6 days into my series can you believe it? I really appreciate you stopping by everyday.
Sometimes, as you probably know, the internet has a way of presenting one's life that is usually far from reality. So when I read blogs, I know that they are just like me. Have down days, soaring high days, good hair days, wild kids, pet peeves, dry skin, arguments, messy living rooms, unmade beds, bad grammar, high expectations or fill in the blank here:_____________. It's just not displayed on the internet and I get that. Honestly, you will rarely (if at all) see pictures of my "messy living room", every one has one, do I really need to show it? It's there, believe me...I don't need to prove it. For me, it has nothing to do with perfection, it's just logic. We are all human. We are not perfect. It's life and it is messy. It just is. Which brings me to today's topic 25 things that you don't know about me. You might like me more, or less. I'm not sure here. I'm going way back here people, the way, way back...talking about school, and growing up and throwing in some of my present quirks. I am real. I am here. I narrowed down the list. Big Time.
This picture was taken this month last year, before the cancer came back. Not that it wasn't there, I just didn't know it yet.
This is a picture this year, a week ago. The cancer is back...and 6 months of chemo has taken it's tole. But I don't want to talk about cancer, but I am bald under that cute hat, and there is a reason.
25 things that make me tick. Let's talk about that.
1.) I am a Gemini, so I either love something instantly, or things have to grow on me. It is a nightmare to live with me.
2.) I still remember the teacher that turned my butt around in the 8th grade, Mrs. Corbett.
3.) Both of my parents are gone. Not everyday, but I cry for them either early in the morning when I've just woken up or right before I go to sleep. I guess when I stop and my mind isn't whirling...I think about how much I miss them in my life and the life of my children.
4.) I am constantly trying to figure out what my purpose is.
5.) I don't make friends very easy. I still miss my friends in North Carolina, and have only a handful here in Missouri and it's been over eight years that we've lived here. I've always wanted to be that person that has gaggles of friends.
6.) I like my coffee light and sweet and drink one cup in the morning every day. I drink Folgers and love Dunkin Donuts coffee. Unfortunately, Missouri does not have Dunkin' Donuts and the stuff at the grocery store is NOT the same.
7.) I think my biggest dream is owning a home decor store. There is an old closed Burger King building in Webb City that I think I could do wonders with.
8.) I like to drive, however, if I'm going somewhere new, I need a navigator. I've been known to get lost in neighborhoods.
9.) It takes a lot to make me angry, but when I am, all hell breaks loose.
10.) I am an Army brat. My family has lived all over the United States and some overseas tours including Italy and Germany.
11.) I had long hair that I could sit on my entire life, my father refused to let me cut it until I was 18. At 17, I whacked it off to my shoulders. He was not happy.
12.) My first vehicle was a Charcoal Grey Ford Ranger. I made the monthly payments on it, a whopping $147.00 a month.
13.) I have made things for as long as I can remember. The first thing that I remember actually crafting with my hands that wasn't out of paper, was a doll made out of my mother's pantyhose. She was not happy.
14.) My Mother wanted to name me Regina Lynn, they went with Michelle Lynn...I never liked my name and always wondered why my parents didn't get more creative when naming me.
15.) Keegan hates his name because I got too creative.
16.) My husband is 6'5 and it's one of the things I love about him. I can wear heels and he's still taller than I am, at 5'9. Like I wear heels anymore.
17.) I have a fear of falling down in public.
18.) After having 1 boy, and 8 years later having another, you would think I would have some clue about raising boys. I do not...they are as different from one another as night and day.
19.) I am a very light sleeper.
20.) I love my sisters children and miss them all the time. I wish we didn't live so far apart.
21.) I love my sister and miss her all the time. I wish we didn't live so far apart.
22.) I love music. I can't sing, but love to and it's not just in the shower either. I listen to all sorts of music, but my favorite decade is the 70's. I like to shake my groove thang.
23.) My grandmother was an amazing women. She owned her own business, was an amazing cook, excellent sewer, and raised 8 children. I wish I was more like her (except the having 8 kids thing).
24.) I do not like grocery shopping, and I wait for the last possible reason to go. "We're out of toilet paper??? Dang it. Alright, I'll go."
25.) I love watching reruns of Murder She Wrote, I am not ashamed.
Tell me one thing about you, I'd love to know. Talk to you tomorrow.
Tell me one thing about you, I'd love to know. Talk to you tomorrow.
