Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

I’m going to do something today that I haven’t done in a while. (It could be because I haven’t really blogged much in a while, but let’s not rehash that.) I am going to participate in Chelsea’s fun little weekly link-up/meme known as Ten on Tuesday.

This week’s questions are all about names. Those who know me well (and know the difficulties we have choosing names around here) know that I have some issues peculiarities quirks about names. So, I thought this one was just too fun to pass up.

1. How did your parents decide on your name?
Here’s how the story goes (correct me if I’m wrong, Mom): Mom wanted to name me Sarah Melissa, but I had an aunt who wanted to use the name Sarah for her daughter. Mom deferred, and neither of my aunt’s daughters are named Sarah. My understanding is that my name (Jana) was some kind of compromise between Mom and Dad and has some basis from Jan on The Brady Bunch. I could be wrong, but that’s the way I remember it. My middle name is my Mom’s name and my Grandmother’s middle name.

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
Nope. I grew up JCW and am now JCG. Nothing funny there.

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
I kept my middle name from childhood. I love my middle name, and it is part of my family history (see answer 1).

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
No themes here unless you consider the fact that all of our children have traditional first names as a theme. I don’t.

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
I had a bunch of names that I liked growing up. We have used none of them. I am just fine with that.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
My middle name, as mentioned above. But, more impressively, J’s first name is a family name in Matt’s side of the family that goes back hundreds of years. Like to the mid-1500′s if I remember correctly. E and S also have family names, but not ones that have been used generation after generation.

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
Both. Biblically, a name was considered to encompass the fullness of the person (personality, traits, etc). I believe there is some truth in that.

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
We don’t have pets with names. I mean, we don’t have pets, so no names.

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
There are a few, but Matt has a bunch. That’s one contributing factor in the difficulty we have naming our children.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
I love our kids names (both first and middle). They are strong names with meaning (either familial or the actual meaning of or history of the name). Here are a few more that I really like but I doubt we’ll ever use for children – Annalise, Ellen, Audrey, Claire (or Clara).

It’s been several weeks since I participated in Ten on Tuesday, but I enjoy answering the random (and sometimes bizarre) questions so I thought I would play along again this week. For more Ten on Tuesday, visit Root and Rings.

1. If you could trade lives with another blogger for a day, who would it be and why?
I thought of a couple of answers to this question, but I think I would have to choose my sister Lu. If I traded lives with her for a day I would get to spend the day playing with and loving on three of my nephews and she would get to spend the day with my kiddos.

2. Do you prefer receiving handmade or store bought gifts? Be honest!
It all depends on the gift, and I don’t mean that as a non-answer, it’s the truth. A couple of my all-time favorite gifts have been the beautiful apron that Matt’s grandmother made for me a couple of years ago and the various quilts my grandmother has made for me over the years.

3. Would you rather camp or stay in a hotel?
I prefer to stay in a hotel if we are going to be doing anything other than staying around the campsite. If we are going somewhere where all of our activities will be outdoorsy (hiking, playing in the river, etc), then I really enjoy camping (or at least I enjoy the idea of camping, we’ve never been camping with our kids).

4. What’s your favorite comfort food?
That’s gotta be either homemade mac & cheese or mashed potatoes.

5. You’re having a really bad day at work. How do you unwind when you come home?
Since my work consists of staying home with the kids, I like to get out of the house (either with the girls or alone) for a bit. If that’s not feasible, I hang out with Matt in the evening and/or read, blog hop, or watch TV.

6. What’s your favorite chore? (Or, the chore you hate the least)
Hmmm…It’s not that I mind cleaning the house, I just try to do it as little as possible. My favorite chore is probably laundry – I can throw a load in and go do something else until it’s done.

7. What got you interested in blogging?
I started reading blogs (Amy’s Humble Musings was the first one I read regularly) in late 2005 or early 2006. Matt has blogged off and on for several years (and is a web designer and developer), so when I found out I was pregnant with Little I asked him to set up a subdomain on his domain for me to blog about the pregnancy (we had recently moved away from all of our family and friends, so it was a way to keep them informed – most of these posts can be found in my archives). In early 2007 I decided I wanted to pick blogging up again on my own domain, and sidetrack’d was born.

8. Are you currently reading a book? What is it?
Currently I’m reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. I highly recommend Don’t Waste Your Life.

9. Do you have a favorite artist?
I’m taking this to mean all forms of art, not just visual art. But still I can’t say that I have a favorite artist that I can think of.

10. Have you ever met someone famous?
I met one of our state congressmen when I was in 5th grade, but I think that’s the closest I’ve come.

