Swinging with Aunt B!

Ms. Micah over at Finding Shae tagged me in this cool photo challenge. Here's how it works....

1. Go to the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Link to the person who sent you the Tag and then Tag 4 friends to share the fun!


(This game was a little bit tricky because I am so OCD that I have folders within folders for my pictures, ha.) But, here it is! Inside my "Family" folder I have pictures from the Annual Stikeleather Family Reunion. It's pretty much infamous for lots of fried chicken, potato salad and one year there was that embarrassing incident with the guy who could play "Ol' Suzanna" on the moonshine jug.... Moving right along... This is my sister, Bethany, swinging with a toddler-sized XMan. The reunion is held at the same church every single year, so I remember playing on the same playground when I was kid! He had a giant shiner over one eye, because just that week he had run smack dab into a doorjamb! Doesn't that always happen right before a picture-worthy event? Ok, well, that's my picture!

I can't find 4 other people, so I will tag 2...
Cayce
Kim

My Wild and Crazy Year

I got this from my friend Melanie's blog, and she said we could use it! So, here goes....

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Drive to NC and back, by myself with the kids!

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I never make them!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Well, I gave birth and a friend also had a baby.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My uncle passed away.

5. What countries did you visit?
Louisiana. What do you mean that's not another country??? (hehe, like that answer Mel.)

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More self-discipline, an RV to travel with, and a bunch of paid-off bills!!!

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory?
September 13, 2008 - Hurricane Ike, Treyson's birth, and Halia's birth.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Having my daughter!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Hmmm, not sure about this one.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
If I did, I can't remember! (Maybe I have amnesia...)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Oooh, well I am digging the new Suburban a lot, but I also love the new camera.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
XMan seems to be behaving really well lately and he definitely knows his job is to hold the door.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No comment, to protect my children's dignity later on, ha!

14. Where did most of your money go?
To the bank. and then to the bill collectors.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The end of my pregnancy!!!

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2008?
Not sure

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier/sadder,thinner/heavier,richer/poorer?
Hmmm. I weigh the same. I have the same amount of debt, but now I have more hope of getting it paid off. I am happier now with my three kids.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Paid off debt, ha! See a theme???

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Spent money unwisely, or watching too much tv

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
At my Mom's house in NC.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
I'd guess my Mom, sister or Heather.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Well, it was love at first sight with my little girl!! (Actually the second I found out I was pregnant!)

23. How many one night stands in this last year?
Huh?

24. What was your favorite TV program?
House, and anything Duggar or "big" family. (Except Jon and Kate, I don't really watch them.)

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't think I hate anyone.

26. What was the best book(s) you read?
Oh, too many to count! Passionate Housewives; Christian Modesty; Respectable Sins....

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
That XMan would like to play the piano and that Little Man can actually sing/hum in tune!

28. What did you want and get?
my camera and a bigger family vehicle!

29. What did you want and not get?
An extra 50lbs to be gone as soon as I had Baby Girl.

30. What were your favorite films of this year?
Hm, can I tell you my least fav? Renting "LEGEND" with Will Smith. Yuck!!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 29, and what did we do? I don't remember...

32. What's one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being able to end 2008 debt free. (Again with the debt free!)

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Clothing that fits, and doesn't cost an arm & a leg to buy. Oh, and becoming more modest than even before.

34. What kept you sane?
Prozac. Just kidding!!!! Lots of praying and Dan-o calming me down.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I fancy none of them. But, I do respect Kirk Cameron a lot for making his career about his faith.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Do we have to go there? Election.

37. Who did you miss?
Dad.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Michael, and the new ladies at MOPS! Then all my new friends at Ridgewood, also.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
No matter how much you would like to bond with some people, sometimes you just have to let it go.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
"Who needs sleep, never gonna get it. Who needs sleep, tell me what's that for??" by BNL

Not Me (too) Monday!

Ok, my buddy Melanie's been doing these for a few weeks, and they are just hysterical. Since I haven't a thing under the sun to talk about other than the impending birth of *the child*, I thought I would join in this week! I went to Mckmama's blog to figure out how to play!

Being brutally honest...and here we go!

Saturday night, I did NOT whine that I didn't want anything to eat that we had in the fridge, and then ask Hubby if we could just go out. I also did NOT ask him if we could go to the "big" mall in Beaumont just so that I could look at ONE specific book in Books-a-Million. (But, he did say yes.)

I did NOT mention to my Hubby yesterday that the oven needed some serious cleaning with the powerful oven-cleaner goop, in hopes that he would sweetly do it for me!!! (And, yes, he sweetly did! Love that guy!)

I did NOT lay around having contractions all night long with nothing happening once again this morning!!! Ugh. My labors seem to "start" about 10 weeks before the baby comes.....

