101 Things About Me

I am copying my friend Tiffany and posting 101 things about me. I am actually on my 103rd post but I think this will do. So here goes.

101 Things you may or may not know about me.


1. I was born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.


2. I am the 3rd of 6 children.


3. I have always liked alone time to think.


4. As a little girl I preferred baby dolls over Barbies. (I used Barbies for cutting their hair.)


5. I use to make my own baby dolls out of bags filled with water tied up in a blanket.


6. I have had the privilege of having two of my very own babies.


7. I have always wanted to take lessons in piano, voice, dance, art, photography, cooking, baking, sewing...the list could go on. You get the point I love to learn...and soon it will be my turn.


8. I love being outside.


9. I trained myself to love sports. Especially water skiing. I really disliked the whole jumping into a freezing lake part and I still do. It's the riding on top of the water that I like...Does anyone want to take me skiing in their boat? Please?


10. I play volleyball 2 times a week for 2-3 hours.


11. I miss running and intend to start again soon.


12. I ran track for 6 years and cross country for 5 and loved every minute of it.


13. I was the class clown in kindergarten.


14. I love to laugh.


15. I was in the top show choir as a sophomore.


16. I went to state as an 8th Grader for Track and every year after until I graduated from high school.


15. I walked during cross country races every once in a while which infuriated my coach. I wasn't so good at the whole enduring pain for 15-20 minutes thing. I was more of a 5 minute and under pain girl.


16. I love to paint and especially love to draw portraits.


17. I got into a car accident at age fourteen after I convinced my mom that I should take the car to the store to get her some medicine--she had a terrible flu. I took my sister for a joy ride around our neighborhood. I let her drive in the junior high parking lot, then ran into a parked car a few houses down from the Bishop's house. His son just happened to be walking by at the time but, fortunately, either didn't notice or just pretended not to notice.


18. As a result of #17, I made my first appearance in court with several criminals in jumpsuits and asked the judge to give me more time to pay my ticket. This was my Dad's idea.


19. I started my first job at Taco Bell at age fourteen to pay my ticket.


20. Although I love to sing I have really struggled with singing alone in public. I have been known to just cry and sit down. I get embarrassed really easily. At least I used to--it has been about ten years since my last performance.


21. I will scratch you to the point of drawing blood if tickled. I don't even realize I am doing it either. Everything in me fights to get the tickle attacker away. I kind of freaked Matt out right after we were married, he tried to tickle me and I sunk my nails into his arm leaving a pretty big gouge (sorry Matt). Ticklers beware.


22. I love to clean.


23. I love biographies.


24. I am learning to be comfortable expressing myself on the blog.


25. I like to have my toenails painted.


26. I love to wear make-up.


27. I love the smell of beauty products, hairspray, lipstick, nail polish remover, etc.


28. I will never forget the sensation of water dripping down my arms and into my armpits from washing dishes as a child in a sink too high for me. This setup caused me to raise my arms up over the counter and resulted in the awful water-trickling-into-the-armpit effect to occur. Ewww. Matt does the majority of the dishes at our house and I truly believe my parents are to blame for that. I have been washing dishes since kindergarten. I have paid my dues and need to now focus on my recovery.


29. I like my freckles.


30. While parked at a gas station at age 3 or 4, I jumped into the driver's seat, pulled the car out of park, and drove out toward the street with my brother and sister in the backseat screaming and crying. My mom came out just in time. I must have surely had angels protecting me as a child. I think I know where Grant gets his great ideas. I passed them down through my genes.


31. I cut chunks out of my sister Mary's hair when I was really little.


32. I guzzle pickle juice straight out of the jar (pickle pulp and all) when I am pregnant...Yummy!


33. I lose my phone and keys a lot. They always seem to come back to me, though. I rarely lose them for good.


34. I have a great long term memory and terrible short term memory.


35. My hair has strange curly kinks in it now since I have had my babies.


36. Getting enough sleep, exercising and eating well are all very important to me.


37. I love to read the scriptures out loud. Not so much to myself. Not sure why.


38. I love taking care of a newborn baby throughout the night. The silent night hours are the best.


39. I'm not a very good speller.


40. I need to eat every few hours to avoid getting shaky and mean.


41. I am looking forward to spending more time with my husband now that he is starting his own law practice. I have really missed him. He has worked really hard for the past 7 years in order to support his family well. I really admire all of his hard work. I love you Matt.


42. I have two sons, Grant and Spencer.


43. My husband has just started working from home and I love it.


44. I am surprised that I love it.


45. I need to learn how to be more laid back about some things.


46. I will pay more money for products that look pretty and smell nice. Therefore, I will shop at Target over Walmart because Target looks nicer and is more organized.


47. Sometimes I don't really see life as it is. I am always surprised by pictures and videos. I am usually paying more attention to how I feel than physical details. I need to change that.


48. I love quirky personalities.


49. I do not like to check the mail with other people rushing me.


50. I like eating baby food (the fruit not the icky meals).


51. I know how to make jewelry.


52. I think I would really enjoy scrapbooking.


53. I have horribly expensive taste and can't seem to find anything that I like that I can afford.


54. I had no idea that I should get a palm tree in my house over a ficus tree until my friend politely said to me, "You definitely want to go with a palm." I am totally out of the fashion and trend loop.


55. I am not a big fan of jam or jelly.


56. If love salty foods.


57. I had two imaginary friends as a little girl: Sissy and Casey.


58. I have always had one close best friend.


59. I have known my best friend Elaine since I was 12 years old. She gets me. I am totally and completely myself around her. I have learned that with most people I cannot be totally and completely myself or I get the "one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other" vibe. I'll admit it: I see the world differently and approach life in a different way than most people. Again, she understands me. Love it, Love her!


