Dear Mrs. S. (Your Questions Answered!) Part 3

Questions from Chelle at It’s a Hooah Life (Serious Blog Bestie):

Do you put deodorant on before or after getting dressed? 

MMM it depends. Usually it’s after but if it’s a big t-shirt for bedtime or a nightey, I do it before. I don’t really have any method to this particular madness.   

Pee in the shower? 

No ma’am. I must admit I nearly had Gatorade come out my nose when I read this question though. 

Have you/do you shake Mr. S's beer/soda up before handing it to him after he's made a snide sarcastic comment and then blame it on the forces that be? 

He would kill me. I usually pinch his nipples or poke his side real hard if he is a smart-a, which, believe me, is often. We don’t drink soda anymore but there were times when we were dating that I’d dump water on him in the middle of the night. That was actually the very first time Mr. Superman got mad and yelled at me. It was extremely early on in our relationship and it genuinely frightened me and hurt my feelings because he was extraordinarily angry.  

Do you play video games? 

No. I have attempted his Need for Speed but I suck harder than a Dyson Ball. I have been begging him for the original Nintendo with Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. He’s keeping an eye out for the perfect set on Ebay. I’m old school.  

Do you watch TV in the dark with closed caption on? 

I don’t know what it is about closed caption but I hate it. I mean like “wanna scratch my eyes and pull my hair out” level of hate. Its like nails on a chalkboard only silent. I hate it. I mean, kid you not, my skin is crawling at the thought right now.  

Can you write a whole sentence with your toes holding the pen? 

Not neatly, but yes. Mr. Superman hates my toes. Number one reason why? They pick on him. I can single footedly win a wrestle match. My talent with my feet is INCREDIBLE. 

Ever share an ice cream cone with a pet? 

Bleghch. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. No. 

What's your favorite  delivery food item? 

Oh this is HARRRRRD. (Insert major whiny voice) Um, I think delivery its gotta be Papa John's Pizza or some fabulous Chinese food. Anything that delivers is magical though.

Questions from Amy at Chicy-Creations (High school friend):

You mentioned you got an IUD...what kind? I got the Mirena the same day you said you got your IUD. I know you guys have struggled with infertility, do you plan on having it removed and continue TTC? I know that's way personal, sorry!

Amy, not personal! Ha ha I said ask anything and trust me, this is nothing. I got the Mirena. It took me talking to about 10 different OB’s over the last year to find one that would do it for me without me having actually gone to term and given birth. I was also warned that the pain from insertion and pain during the possible 9 month transition period would be A LOT worse than for a woman who has given birth. Let me tell you, she did not lie. I nearly passed out at the, “Okay now when I say 3, cough and I’ll release it” moment. I also had (she called them contractions) cramps so severe I couldn’t move. I mean Mr. Superman was helping me walk for a few days. It was bad. I am praying that if not before, but by my 9 month mark, my body and uterus will have acclimated and that it will be worth all of the pain. The reason I opted for the IUD was because it was the only form of BC I had not yet tried in hopes of regulating and diminishing my period down to a level that not only allowed me to live a somewhat normal life, but even leave my house. Before it was every 14 or so days, lasting 14 days, couldn’t leave the house, vomiting, passing out, trying not to die. I’ve also dealt with all of my endometriosis pain and my countless ovarian cysts and was told that in some cases, the IUD helps to diminish these things as well. If in two years, I am still having really bad pain and such I will be getting it removed and going on my merry way. Why two years? That is our timeline to hopefully be more financially stable, out of major debt, and able to start the adoption process. As far as continuing to try to conceive on our own, I was told that I physically, cannot. That said, I also know that if God wanted to, he could snap his fingers and I’d be able to conceive and carry to term and give birth to a beautiful healthy baby, right now though, those are definitely not the cards that I have been dealt.

What did you guys do for fun at EAC? I LOVED living in the Thatcher. Did you ever go to the mansion?

Oh boy well neither of us liked it there. We watched movies every day and night, we did a few dance parties and on a couple different occasions drove nearly two hours to Tucson for dates. I did the Mansion but Mr. Superman never did. 

 (Some of our Tucson date nights)

Questions from Caroline at The Transcendental Moose (My SIL):

Aside from your wonderful husband taking care of you, how do you deal with it when your pain gets bad?

It may be irony or just life’s way of messing with me but my pain level currently, is through the roof. I know its childish but I cry a lot. I mean I do all the time anyway but when there is no way of getting my pain to go down or go away, all I can do is curl up on my heating pads, have my bowl next to me, and cry. I also take a scalding hot bath nearly every night. I always combine lavender oils, salts, or bubble bath too because it helps soothe. Even when the pain is horrible, I do lots of deep breathing and try my hardest to stretch. Yoga stretches have been a lifesaver.

