Your questions answered

I try to keep up on the questions posted in the comment sections or emailed to me. I know there have been several questions posted or emailed to me over the last few months that I never got around to answering…I apologize. I have no excuse.  I am a bad friend.  I do try my best to stay on top of that and emails, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. 

So in my best attempt to make it up to you, I have listed answers to some of the more recent questions. 

If you are still waiting for an answer, just leave the question with this post and I promise to answer back. Pinky swear promise!

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere. Recently it as been Pinterest, other blogs, or books from the library.  I genuinely love learning. Not like the learning that you had in school, but more like self-discovery learning.

How did they make that? 
What happens if I add this to the sauce instead of that? 
Let's just throw this in the dirt and see what happens.

That is more how my brain thinks.  Oh yes.. and then of course, there is You want me to pay how much for that?  That is a reoccurring theme that feeds my inspiration. 

What the heck is over your garden?

 Long story short... It is a net to keep squirrels and mean birds from stealing my precious heirloom tomatoes.  We have 5 pecan trees in our backyard... which also means that we have a LOT of squirrels and a LOT of birds.  I got so tired of finding half eaten tomatoes littered all over our yard.  With each half-eaten tomato left on ground, I felt like a chunk of my soul was lying right next to it.  I tried everything to keep those stinkin' squirrels at bay... hot sauce spray, an owl figure, water blasts with the hose, I have even trained my dog to chase them away.  But nothing worked. So I constructed this netting that is held up by PVC pipe.  Yes, it is ugly, but it does work.  And it is kind of entertaining to watch the birds and squirrels try to figure out how to break in.  

What is your favorite color?

Blue

Where did you learn to cook?

My mom.  She taught all of us (1 girl and 3 boys) how to cook.  She joked that we were not allowed to leave home until we could make a pot of spaghetti and banana bread with our eyes closed.  So that is where my love of cooking, my foundation, all started.  Since then, I have expanded my repertoire through dog-earring recipes found in magazines or doing an online search for ways to use up all of the overabundance of zucchini found in my CSA box or garden.

What are those things around Little B's ankles? 

Bug Bandz. They are supposed to keep mosquitos away.  They work OK.  I'll put them on her ankle, but she will still get a bite on her face.  So they are better than nothing, but I am still on the hunt for something better. 

What time do you wake up in the morning?

I wake up around 7.  And I TRY to go to bed around 10.  I need a lot of sleep to feel like my best, full-functioning self.

How do you find time to do all that you do (blog, cook, read, garden, be creative, etc)?

I don't.  I make trade-offs all the time.  I don't watch a lot of TV, except for the late evenings with my husband.  Some weeks, I will read a lot while Little B is asleep, but the house will be a disaster and we will be eating sandwiches for dinner.  Other weeks, I will cook a lot, but no reading gets done.

The biggest thing that I will say I do is to make my time count.  So I do my best to use my free time smartly on things that make me feel happy and not waste my time on things that don't have any positive impact.  For example, for me, I could spend tons of time on Facebook, but it does not make me feel any different after I am done.  However, I can spend that same time cooking or gardening and I feel re-energized and proud of my accomplishments.  Basically, I just try to be very present in my choices.

Where did you get Little B's bonnet? 

 I love that bonnet.  We use it all the time, especially in the pool.  It is from a really cute Etsy seller, Bella Sol Bebe.  We have bought her hats as gifts so many times.  I wish she made hats for big girls like me.  I would SOOO wear it.

What does David do for a living?

He builds houses.  He owns a company called Duarte Construct.

What do you do for a living?

I am a freelance marketing consultant.

Where did you get the idea to do Meal Planning for the week?
Hmmm.  I am not really sure.  I think I have always kind of done it, especially in the pre-baby days when David and I were working 60-70 hour weeks.  I have to eat relatively healthy otherwise my body becomes mutinous.  So meal planning made it easier for us to accomplish that with very little time.

Do you read on a Kindle?

No, I am old school that way.  I like my books with covers and pages and from the library. My dad recently gave me an e-reader to try out.  So I'll give you an update once I play with it for a while.

Alright, so how is that for a good first start on question answering?  If I accidentally missed your question or there is something you have been dying to know, then leave me a comment and let me know.