AMT: In Which I Spill My Guts

1. How did you get your name?

Madeline comes from the books. Yep. For real. My mom liked the name when she was younger and apparently held on to that thought until 1986. I'm cool with it. My name wasn't super popular when I was younger. I only know 2 other even remotely similar aged Madelines. Now I get yelled at in grocery stores/Target/parks. I know they aren't actually yelling at/for me but I turn every time anyhow. I am a Madeline rhymes with paddlin' not Madeline rhymes with fine. 

Clarice was my Great-Grandmother's name. I love my middle name. I wanted to use it for baby girl's middle name too but I was vetoed. But I am happy with what we chose so it's all okay. Also, we pronounce it like my Great-Grandmother did so not "Hello Clarice" ala Silence of the Lambs but Clarice rhymes with Paris. 

My last name which I am not going to publish right here and now... well want to know a secret? Not like an actual secret but something that you probably don't know? I kept my name when we got married. Want to know why? Because I wanted to. Because it is my name. 

No really. You see, I really like my name. It has a flow. You know how when you're naming a child and you practice saying the first and middle name with your last name over and over to determine if it works? Well my name has that. And I have always always always loved my name. It has a good flow. Consequently, Husband's last name does not flow. It is one syllable. And when paired with my first and middle name acted as a big old period. Blah. 

So I kept my name. Simple. Easy. (SO much easier with no name changing paper work.) Fun fact: my name is pretty uncommon and includes a silent D. Yep. Very Polish. And a silent D. It's nearly ALWAYS mangled and I am very very used to it. If it bothered me Husband's last name is very easy so I would have switched. But I like my unique last name.

Coincidentally, my initials are ideal for Wheel of Fortune bonus round letter guessing. MCD. And if I had changed my name my initials would STILL be exceptional letter options and I would use P as my 4th consonant if I had the wild card. True story.

C has his father's last name and so will baby girl. Just in case you were wondering if we did the whole hyphenating thing, we didn't. 

2. Do you have a set time for prayer in your day? 

Lately no. I used to have a morning ritual but now it's kind of when I need help, grace or as I am falling asleep.

I should probably get back to a routine. 

3. Did your mom work or stay home (or both)?

Besides a brief stint in 10th grade when her company was bought out and she was job looking she worked. I always liked that she worked. I still like that she works even if her job has long hours and she doesn't get home until late sometimes. I never minded day care. Or coming home alone with my brother. 

But you know, it was nice when she was home too. 

I basically just like my mom. And everyone knows that if mom is happy everyone is happy. 

4. Do you vote?

It depends what we're voting on. If it's a race or situation I feel strongly about I sure do. For instance I always vote for President, Governor, Senators/Representatives and Mayor. I also vote for levies and ways that my area wants to spend tax dollars. 

My parents always took us with to vote. It was at my elementary school. I always got one of the stickers. I turned 18 at college, in Iowa and I REALLY wanted to vote at a booth, so I registered with my on campus address. The next time the Presidential election rolled around I lived in Missouri for grad school and it was also my hometown mayoral election so I re-registered at home and absentee voted. They don't give stickers for absentee voting. It was sad. And the experience was underwhelming. 

The Minnesota sticker

I went to my first caucus for the Presidential Election in 2012. The joys of living in Iowa. We get a say before anyone else. But this also means we get commercials longer than anyone else. And because we are in the QCA we get all the Illinois commercials too. It REALLY makes me mad when they don't tell me which state they are running in. Then I turn the TV off and do actual candidate research. 

The Iowa sticker. More patriotic, less what I grew up with and therefore wanted.

I usually don't vote in primaries however.  

5. What's your favorite drink?

I love Fountain Coke. (I know Whome, I drink too much sugar pop.) 

Fountain Coke tastes so so much better than any other kind of Coke and McDonald's Coke is the best of all the fountains. I've been told it's because they calibrate their syrup on a more frequent basis so it stays sweet and fresh and delicious. 

I also really like frozen strawberry margaritas. But Husband thinks that tequila tastes dirty so I actually don't remember the last time I had a strawberry margarita. I am pretty sure when this baby comes out I am going to have one though. 

6. How are your photography skills?

Not professional quality and not as good as Husband's but I can hold my own. I am getting really swell at the composition and have even managed some great shots in manual! Here are some of my favorite pictures I've taken in the past year or so. I took most of them for Theme Thursday hosted, shockingly, on Thursdays at Clan Donaldson. Just in case you want to try your hand at stretching your creativity and photography skills. It's sure helped me!! 

This week's AMT is brought to you by the number 6, the letter M and the word Kendra. Thanks for hosting