5 posts tagged “q&a”

Hi, internet peep friends!  One of the things I am doing this week is spring cleaning!  I've put it off long enough and now I must embrace the dreaded task.  Scrubbing.  Polishing.  Wiping.  Dusting.  Any cleaning verb you want to add, go right ahead 'cause I'm doin' it!  I'm even washing all of our baseboards and who knows what else I'll do!  To make it less daunting, I am cleaning a room or two at a time.  The downstairs is my least favorite because there's more to clean; we live in our downstairs area.  Upstairs is fairly unused and empty, so I'm saving that area for last and getting the larger, least fun areas done first.  Today I started with our bedroom, bathroom and the guest bathroom.  I hope to finish up on Friday and after that, just like my Momma said, it's U-N-T-O-U-C-H-A-B-L-E!  At least for a few days, Matt and Molly better not shed a hair, leave a streak, or drop a crumb.  Don't worry, I'm not that anal.  Oh, but I so am!  And it will feel so good when I've accomplished this week-long task! 

So I'm taking a bit of a break from the scrubbing to answer one last Q&A question left by my dear hubby, and also to tell you a little bit about our sleepover with Harrison.  Let me just tell you, first, how much I appreciate my man and how thankful I am for him!  Some of the things that come to mind just from this past weekend are:  I love how he can't get enough time with me; I appreciate what a diligent, faithful, and good provider he is; I value his care and concern for others and giving of himself to help them; oh, how I admire his pure heart--the guy never has a mean or malicious bone in his body; and I am thankful for his sense of humor and his desire to support and encourage me in my dreams.  I would marry the guy again and again!

Yes, yes, enough mushy stuff, but sometimes you just gotta know that I love him and why!  Matt wrote, "Meg, if you could learn one new thing instantly by simply snapping your fingers, what would it be? It could be anything from scuba diving to a new language (I had no idea translating would have been one of your dream jobs!) to how to tie a cherry stem with your tongue. The catch is that it can only be one thing."

Only one thing!?  He obviously knows me really well to have to put that requirement in the question!  Normally, I would choose something on the serious side of my left brain, but I'm gonna go for the right side this time.  And of course, there are a number of things that come to mind, but since my husband limited me to just one, I will have to go with ballroom dancing (all kinds of ballroom dancing).  The jive, jitterbug, waltz, tango, rumba, etc...all the dances they do on Dancing with the Stars.  How awesome would it be if I could just learn it instantly!?  Matt and I took swing lessons when we were dating and only remember a few basic moves, but it was so much fun.  He gets a really silly look on his face when we dance, and I have to look straight ahead at his chest because it hurts my neck to contstantly look up at him, so I'd either have to wear high heels, or I'd have to snap my fingers to do something about my height and his goofy look, too.  <grin>  I love him so!

In answer to Matt's second question:  Is there a time limit to posting questions that you have to answer on your blog? Or can we keep posting questions months from now and you'd still have to answer them? :)
Q&A session is now closed for this go around, but we'll do this again some time!

Now onto the slumber party with mister Harrison.  This little boy has had my heart since he was in his momma's tummy.  I actually got to hold him in the hospital for the first time when he was just about 12 hours old!  He's grown up so much since then. 

Our time this weekend was amazing...he was amazing, and so much fun!  At 2 years old at his first sleepover, he actually made it through the whole night!  He was such a good, sweet little boy!  We set him up on an air mattress next to our bed and right next to Molly.  We originally were going to camp out, but a severe thunderstorm came rolling through so we changed our plans.  We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, the park twice (once Friday night and once Saturday morning), and made pancakes Saturday morning, too.  It takes him a couple of minutes to get used to Molly but by the end of our time together, he was crawling all over her, throwing her balls, and talking up a storm about her.  Wanting us all to be together, whomever wasn't in the room, he'd ask, "Where's Matt?", or "Where's Molly?" and then go find that missing person or loved furry creature.  One of the funniest things was when Matt blew his nose Harrison said, "Matt's loud!" with a big grin on his face.  I'm giving you just a brief overview, and to be honest, it just doesn't even come close to how special it was for us.  I laid in bed, waking up throughout the night excitedly anticipating what he would be like when he woke up, and replaying each moment we'd had so far.  Sometimes I would even lean over the side of the bed to gaze upon my dear little friend sleeping soundly.  When he woke up, Miss Molly came on the bed with him and he just giggled away as she rolled around.  I'm not going to share everything because I'm keeping it near and dear to my heart, but it was just so fun!  And he's a joy!  I can't wait for our next slumber party! 

Yeah!  Jill resubmitted her questions!  Thank you, dear Jill! 

