Our next Spotlight Mommy of the Week is Rachel (MommytoLina)!! Looking forward to getting to know more about you this week. Come on ladies lets get some good questions posted!

*Where are you from? How long have you lived there? Do you plan to stay there or would you like to move somewhere else? If elsewhere, WHERE?
*What is one thing you want to do before you die and why do you want to do it?
*What is one of your wishes/dreams for your little one's future?
*One thing you deeply believe in, explain.
*What is your favorite childhood memory, is there a reason why it is your favorite?
*How did you meet your DH/SO? Describe your wedding and honeymoon. How long have you been married?
*One of your favorite things about yourself. Least favorite thing about yourself?
*What is your favorite food and drink?
*What is one country you'd love to visit and why?
*Do you have/want any pets? Their names and a little about them?
*What is the one thing in your life you cannot live without?
*If you had $5000 to spend ANY way you’d like (not on bills/home improvements/debts/etc) what would you do with it AND WHY?

PICTURES:
Feel free to put 1, all or none, totally up to you and what you are comfortable with, this is NOT a requirement of this thread.
*as a child
*in high school
*your wedding
*With your child(ren)
*A picture of you and your favorite house hold item (it could be a soda, baby bib, cell phone, bath robe, cleaning item, you name it, but it MUST be in your home)
*A picture of your home & views from it
*A picture of computer space
*Your favorite landmark in your city/town

*Where are you from? How long have you lived there? Do you plan to stay there or would you like to move somewhere else? If elsewhere, WHERE? I'm from St. Louis, MO. I've lived here my whole life. Technically, I lived in St. Louis City until I got married in May of 2001, then moved to the outskirts. Pretty sure we plan to stay in this general area.
*What is one thing you want to do before you die and why do you want to do it? I want to see my children grow up and raise kids of their own.
*What is one of your wishes/dreams for your little one's future? I want them to have things I didn't have. I don't neccessarily mean material things...although a house with a nice sized yard beats an apartment with a concrete slab (that's what I grew up with)! I mean spiritually (my Mom is a Christian, but the only time I was ever in church was if I went with a friend), as well as family relationships I didn't get to have.
*One thing you deeply believe in, explain. I believe that parents need to be parents first and friends second. I think that's what's wrong with so much of society today. It's great to be friends with your kids, but if they aren't taught to respect and that there are consequences for their actions, they'll always be looking for someone else to bail them out or someone else to blame for their own mistakes.
*What is your favorite childhood memory, is there a reason why it is your favorite? Nothing specific...just being at my Grandpa's farm and spending time with him....fishing, sitting in the yard talking, taking a ride to town to pick something up....that kind of thing. I really miss him.
*How did you meet your DH/SO? Describe your wedding and honeymoon. How long have you been married? We actually met on AOL! Lol! We got married 2 yrs later at a smallish wedding in the church he grew up in. We went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for our honeymoon for a week....it was great!
*One of your favorite things about yourself. Least favorite thing about yourself? I'm a great listener (except when I'm pregnant and I don't hear half of what someone says! haha!), that's my favorite thing about myself. My least favorite is how insecure I am...
*What is your favorite food and drink? When not pregnant, I almost always only drink water (can't hardly stand it when I'm pregnant though), but if I ever have soda or something I really like Coke and Dr. Pepper...and I don't drink alcohol. Food...hmmm, I like Italian a lot and Mexican.
*What is one country you'd love to visit and why? Italy...I think it looks really beautiful and I've always been interested in the history.
*Do you have/want any pets? Their names and a little about them? We have 2 cats and some fish. Ummm, our cats are Gizmo and Shadow. Gizmo got his name from looking like the little creature on Gremlins when he was a kitten. He had full sized ears. It was hillarious. He's a people cat and long haired and fluffy. Shadow is black and finicky sometimes.
*What is the one thing in your life you cannot live without? my family
*If you had $5000 to spend ANY way you’d like (not on bills/home improvements/debts/etc) what would you do with it AND WHY? I would put it towards a really great vacation for our family!

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How many kids do you hope to have or are you through after this one?

What would you have probably named this one if she had been a boy?

Any hidden talents?

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How many kids do you hope to have or are you through after this one? We are probably through after this one. (at 2 kids) But I don't want permenant BC for at least a couple more years...just in case (that happened to my MIL).

