35 Things about Me

It's my birthday today...my thirty-fifth to be exact.  I thought to celebrate I'd share 35 things about me.  (If I were 20 this would be much easier!  Should I tell you I began this months ago?)

1. I just celebrated my 8th wedding anniversary to Derek.
2. Cooking dinner is something I either plan well for, or, more typically, forget until it's nearly dinner time.  (Pancakes, waffles, or spaghetti those nights!)
3. I thought I'd have children much earlier than I did.  Since I didn't marry until 27, I'm glad it worked out that I was 30 when we had our first child.  I always wanted to be a mom.  
4. We don't learn the sex of our babies.  Nor do we share names in advance.  I don't want to hear negative opinions of a name I love.  But the reality is we are usually still deciding on the way to the hospital or at the hospital, even though M and E were both a full week late.  I am not the particularly fussy one.  :)
5. I used to teach elementary school.  And junior high.  And environmental education (in a camp-like environment during the school year).  I don't miss it horribly, probably because I get to teach my own kids daily!  I do know I will not be returning to work any time soon, Lord willing.
6. My fourth grade teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows and Anne of Green Gables  to us.  Thank you, Mrs. Schoonover.  Mrs. Schoonover was also my first grade teacher.  Mrs. Schoonover and Mrs. Maryott (grade 5) both inspired me to be a teacher.  But really, I probably chose to be a teacher because I wasn't familiar with other professions.  School was familiar and comfortable to me.  It was a good fit for me, I think.  
7. When I was in kindergarten I had hair down to my bottom.  Then I gave myself bangs by bending over my desk in Miss Cook's classroom.  Then I had ugly, awful bangs for years.  No photo evidence shown here- on purpose-it was awful.
8. I got glasses at the end of first grade to go with my bad hair.  In eighth grade I was allowed to get contacts.  I wore contacts until approximately 2005 when an eye doctor talked me out of sleeping in the contact lenses.  Since putting in and taking out contacts is a form of torture for me, I accept my glasses and am thankful for them.  Otherwise I wouldn't even be able to use this laptop on my lap or read a page in a book.  (If you think putting in and taking out contacts as torture is pathetic, you can laugh now because I need help putting in eye drops.  Even my eye doctor commented on it.)
9. When I met my husband he was 19 and a sophomore in college.  I was 23 and teaching junior high.  (He turned 20 two weeks later.)  We didn't begin dating until about 9 months later.
10. I was not popular in high school.  However, I was well-liked, apparently.  Somehow I was voted to homecoming and prom court...and eventually prom princess and homecoming queen.  No campaign, just the dance attenders voted for someone...anyone.  It really was not a big deal at our school.   (I hope sharing this does not sound vain.  Let's just say that I am no where near any stereotype for those...like I said, I was part of the popular crowd.)
11. My public high school did not have a football team.  (So homecoming was just another dance.  Nothing exciting.)   I graduated with 61 kids.  Getting to know Derek was a bit of a reality check since I was clueless about football, and he is HUGE Penn State fan (and college football in general).
12. I am in touch with a few friends from high school and even less from college.  
13. When I was in college I found out that I have a competitive spirit.  One of my college professors enlightened me...talk about humbling!  We had played a review game during class, and afterward I asked a question regarding something about the game...probably related to my team losing.
14. My favorite movies for years have been While You Were Sleeping and Return to Me.  My favorite movies based on books are Anne of Green Gables (1 and 2) and To Kill a Mockingbird.  (I don't own either AoGG or TKAM...they've been on my wish list for a while though.)
15. I used to listen to a lot of music.  Now I prefer audio books and rarely listen to music, unless you count children's music, which I do not.
16. I am a homebody.  Before M began attending preschool, I was really content to be home all week-only leaving the house (in the car) on Sunday for church.  Of course, that rarely happened, but I didn't mind if it did.
17. I have gained a lot of fashion sense in recent years though no one would know it.  Comfortable shoes are a must for me.  In the winter I live in my Crocs.   I also like slip-on sneakers.  (For years I wore Birkenstocks year round.  Yes, I know they look ridiculous with socks.  Like I said, I have little fashion sense.)  Derek knew how I dressed before we began dating...bandannas and all.
18. When I was in sixth grade I moved in with my single dad and lived with him until I was about 24 or 25.
19. I became a Christian when I was a teen, but really let Jesus be the Lord of my life during my last year of college.
20. Before I lived with Dad, I lived on a farm for a few years with my mom and her second husband.
21. I'm one of five kids.  I have three sisters and a brother. Amy, Annette, Erin, Ray, Erica.  (My mom had two "families".)  The age difference is about 13 years between myself and my youngest sister.  I babysat my next youngest sister when she was a newborn baby and my mom was in the barn (across the road, no phone...those were the days!)  Amy is my older sister, though no one usually guesses that.  We went to the same college, and it was the same thing even back then...you can call me the "practical" one.  
22. I love homebaked sweets, but can pass up a candy bar most any day.  M&M's are NOT candy bars!)
23. I like to eat M&M's one at a time.  It makes it hard to share, since I can eat five in the time that someone else likes to eat 5 ounces.
24. My kitchen island is almost ALWAYS covered with stuff.  Some dishes, lots of papers, and I have no idea what else!  I knew I needed a mud room when we built our home, but the mortgage payment wouldn't allow it.



