In case you’re new to my blog, I’ve teamed up with Leslie for 10 on the 10th. We are taking turns coming up with the lists, questions, prompts…you just never know what we will come up with! This month was my turn! Since it’s February (can you believe it?), I decided to focus my questions on love! Please join along, visit Leslie’s blog, and comment! There is also a link up at the end of the post. Please feel free to link up and link back to your hostesses! We’d love to see your answers to the questions and other posts as well.
Without further ado!
- What was something you absolutely loved about 2021?
- I know I should say something about Nigel or my family…and I do absolutely love them…but something specific to 2021 would have to be starting my blog. I’ve toyed with the idea of a blog for so long. But, it wasn’t until I started working with Debbie Stinedurf that I saw it as a real possibility. And, meeting (even if virtually) Debbie Stinedurf was another thing I absolutely loved about 2021!!
- Do you have an interesting love story you’d like to share? Please do!
- I had a crush on Nigel when I was 12 or 13 years old. He was best friends with my best friend’s brother. The best friends lived three houses down from us. Their house was just enough farther north that I could see their front yard. Nigel and his BFF would work on their cars in the front yard. And, I could spy on them from my bedroom window! My mom also was best friends with the best friends’ mom so she was there every day after dinner. I would sometimes be at the BFF’s house when Nigel was there so I’m sure there were probably some of those lovestruck goofy tween looks on my face! We met a few years later at the reception of Nigel’s BFF (he was Best Man). We began dating soon after, and the rest, as they say, is history!
- What food do you love and must have on a regular basis?
- This is a tough one because any food I love is not something I have on a regular basis! I’d have to say cheesecake…plain with maybe some whipped cream! But, cheeseburgers with pickles and French fries are right up there, too!
- What fashion “trend” do you love? It doesn’t even have to be a current trend.
- This is easy! I love floral prints! When I first started sewing for myself, I’d always pick a floral print. My dad would tease me (but he really wasn’t) and say I was buying fabric for my grandma’s couch! He really did hate the fabrics I picked out! Now, that I’ve discovered print mixing, my closet is expanding with new ideas (not necessarily new clothes).
- Which season do you love most? Why is it your favorite?
- Fall is definitely my favorite season. I love it because of all the different textures and smells. I love the changing colors of the leaves and how those colors are usually reflected in clothing for the season. I love the crunch of leaves beneath my feet and the lengthening shadows in my backyard. I love the smell of a woodfire which always takes me back in time to my childhood. I love the cooler weather after the sweltering summers of central Indiana!
- If you could be with a loved one who has passed, who would it be and what would you do?
- Another tough one…I think it would be my mom. Mom and I had a complicated relationship. I think it was because we were cut from the same cloth! In the end, the last words we said to each other were, “I love you.” And, what would I do? I’d take her out for breakfast at her favorite restaurant and just talk. I’d want to tell her about my kids and their lives, about my grandkids, and about how much I miss her in my life. I know I’d soak quite a few tissues with my tears. I may be cheating here a bit because I’m pretty sure Dad would be along for the ride! I’d ask him so many questions…things I never thought to ask him when he was alive. And, they would both razz me for having a blog and my grey hair!!
- What would you love to accomplish in 2022?
- I would love to reach my goal weight. I know that sounds really shallow. Being overweight affects every aspect of my life. I feel like everyone looks at me and sees the weight gain. I’ve started WW and feel so much better already. I’ve got a plan and hope to be wearing the gorgeous clothes waiting for me in my closet!
- Which do you love most: shoes, handbags, belts, or coats?
- Shoes, definitely shoes (and boots and booties)! There is so much variety today in terms of footwear! The old rules for what to wear have been cast away! A few years ago, I would never have thought to wear boots that left any part of my leg showing if I were wearing a dress. Today, my tall boots rarely get an outing! Part of that is because of their placement in my closet! But, a lot of it is that shorter boots look a little more modern.
- What love remains with you today?
- The obvious answer here is Nigel. In May, we will celebrate being together for 49 years! I almost cannot wrap my brain around it. First of all, I certainly don’t feel old enough to celebrate any kind of milestone that is 49 years old! Secondly, I remember thinking being married for 25 years would be a major milestone! We left that behind many, many years ago! Last, 49 years is almost a lifetime, right? Next, my love for teaching will always be a huge part of me. I was always a teacher at heart and gave it up way too early. I love hearing from my former students (who are still “my kids”) on Facebook. Teaching is my passion.
- How do you show your love? What is your love language?
- My love language (and I haven’t read the book so I don’t know if this is one or not) is giving gifts. Nothing makes me happier than thinking about and then giving a gift. It doesn’t matter how much it costs, where it came from, or if I made it. I love giving gifts to those I love. I think that’s why I love Christmas so much. I spend weeks planning for a purchase (can’t buy too early because those return windows have shortened!), buying it, and then waiting until the last minute to wrap it. Throughout the year, I buy birthday presents and a few just because gifts. Everyone likes a gift that says, “I’m thinking of you.”
A March peek!
Wrap it up, Marsha!
