An Interview Conversation: Blogger Men Tell All

Today is the second Conversations link-up day! I am so excited to read your conversations and was so pleased at the feedback from those who did link-up (thank you so much!!) and commented last time. As promised, Emily from Ember Grey. is co-hosting this week, so be sure to go check her out and follow her on all the links!

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This time is gonna be a little bit different. Becca from Becoming Adorrable announced last week that she is hosting a link-up today as well, and it just happens that her link-up sorta fits in with mine! Blogger Men Tell All, it's an interview style conversation you have with the man in your life. Hubs and I did something similar a while back (here) and it was super fun, so I didn't see why this one wouldn't be either!




1. If you had a blog, what would you call it, and what would it be about?
Hubs: *rolls eyes and then thinks really hard* Assclowns anonymous.
Me: Really?
Hubs: Are we being serious of funny?
Me: Serious.
Hubs: Ok. Ummmm I would probably write about video games. I'm not very good at naming stuff though. But maybe something like "I Love My Gamer Butt"

2. If you could live inside any video game, which would it be?
Hubs: I have two choices. Do I have to pick one?
Me: What are your two choice?
Hubs: Mass Effect or Dragon Age.
Me: Well which one do you like better?
Hubs: Well I like them the same, but I would chose them for totally different reasons. Mass Effect for all the technology and Dragon Age cause I would get to be a knight.
Me: With shining armor?
Hubs: *nods* Uh huh. Even though I'm already your knight in shinning armor.

3. Who is your best player on your fantasy football team this season?
Hubs: Well, I'm not doing fantasy football this season.
Me: But if you were, who would you pick?
Hubs: Peyton Manning. Even though he's not doing well right now.

4. If you could play for any professional sports team, which one would it be?
Hubs: Do you really have to ask that questions? I think you know the answer.
Me: *typing*
Hubs: *scarcastically* The London Sillynannies. *laughs*
Me: *laughs* No but for real. The Broncos?
Hubs: Yes ma'am.

5. What do you typically do with an hour of free time?
Hubs: Play video games.
Me: Is that it?
Hubs: For the most part. I don't really have that much free time. It's either that or take naps.


That's my husband.
Have you had an shareable conversations lately? Share them by adding your link to the list below!
Are you linking up with Becca too?

Follow Emily ----> Blog  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Bloglovin'

The Rules:

1. Publish your post on your blog, please include the Conversations button or a link back to Knock on Wood.

2. Add your post's link to the current Conversations Linky list. (only post links, not blog home page links please)

3. You don't have to, but if you follow your host and co-host it would be awesome!

4. Be sure to check out the other posts in the linky list! Who knows? Maybe you'll discover your blogging soulmate!

1.	Emily	3.	Amanda Nicole @ Knock on Wood
2.	Melissa @ The Rambling Llama	4.	Meagan @ All the Joys

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Hello Fall

I didn't show up to class last week #badblogger

I would spew a bunch of apologies at you, but I'm really not that sorry about it. School and life just take precedence sometimes. I still love you guys and I did miss this space. I'm grateful to have a place to come to. I'm grateful for you, my dear readers, and all the amazing feedback I receive, even when I abandon you for a week.

You know what else I'm grateful for? Fun shopping trips with Philip. Halloween is around the corner and that means that the costumes, candy, and decor are flooding the stores. An impromptu photo shoot in the middle of Target was necessary.

And since it's fall, I broke out the fall decor. I put the final touches up yesterday and I have to say I am very pleased with myself. I was so glad the Amish store up the street had corn stalks for sale, it saved my decor idea for my porch. What do you think?

What are you grateful for?

Don't forget that the second edition of the Conversations Link-up is tomorrow! And guess who's co-hosting?? Emily from Ember Grey. I am so excited! See you lovelies tomorrow!

Me, Myself, and I

I was tagged last week by Melissa (you can read hers here) to do this post about myself. And I thought it was super fun idea and immediately accepted the challenge. We're supposed to share seven random facts about ourselves. I'm pretty sure I do this almost every time I post, but I'm going to try and think of weirder things to share today. Hopefully not so weird that you leave and never come back in fear of catching my weirdness though.