Hi Michelle! One thing about me...I love to eat tater tots with mayo and mustard mixed together as a dip! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, have you tried ketchup with brown sugar? That's my secret dipping sauce. :)
DeleteThanks for being so open, Michelle. I always love finding out more about the wonderful ladies of blogland. Something about me that I think would surprise most people: My father was a cattle dealer and owned a stockyards when I was growing up so I spent a lot of time around farms, cattle, and a stinky stockyards!
ReplyDeleteJoanne, thank you. That is a lifestyle that I've often admired!
DeleteHI, Michele-
ReplyDeleteI think you're really cool. I follow your blog but rarely comment. I love how you let beauty define you and not other things. I think your home decor store would be amazing... not pretentious and not dorky... full of life-giving decor. I like the way you make wreaths look organic...as if they grew out of the ground that way. I also like the way you design. I've been to really pretty and staged houses before, but often they feel stuffy, like someone is coming over for a magazine shoot. Your house is pretty and real, just like you.
Sincerely, Emily Dykstra
Emily, thank you! You are so sweet, I appreciate it xoxo
DeleteHmmm.... I used to barrel race my horse, Tags! I love finding out about bloggers! I am also a Gemini and I lost my mother 14 years ago. I understand how you miss your parents. I always wonder what my mom would think of my daughter. I know really but I would just live to hear her tell me. Thank you for always sharing your home and beautiful life with us!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! It's coming up on 7 years now for me, and I know what you mean, Logan was only 5 months old when my mom passed and my dad never even had the chance...
DeleteGood morning! I love your list. I am a mother of two and grand mother of two. I would love to have a dozen grand children. I would love to start a blog someday! We moved into a home that needed a lot of updating 2 years ago with 3 acres. My MIL went in the hospital the week that we closed on are home and passed away one month later and was never in our new home. But while in the hospital talked about the inside of the house like she had been in it. Maybe she had! Sorry.....just wanted to know I feel your loss of your parents. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeanette! I'm sorry to read about your MIL.
DeleteIt sounds like you are an amazing gma, and your kids better get busy! :)
Michelle, I have followed your blog for quite a while and have the greatest respect and admiration for you and how you are walking through this portion of life. I pray for you all the time and look forward to reading that God has healed you and you can go ahead and start your darling store! I'm loving reading your posts about yourself lately and am glad to be getting to know you!
ReplyDeleteSomething about me...in six days I will have lost my father 20 years ago and it doesn't hurt any less now. I lost Mama four years later. Still when something big happens in one of my children's lives, I immediately think, I've got to call Mom. Then I realize she's gone and the reality is profound. I'm so glad that I can know that I'll be with them again one day. So grateful for the grace Jesus extends to me that has paid the price for my sins, forgiven me and saved my soul, not just to be with loved ones again, but that makes me smile when I miss them. Hugs to an awesome woman! - Lynette
Lynette, thank you so, so much.
DeleteI know exactly what you mean, I do that OFTEN, and it is so profound. That is the perfect word.
Been following you for a year....I think you do have a gaggle of friends! We are out here cheering you on!
ReplyDeleteWe laugh and we cry with you! You inspire lady!
Thank you, and you're right!
DeleteMichelle, one thing about me, I'm a Gemini too. Unless you are a Gemini, you have no idea what it is like to be one. We are the most unique people in the world. And I have very very very few friends. I loved this post. I could not have liked you less for posting it. Feel better, Carol
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteI too am a Gemini and also lost my dad 10 years ago. It is a great tribute to them and their ability to love that we miss them as much as we do. I am so fortunate to have had him in my life. He touched many lives with his ability to overcome personal hardships with courage, faith and undying sense of humor. Many of his grandchildren have written stories, essays and poems about him. As for me I love the wind. Whether on a bike, sailboat or just with the car windows down, I close my eyes and love the feel of the wind on my face.
Cathy, thank you for sharing, he sounds wonderful.
DeleteYes, the wind. That's a good one!
You must also include in your list the ability to express your journey as a transformation to change the lives of others. You are an inspiration to all and the insight that you give touches me to the core of my being. I have been more of a voyeur in choosing to read blogs than post...you are beautiful Michelle in so many talented ways!!! I was suppose to be named Michelle and my Mom passed away 3 years ago so there is a bit of commonality we share. LOL! You are in my prayers and I cannot wait to see you accomplish these dreams you have penned.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, you are so sweet!
DeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Michelle Lee. Growing up my parents called me Shelly and I hated it. I also wish they were more creative when it came to naming me. I have fallen down in public. I was totally mortified but I survived. I stood up brushed myself off, put my hands in the air like I just completed am Olympic event and announced "don't worry people I'm OK."I turned around went to my car had a good cry, went home told my husband and then had a good laugh.
