Seven Random Things--Favorites

Last week, my friend, Joy over at Five J's tagged me for 7 random things about me.

I thought I would put a slight twist to things and list seven of my favorite things.

Here are the rules of this meme:

1. Post these four rules on your blog
2. Write seven random things about yourself
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post
4. If you’re tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag
   

Favorite Color: Purple


Favorite Ice Cream: Moose Tracks


Favorite TV Show: Extreme Home Makeover


Favorite Food: My homemade Chicken Tacos


Favorite Restauraut: Red Robin


Favorite Bible Verse: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Favorite Book: A Woman after God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

It is soooo hard to tag others because I know that this 7 things tag has been going around for a while! So how about if you haven't been tagged recently give it a go...."You are it!"

IF you want to read more about me read my other tags!

7 Things about my Kitchen Tag

In the last couple of week, I have read several blogs that were doing this tag--"7 Things I love about my Kitchen". Well last week, Raise Them Up tagged me! I was sooo busy with having 3 different days of doctors appointments with my kids along with the everyday things that I didn't get a chance to play along! But I wanted to play along so without further ado...here are 7 things I love about my kitchen!

First off, welcome to my small kitchen! It is only 9' 3" x 7'x 8"(that is just the floor space!) That doesn't leave much room for more than a couple people to work in there without us all starting to step on and over each other! So it is cozy! However, it is where I spend lots of time and it literally is the "hub center" for everything in my family.



I use the front of my fridge for keeping up with menus. This helps others from wondering and even helps others to help get things prepared! :) I also like the little reminder that my pastor gave us--"Our house belongs to God".

I like my little bar area so I don't have to knock my head on cabinets while preparing food. I also like my dishwasher! It is sooo nice and time saving with the dishes to be able to have a dishwasher do most of the work for me! Actually, my oldest son is in charge of washing dishes now!

I love having my cookbooks handy! This used to be a cabinet with doors on it, however, hubby took the doors off when we repainted and I liked it better as a shelf than a cabinet anyway! I have a rule, once the shelf is full no more cookbooks, this helps me to not have too many and less clutter!

I love my Pampered Chef stoneware. The picture above is just some of the pieces in my collection! I love using them because it makes meal clean up a breeze!

This is the window over my kitchen sink! I love having it where I can work in my kitchen and still have a full view of my fenced in backyard! There is a 8'x 8' sandbox in the back corner where my 5 kids plus 6-7 neighbor kids will gather in the summertime to play in the sand! I can watch their play from afar.


I love having a ceiling fan in the kitchen. It helps circulate the air especially when I am doing lots of baking!

I have other things that I love about my small kitchen but that can be in another post!

I am not sure who else to tag because it seemed like every blog I have read in the last couple of weeks had their 7 kitchen likes post! So if you are reading this and haven't done a post on "7 Things I like about my kitchen" consider yourself "it"! You have been tagged!

More about Me---Tagged Again!

I find this hilarious! I do a post in honor of my birthday because I was tagged and then the day after I was tagged again by Donna over at The Frugal Mom Blog! LOL!

These are the rules for tagging…

1) Link back to the person who tagged you and share the rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself
3) Tag seven people and list their links in your post
4) Tell those 7 people by commenting on their blog!


So I am game to give 7 more things about me!

1. I have a scar on the bridge of my nose up into my right eyebrow. In October, 1988 during my senior year of high school, I was driving my four siblings at the time and myself to school. I was less than a mile away from home when a car backed out of a driveway in front of me, I lost control of our new 12 passenger van and hit a 3 foot in diameter willow tree! NO ONE was killed in that wreck because we all were wearing our seatbelts!...three of us had head injuries(mine was on the right side of my face, one sister was on the left side of her face, and one brother with a concussion) and the other two walked away with bumps and bruises.
   
   
2. All five of my children were delivered naturally and with no pain medications! After delivery and once I was settled in my room, I would ask for Motrin and cranberry juice!
   
