34 Questions and Answers for my 34th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to ME! 🙂 Last Friday was my 34th Birthday, and to honor it, I am doing a Q&A with 34 new and frequently asked questions for you all to learn just a little bit more about me. I did a few polls on different social media platforms and grabbed some questions, as well as throwing in some questions I get asked a lot! Enjoy getting to know me a little better!

This post may contain affiliate links, from which I earn a small commission. You can check out my full disclosure here. Thank you for supporting June Diaries!

Personal

1. How did you meet Rick?

We worked together for about a year! Recruitment is something I love – him, not so much. He’s in sales in a totally different industry now! Ours was a relationship that truly blossomed from coworkers, to friends, to romantic. He’s truly my best friend in the world and an amazing life partner.

2. What’s your biggest accomplishment?

Coming back from maternity leave and having my best sales year ever with a newborn, working from home, purchasing and flipping a home, getting pregnant with twins…2021 was an insanely busy year I am so proud to have made career accomplishments.

As a new mom there is a tremendous amount of pressure to come back and perform. People just expect you to lay down and give up because work “isn’t important” anymore. While I’ll agree – it’s definitely not the MOST important thing – it’s still something I am passionate about. Just because a woman gives birth doesn’t mean everything else about her dies that day. I think it’s important to put an end to that stigma and prop up working moms.

3. Describe yourself in 5 words

Passionate, loyal, focused, competitive, confident

4. What are you watching right now?

The Sopranos (first time ever) – almost done with season 2. And rewatching the Big Bang Theory before bed, which I’m almost finished with

5. What’s a book you love and could read over and over?

Anything by Emily Giffin I’ve reread like 100 times. The best easy reads there are.

6. Who’s your favorite peloton instructor?

I have a lot…. Cody Rigsby, Bradley Rose, Hannah Frankson, Leanne Hainsby for spinning…Aditi Shah and Anna Greenberg for yoga/meditation… Callie Gulickson and Hannah Corbin for strength!

7. What’s your Hogwarts House?

I used to be a Slytherin, but when I retook the sorting house quiz it told me I was Gryffindor! Whatever, I’ll take either. I like to consider myself both ambitious *and* brave.

8. What’s your go-to Taco Bell order?

Two chicken chalupas and chips/queso. I am dying for Taco Bell to bring back the Toasted Cheddar Chalupa, the best thing Taco Bell has ever and will ever make.

9. Best Life Advice?

#1: Control what you can control, but let go of everything you cannot.

#2: Just accept the fact that your body will change as the years go on.

10. Can or Fountain Soda?

Always fountain, and gotta be from McDonalds. They have the BEST fountain drinks. I don’t know why – but they just do something different there.

Parenting

11. Must Haves for Momming?

I did a whole blog on this! Most of my must haves are on my splurges and saves for baby products blog from last year.

12. What was the hardest part about being a first time mom?

The hormones! Man, those first few weeks postpartum are a wild ride. I knew they would hit, but had no idea how hard and random it was. You feel totally fine…and then burst into tears and you don’t even know why. By far the hardest part was navigating that first month and feeling like you still “know” yourself.

13. Best Mom Advice?

Set a schedule and try to stick to it (both kids AND dogs do great with routine and knowing what to expect everyday) but be prepared to go with the flow and adjust to last minute changes.

14. How did you sleep train Ana?

I did use Taking Cara Babies when she was a newborn which helped get through the first few months. We went through a wicked four month sleep regression where she would be up for hours around 3am. After that passed, she would sleep through the night – but only after she fell asleep nursing or being walked around. If she woke up when we laid her down, we’d have to start all over again. Around 7 or 8 months we did a version of Ferber sleep training (aka: cry it out) and it worked great for her. After about 3/4 nights she would put herself to sleep, no tears, and sleep for 12 hours. Other than the occasional sickness/diaper issue/nightmare she pretty much sleeps 12 hours straight every night, and it’s heavenly.

Tip for sleep training: find a good absorbent diaper to use overnight to eliminate wakeups from being wet. We tried about 3-4 brands before realizing Pampers Pure is what worked best for Ana. We now only use those! Your baby might do better with a different brand, so test around.

The Twins

15. When did you find out you were having twins?

I was about 8 weeks pregnant at an early ultrasound! It was literally clear as day that there were two sacs. We were shocked!

16. Do twins run in your family?

Nope! They run in Rick’s, but the “twin gene” has to be on the mothers side in order to have a genetic tie in – otherwise it’s random luck! BUT…because I am having twins, it means that Ana will carry the twin gene when she’s ready to have kids (you know…thirty years from now)

17. What are you most excited about?

That I only have to go through two pregnancies and still get three babies 😉

18. Were you taking fertility treatments?

Nope! We weren’t even trying to get pregnant…these are totally random and spontaneous twins.