:: Ok. Lets start with voices. I talk in several different voices. Each voice has a specific meaning behind it, and goes with a particular mood, person, or event. I have a cutesy voice I used to talk to and for my cats. A sweeter cutesy voice I use when I'm trying to be cute and get my way when I talk to my husband or my mom. I have more of a southern accent when I'm around my family, or just in Georgia in general. I have a serious voice, a joking voice, and a soothing phone voice. I'm not sure why I do this... and I can't really control it.

:: I can't pronounce "anemone". Nope can't do it. Every time I try I end up blubbering around like Nemo and it comes out ah-meh-nem-no-me... yeah. Not even close. Cinnamon is another one I have trouble with sometimes.

:: I really like to watch documentaries on Netflix. Especially if it's about England. The ones about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and the old castles are my favorites. I generally do this alone, or if Philip has already fallen asleep.

:: I made a huge bowl of AutumnMazing on Monday, and it's over half way gone.  Seriously, in Love with this snack. Seriously. (I posted a "recipe" here).

:: I only wear my glasses when I don't feel like putting on make-up.

:: I like to clean the earwax buildup out of my husbands ears. He won't do it, so I do it for him. But, I'm also a picker. I like to pop pimples and ingrown hairs too (I know it's gross, but it must be done).

:: Hubs and I have farting a burping contests. He usually wins the smelliest farts, but I get the medal for loudest burps. #noshame

I hope these don't deter you from coming back. Please, please come back. Please?

Now I have to pass on the nomination to a few bloggers that I hold near and dear to my heart:

Kathy from Him & Me, but mostly me

Amanda from Notes from a Newlywed

Jackie from Our Nashville Life

and last, but certainly not least, the cutest Snicklefritz on the planet

Kay from The Best of Intentions

A "Recipe" for Autumn-mazing

Pin this! Do it now!

See what I did there. Autumn-Mazing. Autumn + Amazing. No? Is it lame?
I don't care. that's what I'm calling this, cause Fall Crack and Autumn Crack sound weird.

Anywho! My Snicklefritz Kay posted a picture on Instagram of a Fall version of Christmas Crack. IT LOOKED DELICIOUS. And not as sticky or messy as the Christmas one, so I skipped off to Target to get the supplies.

What you need:

A large bowl with a lid.
(a) 1/2 bag of pretzels, preferably bite sized or sticks
(b) 1 bag of M&Ms (I choose the Autumn colors, but you don't have to)
(c) 1 bag of S'mores Candy Corn
(d) 1 small can of salted peanuts.
(e) 1/2 to 3/4 bag of Indian Corn

What you do: 

Dump it all in a bowl and mix it up.


Easiest recipe ever right? Seriously. I'll be eating this all season. What else would you add?

Conversations with...

Can't be serious all the time!

Today is the first day of my new link-up! And I am so excited to share these little insights with you and to read the one's from your lives. Without further adieux, here is this little gem of a conversation I had with Hubs in the car on the drive home from Georgia last Monday:

Me: Guest what?

Him: Who?

Me: It's not that kind of what.

Him: Oh. What?

Me: I Love you.

Him: I Love you even more.

Me: Nuh uh! (pause) OK, well maybe.

Him: (chuckles) Oh! Now you're going to admit it?

Me: You know I Love you just as much as you Love me. (pause) Even though you're a butt head.

Him: I know, but you're a butt head too.

Me: I know. Us butt heads gotta stick together!

Him: I guess. (pause) Two butt heads don't make a wrong (looks at me with a huge grin).


Yes, we are that couple. #noshame

Since today is a Monday, Emily will not be co-hosting, but be sure to go over to Ember Grey. and read all the amazing Grateful Heart posts! In her absence (she will be co-hosting later, I promise!), I have asked one of my current sponsors to help me out. You guys should know my good friend Melissa by now, but if you don't go check her out over at The Rambling Llama.