Seriously, I feel like I should have some sort of intro on this post every week. Well, this week, this is all ya get. Enjoy…

1. What was your high school superlative (if you didn’t have one- what would it have been)?
I was most likely to succeed, most intellectual, most athletic, and most school spirit. And yes, I did go to a very small high school.

2. What sports did you play in high school?
I played basketball and ran track (kind of).

3. What was the best part about your wedding (if you’re not married yet, what are you looking forward to)?
The best part of our wedding was that we were able to get married in Matt’s grandparents’ garden. We have beautiful pictures to remember it by.

4. It’s your last meal– what Appetizer, Soup, Salad, Entree and Dessert would you choose?
appetizer: fried pickles, soup: Olive Garden’s pasta e fagioli, salad: a really good caesar, entree: J Alexander’s chicken salad sandwich and fries, and dessert: cheesecake (either Godiva or Cheesecake Factory)

5. What song is your guilty pleasure?
I don’t really have one. I do have several albums that I like that I can only listen to when the kids aren’t around though (i.e., Radiohead, Elliott Smith).

6. What is your favorite professional sports team, and why do you like them?
Hmm…tough call between the Boston Red Sox (I’m a huge baseball fan, and Matt converted me to a Red Sox fan, although I’m still a big Atlanta Braves fan, too) and the Tennessee Titans (also a big football fan and the Titans are the home team).

7. What is your favorite reality show and why do you like it?
The Biggest Loser. I like to see the transformations from the beginning of the season to the season finale.

8. How would you classify your home decorating style (modern, classic, french country)?
Traditional. We have very functional and family-friendly decor.

9. Pizza- deep dish or thin crust? White sauce or red sauce? What toppings?
Oh, just pizza. I’ll eat just about any of it (except barbecue, chicken, or anchovies). My favorite (which I’m currently unable to eat thanks to baby girl) is Pietro Pizza (local pizzeria) ham and pineapple.

10. Favorite weekend getaway within a two hour driving radius?
Um, not so much weekend getting away with three small children and no grandparents in town. There is only one place within two hours that I can even think of that I want to visit. However, when we were in East Tennessee, we loved to visit Asheville, NC for the weekend (or even just the day).

Happy Tuesday! Here’s this week’s Ten on Tuesday. Enjoy.

1. Do you prefer markers, crayons, or colored pencils?
Nice, new, sharp crayons. I’m a bit OCD about my crayons. I only use Crayola, they must have wrappers on them, and once the tip wears down I don’t use them anymore. My kids’ crayon box drives.me.crazy.

2. As a child, how did your parents celebrate your birthday? (Parties, cake, you pick the dinner, etc.)
We had cake and, usually, a party. And gifts, of course.

3. How do you feel about leggings?
I don’t like them for me. My legs are much to big to put into leggings. I do, however, love BabyLegs on Baby Girl.

4. How do you prefer to follow directions? With a map? Words?
I prefer voice nav on my phone. If I’m going off of written directions, though, I prefer words. I don’t do well with maps.

5. What do you eat for snack?
It depends on the day, my mood, and what’s in the house. I eat a lot of the kids’ snacks (cheddar bunnies, goldfish, cheez its) when we’re out and about; my favorite snacks are popcorn, ice cream, and chocolate.

6. Have you ever ordered anything from an infomercial or bought any As Seen on TV products?
No.

7. What’s your favorite thing about summer?
Nice, ripe, red tomatoes (and grilled ones, yum!), fresh corn, and being outside with the kids (until the temps are in the 90s).

8. Do you have a tattoo? What and where is it?
I do not.

9. Are you good at journaling?
Not on paper. I journal occasionally, but I have never been one to do it regularly.

10. What’s your favorite way to eat a hamburger?
Grilled, on a bun, with sharp cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato.

It’s time for another round of Ten on Tuesday trivia (thanks, as always, to Chelsea for hosting); another Tuesday where you get to read trivial things about me. This week’s questions are mostly about the “firsts” in your life. There are some good questions here. Read on to learn more about my inherent dorkiness…

1. Think back a decade, do you remember what your first cellphone was? Was it as cool as Zack Morris’s phone?
My first cell was Nokia something or other (in 1995). It was not nearly as cool (or large) as Zack’s, but I do remember my parents having one like that.

2. What is the first children’s book you remember being read to you?
The first book I actually recall being read to me was Stand Back, Said the Elephant, I’m Going to Sneeze. I’m sure there were many, many before that (I remember being read to A LOT, especially by my brother), but I don’t remember specific books.

