Boys Behind the Blog: The Grand Finale

While I was falling down on the blogging job, I was missing out on a few of my favorite things - one of which was the Boys Behind the Blog link-up! For the past year, Stephanie & Mal have been providing the questions and link-up for one of the most fun bloggy things around, and C & I have loved participating. I am sad to say that we didn't get our act together to answer the questions for the last two months, and now Mal & Steph have decided to end the link-up. Womp, womp.

Never fear. Even though C's official duties are over, I decided that we should play this little game at least one more time. Link up over or no, we are back for the May edition of Boys Behind the Blog. I couldn't possibly let C miss out on his grand finale! Without further adieu... my darling husband shall take it away.

1. What was your first job? 

I didn't get my first job until the summer after high school graduation because SPORTS (that got me so far), but it's funny to talk to my friends about their pre-driving summer jobs because they're all so proud over their time in the hot dog stand at the pool or busing tables at some shitty burger joint. Oooh, and the kids who got Dad to let them file papers in his office (I'm white-collaring all over that stack, bro. LOOGITMEGO).

Anyway, I was a professional tile mechanic, and that was a stupid choice. I wasn't terrible at it, but it was so freaking hot all the time. We were residential, and usually got into the house just after duct work, so it was dusty and cramped and hot as hell. We had thermometers in the bathrooms (glorified closets) to make sure the temperature didn't get over 130. If it did, we got to take a fan from the warehouse.

Also, my buddy Nelson got deported like three weeks before I quit, so that sucked. He's back now though, so it's cool.

2. What is the biggest risk you've ever taken? 

Virginia Tech. Like I said above, sports. All the schools we could afford have excellent athletics. All the schools that wanted me were crazy expensive. Honestly, I applied to JMU and VT two weeks late, and only because they were my two options if absolutely nothing worked out. Spoiler alert: they didn't.

Anyway, I had never been to Tech. I knew nothing about the school outside of the football team, and even then, I was kind of a UVA fan in high school (so naive). Needless to say, I wasn't really looking forward to college. Too many people, too few friends, too far away from home.

All that being said, VT gave me a wife, two best men, three other groomsman, and tons of great experiences along the way. I'd say it panned out.

3. What is one thing you can't live without? 

DANGER QUESTION, PLEASE AVOID LANDMINES. I don't like to get emotional on consecutive questions, so we're going with fantasy sports. What a beautiful waste of time. Really, I can't live without our football draft. We've had it during a hurricane (IRENE!!!). We've had it on a bachelor party (do not ever, seriously ever, do that). We even had to convince our non-sportsy friend to have it at his house because (definitely do that) because it didn't work anywhere else.

My buddies and I don't often hang out with a purpose, and that leads to chaos. We love to bitch at each other, argue, fight about nothing, and what's a better medium for all of that than football? It's all arbitrary, but it gives us a documented avenue to prove that we're smarter than our idiot friends. It's wonderful.

4. What is your least favorite food? 

Hi, I'm Charlie, and I'm a picky eater. Everybody say hi now. I'll try anything, but there really are just foods that I don't like. Green peppers, mushrooms, most olives, fruit hidden in desserts, walnuts (just found out I'm allergic; whoooop, never have to eat those again), quinoa, tomatoes, pickles, cabbage, etc. Anyway, I've had all of those things in various forms. They either don't taste good or they're slimey or gritty or disgusting in some other way. Sue me.

5. If you could time travel, where / when would you go? 

Can I come back from whenever? Because if not, then heeeeells no. I get pissed off if I have to use LTE for Pandora, so I'm assuming that I would not do well in past generations.

Also, do I have a participate in history, or am I just viewing it like it's a History Channel Pensieve? If I have to participate, then nope, I'm staying put. I don't want to get accidentally scooped up into the Roman legion or catch the plague or go island hopping in WW2. That sounds unfun.

But at the same time, it would be cool to talk to Da Vinci (I don't speak Italian) or young-Vonnegut (don't do enough drugs). Still though, it would be cool to see how certain events really played out. That's some mighty-fine wine you got there, Jesus. It was really watered-down earlier. I could get into that.

