C is for...

CAROLINE! Just kidding. But obviously, my name begins with a "C" so I have to put that down first.

Cosmetology: I've been a hairstylist for over thirteen years. Most of my new neighbors don't know this, and I'm not going to tell. Mostly because I just don't want to deal with doing people's hair right now. I mean, I CAN, and I WILL, I just would prefer not to. Mostly because I'm not in a salon, and I love doing hair at a shop, but I hate doing it at my house. (Even my own family. I put it off forever, because the hair: it gets EVERYWHERE.)

College: Right now, I'm in college. I'm working on getting my degree in art education. This is a ten year plan, because I'm only taking a couple of classes at a time. (Because if I take more than that, my head will explode.) Right now, I'm enrolled in Drawing, Art appreciation, and English. And yes, I am re-taking English because I failed the last class because I didn't go to class often enough. Because it was during my naptime. And you know I have to have a nap every day or else I get sick. No joke. This is why I'm loving the distance learning programs that schools are offering. Video chat with a professor from home? Sign me up!

Celexa: This is my happy pill. Not that it makes me happy, so much as it makes me not crazy. I don't know if it's taboo or not to talk about, but I have some mental illness issues (depression/anxiety) which are exacerbated by my neurological problems, and celexa has been a life saver for me. Literally. You could take away all my other prescriptions, and I would learn to deal, but take away my celexa? And I will kill you. Again, literally.

Color: I love color. I love color in my hair, I love color in my yard, I love color in my house. I don't like color on the WALLS of my house, because then I can't change all the other stuff around it. Because sometimes, when I'm feeling crazy, I rearrange all the pictures/furniture in my house. It's like having a new house, but for no money! You should try! And I don't really wear colored clothes. I mostly wear a lot of black, because I like it. Also: my hair has been every color of the rainbow. True story.

Craftsman: I like to make things, but I would not call myself a crafter. This is because the things I make are beautiful and I spend hours upon hours on them, and they are exquisitely made. I hate the term "crafter" and "crafting" because it sounds like a cheap imitation version of the real thing. And I realize that the term "arts and crafts" has been around forever, but that is to say artists and craftsman have been around forever. Also: this is obviously a major pet peeve of mine.

Cheerful: I have a pretty good attitude about most things. This is because I prefer to be happy, so I just do that... be happy.

Cooking: I love to cook. I like to make dinner every night, and I like to experiment in the kitchen. I would love to take cooking classes, just so I could learn how to cook different things and use new ingredients. I hardly ever follow recipes, I just throw things together that sound good, and it works out for me. This has helped immensely with my children's eating habits, because they'll eat anything... No food is off limits. Except shrimp. But that's because we have an allergy situation, not because we don't love it.

Cleaning: I also like to clean. I LOVE a clean house, and I like everything that goes into getting it that way. Except that the level of cleanliness has taken a nose dive over the years simply because I am not capable of cleaning things the way I want to. I would love to be able to afford a cleaning lady, but since that's not going to happen, we do the best we can. My kids all have chores, and they're more than happy to help out. But it's the little dumb things that don't get cleaned that bother me, like the grime on the doors and behind the fridge.I wish I had more energy to clean, but I just don't. I have learned to deal with this, and I pretend not to notice.

Control: I like to be in control of lots of things. This is because there are so many things I CAN'T control, including my own dumb body, that I like to exert control in other areas of my life. This is not to say I'm a controlling person. I just like to be the boss of things. 

B is for

Broke. Which is what my satellite was. And the satellite blew up the wireless, so we’ve been without internet access for a couple of weeks. Not that it mattered so much, because it was summer. But since it was broke, I have gotten VERY behind on my emails, which is why I just realized that my financial aid for school didn’t go through, because while I made changes to my FAFSA, I never officially re-submitted it (oops), which means that my classes, that are scheduled to start on Wednesday, were dropped, because I didn’t make a payment, and had no pending aid.

