let’s BEE friends with Hope!

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I am happy to welcome back my #Lets Bee Friends feature!
It went on hiatus a month ago in lieu of celebrating my one year blogiversary throughout the month of October.

I’ve missed it immensely!

As you will soon discover, I’ve slightly changed the format of the guest feature.  No more interview questions. Instead, my guest bloggers are asked to share 10 Things about themselves or an alternative, they write a feature piece on a topic of their choice as long as it fits within the theme of Bees With Honey.

The rules:

1. I ask that you follow me.
2. Grab the button from the sidebar and include it in your post.
3. Link up your favourite post from the week. (no giveaways please)
4. Visit other bloggers who have linked up. Follow who you like.
5. Spread the honey by leaving them some sweet old ♥ comment love ♥ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, I’ve asked a totally fun, super happy and friendly chickie to join me for
#Lets Bee Friends. Her name is Hope!

“Hope is a mother to three boys and the blogger of Staying Afloat! where she writes about the adventures and survival of living in a sea of testosterone.  You can click the link above to view her blog and you can also follow her on twitter @HStayingAfloat.”

I met Hope on Twitter and instantly liked her because she was funny, fun and always happy.  She’s always ready for a good Friday night #wineparty.

In December, Hope and I may even get to meet in person as we unite with a cool group of blogger girls for a mini Mother-of-All-Tweet-Up, here in my neck of the woods. Yes, I am the organizer of the night’s events.

But enough about that, let’s get to know Hope!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so very honored and excited that Bruna asked me to be here today.  Like squealing and spilling my water all over the kitchen table, thankfully it didn’t get on my laptop…excited.

You see, Bees With Honey was one of the very first blogs I started reading when I started blogging.  I fell in love with the Let’s Bee Friends Feature and loved every single person that was showcased.  And for those introductions I am extremely grateful.  It’s so surreal to be here and to be featured.

So who am I ?

Good question!

Lets get the nitty gritty out of the way first shall we?  My name is Hopes.  I am a happily married, extremely outnumbered Stay At Home Mom to three gorgeous and outgoing (read that as sometimes obnoxious) boys ages 8, 5 and 17 months.  The only other girl in the house walks on all four legs and isn’t much for conversation.  This of course means I am a chef, a chauffer, a tutor, a doctor, an expert diaper changer, an entertainer, and a soft place to fall all wrapped into one.  But then again, what mother isn’t?

So what makes me…well, me?

You know, to be honest I wasn’t sure until I actually sat down and thought about it and this is what I came up with:

  1. I was lucky enough to marry my best friend.  We met when we were just teenagers and it was one of those fairytale meetings.  You know the kind where a boy and a girl are walking past each other while on a beach, lock eyes with each other, and the rest is history?  Yep!  That’s me and my husband.  Only it took a lot longer to get to the “I Do” part since we were only 15 and 17.  We became best friends and stayed that way for 8 years before we ever started dating.
  1. I used to sing.  Not professionally but somewhere in the middle of singing in the shower to pretty darn good.  My claim to fame in the singing realm was performing the National Anthem a cappella with a friend in front of a completely packed sports arena for our High School Basketball team’s State Championship Game.  It was so nerve wracking but we did get a standing ovation!!  Now my singing is strictly for my boys.  I sing to them all the time and I love it!  I still dream about what it would be like to get back into singing with a choir, maybe someday.
  1. I survived an end to end flip over car accident.  To this day I do not know how all of us walked away from that with only our knees cut up.  We were all blessed that day.
  1. I suffered from Graves Disease (Thyroid) at an early age and had to have a Radioactive Iodine treatment at the tender age of 23.  I was living with my boyfriend (see number 1) at the time and I had to go sleep at my parents house for 2 nights because I was radioactive and could have made my future husband sterile if we slept in the same bed.  There is nothing like a little radioactivity to put things into perspective.  And yes, I did go into the bathroom with all the lights off to see if I glowed.  The answer?  Nope, not even a little bit!
  1. I was fortunate enough to travel to Norway when I was 14 years old with my grandmother for 6 weeks.  It was a trip I will never, EVER forget.  I learned the meaning of family even more than ever before on that trip.  I discovered where I came from.  Walking through the town where my maiden name came from (and still exists today) was absolutely surreal.  Meeting all of my cousins, second cousins, and cousins twice removed was so much fun.  They were warm, they were welcoming, they were family.
  1. For me family comes first.  Always!  Doesn’t matter if you are a blood relative or a part of my friend family.  If you need me, I’m there.  No matter what.
  1. I have been told I have a pretty darn good wine palate.  Which is nice and all, but what it really means is I get to drink more wine!  Because what else would that mean?  WIN-WIN!!
  1. I am a listener.  A good one.  I love to be a sounding board to others and will listen for as long as people need to talk.  But when it is my turn, I tend to gab, like a lot.  I love talking with other people.  Communication is GOOD!!
  1. I am honest.  Almost to a fault.  There is no doubt that I always mean what I say and say what I mean.  If you’re looking for an honest opinion about something, come and find me.  I know no other way to be.
  1. I wear my heart on my sleeve.  I don’t hide emotions well.  After being blessed with three gorgeous boys the emotions are free flowing.  But you know what?  I believe that’s as it should be.  Motherhood has taught me to let my emotional walls down.  To let others see my emotional side and to just let the love show.