3. What was your first car? Did you love it or hate it?
A 1993 soft top Geo Tracker (white). I loved that car. Funny story about it – when I decided that was the car I wanted my uncle tried multiple times to talk me out of it saying it was too dangerous, too much of a risk to flip, etc. Now he drives it.

4. Who was your hero growing up?
My dad and my brother.

5. Think back to your first kiss. Was it everything you dreamed of?
Umm, no. Mainly because it was a kiss from someone that I really had absolutely no desire to kiss.

6. What was your first BAD hairstyle choice? (Extra points for embarrassing photos)
I had a bowl cut when I was preschool age, but that wasn’t really my choice. In early elementary I had a really bad choppy layers mullet-y thing. And then, my senior year of high school I got a “Rachel” shag. That was bad. Hair as thick as mine and that kind of style do not mix. I wish I had the pictures to share because it would definitely be good for a laugh.

7. What was your first realistic dream? (One where you had to think “Oh dang, was that a dream?”)
I don’t remember the first one, but the scariest one was when I was pregnant with Baby Girl and dreamed that the ultrasound showed she was a cat.

8. What was the first phobia you remember developing?
Probably either spiders or snakes.

9. Which character on Sesame Street do you most identify with?
Cookie Monster has always been my favorite. I can relate to never being able to get enough cookies.

10. What was the hardest goal you ever accomplished?
Getting an “A” in Organic Chemistry is the first one that comes to mind (that class about killed me), followed closely by potty training Little.

This isn’t my favorite set of questions (mainly because I don’t really have answers for all of them), but sometimes it’s good to stretch a bit. Check out Roots and Rings for more Ten on Tuesday fun.

1. What book, movie or song has made you want to travel to a particular place? (eg. I went to Prince Edward Island because I was such a Anne of Green Gables fan)
Jane Austen novels make me want to visit Regency England, but I don’t think I would want to stay long. And that’s all I’m coming up with here. Sad, I know.

2. Aside from your significant other, who would you want to take with you on a dream trip?
That would have to be my besties, Lindsey and Stacey, or my sister (in-law), Lu.

3. Where would said dream trip be to?
Somewhere exotic, all-inclusive, and with a lovely spa.

4. If you were hosting guests or providing tips, what three things would you show visitors to your hometown? (be it where you live now or where you grew up)
I would suggest the zoo, the botanical gardens, and the river front (although those aren’t the most popular destinations for tourists in these parts, they are the ones I like).

5. If you had a long weekend ahead of you, where you head – beach, city or country/mountains?
That would be the mountains for some hiking.

6. Do you have a passport? If so, did you get it for a particular trip or just to have, in case?
I no longer have a valid passport. Once upon a time, many years ago, I got one for my trip to Paris.

7. Are there any travel souvenirs you collect? If not, is there something else you collect?
I’m not a big collector, so no travel souvenirs. If you consider a collection a group of things that accumulates because you enjoy buying them, then I collect baby carriers and cloth diapers.

8. If you could name a paint colour, what colour would it be and what would you call it?
I can’t say that I’ve ever considered naming a paint color, but I guess if I did it would have to be a shade of blue in the periwinkle family. I have no idea what I’d call it, though.

9. If you were heading away for a weekend citybreak solo, where would you go? (forget about practicality here and flight times, assume you can get to any city in the world for the weekend)
Well, I would never go solo, Matt would be along, but right now I’d head to Portland or Seattle. Two places I’ve never visited but would love to see.

10. Is there a song or a smell or something that you strongly associate with a particular holiday/place/time, such that it always takes you back?
The smell of sage makes me think of Thanksgiving at my Mema’s. There are others, but that one has been on my mind lately because my shampoo smells strongly of sage. Oh, and the song “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t be Late)” always reminds me of childhood Christmases at Mema’s.

It’s time for another edition of Ten on Tuesday. I didn’t participate last week because I ran out of time before we went to the zoo and never got back to the post. But it’s always fun to answer the wide range of questions that show up in each week’s list.

So, here we go…

1. If you could travel back in time, would you? What decade would you visit?
If I were to time travel, I would probably go to the 1920′s. I’m not really sure why; it just sounds like an interesting time to visit. However, the whole idea of time travel kind of weirds me out, so quite possibly I would just stay home.

2. What was your best Halloween costume? (fun to make? most creative?)
I’m not a big Halloween person, but we always had a costume contest at my work in Knoxville; one year I went as a bunch of grapes and won the contest. I also won a school costume contest in middle school when I dressed up as a crazy doctor.

3. Do you like your name? If you weren’t called by your name, what would you want to be called?
I do like my name. It isn’t very common, and after 31 years it’s just me. When I was young (early elementary school) I hated my name and wanted to change it to something like Sarah (something common).