You are awesome and I love following you on your journey. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle, I had forgotten about that or rather blocked it out! My family called me Shelly too and I despised it!! I think finally when I was around 13 years old everyone finally stopped....after many, many, death glares!
DeleteIf I ever do fall, I'm totally going to steal your method. :)
well you didn't chase me away! I love, absolutely love doing laundry. It's my thing, I love folding the clothes all fresh and warm from the dryer...I know, I know.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, Laundry??? LOL
DeleteOne thing about me... My mother was pretty creative when she named me. I got a lot of them. Melissa Sharmaine Simone McKennaa Labella. McKenna is my maiden name, and Labella married. Did you know they try to keep all of them on your nursing license? They don't all fit :0) So, my grandmother wanted Sharmaine. She was French Canadian. And my mom wanted Simone after the same grandmother. I got both. The nurse in 1967 said she had to pick one because they wouldn't both fit. She won that argument and I have one of the world's longest names. I have always been very proud of it. My dh has tried to shame me about it, he doesn't like to be "different." Of course, there is more to the story, maybe I will blog about it.....
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your inspiring journey!
Melissa, that is a great name, you should be proud!
DeleteMichelle - You are such an inspiration to so many others. The way you have handled your days going thru what you have is just so inspiring. I enjoy reading your blog and your spirit shines thru.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being such an inspiration.
Judy
Judy, thank you!
DeleteMy Dad died when I wAS 4. MY MOM DIED 21 YEARS AGO. i AM A vIRGO AND WE just (mONDAY) MOVED INTO A New house!!!!!!!!! yOU ARE TRULY AN INSPIRATION TO so MANY, INCLUDE THAT ON YOUR LIST:)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Congrats on your new house too!
DeleteI am also a Gemini and don't have a ton of friends. I don't give my heart away easily. I love one cup of coffee in the morning also, I want to own a home decor store, and it takes a lot to make me angry...must be that Gemini in us? Praying for your journey of healing with this horrible cancer. Have a blessed week!
ReplyDeleteYes, we have a Gemini personality, for sure! Thank you for the prayers!
DeleteYou are amazing woman, thank you for sharing this list. I love to eat, but hate to cook. Out of guilt I cook for my family, but I have no interest in eating the things I make. I feel like cooking is so much work and such a mess that I'd just as well live on bagged salad and save all the hassel:)
ReplyDeleteYou and me both! All I want to do is kill the hunger pains, you don't need a whole meal for that! LOL
DeleteI am so inept when it comes to the computer. I would love to start a blog on my furniture refinishing, re-dos and fixer-uppers, but I think I would need my computer science college student here to help and he's away at school. Someday.....
ReplyDeleteI am not so hot behind the computer either...I rely on my husbands help a lot. That sounds like the perfect blog content to me!
DeleteMichelle ~ I too have lost both of my parents. Until you go through it, you don't know what that feels like. I miss mine a lot. Sometimes I just go sit on my deck and talk to them. Remember, you don't need lots of friends. You really only need one that will be there for you, no matter what. It's not the quantity, it's the quality. We all out here love to read your blog, so you might not know us personally, but we all connect. WE are all praying and rooting for you to get better. I loved this post. Nita
ReplyDeleteThank you Nita. :)
DeleteWhile everyone seems to love their coffee...I only love the aroma of coffee. My first recollection of it was in my 7th grade math class when my desk was next to the teacher's desk (crowded room) and she would open her thermos and the aroma would come wafting my way. I wish it would taste so wonderful to me. So....instead...I'm a cocoa snob. Oh yes...I am. But, I'll save those details for another time.
ReplyDeleteThank you for continuing to be so very inspiring to those of us who have a few bumps in our road. Believing with you for your healing. {hugs}
The best part of waking up is Folgers in my cup...hah! Thanks
DeleteSuch a cute post, Michelle! And I love that floral top you're wearing. Ok, here's my one thing: I'm a Gemini too, and dang, we are a lot alike :) Except for the coffee and the having boys part, haha!
ReplyDeletexo, Andrea
Thanks Andrea!
DeleteOne more Gemini checking in here. I admire your honesty and some of your points really resonated with me: 3, 4, 5.
ReplyDeleteAs for names, my mother gave me mine because she wanted one that couldn't be altered. As a "Margaret", she had so many variations.
