Honest Scrap Award :)

Chris over at A Deliberate Life gave me my first....my very first Honest Scrap Award. :) Thanks Chris! She wants to know ten of the best things that have ever happened to me, so here they are....

1. Getting pregnant with my daughter when I was 18-I'll explain. Getting pregnant with my daughter at 18 was one of the best things to ever happen to me b/c it set off a chain of events that would change my life forever...in a wonderful way. Things were actually rough for a few years during that time, but if I hadn't have gotten pregnant with my daughter, then I wouldn't have ended up in a Sunday class for young single mothers where I met a woman who helped me get a job b/c I was applying to live in a home for single moms that required me to have a job. At that job, I overheard some girls talking about this phone line dating service they had been using. I had not dated in over a year and decided that getting to know someone over the phone would be easier than going out to meet someone. I met my husband on this dating service. We had my son almost 5 years later. I have a sweet husband and I get to stay home with my two wonderful children and it all stemmed from me being a pregnant teenager. I promise I am not condoning teenage pregnancy...b/c it was really hard...but it just goes to show that even hard circumstances can turn into something wonderful.

2. My Dad always told me if I'd lose weight, that he'd give me things...only problem is I've never met a goal weight. One time it was a bikini, then a mustang, then he told me he'd pay for me to go to the spa. The spa one was when I lost 80lbs. and hit a huge plateau. I really REALLY wanted to go to the spa. Well, the weight started creeping back on and I pretty much gave up on going to the spa. I started getting really depressed by the weight situation and I told my husband that I just didn't feel beautiful. I complained to my husband about how my dad has always promised these nice things for me....if only I would lose all the weight. I was disheartened once again. Well, one day my hubby came home from work and told me he had a surprise for me. He showed me a piece of paper with a scribbled phone number and address. Then he told me he had purchased a full package day at the spa for me ($350 which is a lot of money for us). Not only did he do that, but he also told me I was going shopping at the really fancy mall in Charlotte to buy myself a nice new outfit. So, I spent the whole day at the spa while he stayed home with our daughter, I went out for a nice dinner, and bought a beautiful skirt outfit (I wore it home). It was the BEST gift anyone had ever given me...and it wasn't the spa day that made it the best. It was the fact that it was my husband's way of saying that I DO deserve nice things....and it doesn't have to be conditional.

3. The best out -of-country trip I've ever been on was when I did mission work in Guatemala. It was also the only time I've been out of the country. lol It was awesome to experience another culture, to help rural villages, to finally understand what people mean when they say "you just don't know how fortunate you are",  to see ancient ruins, and try different food....I did miss my toilet though. LOL I also spent the day in an 100 acre landfill where families lived....that day changed my thinking on a lot of things. I'm thankful for that experience.

4. The best trip I've been on in the states is to Gatlinburg TN on my honeymoon...we've actually been there several times for our anniversaries since then. It's pretty awesome....nice big strip where there's lots of stores, museums, theatres, Ripley's attractions (like the aquarium), Nature trails, lots of folklore, ghost stories....it was awesome.

5. The best romantic moment of my life was when my boyfriend (my future husband) and I parked off to the side of a rural road late at night after a date. He put a rock ballad CD on and we slow danced for the first time in the middle of the street to Cheap Trick's "The Flame". It was also the night he said "I love you" for the first time, and he also told me he'd die for me. Yes, I know it all sounds corny, but no one had said that to me before. That night was sooo blissful. :)

6. My son has been a feisty one since he turned one. He would take his poopy diaper off in the morning in his crib (made a huge mess on more than one occasion), he'd play in the toilet, he would throw temper tantrums, and he'd get up in the middle of the night and run around the house making my husband and I chase him....and my reward was he'd never call me mommy and wouldn't say "I love you". He could say everyone else's name and my husband claimed our son had said "I love you" to him before. I just couldn't understand why this kid would not show me the love. lol Finally, he said "Mommy" after he turned one and finally a few months ago I told  him "I love you" when tucking him in and he said "I lovesyou Mommy"....and he says it all the time now. Definitely a best moment.... ♥♥♥☺☺☺

7. The day my Dad and I started talking again after not talking for over a year. My dad didn't always treat me very well as a kid and it went into adulthood. He said something nasty at a family event and my husband had words with him. My husband told me I was not to talk to him until he apologized to me. Over a year later, he finally did (in his own way) and it's been great ever since. I had a chance to start all over with him and have the relationship we never had while I was growing up. It's definitely a "best" moment.

8. Seeing my daughter on stage for the first time last year was definitely a "best" moment. I knew my girl had talent, but seeing her get to use that talent and being in the spot light, made me so so proud. I still amazes me how much joy I get out of seeing my children bloom....I feel their success as my own. :)

9. One time someone who follows me on my other blog told me I have a brilliant mind. This person just happened to be a doctor who went to Yale. Why is this significant? I dunno, probably b/c I never finished college and have always considered the education I have to be substandard, so to be called brilliant by someone who went to Yale was pretty cool...definitely gave me confidence and made me see myself in a different way.

10. My senior year in highschool, the orchestra and marching band decided to take the annual "band trip" together. I just happened to be in both. We went to Florida, went to Disney, Universal, and Epcot where I not only got to march through the whole park in a parade (I was colorguard), I also got to play my violin in a concert at Epcot. It was definitely a "best".

That was nice...revisiting memory lane. Thanks again Chris...that cheered me up. :) It's late right now so I have no time to tag...but I'll do that on my post for tomorrow.

Later, Kim