“Ask Me Anything” answer portion

I didn’t get nearly as many questions as I thought I would. I answered the few that I got and maybe I’ll try again in the future.

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Why did you start blogging?

This is an interesting one for me because I don’t have a solid answer. I thought I would be entertaining and full of dry humor and wit. I also thought that it would be a creative outlet and my art of choice is writing. I’m not sure I’m reaching many people or that I’m entertaining them or if my blogs truly resonate with readers but I have found that when I’m writing consistently, I am far less bitchy and quick to snap.

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Who’s your biggest famous person crush?

I am so boring. I don’t really get celebrity crushes. But if I were going to pick someone it would probably be Ryan Reynolds. I think he is humorous and a great dad and he is pretty damn smokin’

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What are your greatest accomplishments in parenting?

This could be a blog post in itself. But honestly, I’m going to get all mushy on ya and say my children. My kids are my greatest accomplishments. I’m raising four very different boys, all with separate learning curves and obstacles. But each one of them finds a way to prove that what I’m doing is working even if we have some really shitty days together. Like, I can see that these little dudes are going to be adult gentleman eventually and I had something to do with that.

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How do you keep the spark alive in your marriage?! 😉

This may not be as fun of an answer as you’d hoped. My hubby and I have our fair share of up’s and down’s but we genuinely love each other and will do anything to make things work between us. Some things I think help keep our relationship going are:

1. Put the electronics away and be present during your alone time. We all know its few and far between after kids.
2. Find a way to date each other
3. Try some new things together
4. Try new things sexually
5. Surprise each other with small acts that coincide with their love language
6. Let the other person know you appreciate them
7. Spend time apart so you can see how much you miss each other
8. Have fun together

Some of these things definitely come easier than others in certain times of our lives but I really believe this list has things that have helped us throughout our marriage to keep the spark alive.

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What was the most difficult thing about being a single mom?

I think the hardest part of being a single mom was sharing my son and missing out on things with him. There are so many more difficult struggles that come along with single parenting but for me that was definitely the most difficult. Not being there for some of his firsts broke my heart to pieces. I am one of those moms that loved to document all the little things – not as much with the youngest now – and knowing I was missing things was so hard. There was always the struggle to make sure he felt loved as much as possible when I did have him. I definitely would not wish single parenting upon anyone.

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Who has been the most influential person in your life, for better or worse?

Another difficult question to answer. I think that a lot of my friendships have been influential on my life as well as my husband. But the most influential person in my life would probably have to be my aunt. She took us into her home when things were pretty complicated in our lives. She helped to raise us and tried to be an amazing role model and adult for us to look up to. She is compassionate, caring and responsible. Although we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, I know that I could entrust her with anything.

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This is a sensitive one, so don’t answer if you don’t feel comfortable: what was the lowest point in your life? Thus far, what is the highest point in your life?

If I’m being completely honest – the lowest times in my life were when I was addicted to methamphetamine and after every break up I’ve had post high school.

In high school, I had a huge problem with methamphetamines and didn’t let anyone know how bad it was. I was running myself into the ground and I’m just really happy I was able to pick myself up and adjust my life.

After every break up post high school I let myself fall into some pretty self-damaging behaviors. My best friend pointed this out to me after I did something that really hurt her and I’ve worked really hard not to be that person anymore.

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What is the best piece of parenting advice you have gotten?

Everyone is a perfect parent until they become one AND each age is difficult in it’s own right and it will never really be easy.

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What are some things you want to accomplish this year?

I really want to work on my writing this year. I’m working on blogging more and I’ve started writing a book. That’s my primary goal for the year. Although buying a house would be pretty amazing too.

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Hopefully more questions will keep rolling in so I can do another post on this. Until then! ✌🏻