Friday, July 31, 2009

Your Answers

Wow...this was not only a fun exercise, but interesting too...I find it amusing that SO many people want to know how O and I met etc....so here are the answers to what YOU wanted to know.

Travel Girl, Fidgeting Gidget, Amy, Emily & Em (private blog) all wanted to know (1) how O and I met, how long we dated and how he proposed.
O and I met in 2001 when I moved to a ridiculously small town (in the US) on the US/Mexico border to work for Motorola (in Mexico). He grew up in this sad, sad, sad, pathetic little town where we met on a co-ed softball team.

We dated for 3.5 years until I left AZ and moved to Dallas. While we were "broken up" we remained in touch and saw each other a few times each year. He claimed that he couldn't live without me and for some reason (unbeknownst to me now) I agreed to him moving to TN to be together. I had relocated out here to be near the parents and start the Grad School program and there was NO way I was moving back to god-forsaken town he lived in. 3.5 years there was 3.5 too many.

The proposal was lame-o-rama and lacked any romance whatsoever. Call me cheesy, but I wanted to have the proposal put on a jumbo-tron at a baseball game...I LOVE BASEBALL (and miss MLB games..bad!) Anyway, the closest park is Turner Field in ATL and supposedly his sister called for him (doubtful!) and they said that they do not do that. So he resorted to officially proposing in the busiest area of Turner Field in front of the Souvenir Shop and restaurants. A few people stopped when they saw him get down on his knee and we heard clapping, but I was so embarrassed that I grabbed him and ran to our seats.

Maybe I should have just said it was an arranged marriage, huh?

Novelista Barista wanted to know the 5 most spontaneous/crazy things I have done so far in my life...
Wow, I'm probably severely lacking in this area as I am a big planner. I love spontaneity but there is always some planning that goes into it. (1) I once quit a job w/o having another lined up and it was a sort of last minute decision and well, crazy too. (2) while visiting friends in Mexico, I decided I had allotted too many days to the city and was aching to get to the beach so I went to the nearest travel agency and booked a flight on a puddle jumper to Ixtapa, Mexico leaving just a day or two later. (3) and well, I guess i'm not very spontaneous because I cannot think of anything else right now.

Beth wanted to know (1) if I was a good student, (2) who was my favorite teacher & why and (3) what inspired me to go back to school to become a school counselor.
I was an average student, nothing exciting, i got mostly B's, so I guess that actually makes me above average but sadly nothing great enough to get scholarships or any sort of recognition. I did have perfect attendance in 7th grade though...does that count?

My favorite teacher was probably Ms. Farragher in 4th grade. I'm not sure really why, but I remember her being rather nice and I have no scary memories of her. Can't recall any high school teachers really making an impact on me.

I decided to go back to graduate school after being layed off from Motorola and then spending 1 year in Dallas working for Pepsi in a unappreciated and dead-end job which thereby only enhanced my great disgust for all things Corporate America. I started out seeking my degree in Mental Health Counseling since my undergrad is in Psychology. Only 6 months prior to being layed off by Motorola I had built a house, so I was stuck in uber-rural Arizona and forced to find SOME sort of job. There were very few jobs (to say the least) & I ended up working at the community mental health agency...for a very, very, very, sad salary. Since I enjoyed the work, I decided to further my education so as to better my pathetic salary in the field. I just recently changed to the School Counseling program which is virtually seem less as the two programs are nearly identical. My reasons for changing are (1) working on a school schedule and being off when E is off, (2) school counselors make more $$ than mental health agency workers and if someday I should want to work in an agency (which I do NOT foresee happening) I can do that with a degree in School Counseling, but you can't work in a school with a Mental Health Counseling degree.

Dawn wants to know (1) If E had been a girl, what would he (she) have been named?
Riley Alexis

(2) What single attraction are you most looking forward to when you're at WDW in March?

Oh boy, this is difficult because it's been 9 years since I've been there so I know LOTS has changed, but I think my answer is really just being in the environment. There really is a sort of "magic" there and I want nothing more but to stand on Main Street USA and gaze at Cinderella's Castle and just take it all in. I.Cannot.Wait!!!

(3) Minus all the promiscuity, which of the S&TC girls do you identify with the most? OK, this is another tough one because I think I'm a combination of all three except Charlotte. I'm fiercely independent in a Miranda kind of way, wanting to have a career and make her own money & I also didn't want a lot of frilly stuff in my wedding, although it wasn't as 'plain' as Miranda's. I'm a little bit Carrie in relation to the dating woes & frustrations, although I certainly did not date anywhere close to the number of guys that she did. And as for Samantha, she ends up man-less in the end and honestly, I think I will too...and I'm SO alright with that. I will say though that I'm not as "in-love" with myself as Samantha claims to be, but I certainly do value my alone-time.

