The Blonde Behind The Blog: What If and Giveaway Winners!

[Every "About" post requires a "Ana Steele waiting for Mr. Grey type of selfie #AmIRite]

If you could meet anyone, who would it be?

Marilyn Monroe

If you change one thing about your life what would it be?
I would like to change the way I feel about life. I have been struggling a lot to get back to the "normal" me. I am closer than I was yesterday, but I am still struggling.

If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?
I hate to say this without sounding cliche, but I want the world to be peaceful; especially with all of the beheadings and killings "in the name of religion" that have been going on. It makes me sick.

If you could eliminate one of your human needs which would you get rid of?
I would have to say caring about how I looked. I do not mean this health and fitness wise, but the way of hair, makeup, and fashion. I love it, but at times it gets expensive and tiring.

If you could change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be?
I would have my last 30 pounds off. Other than that, I love everything about me, even my imperfections.

If you could change one of your personality traits which would you choose?
This trait makes me, so I don't know how I could be without, but I am so energetic, loud, and outgoing sometimes that I am like "too much", ha. I am a shot of whiskey when all you want is a strawberry daiquiri.

If you could change one law in your country, which would you change?
It would be the law that if you are commenting on political and religious forums, posts, etc. online, you could NOT be anonymous. I'm sorry but the absolute arrogance, ignorance, and closed mindedness I read is infuriating. Plus, people tend to have "bigger balls" when they can remain unknown. I'm sure that would change in a second if that were not the case ;-)

If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?

Maya Angelou 

If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be? 

What happens to us after we die. Yes I know, the answer is found in our faith and what have you, but I am talking about solid, irrefutable scientific science. 

If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?

Sookie Stackhouse! Or perhaps Ana Steele, ha.

Which celebrity do you get mistaken for?

Christina Aguilera or Christina Applegate 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Blogger/Writer... I am halfway there, at least. I would also love to be a Forensic Psychologist. If I am ever able to afford it and dedicate the time, I am going back to school to finish my psychology degree and move on to a PhD. 

What would you name the autobiography of your life?

The Trials and Tribulations of a Perpetual Dreamer... ha. I don't know.

Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best?

When a job offer I got fell through 2 days before I was to start, and I had resigned from my then current job. I thought I was done. I was left with no job and no unemployment, but I quickly hit the ground running applying for others, and a week and a half later I had a new job that paid a lot more and offered full benefits and 401K. My 1-year anniversary is quickly approaching and I can say this job has been the most rewarding, but exhausting thing I have ever done!

What did you do growing up that got you into trouble?

Disappear without my parents not knowing where I was. I would turn my cellphone, off. That time the cops were out looking for me ended that though. Ha!

At what age did you become an adult?

I grew up fast but I would have to say living on my own, paying my rent, utilities, and living almost 3 hours away from my family when I turned 20 really made me feel like an adult.

Other "Getting to Know the Blonde Behind the Blog" posts:

20 Facts

Current Favorites

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The Blonde Behind The Blog: 20 Facts

We have made it to another Friday, and as usual, I am more than happy to see it. I have had a "serious" couple of days on my blog so I want to keep it fun today, link up with my ladies, and write another "getting to know you" post. This is the second in my "series". The first can be read here: a list of current favorites. 

Before I begin, I want to say thank you for all of the comments and emails from Wednesday's post: "You are so pretty... for someone of your size". Writing that was really hard. I have been so damn ashamed of my body my entire life; and it was not until a couple of months ago that I finally fell in love with my curves and muscles and developed a healthy confidence within myself. I hope together, we can spread the message of embracing our flaws, uniqueness, and genetic makeup. Plus show the world that health and fitness come in many, many shapes and sizes, and we, especially as women, follow no standards or expectations except of our own. Two of my dear blogging friends Tricia and Rebecca shared their personal experiences and struggles as well. I am so proud of their courage and very lucky to be surrounded by such strong and amazing women. 

1.) I was born exactly 2 months early. I weighed 3.8 pounds. My mom was deathly ill with pneumonia and toxemia. Her doctor had to do an immediate c-section to save our lives. Because of this, a lot of my nerves were not properly developed. This caused me to have ADHD and severe night terrors. I still have night terrors sporadically. It has only been about 4 years since I stopped having them on a nightly basis. 

2.) I am related to two former United States Presidents. William Henry Harrison is my great, great, great Uncle. I am obviously related to his son, Benjamin Harrison, who was also a President.

3.) I have the skull from the movie "The Punisher" tattooed on the middle of my upper body. Above the skull is the word "Broken", which is my favorite song of all time by the band "Seether". "Broken" also happened to be the theme song of the 2004 Punisher movie with Thomas Jane. That is one of my favorite movies. My tattoo represents the pain and struggles of my childhood. I am also a huge, huge Marvel Comic fan and nerd.

4.) This may be hard to believe in blog land, but I have never eaten at Chipotle. I have also never seen an episode of "The Price is Right". How weird, huh? 

5.) My mom never made me sandwiches when I was a toddler because any time she did, I would cram them in the VCR player. (I have no idea).

6.) My dream career besides writing is to be a Forensic Psychologist. It was my major in college and I wish so deeply that I could have finished and received the required advanced degrees. However, I ran out of money and refused to take out loans. Additionally the course work was becoming too difficult to bare as I also worked full time at a minimum wage job 45 minutes from my home. Plus I helped take care of my mom and our home. If I am ever able to make a lot of money on my own, the number 1 item on my bucket list will be to get my PhD in Forensic Psychology and work in a jail and on trials. It still hurts to think about this. 