I think know that C has really enjoyed exercising his creative-writing muscles via this link-up, and we are both sad to see it go. That said, I think he will be popping in spontaneously here and there to write his own posts... this whole blogging thing really isn't so bad ;)

So tell me...

• Are there any link-ups you've participated in that have ended that you've really missed?
• Do you have any questions that you'd like to see C answer? He does love to make people laugh... the better the question, the better the answer!
• Any topics you'd like to see covered by my darling husband?

Working out, cooking, and lady-things

So the other day, on snow day #81234 this winter, I find myself standing in front of our pantry, loudly whining that we "have no snacks in this damn house." (This is accurate - we have no snacks, and for good reason: C & I have both determined that we are snackers, and if there are snacks in the house, we will eat all the snacks. Best solution: do not have snacks in house. Works great, except for when a girl just wants a dang bag of salt and vinegar potato chips. Rawr.) Anywho. Back to standing in front of the pantry. Just as I'm about to resort to eating butterscotch chips straight from the bag, my darling husband swoops in to save the day. Next thing I know, he's standing over the stove, making me my very own homemade queso. Next-next thing I know, I'm standing over the island, shoveling tortilla chips and queso into my mouth like it's the last thing I will ever eat. It was exactly what my snacky little heart needed! Problem solved! Hooray husband! Best husband ever!!

I would be remiss if I did not mention to you that, as he stood stirring melty cheese, C was demanding that I take pictures and saying, "there better be a blog post about this. I want it in writing that I am the best husband ever!!" Be careful what you wish for, sir. Mwahahaha.

And now I will turn the spotlight over to Mr. "Best Husband Ever" (he really is great, I'm not being snarky!), so that he can provide some comic relief in the form of answers to everyone's favorite link-up, the Boys Behind the Blog with Stephanie & Mal. I am sure you are all eagerly anticipating his witty banter and male insight. Without further adieu...

1. What's your lucky number?

I'm not overly superstitious, so I don't necessarily have a "lucky" number. I wore #12 for high school football and had some success wearing it. I also wore #6 for flag football and we won a few championships, so I guess that's good. I don't know. I'm a little ambivalent towards luck. On one hand, I could get suuuuper excited on June 6 (OMG 6/6 what a day to be alive!!!!), but there's always an inevitable letdown. Birthdays, holidays, or whatever-you-want-days are pretty arbitrary. You could tell me that Christmas moved to next week, and I'd be like, "Well, shit. Better hop on Amazon because Lindsay's going to be piiiiiiiiissed if I don't come up with something good for Marchmas*." That's kind of the way I feel about lucky numbers. We, as a species, apply intrinsic value to arbitrary items (abstract or concrete), then fret over it. On the other hand, Prince changed his name to a G-D symbol, so what the hell do I know?

*Lindsay would NOT be pissed, that was just a funny. Now if I didn't get her a card? MURDERDEATH.

Photographic proof - 6 is always his number

2. Do you have a lucky charm?

See above. I don't really believe in lucky charms. That being said, I do believe in MOMENTUM. You know what I'm talking about if you like sports or competitions. "DON'T YOU DARE MOVE FROM YOUR SEAT OR EAT ONE MORE CHIP OR TALK OR DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE DOING WE'RE ABOUT TO WIN AND YOU'LL SCREW UP OUR KARMA YOU KARMA-SCREWER-UPPER." Obviously, I don't believe that anything I'm doing will change the outcome of a game, but it's fun to think that it will (ooooooh my team depends on me so much! It's like I'm one of them! Throw it to me!). I'm sure that this stems from my general belief that repetition leads to success, so if my team is successful, I should repeat what I was doing when we won. Or I'm crazy.

(Editor's note: this is accurate. It is not so bad that he has to wear the same underwear for every game, but it does involve not washing jerseys if his team wins while he wears it... until a certain wife sneakily gets it in the washing machine because that shit is gross.)

