Thursday, January 5, 2012

TWENTY THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME....AND MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

So it's not quite my one year blogiversary, but it is my 100th post, and I think that's something to celebrate! I thought long and hard about what I wanted this post to look like. I knew I wanted it to be something special. A bit out of the ordinary for me. And here's what I came up with...Twenty things you don't know about me! You ready?

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 1. One of my biggest fears in life was that I would have all boys. I made a deal with God that if he gave me a daughter first, He could give me boys the rest of the way. We shall see....and turns out, boys are not anything (so far) like I feared. Brother is waaay more laid back than his emotional sister.


2. I loved teaching, but if I ever have to work again someday, I would like to try something new. I've really come in to my own the last few years, finding out lots about myself and what brings me joy and excitement.

3. The only pop I drink, and even like really, is Cherry Coke.

4. I have a scar on my chin from an incident as a small child, which involved an unopened bottle of beer that I was playing with when it exploded. I'm sure that was one of my parents finer moments in their child rearing days.

5. I sucked my thumb until I was twelve. And I didn't even need braces. I swear.

6. I lived in Germany as a baby. I have no recollection of it whatsoever, only pictures to prove it.

7. Besides that brief stint in Germany, I have lived in Minnesota my whole life.

8. Nick and I dated long distance for the first year of our relationship. Like Iraq to Minnesota long distance. So glad those days are behind us.


9. I hate wearing jeans. I only do so when I leave the house and want to look presentable. The first thing I do upon my return is change out of them.

10. I am slightly OCD, self-diagnosed.

11. I like to organize. Hate to clean.

12. I look forward to garage sale season all year long.

13. When I am pregnant, I lie to people (family included) about my baby's name. I don't want to hear their thoughts or opinions on our name choices. Sorry, but that's just how it's gonna be.

14. I love cemeteries and find them oddly peaceful. I found Brother's name on a headstone in the cemetery behind my house. There's a bit of a personal back story there, but when I saw it, it hit me and I knew I wanted that to be his name.


15. I am terrified of losing my photos. I store them on an external hard drive, copy them to a cd, and print my favs before I will delete them from my camera. See #10.

16.  I have a half sister who is five weeks younger than my daughter.

17. I have never touched a worm, frog, or anything slimy.

18. I like to fish, but needless to say I've never baited my own hook or removed my own fish. Ha.

19. I'm a good baker. Not so much a great cook.

20. I don't know exactly how many children I would like to have, but I know deep in my heart I am definitely not done yet.

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Alright, now it's your turn! Leave me a comment telling me something that I don't already know about you...and have a chance to win this!


This sweet Inspire pendant necklace was made by my friend Becky, over at  Farmgirl Paints. I fought starting this blog for a long time, but she's ultimately the one who inspired me to just go for it. So glad I did. Seems entirely appropriate, wouldn't you say? I sure think so.

Again, leave me a message here on my blog for a chance to win. Comments on Facebook are always fun to read, but do not count towards this giveaway. I know there are many of you out there reading this, some I know and some I don't. So this is your chance to make yourself known!

Winner will be announced on Monday.

Thanks for following along on this journey that is my life, and here's to many, many more blog posts and memories captured for my littles!

* Black and white photos taken by my dear friend Jen, of Jennifer Bahn Photography.
*Inspire pendant photo taken by Becky Strahle.

20 comments:

  1. Yay! Congrats on your blogiversary! I am surprised it is only your 100th post, feels like I have been reading your blog a lot longer than that. :-) Which is a VERY good thing. Maybe #1 will be the lucky one in this giveaway...a girl can hope, right?

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  2. #9- me too! If you ever see me around town, know that I tried really hard to look good that day and pried myself out of my yoga pants!

    #15- I should hire you to do all my backing up! I just bought a personal external drive for all the photos of my kids. My personal pics are intermingled amongst my 6 client drives and this winter a project of mine is to have them all in one place, safely stored in our fireproof safe.

