DSP Tues 3/27 Blog Prompt

Is the name you have now the same name that's on your birth certificate? If not, what's changed?

yes

If you could change your name (first or middle, no last names for safety please!), what would it be?
I actually like my first and my middle. When I was a kid there were so many Tiffany's that I hated it but now I dont

Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?)
My mother named me something girly because she wanted a girly girl...and I am so not that
Are there any names you really hate or love? What are they and why?

I love my youngest daughter's name. An online friend of mine had a child about a year older than mine and named her Zaniyah. When I saw it I thought it was the prettiest name. However my friend, Ava, pronounces her daughter's Za NIY ah with a long I and I pronounce my daughter's Za NEE yah so it looks the same but sounds different

Tues 1/9 Blog Prompt

Two for Tuesday:

Do you usually arrive on time or late?
Do you get annoyed when other people arrive late or you really don’t care?

I admit I am usually running late. I try to adjust for that by setting my clocks ahead 15 minutes but dh & kiddos go around resetting them so I can never tell if the time is right. I am always forgetting something and having to go back in the house at least twice. I am usually patient for people who are late simply because I know that in my case it is never intentional.

I'm a day behind

But my resolutions is to be more organized. I have a new planner that I sync with my google calender to keep me from forgetting important dates and appointments.

All of my other resolutions hinge off of this main one. To continue my weekly aquaerobics classes 3x a week. To give up Pepsi....oh the horror...ok maybe to cut down on my pepsi......

spend more FUN time with my family. I want to enjoy them not constantly be nagging and yelling...I am tired of being the contentious wife mentioned in Proverbs......

Pray that the Lord continues to bless and keep my family and friends but online and irl.

Wed 12/20 Blog Prompt

Fill in the blank and then tell us about it:

I enjoy CAR SHOWS now, but if anyone had told me that years ago, I would never have believed them.

I used to care less about cars, engines, etc. But my 8 yr dd Jay has gotten me hooked with his love of cars and especially "American Muscle". Camaro's, Shelby GT, Chargers....he can name and cite the specs on them from memory. And the more he gets into them, so do I! Here are some pictures from one of the many shows we have seen.

Tues 12/19 Blog Prompt

Tues 12/19 Blog Prompt

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What sets you apart from the crowd?

I am different and don't mind being so! I am a total geek grrl and have been for years! I was cool with being a geek b4 it became cool. I love to read and my tastes range from Louis L'amour {Westerns} to Laurell Hamilton {Vampire fiction}. I definitely don't follow the crowd!

Mon 11/27 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

What was your favorite childhood cartoon, comic, or TV show?

I know I haven't done one of these in FOREVER but I could not resist this. I am such retro cartoon freak! I love Boomerang and have hipped my kids to really good cartoons such as Super Friends (With or Without the Wonder twins!), Jem (truly outrageous...ooh ooh Jem is truly outrageous), Fat Albert, Land of the Lost, Captain Kangaroo, School House Rocks, Wonder Woman, You can't do that on television....I could literally continue this for days.

Thurs 8/31 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Thurs 8/31 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Okay, I know it's not officially the last day of summer, but (in the US) after this coming holiday weekend, all kids will be back in school. So, what did you get out of summer this year? Did you learn anything? Do anything new? Wrap it up for us!"

Well as all who frequent my blog even rarely should know, I got to finally meet the latest love of my life. Zaniyah is a darling baby and already three weeks old. Watching her grow is so bittersweet cause she is my last. So much of my life has been defined by my being pregnant or just having had a baby. But that chapter is over. I am still a mom but not ever going to be a new mom again. And even after nine times, it saddens me. I don't feel like less of a woman or any nonsense like that. Just a little glum that never again will I be able to feel my baby growing underneath my heart. On the other hand, I am ecstatic about having MY body back (not in the original condition but still works for the most part!). I look forward to being able to have the energy and stamina to enjoy doing things with my family instead of being tired and swollen and any of the other myriad of things that hurt, ache or just generally bother you when pregnant! I wanna ride amusement park rides, take the kids for walks in park, go grocery shopping without needing a break!