3. Do you fill out a bracket for March Madness? Who do you want to win?

Yes, I did. My company is offering a $250 gift card for the winner (FREE MONEY, NEWBZ), so I took almost 5 whole minutes to fill out a bracket. Brackets are annoying. People that go on and on and on and on and on about their brackets are worse. You know the guy (or gal). Here are your canned answers for this year (please read this in Ben Stine's voice):

• Yes, that upset also hurt my bracket. I can't believe it happened. 
• Another 12 seed beat a 5 seed. Wooooooow. That's 40 years in a row. I'm shocked. 
• I also think it's fun to hate Duke and Coach Kryzoooooooski. 
• I don't know if Rick Pitinio sold you your last car. 
• Well, they did have 5 starters suspended for accepting a stick of gum from their tutors, so that could be why they lost. 

This blog is usually devoted to working out, cooking, and a whole bunch of lady-things, so I doubt most of those jokes hit home. Sorry about that. But I gotta get my rant on somewhere, and this is my soapbox.

(Editor's note: I did not fill out a bracket. My company offered a contest in which they very specifically offered no prize whatsoever, so what's the point? Also, I hope Boo-VA [I refuse to name it here] loses in the first round. So there. Go Hokies!)

4. March 10th is "Middle Name Pride Day." What's your middle name?

YES. This is THAT thing that I drop into conversations whenever I can. My middle name is Morgan (not that important). But I'm related to this guy (still not that important) who's related to THIS FREAKING GUY (very, very important). I have at least another 3.25 years to be BRO-ED out by this information before it's sad and I'll feel like the townie that still comes to partaaaaay on Friday nights.

5. Submit one question that would would like to see on a future The Boys Behind the Blog.

Wait. This is why we boys (MEN, damnit!) don't have blogs. We're reactors, not go-getters. If you allowed boys to ask the questions, you'd probably have 2 questions about cars, 5 how-to guides about deck building, 3 fantasy football football drafts, and 15 videos of people getting mauled by wild animals. We're uncivilized, ladies.

No island vacation for us, I guess!

I must have temporarily lost my mind yesterday, because, somewhere in the span of a few hours, I signed up for both the Tarheel 10 Miler and the Historic Half. Ummmm.... looks like I'm going to need to start running again! Ha. I haven't run much since the OBX Half - a few miles on the treadmill here and there, sure, but mostly it's been too dang cold and dark to run outside and I can only survive on the dreadmill for so long. With new races on the horizon, though, I'm looking forward to having some inspiration for outdoor runs AND the lovely spring weather that helps out, too. Wheeee!

Anyway. Moving on to the fun stuff... it's time for the Boys Behind the Blog again! This fun link-up is hosted by Mal and Stephanie each month, and gives us bloggers a chance to showcase the men in our lives. This is easily turning into my favorite post of the month. I've always known my husband was funny, but.... he kills me with these! His answers just get better and better, and this month is no different. Read on!

The love of my life, even when he photo-bombs me.

1. If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

I don't know. Like, anywhere? I haven't been everywhere, so I'm struggling with the enormity of this question. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to live on some remote mountain in the Alps or on a beach in South America, but the idea seems so foreign (puns!) because, ummm, how does one acquire groceries or have wifi? "Ugh, why do I always have one bar; this place doesn't even have LTE?" Ok, so maybe solitude isn't for me. But I think of New York (so many peeeeeeeople) or Boston (so much Brady) and I get annoyed because I'm from the DC area and have had to hear transplants go on and on and on about how great "city-I-lived-in-before-I-got-transferred-here" is. If it's so great, GO BACK WE DON'T WANT YOU DC ROXX! So no cities. Anyway, I think I like my house and will happily live there forever.

2. Sand or snow?

Snow. Sand is dirty and disgusting and there are crabs that live in sand and waddle towards me at night and I want to hit them with a 9-iron. Snow gives me a legitimate reason to stay inside. I love inside. I went to a beach for President's Day one year and there was snow on beach. Whoa now, role reversal. That's my kind of beach. No hot and no opportunity for people to make me feel guilty about avoiding the ocean (more scary things).

