30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me

I love reading others blogs and I follow one that has started doing a series on thirty things she wants her kids to know about her.  I thought it was a great idea.  I also just recently saw this on pinterest as well so I am hoping that I can work on these whenever I have a few minutes to write a blog but am not sure what I want to write about.

Here is the original blog it was listed on (at least the one I think it came from):
http://www.babymakingmachine.com/2012/11/30-things-my-kids-should-know-about-me.html

I most likely will be skipping around and my goal is going to try to get all thirty of these answered within the next year.  Considering I only occasionally blog this might be hard to accomplish :)

Today I will start with number 1 on the list and have them be for my kids to know.  So... here goes 20 random facts about myself.

1. I do not keep a company ready house every day of the week.  Working full time gives me very few hours in the evening to spend getting dinner on the table, the house clean, and spending quality time with the husband and kids.  Not to mention occasionally having down time just for myself.  Because of this our house can spiral out of control.  I am trying to do better, but I don't let it get to me.  The house is disorganized and times, but not dirty.  In all honesty, I'd rather spend that time cuddling on the couch reading books with my kids then to always go to bed with not a toy on the floor.  It's not how we live our life!

2. I love my job!  As much as a hate being away from my kids I really do love what I do.  And I think I am good at it.  I don't make a ton of money, but I do have awesome perks (school breaks are amazing!).  To me it is so important loving what you do over how much money you make.  Working is such a huge part of your life, I will spend so many hours of my life working and I want to enjoy what I do.

3. I don't think I am meant to be a stay at home mom.  This is a very hard one for me to admit.  I love my kids more then anything.  But I go stir crazy after a few weeks.  And I really need adult interaction. I think in my ideal world I would work 2-3 days a week.  But I don't know if I could handle never having a job.  It ties along with part of number 2.  I really do love what I do and I would miss not being a school counselor.

4. I will usually read the ending of a book before I buy it.  I love to read.  I love to escape into another world a couple hours a week.  But, I am not spending money on a bad ending.  I read for my enjoyment and if it is a horrible ending I am not spending my time on it!  Reading is my escape, the main characters better all live and be together by the end of the book or it will not be one I buy!

5. I know what it's like to have to go 2 weeks with only $8 dollars in my checking account.  Paul and I hit some very tough times financially when he lost two jobs (due to buyouts nothing he could control) in the first two months of our marriage.  I can say that even almost 7 years later we are still recovering financially from those jobs that he lost.  We could have very well been homeless if we didn't have family that could help us out.  I will never take for granted our jobs and the home we live in because I know how very close we came to losing it.

6. I love my tennis shoes.  I am not a very dressy person.  I would live in jeans, a t-shirt, and my tennis shoes if I could.  I am so thankful that Paul actually likes my hair in a pony tail and in jeans and sneakers best or else we'd be in trouble!  I like the occasional event to get dressed up and go out in heels, but for every day please let me wear my tennis shoes!

7. I am a horrible driver in the snow.  Seriously... I'm terrible.  I'm so cautious I make things worse.  I get so freaked out with any bit of snow that I should probably move some place warm just so I have less anxiety about driving to work in bad weather.

8. I hate balloons.  I hate going to red robin and seeing all those kids playing with balloons.  And I hope that Sam and Ally do not feel that I have given them a bad childhood because I never let those balloons into our house...

9. One of the best things I have done in my life is go away to Ireland for 5 months.  Moving away right after college and going on that adventure has shaped me into who I am.  I am much more independent and happy with where I am right now in life because I took that time away just for me.  As much as I missed Paul while gone, I am not looking back and wishing I had done more things before we got married.  Because I did go off and see some parts of the world while I was still young with no responsibilities back home.

10. I am an impulse buyer.  Seriously... I think I buy something from a checkout lane every single time.

11. I cannot say no to kids books.  Our upstairs is over flowing with kids books, but I love to read and I want my kids to always have new books.  Sam already loves his books and Ally is well on her way as well.

12. I don't regret for a minute rocking Sam and and Ally to sleep each night.  It would take us close to an hour some nights to get Sam, and then Ally, down for bed because we would rock them until they were asleep.  But man, that snuggling time was worth every minute.  And, they each let us know on their own time when they were ready to change that.  Both of them can fall asleep on their own, but that time cuddling with them when they were babies is so worth the time that I spent away from getting things done around the house.

13.  I like young adult television shows and books.  Yep... I'll admit it.  I am a sucker for all things YA. Throw in some vampires and werewolves and I am about as happy as I can be!  I love mindless tv and books where I can use no brain cells what so ever to keep up with plots and characters!

14.  The tv is on more then it should be in our house.  I have to have background noise.  I go crazy in quietness and that tends to have the tv on more then it should.  I need to get better at this!

15. I love to cook.  If I had more time in the day I'd make meals every day at home.  But unless I am really good at planning ahead that doesn't happen.  But I love cooking and making new meals.  And I love that the kids are so interested in what I am doing now and want to help with everything I make.

16. I want a new car.  And I am afraid I will always be wanting a new car.  I love my car, and am always happy with the car I buy.  But I like new cars.  It's my dad in me :)

17. I want a new house.  Not along the same lines as always wanting a new car, but more for the fact that this is the first house we built and there are things I know now, that I wish I had none when we were looking for our first house.  We have a great side yard, but a terrible back yard, and we are way to close to our neighbors.  Unfortunately... Paul gets upset whenever I talk of moving because he loves this house so much (of course he hates change of any kind!) so it'll be an interesting few years to see what we actually do and if we move like I so very much want!

18. I followed my high school boyfriend to college!  I turned down a scholarship to ISU to follow Paul to Purdue.  Although... it really did work out to our advantage because we are married now :)  I am not sure what I will think if one of my kids tries to do that though...

19. I try to keep an optimistic outlook on life at all times.  That sounds cheesy I know, but here's the thing.  I can only take my life day by day.  There are struggles, and difficulties that I face and everyone faces every day.  But I can only control how I handle them.  Not how others do.  So, I need to keep my head up, and look for the positives because going through life with a negative attitude has to be so frustrating and depressing.  I am choosing to be happy.  And I am choosing to make the best of what I have been given in life.

20.  Random fact number 20... I now feel guilty that I haven't mentioned any random facts that revolve around God to this point.  God is a huge part of my life, but I am a selfish person as well.  I like to do things on my time.  For instance... this past Saturday is the first time I have been back to church since before my dad went into hospice.  I tend to think of weekends as my time, and not as needing to get to church to worship with other Christians.  I need to do better about this.  All of the gifts I have been given in life are from God and they are here to worship Him.  I need to make him a higher priority in life and hopefully will start to do that.

And there we have it... twenty random facts!  29 more of these to go before the end of the year!