To celebrate being 40 here's 40 things about ME

Yes today is my b-day. I was initially, and had been feeling somewhat glum for a bit about turning that corner from 30s to being 40. I had a friend Miss Kalimah Iman (thanks Lady) remind that I should think of all of my accomplishments, all the storms I've weathered and how fabulous 40 is. So, needless to say I'm feeling a bit better and will be embracing this new stage in my life.

I have gone through sooo much in my 40 years of life, and with everything I've gone through I've learned and grown and appreciate every single up and down from the good to the bad. Had it not been for the people that have come and gone, those that have endured WITH me and all the experiences in my life I wouldn't be the person I am today; so for that I am grateful and happy that I can say I'M 40 TODAY!!!!

A beautiful Sister Leah Salmon (So love her) shares this day with me. She turned 30... Happy Birthday Leah!!! and did a blog post entitled 30 things you probably didn't know about me... So I'm following suit, but listing 40 of course.

1. I am originally from Chicago IL, but still consider myself to be a Minnesotan since that's where I was raised from 12 and lived until I was 35. Minnesota and I have a love hate relationship. Love and miss many of my friends there....but the weather....Ummmm HATE IT!!!

2. I have 5 Children, 4 that I birthed and 1 step daughter. 21, 19 (both boys) 13 and 13 (both girls, no not twins, one is my step daughter and still my baby even though I didn't give birth to her) and my 5 year old little boy. People are always amazed by my age and the number of children I have...LOVE IT!

3. Changed my name at 35 from Gerri (UGH) still hate the sound of that to the ever fabulous Amira. Interesting story with this.... My 19 year old gave my 5 year old a teddy bear 2 days ago that he absolutely ADORES and has spent every waking moment with and has taken everywhere. When asked what the bears name was he said she was a girl and he was going to name her Beary Gerri, which I found interesting. 1 because my Mommy used to call me that, even as and adult and 2. he's never known me as Gerri or even heard anyone refer to me as such. ODD

4. Lived in 3 different states (MN, GA, and CO) in 2006. Would love to go back to Georgia. Absolutely loved it there....plus I could use some warmer weather right now.

5. Met my husband at 33, Fell in love with him at 33. Had our son at 35 and Married at 36. We've been on quite the Journey and will be celebrating 4 years of marriage on December 15th. Surprised he hasn't divorced me yet. Kidding. :)

6. Lived in California from the time I was 2 until I was 8 or 9. My momma was a gypsy I swear. We moved all over the place. Probably why I'm always so disturbed at the idea of moving. Although I loved CA and have very vivid memories of our time spent there, don't think I'd ever want to live there again.

7. My father, whom I'd never met died in 1994. On his side I have 3 sets of twin brothers and sisters. Met the eldest sister who moved to CO the same year I did for the first time this past summer. She now lives in GA (amazing) and is considering moving back to CO. She has a daughter and 3 grandchildren here. I was amazed by how much we looked alike (scary) when I met her and instantly loved her. Sad that I missed out all these years and looking forward to meeting many of the other relatives on that side.

8. Am a Mama's girl!!! Was rotten when I was younger, didn't realize it at the time. I used to throw SERIOUS tantrums every time my mom would leave up until I was 6 or so. I have no idea how she tolerated that. I cried so bad one day she had to take me to work with her. Ridiculous. All my kids were the same way. Lol Payback.

9. Still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Thought I knew, but it seems to be changing with the wind.

10. Knew how to drive, but didn't actually get my license until I was *cough* 26. Lol Funny thing is I had 2 cars before I could actually drive. Pure silliness!!1

11. Was incredibly shy until I was probably 19 or 20, but once I got to know you.... I was a clown. Lol Still a bit goofy at times, but hey that's me!

12. Have 2 friends that I love dearly Dinah and Carlita. Dinah and I have been friends since 13 and Carlita and I since 16 or 17. That's a long time. Wouldn't trade our friendships for anything in the world. And one guy friend Bryan who I've been friends with since I was about 14. We thought we were boyfriend and girl friend back then...but all we did was hang out. He's a great guy although he's made me want to kill him more time's than I can count. Lol But he's my boy and I still love him too.

13. Have made 2 attempts to finish college. This January will make my 3rd and final attempt. I'm finishing this time. I wish I had known at 18 what I know now. So wise to go to school when you have NO or very few responsibilities.

14. Desperately wanting to move to Africa and hoping that upon my daughter graduating from highschool (5 long years away) that move will be made. Hoping that ALL my children come with me, but knowing that it wont be a reality.

15. I'm a very emotional person. I cry at the drop of a dime. Well, not literally.... When we watch movies as a family everyone is always watching me waiting for the tears to start falling and then make fun of me. Crappy family!!! I cried watching Lion King, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and several other cartoons. Lol

16. Used to hate not having something to do and not having people around, but as I've come to LOVE ME and get older I so appreciate that quiet quality time alone.

