Liebster Award

Fur Momma has nominated me for a Liebster Award! I've never been nominated for one before, so it's taken me a few days to actually come up with this post. I'm also grateful that she's given me an outlet to think of something other than "regular" life.

The Rules:

1. Post 11 random facts about myself.
2. Answer 11 questions the awarding blogger has asked.
3. Nominate 11 blogs with less than 200 followers, add their links to this post and let them know they have been nominated.
4. Create 11 questions the nominated bloggers have to answer.
5. Post The Rules!

 11 Random Facts:

1. I was born with a malformed hip, which required me to wear 2-3 diapers at once to keep my hip in a certain position. Apparently my hip wasn't severe enough to warrant a brace, so diapers it was.
2. My parents divorced when I was 5 or 6 years old and I have no memories of my dad ever living at our house. My dad was very involved in my life, and we saw him regularly, I just don't have memories of when my parents were still married.
3. I almost didn't exist. When my mom was pregnant with my just older sister, my parents separated. If they wouldn't have gotten back together, then I wouldn't be here.
4. In my entire life, I've only ever had one drink of something with alcohol in it. Growing up, due to my diabetes, I was told I could never drink. When I was around 18 or 19, the thinking of the medical community changed, but I was still underage, so never gave it a thought. When I was 21, I realized how much work it would be for me to drink, so I never have. It helps that I can't stand the smell of alcoholic drinks.
5. I would love to go to Ireland someday. I'm only 1/16 Irish, but that's the ancestry that I connect with.
6. I was a virgin until my wedding night, by choice, and Jon was only the second person I'd ever kissed.
7. Both Jon's and my favorite color is purple, so choosing wedding colors was super easy: purple and silver. We also had no attendants at our wedding.
8. Jon and I got married on a private beach...in Northern Wisconsin at my mom's and step-dad's cottage.
9. Jon and I made up our own last name, by using part of my former name and part of his former name. We had to stand in front of a judge for a legal name change and have our birth certificates changed to reflect our new name. So, on paper, it looks like we've married "in the family".
10. In high school, by the time I graduated, I was the most lettered person in the school. I was girl's track manager for 4 years, cross country manager for 3 years and was a student athletic trainer for 2 years. For each sport that I covered, I lettered. Plus the academic and choir letters that I received. So, yes, I did letter in football, cross country, track, basketball, wrestling and baseball during high school.
11. My first major in college was human biology, thinking I'd go into athletic training or physical therapy. That first semester I didn't need to take any math classes, and I missed it, so I switched my major, transferred colleges for my sophomore year and graduated with a degree in secondary math education. I taught high school math for two years before deciding to take a year off. I never miss classroom teaching, but do miss the one-on-one of working with students on math.

 Questions from Fur Momma:

What is your favorite movie?
This is a tough one, because there are so many movies that I like. At first thought, my favorite movie is Mulan. Sure, she has to disguise herself as a man, and after it being revealed that she's a woman she gets shunned, but in the end, she was true to herself, gained the trust of those shunning men by being confident and strong, and eventually earned the respect and reputation of an entire country.

What is your best memory?
This is definitely a tough one. The best memory I have is when Jon flew from Florida to Wisconsin in February 2005. He had arranged with my teacher friend, who was friends with him in high school, an elaborate surprise. The students in her class kept interrupting my class with gifts from Jon: a note, chocolates and white roses, before Jon appeared himself at the end of the class, which was also the end of the day. I hadn't seen him since the prior Thanksgiving, but we'd been talking every day, for hours.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
This is another tough one! Resolving my infertility and having children? Being a bereaved mom? Living for so long with diabetes? I'm proud of all of these, and I can't imagine being me without having all of them, because they all make me feel accomplishment in different ways. I'm proud that Jon and I were able to be in a financial and geographical spot where we could pay out of pocket for fertility treatments and have RE's that we love, as well as having a high-risk clinic in our city to care for me. I'm proud that I love my kids, even though they are dead, and that I continue to parent them even though it's not in the way we had hoped. I'm also very proud that I'm approaching 32 years with Type 1 diabetes and (knock on wood) I have no serious complications. All of these things I'm proud of are things that I think about EVERY day, that take hard work each day, can cause tears and smiles within the same day, and make up a large part of who I am.

Who do you admire?
My husband. For one, I'm not the easiest person to live with, as I can be very particular about some things. But, also, for what a wonderful man he is to me and what a wonderful father he is to our children. Men, according to society, are supposed to be stoic, unemotional and brick walls for us. Jon can be all of those things, but he knows that I need him to be a person, more than I need what society tells us that a man should be. 

What is the kindest thing that anyone has ever done for you?
I think it was my cousin, which is unfortunate, because now I despise her. After Oscar and Bella were born, she came down to visit me for the first three days that Jon went back to work. She let me talk about them, looked at their pictures with me, let me cry when I needed to and let me not be alone. I am so grateful that she did this for me, especially when it was her idea to come.

What is the first thing you notice about someone when you first meet them?
I try to take notice of their face, first and foremost. I'm not always the best with names, so I take notice of the face, so that if I meet them in the future, I can say, "I know we've met before, I remember your face, but I cannot remember your name."

Would you rather watch sports or play sports?
I would much, much, much, much, much prefer to watch sports. I don't have an athletic bone in my body.

If money was no object, what would you do all day?
Is this a one-time thing or am I in retirement? If it was a one-time thing, I would spend it at a spa and get pampered!! If we won the lottery, I'd try to open up my own business creating paper products (fliers, cards, business cards) for people that aren't as computer savvy as me, but don't have high expectations because I'm not a graphic designer.

What is your greatest strength?
I think my greatest strength is...gosh, I have no idea. I don't really think of myself as having strengths or weaknesses, unless I'm preparing for a job interview. I'm just me, take me or leave me. 

Do you prefer summer or winter?
I definitely prefer summer...I hate being cold. 

If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?
Keeping in mind that I'm not religious and wasn't really raised religious, I would want to meet God. First, this would prove whether or not there is one, but I would also like to ask this as my first question: When I die, will I get to raise Oscar, Bella, Tittle and Firefly? Why they died is not really that important for me. Knowing why they died won't bring them back, but one thing that gets me through the really tough times is thinking that I'll get to see them again once I'm dead.

Nominees:
I'm totally going to cop-out on this one, sorry! I'm not really sure how to tell which of the blogs that I follow have 200 or fewer followers, so I'm not really sure how to go from here. I guess, if you're reading this and want to participate, go for it!! If you do answer the questions below, please comment and let me know so I can learn more about you :)

Questions for Nominees:

1. What is something you love about your life right now?
2. If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be, and who would you want to take with you?
3. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Why?
4. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Why?
5. If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?
6. If you won a bazillion dollars, and assuming you quit your current job, what would you do with your time?
7. If you were told today that in 48 hours you would be either blind or deaf, and the choice was yours, which would you choose?
8. What do you miss most about being a kid?
9. What do you hope your life looks like in 10 years?
10. What's your guilty pleasure?
11. What is something you love about yourself?