50 Facts About Me

Seeing as it's another freezing, dreary day here in Arkansas, I figured this would be a great day to share random facts about myself. It's always weird (and difficult) coming up with these facts, but I'll do the best that I can!

1. I am a sibling and an only child. (This is what happens when you have a half-sister from your mom, and you are the only child of your dad.) Never thought about it like that? Well, now you can't stop.

2. I can sing Silent Night in German thanks to my high school choir director. (Hey, there, Mr. Street!)

3. Yes, I was a choir nerd in school, and yes, I can sing. In fact, I sing unapologetically on the treadmill every morning.

4.  My favorite season is whichever is the next one coming up. By the time a season rolls around, I've already celebrated it in my head, so I move on to the next.

5. I have impeccable aim when I play trash can basketball. But heaven forbid I ever get a goal when shooting a real basketball.

6. I have created a strategy guide in my head about eating at a buffet to maximize the experience, and I always follow it.

7. I LOVE shiny things, whether it's glitter, ice, or tail lights in the fog. I can literally sit and stare at anything shiny for an unreasonable amount of time. It's almost caused me to wreck more than once.

8. I hate being alone. Can't stand it. I thrive best when there are other people around. I'm a scary person left to myself.

9. I love to talk. It doesn't matter if I know you or not, once I'm comfortable around you (which takes around 15 minutes if you aren't super creepy), I just don't shut up. This is especially true when I'm watching a movie, so sorry to friends and family that have to deal with that. 

10. I get overstimulated easily by television shows and movies. I'm known to take breaks during the viewing so I can calm down and reel in my emotions. Which brings me to...

11. I am extremely empathetic. No, I'm not bragging, because I don't see it as a good thing. I have very few negative people in my life for this reason. If there's an extremely heavy conversation that happens, I love listening and sharing advice or my own stories, but I have to have a short period of meditation afterwards to shake the feelings of the person I'm speaking to out of my system. It's weird, but I guess it happens. 

12. I'm a genealogy enthusiast and have tracked my family's heritage back to the 1500's.

13. I had a recurring nightmare for a year after watching Stephen King's The Stand. I didn't sleep longer than 30 minutes at a time the first week because I was so terrified. I still haven't watched the movie in its entirety again.

14. Sudden, loud noises make me extremely angry. Screaming, gun shots, hammers, etc... 

15. I'm obsessed with essential oils. Love me some lavender.  

16. I was an extreme germophobe from the age of 10-17. If I thought someone was sick, I would hold my breath until I wasn't around them. If they touched the top of my cup, I wouldn't use it. This is hilarious considering the fact that my house was a mess because of mom's hoarding. 

 17. When I meet you, I'll treat you like my best friend until you give me a reason not to. I just don't see why I should hold back if I have no reason to not trust or like you.

18. I'm color blind. No, that does not mean that I only see black and white. It means that I can't tell what some colors are. I can clearly tell primary colors, but when colors start mixing to make other colors, all bets are off. There was an ongoing dispute between Josh and myself about our couches one time. Apparently our couches were green, I thought they were brown. It's like, WHY did no one tell me?! How could they let me but green couches. Now I have to ask everyone else what color something is before I buy anything. And it's an ongoing game with my family. "What color is this, Heather? Nope! It's this color!" I am not amused.

19. Next January, Josh and I will have been married for a decade. That blows my mind.

20. I always forget that I'm 4'11... Until someone rests their arm on my head. 

21. I've had nail polish on my toes every single day for 17 years.

22. I just had to use a calculator to figure that out because I'm terrible at math.

23. If I know you really well, I'll sing my conversation to you instead of speaking it.

24. I always come up with song parodies in my head, and I'm happy to report that has been passed down genetically to both of my kiddos.

25. I love cats. If God-forbid something tragic ever happened to Josh, I would never remarry. I would use the life insurance to adopt as many cats as possible and I would enjoy being ignored (except for feeding time) time by all of my new furry friends.

26. I love storms. I'm terrified of them, but I love them. Does that even make sense?

27. My favorite comfort food is Pepsi, Oreos, and ice cold almond milk.

28. Clutter drives me insane. As in, I cease to function. I'll mope around in a helpless daze until it's gone.

29. I obsess over money. I have to know down to the penny how much is in the bank at all times. It's not that I obsess over how to get more money, I just need to know that we have enough. Checking the bank is the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before I go to bed. I have gotten somewhat better since Josh has been handling our money, but the fear is always there.