I did NOT grab a hatchet and start chopping on fallen tree limbs in our backyard. I am 9 months pregnant, why would I do that?!

I did NOT lay on the couch in my pajamas this morning, while sending the kids to their room to play, so that I could lazily watch "Regis and Kelly."

I did NOT make plans to go see a bunch of goats this afternoon. I have a newborn coming, why would I be interested in going to check out goats? And all the work that owning and milking a goat entails?? I wouldn't do that, right???

**I added this one tonight. I also did NOT just eat cheese dip and chips for dinner, while heating everyone else up cans of Ravioli. Ooooh, I am such a bad Mommy!


Hehe. So, there, I 'fessed up. Now go do your own!!

I forgot all about this!

Whoops! I forgot to do this "6 things" post a while back. Ellajac tagged me, and I said I would do it. Something came up, what was it......? Oh, maybe it was a hurricane! I've done this one before, so I had to think of 6 new quirky things. (It shouldn't be that hard, right?)

6 things about me...

1. I have a smiley face scar. It is seriously in the shape of a smile, with two bite marks above the mouth. It's from a dog bite when I was 12 years old.

2. I have a serious dislike of holes. Just holes. Mostly holes that are grouped together, i.e. Swiss cheese and the "Connect Four" game. I also try not to look at my "Crocs" too closely when I wear them. HAHA, isn't that ridiculous!?!

3. I have 2 birth marks.

4. I bite my nails, ugh.

5. I have a heart shaped freckle.

6. I want to get my pilot's license one day.

Labor Day Meme

This looked like a neat Labor Day meme, so I thought I would play along!

How long were your labors?

1. About 8 hours, 2 hours of big contractions.
2. 18 hours, 5 hours of hard work!
3. 5 hours

How did you know you were in labor?

1. When contractions started 5 minutes apart. Then the impatient Dr. gave me Pitocin...
   
2. "False" labor the week before. So, I waited it out the next week when they increased to 3 minutes apart & hard!
   
3. The Dr. started this one with Pitocin as well. Ugh.
   

Where did you deliver?
1.2.3. NC

4. will be TX

Drugs?
1. Epidural

2. No

3. No

C-section?

Nope. .

Who delivered?

1. Dr. on-call

2. Some inexperienced resident

3. The nurse (almost Hubby!)

I got tagged!

Ok, Heather, I will play along. (Even though you took 1/2 the people I would have used to tag!)

I have been tagged with the "six quirky things" meme! There are WAY more than just 6 quirky things about me, but I'll try to narrow the list down a bit..

Here are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them.
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.


My Quirkiness:

#1. I have tattoos. I have two of them, to be exact. One says "Courage, Beauty, Wisdom," in Chinese letters. (I know it actually says this because I asked a man in Hong Kong to read it.) The other one is a dove with flames above it. At the time I got it, the dove and flames symbolized the Holy Spirit to me. I don't know why I thought the Holy Spirit would be honored by this, but I was a pretty shallow Christian at the time, so what do you expect? Hubby likes to joke that when I am pregnant, my dove turns into an Eagle with a Bonfire above it! HA.


#2. I failed my driver's license test twice. I had to take it with stick-shift vehicles, and they failed me for shifting too hard during the test. We finally borrowed my Grandfather's automatic and I breezed through it!


#3. I also failed the Rifle Range in boot camp. I couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn, and ended up flunking by one point. I had to stay in boot camp for another FOUR weeks with another platoon, until they went to the rifle range and I could try again! But, it turned out okay. I finally passed and some of my old buddies from the first platoon came to see me qualify on the rifle range, which was a pretty big deal.


#4. I already told you about winning the award for Shop class in 6th grade. Here's why I won it... We had to make a platform out of one sheet of 8x10 paper, some Scotch tape and two small pieces of wood. It had to be weight-bearing and not fall over. I designed ours to hold the, um biggest, kid in class. It held him up for almost 3 minutes!!

#5. I am the only redhead in my family.

#6. I took 7 years of Spanish classes, with the intent of teaching English as a Second Language. Don't ask about any of it me now, I cannot remember most of it!

Okay! I am tagging.....
Cayce
Kim
EllaJac
Lori or Reid
Pamela
Melanie

Christmas Meme

I found this Christmas Meme at Heart of a Mommy. It looks pretty cute, so I think I will join in!

1. Christmas is _too short __. [fill in the blank with ONE WORD] Sorry, couldn't use one word.

2. In memories, what was the best part of your Christmases past? My favorite part of childhood Christmases, was waking up before everyone else and going to peek at all the presents. One year, I woke up about three hours before everyone and dumped out my whole stocking. Then, I put it all back and went back to bed. Hehe.