60. I really struggle when my spiritual life is not in order. It is a priority and when I am off in that category I can't focus or think about anything really. I am grateful for that.


61. I grew up in South Dakota.


62. Snickers is my favorite candy bar.


63. I do not like painting the interior of a house. I am very much a details person and it is just too much work for me to do both perfect edges and the body of the wall. My arms get tired. I think next time Matt should do the bulk of the painting and I should do the trim. We would be much happier that way I think. Matt likes to hurry and get jobs done. I like to slowly do them perfect. Good match don't you think?


64. I love reading current events and staying up on politics.


65. I think NPR is relaxing. Lots and lots of information delivered by a calm voice. Love it!


66. I have always wanted to visit Maine. I love the idea of being next to the ocean and seeing lighthouses and eating lobster.


67. I hate crawling things. I just saw a big bug. I think it was a cockroach crawling out from under the cabinet, across the floor and under the couch. That's it...I am calling the bug guy first thing in the morning.


68. I have learned that I don't like planning out loud as much as I thought I did. I am learning that I like to find my rhythm and stick with it. Whether it be for laundry, dishes, parenting whatever. Somethings you just can't plan. You have to live and adapt until you find out what works.


69. I love rules. I like to be able to count on certain outcomes and it seems when you keep a rule you know what you're gonna get.


70. The sound of water and wind in the palm trees is very relaxing for me.


71. I like to think outside of the box and find new and better ways to get a job done.



72. I am overly concerned with preventing problems.


73. I want to have more fun.


74. I do not like to be rushed, but I hate to waste time. I like plenty of time to do a job right the first time so I don't have to do it again. That rarely happens though.


75. I like to face people when I am talking to them and look into their eyes. I just feel more of a connection that way.


76. I am dreaming of a house with wall to wall hardwood floors.



77. I only have one year of college behind my belt.



78. I learned to speak enough Albanian in order to help the missionaries teach a woman who didn't speak English when we lived in Canterbury.



79. I didn't start looking like a girl until my senior year in high school. I had a baby face and huge caterpillar eyebrows. Someone really could have helped me out with the whole eyebrows thing.



80. My feet have grown two sizes since having kids. My latest tennis shoe purchase was a size ten. Yikes!



81. I rarely buy what I need...that's got to change.



82. I just started consistently getting my hair cut with a style 2 years ago. Before that, it was all one length and blunt cut. Unless, of course, I cut it myself and tried homemade layers. I am sure it looked pretty bad.



83. I used to cut my friends' hair in high school.



84. I still cut Matt, Grant and Spencer's hair.



85. I moved to England with a 4-week old baby and lived without my own car for a whole year. I was in really good shape at the end of that year.



86. We had an apartment in Kentucky with mushrooms growing out of the wall. (We moved shortly after the first crop came in.)



87. I love Physics.



88. I married my Home Teacher.



89. Our first date was with the bishop and his wife.



90. I want to graduate from BYU.



91. I want my kids to go to BYU kindergarten



92. I love BYU.



93. I was called to be a R.S. President in a BYU ward after only being active for two years (in my whole life). Needless to say, I was horrified. Happy to serve, but very scared of all the born-and-raised Mormon blondies in my ward. I didn't do anything right as far as Mormon culture goes. I may have been OK with the spiritual aspect, but forget it. I didn't understand the whole table centerpiece decorations thing. I spent hours on the computer at work trying to get everything organized. What a scary, scary, lonely experience that was. I learned what I needed to learn and I am grateful, but it was a scary time for me.



94. My favorite roommate of all time was my sister Mary. I wish I could have lived with her the whole time I was single.



95. I like Michael Jackson's music.



96. I didn't start wearing girl clothes until after I got married. I wore a lot of athletic gear before.



97. I am a stay-at-home mom.



98. I really admire my mom's calm sweet nature. And all the nice treats she made for us growing up like peanut butter balls rolled in coconut, Chinese chews, caramel rolls, and homemade bread.



99. I will never forget all the nice things my mom did for me because she wanted to, not because she had too. Like the time she made me some play money out of construction paper after I cried because she gave some real money to my older brothers and not to me. It took a long time for her to draw it out and cut it up. Or the time she let me stay up late with her to watch the Miss America pageant and eat her favorite treats with her. I am not sure I would have done that.



100. My Mom and Dad are great examples to me. My Dad is such an honest, hardworking man. He was the main chef in our home and made sure we had delicious, homemade meals every night. The way he has persevered through a lifetime of struggles and heartache make me feel so proud to be his daughter. My mom is just everything I value: educated, hardworking, kind, easygoing, neat, tidy and loving.



101. I am so grateful for my brothers and sister. Jon for coming up with fun games for his younger brothers and sisters to play, for babysitting us and making us dinner. I am grateful for Dana for being my Sesame Street-watching buddy and for being such a wonderful listener. I could talk to him for hours. He is very interested in what other people have to say and so willing to be open and share his own personal feelings and ideas. I am grateful for Mary for her sweet and gentle personality. I am grateful that she puts up with me and that we can talk and laugh until we cry. I am grateful for Aaron and his permanently cheerful and optimistic disposition. He is so ready to smile in any situation. I am grateful for Joe...I was twelve when he was born and pretty much thought he was my baby. I was so excited that my mom had a baby with bright blue eyes. Mary and I would dress him up like a doll and sit him in a chair full of stuffed animals. He has fabulous taste in green's (he always picks the right shade of green) and I like his style. I am grateful that we share a love for science and sports.

I am so grateful for every member of my family and feel so lucky to call them mine.