Jill is also a small group girlfriend of mine, and she's also known as Harrison and Hadleigh's momma!  Harrison is the amazing little man I get to tell you about tomorrow who spent the night with us for the first time on Friday.  Miss Jillie is a very special friend who knows me pretty well; she doesn't let me get away with too much because she can call it what it is, straight up.  That is an incredible kinda friend to have, and also a dangerous one...I can't get away with nothin', sour attitude or NOTHIN'!  She makes me laugh a lot, keeping me lighthearted and playful.  She is one of the most authentic and genuine people I know, a true example to me of how to love others with unselfish delight!  It never fails:  whenever she and Molly are together, Molly licks her toes all over!  Moos loves the taste of Jill's lotion, and Jillie gets a kick out of it!

Let me just say it again:  I'm so thankful for all of my friends!  I am truly blessed.  Ok, so onto what I think is the second to last round of answers to the first Q&A session.  I've had lot of fun with this, and I hope you have, too!
Jill asked:

1). What is one of your most favorite things about yourself?
Ok, this is admittedly a difficult question for me to answer because I feel like I'm in a season of learning a number of things about me that I need the Lord to change...but I'm always in that season, so I'll move on.  The first thing that came to mind though is that I like how I'm an organized, detailed person.  I have to be careful though because I can be a bit obsessive compulsive about my organization and detailed traits, and undoubtedly have likely caused angst to friends and family who are more "normal" or less organized in their lifestyle or planning than I am because I'm always asking them about something months in advance (i.e. I've even emailed my friend Corrie already about scheduling a trip to Jordan for next April...that's either kinda awesome or kinda kookoo!).  I love having things in order, things to be in their place, and being detailed enough to where I can effectively event plan, coordinate other such logistics, or even organize a pantry like I did for my Momma.  Even a project to stuff envelopes and get out a mailing for a friend is enjoyable to me.  I guess I'm weird like that.  But it's something about myself I appreciate and hope it can be used as a gift and a blessing to others.

2). What was/is one of the most difficult lessons you've ever had to learn?
Trying not to be a perfectionist/control freak/living in fear of what other people think of me!  I guess it goes along somewhat with my organization/need to have everything in its place, but it's even deeper than that.  Trying to control situations, my future plans (notice the unintended "my" future plans--ha!), and people (this probably comes out more in my relationship with Matt than anyone else); learning to let go of my perfectionism; and trying to not live in fear of what others think of me are some of the most difficult lessons I am continually learning!  And it happens partly because of a fear I have that if I let go then all the balls will drop, something won't be done as well (that sounds awful, I know!), something bad will happen, or someone won't like me.  It's a way of playing god when I am so not, and it's not trusting the Lord and letting Him have His way, which is ultimately the best way. 

I have a friend who recently gave me an image that has stuck with me like peanut butter in hair (ya like my The Office allusion there? <grin>).  She said that sometimes we hold onto things so tightly that it's like our fists are in a constant motion of ringing out water from a washcloth, so closed and tightfisted.  And in many ways, it causes much more pain to give something over to the Lord if we're holding on so tightly as a way to control, as opposed to keeping our hands open in an act of surrender.   So to tangibly put this into practice, I decided to hug Molly differently.  You see, I love this dog, probably way too much.  She's nearly 7 years old, and I have the biggest fear of losing her.  But sometimes,  I hold onto this little girl of mine in my heart way too much.  So when I hug her or hold her now, I try to remember to do so with open hands, in an act that I am saying, "Lord, I give her to you.  I love her, and thank you for her, and I give this little puppy to you."  It's hard!  So I'm still learning.  For sure, I'm still learning.  <sigh>

3). Are you more like your mom or dad?
I like this question!  But I don't have an easy answer for you:  I think I'm split down the middle...although I'd be curious to know how my parents would answer this question for me!  These are just a few things that come to mind:

Things I got from my Daddy:  organization and communication skills; love for learning; joy of writing; way of thinking and processing through things; the ability to go in and out of the store to get what you need and not roam for inessentials <grin>. 

Things I got from my Momma: 

her gift to be uninhibited to dance around the house, be silly, make up songs, or start food fights; her terms of endearment/the way she talks; her love of cooking; her mannerisms--if you spent time watching us both, you'd easily see things we do similarly in actions.  I wish I had a lot more of my Momma:  she is another one in my life who knows how to love and unselfishly serve others!  Her level of compassion and mercy is something I do not have, that I desperately need.  And we look alike!  My boss from church, when he first met my mom, eyed us coming towards him one Sunday and he had to do a double take!

4). Where was your favorite place to vacation and where is one of the top places you'd like to go? (money being no object!!)