So now, I’ve officially re-submitted everything, and I have my fingers crossed that it all goes through ASAP. In the meantime, I’m not going to worry about it, because that’s just what happens sometimes.

Besides, it will give me a little bit extra time to study up on new health laws because *jazz hands* I’m going to finally get my cosmetology license transferred to Virginia. But…. I have to take their state exam, because I haven’t worked in a salon in the last two years. But I’m excited to legally cut hair in VA. LIKE, WHOA. 

B is also for BINGHAM, which is my last name. I don’t really have much more to say about that. I’m married, I love the guy, and I even like him most days.

B is for BOOKS, because I’m sort of a book worm. I’m a reader… always have been, always will be. I love a good story, and even though eReaders are nice, actual books with worn bindings and yellowed pages make my heart sing. My favorite kinds of books are historical fiction and science fiction. And also, children’s fiction, and occasionally, a good horror, preferably gothic. I also will read just about anything that has to do with vampires, werewolves, ghosts, monsters, and other horrible creatures that may or may not really exist.

I also like to read children’s nonfiction, because I feel like they give you quite a lot of information in a great way. Right now, we have someone obsessed with the solar system, so we have a library date tomorrow, because we just HAVE to know about SATURN and MARS and such. Also, whenever my kids ask me what a word means, I make them look it up in the dictionary. (You have GOT to have a dictionary) (I wish I had a set of Encyclopedias…)

B is for BLOGGING. I used to be a really awesome blogger. Now I’m just an okay blogger, and I like it much better. I run two websites that are pretty successful, although they have been really sad lately on account of my satellite problems: Mormon Mommy Blogs, and Peonies and Poppyseeds.

A couple of years ago, I helped organize and run a very successful blogging conference. It was a lot of work, and a lot of fun. But it also helped me realize that while I liked blogging, I didn’t want it to be my profession. In the last three years, I’ve gotten mostly out of the social media scene. (unless you’re talking Instagram. I stinking love that one. I’m @poppyseedblog)  I still love reading blogs, and am so thankful of all the friendships and opportunities that I have had because I’m a blogger.

I definitely still consider myself a blogger, I’m just better at separating online and offline life. Deciding to chillax on the social media fronts has let me enjoy the parts of the blogging that I love best.

B is for BED, which is my arch nemesis. I have always been a light sleeper, and never required much sleep at that. But after a bunch of medical problems that began during pregnancy and bad habits that were picked up over the years, I have had to re-train my body to sleep at regular intervals. This is something that I still struggle with, but it has greatly improved over the last few months in large part due to my new neurologist. (You know how you think your doctor is okay, and gets the job done, and then you go to a new doctor, and you’re like WOW, you’re GOOD. That’s how I feel about my neuro.) They ran new tests, started new meds, told me not only what I should be doing, but how to get there, and where to start. My brain isn’t all foggy, and I have more energy. I don’t have issues with getting into bed and getting and staying asleep anymore, and it is absolutely fantastic. (Though I still require a daily nap… Thank you, Multiple Sclerosis.)

A is for...

Arizona.

Which is where I grew up

It's a pretty awesome state, and they definitely know how to do summer right. (I never appreciated that much until I moved to Virginia, land of no swimming pools.)

I was born in Phoenix, then lived in Tempe until I was about 7, and finally, I lived in Mesa until 2008, which is when we moved to Virginia.

THINGS THAT ARE AWESOME ABOUT ARIZONA:

You can do anything in a couple of hours. No seriously. Want to go skiing? Head to Flagstaff. Need some good vanilla? No problem! Mexico's only 3 hours away. If you leave at breakfast, you can be at the beach (aka California) by lunch. Arizona also has great hiking trails and the most gorgeous sunsets ever.