   
3. I was a resident assistant in college for a year.
   
   
4. All five of my kids' first names are Bible names. The boys' middle name is all the same and matches hubby. While my daughter's middle name matches mine.
   
   
5. The only pet I have ever had was a goldfish. I am highly allergic to cats. As for dogs, I have a hard time not being afraid of them.
   
   
6. I didn't have my first car until I was a sophomore in college. Then my brother,who went to the same college as me, shared the car.
   
   
7. I have a key chain collection that I started back in high school, so when I go on vacation or mission trips I look for a gift shop to purchase a key chain to add to it.

Well there you have it! Seven more wonderful facts about me! Read more about me here!

Since there has been lots of tagging going on recently, I am unsure who to tag! So if you haven't been tagged in the last couple of weeks and you are reading this post...consider yourself "IT"--you have been tagged!

In Honor of My Birthday!

Earlier this week, Jaime-Thrifty in Cincy tagged me to do a 7 things about me blog post. So since today is my birthday, I thought I would celebrate things here by telling 7 things about me.

Here's the official rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself.
3. Tag seven people, listing the links to their blogs.
4. Let the seven people know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So without further ado, my 7 things...

1. I love the mountains! For our honeymoon, hubby and I spent a week in the Gatlinburg, TN area! What beautiful country it is down there!

2. I love Mexican type foods. In my second year of high school Spanish class, we took a "field trip" to an authentic Mexican restaurant for lunch. What a treat!

3. I love working with disabled people. In high school, I took two week long mission trips to the Shepherd's Home in Wisconsin. Also, growing up my family was a foster family to over 40 disabled children. I also went on two missions trips in college to Jamaica to work on building a deaf village for the deaf.

4. I love Fall. If I had to choose for one season all year around I would choose Fall because of the colors and cooler temperatures.

5. I love to relax and work on puzzles rather than read a book.

6. I was able to do my student teaching with my 6th grade teacher, who was my favorite teacher going through school!

7. Other than leaving the state to go to college, I have lived in the same state and in the same city all my life! Through all those years, I have lived in each quadrant of the city!

There are my 7 things! Now to tag others...well I have decided that since it is my birthday, I am going to celebrate and break rule #3 by tagging NO ONE!! Everyone is off the hook this time!

"I'm It"---Six Random Things about Me!

My friend, Kate, tagged me with this tag where I am to share six random things about myself and then tag 6 more people to share six things about them!

So here are my six things....

1. Ten years ago, I taught/homeschooled my younger brother for two years for my Mom.
   
   
2. I am an Extreme Home Makeover "junkie"!! I love watching that show!!
   
   
3. I worked for General Motors during the 3 different summers to pay for my college tuition.
   
   
4. I have been to Jamaica twice for 10 days each working on a mission team to build the deaf village on the island.
   
   
5. My favorite subject to teach or learn about is History.
   
   
6. I Peter 3:15 is one of my favorite Bible verses...."But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"

Now to tag others....

1. Gretchen--Extraordinary Ordinary Life
   
   
2. Donna--Mom's Frugal
   
   
3. Minda--Minda Homemaker
   
   
4. Jolene--Our Life Homeschooling
   
   
5. Melinda--Our Nest Egg
   
   
6. Carrie--Oikology 101

How Do You Blog?

My friend, Kate, over at Simple Walk asked these questions over on her blog earlier this week. I thought I would take the time to answer them as a way to get to know me and how I blog a little better.

1. Do you keep a running list of blog post ideas?
   Yes and No! If I think of an idea to post about that I want to save for a certain day, I will write it down on my calendar. Other than that, I usually sit down and think for a bit and then start writing.
   
2. Do you only blog on certain days and about certain topics?
   No to the certain days. As for topics, I try to stick to topics that are not too personal but yet topics that I think others would find helpful.
   