4. In the past year, what is the BEST recipe you made. Please share it!
Wow, that’s a tough one; I cook a lot and am regularly trying new recipes. One of our family favorites is Apple Cake, and then, of course, there’s Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls, and my favorite Strawberry Cake. I’ve made several good savory recipes this year, too. It’s.just.too.hard.to.pick.one!

5. Look around – what is the nearest object or picture hanging on the wall?
A deep red and white floral print canvas.

6. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? Would you recommend it?
Matt and I never go to the theater anymore. The last movie I saw was Julie & Julia with my best friends. I would recommend it, although, I didn’t like it nearly as much when I saw it again after reading the books it is based on.

7. Did you go to summer camp? Will you/do you send your kids to camp?
I did and I didn’t. I went to church camp the first time in 4th or 5th grade and pretty much hated it. I didn’t go to camp again until I started going as a counselor in high school. I also did basketball camp several years and an honors symposium/camp thing before my Senior year in high school. My kids are still way to young for camp, but I will send them in the future if they want to go.

8. What kind of ringtone do you have?
Right now it’s one of the preloaded ringtones called vid kid. I really need to load some music so I can have a better ringtone.

9. Where is the farthest away from home you have ever been?
Paris when I was a Freshman in high school.

10. Has anyone ever written a song or a poem for or about you?
Yep. Matt wrote me a song for our first Valentine’s Day together.

Let me know if you decide to play along. I would enjoy reading your answers.

Thanks, Chelsea, for hosting!

This week’s Ten on Tuesday questions were preceded by the following disclaimer: They are a different group of questions. So my advice? Don’t participate if you aren’t feeling fun and creative! After reading them, I totally understand why Chelsea felt the need to warn us. It looks like someone has been reading World War Z or watching I am Legend.

1. Quick! Zombies are coming!! What do you do?

Gather the kids and hide under the desk wielding my tazer (assuming I had one, of course). Then I’d call Matt.

2. Whew, that was a close one. …I think your phone is ringing. Oh, it’s your best friend! She thinks she’s been bitten by a zombie. What advice do you give her?

I’ll try to get you some anti-zombie bite medication and leave it on your front porch. Please don’t come to my house right now!

3. You realize it’s time to leave your current location because it’s clearly not safe anymore. Are you going to move at night or day? Defend your reasoning.

Day. Zombies are much more active at night; that’s when they feed. If I move during the day they are slowed by the intensity of the sunlight in their light-sensitive, nocturnal eyes and I have a chance to out run them. If a move at night is necessary, I must be prepared with the highest powered flashlight I can find.

4. During your relocation, you come across a weapon superstore. My, that’s convenient. What kind of weaponry do you choose?

Pretty much anything I can get my hands on, but I’m definitely looking for a gun with long range, a stun gun, and a crossbow (just because I think it would be fun to shoot one) plus lots of ammo.

5. As you leave, an old lady on the side of the street begs you to help her. Do you? Why or why not?

Yes. If she really is a little old lady then she definitely needs my help. If she is a zombie in little-old-lady disguise, then it will be too shocked by my willingness to help to attack me. If I didn’t help, and she was a zombie, then I would be done for.

6. Good choice, you’re clearly a good person to have around in a zombie apocalypse. Oh hey, there’s a wifi signal here! You can’t stay long but this is your chance to gather some intel on the current situation. What’s the first website you check?

drudgereport – drudge will definitely have the latest intel on the zombie invasion.

7. SHH! What was that noise?!

Oh, it’s the barista calling my name. My latte must be ready. (The wifi hot spot was in a coffee shop, right?)

8. I think it’s time to get out of here. I hope you have a plan. Where are you going now?

Gotta make a quick run to the grocery store. We have to have milk and bread, don’t we?

9. Wait a minute, that looks like a bite mark on your arm… You may be infected too! Will you tell other people?

Quick, hand me some of that anti-zombie medicine I procured for my best friend! I’ll tell Matt so he knows what happened if I go awol, but otherwise, we’ll keep this one under wraps…for now anyway.

10. How does this story end?

I’m not sure…last thing I remember the zombie venom and the anti-zombie medication were battling it out in my system. I must have gone into a coma because, next thing I know I wake up in a hospital bed an indeterminate amount of time later. It would appear that someone developed a vaccine, though, because I hear the zombies have been eradicated. Ahh! Now we can return to life as before.

That was fun. For more zombie stories, or to create one of your own, visit Roots and Rings.

1. Of your current hobbies, which would you choose to spend more time, money, and effort on? Why?

Reading. It is (and has long been) my favorite pass-time, but I don’t have as much time to read as I would like since we’ve had three kids in less than four years.