What's your favorite self-care method?

My favorite is allowing myself to cry and my baths. Yes I am a 22 year-old woman who has had this pain since I was 15 but I am not used to it nor do I think I ever will be. Allowing myself to acknowledge the pain and my right to feel miserable and cry may not make me feel better but it does help in a weird way. I could not say enough amazing things about my baths either.

What's your dream house look like? I've been thinking a lot about mine so it's on the brain. Whereabouts is it, city or country? Tons of rooms, or pretty small? Huge backyard? Garden? :)

My dream house is a giant, old Victorian style house. Preferably one with lots of history or character that needs work. I would want one that I could salvage a lot of the original wood-work like beams, floors, stairs, molding, paneling, etc. I would like it to be relatively close to the city but far enough out that we have at least an acre. I think maybe when I either have a miracle cure or treatment I’d be able to manage having things like a garden but I’d totally be okay with hiring a gardener too. Ha ha! In reality, we won’t be purchasing a house until Mr. Superman retires or is high ranking enough to request a permanent residence wherever we get stationed way further down the road. We also know we want to end up in AZ. We know we will end up in AZ. Not until he retires of course and since AZ doesn’t have houses like the one we want, we will build it on land and improvise for the things we look for.

Questions from Sarah Ann at Misadventures in Matrimony (Bloggy Friend):

I know you wear glasses so I have to ask- when you got married did you wear them or get contacts? Because I cannot stand the idea of wearing glasses with a pretty dress but I'm wondering if I'm weird because of that!

I did NOT. I am so with you on this one girl, I think wearing glasses with your princess dress is a little odd. I actually prefer contacts but haven’t had them for a good two years because they are so dang expensive. 

 (See, no glasses!)

I was reading through your older posts and I saw the one where you talked about your weight gain. I can 100% relate. I was wondering what your workouts consist of? Because I've been doing the same stuff for a month now and although I'm getting stronger I'm not losing any weight!

Okay this one will be a little long. I too, am not losing any weight but getting stronger. It’s frustrating because I don’t want to be Jillian Michael’s buff, I just want to be Nicole Kidman skinny. My work out as it currently stands: I used to do between 1 to 2 miles cardio either on the treadmill, track, or running trail but found that I get a lot more workout from spinning on the bike. I do about 4 miles average on the bike in 15 minutes. I then do all of my weights for legs and back which I alternate every other day. So If I do weights on Monday, I won’t do them again until Wednesday. They consist of: 3 sets of 20 at 50 lbs on the leg press, 3 sets of 20 at 40 lbs on hamstrings, 3 sets of 20 at 40 lbs for quads, 3 sets of 20 at 85 lbs for inner thighs, 3 sets of 20 at 85 lbs for glutes, and 3 sets of 20 at 85 lbs for my lower back. Weights are the only thing that I don’t do every day. For my abs I have a routine I do as well. I do 1-2 rounds of everything. 20 sit ups with my feet under a bar, hands crossed over my chest and I go all the way until my elbows touch my knees then all the way back down until my back is flat. I do 50 crossover crunches which is where my legs are crossed and bent at the knees in the air, arms behind my head, and I alternate the outside of my left elbow touching the outside of my right knee then vice-versa. Then I do 20 seconds of flutter kicks which is me on my back head held up and hands under my butt. Holding my legs straight out, together, and about 6 inches off the ground I do little flutter kicks right then left, right then left, right then left. Next I do ball twists. I use a 5 lb ball and with my shins and feet crossed, mostly sitting up I twist while holding the ball up and making sure it touches the ground on either side of my body. I do 50 of these as well. Next I do planks. Forearms down on the ground, feet together and body held up like I’m doing a push-up. I do 35 seconds then rest. After planks I do 20 center crunches then 20 on both my right side and left side where I have my arms behind my head, knees folded and together flat on the ground. I am trying to end with cardio so after weights and abs, I sprint two laps on the track. Phew! Sorry for all the long-windedness but there you have it, my work out!

What is the hardest thing that came with all the changes in your life since you moved with your husband?

The hardest thing since relocating from Arizona to Georgia is not being near family or friends anymore. I am extraordinarily close to my sister and her family (four of my beautiful nieces and nephews) and not being able to see them every day is really hard. We don’t have kids and our nieces and nephews help to fill that void so we are missing them really bad. I also miss being close to my parents as well as my best friends. I feel like I’m missing out on so much. I’ve had friends get married and I couldn’t be there and I have this fear of someone in my family getting injured or killed and not being able to get there in time.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I don’t really feel guilty about it but I take a hot bubble bath nearly every night. I also have TV shows that are ridiculous and just drama but I love them. I also eat a lot of pasta, bread and butter, and loooove French fries with honey mustard.