30. I whole-heartedly believe in ghosts. I can't explain what they are or where they come from, but I know they exist, and they scare the fire out of me. 

31. The house that I grew up in is extremely haunted and is one of the most terrifying places to be alone.

33. I love shooting guns, and I'm a pretty good aim. Remember that if you ever try to break into our house.

34. When I was little, all I would eat at buffets were ham cubes, shredded cheese, and any kind of shrimp they had. 

35. I love climbing trees. In fact, when Josh was in Iraq, I would climb the oak tree in my backyard to write him his letters.

36. I used to give rides to strangers until a little old man turned down my offer for a lift and scolded me for 15 minutes about how dangerous it was. Then I had to promise him that I would never do it again. I haven't.

37. My cousin and I dressed up as Claude and Claudette (the mascots for a local festival in town) one year. It was hot, miserable, and kids threw rocks at us. BUT, we got free t-shirts that said STAFF, so it was worth it.

38. Josh and I used to sing on a praise team at church, and I desperately miss it.

39. I will eat sour candy until my mouth peels from it. I did this just the other day. Nothing tastes right still.

40. I have discussions and pep talks with inanimate objects if they aren't doing what I want them to.

41. The only Disney Princesses I ever pretended to be were Pocahontas and Belle. I may still do this from time to time.

42. I love lists. I have about 15 ongoing  lists stored in my phone. These aren't counting the lists I have in my notebook that I carry with me.

43. I love notebooks. I have a terrible memory, so I have to write down more things than the average person. I recently purged about 10 notebooks that were full of random lists and memos to myself. I made a pledge to only use one at a time from now on. 

44. My sister and I are extremely close, even when we fight.

45. I would rather pay a person to scratch my back than to massage it.

46. I have had an unhealthy crush on Bruce Willis ever since I saw him in The Fifth Element.

47. I don't sleep at all when I know Josh isn't going to be home. 

48. If I could go back to 16 year old me, I would hug the crap out of her, and then smack her upside the head.

49. When I'm mad at someone, I'm known for forgetting about it within an hour. I can't stay mad at people.

50. I have the life that I always dreamed of when I was little.
That. Is. Awesome.

Let's Talk Love Languages

Last night Josh and I were unwinding after an incredibly busy day. I was irritable and apparently I was doing a poor job of hiding it. 
Being the brave man that he is, Josh asked if I was irritated.

"Well, yes, to be honest."
"Is it something that I did?"
"You have to slow roast me before I feel up for anything tonight! You can't just crawl into bed and expect me to instantly shut down from the day and go into wife mode. I need you to butter me up the entire day for me to be able to relax and focus solely on being your wife."
*Note: He wasn't trying anything saucy. At all. He was across the room.*
"What? How did we got from talking about the Powerball and cupcakes to this?"
*pointing to my head* "Spaghetti noodles!"
"What?"
"Remember at that one marriage seminar where the guys talked about how women's brains are like spaghetti noodles because all issues interconnect and men's are like waffles because y'all can compartmentalize issues?"
"Oh. Yeah."
"Well, that's what's going on here."

 In reality, I had felt myself feeling the stress in my throat for a good portion of the day, but there was absolutely no time to communicate this to Josh. After he got home from work, he went straight to a meeting with a gentleman from his unit to give some counseling, and from there he went straight to church where he me up with the kids and me. 

Since last weekend was drill, I had the full responsibility of all housework, make up homeschooling, and bill paying,  plus getting the kids dressed, fed, and to a new church by myself. That's where the stress began, but it continued to be fed because, well, life happens, and Josh and I hadn't had the time to reconnect where I could share my heart and he could share his.

I'm always stressed because, well, that's my personality, but usually I can manage it better. Since I had days to think about why I felt that life was swallowing me whole, I knew exactly what was going on. 

"Do you remember how we took that love languages test awhile back?"
"Yeah."
"Well, yours was acts of service and quality time, and mine was physical touch and words of affirmation. I've felt distance from you for a little while because we haven't had time face-to-face to really feed our needs, so I've been trying to up my game so that you know that I love you. But I've been pretty silent about not feeling like my needs are being fed."

Okay, so let's talk Love Languages.
Most of you have surely heard of this test, but for those of you who haven't, let me explain.
Everyone craves love, however, we all crave different kinds. And typically, the ways that we show love tends to be our language, not the person's who's on the receiving ends language.  