3. Do you limit the number of memes you will participate in? And if so, what qualifications must a meme meet in order for you to join?
   Yes I do limit the number of memes I participate in because I am find that there is ALOT of them out there. As for meme qualifications, I try to stick with ones that are not going to be too personal but ones where others would find the information that I share for the meme helpful.
   
4. Do you keep your family anonymous, or do you use real names?
   I keep our real names anonymous. I do share pictures on occasion but usually refer to my kids by their ages.
   
5. Do you feel guilty if you don't post for a few days?
   When I first started blogging, I didn't feel guilty. BUT now that I am somewhat established in the blogging world, I do on occasion feel guilty. I am learning though that life happens and my family is more important than sharing things with the world.
   
6. Are there any off-limit topics that you will not blog about?
   Politics, and anything else that I just don't feel comfortable with sharing.
   
7. Do you monitor your blog stats on a regular basis?
   Okay, I will admit that I do this!! I like to check to see if people are really reading what I am posting. I also like to check to see what posts are getting the most hits because then I try to work more posts to expand that topic.
   
8. Do you ever sit and stare at your computer monitor, waiting for inspiration to hit, only to give up and decide to just post tomorrow? (Or, even better, when that inspiration does not hit, do you think "Oooh, I know, I'll ask everyone else about their blogging habits!")
   Yes, I have been known to sit and stare at the computer screen. I usually will go and read other's blogs or websites to see if I can get the inspiration to strike. If reading other sites doesn't work then I just go off and do housework and come back later during a break to write a post.
   
9. Do you, without fail, refrain from blogging on any certain days of the week?
   I would love to say yes to this question, however, right now I blog just about every day of the week. I try to limit the amount of time I am blogging when my hubby is home. Also, once we start school back up, I am sure that there will certain days where I just don't make it to doing any writing.
   
10. Do you do most of your blogging in one day and then just publish throughout the week?
    I would love to work up to this where I am just blogging one day a week and then let them publish throughout the week. I think this would help me not to spend sooo much time writing up posts each day.
    
11. Do you limit the number of posts you will do on any one day?
    No. I have been known to write up 4 posts up in one day!

This question wasn't asked but I thought I would share why I started blogging in the first place....I started blogging as way to get all my homeschooling links to somewhere else other than just on my computer! Then I started reading other's blogs and seeing these memes that they were doing or participating in that I decided to expand the topics on my blog to more than just homeschooling but also to things that I do to keep my family of seven with one income surviving in this world. Also, I struggle with grammar and writing mechanics so I thought writing for the world to read would help me to refine my skills so that I could teach writing to my kids better.

So how do you blog?? I would love to hear...leave a comment here or go over to Kate's!

"I'm it" 4 Things Tag

I was tagged by Marcy at Stretching A Buck for this meme and thought I would play along!

10 years ago…
1. I was pregnant with ds #2—delivered at the end of September.

2. I moved from a two bedroom apartment to a two bedroom townhouse while I was 5 months pregnant.

3. I taught/homeschooled my younger brother for my Mom.

4. I helped my Mom take care of my Grandma before she passed away.

5 years ago…

1. I just found out that I was pregnant with dd.

2. I just moved from the two bedroom townhouse to a 3 bedroom house.

3. Found out that hubby lost his job…which a year later was in the news because the federal government raided it because of tax evasion, fraud, etc.

4. I spent the majority of the summer as a “military widow”—hubby is a Navy reservist and with him unemployed from civilian work, he did more active duty training with the Navy to help bridge the gap financially.

Things I did yesterday…

1. Watched the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy

2. I did 4 loads of laundry (washed, dried, and folded).

3. I watched 4 extra kids for 1 ½ hours by myself!
Just in case you are wondering, there were NINE kids under 11 ½ years old under my watchful eye!! (11 1/2yo, 10yo, 9yo, 8yo, 7yo, 5 1/2yo, 4yo, 19mo, 18mo)

4. Took ds #4 for a wagon ride around the cul-de-sac.


4 Shows I like to watch…

1. Grey’s Anatomy

2. Desperate Housewives

3. Deal or No Deal

4. Extreme Home Makeover


4 Things I love to do…

1. Bake goodies

2. Spend time with my family

3. Puzzles—I do them up to hang in my house!

4. Sing Praise and Worship songs (even though I might not sing on key! LOL)


As for ones to tag....hummmmm....you want to join in on the fun, then you are it!