Obviously terrifying.
[source: google images]

(Editor's Wife's note: C's family goes on a vacation to the Outer Banks almost every summer and I find this hilarious and ironic because there is almost nothing he hates more than sand and being hot.)

3. What Winter Olympic sport would you rock at?

I'm going to be checking up on the BBB answers this month because anyone that doesn't say curling is a GD liar (or he forgot about curling). Ice-bocce is so Canadian. I want to start a curling club next to a Tim Horton's and we'll drink Molson and bitch about the Maple Leafs (or Canadiens if we accidentally let in a Frenchman) and listen to Celine Dion and Brian Adams while reminiscing about Steve Nash's glory days and eating Maple Syrup/Canadian Bacon pizza. No Bieber.

C's butt would look good in those fancy pants... right??
[source: google images]

4. You're cooking a romantic dinner- what is your go-to dish?

Meh, anything can be romantic if you make it pretty enough. Chick parm? Just keep it clean and throw some fresh parsley on top. Steak? Cross-hatch grill marks (put the meat on at 10 o'clock to start, rotate to 2 o'clock after a few minutes). Anyway, it's not about WHAT to cook. Like everything, it's about the forethought and effort required to make the meal. That being said, go big or go home. Is there anything more intoxicating than pulling meat out of butcher's wrap?

mmmm..... steakkkk....
[source: google images]

5. Fill in the blank: This year, I gave (your wife/girlfriend/fiance's name) a ____________________ for Valentine's Day?

Flowers and a couple of cards. We're on our 6th-ish Valentine's Day, so I don't feel the pressure for GRAND GESTURES anymore. We have birthdays and Christmas and a legitimate anniversary, so I'm not breaking out the big guns when Hallmark is begging me to buy a 7 dollar card and 25 dollar flowers. Gotta line those Hallmark pockets, those Precious Moments figurines aren't going to make themselves! Plush toys stopped being relevant to Lindsay after we inherited our cat (and not a moment before), so those are out, too. I guess I could splurge and get her those little chalk / antacid hearts (FAX ME), but why? I was also told not to get the chocolates, so that's out. We always plan a half-way decent to incredible dinner, cook together, and relax. It's what we like to do, so we do that.

 (Editor's Wife's note: I can vouch for this... I like Valentine's Day and all, but I'd rather spend time with C and do something we enjoy than almost anything else. And I really did say no chocolate! My butt doesn't need that. He's in the clear!)

I'm a Dapper Dan man!*

*name that movie. This is relevant later.

The minute I saw the questions for the Boys Behind the Blog link-up this month, I knew C was going to like them. You see, movies and music are his thing (okay, and sports, but whatever). The man loves movies. There are very few times I've said to him, "have you seen....." and the answer has been no (unless it's a chick-flick - haha). I knew he would enjoy answering this month, and he definitely didn't let me down!

Before I get to the Q&A, can I just say one thing? (Yes, I can, because I own this place. Mwahahahaha!) I love this link-up, and I pink-puffy-heart-love how many bloggers I know who have started participating! It's so fun to read some of the guys' answers, and I love the little insight it provides into life, love, and relationships. So fun!! So if you're reading now, and you've never linked up, waiting are you waiting for? Grab whatever guy is in your life and play along!

Now.... onto the good stuff. Some insight from this handsome fellow, who always gives in to my request for a an iPhone selfie:

1. What was your favorite movie of 2013? 

First, I loooove going to the movies, but I'm so picky about it. I need it to be an EXPERIENCE. We don't decide to go to the theater to see a movie, we decide to see a movie at the theater. American Hustle? It was good. Did I need to cram next to hundreds of other people to see it? Probably not. But then I look back at The Dark Knight, which was by far the best at-the-movies experience I've had, and heeeells yeah. So explodey. That being said, my favorite movie this year was The Conjuring. Now THAT was an experience. I watched it alone, in the dark, on my laptop. I also didn't go downstairs for the remainder of the evening because ghosts. More on this later.