Let's take Josh and myself for example. If you happen to be friends with me on Facebook, often you'll see me verbally praising Josh for his accomplishments, or how much I love him, etc... The thing is, even though he's appreciative of that, it doesn't fill his love tank. However, words of affirmation is one of my love languages, so that's how I naturally show my love to people.  He on the other hand, would go to the store 20 times during Thanksgiving to get everything that I forgot without thinking twice. While I'm really, truly thankful that I didn't have to go myself, it just doesn't fulfill me. But that's how he shows love because one of his love languages is acts of service. It's actually pretty cool to observe relationships after taking this test, because it's obvious most of the time how people need to be loved.

Once you've taken the test online (I'll post the link at the bottom), it will further explain what each language entails and such, but it's a pretty broad answer. You have to really sit down and define exactly what your language means to you personally and why that is. 

For example, let's start with me. 
(Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation)

Physical Touch:
Most people automatically assume that this means in a sexual way, and to some, it might. But for me, that's not it at all. The kind of touching that I crave from Josh is in the form of his arm around my shoulder at church, or his hand on the small of my back when we're walking, or even just a hug when I'm having a lousy day.

Why? 
It's a protective thing. When he touches me in these ways, I know that A) He's paying attention to my feelings. He knows that I need a hug right then, B) He's proclaiming to the world that "this is my woman, and I like her." (Yes, that's kind of archaic, but it's what butters my bread), and C) I feel secure when I know that he's right there beside me.

Words of Affirmation:
I constantly doubt myself. Am I a bad mom? Am I a bad wife? Was dinner good? When Josh praises me, I feel amazing. No, you shouldn't need to be validated by others to feel good about yourself, but a cheer from the family pep squad will never hurt a person. I crave validation.

Why?
I do a lot of things for my family. A. Lot. And I don't mind doing those things at all. In fact, caring for them is my happy place. But, sometimes I wonder if my efforts are being noticed or appreciated. I need to hear praises so resentment doesn't build inside me. I know that my family would never, ever take advantage of me, but human feelings step in and overtake logic sometimes. In the past, when Josh has praised me on Facebook for something that I did for him, or praised a dinner I made, I have stored that compliment in my heart and I pull it out from time-to-time when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Just remembering the compliments makes me blush and not only continue doing every day tasks, but doing them joyfully. 

It fills my love tank.

Now, let's take Josh for example.
(Acts of Service, Quality Time)

Acts of Service: 
I was pretty clued into what he needed in this area, because he tries to serve me in this way constantly. As I mentioned before, he's the goer in our family, as in he goes to the store for forgotten groceries, decorations, and medicines in the middle of the night. I knew I could feed this language by starting his car in the mornings, making his lunch for work, packing his bag for drill, and laying out his work uniform for him so he didn't have to search for it. But what I didn't know was why this way of helping him was important, so I asked him.

Why?
"It let's me know that you have my back." I was thrilled that was his answer because I realized that he saw me not as a servant, but as a teammate. His battle buddy. His right hand gal. He isn't a trusting person at all, so it always catches me off-guard when I realize that I'm one of the handful of people that he does trust. So now when I brave the cold wind to start his car in the morning, I don't mind as much because I'm letting him know that he can count on me with big things and small.

Quality Time:
I had assumed that this language meant being around each other. So this confused me when we'd be watching a movie, because he would be sitting there scrolling through Facebook on his phone. I thought quality time meant no distractions? Did he take the test wrong? Nope. Laying around watching movies doesn't qualify as quality time to him. When I asked him what he needs in this area, he said, "Hiking, home projects, yard work, etc.." 

Why?
"I need purposeful time with you. Time that we have set aside where we're working toward a common goal, whatever that happens to be." He needs a purpose to our time together. That makes sense since he's a very logical person. Why sit around doing nothing when we can spend our time together doing something meaningful? Why not do things together and then sit back and take in the glory of our finished task together? I kind of wonder if this might be why he gets agitated when I take on large projects by myself? 

There's another question to ask him.

I hope that this has been helpful to you guys, because it helped us to sit down and hammer down what exactly our languages meant to us. If you're interested in taking the test, here is the link.

We'll talk again soon, friends!

Things I'm obsessed With: January

Hey there, friends!

It's the weekend! 
Although, since I'm a stay-at-home mom, this means nothing to me. 

*shrugs*

That's okay though. For me personally, it's always a relief when the weekend rolls around because there's fewer errands to run, and the ones that I do have to run are usually fun ones.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand.