As little kids, we were blessed to be able to take vacations as a family regularly and see many exciting places.  My favorite vacation spot growing up was Colorado.  We took several trips to Durango, Aspen, Keystone, Colorado Springs and Denver.  Colorado was one of my family's favorite places and we have lots of fun memories there.  As an adult, Banff, Canada has been both mine and Matt's absolute favorite so far!  I guess I'm a mountain girl!  <grin>  I can't WAIT to go back to Banff!  Which, if you don't know, is part of how we came up with Ink Pots for our blog title:  they are beautiful, bubbling springs that you have to hike a ways to see, but they are worth every huff and puff and ringing of the keys to scare away bears! 

Money being no object (wow, that would awesome!), I really, really want to make it to Jordan to visit my friends, Jonathan and Corrie, and visit the Holy Lands as well.  After that, I think I'd pick Italy.  Matt has been to Rome and raves about it, so I'd like to go see what all the fuss is about.  Oh, but my list is L-O-N-G!  I'll keep dreaming...

Tomorrow, I'll spill the beans a bit about our slumber party with "H" and answer Matt's Q&A question.  Unless there are any other questions between now and then, I'll wrap up this fun Q&A session then.  Until tomorrow, take care!

I LOVE getting ya'lls questions!  Jill's comments were sadly cut off.  <very, very sad face>.  Maybe she'll repost them so I can have a chance to answer them.  And a thank you to her, too, for keeping me from stuffing my face with cookie dough; although, we did have a sweet slumber party with one special mister that I'll blog about briefly on Monday, and in the midst of making his chocolate chip cookies, I did snag a bite or two of the dough.  But just a bite or two, which is much better than what I inhaled previously this week.

Janna, like Lindsey, is a friend I met through our small group at church, and she's been a dear friend these past five years, faithfully walking with me through anything and everything, and patiently loving on me despite my many insecurities.  I just found out last week that she loves being tickled, which delights my heart so much!  And I also discovered that her twin 14 month old twin girls, Emily and Lauren (who like play dates with Molly), get just as much a kick out of being tickled as Janna!  I have only tickled the wee little ones, but Janna better be on the lookout, 'cause I might just surprise her one day.  An avid reader and a librarian, Janna has recommended several amazing books to me, and I hope one day she will be a guest author for Ink Pots, like my friend, Diane.  So Janna asked three questions:

Okay, here are some questions for you: 1.) If you had to live outside of Texas for one year (with Matt, of course), where would you live? 2.) What would you do as a career if you could pick anything and miraculously already have completed the training? 3.) If you could re-live any year of your life, which one would it be? (Could be to re-experience or to re-do.)

Those are fun questions, and I'll try not to be too verbose for y'alls sake.  <grin>

1.) If you had to live outside of Texas for one year (with Matt, of course), where would you live?
First preference for the location:  somewhere with a winter!  Matt and I both miss having an extended winter with some sort of pretty, white precipitation.  That being said, however, my experience of living in such a place was in college in Wheaton, IL and Matt's has been throughout his life living in Colorado, Canada, and Virginia...in other words, both of us have only experienced other people shoveling driveways for us (i.e. the college staff or Matt's parents).  So we may tire of having too much of an extended winter since we now have to be responsible for such menial tasks.  So if I could pick any place, I would likely pick Denver, Colorado:  for its gorgeous mountain terrain and some of our good friends live there, too.  It also gets some of that pretty, white stuff I was talking about. 

Also, if I had my druthers, I would have Matt submit his name to his employer to be available to work overseas for a year or two!  In which case, I'd go anywhere!  Europe especially interests me.  An opportunity of a lifetime it would be!  I would love to do this; Matt, however, isn't so keen on the idea as I am...yet.  <grin>

2.) What would you do as a career if you could pick anything and miraculously already have completed the training?
Sorry, I have a number of ideas that I can't seem to narrow down!  Sometimes I wish I knew better in high school and college the vast amount of specialized careers there are!  I wonder how it would have impacted where I am today.  I love what I studied in college:  spiritual formation with an emphasis on intercultural studies.  And while I wish I had double majored in business or accounting, because I've learned I love accounting and working with numbers through my previous job, I don't think I would turn it into a long-term career.  I wish I had the gift of learning languages to be a translator (like for the U.N.).  One thing that has started interesting me more over the past few years is a combination of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies.  It compliments my passion for and educational background in intercultural studies, and I think it would be great to be an expert in these fields to influence decisions government agencies make.  Honestly, I love intercultural studies, so finding any type of venue that enables me to put that to practice is a joy.  Lastly, I would be grateful to brush up on my writing skills, creative writing included.  'Cause if you don't know by now, I enjoy writing this blog!  I hope to develop it over time, which I guess is a current career goal.  Writing about anything and everything, from what I ate yesterday, to my greatest fear, to my heart's deepest longing...I'm lovin' it!

