I love reading posts from other bloggers sharing facts about themselves and have been recently tagged by two other bloggers to do the same. Firstly, Manny from The Greenwich Mummy nominated me in the Versatile Blogger Award and then Sarah from Run, Jump, Scrap! tagged me to join in with the A to Z of me challenge. Thank you both for tagging me – I’ve shared a few ‘facts about me’ posts in the past but never done the A to Z one before, so thought I’d join in with this challenge:
A is for acrobatic rock n roll. Hubby and I both used to compete in this at university (with separate partners who also married each other).
B is for ballroom dancing. One of my favourite pastimes in my university days and where I met my lovely hubby.
C is for coffee. It has the amazing ability to transform me from a harpy to a human being.
D is for diary. I’ve kept one since I was eight years old.
E is for Eccentrics. An annual black-tie dinner held outdoors in the middle of nowhere that one of hubby’s friends used to organise.
F is for faith. A big part of who I am, and something that has got me through the more difficult moments on our journey as a heart family
G is for genealogy. I love discovering more about my ancestors and have traced one branch of my family back to the late 1400s.
H is for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is the type of heart defect that Jessica has – the left side of her heart is underdeveloped meaning that she effectively functions with half a working heart.
I is for in-utero surgery. Jessica had her first surgery when I was 28 weeks’ pregnant – a pioneering operation to enlarge a hole in her heart and give her a chance of being suitable for heart surgery after birth.
J is for Jessica. My beautiful big girl whose half a heart overflows with love.
K is for karaoke. Hubby and I got together at a student karaoke night two weeks after I’d broken up with my fiancé. I remember telling my housemate as I headed out that evening that I was enjoying being single and was planning on remaining so for some time!
L is for Little Hearts, Big Love – my blog which has reignited my passion for writing. I chose the name to reflect our life as a heart family and the logo represents our family – the four hearts are the four of us, with Jessica’s heart being blue due to her cyanotic heart condition.
M is for music. I play the piano and sing; hubby sings and plays piano and trumpet. We’re both from musical families and the girls so far seem to have inherited that love of music.
N is for the NHS. Something that I am hugely grateful for – without the wonderful doctors and nurses who work in the NHS, Jessica would not be here today.
O is for Oklahoma! My favourite out of all the musicals I have performed in and the last show that my dad came to see.
P is for performing. I love singing on stage and whilst I don’t have time for am-dram these days, I still take part in the occasional concert.
Q is for quiz night. In our pre-children days, hubby and I used to meet up with friends for the weekly pub quiz and we still try to go out for a meal as a group every couple of months or so.
R is for reading. I love getting lost in a good book.
S is for Sophie. My gorgeous heart-healthy baby girl – a bundle of smiles and mischief.
T is for twin. I’m a twin and so is my mum. My mum didn’t know she was having twins until just after my sister was born and the midwife said “hang on, there’s another one!”
U is for University Challenge. One of my favourite TV programmes. Hubby competed for our university team the year before we got together (they lost in the first round). I was in our team the following year but we didn’t make it on to the TV.
V is for Victoria. My first lead role in a musical was playing Victoria in Follow That Girl.
W is for wedding. The day hubby and I got married was one of the happiest of my life and the memories are especially precious because my dad died a few months after our wedding.
X is for X-ray. Jessica has had a lot of these during her stays in hospital.
Y is for youngest. I’m the youngest of nine.
Z is for zzzz. Something I’d like to have more of!
Tagging the following if they’d like to join in and share their A to Zs:
Aww love reading these so much! Interesting to read more about you and your family! Lovely pics as always! I particularly like the outdoor dinner party! What a great idea xx
Thank you Sarah – I really enjoyed taking part, so glad you tagged me in this 🙂
Awe thanks for the tag, love this post, it’s very different! Love the black tie dinner idea in middle of nowhere! Will definitely try this x
The black tie dinner was always a lot of fun! Will look forward to you joining in too 🙂
Aww what a great post, I love these, so many interesting facts =)
Thank you so much for the tag, I will get working on it!
Thanks Jenni – will look forward to reading your A to Z 🙂
Ha ha! I love Z! Ooh to have a snooze.
I’ve loved reading this – we actuallky have a lot in common. It’s so nice to read of someone being proud of their performance background xx
#twinklytuesdays
Thanks Katie – so glad you enjoyed it. I loved my performing days! 🙂
This is such a gorgeous post and thank you so much for tagging me! I am definitely going to do it 🙂 I love the photo of you on your wedding day, you looked so stunning. And well done in tracing so far back on the genealogy – it must be so interesting! Thanks so much for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
Thank you Lisa – will look forward to reading your post and lovely to link up again 🙂
What a lovely post … you’re so very interesting! J is so heart-melting! This is such a heart warming post. Lovely learning a bit more about you! 🙂
Thank you! I really enjoyed writing it – was quite fun to join in with this challenge 🙂
I love these A-Z memes it’s great to get to know a little more about other bloggers 🙂
Thank you – it was fun joining in! 🙂
Loved reading this and getting to know more about you. The youngest of nine, wow, big family! x
Thank you – yes I have a very big family and love it 🙂
Wow the youngest of 9 and I bet your Mum had the shock of her life when baby no 2 appeared, a lovely post Louise and I so want to go for a meal in the middle of no where x
My mum always says it was the best moment of her life – love my birth story! Going for a meal in the middle of nowhere was always so much fun 🙂
This is such a lovely post, sweetie. I loved reading it. I thought the blue heart in your logo was for your Hubby, not Jessica. She certainly looks like happy little girl who is full of joy and love. I always mean to tell you but keep forgetting: I love the fact your blog is as much about Sophie as it is about Jessica. You look stunning in that pink ballroom dancing dress! I am impressed that you performed in musicals. xxx
Thank you Mel – I always worry that my blog focuses so much more on Jessica so it is good to know that I am managing to get the balance right! My dancing and musical theatre days were a lot of fun, maybe one day I’ll do some more performing 🙂
I really like this idea as it gives you an insight in to the person behind the blog. ” J “brought a little tear to my eye. Just lovely. With all the singing, dancing and acting experience you have your house must be a great place to come and play.
Thank you – not sure the singing and acting gets its best airing from endless renditions of Twinkle Twinkle and The Wheels on the Bus but it’s fun nonetheless! 🙂
Now that’s just too much talent for one person to have 🙂
#TheList
Aww thank you so much, what a lovely thing to say! 🙂
What a lovely A-Z list 🙂 Love that faith is important to you as well x #TheList
Thank you Isabella 🙂
Hi Louise, a difficult challenge to write an A-Z about yourself, but you did it well. Love the outdoor dinner party…Very different! And one of my husbands relatives is into genealogy and when I must say it was interesting when he showed us his ancestral tree.
Thank you Debbie – it was definitely a challenge to write it but I enjoyed doing so 🙂
Wow the youngest of 9! I can’t imagine having a large family, it must be amazing. Lovely post hun. Thanks so much for linking up to #TheList x
It is lovely being part of a large family, I love it. Lovely to link up to #TheList again 🙂