TOP BLOG OF THE WEEK: SIMPLE SWEET INSPIRATION

This Top Blogger is a wife and mother of two, who works part-time for a nonprofit Christian organization and volunteers for her church community and son's elementary school.

An avid reader and, self-described recovering slob, procrastinator and an aspiring successful person, and life-long wanna be writer.

Well, girl. Looks like you are a writer now! Without further ado, please give a warm round of applause for this week's Top Blog of the Week, AJ Collins at

SIMPLE SWEET INSPIRATION

When I was asked if I wanted to be Top Blog of the Week on SFTC I was a little nervous. I'm not funny. Not in the same way that SHE's funny. I mean, if you had me over for dinner, I could make you laugh. But, if I try to be funny, I come across as a little lame. And strangely intense. So, set your expectations aside, and allow me to introduce myself.

I am probably the only person in the world with a BA in Speech Communication, who is actually AFRAID of public speaking.

True story. I have 2 children who I dearly love, who make my life worth living. I am oddly passionate about a bunch of things that most people don't care about. Like why movies that were books are usually really disappointing, and since I'm anal and insist on reading the book before watching the movie I am ALWAYS disappointed.

The pressure is on. The best part about Speaking from the Crib are the stories. I actually have a million stories that I regularly (and my hubby says, obnoxiously) share at parties and gatherings, but right now I can't think of anything to say. The only thing that keeps coming into my mind is the word poop. What is that about? It's something about this blog. I'm actually very flattered. Thank you, AJ. Poop IS my middle name.

Since it was recently the Christmas season, let me share with you one of my favorite Christmas memories.

9 years ago, the second year my hubby and I were "us", we went on an ill fated trip with his extended family to the Beach, for Grandma's "last Christmas", incidentally, we've been having Grandma's "last Christmas" every year since then, not complaining, just sayin'.

My husband has 8 cousins on his mother's side. I'm fairly certain that this particular trip, most, if not all, were there, ranging from 10 - 21 years old. Because we were the newlyweds, and the only married couple from the younger generation, we got our own room. The rest of the family was scattered among 3 floors of this one Holiday Inn Express.

My husband, a naturally humorous and somewhat mischievous person, bought some stink bombs at a local shop, and brought them back to the hotel, with a nefarious purpose. You see, all of the over-18 male cousins were sharing a hotel room, (there were four of them) and my husband managed to gain entry into their room and hide a couple stink bombs behind the toilet in their room, set them off and made his escape.

Moments later the four of them returned to their room and that is when all hell broke loose.

One common genetic trait that many in that family share is a weak stomach. Within moments, my husband's brother had vomited into the toilet, one of the other cousins had puked in the sink, and randomly, a third got a sudden case of diarrhea. Perhaps he had a nervous bowel.

Needless to say, the smell was unbelievable. We were a floor below them, and were standing in the hallway when an elevator opened and the smell filled the hallway. Soon most of the hotel reeked of stink bomb (which was an eye-watering, gag-worthy smell) and faintly smelled of vom and poop.

The best part of all: there was a traveling girls volleyball team that was staying on the 3rd floor. Guess who got blamed for that?!

I still laugh maniacally whenever I think of the teen girls standing in the hallway pointing fingers at each other, while the boys tried to clean vomit out of their sink. Ah, good memories.

With that done, I do need to share the truth.

I don't usually tell gross, poop-related stories. My blog is a fair mix of unwanted advice, craft ideas, tips for everything from cleaning to making friends and a random collection of meme's and creative writings.

It is not always funny, sometimes I write about God and my faith, but I am an easily amused person, and that type of humor does come out in my writings.

Thank you for allowing me to guest blog. I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

The end.

Well, AJ, for an amateur poop-story-teller, I think you did quite well. Now be a good SFTC follower and head on over to her place, leave her some comment love, and why not follow?

Have a great weekend!