I started participating in #ASKAWAYFriday and I have enjoyed it. I love connecting with other bloggers and learning more about them. I wanted to participate in this blog hop because I don’t always share a ton of information about myself. I thought #ASKAWAYFriday was the perfect way for everyone to get to know me on a personal basis. For those who don’t know what #ASKAWAYFriday is, you exchange a set of 10 questions for another blogger to answer. Below are 10 questions that Beth asked me and I hope that you enjoy my answers.
This week I got to exchange questions and answers with Beth from Structure in an Unstructured Life. This is our second swap and it was fun connecting with her again. She is a married and has two adorable boys. Beth shares information on parenting, meal planning (she came up with an awesome way for kids to get a healthy variety of food choices using muffin tins), happiness, and organization.
- If I came to visit you for a day, what would we do?
We would go grab something to eat and then head to the spa for a pedicure. Then we could do some shopping or site seeing. If you brought the kids with you, we could take the kids some where fun.
- I loved your recent post about a healthy lifestyle improving academic performance. How do you encourage your kids to eat healthy?
This is an area that I really need to work harder on. I do buy vegetables and fruit for my kids to eat. I am guilty of not preparing veggies and fruits with every meal. I also buy my youngest son the fruit pouches and I do offer them to him on a regular basis.
- What is your favorite type of blog post to write and why?
I love sharing stories the best because they are personal and are easier to write. For example, I have shared my daughter’s story about her cochlear implants. The technology is fairly new and I wanted to share her story to help other parents who found themselves in my situation. I had to make decisions that affected her health at a very young age and looking back I know that I made the right decision.
Of course, I also enjoy writing informational posts too. I usually try to add my own experience with it so that people can relate to my posts.
- It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day – tell me one thing that makes you feel lucky?
I have never considered my self lucky but since I started blogging, I have entered tons of giveaways and have actually one several prizes. You can’t win if you don’t play. After I started finding giveaways, I managed to stumble across giveaway opportunities so that I could offer them on my blog. I wanted to give my readers a chance to win cool prizes too.
- What baby shower gift did you use the most? The least?
I used my breast pump on a daily basis and without it I couldn’t have continued to breastfeed my youngest son after I went back to work. I got some baby socks that wouldn’t stay on my son’s feet and would constantly fall off. He was born at the beginning of the summer so most of the time I never kept socks on him. At night I would put him in PJ’s and a swaddle blanket to keep his feet from getting too cold. If you plan on buying baby socks, invest in some that actually stay on their feet.
Do you like these products? For more information click on the photo above.
- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ – ranks them from least favorite to most favorite!
Twitter is my all time favorite social media tool. I love Twitter because of the instant conversations and I have me a ton of awesome people on Twitter.
I am loving Instagram, I can take real photos and share them on my other social media platforms quickly and easily.
Pinterest is fun and it is a great way to drive traffic to my blog. I need to have a Pinfest soon.
G+ is great for establishing authorship and owning your content. I know it has other great uses and if done properly your G+ posts can end up in the search engine results. I actually love using it. If you haven’t found groups on G+, you are losing out on potential readers and people who are willing to give you +1′s and share your posts.
Facebook is one of my favorites but not as a business owner. It is hard to get people to interact with your posts because Facebook decides to hide your posts. If you aren’t part of groups, Facebook can be pretty pointless. I continue to post to Facebook and grow my fans because it is an important piece of the puzzle.
- You have some great preschool ideas on your site! With my youngest being in preschool right now, I’ve thought a lot about how rigorous the preschool curriculum is these days. Do you see this a positive or a negative?
Kids today have things so much harder than I did when I was growing up. They are pressured to know their ABC’s, numbers, colors, and other basic concepts before they even get to Kindergarten. Once they start Kindergarten, it is a full day of nonstop learning. I remember having play time, quite time, and some learning activities all crammed into a half a day. I feel that kids don’t get time to be a kid and teachers are so focused on getting them prepared for the big tests. Of course, students today are probably better prepared to handle college classes. I personally attended a two year college for most of my classes.
- I’m an Irish girl, so I love making corned beef and mashed potatoes. What traditional meal from your background do you love?
I miss making my mom’s broccoli rice casserole at Thanksgiving. I lost her recipe when I moved and never could find the right one on the Internet. Thankfully, my mother in law makes it for Thanksgiving and it tastes just like my mom’s old recipe.
- Would you rather have an Easter basket filled with chocolate eggs or jelly beans?
I love chocolate any day of the week. I am not a huge fan of Jelly Beans unless they are the expensive Jelly Belly’s or Starburst Jelly Beans.
- What is one app you could never give up?
I have so many apps on my phone that I use on a regular basis. I wouldn’t give up my social media apps unless they were no longer popular.
Don’t forget to visit Beth from Structure in an Unstructured Life to see the questions that I asked her. I hope that you have enjoyed my answers and learned some new things about me.
To get weekly updates to Uplifting Families, please subscribe to my newsletter or join in the conversation with me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and G+.
Once you’ve check out my answers be sure to go by Penny at The Real Housewife of Caroline County to check out the LinkUp and all the awesome Bloggers who are also telling a bit about themselves today 10 questions at a time.
If you are interested in joining for the the next #AskAwayFriday, feel free to contact Penny or any of the other Bloggers already involved. I promise, you will get to meet and know some awesome Bloggers each week!