What would you have probably named this one if she had been a boy? Evan Levi

Any hidden talents? I can sing okay, but otherwise...no, not really

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hmmm....no more questions?

I'll post some pictures in the morning.

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Describe your dream home.

Name one thing your DH does that drives you nuts.

Name one thing you do that drives your DH nuts.

What is your favorite trait that Lina has? Is it something she has picked up from you or DH?

If you could change one physical characteristic in yourself what would it be?

What is the one thing about yourself (a trait or accomplishment) that you are most proud of?

What is the one color in a car you would not want to have? and then your favorite color in car?

What is your favorite ice cream?

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What's your favorite song?

What's your favorite movie?

What was your favorite subject in high school?

What was your least favorite subject in high school?

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Sheri

yay! more questions!

I'll get to work on these right now!

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Describe your dream home. Well, I really like the house we live in now. But there are things I wish were different. Such as, the neighbors were further away and didn't bring their dog out without a leash (it doesn't listen to them very well and comes in our yard and you know...), that we weren't part of the subdivision behind us, that our house didn't need so much maintenence (major and minor) that we didn't realize it was going to need so soon after getting it (we've been here about 5 years).

Name one thing your DH does that drives you nuts. whines about stuff, but claims he doesn't and then says how whiney I am....men!

Name one thing you do that drives your DH nuts. whine, apparently

What is your favorite trait that Lina has? Is it something she has picked up from you or DH? hmmm, this sounds horrible, but I can't think of one trait. I guess mostly like how sweet and quick-witted she is. She gets the quick-witted from Daddy.

If you could change one physical characteristic in yourself what would it be? I guess it would be my somewhat loose skin along with the related problems. I'd been a good deal overweight starting in 3rd grade and got progressively worse. I ended up able to lose appr. 95 lbs (getting pregnant with Lina after losing a little over 60lbs). I think I went from 216lbs to appr. 120lbs. So, since I was overweight for so long, my skin didn't really rebound too well (granted it could be much worse than it is).

What is the one thing about yourself (a trait or accomplishment) that you are most proud of? well, I guess being a mother is the accomplishment I'm most proud of...more the kind of mother I am. I know there's room for improvement , but there is with most things (and I definitely know of some things I want to change). I'm just much better at it than I thought I would be, but it came much more naturally than I ever imagined. That was a lesson learned...I shouldn't have been so worried about being a mom!!

What is the one color in a car you would not want to have? and then your favorite color in car? well, I wouldn't want a (for lack of better term) booger green car. Really, I like the color of my current car (a pacifica) a lot. It's technical name is Linen Gold...it's kind of a gold/khaki color.

What is your favorite ice cream? Normally, vanilla. But if I want something with a different flavor, I also love Peach ice cream and Strawberry ice cream.

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What's your favorite song? I really don't have a favorite. I really like "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat, "Love Like This" by Natasha Bedingfield, "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride. I really enjoy lots of different types of music and love too many songs to pick one favorite.
What's your favorite movie? again, I really don't have a favorite...but a couple I really like are "The Green Mile" , "Fracture" and a slew of others...

What was your favorite subject in high school? hmmm, I guess any of my history classes.

What was your least favorite subject in high school? any higher math classes...especially Calculus....I am NOT a math person!

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I am having major problems with the board, so this is taking me a while...I'll definitely get some pics up today, though!

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okay...so here are some pics!

this is my friend Amy (in green) and me (in blue)...high school years


part of the front of my house


view of part of the very back of our property...with a deer


sunset over the top of our houe


DH and Lina on his lawn tractor in our driveway/part of our front yard


me and my DD, Lina on 4/12 (a couple hours after her 3rd birthday party)


a couple of pics from Lina and I getting them done for her b-day and my pregnancy


notice how pouty she is in this one





Guess that's all I've got....thanks for looking!

And thanks for the questions!

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I just wanted to say I have been extremely swamped with school since I'm down to the wire so I am just now getting to see your answers on this thread, but I really enjoyed learning more about you and seeing your pictures. You look great btw! I hope to lose a lot of weight after Cohen is born. That is a huge goal of mine this time!

And with that said, I really should be studying and finishing up clinical stuff. That's the reason I got on the computer to begin with and look where I am.

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lol....don't we all end up here?

thanks for looking!

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