2. What is your all time favorite movie quote? 

Remember when these questions were only about breakfast? Anyway, too many to count, but:

• Red's speech to the parole board in The Shawkshank Redemption 
• Tyler Durden's "you are not your job" lines from Fight Club 
• I love lamp 
• All of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou (seriously, all of it) 
• Anything Robin Williams says to Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting

That's enough I suppose.

3. What is your favorite type of movie? (Action, scary, comedy, etc)

Scary. Hands down. Don't get me wrong, I love all movie genres (ok, most movie genres. here's looking at you former-funny-comedian-cross-dresses-movies). I tend to accept stories for what they are, so no matter how good the script/actors are, most movies don't really resonate past the theater or TV. But scary movies allow me to temporarily accept the paranormal, no matter how irrational the "movie explanation" is. Like I was saying above, I love being scared to walk around my house in the dark. I love going to bed underneath all of the cover because whoooooa monsters are definitely somewhere my room. Those are the movies that leave the screen.

4. What is your New Year's Resolution?

I don't really have one. New Years is a great time for personal reflection. And hey, if that's what motivates you to make changes for the good, hell yeah. I just think it's arbitrary. But here's a few things I learned this year (sorry for multiple lists):

• Don't be an asshole unless absolutely necessary 
• Tip servers 25% at least because, at minimum, you make someone happy for 15 seconds 
• Always pick the lesser of two evils. You always have to choose 
•  If you think you've had enough water, drink two more glasses 
• Never let a free nap get away (but don't ever steal one) 
• It's ok to make a point, as long as the other person doesn't know you're making a point 
• People give great advice with their body language, so eye-contact is good, but see everything 

That's not everything I learned, but again, lists (sorry).

5. Finish the sentence: This year I will....

Eat more breakfast.

Apparently we need a tradition?

As mentioned in prior Boys Behind the Blog posts, I have been strictly told "no editing!" for the answers that my darling husband provided this month. However, I don't really feel that they need editing... and, full disclosure, these answers had me laughing so hard when I read them that I had tears in my eyes. So, you're welcome. Hope this makes your Thursday ;)

The following paragraphs are all straight from the mind of this handsome fella. Promise!

1. What is your favorite cereal?

I don't really eat cereal. I'm (unfortunately) past the point where sugary cereals are acceptable as breakfast food, so I'm holding out until we have kids and I can buy Trix and Fruity Pebbles and all the good stuff. I can only hope that they've improved the structural integrity, because I hated having exactly 15 seconds to enjoy my crunchy cereal before it was just sugary milk-paste. If they haven't, I guess I'll need to eat cereal out of shot glasses to control the milk absorption and because I'm an ADULT and can do whatever I want.  

[source]
Silly rabbit... Trix are for kids!

2. Pancakes or waffles?

Who wrote these questions? Are you from Breakfastland? Are you the Mayor of Morningfood? Anyway, waffles. Again, it's all about ratios. People go crazy about FAT STAXXX of pancakes, but what's the point? I like butter on my pancakes, which means I would have to move each pancake out of position (or make it raaaaaaain) and then reassemble the stack. Or I guess I could drill through the middle of the stack because, again, ADULT. I have no time for those silly things. Give me waffles any day.

[source]
I'm not sure I've ever seen C eat waffles... or cereal, for that matter.

3. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

The Wifey and I are at a point where we're still integrating our individual family traditions into our newly-combined personal holidays, so I'm not sure we have anything that we MUST DO FOR CHRISTMAS OR ELVES SUFFER. That being said, the West side (lulz) of the family always has Christmas lasagna. Maybe because we're Italian (yes, we talk with our hands) or maybe because it's easy to make months in advance and we're lazy. I don't know.

Stockings and such are as close as we get to "traditions" so far...

