Using my words wisely... January 2014 Use Your Words Blogging Challenge

Today’s post is a writing challenge that I hope you find as much fun to read as it was to write. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

My words are: 

Blackbird ~ Create ~ Sweeten ~ Hope ~ bright ~ mixed nuts

They were submitted by: http://www.justalittlenutty.com 

I am totally excited to do this, but I was totally clueless how to approach these words. A truly unique group of words. I ended up getting the flu (most awful thing ever!), and in a feverish haze at 10 pm, this past Tuesday, inspiration finally hit me! What a relief that was. Not sure how much you guys will enjoy this, but I figured I would do a get to know me type of post, using my words. Based on each word, I will tell you something about myself. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to comment and tell me something about yourself, using any or all of the words! 

Blackbird:

When I was about 10 years old, I was flipping through the channels, and somehow ended up watching Hitchcock's movie about killer birds. You know the one? Yeah, I will never forget it. The movie itself was okay, I paid almost full attention. When it was over, I went outside to walk to my neighbor's house, and I kid you not... every single inch of power lines and every single tree branch was covered by blackbirds. I am truly not exaggerating. It was by far the freakiest thing ever. I ran as fast as I could to my neighbor's and waited until there wasn't a bird in sight before returning home. To this day, I get a tiny bit freaked out if I see large masses of birds gathered. I also hate walking under flying birds. I know it is said to be good luck to be pooped on, but that is good luck that I would rather not have.

Create:

In high school I had a fabulous art teacher. Her name was Mrs. Kainz. I went in as a freshman unable to draw a straight line. Oh boy, that is NOT an exaggeration. I was horrible. I have no idea what Mrs. Kainz saw in me... I do not know if she saw potential or if she just saw my passion, but she encouraged me to pursue art. When I think back on the first drawings I did, I am amazed that she encouraged me. I would have encouraged me to pursue anything but art. Somehow, someway my passion turned into actual talent. I guess practice makes perfect. I became able to create some pretty darn awesome pieces. My talent definitely lies in drawing and painting. My attempts at 3D art are quite appalling. To this day, anywhere I can draw or paint is my happy place.

Sweeten:

I love to play poker. Yep. I love love love love love it. I may not be great at it, but I'm not horrible at it either. I shouldn't admit this, because you never know who I may play against one day.... but.... *dramatic pause* Sometimes I like to sweeten the pot, even though I have horrible cards. Yep, I am a bluffer. Apparently, I have a decent poker face, because I don't get caught very often. 

Another little tidbit... I love love love to drink tea. I am horrible though. I was raised in the South, and to me, tea is not tea unless you put some sugar in it and sweeten it right up!

Hope:

One of the biggest themes of my life is hope. I love hope. I do my very best to never lose hope. Hope is so important to me, that I seriously considered giving Weewee the middle name Hope. I am not sure I mentioned this in previous blogs, but Chad and I could NOT agree on what to name Weewee. So, we literally drew pieces of paper from a hat to name her. The rule was whoever drew "first" got to select her first name and "middle" got to select her middle name... Any name we wanted. Fate chose to give me middle. *grumble* Chad picked Weewee. So, I first was torn between Weewee Hope and Weewee Faythe and Weewee Paige. Somehow that turned to Weewee Piper. In the end it was Weewee Gianna Rose. :) Sorry, I could talk about Weewee all day. So yes, hope... You could definitely say that I am a huge optimist that encourages everyone to hold tight to hope and always look for silver linings. 

Bright:

If you want to upset me and cause me to have a yucky day, expose me to bright lights when I first wake up. Absolutely horrible thing to do. For whatever reason, if I am exposed to bright (unnatural) light within the first 30 to 45 minutes of waking up, I get migraines. It is one of my triggers. UGH! Needless to say, I am not a fan of bright (unnatural) lights, and do prefer to be in dim light and darkness. 

Mixed Nuts:

I love nuts. Yep. LOVE. Pecans. Pistachios. Almonds. Brazil nuts. Cashews. Walnuts. I love nuts. When I was pregnant with Weewee, I craved unsalted mixed nuts from Costco. Oh yum yum yum! I feasted on them for the first four months of pregnancy. Then suddenly, they started making me sick. :( Then I just craved pistachios. I nearly always have some sort of huge (Costco sized) thing of nuts around. Usually mixed nuts. Usually unsalted. Currently, I have almonds. I think my love for nuts started because of my Dad. Every year growing up, in my Christmas stocking, I would get apples, oranges, and mixed nuts (unshelled... I had to put in the work to enjoy my treat, and I did not mind one bit!)! This is a tradition I plan on continuing on with Weewee! <3

Phew. I made it. I know it was not the most creative way to use my words, but I hope you all enjoyed getting to know a tad bit more about me! I am doing much better now. I seem to have put the flu behind me. The Mister is now sick, but thank the good Lord Weewee never got sick. So, I am hoping this weekend, in between catching up on housework and enjoying my loves, I can write a blog or two! I have some set up (pics created, ideas), I just need to sit down and actually write them! Thanks for reading this! Thanks to all the wonderful bloggers that included me in this awesome blogging challenge, especially Karen!!! 

Now, take a few minutes and visit the rest of the blogs involved in this Use Your Words Blogging Challenge... See who got which words and how they used them! 

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

http://BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado

http://www.JuiceboxConfession.com               Juicebox Confession

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch                 Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                  Battered Hope

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com            Spatulas on Parade

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com         Evil Joy Speaks

http://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/    Stacy Sews and Schools

http://singlemumplusone.blogspot.com.au      Searching for Sanity

http://www.justalittlenutty.com                         Just A Little Nutty

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com           The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://followmehome.shellybean.com               Follow me home . . .

 http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                 Dates 2 Diapers 2 

Enjoy!!!!