Publisher: Harvard Homemaker - Blog | Organization | Parenting | Mom Tips | Photo Poses | Holidays | Recipes | DIY | Gift Ideas

ABOUT ME Welcome to my blog! I’m so grateful you stopped by! To help you get to know more about the person who’s writing all of this, I’ve shared 25 random facts below about myself. (I like games – I think this counts!) This list really sums up who I am – an organized, messy, tough, wimpy, cookie-eating, fitness-loving, laid-back, strict, happy, northern-southern, stay-at-home mom. :) 25 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME 1. I am proud to be a stay-at-home mom to my four precious daughters. (The link takes you to a post I wrote after I was criticized by a reader for wasting my education in order to stay home and sort laundry – her words. I see my worth as a stay-at-home mom differently.) Family picture no number 2. I graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology. 3. I married one of my brother’s best friends. It makes for a lot of fun family reunions! Wedding picture 4. I absolutely love living in the South, but Minnesota will always feel like “home” in my heart. (I used to have one awesome Minnesota accent. I still turn it on every now and then to entertain my southern friends.) 5. Roller coasters absolutely terrify me. (I’m the kid who used to throw up at the county fair. I can’t even look at the Tilt-A-Whirl.) 6. I have never met a cookie I didn’t like. (My girls and I love to bake, which further complicates this matter.) No Bake Chocolate Cookies 7. Although I try to be organized, my kitchen is usually a complete disaster when I go to bed. It doesn’t get much neater during the day either. 8. I can’t stand wearing shoes in the house. I’m typically barefoot or in slippers – even when we’re having a party. 9. I have given birth four times without drugs, but only because I was even more scared of having an epidural (needles are not my friend—see #21). 10. I can play the piano, the drums, and any percussion instrument. The marimba is my favorite. I have even been to band camp three times! :) 11. I am a small-town girl who nervously went off to college in the big city with a can of mace; I used to carry it inside my mittens. (Minnesota girls always wear mittens – we know how much warmer they keep your hands. Gloves are worthless, people.) Minnesota love wall art 12. I’m a laid-back mom who lets her kids wear tie-dye shorts to a Christmas party, have a snack 5 minutes before dinner if they’re really that hungry, or eat that popsicle that fell on the sidewalk (a little dirt never hurt anybody). But I’m also a mom who expects a lot - manners and respect are at the top of that list. (In this post I open up about how having our fourth daughter really changed me as a mother.) 13. I grew up playing just about every sport on the planet, thanks to my two older brothers. I spent much of my childhood playing goalie in our basement with the couch cushions taped to my legs. 14. I had my ACL (a ligament) repaired in each knee in high school. My senior year, I resembled The Bionic Woman as I wore two absurdly large braces in order to get through the tennis season. Sometimes they would snag together, and I’d fall. Those were good times. 15. I have really neat handwriting. I used to have a business where I designed invitations and stationery by hand. (View the journal entry below here where I gave my 10-year-old a Safe Journal – a place she could feel comfortable asking us anything.) Neat Handwriting 16. The Bachelor/Bachelorette TV shows are my guilty pleasure. I’ve never missed a season. That’s quality TV at its finest, my friends. 17. Although I’ve had no formal training, I have loved photography ever since I got my first (turquoise) camera in 5th grade. 18. I started teaching fitness classes in college because I needed a job, and I also had to squeeze in time for exercise – so I decided to get paid to work out. (I like efficiency.) I’m still instructing as a side-gig to this day. I love it. 19. I am often in a hurry (and on the verge of being late). My husband says he can tell what I ate in a day because I leave a trail of dishes and wrappers all over the house in my haste to move onto the next thing… never enough time in the day! 20. I don’t like coffee, tea, red wine, beer, or pop. (Yep, I say pop!) I’m thinking that might make me kind of weird now that I see it in writing. 21. I faint every single time I give blood. I have been told they no longer want my blood because I cause them so much trouble each time I try to donate. 22. I developed hypothyroidism after having my second daughter. Listen to your body – if you don’t feel right, make sure you speak up. 23. I was never a “dancer”, but I love to bust it down. My husband is lucky that we got married before all those fun choreographed wedding dances became a thing. RIGHT. UP. MY. ALLEY. 24. I’m an eternal optimist. I even have a sign in our kitchen that says Choose to be Happy. (View this post to see how we encourage our girls to focus on the good in life. And see our entire wall of inspiring quotes here in our mudroom!) Choose to be happy 25. I started this blog in the fall of 2012 as a hobby and to create a future resource for my daughters, but it quickly became much more for me. It has filled a void in my life that I didn’t even know was there. I feel so lucky to have readers like you stopping by! Thanks so much for your interest. I hope you find a few ideas here that might work in your own life. HH Signature Thanks Click here to find Harvard Homemaker on Instagram! How to Keep Up with Me and My Blog I would love the chance to share my ideas with you! You can follow along in various ways: - Facebook: My personal favorite because I can connect with you most easily there. You can simply click “like” below without leaving this page. - Pinterest: I pin more than I post anywhere else. - Twitter: I am still learning, but I have come a long way since I called my first tweet a “twit”… Lord help me. - Instagram: You can get to know the “real me” better on Instagram as I share more of a behind-the-blog glimpse of my life as a mom with four daughters… never a dull moment! :) - Google+: I am just learning how this works, too! I don’t post a lot on Google+, but I do share all of my new posts when something is published. - Sign up for my monthly newsletter in the right sidebar or the footer of my site. (You’ll get a summary of my most recent content that’s sent once per month. Please note that you must also confirm your subscription via email or I will not add you to my list. This is to ensure that I’m only emailing those who truly want to receive my updates.) - Please feel free to contact me via email or leave a comment for me anytime! :) I really do read every single email and comment! Take care, and thanks again for stopping by! I hope to connect with you soon!

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