. . . . And Doggone It, People Like Me!

My band buddy, Stephanie, over at http://dreamsofskinnyhighheels.blogspot.com/ nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award!

I just feel like I've been scooped right under the blogging community's wing! I'm so new to this, I don't even know how to dress up my page! Nor do I know how to copy the actual award! If someone could give me the instructions, I'll throw it in here!

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award;
2. Copy the award and post it in your blog;
3. Link to the blog of the person who nominated you;
4. Tell seven interesting things about yourself;
5. Nominate seven bloggers and;
6. Post links to the blogs of your nominees

1. Thanks so much Stephanie! I admire you because you've posted full, clear pictures of yourself. I just don't know when I'll get up the guts to do that. I'm also jealous of you because your insurance covers your procedure. Boo.

2. BLANK! (I thought I was tech savvy . . . )

3. See above!

4. Seven (Hopefully!) Interesting Things:

-I met my hubby in kindergarten. We went to kindergarten and first grade together at the public school, I went to a nearby parochial school for grades 2 through 8, and then came back to public school for high school. We started dating our junior year of high school, got engaged two days after graduation, and got married half way through college. We've been married 9 years this summer, and it's looking pretty good for quite a few more years!

-I have two beautiful daughters, ages almost 3 (on March 30), and just turned 4 (January 8). We tried to get pregnant for a while, and started seeing fertility docs. Turns out my hubby has next to nothing sperm-wise, so we required in vitro fertilization. I got pregnant with my oldest, laughed at my OB doc when he asked about birth control at my 6 week postpartum check up, and then ended up pregnant four months later. I now us BC. Ha! I also have a picture of my oldest daughter when she was 6 cells, growing in a petri dish. It's pretty cool.

-I'm REALLY nerdy when it comes to Excel. I'll do anything I can in Excel. I make grocery lists there (organized by aisle at the local Wal-Mart), and even designed my daugters' room's paint scheme in Excel. I keep track of literally every penny we spend. Really. I've maintained a spreadsheet for a budget since May of 2005. I can tell you exactly what bill was how much for any given month back to that date. I'm anal that way. I used to say, "Anal isn't always bad", but then I realized that might be too much information. *wink*

-I HATE country music. I know I'm from Hicksville, Nebraksa, so I should love every second of it, but it literally makes me want to vomit. My hubby doesn't listen to it really, but the rest of my family does, so riding in the car with them makes my ears bleed. I have never been more vocal about anything in my life.

-I just picked up sewing this past year. I had always wanted a sewing machine, so my in-laws got me a cheap-o one for Christmas a few years back. I didn't have the slightest clue what to do with it. It took me about 2 months to figure out how to thread the thing, and then I spent the last 3 or so years just hemming stuff as the need arose. But I decided I was going to make the 2009 Halloween costumes. I made some Disney princess dresses for the girls, and they turned out really beautiful. I never knew I had the talent! Now I'm in charge of making bolero's for the wedding I'm in in October!

-When I get good customer service over the phone, I'll call right back, demand a supervisor, and tell them how wonderful the previous person was. I used to work in a call center, so I LOVE doing this. More often than not, the service rep that you are complimenting will get an award at a team meeting or something. Try it sometime, it really warms your heart.

-And now for a serious one: My mom died of ovarian cancer when I was 12. She was obese, I'm guessing about 300 lbs when she was diagnosed. It seems like all the folks from Hicksville, NE, don't believe in going to doctors. Probably because they're all farmers and can't afford it. Anyway, my mom walked around in pain for quite some time, and finally went in. They diagnosed her, tried chemo, but she barely made it six months. She died on Christmas Day, 1992. Well, guess what? ovarian cancer is related to obesity. She was 42 when she died, only 13 years older than I am now. My daughters are definitely the reason I'm getting the band, but my mom is the example set for me. Don't take care of yourself - leave your kids without a mom. I'm not going to do that.


This is quite the lengthy post! To be continued . . . .