3.) If you could re-live any year of your life, which one would it be? (Could be to re-experience or to re-do.)
Hands down:  college year(s)!  I would re-experience college in a heart beat.  For the record, there is one particular part of my junior year that I wish I could re-do: I was a bit too busy with other friendships and responsibilities for the girls who were my roommates that year (none of them were Country House girls) and I think it really hurt them.  So I wish I had made more of a conscious effort to be a good roommate that year.  But for the positive stuff I'd re-experience...I transferred to Wheaton College, fall 1998 of my sophomore year.  In addition to Becca and Michelle, who kindly took me in as transfer student to live with, my dear childhood friend, Eric, took me under his wings and introduced me to his group of friends (one of whom would be my future husband!  But just so you know, we didn't start dating until after I graduated...I wasn't interested in him romantically at all in college!  <grin>).   Eric and Matt made up a group of 10 guys called "Graham House", and each one of them has a very special place in my heart to this day.  I will not elaborate on the impact of Graham House fellas, my World Christian Fellowship cabinet, the Country House girls, or Corrie in my life, since the sentimental and nostalgic schmooze that I am could write a novel.  I will say, however, that those formidable years of college were some of the most fun, memorable and cherished of my life.  It was an era of precious friendships, much personal transformation, and priceless memories that Matt can attest to me saying on a number of occasions, "I wish I could go back to that time."  Oh, the deep love I have for those Graham House fellas, Country House girls and Miss Corrie brings me to tears of joy and thanksgiving each time I think of them, and sometimes, I wonder if they have a clue as to how much I love them!  How I hope they know!

Greetings, Internet peeps!  It is Thursday afternoon here in Austin, TX, and the weekend is right around the corner.  We are going to have (at least attempt to have) our little 2 year old buddy, Harrison, spend the night with us Friday night!  I'm so excited; I have wanted him to spend the night since he was itty bitty!  I bought cookie dough to make chocolate chip cookies with him, but I've already eaten it all up and need to go back to the store for more. 

Seriously, I can't have any chocolate in this house or it's gone in a matter of days...or minutes, depending on my mood!  A whole thing of cookie dough vanished into thin air; please pray for me to be more disciplined about this sugar/chocolate thing.  I need help!

Speaking of food, if any of you are interested in discovering some new recipes, Beth Moore's youngest daughter, Melissa, just posted a blog entry requesting readers to submit their favorite simple recipes.  If you'd like to check out the 180 or so recipes listed, click here.  Some of them look pretty good. 

This is your big chance!  And depending on how it goes, it might be your only chance, so you need to take advantage of this opportunity while you got it!  I'm offering you a chance to participate in a Q&A session:  ask me anything!  Send me a question in a comment and in the next day or two, I'll answer the questions in a post.  I'm an open book, and I'll take as many questions as I can get!  If I don't get any questions...well, then I'll know my trusty pal chocolate chip cookie dough will be there for me. 

Here are some questions and answers from my posts earlier this week:

Was he (Matt) as tall as a baby?  I cant tell from this pic. :)
Matt, the eldest of 3 children, was the smallest of the 3 at birth, weighing 6 lb. 10 oz. and 19 inches long.  I don't know anything about babies, but according to babycenter.com, the average fetal length at 40 weeks is 20.16 inches, so he was smaller than average.  But even as a young child, Matt remembers being one of the tallest in his classes.  His biggest growth spurt, that he remembers, was in middle school; by the time he reached high school, he was 6 feet.  He's held steady at 6'5" since his senior year in high school.  As he told his mom over his birthday weekend last week, after she said he should eat more because he's a "growing boy", he replied (wisely I may add), "I'm not growing any more in height, so if I'm a 'growing boy', the only way I'm growing is sideways!"  grin

We are anxiously waiting to hear who won the game!  Any 3 pointers?  Love the name!
While our readers may be anxiously waiting to know who won, Matt and the Super Ball Hog Ninjas certainly aren't in a hurry for me to post anything about their game, yet I will do it anyway.  We should have known it wasn't going to go well when 1) one of the guys forgot his jersey to which his girlfriend had to run it by; 2) Matt realized he forgot his contacts so I had to scurry home to get them (Molly was one confused puppy when I came running through the house, yelling, "Our Ninja forgot his contacts!", and then was out the door 10 seconds later--I'm sure she thought I was a mad woman); 3)  some of the players just met each other for the first time 10 minutes before game time; and 4) one of the players, a close friend, proudly admitted to downing a bunch of chicken wings right before the game.  Sadly, our Super Ball Hog Ninjas didn't do as well as they hoped.  Matt made one 3-pointer and it was quite fun to see him play; they were all trying so hard!  It was quite obvious though that the other team, the NI Eagles, had played together for a long time...they were in the groove!  The final score was 67 to 22 (if I remember correctly).  Very sad.  The Ninjas recognized the need for some good old fashioned practice and game strategy, so they're off to the courts this afternoon to do just that.  Their next game is February 6th.  Keep cheering for our Super Ball Hog Ninjas!