Gardening in Arizona is awesome. You can grow anything, virtually all year round. I never paid for an orange in my life until I left Arizona. Citrus groves are everywhere, and in the summer, it's cornfields and monsoons. In Arizona, my garden included apple trees, peach trees, almond trees, citrus trees, broccoli, lettuce, corn, tomatoes, watermelon, onions, cucumbers, squash, herbs, grapes, and whatever else struck my fancy. Pop a seed in the ground, BOOM. You have lunch.

The Mountains in Arizona rock. Rock climbing, rappelling, spelunking, cave diving... it's all there. I'm sure there are cool places like that around here, but we haven't found any yet.

Family. The majority of our family (both sides!) lives in Arizona. There are cousins upon cousins, and so many birthday parties it'll make your head spin. Of course, living near your family can also drive you crazy, but they're your family, so you just deal with it anyways. Luckily, there's this thing called the internet, so I get to check up on people via blogs and instagram. (Dear family, please join Instagram, just for me)

Food. Remember how Mexico is *right there*? Mexican food in Arizona is the bomb. Need a taco at 3 am? No problemo, something will be open. (And taco bell does not count) Plus, there's always a new neighborhood Mexican dive opening up, so you get to try lots of great food for just a couple of bucks. Also, I miss buying fresh tortilla's from my neighbors and the tamale man in the Walmart parking lot. Those tamales are LEGIT.

And also Drinks. Did you know that there are gas stations that do not have fountain drinks? I didn't. Not until 2008, when I moved to Virginia. Also: not all restaurants carry all the drink products, and McDonald's drinks were never more than $1. UNTIL I MOVED HERE. I remember the first time I went through the drive thru to get a drink (because there were no gas stations, and I was still desperately searching for a FOUNTAIN drink... cans and bottled pop do not taste the same) and the wanted almost THREE DOLLARS for a stupid drink! It's now a non-issue of course, because I don't drink soda anymore, but seriously, Arizona has got the fountain drink market covered.

POOLS and water related activities in Arizona are the best. Even the "lame" pools are better than the best pools out here. Every neighborhood has a splash pad, and you can go swimming almost year round. I haven't been to a pool once this summer... because there ISN'T ONE TO GO TO. (Oh, I'm sorry, there is one I could go to, but it's tiny, and costs a ridiculous amount of money.) Arizona has definitely made me a pool snob. I'm also pretty sure that Taylor doesn't even know how to properly swim, and she's SIX... and a HALF. I'm so embarrassed.

The other thing that AZ is good at is the roads. They have beautiful freeways and roads and it's laid out so nicely. It's practically impossible to get lost! But the freeways, they're so nice and WIDE and even the worst traffic isn't all that bad. (Try being stuck on the DC beltloop for a couple of hours with children. OY VEY)

I'm sure there are plenty of other things I'm forgetting, but this will have to suffice for now. Seriously though, Arizona is awesome.

P.S. I can also properly pronounce the following words: tortilla, quesadilla, saguaro, tomatillo, chollo, ocotillo, gila, Phoenician, javelina, yucca, mesquite, mongollon, San Xavier, Tlaquepaque, and etc. 

Encyclopedia of Caroline

I saw a cute thing on another blog, and decided to give it a whirl. I'm going to do an Encyclopedia of Caroline and go through the alphabet talking about myself. Because I'm pretty good at talking about myself. 

Also, my day to day life doesn't really change much. I wake up, I cook, I clean, I parent, I sleep. Then I wake up and do it all over again the next day. 

Of course, tonight I'm not really sleeping, because it's one of "those nights" which is to say, a night of the non-sleeping variety. 

I was just lying in bed thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. Do you still do that? I just haven't figured it out yet, probably because there's so many things that I want to do. 

I also decided that I need to learn to play the guitar. Once upon a time, I had a guitar, but then it just sat at my house being sad and lonely for like, 4 years, so I gave it to someone that actually used it. And now, I want one again. Also: I think my kids need a guitar. Mostly Thaddeus. I feel like that would be a really good fit for him.