4. Finish the sentence: All I want for Christmas is...

YoooooOOOOOooooou, baaaaby. Seriously, I want this damn song out of my head. It's been there for a month now. GO AWAY, Mariah. Can we please find another damn song for Christmas? If I ever hear this played at church for Christmas mass, I'm leaving the suburbs for Alaska and celebrating Christmas in an igloo.

[source]
Who doesn't have a copy of this amazing CD tucked away somewhere??

5. What was your best moment of 2013? 

When we bought our house. That's my stock answer. But that's not really a moment, that took months. It was a great moment when we finally opened up the door with our own keys and wandered around our empty house for the first time. But that was all part of the plan. I think great moments are spontaneous. Like, you're sitting on a deck near the beach, your feet are propped up, you've got a good drink, and you're watching the sun go down. THAT'S when you realize, "Holy shit, this is perfect. Life is one big combination of chaos, insanity, and confusion, but right now, things are pretty damn good." I had one of those over the summer.

Now that was certainly a moment!

Boys Behind the Blog is a fantastic link-up put together each month by Mal @ Mal Smiles and Stephanie @ Never the Same Spice Twice. Mal & Stephanie provide five questions, and you get to pick a guy in your life to provide the answers. Turns out, my husband kind of loves these posts... check out his previous great answers here!

Music & football - no surprises here

Looks like I've created a monster... because the Boys Behind the Blog post is officially the only post C is interested in each month. He actually asked me about the questions for this month a few weeks ago! (Sidenote: I gave him these questions FOUR DAYS in advance this time, rather than the morning of... that's really saying a lot for me. Good job, me.) This round of questions is right up my music-loving husband's alley. I'm surprised he didn't write more!

In case you're interested, the BBB link-up is hosted each month by Steph and Mal, and is a great way for bloggers to feature the man / men in their life. In my case, it's always C answering the questions, but I've seen brothers, friends, boyfriends, and even dads get in on the fun! It's one of my favorite posts of the month.

1. Who is your favorite band/musician?

I already hate this questions because people get so touchy about their musical tastes and preferences. Seriously, if you're having a conversation and mention that you don't like a particular movie, the other party will casually point out the strengths and weaknesses of said film or tell you that you're stupid and move on. Music isn't like that. People go INSANE if you casually mention you don't like the baseline from some throwaway 90's Stone Temple Pilots song. Music, in general, is anything you want it to be: soothing, therapeutic, loving, RAGEY, personal. It encompasses the span of the emotional spectrum. It's great. But if you throw people's stupid opinions in the midst, music sucks.

That being said, my favorite musician is Josh Ritter. See this or this. I've seen him three times, and each time, he always seems so happy to be on stage jumping around. I like that.

I can vouch for this one. I've been to Josh Ritter two of the times C has seen him, and he really is great in concert. Also, C totally failed to mention that we chose a Josh Ritter song for our first dance at our wedding... no big deal or anything. 

Also, I conveniently have the picture below on my phone... C in one of his Josh Ritter concert t-shirts, which he loves. (And I love,because they are made of super comfy cotton, not the itchy stuff. Perfect for sleeping in!)

2. What was your first CD/tape?

Storm Front and River of Dreams, Billy Joel. Special thanks to Wikipedia, because I had no freaking clue what the album (cassette?) was called. "We Didn't Start the Fire." That's all I knew. My sister and I would jaaaaaam to that song on the way to school. To this day, I'll learn some history tidbit and have a vague memory of Nana's car and singing, then remember that the history factoid is in the song, and whooooooooa. Also, space monkey.

3. Who was your first concert?

Not including Grandparent's Day in kindergarten? I honestly don't remember. HOWEVA, I did get the privilege of seeing the Duchess of Canada at the Patriot Center freshmen year of high school. I'm too embarrassed to type out her name, but if you reeeeeeeally need to know, click the link.

There is a special place in C's heart for Mrs. Chad Kroeger, and he will deny it all day long, but I've seen the contents of his iPod, so I know the truth.

4. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Gravy. I can have turkey or stuffing or mashed potatoes any time of the year, and meh. But throw a gallon of gravy on it and BOOM: Thanksgiving.

