Be Honest Now...

My friend Lea tagged me to post 10 honest things about myself, so I thought I'd give it a try. She called it the Honest Scrap award, which is to be given by other bloggers who consider a blog's content or design to be brilliant. The awardee must then post ten honest things about themselves and pass the award on to other bloggers who fit the bill – in other words, whose blog is brilliant. Thanks, Lea, for the vote of confidence that I can even complete a list like this! Here goes!

1. I am not ashamed or afraid to talk about Jesus to anyone. I love my Savior, and I want everyone to know it. I get such a high off of any opportunity to share my faith with people who don't know Him, and also love hearing about other people's faiths and having open and honest discussions. Some think that Christianity is intolerant, and I guess you could say it is. I know there to be but one truth, and one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus. He died on the cross to save us, because our sin has separated us from God and his perfect justice. Yes, bad things happen to good people and we are never promised that our life will be easy or pain free once we become a Christian, in fact, the bible tells us that we will definitely have trials and troubles in our lives. But I have learned to trust God and I hope that my life is and will be a walking testimony to those who are seeking the truth. In church today our pastor said to preach the gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ) every day, and if necessary use words. I love that quote and want that to be my life. A walking testimony of the love of Jesus!

2. I would never survive as a stay at home mom. I totally respect those that can stay home with their kids and live to tell about it. I am simply not one of those people, and I am completely okay with that. Little bothers me more when I feel judged for working outside the home. There are those that make comments that would suggest that I am less of a mother for not staying home with my kids. I would never return that judgment, or think that my way is the only way. I know that I personally am a better mom because I work. Other moms are better moms because they stay home. We all just need to do what works best for our families.

3. I sing in public... frequently. I have always loved singing and for the last almost 5 years I've been involved with the music at our church. But I don't stop there. I am that person you see belting it out in the car, in the shower or pretty much anywhere else without a care of who sees me or thinks I'm an idiot! =) Andrew and I were in a store at the mall yesterday and Soul Asylum's Runaway Train was on and I was singing away. I asked him if it embarrassed him that I sing everywhere we go, and his answer was "not anymore... I've been putting up with it for 10 years." Thanks, dear!

4. I am a mommy of boys.I have two little boys and I feel no need to have a girl. I thought I wanted a girl when I was pregnant with Ben, but when I found out he was a boy, I just said "yeah, that's right." Of course most people have the idea of their "perfect family" in their minds and sometimes that picture is of a mixture of boys and girls. The truth is, when they're here, it doesn't matter at all what plumbing they have. I wouldn't want any other person than my Benny, boy or girl!

5. I am surprisingly crafty. I have really surprised myself with some of the things I have accomplished, especially in the last year. I made Joshua's Halloween costume, and a firetruck birthday cake, and have successfully turned some of Joshua's ripped jeans into decent looking shorts. I love cross-stitching have made cross-stitch birth records for both of my kids and both of my sister's kids. I think most of my success in this area comes from a) my desire to do things on the cheap and b) the fact that I can sit and do tedious tasks for hours! My next project is a Choo-Choo train cake for Ben's birthday next month. We'll see how I do!

6. I have recently become obsessed with gardening. It started out as something to do with Joshua, and has quickly become a passion of mine. I find watching plants grow, bloom and turn into food fascinating. I've always considered myself to have somewhat of a black thumb, but we have been super successful in our gardening endeavors this year and plan to expand as much as we can next year (which probably won't be much given our space, but we'll do what we can). We're working on pumpkins right now and I found a blog yesterday that talked about pumpkin blooms needing to mate (there are male and female blooms) in order to make pumpkins, and how the gardener can perform a kind of IVF. That is so cool, and I'm looking forward to giving it a try. This girl also said that one pumpkin seed took over half of her 10'x13' garden. Um, ours is 3'x4' and we planted 12 seeds. Methinks we'll be thinning it out!

7. I hate silence. I have to have sound at all times. I love quiet times, i.e., when the kids are in bed, but total silence can drive me batty. I need to have music or the drone of the TV at all times. My iPod constantly plays at work. I can't concentrate without it. On a side note, I think the iPod is the most wonderful invention ever. I can load close to 800 songs on it and not hear the same song twice all week long. That's incredible!

8. One of my fondest memories is being the "Band Geek" in Jr. High. I started in band when I was in 4th grade, and by the time I graduated from middle school I was second chair clarinet in concert band and first tenor sax in the Jazz Band. I absolutely loved band in middle school and formed such wonderful relationships with my fellow musicians, a lot of which I am still in contact with and see from time to time. I remember the sense of accomplishment when our jazz band played at the NAU Jazz Festival and we played a ballad ("The Way You Make Me Feel") that featured the first tenor (ME!), and our band got a superior with distinction (the best) rating... and we were the only middle school in the competition. Everyone else was high school. It was such an honor! The concert band also took a weekend trip to California at the end of each year, which were so much fun. Seeing Broadway shows in LA, going to Universal Studios and Sea World, all with every one of your best friends? It doesn't get any better than that!

9. I love how Myspace and now Facebook has reconnected me with so many people that I love. After high school I lost touch with pretty much everyone. I met Andrew in 1999, less than one year after graduating, moved to California the following year and moved into the career world when most of my high school friends were still in college. After joining first Myspace and then Facebook I have reconnected with so many people and love to be able to keep up on their lives and talk to any of them whenever I want. I feel immensely blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

10. I am a horrible housekeeper. That's not to say that my house is always a mess. I definitely make an effort to keep things tidy and totally hate clutter. But when it comes to things like vacuuming, sweeping, mopping and scrubbing, it pretty much doesn't get done. It's not that I dislike doing it. I actually find it therapeutic to give my house a good scrubdown. But I just don't have the time. I would absolutely love to have a cleaning lady come in even once a month and do the things that I don't have the time to do. Maybe someday!

Hey, I did it! That was a lot harder than it seemed like it would be in the beginning. Now it is time to pass the torch. I tag my brilliant friends Alisha and Nancy.