It has been a very long time since I joined in this blog hop! This is Aloha Friday and hosted by the lovely Kailani at an Island Life.  It is simple, you just post an easy question on your blog for people to answer. Then, link your post to her linky and hop around answering fun questions!

BTW A huge thanks to Jennifer from MomSpotted for getting me to do this again! I have missed it!

My Aloha Friday Question:

What book/series/type of books did you read as a teenager?

My answer:

I couldn’t stop reading as a teenager! In high school I was a total dweeb and stuck on “English classics.” I read Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Victor Hugo and the like. I was such a literature snob, anything “pop culture” (like the Harry Potter series that was hot at the time) was “below me.” Sheesh.

Can’t wait to hear from you – and join in on your own blog! See ya round!

Welcome to Friday!!  I have not participated in Kailani’s blog hop in so long – I have honestly had such a full blog schedule I could not fit it in.  But this morning I left at the crack of dawn for the Type A Mom blog conference in Asheville, North Carolina!  I won’t be doing very much blogging today so this is the perfect excuse to participate in the easiest blog hop around.

Basically, you post a question and people answer it. Then you go around to other Aloha Friday participants and answer the questions on their blogs. Thanks Kailani for hosting it!  You can check out her blog for the entire list of participating blogs!

My Question:

What is the youngest age you have left your children in someone else’s care overnight?

My Answer:

With Lizzie I did not spend a single night away from her until David was born and she was 22 months old. I had a c-section and spent 4 nights away from her, it was hard for me but totally a necessity.  Now I am off to Asheville and David is 17 months old and I will be away for 3 nights.  He will be with Lizzie and Josh, I’m not worried a bit. But I have never been away from him overnight till now. It sure will be a bit strange!

Hooray for Friday! This post will be short and sweet, with a fun question for ya’ll to answer for me. It’s part of a pretty fun meme and everyone links up at An Island Life. So go there and do some blog hoppin’ if you feel like it!

My Question for you:

How do you keep your house smelling clean? (Or on the flip side, how do you prevent smelly smells from creeping up?)

My Answer:

After tweeting yesterday I found out I am not the only person that battles bad smells, especially in the kitchen.  I have finally learned (and yes it took me a few times) that if I ever cook chicken to clean everything right away and take the trash outside. Chicken stinks! Smelly rags get washed every night and I used pail deodorizer in my dirty cloth diaper pail. I also have a PartyLite Scentglow Warmer that fills my house with a lavender smell and I love that. It seems like when I go over to other people’s houses there is never a bad smell to be had but more times than I like I smell something unpleasant in my house. I am on an anti-stink rampage at the moment. It is my goal to never battle bad stinks again!

Happy Friday! I hope you had a fun week. I am so glad it is almost mother’s day. Do you have fun things planned? That is not my question by the way!

This meme brings people together in one of the most relaxing and easiest blog hops! Kailani is the gracious host from her blog An Island Life. To join the fun just post an easy question and go around answering other people’s questions!

My Aloha Friday Question for you:

If you had to eat at 2 restaurants for every meal (except breakfast) for an entire week what would they be?

My answer:

I think I would choose Chilis and Olive Garden. I love the salsa and chips at Chils and the variety of their menu. And I cannot get over the amazing menu choices of Olive Garden. My  mouth is watering just thinking of the noodles and sauces, and breadsticks. OH YUM!

Friday is here!  I am joining Kailani at an Island Life on her super fun and easy meme.  You just ask a simple question on your blog that requires a simple answer and hop around!  I have found some really great blogs this way and made some fun friends – so please join us!

My Question:

If your house has a ton of clutter how do you keep it clean?

My Answer:

I have been pondering this since I have a very difficult time cleaning my house if there is too much stuff in my way. I am a pitching kinda person. If we haven’t used it in 3 weeks it is outta here! But Josh is a keeper.  Not a hoarder, just a “we might need it someday” kinda person.  You can’t fault him too much since there have been times that I threw something away and we really did need it 3 months later.

It is so much easier to keep my house clean if the clutter is gone!

But I have heard many moms say, “I don’t mind clutter, as long as the house is clean.”

And I cannot for the life of me remember the last time I saw a house with lots of clutter sitting on top of sparkling clean countertops and neatly made beads.