(4) What city that you've never been to before would you most like to visit? Why?
I'm very interested in visiting Vancouver. I have family there and my mom has been there quite a few times so I'm always hearing about how neat it is. On the same trip, I'd like to check out Seattle too as it seems to have ALOT of cool stuff, Pike Place included.

for the love of pictures has a 2-parter: Part 1: If I could travel back to one point in my own past, where (or is it when) would I go?
I would go back to high school. 9th grade to be exact.

Part 2: While there, would I change anything or just re-live the day/moment making all the same choices?
I would change ALOT & make a lot of difference choices. I would study a whole lot harder. I would join the swim team and I would spend a whole lot of time and effort further honing my softball skills and then figure out how to get scouted so that I could play at the college level.

RxBambi wants to know how I keep running when I really want to stop yet am still not close to my goal.
Oh I hate that feeling, but what I do to keep going is say things to myself like "Just go 2 more minutes" and then when I get thru those 2 minutes, I usually feel better and if I don't then I'll walk for a minute or so in order to rest and then start running again. I make small goals. It always feels better to reach my goal than to quit early...I'd only be cheating myself. I do a lot of self talk when it comes to running...that and the $140 I forked over for the 1/2 marathon race in March...that's motivation for sure....oh yeah and then there's the $200 I've also forked out for the hotel room reservation...so I'm definitely committed at this point.

Vancouver's Enviro Girl wants to know why I like to blog and why I started my blog.
I don't know why I originally started my blog. I guess it seemed like "the thing" to do (1st blog created in 2004) and once I started I was hooked and it became sort of therapeutic for me. I love it now because it's been a great way to meet people and then hopefully one day meet them in real life. I know more about my blog friends than I ever have of the friends I've had over the years. Weird, but cool.

Lolit
wants to know if I want anymore kids.
No. I'm on the "one and done" plan. Was that always my plan? No. But I *AM* almost 38 years old.

Moonjava wants to know what is the most darndest thing that E has done.
Well, he's only 17 months old so it hasn't been too awful yet, but I'm sure he'll do plenty of things that will embarrass me or completely freak me out as time goes by. Right now the biggest thing is that he refuses to ride in shopping carts, either in the front or in the bigger part in back and so, that means no more leisurely trips to Target for me and I think twice before running out with him to pick up one or two things. If I let him run free through the stores, well, I'll let you use your imagination on how well that turns out for me.

Em also wanted to know why I shut down my first (and 2nd) blogs.
Basically because I am a whimp and didn't like getting the nasty comments I used to get. I suspect I know who most of them were from, but I could never really pinpoint it, even with using StatCounter or other related programs. I started my first blog while living in Texas in 2004 and probably shared the web address with too many people which led to receiving said nasty comments. I quickly went into blog withdrawal and started up blog #2 just a few weeks later, only to shut it down for the same reason. Blog #3/current blog started out as "private" just over 2 years ago and now I'm back to being out in public and things are much better, but I'm also avoid using my name or too many self descriptors, however I do put up pictures...so we'll see how long the nasty comments stay away. So far, so good.

Rachel wants to know what my most honest and truthful piece of advice about life would be?
don't settle. you can apply that to any facet of your life that you would like.

Optimistic Pessimist wants to know if I am nervous about meeting certain blog friends at WDW?
No. I am not nervous. I am SUPER EXCITED and cannot wait! I think meeting at WDW is the icing on the cake too!! Fun will be had BY ALL!!!

What are your expectations for meeting your blogger friends?
I have no expectations. I consider myself to be an accepting person (I am going to be a counselor, you know?!) and so I take every one as they are. I just hope everyone gets along and we all have a great time.

What do you thing they'll be like?
LOTS OF FUN!!! with a little crazy on the side.

Spudballoo wants to know when I blog?
Typically I blog from work (gasp!) because I have nearly NOTHING to do, or I prefer to blog over my work duties. I occasionally blog @ night after E goes to bed or sometimes he'll happily play in my office at home and I'll blog a bit then. So, I guess I blog at all times of the day and in various locations. I've been known to blog from bed with my laptop too.

How do I find the time?
I squeeze it in somehow. And I probably put off things that should be tended to, but E is clean & fed, my house is clean and my laundry is done, so that's really all that matters, right?

Do I comment on the blogs I follow, or am I a reader and runner?