It feels like it's been forever since I've done a Things I'm Obsessed With post, so I figured I would start fresh this year.

This month I've been obsessed with:

The Piano 

I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano. I mostly remember how to read sheet music from being a choir nerd in school, but it's very different singing a note versus playing it on an instrument. So far, I can handle a song with one flat or sharp, but obviously I do my best in the key of C. You know, enough for it to seem like a cool party trick. I've learned a few beginner classics like Fur Elise, Pachelbel Canon, Greensleeves, and the the beginning of Let It Go. because when you have a three year old daughter, that's going to be a request.
I'm currently learning this song though!

My favorite show!

Makeup

I've always worn makeup, but for the most part, I've never played with makeup.
Yes, you can do that as an adult. 
I've been experimenting with different brands, cream vs powder blush, and I've finally learned how to fill in my eyebrows. 
Yes, ladies, it makes a difference and completes a look. 
End of story, Amen.
I've worn Neutrogena mineral powder foundation for forever, but I hate paying almost $13 a month to buy it. But recently, I've discovered Rimmel cosmetics and so far, I'm in LOVE.

Right now I'm using:

FInd it here.

Find it here.

 

 

 

I got the Stay Matte because it was recommended by a beauty YouYuber (more about that in a moment.) Usually my face isn't shiny in the wintertime because it's too busy flaking off to be able to produce shine. But I'm using so much moisturizer right now that I have to neutralize that somehow.
I eventually want to branch out to other products in the brand, but for now I need to use up what I have in my stash.

YouTube

When Sawyer is doing his workbooks during school, I have to have something going on in the background because I'd go crazy otherwise. So I put in my ear buds and turn on my favorite channels. At the moment, my favorites are all British. I've watched them so much that I've found myself almost speaking with a British accent.
Three of the channels I've been watching are:

Tanya Burr-

 

 

Her channel has all kinds of makeup tutorials, shopping trips, and other fun things. She also does vlogs where you can watch her go on random adventures around London.
You can find her channel here.

Zoella-

 She's honest, quirky, hilarious, and glamorous, all rolled into one. She also has beauty videos, as well as a vlog channel. 
You can find her channel here.

And last but not least, 
Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter.

She is absolutely my favorite because I can relate to her the most. She has a husband and a child, and is shaped more like me, so I can  look at her fashion and be inspired. And she is absolutely lovely and hilarious, plus, her best friend is Zoella, and their videos together have me in stitches.
You can find her channel here. 

These three ladies have changed my perspective about what being a woman is about. They're pretty much awesomesauce.

Fashion


Most of you who know me are "Whaaaat?"  I know, it shocked me, too. In fact, it kind of snuck up on me. It started when I styled my niece for a dance that she went to. As I went from store to store putting items of clothing together, I found that even though I was tired and "hangry", I was enjoying the challenge. It just kind of grew from there. Then I bought a few clothing items that are not my norm, loved them, and I was hooked from then on. I tend to like more classic pieces that can be worn together and are comfortable. 

 

With a little bit of nerd thrown in for good measure...

 You can find more of my style, plus all of the websites where these looks are on my fashion Pinterest board.



Chapstick

It's winter. Lip chap (as Josh calls it) is an essential. I have to be careful about what lipsticks and chapsticks I use, because most products dry my lips out quickly. I don't know why, but it's a sad, sad truth. 

My go to is 

It's not pretty, it doesn't smell nor taste yummy, and it doesn't have any color or shine to it, but it works. 
Really, it's pointless for me to buy anything else, but I always do because well, I'm an addict. 
Recently I also bought a three pack that has the Blistex Deep Renewal, Silk and Shine, and Lip Vibrance in it. They all suck the moisture out of my lips by the end of the day (I think that's a Heather thing, not a Blistex thing) but they each have a different purpose in my beauty routine, so they're keepers! I've used Silk and Shine since I got it in my Christmas stocking in high school. I think it pairs well with a smokey eye because it has a subtle shimmer that enhances your natural lip color. I love it!

Alrighty, that wraps up my January obsessions, y'all! I hope each of you have found something to obsess over on this list! 

Have great weekend!

-Heather
 

Mommy's Gone Crazy

Some people think that since I stay home with our kids and we homeschool, that I have all of the time in the world to get myself and the kids ready, schooled, and the house clean, complete with a hot meal on the table for the hubby when he walks in at 5:30 every evening. 