3 Random Things about Me

I was tagged by my friend, Jasmine to blog about 3 randon things about me!

The rules for ‘3 Random Things’:
1. Post 3 random things about yourself.
2. Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
3. Tag at least 5 other bloggers.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them by commenting on their blog with an invite to participate.


So here I go:

1. I am the oldest out of 8 children in my family.

2. I met my hubby online back when message boards were DOS based bulletin boards. He was in the Navy and I was going to college. We met in person a year after we met online.

3. I worked with my dad at General Motors/Delphi Automotive during three different summer breaks to pay my way thru college debt free.

There you have it! Three random things about me. :)

Now to tag others....

I am not sure who to tag....sooooo if you read this post considered yourself tagged!! Let me know via comments that you participated. :)

Budget Buster Tag

I was tagged by Jennifer-Keeper of the home to list my top five budget busters. This actually made me really think exactly what are my "top busters". Hubby and I have written down a very vague budget, one that just has the monthly bills, groceries, and gas for the vehicles, so there could be LOTS of budget busters if we were going based on our written budget. However, being the one that keeps track of my hubby's hardworking earnings, I have found these things as our top budget busters(items that make us have to pull from savings to make it to the next payday.)


Budget Busters

1. Home improvement projects---It seems that when hubby and I start a project there ends up being more to the project than anticipated or hubby will decide that since we are doing that project we might as well tackle 3 other projects to make the initial project be done “right”.

2. Late Night Drive-Thru Runs---Either hubby or I will do the drive thru of Wendy’s or McDonalds and bring it back home for our “bedtime snack”. I know it isn’t good for you to eat late like that but it is fun to do every once in a while. Basically a “mini date” without the kids.

3. Computer parts—hubby likes to buy used computer parts to “upgrade”(not because it is broke) the seven computers that we have in our house. I usually tell him if it ain’t broke don’t fix/upgrade it! Just a side note on this...you might be thinking "seven computers"...each of my 4 older kids have a computer, hubby has a computer and a server that he has built to keep all our Mp3s, digital pictures, and family documents; and I have my own computer to do the research needed to homeschool the kids.

4. CDs/DVDs---music or movie it doesn’t matter! We have LOTS! Granted we get them when they are discounted but it still racks up the dollars.

5. Home decorations and artwork—I like having artwork in the house that has Bible verses or sayings. I have gotten into seasonal decorations. Like right now I have artificial spring flowers around my house. It makes the house look so cheery!

So there are my top budget busters! What are your budget busters? I am tagging 3 more people, so go check out their list....

Niki---Minimalist Mommy

Laura---Heavenly Homemakers

Kim---Homemaking-4-Jesus


Oh and just because I didn't tag you doesn't mean you can't join in the fun! Go do a budget buster post on your blog and leave me a comment with the link or just leave me a comment with your budget busters! :) I would love to read about your budget busters. :)

"I'm it!!" I have been tagged!

I have been tagged by Kim!

Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


7 facts about me:

1. I am the oldest of eight children.

2. I love Moose Tracks Ice Cream!

3. I love baking.

4. I have been told that my family roots can be traced back to the Ottawa band of American Indians.

5. I don't like mushrooms, or brussel sprouts.

6. I love praise and worship music, hence some of the reasoning behind Singing Sunday on my blog.

7. I love Precious Moments figurines and Scripture themed wall hangings/art.


I have tagged:

Mom in Mental Motion

My Life and Homeschooling

Dangerously Delicious

Between the Worlds

Random Thoughts of a Single Mom

Clarksville

What a Crock