7 Things - (from CF Husband's Blog)

Just for fun, here are 7 Things You May Not Know About Me - Amanda Williams...

From CF Husband Blog
cfhusband.blogspot.com/2008/03/7-things.html

1) When I was born, I had 5 grandmothers. My mom's mom ~ Granny, my dad's mom ~ Nanny, my mom's 2 grandmothers, and my mom's great grandmother. From my great-grandmothers I am left only with memories of some really great family holidays, especially Christmas at Granny A's and Easter at Grandmother G's, and some really beautiful handmade quilts and afghans. And from my own two grandmothers...Granny has taught me how to do lots of things in the kitchen...make a great peach cobbler, put up fresh corn in the summer, and unfortunately the cooking of her really good green beans has yet to work for me. Nanny taught me lots of about arranging flowers when I was a little kid (or at least let me spend lots of time playing with the leftover buds and stems while she was working at the florist), gave me her recipe for chocolate pies which I can somewhat accomplish but they're still never exactly the same, and she has also taught me that going on a trip to California or New York with her can take only a little while on a sunny afternoon and a car ride out in the country (I won't add too much about the part where she has occasionally dropped me and my cousins off for a few minutes before returning to pick us up from our "trip".) :) Most of all I'm thankful to have come from a long line of Christian women who loved God and their families and were and still are faithful servants in their churches.

2) I played tennis and golf in high school...wouldn't really say I excelled in either, but I always enjoyed playing and especially liked the cute little outfits we got to wear! :)

3) I have only spent time in the hospital a few times as a patient - once overnight when pregnant with Addi from getting dehydrated from being so sick, 2 nights after having Addison, 3 nights after having Jake...let's not go for 4 nights this time around! I've never had any broken bones and thankfully aside from Jake's first 35 days spent in hospitals neither of my kids have had to be hospitalized overnight.

4) My family is extremely musical. Mom and Dad sang/played in a gospel band in college - the Gospel Voices - and wore some really funky outfits and large crosses around their necks, then when I was little they sang/played in a country band - Southwest - and wore some other really funky outfits, but no crosses :) My younger brother is a really great guitarist, singer, songwriter, and is the worship leader at our church firstchristianonline.com. My whole family is involved in that too...dad runs sound and sings occasionally, mom sings in a worship team, and I am the piano player in the worship band. It's pretty cool that we can all do this together now. Mark also recorded a CD in 2002 with some really great musicians (Bela Fleck, Curtis Burch from the "O Brother Where Art Thou" Soundtrack and others) and has had some really cool experiences playing at various venues/events like the Wild Horse Saloon and Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. He wrote and recorded a song/music video that was played on the jumbo tron before all of Western Kentucky University's Men's Basketball games called "High on a Hilltop" and featured Larnell Harris -markmelloan.com. I am by far the least talented musically in my family, but my daughter Addison is 4 and has taken violin lessons for the past 2 years so maybe she'll end up to be the most skilled musician in the family someday! :)

5) I am not what I would call a strong person by any means. I have had experiences in my life that have helped me grow into a much stronger person than I probably would've been had they not happened, but I am quite thankful for my husband James who is and always will be my rock - especially in scary and/or uncertain situations. He has faith like I can hardly believe and says that it comes from a difficult time in his own life, when his mom passed away from cancer at the fairly early age of 58.

6) I average 10 haircuts per year and my hairstyle has not changed much at all throughout my life. The main thing people always seem to be shocked by is the fact that my hair is naturally blonde and aside from the one time I had highlights put into my hair last spring (6 foils and no one could even notice that they were there) I have never colored/bleached my hair.

7) My favorite restaurants are... ~ in town - Back Home, Texas Roadhouse, Panera, O'Charley's, ~out of town, but still close by...Outback and W.W. Cousins (the best hamburgers ever!), ~for me and James to go to without kids...The Whistle Stop, Ruth's Chris (only on special occasions, but it is by far my favorite meal of all time), and J. Alexander's, ~ way out of town...Cheesecake Factory (the lower level of the Hancock Building on Michigan Ave. in Chicago), Maggiano's - also a Chicago place, Bandera's - yes, it's also in Chicago, on Michigan Ave. across from the Marriott. We take a shopping/eating girls only trip to Chicago each year so that's where I've found these spots that we have visited and I feel sure will continue to visit each and every year we go!

So, Nora you did it, now I've done it, Stacia...it's your turn!