I comment on MOST of the blogs I follow, as long as I feel that I have something to say. If I find that I'm not commenting or interested in the blog posts, I end up deleting the blog from my reader.

Thanks to all who participated!

16 comments:

Rachel said...

it's great getting to know you better! :) I'm glad that was your one piece of advice, because I think mine would have been similar. Mine has always been "the only person you can consistently count on is yourself." ehh, not a very romanticized view, but the truth.

~**Dawn**~ said...

1. I am *so* not a make-a-scene or be-the-center-of-attention kind of girl. I would have been *horrified* by that! I don't even like when friends get the servers at restaurants to sing for my birthday!

2. You have two more things on your spontaneous list than I do. Ok, one. I have done *one* totally spontaneous thing. I am the dictionary definition of boring.

(And no these numbers don't correspond to actual questions. I'm just numbering my thoughts. Because I'm weird. LOL)

3. I *still* do that at Magic Kingdom. Every time I go. Just stand there & soak it all in.

4. Perfect! So since I am Charlotte (minus the willingness to convert religions), we perfectly balance! ;-)

5. I thought for sure you were going to say the darnedest thing E has done so far is sleep standing up. LOL!

6. Screw the trolls. And the RWP. ;-)

7. Amen to settling.

8. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! (and I bet I don't have to tell you what *that* refers to!)

9. I never understood the people who comment just to comment. I comment when I have something to say. I think that's an extension of my real-life self: I also speak when I have something to say & not just to hear my own voice. Which reminds me: in March, if I get quiet for a bit (may or may not happen), I promise nothing is wrong! I probably just don't have anything to say at the moment! Some people take my quiet personally or worry that something's wrong--I promise if that were the case, you'd know! ;-)

Fidgeting Gidget said...

I loved this, I'm going to play, too!

Optimistic Pessimist said...

what if you meet your blogging friends and they're lots of crazy with a little fun on the side? Just asking!!!

This was a great post...maybe i'll do it too!

~**Dawn**~ said...

I love the name Riley!! And for a long time a variation on Alexis (Alexa) was on my list, but I have since removed it for a reason I will share with you privately if you care to know. ;-) Anyway, that is an adorable girl name! I conclude: you have fantastic taste in names. =)

k said...

Rachel-I like your advice too. It's so true.

Dawn-too funny!! Love that we will balance in an SATC kind of way. Yes, the sleeping standing up could probably be the darnedest thing E has done so far. What are you excited for? LOL! Kidding!

FG-I left you a question already.

OP-well, alot crazy & a little bit of fun is good too...um, i think. LOL!

Anonymous said...

I so wish you could find your old blogs! I remember the O proposal post, and I don't remember you finding it so incredibly cheesy. A bit embarrassing, yes, but all in all I remember you having liked it!

k said...

Amy-I SO wish I could get my old blogs back too. I liked the proposal but I'm just saying that some other people may think the jumbo-tron idea is cheesy...frankly, I LOVE it and wish it could have happened. I was definitely embarrassed though when people stopped to watch him propose.

Valerie said...

This was fun! I liked getting to know K13 a bit better.

Moonjava said...

Great answers! Lol, would E run through the aisles naked? ;) I love hearing kiddie stories cause they're always fun to hear.



PS Please feel free to ask me questions as well! It's always fun learning about your fellow bloggers!

Heidi Renée said...

Oh, I'm bummed that I missed the call for questions. This was fun to read!

justem said...

Thanks for the answers! Riley is SUCH a cute name! I should have asked who your oldest reader was. I'm guessing Dawn??? (Like old in time, not in age!!!) ;)

k said...

Moonjava-I'll have to think of some questions for you.

Heidi-what do you want to know?

Em-yes, I think Dawn is my "veteran" reader. LOL!! But I don't think you are far behind her.

Beth said...

You sound so grounded. And I was an average to below-average student in school - until I went to college (when my boys were babies). Funny how my progress in high school had no bearing on what happened later in life.

Great questions and even better answers.

spudballoo said...

Ooooh all fascinating. I'm sad to read you had nasty comments on your previous blogs though, i'm so naif...I didn't realise that happened.

I blog when my boys are at nursery, when they sleep, in the evenings. I wish I had time to comment more, I read a lot but don't comment as much as I'd like! I was just interested to know how it was for you! x

Anonymous said...

I think I'm kind of up there too, I remember you moving to Tennessee. And when you had "Countdown to Special Visitor" when O was moving! I deleted my old blog, but I don't think it had as much fun stuff as yours. I am such a loser for remembering half of what you wrote anyway!