What else floats in water? ...gravy! (10 points if you get that reference)

5. Finish the sentence: I am thankful for...

the third football game on Thanksgiving. NO EMOTIONS HERE BLOG-FRIENDS.

What did you really expect from him? Ha! 

No editing allowed

Annnnnd we're back! Very exciting news today, friends: not only is the government back in business, but my darling husband is back for another round of the Boys Behind the Blog! This link-up is hosted by Mal & Stephanie (where I guest posted earlier this week!), and offers an opportunity for readers to get to know the "boy" (husband, fiance, brother, etc.) behind the blog in his very own words.

Soooo (drum roll, please...) Without further adieu... five questions, five answers. Let's go!

I don't even think I need to provide commentary this month. Also, I was strictly told, "no editing!" Otherwise, you certainly wouldn't see anything about his favorite football team here... Dallas all the way!

1. Describe yourself in 5 words.
Pain in the ass husband?

2. What is your biggest fear?
Unprotected heights. Ladders are terrifying. How have we, as humans, not advanced simple ladder technology over the last forever? Those little nubbish things that you have to jam into the ground are really the best idea we've ever had ever? I understand that we have baskets lifts and man-movers and all that nonsense for industrial workers, and kudos to the guy that invented those (Skyler McCloud?). But that guy isn't showing up at my house in early December to hang Christmas lights. Nope. It's just me, the ladder, and fear.

3. What is your favorite candy?
Nerds. Hands down. I find the biggest nerds, regardless of flavor, and eat those first. That shows the little nerds that I mean business. I try to pick them off one by one, but then get bored and fling the whole palm-full at my face. Then, months later when I'm vacuuming the inside of the couch, I find the stragglers that thought they escaped death. Silly nerds.

4. What was the best Halloween costume you've ever worn? (include pictures if you have them)
Ninja turtle (Michelangelo AND Donatello, back-to-back years). My sister went as a picnic table once. That was different.

5. Who is your favorite football team?
Washington Redskins. But they're currently 1-4 and I hate them. Anyway, for an interesting take on the Redskins-as-racist team name, go here.

I can't make this stuff up

I can't really believe this, but it's already the 3rd Thursday of September (mind = blown) and therefore, it's time for this month's installment of the Boys Behind the Blog link-up! I emailed the questions to C this morning, and had my responses before too long... I'll be honest, I considered giving them a little teensy edit, but then I reconsidered. After all, I do claim that this blog is a representation of who I really am, and, in turn, it's who C really is, too - and his answers this month are about as real as he gets. So... enjoy! Hope you get a giggle out of them like I did :)

Hello, handsome! (also, sneak peek at our basement!)

1. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

An eagle. Because 'Murica. Also, talons. And flying. Can you imagine how freaking awesome that would be? I wouldn't have a lot of non-eagle friends, either. I'd be all like, "Come over to my house and watch the game." And my non-eagle boys would cry because my bitchin' nest would be hundreds of feet above theirs. They'd be pissy because they live in nest-apartments and I get the nest-penthouse.

(I was cracking up at my desk while I read this.... but it's probably completely true!)

2. What is your favorite meal?

Red meat.

(This one I don't believe... pretty sure it's lasagna or something. Though he does love a good steak...)

3. Do you use any forms of Social Media? What is your favorite?

Twitter and Facebook, yes, but I don't actively participate in either. I like Twitter because I can follow famous people and judge them on their grammar and nonsensical approach to us underlings. I also like sports. Twitter is great for that.

(I can vouch for the fact that, when it comes to social media, we are complete opposites. He reads Twitter all the time for sports-related things, but never tweets, and I'm pretty sure the last time he was on Facebook was to change his relationship status to 'married.' C'est la vie!)

