Interview with Fried Okra

Megan at Fried Okra has interviewed me and let me tell you asked some pretty good questions. Tough questions, really. My questions have been sitting in post form waiting for answers, and they have kept me stumped. So, finally, here are the answers to the very intriguing questions. I bet you'll know a whole lot more about me when you finish reading.

1.Besides your parents, name the person who has had the most influence in shaping the real you...and the you you hope to be...thus far in your life. How and why?
As odd as this might sound, I'm going to say my children. Being a young mother, I was somewhat forced to become responsible and selfless. They made my life matter and focused my attention on something much bigger. They have shown me what is important in life and have taught me not to take a single day for granted. I hope to be the type of person who is fun-loving and easy going--just like my kids.

2.Write about a time in your life you were moved to tears. Sad tears, happy tears, your choice.
Thinking about this question, I was able to come up with one very good example--and it brought me to tears all over again. The day my grandpa past away. I was always very close to him, so when my grandma called my mom in the middle of an August night to tell her he had had a brain aneurysm and was in the hospital my world crashed down around me. He was always my favorite person. When my mom came to tell me that we had to pack and leave for Iowa quickly, I didn't waste anytime. We got everything packed, got in the car, and my mom drove--fast. He was in one of five hospitals in Des Moines, Iowa and each had a different exit. Because this was before the days of internet map guidance and GPS, we had to get off the interstate at each exit to see if it was the right hospital. As it turned out, my grandpa was in the last and furthest hospital. When we finally arrived, my grandma greeted us, crying, telling us he had passed away just minutes before we arrived. My heart broke, but I know that he did not want us to see him suffer. Eleven years later, the pain is still as raw as it was that day.

3.What do you hope others see in you? Paint a picture of the perfect Nicki, in your own eyes, and in your own words.
Given that I am younger than all my friends, neighbors and peers, I question what people see in me. I hope that they would see a responsible, reliable, friendly person. I am a person who will help others and go the extra mile, someone who is a good mother and wife, someone older than her years, and a person that will take whatever the world dishes out. I will accept life as it comes to me, good or bad, and make the best of it. I am confident in myself and happy to be where I am in my life.

4.Tomorrow is the neighborhood talent show and the prize is having your favorite reliable and awesome babysitter for FREE every Thursday night for the next two years. What are you going to do to WOW those judges and win the prize?
I have to say this prize would save me, in two years, enough money to take off with my husband to Maui for a second honeymoon. So what I do has to be good! But as hard as I try I can not come up with something that would win this prize. I don't dance or sing, I am not creative or funny. So, I guess I'm stuck paying my beloved babysitter and saving for Maui.

5.What game show or reality show, current or old or even imagined, would you win big on, and why?
Since I am not a fan of reality or game shows, I'm coming up with my own. I think I would win big on what I am calling, "Show Me Your House" because I take a lot of pride in my house. It is always clean and tidy and I get a lot of compliments on the way it is decorated. It is something I simply enjoy doing, but if I could win doing it--I'd take it--sure.

I told you--these were tough, deep, and somewhat scrutinizing questions! Sorry, Megan that it took me so long to answer, but I had to be in the right frame of mind.