As I was answering these questions, I realized I had more than one answer for many of them! I went with my first response…that’s what they always told us in college! What about you? Would you care to share some of your answers? I’d love to have a conversation! Please leave a comment or two! And, thanks to my darling subscribers! I appreciate you each and every day!
Where I frequently link up:
Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag and Doused in Pink. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs!
And, now it’s your turn!
Link up with your love stories, most loved foods, fashion trends, or anything else you just love! Let’s have a party!
Yours and Nigel’s love story is so sweet. Any idea if he had taken notice of you in those earlier days?
Rena
http://www.finewhateverblog.com
No, Rena, he did not notice me at all. In fact, one of the other brothers in that family overheard me saying I’d like to date him (I was older by then). Nigel just laughed, but he changed his tune once he saw me at the wedding reception. We have been together since 1973! He was with me when my dad passed in 1974 and when my mom passed in 2004. He is my rock…crumbling a little now…but still mine!
First off I LOVED the Love Boat as a kid and used to watch it all the time. My husband and I did cruise for our honeymoon and while we loved it we have never been back. Once he heard about a ship that had the nororvirus he was never interested in being locked on anything like that again and I completely understood. Celebrating 49 years is amazing! My husband and I will be celebrating 21 years married this spring but having started dating at 16 we had to wait to a good long time to get married so we often joke that we’ve been together more than 1/2 our lives. Best of luck on WW! I joined a few years ago and it has made a huge difference in my life. Though I did put on 10 lbs in 2020 (after my surgery) and I’d love to get back down to my goal weight this year too.
Well, we aren’t celebrating 49 years of marriage…just 49 years of being together. We will celebrate 46 years…which still amazes me because some days, I think I’m still only 18! I have been a member of Weight Watchers off and on for more than a decade. I once lost over 60 pounds and kept it off for several years. The pounds slowly crept back on, but this past year with the anxiety of opening the world back up has led to quite a weight gain. I’m hoping to shed it this year and feel healthy and happy again! Oh, and Nigel will never get on a cruise ship for the exact same reason!
Overweight? I never noticed that! But really. It’s so nice to read these kind of posts, so nice to know more about the woman behind a blog!
Oh, Nancy, I love you! I just pose so that the extra weight is camouflaged! I think they’re fascinating, too!
I mentioned the same thing about what I’d like to accomplish. I don’t have a set way to reach my goal weight though. I’ve never tried WW! I liked reading your love story, it could be the premise for a book!
Thanks, Dara! It would have to be a short book! We have had a long, long love story, that’s for sure! I’m not currently having much luck with WW, but I’m signed up for six months! I’m not giving up, just a little frustrated!
Thanks for coming by!
I loved reading your and Nigel’s love story!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Thanks, Michelle! I loved reading yours, too! Ours has a longer bit to it, but I left that out because it would have been as long as the rest of the post!
I would probably agree with the shoes thing Marsha. That’s why I say it would be awful to be a man, because the options are so limited.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
It really is sad, isn’t it? Those poor guys…hahaha! There is a men’s shoe store at the mall that has some gorgeous shoes, but Nigel would never wear them. He can be an old fuddy duddy!
Great questions. Some have me thinking. I admire you for having started a blog later in life and totally understand it’s the thing you love most about 2021. I’ve never heard of Debbie Stinedorf, so will definitely be looking her up, since she inspired you so much.
Thank you so much. I had thought about it for years but never quite had the gumption to do it! You can find Debbie at YourStyledStory.com. She used to be FashionFairyDust.com. She really is very inspirational!
Your love story with Nigel is so sweet. Isn’t it funny to think you’ve been with someone that long? The Hubs and I are over 25 years and it blows my dome.
Daenel, some days, it feels like it was just yesterday; some days, it feels like forever! It freaks me out to look in the mirror sometimes and see this grey haired woman looking at me when I feel like I’m still in my 30s! But, yes, it is almost beyond my ken to realize we’ve been together (dating and married) for almost 49 years! Congrats on 25 years…I remember that vividly…we went to London and flew business class! Way to get spoiled on my first trans-Atlantic flight!
OOoooo, love the way you put your questions and answers in that pretty ombre text box. So pretty!! Ha, I need to change my snowflakes for Valentine’s, too. Thanks for the reminder.
Great answers to your great questions. I wish you could catch up over breakfast with your mama (and dad). I never had the relationship with my mom that I feel my girls have with me. But times were different. There has never been a question as to whether we loved each other but we just weren’t buddies exactly.
Love that you and Nigel have a 49-year love story. I wish I had had that. I am probably up to close to 49 years total with the assorted and varied hubs but not with just one.
Tracking my points today. Got to get back at it. Have done so much emotional eating this whole year. Enough is enough. Can’t wait for both of us to be back to where we want to be on the scale and can celebrate. XO
Oh, my mom and I were frequently at odds…we were cut from the exact same cloth! But, I think that meant we also understood each other very, very well!
It truly blows my mind that it’s been 49 years when I feel like I’m not EVEN 49! We’ve been through thick and thin and good and bad…we’re both stubborn as mules, too1
Oh, gosh! These points have me so confused! I never come close to using all of them because I eat mostly zero point foods. In the old plans, that would have been a no no! And, I hope to celebrate by this fall! I’m guessing you’ll be celebrating way before me!
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