Not my Javelin, but same color and similar stripe.  No spoiler above the rear window on my car.
Source

25. My first car was a 1969 AMC Javelin.  My dad pulled it out of the barn and we painted it together.  Smurf blue.  (The official color was Big Bad Blue.)  I should probably explain that my dad collects cars.  Seriously, when I was in college he had over 30.  Since then he has sold a lot (and bought others), but still has close to that number.  When I was about to go to college, a friend asked if I was interested in selling it.  (Though I say it was "my" car, it was still 100% my dad's.  I just got to drive it, which was a huge deal, and I knew it.)  My dad and I knew it wouldn't be a decent car for college, so it was sold the next week.  No regrets.  It was still fun though even if the heat didn't work, it was not allowed on snow (wide tires don't work well on snow), and once my friend had to hold the passenger door's window on her lap on the way home on a cold winter day.  Oh, and I still remember the license plate of that car.  AJZ-5539.  I knew my driver's license number too, and when we moved back to PA, I was excited to get it back again since I still knew it.  However, don't ask me for my current license plate.  I have NO idea what it is though I've had it since 2008.
26. For years (grown-up years) I only wore my wedding band and engagement ring unless I had a reason to be dressed up.  Derek gave me a beautiful flower necklace for Christmas, and now I wear that daily.  I actually don't take it off at all...because that would require putting it back on.  Earrings are still rare and need an occasion.  (Though recently the stylist cut an extra 1 1/2 inches off my ears...showing my earlobes...ick.  So I have been wearing earrings a couple times a month recently.)  Bracelets are totally not my style.  (As a teen I actually wore a lot of jewelry.)
27. I am a bit of a food snob when it comes to certain things...well, maybe just two.  I prefer to only eat homemade applesauce.  It's a bit of work (because I make so much at one time and can it), but it is so worth it.  Real maple syrup is a must, too.  Even as a teenager, I would purchase the good real stuff from a local maple farm.  (I am willing to eat fake syrup in a restaurant, but I do not prefer it, nor would I buy it.  I would rather just use butter and brown sugar.)
28. Our family drinks a lot of milk.  We purchase four gallons at a time, truly averaging about a gallon a person.  Whole milk for E, 2% for M and Derek, and 1% for me.  A cold glass of milk is always satisfying!  It is served with every dinner, and often lunch.  (Actually now that it is summer, I try to serve water with lunch for better hydration.)
29. I basically can't swim.  During my senior year of high school I took swimming lessons because I knew the college I would be attending required you to pass a swim test.  I can swim the length of a pool (which means I passed), but I cannot put my head under water.
30. I don't like berries.  Not strawberries, blueberries, or any other berry.  It's a texture thing.  I eat berries in smoothies and like the flavor.  I will even bake with them, and that is fine.  I just try to avoid eating them "raw."  (When picking berries, you will not catch me putting a berry in my mouth as a treat.)
31. Really, it's not just berries I don't like.  I really don't care for fruits and veggies.  But I eat them.  Maybe not a wide variety, but I do eat them and serve them to my family.  (Though there are some that I just serve and choose not to eat.)
32. I rarely snack.  Before this pregnancy, I rarely snacked.  However, my dear husband keeps bringing me these awesome snacks just because I want them.  At Easter, his mom gave us some "singles" cans of Pringles.  I couldn't get enough of them.  Since then he has gotten me a few canisters of Pringles.  Once at the grocery store I saw Keebler's Fudge Grahams on sale.  Derek didn't even know that I loved them before that because we just don't buy stuff like that.  Since then he's gotten me others, and even introduced me to other Keebler snacks like their striped shortbread cookies.  YUM.  Oh, we don't share these snacks with the kids.  They are purely for our adult enjoyment in our house.  
33. At one point (mostly during my days teaching at Nature's Classroom and the year after) I wore bandannas often.  I wore it in the triangle style (that I hated when my mom wore when I was a kid) and as a hair band.  The first Christmas that Derek and I were dating he gave me a Penn State bandanna.  Isn't he sweet?  Now that my hair is short and off my neck, I rarely wear one.  If you are concerned about my fashion, see #17 above.
34. I made it through college without coffee, and doubt I'll ever drink a cup...or even a half cup.  Anything that requires getting used to the flavor is not for me.  This includes coffee ice cream, lattes, and other fancy coffee drinks.
35. Today is my birthday.  That's enough, huh?!  Thanks for reading such a lengthy list.  (I started it very early this year!)