    About me: I am pretty much an open book but my most closeted secret is that I have the music taste of a 15 year old girl- Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, etc. Guilty pleasures when I am driving alone! :)

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  3. Amy, it's been fun getting to know you and your family through your posts. I think it's fun that I found your blog through Becky and I found hers through another friend that blogs!
    I might have already told you that I'm studying to be a teacher-- elementary, special ed, and a little art ed in there, too, but I look forward to the day I get to be a mom. I feel called to be a teacher, but I know that's only until I have children of my own. I really hope someday I am able to stay home with them while they are little. Even if that's not an option for us, summers will be great! :)

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  4. I wanted a girl too. Like really bad. We had 4 ultrasounds. Then that wasn't good enough and I wanted a sister for my girl...ha! So glad it worked out. Love that you kept their names secret. It is true people have to give their opinions...even if they don't say you can tell what they think. Congrats on your blogiversary. I seriously can't believe it's been a year. I remember that day at your house like it was yesterday.

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  5. Yeah! I'm so glad you started blogging. I knew you'd love it! And a giveaway for a Farmgirl necklace?! I was just telling you how I was looking on etsy for one! :) Something you don't know about me... I know you said you don't touch slimy things, well, I have milked a cow and a goat by hand! Jealous right?!

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  6. What great little "secrets" about you. I have always been a little jealous of your talents :-)

    However, by reading this I found we have a lot in common. #20, #19, #8 my husband and I were seperated for our first year while he was in Iraq as well, #1 but mine was that I would have all girls, and #12 but along with number tweleve is N.P.'s cleanup days. I save money throughout the year just for garage sales.

    One thing that most people, if anybody, does not know about me...Although I loved growing up in New Prague, and thoroughly love MN, I wish I grew up in the south; not for the weather but the accent! Yes Ma'am in my house will get you anything.

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  7. I love reading your blog! Hannah loves to see the pictures you capture too! She often talks about Orelia and hopes someday we can be in music class together again:) I too sucked my thumb until I was five and had braces, two times! You lucky duck! Hoping Hannah will have your luck! Not looking good though! Happy Blogiversary!

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  8. Congrats on post #100! So glad you were inspired to blog!- You actually inspired me to start back up and continue mine!
    About me:-
    Hmmmmm....what don't you know- kinda hard!
    I do not enjoy working out- have to force myself to do so.
    Days I don't work, I usually spend the entire day in jammies:)
    You got me thinking, girl...
    I love your blog, and am always looking forward to new posts, and cute pictures:)

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  9. I love Becky. Like, love, Love, LOVE her : ) I am just visiting you via a comment you left at Enjoying the Small Things. So nice to meet you. I love the photos in this post. I adore the love you have for your family : ) How lovely of you to have a giveaway. Super kind. Wishing you a peaceful winter.

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  10. Hi!

    Okay, #1 I am afraid that if my husband and I have any more kids, we'll have a girl. I don't know what to do with a girl...ha. #2 I also lived in Germany as a baby-only pictures to prove it.

    Looking forward to reading your blog!

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  11. Congrats! I've enjoyed learning more about you through your blog...it melds nicely with baby classes! I've also just realized we have quite a lot in common, too. I'm surprised I haven't seen you at a garage sale yet, and I'm also not a fan of jeans!

    Something very few know about me is how linked my memories are to scents and smells. My favorite aroma is a tomato plant! I kid you not! The smell of a tomato plant in my garden or greenhouse instantly transports me back to fond times during my childhood. I have wonderful memories of meandering among my mom's tomatoes with my sister, eating them like apples with a sprinkle of salt. And it probably goes without saying that I grow tomatoes with my boys every summer now. In the future, I hope they remember happy, carefree summer days of childhood when they catch the wiff of a tomato plant basking in the sunshine...just like me!

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  12. i adore becky's necklaces!!! i've ordered a few as gifts, but i think i'd have to keep this one for myself. : ) she totally inspires me, too! and i'm so stinkin glad she dragged you into this little land of blogging.

    okay, i love those photos. i could cut out the ones on your card and put them in frames. i mean. gawsh. they're amazing and you are just such a pretty family!!!

    i am amazed that your half-sister is so young! i thought my half-sister is young but she's 12. ha!

    and i have a scar on my chin, too! i cracked it open while riding a bike when i was five. my story is not nearly as cool as yours.

    something about me... i grew up in northern california, close to the beach for awhile and then the mountains. when we lived in the mountains (lake tahoe) i was homeschooled. i would ski during the days and do school at night. it was AWESOME. : )

    xoxo, my dear!!!

