Beautiful Blogger

Amanda of Amanda's Waning; Ronke143 of Young, Black and Banded; and Heather of Am I actually doing this?  Heather's Banded Journey have nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award.  I am so touched that I'm nominated considering that I haven't been banded yet.  I hope that some day I can post great ideas, recipes, menu ideas, etc. and be one of the successful bandsters that everyone looks up to.  I have to be honest, I'm getting nervous.  I've seen a couple of people lately getting denied by their insurance for no comorbidities even though their BMI is over 40 (which is situation I am in).   I emailed the insurance coordinator today to see if she's heard anything. 

I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments about my before pictures.  They were so supportive and I ended up feeling much better about posting them.  

Okay.  Back to Beautiful Blogger.  Here are seven things about me.  (In the spirit of full disclosure, I did use some of these when I was nominated previously in 2009, but I have a lot of new followers since then, so hopefully most didn't see the earlier post. )
Seven things about me:


1. My Mom had a very long and difficult childbirth bringing me into the world. In the end, she needed to get a c-section. My Dad was so proud of her that he wanted to name me Jean, after her. My Mom said absolutely not because she didn't want to be known as Big Jean and I would be Little Jean for the rest of our lives. (My Mom was a large woman, so we can all understand why she didn't want to be known as "Big Jean.") So they compromised and my middle name is Jean.






2. My Mom was my best friend. Of course, when I was younger it wasn't like that, but as I got older and especially after I became a Mom, our relationship reached a wonderful new level. Don't get me wrong - she was still my Mom and I could depend on her like any child can depend on their parent, but I could tell her anything and everything. She passed away March 21st, 2006 and March will forever be my least favorite month.






3. I am the eldest of 3 children - I have 2 younger brothers, whom I love dearly. I am extremely close to them and their wives and children. We do a lot together, including vacationing over the Summer. My Dad was married before and I half brother. We get together as a family a few times a year, but unfortunately, I'm not as close with him. I'm sure it's largely due to him living with his Mom growing up and he's 11 years older than me.






4. My great-grandparents came over from Scotland and I'd love to go there someday.






5. I did not like high school at all. I'm not sure why. I wasn't popular, but I wasn't a total outcast either. I was the lead in one of the high school plays (Arsenic and Old Lace) and a part of pretty much every theatre production in some way during my 4 years of high school. I really wish I kept a diary back then so I could I pinpoint what my problem was. I think maybe it was that I was a teenager trying to find myself. What a confusing time. I never want to relive those days.






6. I wouldn't mind reliving my early 20s because they were freaking awesome. I broke up with a guy I had been dating since I was 17, lost 30 lbs (at the time - that's all I needed to lose to look awesome) and went out dancing pretty much every Thurs, Fri and Sat night. I dated a lot and had fun doing it.   I was HOT!




7. My eldest daughter, Amy, named my second daughter.  At almost 3 years old, she was going through her "Hercules" stage and watched the disney cartoon at least once a day, most days more than that.  The main character is Megara (Meg for short).  So we named my second daughter Megan.  The girls' love the story. 





8. One time in band camp...oh wait a minute, I only have to tell you 7 things about me. Shew - that would have been embarrassing.

I hate to cop out, but it would be impossible for me to choose only a few out of the very many blogs I follow to nominate.   I'd feel like I was cheating. 

Thanks again for the nomination.