Thurs 8/24 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Thurs 8/24 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Thurs 8/24 Blog Prompt
What do you like best and least about where you live?"

I live in a community with a very diverse ethnic mix. We have a high concentration of Greek, Italian, Jewish, Puerto Rican, Polish and many other ethnic groups. And with this we have GREAT mom and pop resteraunts where you can get authentic cuisine...cooked the way it was in "the old country" =). (Why does it ALWAYS come back to food with me????)

"With the opening of the city's steel mills, Youngstown proved to be a popular destination for immigrants from Eastern Europe, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Ireland. In the early 20th century, the community also saw an influx of immigrants from non-European countries including Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Such ethnic diversity continues to be reflected in many of the community's neighborhoods, where a Hungarian Orthodox church may share the same street corner with an Italian restaurant." --- Quote from Wikipedia

Another wonderful benefit is the festivals and cultural exchanges that are yearly events here. We have very little racial polarity here and I love that about my town. It is the town I grew up in and cost of living here is GREAT ( live in a 4 bdrm, 1.5 bath 2000 sq ft house in suburb with great schools and my house is worth about 45k)

What I don't like about here is amount of violence. Our community has LOOOONG history of Mafia connections and corruption. Here is another quote from Wiki that NOT so positive

"Meanwhile, the city has attempted to come to terms with its troubling reputation for corruption. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Youngstown became identified in the public mind with Mafia-related murders (committed chiefly via car bombings). Consequently, the metropolis gained the nickname "Bomb City," and the phrase "Youngstown tune-up" became a slang term for car-bomb assassination. Today, however, the city has accelerated measures to limit the influence of organized crime upon all sectors of municipal life. For some observers, the climax of this ongoing effort was the arrest, trial, and 2002 conviction of former US Representative James A. Traficant Jr. on bribery and racketeering charges."

I have done several reports on our Mafia history and its fascinating in abstract or on paper but the effects on our lives can be devastating....

here are some nicknames for my town from the urbandictionary.com

1. The armpit of Ohio
   
2. Murdertown U.S.A in the 1950's & 1960's
3. Rundown Steel City halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh
4. Corruption

I am happy to say we seem to be ushering in a new era for my city and I hope it continues to grow into the great city it used to be.

Mon 8/21 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Mon 8/21 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Happy Monday all! Today's prompt is from Laura Lou!
From racecar driving to rock stars, Dodgers camp to tossing a football with Joe Montana or playing in the Super Bowl, fantasy camps for adults make dreams come true. If you could design your own fantasy camp, what would it be like?"


My fantasy camp all stars would be :

1. Paula Deen


2. Rachael Raye


3. G. Garvin


4. Ina Garten


5. Bobby and Jamie Deen

I made myself hungry just thinking about these people. I love to watch their shows and pick up tips. I have used quite a few of Paula's recipes since my dh is from Texas and loves that Southern style cooking!

Tues 8/15 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Tues 8/15 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Today, list 10 attainable goals for you and/or your family that can be accomplished within the next year.

10 attainable goals



1. Complete hours in timely manner for virtual school


2. Attend at least 3 home games to watch my daughter cheer


3. Complete my Field Experience for school


4. Visit dh family in Texas


5. Visit my family in Cincinnati


6. No tardies for the three kiddos in regular schools


7. Have a family portrait done


8. Have an anniversary portrait done of dh & me


9. Use our Y membership weekly


10. NOT BE PREGNANT next summer. After three summer pregnancies in three years, I can't survive that!

Mon 8/14 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Mon 8/14 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Today's prompt:

Start 10 sentences with the words 'I love...'

You can elaborate as much or as little as you like from there. Have fun!"

This is almost TOO easy for me as a married mom of 9...so I won't take the easy way out and name each of my kids and dh....

I love ....

