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Saturday, March 26, 2011

One Year Blogiversary! More "Getting to Know You" Random Facts

One year ago today, I launched Glam-O-Mommy. I didn't have a real plan for my blog...I'm just a woman who writes for a corporation for a living who wanted to write about myself, my life, my daughter, and things that interest me. But mostly my feelings about and experiences with motherhood.

Glam-O-Mommy and S

Lately, I've been a bit remiss in keeping up with my blog. In December, I was sick or my daughter was sick and my husband had surprise shoulder surgery and the holidays were crazy and I just had no energy left over to give to it. In January, I got assigned to a huge, insane-making project at work and began having less of a work/life balance and more of a working-on-my-Friday-off-and-often-Sunday-nights-just-to-keep-up life and again, I've had no energy left over for the blog.

To top it off, I feel like I'm in a bit of a personal rut. I work, I spend time with my daughter and husband, I do tons of laundry, I try unsuccessfully to keep our house straight and orderly, I sleep. Wash, rinse, repeat.

BORED YET? Me too. Doesn't exactly inspire much in the way of insightful writing either. I mean, don't get me wrong...I have a really good life, with many moments of fun and love and beauty and I'm very grateful for all that I have, and yet I just feel like I want a little surprise, a little unpredictability now and then...just something. (Like my last post, about my adventures in San Antonio Snowland-that was unpredictable and surprising and thus, good blog fodder!)

Anyway, for my blogiversary, I thought I would share more "Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You"/Random Facts About Me, for your reading pleasure. In no particular order, here we go:

1. I have three playlists in heavy rotation on my iPod currently: all the songs I buy from Glee, Legally Blonde: The Musical (OMIGOD, you guys have to see it if you haven't-SO GOOD!), and "Children," which consists of the Backyardigans, Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, Sharon, Lois, and Bram, Laurie Berkner, songs from Mary Poppins, and Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. ("Children" is for my daughter S, obvs.)

2. Last weekend, I got my first mani-pedi in two months (SO not glam). My nails have really been suffering from my lack of time lately right along with my blog (see also: interior of my car). Anyhoo, it was a rainy day, I was reading this lovely book, The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister, and just relaxing. It was pretty much perfect. J and S were at home napping, so I didn't miss out on anything with them either!

3. I used to be addicted to chocolate. Like, I had to eat a little something chocolate EVERY DAY or I could not make it through that day. When I was pregnant, I often indulged in Baskin Robbins Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Milkshakes, because a) HELLO, PREGNANT, b) MUST HAVE CHOCOLATE, and c) HOT FROM 1,000 DEGREE HEAT IN SAN ANTONIO SUMMER AND DID I MENTION I WAS PREGNANT?! I say "used to be," because the weirdest thing happened about a year ago. I just stopped craving chocolate. I didn't need to have it every day, or even every week. I've sometimes gone weeks without having any! I have no idea how, after 36 years, my body just stopped craving it, but it did. I still eat chocolate occasionally, but I no longer seek it out and go crazy when I do have it.

4. Weirder still, I've begun craving two things alternately in the place of chocolate. For awhile, it was candy, such as Spree or Sweet Tarts or Sour Patch Kids. Then, I switched and began craving chips and salsa. All the time. Like, planning our meals out around which restaurant has the best chips and salsa!

5. In November, we're taking a big family vacation (the three of us, plus the grandparentals!) to Walt Disney World. We're going to spend five days visiting the parks and then a few days and Thanksgiving with my 74-year-old widowed aunt, my mom's sister. I'm super excited, not just because it will be S and J's first visit to WDW, but because it will be my fourth visit and first in 17 years! The grandparentals are coming along to take care of S when she gets tired, but I want to keep going!

6. Next month, my husband and I will have lived in our house for six years. THIS IS THE LONGEST I HAVE EVER LIVED ANYWHERE. Growing up an Air Force brat, I was used to moving every three years. While I love our house, I now seriously have the desire to move, partially because since S's arrival I feel like we need more room, partially because we think we might want to live in a different area when S starts elementary school in two years, but mostly because I have the itch to move and have a new place to decorate and an opportunity to clean out stuff that has been accumulating in our house for six years! And yes, I realize I could just clean out that stuff on my own without moving, but come on! Like I'm going to do that! Silly.

7. I am a picky eater. I do not eat fruits or most vegetables. I am a steak-loving carnivore. I KNOW. Very unhealthy and weird. Now, for the record, I enjoy the flavor of most fruits, but I do not enjoy chewing the texture of fruits. So I drink LOTS of fruit juice instead of eating fruit straight up (I also take vitamins and drink health shakes). Of vegetables, I eat peas and green beans. And that's pretty much it. Again, it's a texture thing. I have been this way as long as I can remember. As a kid, I also did not like pizza or any seafood, but started liking more of these foods in high school. My poor parents, who eat most anything, did not know what to do with me growing up. I special-ordered everywhere we went! And my food things are so crazy, such as I won't eat a tomato (always take it off my burger order) but I love ketchup and salsa.

