10 Things About Me- Grief Aside

Many women in the bereaved mother's world would tell you the day your child died signifies a poignant mark in the timeline of your life. Forever more, I will look at my life (and am viewed as) before Noah's death and after Noah's death. While grief is an interwoven part of me, it doesn't define me. Yes I am a changed person but I DO laugh and DO enjoy life. Because I've gained many dear friends in the days after Noah's death, I am often viewed as "the babyloss mom" as many of you didn't know me before I had Noah.

I am linking up with Carly Marie from Still Standing Magazine to share 10 things about me outside of grief, especially for those who may have only known me since Noah died.

1. Where have you traveled to?
I love to travel and have been traveling internationally since I was 16, both for mission work as well as vacations. I have even had the opportunity of visiting some of the same places more than once!
-Canada
-Mexico (missions)
-Peru (missions for 6 months)
-Paraguay (mission)
-Barbados
-St. Thomas
-St. Maarten/St. Marten (same island, 2 different countries)
-Puerto Rico
-Dominica
-Dominican Republic
-Antigua
-Haiti
And Lord willing, we will be visiting 4 new countries this year!

Antigua

2. Sweet or Savoury?
Definitely Savoury or rather spicy for sure!! I don't have a sweet tooth at all and I can bake up a ton of goodies and not be tempted to eat them (not that I don't enjoy a treat once in a great while).  I am a pretty health conscious person so I tend to eat fairly healthy (as seen by many of my recipes that I share.)

3. What are you reading right now? 
I am reading  Flourish- Balance for Homeschool Moms by Mary Jo Tate (an upcoming review that will be posted on my blog).

4. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be? 
My best friend Ashlee for sure! She lives in another state so we don't get to see each other often unfortunately.

5. What is your favourite food? 
I like anything & everything, especially trying new foods. But I love a true Philly Italian hoagie from Lee's in Philly. I also LOVE sushi and spicy Mexican food!

6. Favourite music?
I grew up listening to a wide variety of music and therefore love a lot of different kinds but I think my favorite CD that I got when I was about 17 as a gift was Kenny's G's "The Moment". There is just something soothing about listening to his saxaphone music. (I also play sax so I have a love for it). I converted the CD to play on my iPhone's iPod so I am still listening to it all these years later!

7. What does your dream house look like?
It would be a farmhouse style with a big wrap-around porch, many bedrooms, a HUGE kitchen with dual wall ovens, a sun porch and enough land for some chickens, a huge garden and maybe a pony! Someday!

8. What are you passionate about? 
-breaking the silence surrounding infant death & making sure others have the support and guidance I missed out on especially early on.
-carseat safety; as an EMT, I've witnessed children's deaths that could've been prevented by proper carseat/booster seat usage (keep your kiddos in a booster until they are 80lbs!!!!)
-parenting my children, loving them unconditionally & raising them to be who God wants them to be!

9. Your dream job? 
Ultimately a midwife in a hospital setting but realistically what I am aiming for now is an RN working in labor & delivery.

10.What have you been procrastinating on? 
Many things, ha, but redoing my kitchen as far as repainting walls & cabinets. Overall pairing down on "things" and decluttering would take second place. Not so much procrastinating on but just lacking the extra time would be more accurate.

I am Still Standing in loving memory of my precious 
Noah Alexander: 
7/13/10-7/14/10