1. Snapple Lemon Flavor Ice Tea - this is my drink of choice


2. Roller Coasters - preferably the ones at roller coaster capital of the world Cedar Point


3. West Branch Beach - Dating back to childhood up until present, I have had great memories of time spent there


4. Good Books-- nothing like finishing up a good book


5. Muscle Cars - my 8 year old car aficiando has gotten me hooked on them...we love to go to car shows and take pictures


6. Scrabble -- I play a MEAN game of scrabble.


7. My DigiCam -- 8MP..whats not to love??


8. Brachs Candy Corn -- one of my fave treats


9. Summer Time - I love everything about summer and miss it terribly when winter comes


10. and of Digiscrapping!!! -- this is a no brainer

Tues 8/8 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Tues 8/8 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Describe the most serious illness or accident that you have had.

Not accident prone? Someone else's illness/accident that significantly affected your life."

This would have to be in 2004 with the premature birth of my son. At 34 weeks, I was having contractions but they never established a rhythm. The er doc was concerned because although the heartbeat was fine, he was unable to get any fetal movement even after using a buzzer. They kept me in hospital for monitoring overnight and I saw high risk dr in the am. After a pelvic exam, he decided I was 5 cm dilated and he was going to give me pitocin to jumpstart my contractions. This was about 730 am. By 10:20 am, my darling Jorrell was born. He had a perfect apgar score and was doing great at first. However as the day progressed, they kept noticing that his tempature was dropping. during the night the nurse observed that he was having seizure. They transferred him to NICU where they gave him an EEG and discovered he had suffered a stroke before he was born. He was placed on phenobarbital to prevent further seizures and stayed 23 days in the NICU. His (almost) two years of life have been full of ups and downs, innumberable tests and doctors, weekly physical and occupational therapy and the love of my precious baby boy!

Mon 8/7 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Mon 8/7 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "I believe most of us have significant others in our lives, so:

How did you first meet your in-laws? Impressions?"


I first met the Wicked Witch of the South..I mean my MIL maybe a month after dating my dh. She was very friendly and charming to my FACE. However I soon found out that was an act. She is still nicey nice t o my face but has made terrible accusations about me (our oldest child together was born premature and suffered a stroke before he was born and spent 23 days in NICU, when my husband called to tell her he had been born, she insisted that he was NOT premature (and therefore not my husbands) because he weighed 5lbs and that I had convinced the doctors to lie to my husband about that). I can understand her not liking me but to say something like that during such a stressful time struck me as beyond vindictive. DH and I have been together three years and she STILL makes nasty remarks and even tells blatant lies about me to his other family members. I do not hate her but I do choose to keep my distance.

My husband's only sister is definitely her mother's child and too much like her mom for us to ever be friends. She is two faced and likes to cause trouble. DH and I had moved in together and she gave his ex girlfriend's mother our phone number, who then gave the number to her daughter. These are just a few of the incidents that have shown me the best way to handle both of them is with a long handled spoon so to speak.

The only other IL that I know well is my husband's maternal grandmother. How she ever raised my MIL, I do not know. She is sweet as can be. She has always been there for my husband and basically raised him when his mom decided she had other things she wanted to do. She has told me that she is happy that dh has me in his life and to pray for his mother but do not involve her too much in our lives. Her exact words were Wanda is miserable and would like nothing more than for you two to be miserable too.

Wed 8/2 Blog Prompt

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Here's a two-part question for today:

In what way do you indulge yourself?

My number one way I indulge myself is my computer toys and time. I rarely do buy clothes or jewelry for myself but I love having the latest toys for my pc. I have an 8.1 MP camera. I also have an Ipod shuffle, 2 external hard drives, an internal dvd burner, a backup internal dvd burner AND an external dvd burner. My speaker system for the pc is better than one for my home stereo system. My next purchase is going to be a Wacom tablet. Soon as I find a great deal on one that is.....

In what way do you wish you could indulge yourself?

