Ask Away Friday with Gracielle from Mommy A-Z

This week I had the opportunity to swap questions with Gracielle from Mommy A-Z.  I met her when I stumbled onto her DIY Instagram Magnets.  The tutorial was awesome and super easy.  She blogs from the frigid “Chiberia.”  (Heard that one on the news.  Sounds fun!) We are a lot alike actually.  We both have a boy and girl, chronicle our parenting joys, enjoy crafting…and can’t speak Tagalog.

I read one of your recent posts where you said, “Online relationships can be as intimidating as real world relationships.” So true!  What are some helpful tips you have on getting past that hurdle and building online relationships?  I think that as I get older “people liking me” doesn’t matter to me as much anymore.  My tip would be to just be yourself.  People will either click with you or not.  If someone connects with you for you, then they are worth having as a friend—online or not!

What’s the story behind your kids’ aliases “Pea” and “Porkchop”?  (Very cute, BTW!)  Pea’s first initial is “P.”  True to Filipino fashion, the real life nicknames I call her every now and then are Princess Peepee or P-Mac.  My husband doesn’t really like it and I didn’t think she would appreciate it when she got older and could read my blog.  My son’s alias is actually based on the nickname I called him when I was pregnant with him.  My cousins still call him that every now and then.  I gained over 75 pounds when I pregnant with him and I thought he was HUGE.  He was born weighing 5 pounds…so yeah, I was really the pork chop.

Since you’ve been promoted to SAHM, what do you miss most about your previous role as a working mom? I miss contributing to the family financially.  It actually bothers me more than I thought it would.  I do some freelance writing to soothe my ego but it isn’t as big a contribution (YET!) as my paycheck was.  We save a bit in daycare and gas now that I stay home and it really is the best thing for us right now but….  I also miss all my coworkers.  I am very social by nature and I just enjoy talking to people.  I think that is why I love the blogging community.

How did you and “Hubs” meet?  That’s a funny story that I will write in a post one day (when he lets me).  Let’s just say that I met him at work (15 years ago) and he sat in the waiting room for hours every day to see me.  We are very different but we have the same moral compass.

I’m so jelly of you living in Florida because it’s been a really tough winter here in the Midwest.  Where else have you lived in and which was your fave?  I’m an Air Force brat and was born on Clark AFB.  I lived in the PI until I was about 4 years old.  I’ve lived in Mississippi, South Florida, North Florida, New York City, and Washington DC, then back to North Florida.  I actually love living back in Florida.  We are three hours away from Disney and I have a large extended family here.

What was your most awkward moment?  I’ve had so many of those that I have lost count!  I think my most awkward moment to date was right after my pregnancy loss.  I was walking down the center aisle of work and a coworker (in good fun) was teasing me about how big I was going to get.  I tried very nicely to change the subject but she literally followed me down the length of the call center singing out to me that I was going to be huge and waddling.  I kind of lost it and yelled that “No, I wouldn’t because I was no longer pregnant!”  She wasn’t all that phased by my outburst but it was very awkward for me since I don’t like public displays of anger.

I think you were my first Filipina bloggy friend 🙂 What parts of the Filipino culture do you wish to instill in your children?  You were my first too! Filipinos are very family oriented and hard-working.  I want my kids to remember the get-togethers and the food.  I want them to work for what they have like their grandparents and parents.

What’s your favorite junk food?  I have a fondness for Rocky Road ice cream

What are your bloggy goals for 2014? I have way too many!  The first is just to find my groove and stay true to myself and why I blog.  I want to improve my writing and continue to grow and learn as a blogger.  I also want to learn how to use my fancy camera and the fancy photo editing software.  When it comes to monetizing, I want to make enough to cover the cost for a professional re-design.  I love Vanita Cyril from The Strategic Mama and want to earn enough to purchase one of her packages.

When’s the last time you laughed really hard?  I mean, the kind where your stomach hurt and tears came out kind of laughing.  I love seeing my kids playing with their father.  The last time I laughed that hard was when my husband suddenly switched from tickling the two of them and came after me.  I was totally unexpecting it and I almost peed my pants!