17. Became a full fledged vegetarian almost 2 years ago and became vegan (although we still eat salmon and fish so maybe technically we're not really vegan) about a year ago. LOVE IT!!!

18. Have developed some awesome friendships and met some truly beautiful people through blogging that I love dearly.

19. Gave up Television about a year ago. We agreed as a family there were too many negative influences for our children and felt there were more productive things we could ALL be doing with our time and as a family. Don't regret it at all, although sometimes I do miss my HGTV.

20. Have 2 brothers 50 John, 30 Eugene; who is known to family by his middle name Wes. So hard for me to call him Eugene and a 1 sister Rosalie 41, who has always been Lee Lee when I was little and then Lee. Cant call her Rosalie....Just doesn't seem right. Lol I used to cry when I was little and she would leave for school. Man, I was a brat! Lol These don't obviously include the million of siblings on my fathers side.

21. Started a blog in 2004. Blogged pretty regularly until 2008. Introduced to FB and it was all down hill from there. I enjoy blogging but rarely find the time to do it. Shut down my original blog and came over to blogger, so lets see if I can pick this thing back up.

22. Was a huge Tom boy growing up and didn't willingly put on a skirt until I was 16.

23. Had my first real boyfriend and real kiss at 15. We dated for like 2 weeks. Lol. So is that really considered a real boyfriend? He's a recent friend on FB so I won't put his business out there or embarrass him. Broke up over some silly girl.... he's a cool guy though.

24. Moved out on my own a few days before my 19th birthday.

25. Everyone seems to consider me a Mother type figure and call me Miss Amira. I have no idea WHEN this started, but I don't really mind it.

26. Used to fight ALL THE TIME from 5th grade on up. Used to be quite the quick tempered little individual. Never Started a fight though. Well maybe just 1, literally.

27. Used to go out and used to drink ALL THE TIME. So glad I out grew that stage. Don't know what the fascination was but, UGH! Glad it's over. Tequilla was typically my drink of choice. Had several embarrassing moments while drinking that I WONT share, but pretty hilarious when I reflect back on them.

28. Used to be really insecure. So glad I'm over that!!! I'm very happy with me and who I've grown to be. Still have some growing to do....but then don't we all.

29. Ran track in middle school. For some reason my kids don't believe this. Lol. Their so goofy.

30. Played the Bassoon and was really quite good from 7th grade to 9th grade. Had a crush on my band teacher in middle school, Mr. Mazyck. Wonder where he is now and how he's doing.

31. Love to read.... Love old school hip hop and old school R&B. Hate the new artists out today, with the exception of my girl Chrisette Michelle and maybe a few others.

32. Got mad at my mom at 16 and went to stay with my Sister Girl Dinah. Her mom used to work nights and we used to sneak out almost every night. Got into so much mess and had sooo much fun. We have so many fun memories it's not even funny. I'll have to blog about the car crash one day. That was HILARIOUS!!!!! She's is still to this day one of the craziest (in a good way) people I know. Hubby's running a close 2nd. VERY close. Lol

33. Took my first vacation as an adult at 27 (crazy) to the Bahama's. Again Dinah was along for the ride on this one. Had a blast. One of the best trips of my life.

34. Never been on a real vacation with Hubby. We've got to work on this cause that's down right ridiculous. Goal for 2011.

35. Have some insane pet peeves.....Hate doing ALL the laundry and then for someone to put dirty clothes in the laundry room. Like I expect for people to not change clothes. Hate when I vacuum and then someone walks on the carpet or when I clean the bathroom and someone goes and showers or uses the bathroom. I know I'm special. Lol

36. Hate Banana's and peanut butter and peanuts. The smell of bananas makes me want to gag. Actually just saying the word and talking about it makes me sick.... moving on

37. Terrified of bugs and deathly afraid of birds. Fish even freak me out. Have no idea where these fears came from. I've got to overcome them seriously!!!

38. Absolutely LOVE ALL of my in-laws. They are all such an amazing bunch of people....even though their all crazy. Non stop laughs. It's the ONLY reason I look forward to the holidays, so we can all hang out.

39. Speaking of holidays...I'm quite the grinch. As I get older the more I dislike them. If I had no children I wouldn't celebrate any of them.

40. Have not cooked a holiday dinner in the past 4 years since moving to CO. Another reason to LOVE the inlaws. I learned to cook when I was somewhere between 8 and 10. Although I'm a great cook (made Hubby gain soooo much weight once we moved in together) I don't particularly enjoy doing it, only because I had NO choice but to cook EVERY DAY. Now that Hubby has learned how to cook (still think he lied for years and always could) and I get breaks occasionally, I'm starting to enjoy it again.

All right, this was extremely long and because of that I probably wont blog for another month or two. Kidding! Hope you all enjoyed learning a few things about me, I definitely enjoyed sharing.

Have a fabulous Sunday and as always..... Peace and Blessings.