 Follow Melissa!  ---- >  Blog  ::  Twitter  ::  Instagram

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I am very grateful (it is Grateful Heart Monday after all) that I have the opportunity to try these new ideas, to share my life (and Love) with you, and to be able to have these silly conversations with my husband.

Conversations: A New Link-up

Ever since we got home on Monday evening, I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. There is stuff everywhere in my house right now, and its kind of stressing me out. On top of that I had a History test yesterday, I have a paper to write, and my Psychology midterm is Monday. *deep breath*

But that's not why I finally showed my face here today. On the drive home from Georgia (it's 13 hours!) Hubs and I had a lot of time to chat about random things. Some of them were hilarious, and others were insightful. I wrote a couple down, because I thought I may share them here eventually. Then I remembered that Emily over at Ember Grey. does the same thing from time to time, and I got a fabulous idea. Immediately I emailed Emily to get her thoughts on my idea and she loved it and even offered to co-host the first one with me!

Then I really got to brainstorming, and here are the details!

What: Share a funny, interesting, insightful, or random conversation that you had with someone in your life or even someone you met in the check out line at Target. They can be current or something you remember from the past. You can include pictures, videos, songs, etc. to help tell the story.

When: The link-up will be live on the 15th and 30th (or 28th for Feb) of each month. So the first one is on Monday, September 15, 2014. That's just 4 days away, so get your noodle going to remember an awesome conversation you just had, or write down the ones you have in the next few days.

How: Post your story and conversation on your blog. Please include the button or a link back to Knock on Wood in your post, and don't forget to add your post's link to the linky tool at the bottom of my Conversations post that day. And don't forget to follow my co-host!

Social Media: If you tweet, Instagram, or Facebook your post, use the the hashtag #MyConversations in your post, so we can all follow along!

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I am so excited to start this link-up and to read all of the wonderful conversation you have with your loved ones (and strangers!). I will be offering the option to co-host the link-up as a part of one of my sponsor options, so if you are interested go and check that out!

{Guest Post} Craigslist Is Not As Bad As You Think

While Hubs and I are down in Georgia visiting my family, I have invited a couple of my fav bloggers and bestest friends to fill in for me. Today it's Kathy from Him and Me (but mostly me). If you don't follow her, you totally should. Especially if you're a newlywed. She tells the truth about life as a newlywed and her battles with anxiety. I admire her courage for putting it all out there so honestly. We have so much in common, it's no wonder she and I became such good friends so quickly! When I asked her to write a post for me, she decided to open up a little more and share the story about how she and her husband met. So take it away Kathy!

Hello Knock On Wood readers! My name is Kathy from Him & Me (But Mostly Me) and since Amanda Nicole is off having fun I thought I’d help her out and tell you about why online dating, specifically Craigslist, isn’t as bad as the media has made it out to be.

I got inspired to write this post because I’ve seen a lot of people speaking badly about Craigslist and that sort of bothers me since that is where I met my husband.

Don’t get me wrong, I get it. There was a murder and they made a Lifetime movie about it. That scares people. But have you stopped to think about the other side of it? How many young ladies have gone to a bar and met someone, set up a date, and then were raped or murdered? I don’t have statistics on that – but when I Googled it I found a ton of stories about murders after first dates. But that story doesn’t make a good headline so they don’t report it on the news. I mean, “Girl Meets Guy at Bar, Then Is Murdered” – it’s not really as catchy as “Craigslist Killer”.

Another headline that doesn’t make it to the evening news is “Girl Meets Guy off Craigslist and Lives Happily Ever After”. That is my headline.

I was never the outgoing girl that would walk up to a guy and start talking to him, nor was I the girl that guys flocked around and wanted to take out on dates. My first date didn’t happen until a few months after my 21st birthday. I’m pretty sure I met him off of Craigslist too.