These are just bits and pieces of me.  They are personality traits and past experiences, but both of these things together make me who I was born to be.

I wouldn’t change a thing!

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50 thoughts on “let’s BEE friends with Hope!”

  2. So glad to have #LetsBEEFriends back, I’ve missed it! Also so wonderful to learn more about the lovely Hopes – radioactivity and death-defying car crashes? So many interesting stories! Looking forward to learning more at the #MotherOfAllTweetUps!

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Nicole,

      Yeah people simply cannot believe the way we met. They always tell us it is something out of the movies. We were friends all through high school even though we didn’t go to the same school. Started dating when we were in our 20′s. But there is nothing like marrying your best friend.

      You are a fantastic bloggy friend yourself my friend! FANTASTIC!

      Reply ↓

  4. Great to see Let’s BEE Friends back, Bruna!

    Nice to meet you, Hope! You’ve got a lot going into making you, You. And yes, after having kidlets, emotions do tend to run closer to the surface than they once did. At least, that’s the case for me. Thanks for sharing yourself with us! :>

    Reply ↓

  7. Pingback: A World of Difference | Mama Wants This!

    • Hi JDaniel4′s Mom,

      I’ve always been pretty family centered. We built our wedding around our family. Even dedicated a special song to our parents during the reception. Family is absolutely everything to me!

      Thanks so much for reading!

      Reply ↓

  12. Hi Hopes, Hi Bruna!

    See? This is why I love Let’s Bee Friends. I learned some new and cool things about Hopes and her adventures! Great getting to know you better, Hopes. I hope to learn even more at #TheMotherOfAllTweetups. ;)

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Amanda,

      I absolutely LOVE this feature! You get to meet so many wonderful people!! I’m keeping everything crossed that I will be able to attend #TheMotherOFAllTweetups. Told my husband it could be my Christmas Present!! :)

      Reply ↓

  13. Hopes, it was so fun to read more about you. How amazing to meet your husband on the beach. And I actually have Grave’s Disease now, but it isn’t very severe for me so I’m staying away from the radioactiveness, for now. :)

    Reply ↓

    • Grumpy Grateful Mom,

      Thank you so much. Yeah Grave’s Disease wasn’t fun for me. It went from nothing to severe pretty fast, and I was extremely allergic to all the remission meds which we found out AFTER I started taking them!(that’s another fun story..HA) Just keep an eye on it!

      Reply ↓

  14. Great to see you over here! Enjoyed learning more about you..and I’d never heard of Grave’s Disease now…sorry that you had to go through that! Maybe you should do a VLOG where you sing for us :)

    Reply ↓

  16. You are seriously cute, amazing, real and someone I really really really hope I get to hang out with someday. I couldsee every genuine , fun , true thing about you in these small truths!!!!. I am also swimming in a sea of testerone and even our dog is a boy!!!!

    I loved getting to know u a little more. You always make me smile, today a little wider! Xo

    Reply ↓

    • Rach,

      Isn’t that so freaky? We weren’t even engaged at the time (yeah, I know…living in sin) but we knew we were going to get married “someday” but it was so strange to take precautions to ensure the safety of our future children.

      It was an experience to say the least!! HA!

      Thank you so much for reading!

      Reply ↓

  22. Hi Hopes,
    I am totally a heart on my sleeve kind of person too. As a result, tears flow easily for me. Nice to learn more about you and look forward to meeting you at the #MotherofallTweetUps.
    Hi Bruna,
    So glad to be a part of Let’s BEE Friends again. Happy November.

    Reply ↓

  24. Hopes, it’s so nice to see you featured here! And nice to get to know you better. You’ve survived a LOT – not to mention…. three boys!!! I enjoy reading your blog – lots of laughs and inspiration there. It’s been great getting to know you!

    Reply ↓

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