I've been tagged

A friend from my high school, Diane (Long) House tagged me, so guess I'm "It". :)

Background: Diane and I went to the same high school in Valley Center, KS. I grew up in two places....Valley Center, KS (population 6,000...?) and Rome, Italy (population 5 million). Pretty much my life was interesting right from the start. Ha! You couldn't get more different than Valley Center and Rome. Complety different worlds. But, as the Lord would have it, our missionary lives offered us just that.....living somewhere in between eating at Burger Hut and driving by the Coliseum so many times you barely glance out the window to look at it. Anyway, after...oh gosh....TEN years, we went back to Valley Center about three weeks ago. Andrew had never seen this part of my life, so it was pretty neat to show him my high school, the houses we lived in, our church and all the places that were a part of my childhood. It was a great visit!! Strange in some ways. It's just weird to be gone for so long and then revisit all the places that at one time were your life. We got to see lots of old friends while we were there....the kind of friends that you can just start having a conversation with...as if you had just talked with them last week, when in fact it's been years since you've talked. That's a pretty great feeling.

And thanks to Facebook and email and blogs.....you can so easily keep up with everyone now!

That's how Diane and I reconnected.....and we found that though years and distance have separated us, we share a lot in common. We're both mommies of twin boys. We both have a son named Luke. We both like to to blog!

So, back to the game.

Tag and I'm It. Here goes it....



1. What's my staple meal?

Well, we always have sourdough starter in our fridge (that's been in the (Andrew's) family for years and years). So, we can always do sourdough pancakes! Omlets. Stir fry. Those are the basics we usually fall back on if nothing else is planned.

2. What do you want to be when you grow-up?

A follower of Christ. Still madly in love with Andrew. A mother who has been faithful and diligent with the responsibility of parenthood. A loving and supportive daughter and sister. A best friend. Working with university students full-time. Still connecting with school-age kids too at some level, cause that love never goes away. Hopefully living near mountains or in a place that isn't so dang hot.

3. What book are you reading at the moment?

Ha! Uhm...let's see...The Rhyme Time Bible for Toddlers, I Love You Through and Through, Go Dog Go!, 1 Zany Zoo, Teaching Motor Skills to Children with Cerebral Palsy and other Movement Disorders, some book on how to read braille.....

I don't make a lot of time for reading for fun at the moment. I'm reading Strong-Willed Child. And just last night I stole Andrew's current book while he was off brushing his teeth. It's called Four Souls and it looks amazing. Realistically, I probably won't finish either of these books before summer is over. It's just my life right now. :)

4. How do you relax?

After the boys are in bed, I usually will skim through my current issue of Parenting or look through the Sunday paper adds....or watch a favorite show that was DVRed (probably months ago), Facebook, reading blogs, writing blogs. Sometimes the most relaxing thing is to load up the boys, grab a 79 cent junior frozen yogurt twist cone from Braums (my FAVE!) and just drive. Well, Andrew drives and I just get to ride and ahhh.....relax!

5. What color are your interior walls?

We have these 5 colors through the whole house. Chocolate brown, carmel-ish brown, yellow, brick red, blue, and blue with green and white stripes.


6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Chocolate. It's pretty unsafe for me to even be left even alone in the house with any kind of chocolate stash. And Starbucks. Guilty, because who really should pay 4 bucks for a stinkin' cup of coffee??!! Could seriously feed a lot of hungry children with that amount of money.

7. What time is bedtime/get-up?

UGH!!! Bedtime is too late.... midnight maybe. As my friend Jill told me, "You stay up so late because the silence is addicting!" So true!!! The boys are in bed religiously by 8. You'd think I could swing a 10:30 bedtime, but no.....the silence draws me in. :)

Get-up: 7:30 or so. Although today was 6:30 for a walk/run. Want that habit to continue.


8. How long do you spend reading blogs?

Some days, no time at all.

Other days, an hour.

It just depends. I follow about 8 blogs regularly.

Time to tag two other people:

Amanda: a sweet bloggy friend who has been a co-worker, a fellow NICU parent, a prayer warrior and a good listener.

Kimberly: A fellow twin mommy who I promise helps me keep my sanity.

Jill: A great blogger and friend. Mother of two boys also, which alone makes her SUPER, but I've always admired what a great mom you are, Jill!

TAG, YOU'RE IT!!!