Between him and meeting my husband I went on a lot of dates. I was made fun of by my family because I was going on a different date every night. And every one of those dates came from meeting the guy off the internet. They weren’t all off of Craigslist. I tried Match.com, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, and a few other sites that I’ve forgotten about now (no Tinder, though).

I read a blog post recently where the author said that you will get better candidates on the paid websites since people who are paying are more likely to be looking for something serious. I don’t think this is the case. As I mentioned before, I tried those paid websites and I talked to different guys on them, but I think that out of maybe a year of being subscribed to the sites I only got 2 or 3 dates. And by this I mean I only found a few guys that actually were interested in relationships and not just getting some no strings attached sex. It was on Craigslist that I found guys who were looking for relationships and not just sex.

That’s not to say that I didn’t find creeps on Craigslist, because I did. But I do think that you can find just as many creeps on the paid websites and in person. After all, if you go to a bar or meet a guy randomly when you are out and about – how do you know he isn’t a criminal that will hurt you (and I don’t mean emotionally). The fact is that unless he is someone that you met through someone your chances of the guy being a creep or a bad guy are just as likely in person as they are online. But I have to say that I think online is better.

Why, you ask? Well because when you meet someone through Craigslist or some other site you can research them. You can Facebook stalk them, Google their name and do whatever else you feel you need to do in order to get to know the person before getting to know them. This is what I did with the guys I dated. I usually e-mailed back and forth a little bit, then I texted with them or IM’d with them, finally we set up a date.

After some time I would post my own ad’s on Craigslist and just wait for people to respond to me. I found this a much easier and better way to get to know guys. I posted what I looked like (honestly), my age, what I liked to do and what I was looking for. I got many good replies. My husband was one of them. He e-mailed me in 2010 apparently and after exchanging a couple of e-mails I didn’t reply. He says it was because of the pictures he sent me; I say it was because he was living a good 30-40 minute drive away in a bad part of town (ever heard of Compton?). Either way I don’t remember this at all.

He persevered though! A year later he replied to another post I made and we started e-mailing and texting each other. He had a lot of assets I liked. It took about 2-3 weeks before we actually went out. Now we are happily married and living in our new condo.

The moral of my story is: don’t judge Craigslist by one thing that happened to one person and that got blown up because it made good headlines and a Lifetime movie. Craigslist is also a great place to get used furniture for low prices and even find jobs (I have done both!). I also got rid of my washer and dryer for $20 instead of paying $15 for Sears to take them away!

Where/How did you meet your significant other? Have you used Craigslist?

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Happy Birthday Philip!

I just wanted to pop in today and wish my wonderful husband an extremely happy birthday!

{Guest Post} Why Our Marriage Works

While Hubs and I are down in Georgia visiting my family, I have invited a couple of my fav bloggers and bestest friends to fill in for me. First up is Melissa from The Rambling Llama. If you don't follow her, you totally should. Especially if you're a mom. She totally keeps it all real, all the time; no funny business or sugar coating and that's pretty awesome. She's also one of my oldest friends, so she knows a lot about me and how I operate and when I asked her to write a post for you guys she came up with a great one that also fits in with what I like to talk about here myself. So take it away Melissa!

I would like to first ask, where the heck has this year gone? It's September already. I feel like time is just flying by. Is it just me? September (I think) is one of those months that just kind of is there. Sure, there's Labor Day, but it's at the beginning of the month. Not much else to look forward to unless you have a birthday or anniversary. I happen to have an anniversary this month.

Thanks right, y'all. On Sept 18th, Hubby and I will be married for 6 years. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but after being together for eight years and married for (almost) 6, I feel pretty accomplished. I feel better this year about our relationship than I did last year- that's for sure! I know a lot of my favorite bloggers either just got married or are planning a marriage, so today I wanted to share some things from Josh and myself. *and yes, Josh did help me write these! Isn't he the greatest?*

// Communication.
We talk about our day. I tell him everyone I talk to, and he tells me about his
day. We never run out of things to say. This is so important for any
relationship. For a while there, we stopped talking. I mean we would talk, but
it would be about normal household stuff. We weren’t joking, or laughing, or
telling each other how we feel. I cannot stress enough that your partner needs
to know how you’re feeling. Don’t assume they know you’re mad. Don’t assume
anything. If you don’t like a certain meal, tell them. Whatever it is… just
tell your partner. Things that get left unsaid tend to sit and boil until the
point of no return, and by then you’re so mad at your partner it’s just
madness.

