link-up

Okay, I'm taking Jamie's challenge...  I don't think any of my pictures quite live up to the picture of her with the oranges, but here are a few.

For years I tried to hide those awkward embarrassing pictures.  I would argue to say that MOST pictures taken of me are fairly awkward (I'm just not photogenic...) but I'm pretty good at deleting most of them from my camera before anyone else sees them.  However, all those childhood awkward pictures?  Yeah, those don't go away.  And most of them are in another album, but I found some gems in the "Sisters" book that my sister and I made years ago...

 

I begged my dad to cut my beautiful long hair so that I could have thick, chunky bangs like my best friend.  WHY?  Then I thought I should smile with my mouth closed.  Also, WHY?  And I'm wearing a true 80's-style puffed-sleeve dress with a peplum over a tight-fitting skirt.  OH YES, I was smokin'.

 

 

In 3rd grade I decided to start showing my teeth again, only to realize that they were awkward and crooked.  This was the year that I think I went 2 weeks without washing my hair.  Also, I'm wearing a school uniform:  Navy blazer, white peter pan collar shirt, gray jumper, and navy and green ribbons.  Gross.

 

Here I am a few months later, having made a ginger bread house.  And apparently this expression means, "After you eat this ginger bread house, I plan to feast on your flesh."  I don't understand the creepy eyes, either...

 

 

I was convinced that every picture was the "silly" picture, hence the contrived expression, closed eyes, and scrunchie smack dab in the middle of my head.  That's how I wore my hair that summer.  I thought it was cute.  We also have a series of pictures of me trying to take off a pair of shortalls from this vacation, eventually failing and needing my mom to help me.  These were the things my parents took pictures of?

 

We call this my "British school boy" look - awkward hair cut (again, BEGGED my dad for this one), closed-mouth smile that somehow manages to make me look fat, and this time the ribbons are replaced with a TIE!  School uniform FTW!

 

Freshman year of high school, my sister and I dressed up as Britney Spears, before and after, for Halloween.  You guess who's who.

 

And that same year, we performed "I Feel Sick" at a chorus concert.  She got to wear footie pajamas.  I wore flesh-colored long johns.  Somehow even the fact that the microphone had to be attached to the sagging butt-flap didn't lead us to believe this wasn't the best idea.

 

And lastly, I leave you this.  There are MUCH worse pictures of my sister, because she chose to embrace the awkwardness of photos long ago, and there are about 10 years' worth of pictures of her in ridiculous positions!

 

Sister, I can't find that album full of the worst pictures - like that one from Christmas where I look like a corpse and for some reason decided that a good "pose" would be to shove my tongue under my lower lip.  Do you know where it is?

 

So go check out Jamie's awkward photos (they're SO good.  Seriously.  But I think probably everyone who reads this blog also reads her blog...)

 

And while you're there, check out this photo because it's just so beautiful!!!