4. Beer, wine, liquor, other, or none of the above?

Not wine. I like my beverages to be greater than 100 degrees or less than 40. Wine always settles somewhere in the middle. Liquor? Meh. Liquor has it's place, but it's for when I want to get drunk RIGHT NOW. Like, if I was 5 hours late to a rager, then I'd probably grab the biggest bottle of hooch (hahaha hooch) and chug it like the sickest bro at the brofest. Gotta play catch-up. Really though, it's beer for me. I like the fancy beers, but in moderation. I buy those "this shit's about to expire, mix it up BITCH" 6 packs from Wegmans. Those are sweet.

(Bud Light is pretty much water for C & his buddies - and he's a liar, because he drinks wine with me. Regularly. But it's true, beer is definitely his go-to.)

5. Complete the sentence: "Never have I ever..."

Nope. This is my wife's blog. A thousand nopes.

(Probably for the best.)

 

Guess who's back - back again... (a link-up!)

Thank you to everyone for so many sweet comments and happy wishes regarding my big news post last week! Perhaps I will have a virtual housewarming party someday... I do love a good party :)

Today, I'm linking up with Mal and Stephanie again for the Boys Behind the Blog party!
I gave C the five questions and waited for his answers - but before I got them, I got this via Gchat:

Apparently he was not a fan of these questions. He'd like something a little harder, in the future, if suggestions for the link-up are being taken. (What a PITA!)

Anyway. Here's what I got in return from my darling, sweet husband...

1. What would you do with $1,000,000?

Go back to school to learn chemistry. Discover a secret new way to cook blue meth in a Winnebago until I can partner up with an established dealer that owns a fried chicken place and/or laundromat. Hire a disabled man in a retirement home to settle scores with said dealer when things go south. Create my own business. Oh yeah, I'd need a bad-ass side kick that has a catchphrase. After that, I guess I'd pay off the house.

Hmm... this plotline sounds oddly familiar.

2. What is your dream job?

See Question 1.

3. Who is your celebrity crush?

Not a fair question. Not because I'm married or don't have a "celebrity" crush, but because celebrity popularity ebbs and flows on a year to year basis, thus changing my answer. It's easy to say someone like Jennifer Lawrence because she's the media darling right now. Just like Emma Stone was this time last year. Anyway, I guess my final answer is Robert Downey, Jr.

No comment. I actually thought this one would be Jennifer Morrison... or Olivia Wilde, like every other man. Ha! C is a House fanatic.

4. What is your favorite sports team?

I'd love to say the Capitals, but it just can't be. Skins for me.

As a Dallas fan, it pains me to put this here. NFL season is rough in our house. The Caps and the Hokies are our happy medium.

5. What was your AOL/AIM screen name back in the day?

chuk2312

Join the link-up!

The boy behind this blog

One of my favorite bloggers, Mal @ Mal Smiles, recently started a new link-up with another great blogger, Stephanie @ Never the Same Spice Twice. The link-up is called "The Boys Behind the Blog," and it gives bloggers a chance to get their boys a little more involved in a post!

Each month, Mal and Stephanie post 5 easy questions for the boys to answer, and this time, I decided to see if C would play along. Luckily, he answered my questions without hesitation (he's so good like that!) - so I'm joining the fun!

From our one-year anniversary shoot last September <3
Photo credit goes to Stephanie Messick

Here we go...

1. What celebrity would play you in a movie about your life? Jeremy Renner

(I think this is mostly because Jeremy Renner is a BAMF. Not because they look anything alike. I'm ok with it!)

2. What is your dream car? BMW 5 Series

(I did not actually know this answer. Hmmm...)

3. Do you have any tattoos? What, where, why? 3 - each shoulder blade and inside left arm / bicep, and because I'm sentimental and OK with it

(Obvi I knew this one. The two on his shoulder blades are family-related, & the one inside his arm is for April 16.)

4. Boxers or briefs? Boxer-briefs

5. List 3 random facts about yourself...

• I'm related to Captain Morgan (yes, that one) 
• I've kissed the Blarney Stone 
• I sacked Russell Wilson (yes, that one) in high school

So there you have it! C's first round of answers to this fun link-up. We'll see if he plays along next month! :)