// Religion. 
Let’s be clear, I’m not telling you that you have to have religion in your house or
not. That’s totally up to you. We’re not here to force certain beliefs down
anyone’s throats. I will say having an understanding in our house that we do
believe in God and that we do pray daily (as a family) has helped us a lot. In
the past eight years, Josh and I have been though a lot together. From
evictions, to new jobs, kids, one or both of us getting fired. You name it, we’ve
probably been there. And sure, if something comes up these days at least one of
us will have a brief freak out moment. (Usually me, and usually via twitter). Sorry,
sad but true. But, after the freak out has passed we sit and pray together and
it always works out for the best. It might not be the result we wanted or
expected, but in the end it worked.

// Jokes. 
We still laugh at each other. I call Josh a Goober all the time (to which he
replies with calling me a peanut). He knows it makes me laugh because a goober
is a peanut. We have little inside jokes that we know most people don't understand, but that's why they're special. Because they're ours. Mostly Josh laughs at the stupid way I pronounce certain words, and I laugh at his obsession for WWE.

// Share the chores.
Let’s face it, y’all: we’re not all super human. We all need help, and we all
need to know when to ask for help. Sharing house-hold chores makes everything
so much easier. Sure, I may not like the way he loads the dishwasher, but he
does it and I’m not about to complain and risk that going away! We have a
balance.

// Raising the kids.
If you remember my post “A Letter to New Moms”, raising kids is not an easy
task and there’s no rule book to it. So taking two people and trying to figure
out this whole kid thing is, well, amusing really. Sure, we both lose our cool and
lose our patience with the kids but that’s bound to happen with anyone. The
beauty of our marriage is we both agree on what we should (and shouldn’t) do
with the kids.


I think marriage is like raising kids. There's no right or wrong way to do it, and it's always a learning process. Things are always going to change. You have to be willing to adapt to those changes and work with your partner. It is a partnership after all.

What would you include in this list? What would you remove? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Follow Melissa!

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Vacation and Stuff

Tonight after my classes, Hubs and I are leaving for Georgia.

Our main objective is to retrieve the last of my belongings out of storage and bring them back to Missouri. BUT it's also Philip's (and my step-dad's) birthday on Saturday and we fully plan on celebrating out on the boat.

I'll be back on Tuesday trying frantically to catch up with everything I'll miss. And in the mean time I've got some awesome ladies helping me out, so come back Friday for the first guest post!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Let's Play A Game

I could make all sorts of apologies and excuses about not showing up here yesterday, but you know what? I'm not even sorry.

I had a wonderful Labor Day. Probably the best one I've had in quite some time. I disconnected and spent some real quality time with my husband. I didn't study (although I probably should have), I didn't read any blogs, I didn't even check twitter more than that one time in the morning. Instead, I read my book, watched two movies, and played Trivial Pursuit with Philip for hours. 

We love playing board and card games as an alternative to watching tv/movies, playing console/computer games, or getting lost in the social media apps on our phones. So I'm going to share with you some of our favorite games to play with just the two of us. 

1. Trivial Pursuit (duh)
What sucks about Trivial Pursuit is how much you don't know. I feel like a dimwit every time we play - yes I just said dimwit - but I end up learning a lot of new things.

2. Uno
It's easy and fun.

3. Hand and Foot
This game is similar to canasta. I found some rules here, but there really aren't any "standard" rules. My family uses a little from each different version listed (I can email you a copy if you want).

4. Scrabble
Because words are fun.

5. Phase 10
This card game is what would happen if Rummy and Uno made sweet, sweet love and had a baby.


What are your favorite games?