-Karen
Thank you Karen. My Mom was a Dorothy, so she had lots of different names too...maybe that's why I got the normal name:)
DeleteLets see...#5, #19, #22(80's music) and #24 are me too ! Something else about me: I was given NO middle name and it bugged me for so many years so after having 4 children I made sure they all had one. Michelle the strength you have is unmeasurable...and I learn so much from your blogs. Have a wonderful Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThank you Monica.
DeleteWell yes you do have a witty post that does bring smiles and yes, I have not met you either, but I feel like I'm your pen pal friend. Does that count??
ReplyDeleteOne thing about me. I went to a one room schoolhouse for a few years and then moved to a "progressive" state where instead of six in the entire school we had 42 fourth graders just in my classroom!! And despite my humble beginnings in a school with a simple outhouse for a bathroom, I was miles ahead academically in this new, supposedly better state!!
Love
Gwen
Ps I'm a Christian and every night I pray for you and your family in many ways
Yes Gwen, that does count! Thank you!
DeleteThanks for sharing Machelle, You and I share one similarity; I too have lost both parents and I have the same crying time as you...My parents put me through Art school and they never got a chance to see how I incorported my education into a published childrens author/illustrator.I just started a blog Sweet tea n'Salty air it's on test right now I want to see if I really have the time. Beauty comes from with in ,really and you have a great reflection of that....it is important to do whatever it is in life you desire wether you succeed or not.You would be wonderful at opening up a shop.Something about me I am technically disabled especially setting a blog lol
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Lisa.
DeleteHi MIchelle,
ReplyDeleteI think Michelle is a BEAUTIFUL name! Your parents would have chosen it because they thought so to:-) Cool meaning as well: 'Who is like God?'
Something about me: I always saw myself as a shy and reserved person, but still found the courage to travel the world by myself and ended up moving from the far north to the far south of the globe. Who would have though. I find Friendship takes longer as we get older... People might be more settled in their ways? It makes me appreciate the friends I do have even more. I guess it is not about quantity but quality.
Wishing you health and happiness.
Blessings,
Carina
Carina, that sounds amazing, I think there is a little bit of gypsy in me too. :) I think you are right about friendships taking longer as we get older.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Someone once gave me a compliment...although this person never met my mother, she said she knew my mom was a great person because she raised a wonderful daughter! That was over 25 years ago and I still remember how it made me feel. Proud of being her daughter! She passed away over 10 yrs ago and I miss her terribly every day.
ReplyDeleteNow I'd like to say that same to you. Your parents must have been awesome 'cause you're awesome too! Love your blog and wish you much health and happiness.
PS - I'm a Leo, have fallen down & lived, would love to have more time to decorate, DIY and most of all-own my own bakery someday! Marcie
Thank you Marcie, I appreciate it, I do think they were great parents/people. The Leo personality are real go-getters, you'll have that bakery, I have no doubt!
DeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteI have read your blog for months now but never commented until now....although I did run you down at Lowes a few weeks back just to say hi!! I know the location of said Burger King (next to Wal-Mart) and I have no doubt you could do wonders with the place. You have such a wonderful eye, I love reading your blog. I wish you all the best. Meada
Meada, thank you so, so, so, much for commenting!! I felt so bad that I did not ask your name that day in Lowe's, I was so shocked anyone would recognize me! It was so great to meet you!! I noticed that May's Pharmacy has gone out, I like that building even better (a little further up by Arby's) than the BK building :)
DeleteThanks so much!
Meada, sister was so excited she called to tell me about it, Thanks for making her day. Klair
Delete
ReplyDeleteOH Sister I love this one the best! For you to really open up and put yourself out there, Brave. Although I had to read some through my tears. I miss you and our parents like crazy. As for me I like flying a kite , it can bring out the kid in anyone; and a moment to forget your problems. Don't get to do it much. Have memories of one really great day with the kids. love you Klair
oh
Sister, I didn't mean to make you sad.
DeleteI had no idea about you liking to fly kites, we should have done that when we were in Kitty Hawk! :) Love you.
I would love to , maybe next time . Not sad just cry easy, miss so many people that I love. Love Klair
DeleteOh Michelle, you are always so inspiring even in your darkest moments. I love that you are open and honest and tell what you really feel. It gives me insight on what a person goes through, and the thoughts that you would have and how you would cope with it. I would hope I could be as courageous and strong as you are. For you to even find the time and energy to blog, is amazing! I know it must be cathartic in a way, but also a feeling of exposing yourself too much. I love and read every word you write.
ReplyDeleteI had two daughters and 8 years later had another daughter...no even with girls you never know how to raise them. Wear heals again, it will make you feel sexy or so they say :)