Sunday, March 3, 2013

Ten Things I'm Proud Of

Buckwheat pancakes with peanut butter, banana & maple syrup.
I have to admit, when I read this week's Listicles topic, I was a bit uncertain about it. I'm generally a fairly modest person, so bragging about things I'm proud of? Hmm... Awkward. However, I'm currently in the process of looking for a practicum & work in Public Relations, so I need to practice self-promotion & telling people how awesome I am. I'll try to be at least a little bit funny along the way. Here goes:
  1. My vocabulary & writing ability. I may be wordy, verbose, garrulous with an over-fondness for adjectives but I know how to spell all the words I use.
  2. My volunteer work. Though I can be competetive, I do like to share & help other people. That's why I volunteer as much as I do & one of the reasons I blog here.
  3. Making things. Unfortunately, what goes along with this creativity is the fact that I can be really disorganized (my sewing room, aka "The Heap" is ample proof of this. Well, actually, my whole house is evidence of my lack of clutter-busting skills). It's kind of awesome when someone compliments me on something & I get to say, "I made it myself!"
  4. When I do something, I really do it. I'm one of those people who's pretty black or white about things. I love it or I hate it. I'll jump in with both feet or I won't even bother. I blog once in a while or I blog every single day of the year. Though lately the blogging isn't what I've thrown myself into--it's the full-time Public Relations Certificate program I'm doing at SFU.
  5. I'm a good mother. I get frustrated some days, feel lazy other days & often wonder if I'm doing it right, but I love Sprout & he knows it.
  6. My weekend breakfasts. Breakfast & the occasional bit of baking is practically all the cooking I do, but I make great French toast & awesome pancakes (how about coconut chocolate oatmeal?). 
  7. As much as I can, I try to walk the walk. I think we (in most developed nations, particularly in Canada & the US) need to drastically cut our energy consumption & waste production. So we don't have a car: we bike or walk or take transit most of the time. We recycle everything we can, compost, eat organic & try not to buy anything we don't need. I'm not perfect & my carbon footprint is bigger than I'd like, but I'm working on it.
  8. I'm good at saving money. A lot of the time it's just because I'm indecisive & wait to buy, but it's also because I'm just cheap. I hate paying full price & I like getting stuff for free.
  9. I gave birth on my feet without any pain medication. I know that luck & privilege definitely contributed to my ability to have the birth I wanted. I'm generally healthy; I live in a wealthy country with socialized medicine; I had my choice of care providers in my neighbourhood; I had the means to afford great prenatal education & doula support during my birth; Sprout aligned himself head-down, facing the right way. I'm not judging women for choosing different births & I really sympathise with those who didn't have much choice in their birth. Most of all, I feel for the women whose experience with pregnancy & birth is loss, because I've been there too. But all that said, I am proud & I've never felt as powerful as I did after I gave birth.
  10. Didn't want granola bar, stuffed his face with cherry tomatoes.
  11. Sprout. I couldn't write this entire list about me, could I? I'm very proud of my little boy. He's bright, outgoing, affectionate & pretty articulate for a two-year-old. I'm even proud of his eating habits--he actually likes vegetables, loves fruit & will even (sometimes) turn down things like cookies or ice cream in favour of healthier foods.
So, there it is. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading all my bragging. I promise I'll stop once I find a job & can just show them how awesome I am, rather than doing the hard sell in interviews. ;)
Now it's your turn: what are you proud of? Go ahead: what makes you awesome?





Linking up with NorthWestMommy's Listicles! Check out her 'assignment' for next week's list & join the fun!







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24 comments:

  1. You are awesome, Great list and I'll have those chocolate coconut oatmeal pancakes.

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    1. Ha, thanks! The pancakes are just a standard recipe with some oatmeal subbed in for flour, then adding some cocoa pwder & shredded coconut. :)

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  2. So much to be proud of. Love your birth story. I am such a breakfast person so I went into complete daydream reading about what you serve on the weekends. You really are only a drive away so I might invite myself one day ;)

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    1. I have to admit, I don't make these every weekend. But I would if you drove up to Vancouver... ;)

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  3. Lvely list and I'd pick cherry tomatoes over granola bars every day!

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    1. LOL, you will probably outlive me, as I'd pick the granola bars most times...

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  4. I'm totally with you on #7 and #8. I'm not really the best at either (so they're not on my list), but I think they're both really important.

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  5. Love this. I like the way you wrote about your talents instead of just what you'd accomplished (like I did). Wonderful!

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    1. Thanks! Everybody will have a unique angle on this. Can't wait to read them all. :)

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  6. Great list.. love what you wrote about your passions and going for it :) Way to go girl!!

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  7. It's hard to say all those good things about ourselves, isn't it? Number 9 is pretty amazing - no wonder you're proud about it!

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  8. Thank you. What goes hand in hand with that pride is my wish that every woman could have a birth that leaves them feeling empowered. I've known so many who felt regret or trauma after their experience.

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  9. Great list! I felt bad that I felt like I didn't have like, much to be proud of other than my kids... this list kind of made me think more about the things that I am good at, so thanks for sharing :)

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  10. What a nice list! I am a horrible speller! Just awful! so I admire that. I hope you get that PR job you want!!! After my mad search in life I finally decided teaching at the local college was my calling and I love it. I make NO money but I love it.
    Oh and you words never come off judgy and number 8 didn't sound like you were putting other people's birth choices down at all. Just wanted to let youknow that and I get offended all the time :)

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    1. Thanks, Kerry! It's good to hear that my writing is coming off as I'd hoped. There's just so much emotional investment in birth & I try to respect other women's experience.

      Glad to hear you love teaching. There's nothing better than a dedicated & passionate instructor. I wish the pay matched the energy required.

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  11. It's funny, one of the things I'm most proud of too is giving birth with no meds, and to think that that was the normal, commonplace way to do it, but mostly with no regrets. I had so many regrets with my first birth (ended in emergency c-section) and none with my second, it's such a wonderful feeling. Great list!

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    1. I know, a century ago we wouldn't have had many other options than au natural. :) glad to hear you had at least one positive experience. Nothing like emergency major surgery to traumatise a gal.

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  12. The birth one wins the week. Seriously, there is no way I could do that.

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    1. Well, until medical science advances a lot further, no. ;)

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  13. The whole list was great, but you knocked it out of the park with number one. :) Ellen

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    1. Aw, thanks. I'm really excited to be entering a career path where it's something that'll help me get hired. :)

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