I should spend more time pampering myself spending time away from the family and the pc. I used to go out to lunch all by myself with a good book and just eat and read. It gave me time to renew myself so that I am not always so irritated by demands placed on me by family obligations.

Friday 7/28 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Friday 7/28 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Here's one from Laura Lou!

'What advice would you give your much younger self if you could?'"

So much of what I experienced as my younger self makes me my older (and hopefully wiser) self now....but I would definitely say finish college. If I had done that then I wouldn't be struggling to do it now. Other than that, I can see the lessons I learned in each thing that happened to me or that I did and I really wouldnt change much.

Thurs 7/27 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Thurs 7/27 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Tag!! We're it! Stacey42 tagged us with an Internet meme! Copy and paste this into your blog and answer the questions, if you want to play along!

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops? yes


2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster? yes


3. When's the last time you've been sledding? NEVER


4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone? someone else


5. Do you believe in ghosts? yes

6. Do you consider yourself creative? yes


7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife? yes


8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very 'now') Angelina Jolie


9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics? yes! I am a very INFORMED voter


10. Do you know how to play poker? basics


11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight? yes
!

12. What's your favorite commercial? Starbucks commercial about Glen


13. Who was your first love? Scott

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light? Yes


15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you? yes


16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees? Yankees


17. Have you ever been Ice Skating? Yes


18. How often do you remember your dreams? often


19. What's the one thing on your mind? WHEN I AM HAVING THIS BABY!!!


20. Do you always wear your seat belt? yes cause I have auto seatbelts

21. What talent do you wish you had? I wish I could sing


22. Do you like Sushi? no


23. What do you wear to bed? hubby's tshirt
.

24. Do you truly hate anyone? yes
.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be? Tyrese Gibson


26. Do you know anyone in jail? yes


27. What food do you find disgusting? beans


28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back? no I laugh right in front of their faces!!


29. Have you ever been punched in the face? yes


30. Do you believe in angels and demons? yes
"

Wed 7/12 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Wed 7/12 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

im checking ebay for prices on a Wacom tablet..I want one SO bad. Maybe an Ipod Nano (ebay of course) I rarely spend money on things for myself so I definitely deserve it.

Mon 7/10 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Mon 7/10 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place: "Summer: Sunny, warm, picnics, outdoors, sunshine, hot, sticky, sweltering, insects, bugs, camping, swimming, lakes, boating, summer, corn, carnivals, festivals, parades, beach, fun, celebrate, biking, hiking, campfires, pools, outdoors, watermelon, sand castles, ice cream.
"

sweet summer corn on the cob...is there any taste like that...slathered with butter and salt....or icy crisp watermelon...sweet and juicy.....sunny days are here again.

I learned last night on our evening news that we are in the dog days of summer here. Contrary to "pup"ular (ok bad pun) belief, the dog days of summer have nothing to do with canines and how they suffer in the heat but occurs when Sirius (the dog star) is in conjunction with the sun which ancients believed added to the heat of the sun, bringing sticky sweltering weather.... This period usually last from early July to mid August. Isn't it grand that two years in a row, I am in my third trimester during this period....

Thurs 5/6 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Thurs 5/6 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Choose a character. What was your favorite fairy tale as a child, and which character did you most identify with?

Its not the typical "fair tale' but I LOVED Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time and boy did I identify with Meg! She was smart, a loner, and adventurous....I admired her and wanted to be her. I read all the books in that series voraciously....over and over again.

I coudn't wait to introduce my daughters to Meg..........

Wed 7/5 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

Wed 7/5 Blog Prompt - Digital Scrapbook Place

For those of us that stayed up too late watching fireworks, tell us about it! Or whatever you did to celebrate Independence day!

My 4th of July was miserable. My oldest six children are outta town with my mom for the week and this was my first holiday without them. We chatted on webcam and they looked to having so much fun. I wanted to be there with them. I ended up eating chinese with my husband and watching the remake of the Amityville Horror.

All in all I am eagerly awaiting Sunday cause my children will be back home!