7.) Speaking of writing: if you read my blog, you know I am writing my first book! My love and passion for writing has been with me since I was a child. When I was 6, I wrote this book. Then when I was 14, I wrote the below "book" -- all for fun. It is called "Quest"; I can't believe I still have the notebook I wrote it in! 

8.) My Abnormal Psychology professor in school dated my grandmother when I was a baby. He announced to the class once that he used to change my diaper, ha ha!

9.) I have been in one car accident. It was November of 2009. I was driving home from the gym. The road I lived on was very, very curvy. The city was repaving the road and the new pavement was extremely slick. However there was no signs indicating this or to warn people to drive at a slower speed. My tires slid on one of the curves which caused me to veer off of the road. My car flipped twice down a hill and landed upside down about 6 feet away from a lake. My doors were crushed so I was unable to get out. By the grace of God, a Deputy Sheriff was driving by, saw my car, and rushed down to help me. He cracked my window and was able to pull me out. I walked away without a scratch. I only wrecked about 6 houses down from where I live so the Deputy Sheriff called my mom to tell her what happened while the EMS checked me out to make sure I was OK. When my mom walked up to the scene and saw my car upside down, she thought without a doubt that I was dead. That moment caused her to have an extremely bad MS flare up an sent HER to the hospital and she was out of work for a week. 

10.) I was obsessed with Britney Spears when I was a child. Hell, I still love love her, but her music disappoints me so much now. Anyways, I wrote fan letters to her all of the time, posters of her were all over my bedroom walls, I would play her CD's constantly in my room and pretend I was her putting on a concert. I would pretend that she was my best friend. Any time a new album of hers came out, I would beg and plead to my parents to take me to WalMart the day it was released so I could get a copy before school started. WalMart opened at 7 AM at the time and I would always make my parents get there at 6:45 (just to be safe, ha). I also had a VHS of Britney called "Time Out with Britney Spears". I watched it so much that the actual tape part of the video ripped and fell apart. 

11.) In 2009 I had bright red hair. It was hands down my favorite look! If my hair could permanently stay that color red without fading so drastically, I would never be blonde again.

12.) I have never bought a lottery ticket or played one.

13.) I consider myself a brave person and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. However, I have two fears that literally tear me up. One is flying in an airplane over the ocean. I am fine flying in an airplane over land; but the ocean? No way. It makes me shake, tremble, cry and I am convinced the plane will crash. My second big fear is death-- knowing that one day I have to die. I have had panic attacks in bed thinking about it sometimes. They both are so odd, I know.

14.) I hate seafood; all of it. Shrimp, tuna... there are no exceptions. I hate the way all fish look. I hate the way they smell. I hate the way they taste. I hate everything about fish. Gross!

15.) I am left-handed. 

16.) When I was a freshman in high school, my dog got sprayed by a skunk. The smell was so bad, that it migrated into my clothes and backpack for school. That day, I was sent home from because the smell was disrupting my class, ha!

17.) One day at the gym, I sneezed so hard on the elliptical that I fell off of it in front of everybody. It was so freaking embarrassing! 

18.) I love pretending I am a "model" and taking weird and "artsy" type photos then playing with exposure and contrast. Pictures make me come alive; I feel creative and free.

19.) You guys know the love of my life Marty, right? Well, my friend gave him to me in August of 2008 because he was moving in with his mother in New York and could not take him because she is allergic to cats. He did know anyone else in North Carolina and did not want to take him to a pound. Of course I said I would take him. I had been around Marty for 2 years at this point. However, my mom said no. I took him anyways and hid him in my closet sneaking food and purchased him a litter box. One night my mom heard him meowing and asked what was going on in my room. I told her I was watching a movie but she knew otherwise. She demanded to search my room, found him, and fell in love. Luckily I did not get in trouble.

20.) I am actually ALLERGIC to alcohol! I never get drunk and when I do drink, my limit is two - if even that. I develop really bad mucus in my throat and lungs and have trouble breathing. This is due to my body not having the proper enzymes to break down (metabolize) toxins in alcohol.

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The Blonde Behind The Blog: Current Favorites

I write often about my weight loss journey and all things health and fitness. I then write about my weekends and random things that happen in life. Since I do not really write anything else about me personally, I thought every now and then it would be fun to post a blog entry with random answered questions about me and my personality. If you have any questions you would like to ask, feel free to leave the below! I am kicking things off with a list of things that I consider my "favorites". One thing I did learn about myself while answering these questions is that I am a little boring, ha!

Now on to my giveaway. I believe that knowledge is power and if a person wants to be healthy and fit for the rest of their life, they need to LEARN about proper nutrition and exercise, not just rely on someone else to tell them what to do. When I first started my journey in 2008, purchasing health and fitness magazines were a stable for me. I was constantly cutting out recipes, informative articles, and exercises I wanted to try. These magazines offer a lot of good information. Thus I wanted to give some away! All of the magazines given away are from 2014. There will be 3 winners - each winner will receive 6 different magazines with the 1st place winner also receive the 2014 Women's Health Training Guide. The contest is open to all residents of the US and Canada, you must be 18 years old or older to enter. The contest will end Saturday, July 5th at midnight and the winners will be chosen at random via Random.org and will then be displayed via blog post on Wednesday, July 9th. 

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