Blogging Buddies are Twice the Fun!

Hello, everyone!

Today is a very special day here at Writer Mom at Home. Today is the first collaboration between Elizabeth (Type A Mommy) and I. Let me tell you a little about her. Elizabeth left a very exciting career, which involved traveling to places like the Bahamas, when her son was born. All of the energy she put into her work has been redirected to her efforts in being a stay at home mom. Not only is she a great mother and wife, she is an amazing cook. There are always new recipes going up on her blog, and they all look super yummy. She loves to read, The Princess Bride is one of her favorite movies, and she even loves to write. This woman could be my long lost twin, if I had one. I think we should get DNA testing done, just to be sure, though.

When we first decided to team up, we took a couple days getting to know each other a little bit and learning about each other’s blogs. As it turns out, we have a lot in common. The next thing we did was start coming up with ideas for our first project. We wanted to find a way to introduce our readers to each other in a way that would be kind of fun and would encourage everyone to check out both sites.We decided that the best way to do this was through an interview.

We each came up with five questions, and quickly emailed them off. Elizabeth asked a couple challenging questions, and I like to think that I asked her a tough one as well. I don’t think I could choose just one kitchen item that I couldn’t live without, so I was pretty impressed when she could, even if she did really choose three. (Don’t think I didn’t catch that, Elizabeth!)

So, without further adieu, let me introduce you to Elizabeth, the blogger behind Type A Mommy:

1.What makes you a Type A Mommy?

Well, before I was Type A Mommy, I was Type A Wife.  And before that I was Type A Worker, Type A College Student, and so on.  I’ve always been what I would call meticulous.  I’ve also always been a bit…well…spoiled.  My two older siblings are vastly older than I am, so I was kind of raised like an only child, and I was somewhat treated as such.  I generally got my way (did you see my post about my mother letting me eat meatloaf for a year?).  So when I went on a kick of baking with my Easy-Bake oven every day for a week, there was no sibling to share it with.  I think that my love of sweets can be traced back to my Easy-Bake oven…that or the fact that when I uttered my first word, “cookie,” while gesturing to the cookie jar, my mom gave me one.  Anyway, my mother was also a type A mom, so I’d say that’s where I get a lot of my habits from.

2. What is the hardest part about being a mom? What is the best?

I think, for me, the hardest part about being a mom, or at least a first-time mom, is that I don’t like feeling like a fish out of water, like I don’t know what I’m doing.  That’s why I read (and still read) so many parenting and childcare books.  I wasn’t a babysitter growing up, so Baby was really the first child I ever took care of.  My husband and the nurse at the hospital had to show me how to change a diaper.  I have always been the kind of person who was always proficient in everything, so the learning curve has been a huge challenge for me.  I still struggle with it, now that Baby is becoming a toddler and is starting to really test me.  I like knowing the answers, so when Baby does something I don’t expect or can’t figure out, it can be very frustrating for me, so keeping that frustration to myself can be really tough.  Then, as soon as I put him down for a nap, I do my homework on it.  The best part about being a mom, though, is definitely the love.  I had no idea I could feel such love for someone.  I love my husband don’t get me wrong, but it’s a totally different flavor of love.  Now that he’s bigger, too, Baby can show me his love, too, which is so awesome.  I just love the hugs.  Sometimes he’ll come up behind me and just throw himself at me for the world’s biggest hug.  It’s the best feeling.  You can’t not smile when a baby hugs you.  Even if we’re having a rough day, one hug from Baby makes me forget (at least momentarily) about the bad moments.

3. What one person in your life has had the most influence on you? Why?

I think right now, that’s my son, Baby.  He’s the one person I spend the most amount of time with, and he’s the one person I am constantly trying to improve for.  I want to be a positive role model for him, someone he can look up to, someone he can count on, someone he can appreciate.  I want to be better than I am for him.  The other person who has had a profound affect on my life was my father, who passed away when I was 22.  He was a very determined, hard-working person who taught me a lot about learning – he was the kind of person who would tackle things.  If he didn’t know how to do it, he’d figure it out.  He’d read a book on it.  Or he’d figure it out by doing it.  That’s how he taught himself how to work on cars.  We never owned a single car that cost my dad more than probably $1000 to purchase, and he was constantly repairing them on the weekends (or whenever they stopped running).

4.What is the one kitchen product that you couldn’t live without?

This is a super tough question!!  My first instinct was to say my stand mixer, because mixing cookie dough (not to mention bread or pizza dough!) is quite a work out without one.  Then I re-read the question and I thought, hmm, maybe we’re talking more about ingredients, in which case good quality vanilla extract was what came to mind.  Then I thought about kitchen gadgets, and I absolutely could not live without my garlic press.  I love garlic, and while I think I’m decent with a knife, I am not fantastic at mincing garlic.  My press does a much better job than I can, although a few of the metal grates have broken recently.  I went into Williams-Sonoma to raise heck about it, because that’s where I bought it, today, though, and they assured me I must have a dud and to bring it back straightaway.

5. Where is the most amazing place you have ever visited?

Probably the Bahamas – back in my former life as a meeting and event planner, I got the opportunity to plan meetings in some pretty neat places.  We stayed at the Atlantis (the doctors I worked for always seemed interested in wowing their attendees with the accommodations), which was just beautiful.  I was six months pregnant with Baby during the conference, which drained me a good bit, but I still managed to have a good bit of fun.  The wildlife at the Atlantis is quite a sight to behold.  Just amazing.  I spent probably 90% of my time there working, but during those few minutes in the morning at 5:30 a.m. when I’d leave my room to head to the conference center, I saw some beautiful, beautiful things.  I did get one afternoon off (that’s the beauty of being the boss and making the staff schedule), and I spent that in their water park, which was wonderful.  A close second would be my honeymoon in Savannah, Georgia.  I’d love to go back to Savannah one day.

Want to know more? Check out Type A Mommy. In fact, you should make sure that you are subscribed to each of our blogs so you don’t miss any of the fun. This is just the beginning of a long and wonderful partnership (and friendship) between our two blogs.

Curious about what Elizabeth asked me? I can tell you the questions, but to see my answers, you’ll have to check out her post, Meet Writer Mom at Home, over at Type A Mommy. Here’s what she asked me:

1. Who is the Writer Mom at Home?

2. What’s your most embarrassing mommy moment thus far?

3. What are you most proud of?

4. What’s the best part of your job?

5. What’s the hardest part of motherhood in your opinion?

Want the answers? You know where to find them…