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  13. I always enjoy seeing your pictures and reading your blog, and this post was especially fun! It got my hubby and me thinking about things that most people wouldn't know about us. For instance...I have NEVER been to a concert (except the Wiggles...which doesn't really count;)! Also, I am really scared of dogs. Always have been. I do try really hard to pretend that I'm not...so that I don't offend loyal dog owners. But inside...I'm freaking out! One other thing, I LOVE staying at home with my kids and doing daycare...but if I chose to work outside of the home, I'd want to be a labor and delivery nurse!

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  14. Hi Amy,
    Okay this is super hard because you know soo much about me and my kiddos!Soo I have to go back in time and then bring you forward. When Mike and I were planning our wedding I made the printer put on my wedding invitation NO chidren allowed/invited. I was not into kids at the time and did not even have a flower girl or ring bearer in our wedding. Greg Radermacher made it look like I did and I took a picture with my new niece betsy, she was about 5 at the time...she came to our wedding with a cute flower girl dress on with along with a basket...think my new family was telling me something. We had Erica, Matt and Maria and we both thought we were done. One day I was listening to talk radio and a man shared his story about adoptiong this boy who was four and how that a child who was that age was considered to be unadoptable. That day I shared the story with Mike and we prayed about what we do...we decided we would adopt an older child because we had our baby time and would let other families that did not have baby time get those children. The day I step into an orphanage the first time changed my life. I told Mike on the plane ride home from Belarus that I wanted to do it again and he said "when"..well then we had Max and Julia...thought we were done and now we have danil and now you will really find out something new...having the stirring again but this time IF there is a this time I want to adopt a special needs child that is older...like 5 to 7 range...I already have a little boy picked out on reeces rainbow.He is seven, he has mild cp and is cross eyed...thankfully he has been kept back in the baby home. He WANTS a mom and dad big time. We are back to prayer, if we can't bring him home I soo want to help find him a home. His picture is on my laptop, every day I say good morning and good night to this sweet boy. I know we have room in our heart and home, it comes down to money. After 4 adoptions it get hard...as always Mike is willing to consider. Remember 10 months ago I said Never again..for some reason I keep getting the call...I guess God knows I don't hang up on him :)...I never thought I would consider a special needs child but I have learned that all children who are adopted have special needs; some needs are more pronounced and noticable than others...

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  15. Fun blog Amy!!! I check in from time to time and admire your dedication to it. Your kids will appreciate it someday :)

    Something you don't know about me: I sucked my thumb until the 4th grade!! And I wasn't as lucky as you. I did end up with braces :/ And I'm a bit of a grammar nut. Not so much with run on/incomplete sentences but it drives me nuts when people use your/you're and their/there/they're wrong. I know, weird :) Hope all is well with you and your family. We should get together to talk cameras and babies soon.

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  16. Well, you don't know anything about me so it would be easy to pick something you don't know to share with you! I stumbled across your blog from Kelle Hampton's a few weeks ago, and read probably all of it in one night.

    But, my "share" is that I, too, am a HUGE Cherry Coke fan. It's definitely my favorite soda!

    I'm loving your blog, your family is beautiful and your kids seem wonderful! Glad you're blogging!

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  17. Love reading your blog and admiring your photos, Amy! Such a beautiful family! And I LOVE this necklace and it's message!

    Something you don't know about me....hmmmmm....
    Well, when I was in college, I went to Miami for spring break with my roommates and I was selected to be a contestant on an MTV spring break show. My, how times have changed! :)

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  18. Stumbled upon your blog through others, and I love it! Something no one knows about me?? I also sucked my thumb forever and never had braces :) guess we are just blessed with good teeth!

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  19. just stumbled across your blog too - love the pictures. have the same style page boy hat for my little, but in pink!

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  20. So exciting!
    Something you don't know about me...hmmm....
    while growing up, I changed the spelling of my name from Angie to Angi for one year (not legally) to try to be more exotic. Looking back, people probably thought I just didn't know how to spell my own name:)

    I also faked my school eye exam to try and get glasses.

    I hope this doesn't change your opinion of me:) And I hope I win!

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