Questions from Kara (High School Friend):

First of all, I am not judging you in any way, I'm just curious about your feelings towards the temple now that you've been and were sealed to Mr. S. I noticed in some pictures that you wore some clothes that you wouldn't be able to wear with garments. Have your feelings about the temple changed? How do you feel about the Church in general today?

I think you’re talking about the pictures of Mr. Superman and I at his BMT grad and such. I admit I’ve made mistakes and have had times where I wasn’t as strong as I needed to be but don’t doubt that I believe in the Church and everything it stands for. As with anyone, I have faults and have times where I stumble and I definitely have things I need to work on but none of that blame lies with the Church, its all mine.

Questions from Photina at One Guy in a House of Girls (Bloggy Friend):

Do you find it harder to keep going to church when your DH is deployed?

He has never been deployed but I do find it harder attending church when he is not with me. Even though it is so difficult I have vowed to make a much better effort next time, which will be the entire month of July.

Are you a flip-flop or sneaker person?

I do it all. I wear my pumps, platforms, wedges, Vans, Converses, flip flops, Nike’s, everything. My preference? Depends on my mood, outfit, and weather. Like today, its cloudy and overcast so I'm in jeans and my favorite Cons but yesterday it was hot and sunny so I was in red gladiator sandals.

Questions from Heather at This is a Story of a Girl (Bloggy Friend):

Do you know what you would like to specialize in after nursing school?

Again, not even sure if I want to do RN anymore because of certain things that’s have transpired but if I do continue on, I want to do NICU or PEDS or L&D.

What's your favorite Thai dish?

I LOVE Thai Toast. I love eggs, and cucumbers, and fried things. In a weird way it tastes like French toast with cucumbers. I love it. It’s always perfect. I also LOVE three flavored chicken. Its so gloriously delicious.

Questions from Molena (Bloggy Friend)

How did you know you loved Mr. Superman? How did you say it for the first time?

Well as with everything else about mine and Mr. Superman’s early dating relationship, this took what seemed like, FOREVER. There were a few times, where I was on the verge of saying it because I just knew. Now you asked how I knew. I knew I loved him within weeks of meeting him. I knew that I was desperately IN LOVE with him and knew I couldn’t live withOUT him on the day he nearly died. It was about a month and a half after we met and only 3 weeks into us dating. It was raining and I was at my house getting ready because he was supposed to be coming to pick me up to go to the fair. He was really late but so was I so I didn’t care. I was getting closer to being done so I texted him and he didn’t reply which was completely out of character for him. I finally got a text so I jumped for my phone. It read, “I just rolled my Jeep.” Um what the H? That’s all?! So I text him back because I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. After getting directions to where he was, I jumped in the car and went to go pick him up. The entire time I was crying and shaking, and just so sick to my stomach. I finally got there and my heart dropped. I didn’t see him anywhere but I did see his Jeep. There was no way he should’ve survived that. The entire top was flattened and all of the windows were shattered inward. He had been on a really steep and narrow mountain road. It had no railing or shoulder and he had hit a mud pit that made him swerve and go over the edge. I looked over the edge and by God’s good grace, his Jeep had landed on the ONLY shelf. It was about 12 feet down and just big enough to hold the Jeep. Had he landed even two feet over to either side, it would have continued to roll the hundreds of feet down.  I finally saw him and ran over to hug and kiss him. I took him and his friend that had been with him home and started cleaning both of them up. Yeah, the small town EMS should’ve taken him to the ER for stitches but instead just put a band aid on him. It took more than three hours of pulling out glass, cleaning up blood, and disinfecting before he looked alive. Poor guy. The entire time I was fixing him up, I just kept having the one thought of, “What if he had died?” going through my head. After fixing him dinner and making sure he didn’t have a concussion, I went to tuck him into bed and lay next to him until he fell asleep. As we were lying there he was holding my hand and tracing the back of it with his finger. I could tell he had something on his mind but I did too. I was trying to figure out how to tell him how much I loved him. Well lovelies, he beat me to it. He said, “There is something I’ve been thinking a lot about and after today I know I can’t wait any longer. When I crashed and I was stuck trying to get out, all I kept think was I had to make it because I needed you to know what you mean to me. I’ve completely fallen in love with you.” Insert my heart trying to claw its way out of my chest and me crying like an idiot. “I love you too. So much.” 

