Questions & Answers

Last week, I posted about having a little bit of writer's block. I offered to answer questions any of you may have, just to give me something to write about. Then I ended up having things to blog about day after day after day. Which was good.

Today? I'm not so inspired today.

So I'm going back to find your questions, and answer them. This probably won't be too terribly exciting, but here we go...

From Anonymous, and also Gia: What are some of your favorite blogs?

I have actually posted about this before, but not really all in one spot. I mention them here and there. I read a lot of blogs, but my favorites are probably Matt, Liz, and Madeline; Mama's on a Playdate; Boobs, Injuries, and Dr. Pepper; More Than a Minivan Mom; and Cake Wrecks.

For baked goods, I really like Good Things Catered. Her meals are a little too "upscale" for me. :) I just don't cook that type of food! But Katie has never led me astray with a dessert. Everything I've tried has been really, really good.

From Vanessa: I have a question - how do you fit it all in? Are you very organised with journals etc? How far in advance do you plan everything to get it done? And do you feel your responsibilities/hobbies have changed since getting married?

To be honest, Vanessa, I'm not really sure what you mean when you say "fit it all in." The truth is that life is pretty busy. But compared to other times in my life, I do think it's a good kind of busy. Most of the things that I do, I enjoy doing. I love having lazy weeks or even just a lazy night or two per week, but for the most part, I do like to stay busy.

Lately, I've been filling my free time with aerobics--step and kickboxing--twice a week, and then lots of baking. In the past, I did a ton of paper projects (especially for the wedding), or I took the cake decorating classes. Oh, and I do watch a pretty decent amount of television! I can't help it; I like TV. There is usually at least one show per night that I like to watch.

I don't keep journals (aside from the blog), and I don't really plan each day in advance. So in that way, I guess you can say I'm not very organized. I just kind of go with the flow. If I feel like cooking or baking, I will. If I don't, I won't.

I don't think my responsibilities have changed at all since getting married. We lived together for three years prior to the wedding, so marriage hasn't really changed our lives that much at all. We're just a little more "grown up" now, I guess. Everyone's getting married and having babies!

My hobbies have changed, definitely. But that's just because I spent a year doing so much for the wedding. So many projects. Once that was all over, I had to channel my energy into something else.

From Laura: you seem to thoroughly research things before making a decision (i.e. buying your tv). have you bought a car recently? if so, what did you do as far as researching?

I'm surprised that this character trait has come through in my blog, but I guess that it has. I am an obsessive researcher. Not for every purchase, of course, but for bigger ones (i.e. TV, car, house, appliances, computers, cameras, etc... even vacations!), I do a lot of research. I usually get it done pretty quickly, because once we decide to get something, I'm usually excited to get it now. So for the TV, it was a bunch of research over a couple of weeks. I usually stick to the info I can find online. Reviews, comparisons, etc.

I purchased my car in 2004, so I'm not sure if that's recent enough for you. But at that time, I had a 1991 Honda Civic that had treated me really well, so I was certain that I wanted another Honda. So while I did a lot of research and reading to inform myself, I didn't really do the kind of comparison shopping that you might find other people do. And, for what it's worth, I ended up buying a Honda CR-V.

Our next "big" purchase will likely be a new washer and dryer. Our dryer has been on the fritz; it takes like two hours to dry a load and it is annoying. We're trying to hold out a bit longer, but I realllllly want one of those nice front-loading sets. I still have a lot of research to do on those. We'll see what happens.

Vanessa and another Anonymous poster touched on questions regarding my job.

Honestly, I try to stay away from blogging about my job. First of all, there's not usually anything terribly exciting to blog about. I'm in marketing and I do a lot of writing for a living, so I feel like... why would I want to continue writing about that in my free time? Besides, I don't think there are a lot of people who would find it interesting! As far as further education or exciting things that may happen/were expected to happen, I'll just say that there is really nothing new to share. If I made some big life change, it would be hard not to blog about it, so I'm sure you'll all know if and when there is. :)

From Mrs.B.: Are there any home projects that you are doing/want to do? Do you still take orders for the aisle runners and banners? Do you have any great crafty tips?

Well, this year, we already did the big floor project, as well as the new sliding glass door and the addition of the pantry cabinet (all related to the floor project).

In 2009, we're thinking about more floors! We're definitely planning to replace our bathroom floor, and we'll also be looking into new carpeting. And of course, with us, we always go big or go home. We figure... if we're going to have the carpet ripped up anyway, we may as well take the opportunity to repaint. So if all that happens, that will be a very big project. After that, I don't think there's anything else we could possibly want to do before we eventually sell (a couple of years down the road). But who knows... as homeowners, there always seem to be more projects!

And no, I do not take orders for the aisle runners and banners. As soon as our wedding passed, I pretty much immediately felt as if I had "gotten over" all things wedding. It's weird how quickly things can change.

I can't think of any crafty tips that I haven't already shared!

Well, there are all of the Q&As so far. If you want to leave other questions, feel free to do so in the comments and I'll answer them with another post in the future.

Oh, and one other thing. That whole "secrecy" thing I posted about before? Some of you were speculating, and I hate to disappoint, but....

I am so not pregnant.

In all honesty, it just has to do with Christmas presents. There are a couple of gifts I want to share, but don't want to for fear of spoiling them. They're cool, but not THAT exciting!