8. Bananas freak me out. Obviously, I don't eat them (see #7 above). I think my reaction to them is severe because I had a potassium deficiency when I was five and the remedy the doctor prescribed was I had to eat bananas. A LOT OF THEM. My mother had to basically force me to eat them since I didn't like them and it was traumatic for me! Ironically, bananas are my daughter's very favorite food (I should mention my daughter is not a picky eater at all, thank goodness, and my husband and I go out of our way to feed her all kinds of fruits and veggies-bananas, apples, oranges, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, and watermelon are her faves. I want her to be a better eater than me!) When I peel a banana for S and give it to her, I work very hard to look normal and then when I turn to walk away I usually shudder a little and have to wash my hands! LOL

9. I was a Girl Scout for only one year. My mother and my best friend's mother were the co-leaders for our Brownie troop. When both our moms decided not to be troop leaders the next year, my friend and I quit too! I don't think I was really cut out for Girl Scouts, as I'm what you call "Naturally Indoorsy."

10. I've informed my husband recently that we are going to Paris in Spring 2013. I will be turning 40 then (EEK!) and S will start Kindergarten that fall, so it will be our last time to do a big trip during a school year and avoid crowds. And I love Paris and I will be turning 40 (OMIGOD!), so we have to go! We're doing Disney this year and our big trip next year will be Canada, since we go there every other year to visit my husband's family, and I haven't been to Paris since 2002 (our honeymoon in 2004 does not count, as we flew in to Paris and took a train from the airport directly to Lyon-hubby didn't even plan for us to spend a day in Paris because I'd already been there twice!). Really, I want to go spend a few days in Paris and then take a train and visit some other areas of France. Mostly, I want to take S to another continent...I was lucky to live in England when I was her age and think it's great for her to get exposure to other cultures while she's young.

First night of our honeymoon, Lyon, France 2004-we look so young and happy!

So that's enough randomness for now. If you have read my blog randomly or regularly this year, I thank you and hope you'll comment from time to time. If you have commented on anything on my blog, I've really enjoyed our interactions!

So to help me celebrate my blogiversary, please tell me about yourself! What's in heavy rotation on your iPod? What's the best book you've read lately? Any weird food habits? Planning any dream vacations? I really want to know!!

4 comments:

  1. 1) I don't have an iPod, well I do, but it's a complicated relationship. However, I Pandora and right now Modern Bollywood, Pretty Poison radio (mostly 80's, mostly women)and Letter's to Cleo radio (mostly 90's) are in my heavy rotation.
    2) I've never had a mani-pedi, just a mani or just a pedi...sad, I know, but I've survived this long and living on one teacher's salary stretches us thin...it'll be a while. (The teacher whose salary we live off of treats me like a queen though, so I am not missing them really!)
    3/4) I go through those kinds of phases with food too. Sweet, salty, spicy, chocolate (which is it's own food group)an oddly enough healthy foods...
    5) I've been to WDW twice in my life, never with my kids. No way we go with out my parents. Aside from Shelby sometimes Will and Joey's energy levels seriously diverge. Shelby will stay in a pool the whole time if we let her and be happy.
    6) We've lived here seven years now. In my first four years of live I had lived in four different states, but from four to 18 lived in the same house and we've lived in the same area for 13 years now. Jeff has lived in NC all 48 years of his life in only 3 different cities...ironically enough you're an AF brat and city #2 Jeff lived in in NC was Goldsboro in the 70's home of SJAFB and the 4th Fighter Wing.
    7.I don't eat eggs. Texture thing. But I'm pretty good otherwise.
    8. No foods I'm phobic about...yet.
    9.I was a Brownie and Girl Scout for a few years. I loved everything about it EXCEPT selling cookies!
    10. Next year is Jeff's 50th birthday and we are renting a beach house for a week with three of his high school friends who are also going to be 50. This will be fun...especially since he'll be turning 50 and I'll only be turning 33 ;) I like to rub it in that he's older than me, although secretly, it scares me to death that I might have to live any of my life without him :...(
    (I didn't intend to answer back everything and make you have to read so much...it just kind of happened.)

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  2. Kristen, I love reading all of this! You know, even though I was an Air Force brat,I did all that moving around early. I've been in San Antonio technically since I was 13-however, I've still never lived in one house/residence for six years straight before! I've been to South Carolina, but not North Carolina, although I hear it's beautiful. I have a cousin who lives in Sylva...no idea where that is in relation to you. Jeff's 50th birthday trip sounds fun! I turn 38 in May and my husband turns 38 in September and every summer, he teases me all summer long about being an older woman! LOL At least it's only three months. :) I am sure you and the kids are keeping Jeff young!

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  3. Sylva is in the mountains and we are on the coast...but I love that about NC that we have both in this state and a lot in between. I've always wanted to visit San Antonio though...my great-aunt who has been to all 50 states puts her favorite two places in the US at New Orleans and San Antonio because she says they are cities that don't feel like all the other cities. Canals are so romantic to me :) probably why I want to visit Venice too!

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  4. Happy blogversary!!! No one said you had to write here a certain number of times each month to be legitimate. So long as you come here (time allowing) with what's on your mind, that's really all that's required!

    Let's see ... I'm not even sure I know where my iPod is. I haven't read a book in over a year. I'm finally able to eat apples again (big no no during my pregnancy). And every vacation away is a dream vacation for me ... so, our two weeks back to the East Coast this summer are pretty darn dreamy right now!

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