House Renovation

19. When do you close on the new house?

Actually…last week! We closed and moved into the new house right on my birthday. I’m so happy, it’s the best birthday present I could get for sure!

20. How many houses did you look at before picking?

I’ve been watching the market for the last few years, but we “really” started looking over the summer of 2021. I’d say we probably looked at 5 or so houses in that timeframe. We had a very limited area we were open to and weren’t in a rush, so we only looked at houses we were really interested in. Rick and I are very particular people and knew exactly what we wanted/needed in order to move. We never had really considered doing a flip, but it just sort of fell into place – we are very lucky it worked out the way it did!

21. How involved were you in the process?

Extremely… we picked a lot of the look and feel. We had an amazing team working with us that had a lot of ideas as well, but when it came to the actual design, we picked out the cabinet colors, handles, countertop, flooring, paint colors, extra fixtures…pretty much everything. There were a *lot* of decisions to be made early on and it was very overwhelming! Needless to say I’m very happy it’s all done.

Blogging

22. Why did you start a blog?

Honestly, I just wanted to do something different. Everything I blog about are topics I enjoy and are passionate about, and I have fun doing it! Regardless of how many people read this, it’s something fun for me to do in my down time and it’s been a blast learning about the different facets of blogging.

23. How did you start your blog?

I’ll have a full blog post coming out soon on this! But honestly, it’s not as hard as you think. I dabbled in web design in high school/college so I had basic coding and graphic skills. I found a web-host, invested some money into the domain and hosting for two years, and then purchased a theme that I thought would work for awhile with what I was planning on doing. I spent a LOT of time tinkering with the look & feel until I was satisfied with it. That was the basic, until I got started blogging!

24. When do you find the time?

Whenever I HAVE time, ha! I do a lot of blog work first thing in the morning, I have a good hour gap between when my husband and daughter leave and I have to start work, so I usually drink some coffee and catch up things for both work and blog in that timeframe. Usually one night a week I’ll write a blog while Rick watches his television shows…I also do some on lunch, weekends, naptimes…literally whenever I have some time and feel like it.

I also keep a notes section on my phone and jot down ideas as they come to me, which is really helpful when I need to come up with ideas for a blog post that week and don’t know where to start! At any given time I have 3-4 blogs that are half written in my WordPress queue, so I just keep them going until one is close to the finish line.

The most time consuming piece is finding links and sales to share!

25. Who makes your graphics?

I do 🙂

26. Who takes your pictures?

Whoever I can con into it at that time! This is definitely the area I need to do better at – I am *not* into the photography aspect of a blog and it’s a goal to increase that part in 2022!

27. Do you make money from blogging?

Not much! But I do make some from the affiliate links I post and from some brand partnerships I have. Let’s put it this way : when you guys use my links, it helps pay off what I’ve put into June Diaries plus maybe a little extra. I’m certainly not getting rich doing this, nor was that ever the goal…. but, I really appreciate any support that helps me keep this blog running!

28. How do you find affiliates and partnerships?

Just apply! Currently I’m using ShareASale, Raukten, and Amazon as my main affiliate links. Some companies have given me a shot, others have turned me down – such is life. But if you’re hoping to monetize your blog or Instagram, just try! I’ve been accepted for programs I was SURE would reject me. Amazon is definitely the easiest, Rakuten the hardest to navigate – however Rakuten also has more lucrative commission structures I’ve been offered. Feel free to drop me an email if you’re looking into this more!

Career

29. What is your job?

I am a travel nurse recruiter – meaning I place nurses and other healthcare professionals on temporary job assignments. I’ve been doing it for 12 years which is hard to believe! It’s a great gig.

30. What makes a good salesperson?

A lot of things… charisma, EXCELLENT relationship building skills, hard work ethic, grit. Personally I think having a REALLY good memory is a huge help to me. CONFIDENCE.

Honestly, I’ve seen people from all different types of personalities and situations excel at sales, and I’ve seen plenty of career “salespeople” who burn out after a year. There’s no one tangible thing.

31. If you weren’t in recruitment, what would you do?

If and when I ever feel the need to go through a career change I would love to get into real estate. I considered broadcasting at one point as well.

Fashion/Beauty

32. Biggest splurges and saves?

Splurges: my Gucci belt, my purses, and Agolde jeans. Saves: half of my closet, ha! I get a lot of sale pieces from Old Navy, H&M, and Amazon!

33. What are your favorite Brands?

I really don’t have a ton of favorite brands…I shop literally everywhere. However, I practically live in Lululemon leggings so that’s probably the #1!

34. What’s your skincare routine?

I’ll do a full blog on this! But – I use Tula Cult Classic / Toner / Moisturizer. Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum. When I’m not pregnant, I alternate in a few Drunk Elephant serums a couple of nights a week. On occasion I’ll do an exfoliate. For the day, Tula Sunblock and Primer.