But boy do I have a hard time finding places for things! So my house is really cluttered as piles of papers cover up a desk full of dust and crumbs and boxes are piled near the door waiting to be put in the attic, making sweeping and mopping that area super difficult.

Yes, it is finally Friday! What a week it has been for me too.  Kailani at an Island Life has the link up – you can click the banner above to go to her site and join this meme!  All you do is write a post with your own easy to answer question and then go back to Kailani’s blog to hop around and answer some fun questions.  See you around!

My Question:

What is the coolest thing about living in the 21st century?

My Answer:

I am sitting here listening to “Welcome to the Future” by my favorite singer in the whole world at the moment – the amazing, beautiful, talented, Brad Paisley. This song is really awesome!  I love how he talks about dreaming of watching TV in the car and playing Pac Man in his living room. Have you seen the music video? I guess you have to be a country fan to watch CMT, but that video just cracks me up.  It really brings a whole other meaning to the song.  All of his music videos are pure genius, I have to admit. If you don’t know this song, he goes on to talk about how amazing it is to have an African American President and how back then there was a man with a dream and a woman on a bus. Really, we are living in pretty fantastic times.

What is the coolest thing for me?  Being able to be on the internet no matter where I am!  I love being able to chat with people across the world and not have to go to a computer lab to do it. I remember when I was in middle school (back in 1997) and using dial up internet. I would sit there and wait. And wait. And wait for images to load!  Now I can put pages of photos of my family online in minutes! And one more favorite of mine – how far cloth diapers have come. You may laugh, but I am so relieved that I don’t have to pin a square piece of fabric to David and deal with blowouts in his plastic pants. I  remember changing my brother and sister’s diapers in 1989 with the prefolds…..I am loving my All in One diapers!

The most relaxing meme in the blogosphere!  Welcome to Aloha Friday.  Kailani at An Island’s Life is the wonderful hostess.  Just ask a simple question that requires a simple answer on your post. Then link up at her site! This is such a fun way to make new bloggy friends!

My Question:

What celebrities would you be speechless around?

My Answer:

Oh I know they are people too, but when it comes to celebrities I love and admire my favorite singers/songwriters. You might agree with a few and laugh at others, but they are my loves.  It is a goal of mine on my bucket list to make contact with one of them in some form or another.

Aloha Friday!  It is that time – time to relax, take it easy and look forward to the weekend!  Kailani at An Island Life has such a great meme.  A really easy way to hop around and make new friends. So just post an easy question and go give some easy answers on other blogs!

My Question:

When you go to the grocery store, do you use paper, plastic of bring your reuseable cloth bags? Why?

My Answer:

If I can remember to bring them I like to use my cloth grocery bags.  I just feel like I am doing a bit more and being a tad more responsible that way.  It all started with my using cloth diapers, now I am getting a little more greener each day!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Welcome to the weekend!  Aloha my friends and thank you Kailani at An Island’s Life for hosing this meme.  Ask a simple question, give a simple answer, and hop around doing the same.  Link your question up at her blog and join in the fun!

My Question:

Do you prefer a blogs to be separate for reviews and giveaways or do you mind a personal blog having those on there?

My Answer:

I am actually asking for me!  I am starting to accept more items to review and give away to save my family money on gift giving. My family already understands that if an item was opened it will still be like new when they get it and they should just stay off my blog or it will ruin the surprise!

Seriously though, when I start doing more reviews and giveaways I want to know if I should move all that stuff over to a new blog if it bugs people – like do you think that will distract from my personal posts? (Which I will continue. That is who I am. I am a writer, the product chat is just to help the family) Or is it kinda a bonus, that as you are reading my content you might enter a giveaway or 2?  hmmm……

Howdy! Oh, I mean Aloha!  It is Friday!!  Join this fun meme by asking a simple question and linking up with Kailani over at an Island Life!

My Question:

How do you get your news?

My Answer:

I am online like all the time.  Not at my computer, but I will leave my email open and glance at it throughout the day as I clean or print recipies for dinner. So I get all my news from the internet.  Lately I have been watching Twitter for the news.  That is how I heard about the plane crash in Austin. I do not read the newspaper. The only time I ever read the paper was during my boring college classes!  And embarrassingly enough, I was a print journalism major. OUCH.