Your Q&A's Answered

Hey y'all!!  So today's post is all about what you wanted to know about 'lil 'ole me...I know...boring, huh??  Well, I hope not!  Otherwise you wouldn't be here, now would you?  And if you happened upon this by mistake, well then I hope you stick around awhile ;)

I seriously loved each and every question that y'all had for me.  Remember how in school your teachers would tell you that there is no such thing as a stupid question?  I used to think that was the stupidest thing ever, until I became a Mama...and all I do all day is answer a million questions.  :D  And I 100% agree with that statement now!

Alright, now let's get down to it...Your questions...my answers!

Q: What is your favorite dinner? (maybe share a recipe!)

A: My favorite dinner is something that is so simple, so basic, yet so delicious.  We honestly have these at least once a week at our house because not only do I love them, but the entire family does too!  They are shrimp tacos with mango salsa.  I take the easy way out with most recipes to save time, and I buy my mango salsa from a local grocery store.  It is super yummy and is actually cheaper to buy it pre-made than to buy all the ingredients that is called for in the homemade version!  If you want the recipe, click here.  Try them.  I promise you will love them!!

Q: Favorite workout...

A: You know, I used to dread my workouts with a passion because they seemed so monotonous...that was until I switched things up and added interval training into my workouts.  I can literally bust out this workout in my own basement in 30-45 minutes and still feel the effects for hours afterwards...I call that a win-win!

Q: What is your favorite diet cheat. :)

A:  If you've been around here long enough, you know that I love me some good, non-healthy food.  I don't eat like that all the time, but I do let myself splurge a few meals a week.  A girl's gotta live, ya know?!!  But, my all time favorite diet cheat is a common Friday night occurrence around these parts...we hit up our favorite hole in the wall mexican restaurant called Maria's.  They serve THE BEST fried tacos EVER!  So I get one chicken fried taco and one cheese enchilada...with a side of flour nachos and queso and two blended strawberry margaritas.  Absolute heaven right there!  We then finish the night off by pulling through Sonic for half price shakes, where I always get a peanut butter fudge malt for dessert.  Ok, see, my inner fat girl comes out all the time!!  How's that for a cheat meal?!

Q: What is your "go-to" summer outfit?

A: Although I stay home with Madden, and most days I don't even get out of my workout clothes, I do love to dress up if I have some place to go!  That said, this summer I am LOVING me a maxi dress!!  I mean, seriously, they are so simple to throw on, but can be dressed up for a more formal occasion with wedges and cute jewelry, or made casual with a pair of flip flops and a fedora!  I honestly wear maxis 90% of the time if I have somewhere to be!!

Q: What do you think is most important in a marriage?

A: You would think that since A and I have been together since we were 15, that we would have each other figured out by now...ummm...not so much!  I am constantly learning something new about him every.single.day!  But, I've found the key to keeping things interesting and to never let the spark die out is to make time for one another.  I mean, I hardly see the guy since he leaves for work at 6:15 in the morning and doesn't get home most nights until after 8.  So, we do our best to set aside a couple nights a month for date nights.  Just me and him.  No little to interrupt us.  Our typical date night involves drinks, dinner and dessert, where all we do is talk.  Whether it be about the weather, his job, or what our future plans are as a family.  But child talk is off the table.  It is strictly about us.  We seriously reconnect after every date.  It honestly is the best, most important thing we can do for our marriage!

Q: How did you choose Madden's name? (I love it!)

A: Well, bless your sweet little heart!  Yes, we know it is unique, but we had always wanted something original.  And, since we left the gender a surprise until the day he was born, we had to come up with both a girl and a boy name.  We had the girl name picked since the day we found out I was pregnant, but it took us until month 8 to figure out Madden...Honestly, most people don't believe me when I tell them, but A picked Madden's name.  And, no, it didn't come from "Madden Football" or John Madden either.  It actually came off the box of Steve Madden shoes.  We were shopping one weekend, going through the shoe department at Von Maur when all of a sudden he goes: "What do you think about the name Madden for a boy?"  And that was it!  I instantly knew!  It's kinda crazy, but cool to have that story to tell him someday!

Q: (In regards to my post about going public with my blog) What did you decide to do and why?

A: You know, I went back and forth for a very long time with this one.  Some days I would just say "screw it" and go to post it to Facebook, but then I would back out because I just wasn't ready.  And I'm still not.  I know it may seem stupid to some, but to me I like having this little corner of my life that is somewhat private.  I can express my feelings here and nobody judges me.  In fact, I haven't had any negative feedback or drama on here (not to say it won't ever happen...I'm not that naive) and I love that!  I know that I can be myself here without worrying about what y'all are thinking about me.  It's funny...the blog world is full of great, caring, genuine people who are all here for the same reason: to support one another.  That said, I haven't gone public yet.  I've got some things I want to share with y'all that I don't care to let everyone I know, know about.  Not saying it won't ever happen, but for right now I have decided to keep this between me and about 230 others who read me :)  You should feel pretty special now...

Q: How did you get involved in the $500 giveaway group? Did you have many followers before that or did it really drive a lot of new faces to you?

A:  You know, that is a great question!  And I completely, 100% owe that one to my dear blog-world friend Holly from "Where We Can Live Like Jack and Sally."  I know that you all know her, and you cannot help but love her!  She is seriously as genuine as she seems on her blog.  No, I haven't ever met her in real life (that is one of my goals, though!) but I follow her on Instagram as well...so one day she threw out an idea about a giveaway on there and I sheepishly asked if I could join in.  She graciously said yes and took me under her wing and the rest is history!  You can truly "meet" some amazing people through blogging, as long as you reach out and just be your true self!

As for followers...wellllll, let's just say that about 90% of my followers are brand new from the giveaway...I went from about 30 followers to a little over 230 through that.  But, I'd like to think y'all are sticking around for better reasons than that amazing giveaway! ;)

Well, that was so much fun for me!  I hope you all enjoyed getting to know me a little bit better through this.  If there is anything else you want to know, feel free to shoot your q's at me!  Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question!

Until next time...