 (Our miracle day)

What is the story of your first kiss?

This was another instance of me nearly throttling him and taking things into my own hands. There were SO many times I thought he was about to kiss me but then he’d chicken out. Later, I did find out that there HAD been so many times but he had chickened out. The magical night was actually a night where neither of us was feeling well. We had just gotten done watching a movie with one of his roommates and a mutual friend. I went back to lay down and about twenty minutes later Mr. Superman wandered back. He came and snuggled next to me. He started up a round of The Question Game. Unbeknownst to me it was all part of his little plan. You see, he knew I would eventually ask, “What are you thinking about?” and when I did, his move would be perfectly set up. That’s exactly what happened too. After I asked the magic question he smoothly responded with, “How easy it would be to do this.” Then leaned in, cupped my face, and kissed me. It was PERFECT. Something really funny about our first kiss, is that Roxeanne (by The Police) was blaring through the whole trailer. His roommate had some playlists saved on Mr. Superman’s xbox hard drive, had selected Roxeanne and put it on repeat. It played over and over again for about an hour and consequently was the background music for our first kiss.

How did he propose?

Duh, on his knee with a ring. What? Not good enough? Okay, okay. We had actually already started planning our wedding and picked the date before I got my “on the knee with a ring” proposal. In August of 2007 we attended my aunt’s surprise 50^th birthday party and after a few hours in the Arizona heat (yes it was outside!) we decided to leave and go grab some food. We drove the half hour to my parents’ house where I was living at the time, so I could freshen up a bit. The whole day and evening he had been acting SO weird but anytime I asked what was wrong he replied, “Nothing.” Well I was walking back out of my room and when I got to the entryway I asked where we were going. He told me we were going to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. I asked, “Celebrate what?” and he dropped to his knee and said, “This.” while pulling out a ring. He told me he loved me and couldn’t live without me then followed it up with the age old, “Will you marry me?” I was shaking and grinning huge and asked if he was joking (yeah since we were already planning it huh?) and then told him he was crazy and to get up. I said yes, he put it on my finger, we kissed, and then we did indeed go to The Cheesecake factory to celebrate. 

 (Right after he popped the question)

(Celebrating with cheesecake and daiquiris!)

Have you ever struggled with your faith?

I have. Several times even. I still do at times. I think that since I am the natural man, it is something that I am doomed to repeat until I die and gain a more perfect understanding but I do strive to not question God and to always keep in mind that it could always be worse. He has a plan and He never said it would be easy, only that it would be worth it.

What was your “first dance” song and what is the story behind it?

Oh I love this one! Again, this was before we were even ‘officially’ together but I already knew I wanted him forever. I was sick and he came over to keep me company. We had gotten done watching a movie and I was trying to go to sleep. I had my iPod on and he was playing with my hair. After a while, he thought I was sleeping, but I wasn’t. Tim McGraw’s, “It’s Your Love” came on and he began singing along. He sang the entire song to me and it wasn’t until six months later that I told him I had been awake. When it came to choosing our first dance song for our wedding we had so many we could’ve gone with but when this one came up to bat, we knew this was perfect.

(First dance)

What does your wedding ring look like and did you pick it out?

We actually looked at rings together and I picked out four different styles I loved. I told him I would be happy with anything he got me. He ended up choosing my favorite out of the four! It’s a 1.5 carat solitaire diamond on a thin, white gold band. Well that is actually my “engagement” ring. My wedding band is a thin, white gold band with 8 little diamonds that goes perfectly with my engagement ring. He’s incredible isn’t he?!

 (I adore my ring)

Were you a ‘wild child’?

You know I wasn’t sure if I wanted to answer this one or not because I didn’t want my readers, friends, or family (the ones that don’t already know) to view me differently but decided that my honesty is more important to you AND me than keeping my sordid past top secret. When I was a Junior in high school, my best friend committed suicide. I took it pretty hard and took the wrong path in ‘dealing’ with it. I got really angry and depressed and started doing things to my body, inside and out, that were extraordinarily detrimental. I started abusing pills of all sorts. I was abusing prescriptions, over the counter stuff, stealing others’ pills, as well as drinking, smoking, some other ‘hard’ drugs, and cutting myself. Despite knowing better, I broke myself down and damaged my spirit and mental capacities so badly that it took Mr. Superman coming into my life and in turn keeping me alive one fateful night before I realized how far off I had gotten. I still struggle with things but having him in my life and knowing that I need to be the best kind of woman he deserves, helps monumentally.