2. List two other hobbies/habitual activities (not chores) besides the one listed above that you regularly do now and didn’t choose in question one.

Umm…blogging and counted cross-stitch (although I am not currently doing it regularly, it is the only other hobby I can think of)

3. Why are you spending time on the above two hobbies/habitual activities at all if you really wanted to spend your time on the first one you chose? …or to put it another way, what are these two hobbies/habitual activities fulfilling that the first one doesn’t if you don’t want to put all your effort into the first hobby?

If I don’t blog it is often because I’m reading; especially when I get caught up in a really good book. I enjoy blogging on a totally different level than reading, though. Blogging allows for interaction with others, for one thing, but I also enjoy writing and chronicling what’s going on with our family.

4. Read John 3:16 in the bible… In what way does this passage affect you? What are your feelings towards these words, positively or negatively?

It reaffirms for me that God loves me on an individual and personal level; God sent Jesus because he loves the world, but also because he loves me. And it is because of my belief in Jesus that I have eternal life. I love the promises of the Bible because I know they are of God and that my God doesn’t lie.

5. M&M’s: nuts, no nuts, or peanut butter?

Usually plain M&M’s, although, I like the peanut butter ones a lot, too. In college I kept a bag of peanut butter M&M’s in my freezer most of the time for a quick between classes snack.

6. Putting away the feeling of pride being a bad thing; what secretly/openly are you proud about yourself?

I’m proud of the fact that I’m able to be a stay-at-home mom; that Matt and I have made that a priority over the conveniences (because that is what it would be in our case) of having a second income. Also, that we cloth diaper.

7. Given one room in the house to do with what you want, not changing the actual size of the room and with all the money you would need, what would you do, and be specific? (this can range from bouncy floor,walls & ceilings; to hard wood floor with wood paneling and purple ceiling with a chair; to nothing)

This was a tough choice between the living room and kitchen, but since I can’t change the size of the room, I would change our living room…install hardwood floors, take out the painted paneling and hang drywall then paint it a warmer beige or ecru, scrape the “popcorn” ceiling, change the look of the fireplace opening, add a nice comfy chair, convert part of our built-in bookshelves to a computer desk

8. What’s the next movie you’re going to see? Not what you’d LIKE to GO see, but the next movie you realistically are going to watch.

The newest Star Trek movie (next on our Netflix queue) or Julie & Julia (borrowed from a friend)

9. Use the keyboard only and make your best smiley/funny/cool face –> like this! 8^)

8-S

10. What makes you cry? What makes you pray? What makes you laugh?

My kids.

For more Ten on Tuesday fun head over to Roots and Rings.

Welcome to another edition of Ten on Tuesday hosted by Roots and Rings. This week’s questions are a bit all over the place, but you’ll definitely learn a little more about me.

1. If you were given an hour to use a $200 Amazon gift card, what would you buy?
I can’t even decide on what to buy with the $30 Amazon gift card I have, let alone a hypothetical $200 gift card. Hmm…probably some shoes and a few books, and maybe something for the kids (or maybe not).

2. Are there any fairly common foods that you’ve never had?
Brussels sprouts are the only thing that come immediately to mind.

3. What was your favorite way to use your imagination as a kid?
I loved to play with my baby dolls and to play “house”.

4. What’s your favorite state? Why?
I’ve got to say Tennessee here just because it is the state I’ve lived in all my life. It has three distinct and very different areas (East, Middle, and West), and I’ve lived in and enjoyed them all (although, East TN is definitely my favorite). A very close second would be North Carolina (at least the western part) because Matt and I love the mountains and the Asheville area.

5. If it was our culture to have our parents choose our spouses, do you think yours would make a good choice?
I think they would. They know me (and my strengths and weaknesses) pretty well.

6. What’s your favorite herb?
Tough one…It’s a close call between cilantro, oregano, and basil.

7. If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would you choose?
I’m not much of a celebrity watcher, so I don’t really have an answer for this one.

8. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
Beauty and the Beast – My Daddy took me to see it in the theater for my 12th birthday.

9. If you had to listen to the same song over and over for 24 hours, what song would you choose?
That pretty much sounds like torture. No matter what song I chose and how much I liked it, by the end of 24 hours I’d probably be about ready to hurl myself off a cliff. (Matt suggested John Cage’s Four minutes, thirty-three seconds)

10. How do you order your steak?
It depends on where I’m eating. If it is a steakhouse, I usually order it medium-well; if I’m at a restaurant that just happens to have steak, I usually order it medium. Most places overcook their steaks.