3. Was Santa ever good to you? [describe how and what] Yep! My first favorite Christmas was when I got my piano keyboard. It was a huge one, and I loved it! My next best present was my camera in 9th grade. I STILL have it. It's been all around the world.

4. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both? Um, I am really bad about not being able to wait. I would love to open them ALL on Christmas Eve, but Dan makes me wait.

5. Is there something you make each and every year? [craft or recipe] Sausage Balls and Wassail drink mix.

6. What is your favorite five[5] Christmas songs/hymns? Hmmm, let me see. I can't think of all the specific tunes. Can I just name my fav cds?
1. City on a Hill Christmas cd
2. Harry Connick, Jr.
3. Kenny G Christmas cd

7. Is there a new tradition for Christmas since your childhood days? Well, since I have children now, it's all new! We try to make sure we're home for Christmas, so the kids are in their own house. I guess that's a tradition?

8. Describe one of your Christmas trips. [whether it's across town or across country] We didn't go out of town for Christmas when I was little, we went across town to Grandma Gayle's house. That was always fun for me. She always made sure to get every grandchild something great! Their house was full of family and food!

9. Do you have a special Christmas outfit to wear for the day? Yes. My favorite multi-colored sweater vest with light up ornaments on it. (I am so kidding.)

10. Have YOU or any of your family members sat on Santa's lap? Well, X-Man did once, but it was at a company party-thing. So, we knew the Santa. We don't do the ones at the mall. I am NOT standing in line and paying money for that.

11. What is/or will be on your Christmas tree this year? All my HALF-PRICE ornaments from my Clean The Cracker Barrel Out Shopping Spree last year! I am so excited! I got so many cute ornaments! And, of course, the ones the kids make!

12. Do you/or have you decorated your yard for Christmas? Hubby got it done yesterday. So, he could go play golf on Saturday. :-)


Yeah! I did it! You go next!

The 10-20-30 meme

Okay, I am just going to do this. I saw it on Aspiring to Simplicity and thought "how neat!" Ellajac put out a free-for-all tag, so I am following suit.

It goes like this: Where were you and what were you doing 10, 20 and 30 years ago?

30 Years Ago
30 years ago, I wasn't even thought of yet. My Mom and Dad were newlyweds and I wasn't even on the menu at the time. I came along a year a half later, though! I think they lived in a little trailer in Midland, NC, with a giant white Great Pyrenees dog. (Am I right, Mom?) Reagan(?) was President, or maybe it was Carter still.....need to brush up on that.

20 Years ago
I was 8 and living in Harrisburg/Charlotte, NC. I was in the 2nd grade, I think. I was in a public school combo class with 1/2 2nd graders and 1/2 3rd graders. They told us it was the upper academic level 2nd graders and the same for the 3rd graders. I don't know if that was true or not, because much later on in school a lot of those same 3rd graders were the flunkies.... Maybe they just tried to make them feel better way back then. :-) Mrs. Hayes was my teacher and Mrs. Rice was the assistant. I loved school and I was always pretty good at it, until high school math, that is... I was a happy kid, with one younger sister and one younger brother. We had just moved from Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church to Grace Presbyterian Church and I had a lot of new friends. Dan and I still call Grace our "home" church for NC to this day. (Of course, we love Hillcrest in TX too!!)

10 Years Ago
Whew, 10 years ago, I had graduated from Central Cabarrus High School and I was going to UNC-Charlotte. I thought I wanted to be an ESL teacher, mainly for Spanish. I loved speaking Spanish, and took 7 years worth of it. But, something wasn't clicking in college, and I was getting very disgruntled with the whole thing. My parents had separated and we were adjusting to that. I was working at a bank processing center at night, babysitting 3 days a week, doing office work for the family I babysat for, and selling Mary Kay as well. I was only 18 and the youngest consultant in our little Mary Kay group. It was neat, but I didn't have the time to put into doing all the "skincare classes" and such. (I later joined once again and still didn't stick with it! Guess that wasn't supposed to be my thing, huh?) Anyway, by the end of the next semester, I left UNCC and started thinking about the military. I taught preschool for a little while and loved being with all the kids. Meanwhile, I attempted to "get in shape," (which I barely accomplished) and then I went off to the United States Marine Corps bootcamp!! I was the only preschool teacher in my platoon...go figure?

Technically, that was 9 and 8 years ago as well, but you needed all the details, right? Well, I think I am certainly well-rounded, don't you? Now, my main goals in life are to be my hubby's Help-Meet and a Mommy to my wonderful little guys. And if I can get the hang of homeschooling, that will be one more thing accomplished!

Okay! Heather and Kim, you are officially tagged, okay? Go for it!