Honestly, that's what my plan is every morning when I wake up and my feet hit the floor. 

However, that isn't how it plays out most days. 

 This truth had never been more real to me until yesterday when I had an unexpected knock on the door at 2:30 on the afternoon.

 You see, I had decided to rearrange everything in my living room that morning during our school hours. Terrible mistake mind you, but I'm impatient and only have a small amount of time on my hands to do luxurious things such as moving furniture and wall hangings, which subsequently means sweeping thousand of crayons and cat toys out from where the couch had been, plus dusting all of the pictures that I had taken down.
 The living room was still in the throws of upheaval and since I knew I was going to be sweaty and dusty, I didn't bother showering that morning. 

Gross, but logical. 

I had just moved the fish tank from the kitchen table (which had newspapers and paint scattered all over it from finishing up a pinewood derby car) to the bookshelf and had sloshed about half of the tank water all over my chest. I don't know how many of you have or have had goldfish, but they are dirty little creatures.
Picture me standing in the middle of the wrecked living room, complete with hammers, crayon piles, and wires everywhere looking back-and-forth  from the messy table to the fish tank to my shirt which now smelled like a green pond on a hot day. 

I just knew then and there that I was over that day and bedtime needed to come in the next thirty minutes for everyone's sake. 

Then I looked at the clock and it was only 2 in the afternoon. 

*sigh*

So I came to grips with myself and trudged into the bedroom to change my shirt. I dug through the laundry baskets full of the clothes I hadn't folded and put away from the day before and found an acceptable ratty shirt to wear for the next couple of hours. I still smelled like fish tank, but I knew I was going to shower soon, so I brushed it off.  As I looked around our bedroom, I quickly remembered that it was Monday, which meant it was a big laundry day, so I found all of the hampers and dumped them in the only clean part of the floor in the living room so I could sort them. 

I like to add more chaos when I can.

I got my huge laundry piles separated and was passing through the kitchen on my way to the laundry room when I spied wadded up, half chewed pieces of bread all over the kitchen floor. Being the attention deficit person that I am, I set down the laundry load to pick up the  bits of bread. I would have put them in the the trash, except it seemed that I am the only one who's trash bag changing skills are exemplary enough to accomplish such a feat, therefore everyone leaves the job to me. It's an honor, really. So I changed and took out the trash. As I went to get under the kitchen sink to get a new trash bag, I realized that the sink was now overflowing with dishes that the stupid past me didn't do the night before, nor that morning. So I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and started it, only to realize that there were still dishes left because our dishwasher is half the size of normal ones. 

 I debated  for about one second about washing the rest by hand, but screw that, I didn't exactly feel like it. 

 I was making my way to my bathroom to finally get my shower when, *knock, knock, knock*

 I looked around at my living room which was in shambles before, but now had three new piles of laundry in the floor as well as a puddle from the fish tank. Then I panned to the kitchen which still had dirty dishes, an empty trash can sitting in the middle of it, and the laundry basket brimming with clothes sitting on the sticky counter.

And finally, I looked at myself, wearing pink fuzzy pajama pants, an I'll fitting, ratty shirt, and my hair was half up, half down because I had gotten in caught on a nail in the wall as I was bending over. 

Plus I smelled like fish water still. 

This next part happened in slow mode in my eyes. 

I saw Sawyer start to open his mouth. I knew what was going to happen next. He was going to yell across the room that someone was at the door, as if I wasn't already aware.

I leaped as gracefully and as quietly as I could to the kitchen table to cover his mouth before he made a sound. 

It had to have been thrilling to be a fly on the wall at this moment.   It was as if I swooped in like an eagle to hush him and usher him into the bedroom to get out of view of the front window. 

It was there, hunkered down in the floor of our dark bedroom, trying to stay quiet, that I realized I had hit a new low.
Sawyer looked up and said with fear in his eyes, "Are we in danger?" 

At this point, the lady (who I didn't know) had left and I assured Sawyer that we were safe and explained why mommy went psycho. 

I eventually got everything sorted and cleaned (including myself) by the time Josh got home. I would have told him about my day, but I don't know if he could empathize as well as my friends, so I just didn't bother, and now I'm telling y'all in the hopes that you can.

The moral of the story here is: Always call me an hour before you come over, if you do show up unannounced, be prepared for this kind of scenario when you get here, and always tackle big projects on the weekend. 

Happy, Tuesday, friends! May it be better than your Monday!