1. I grew up as an only child. I have two half brothers (we have the same father), but they are much older than me and never lived with me. My dad was 25 years older than my mom, but nonetheless, they fell deeply in love and I was blessed with a mother and father who loved each other, and loved me and gave me the greatest childhood a kid could ever ask for. I try to let my marriage reflect the kind of marriage my parents had, and I strive to give Andrew the kind of childhood that I had, feeling safe and knowing how much his mommy and daddy love him, and each other. There is no greater gift you can give a child.
2. I am very "Type-A" personality (this comes as a big shock I'm sure! Ha!) I like to have things planned well in advance and I don't like when plans change. You can imagine how Andrew's journey has tested me well beyond my limits!
3. I am an organizer. Everything in my house (and my classroom, for that matter) is organized and in labeled bins (even though sometimes I still can't find things!) My storage tubs are all color coded for holidays and I even take pictures of my house during different seasons and tape them to each bin with the things inside that go in that particular room. (You may be laughing, but I'm telling you, it makes getting out the Christmas decorations so much easier!)
4. I have a tattoo. I know, I'm not proud of it (anymore!) It is a small crescent moon, which is the symbol of the sorority I belonged to in college at Iowa State (Gamma Phi Beta). It is on the left side of my stomach (yeah, it looked good there back then! Ha!) and Andrew calls it an "owie."
5. When I was in college, I did part of my student teaching experience in New Zealand. I was there 9 weeks and traveled to Australia when I was there too. It was breathtaking and I want to go back sooooo bad someday! I stayed with a NZ family who were so wonderful to me. My mom and best friend also flew out to visit me when I was there and we traveled around both islands (oh yeah, I did some teaching too! Ha!). It was definitely an experience I'll never forget. I love traveling. I've also been to Spain (on the Spanish trip in high school), and many other fun places.
6. I'm really struggling to come up with things by this point...so I'm really reaching with this one, but in 2nd grade I chipped my front tooth. I was sliding on ice on the playground and came to a patch I thought was ice but it was actually wet pavement (real smart, I know). So I tripped myself. I still have a cap on part of my tooth (because it was a permanent tooth). I've had to have it replaced a couple times. While we're on the subject of teeth, here's another thing- I had the worst teeth as a kid. HUGE front teeth that stuck way out (I'm not kidding, thank goodness for braces!) I wore them for almost 4 years! (Yes, it was that bad!)
7. Hmmm, the last thing. I am a reality TV junkie. My DVR is about to explode with all the shows we love to watch. Usually when Andrew goes to bed at 8:00 Craig and I veg out on the couch and plug away at the DVR. It is one of my favorite things to do to relax! Back in high school I was a 90210 and Melrose Place freak! I never missed an episode. I would come home from my job scooping ice cream at Baskin Robbins (oops, snuck in an 8th thing you didn't know!) on Wednesday nights and settle in with my ice cream and those shows. I looked forward to it every week. Now I am hooked on the new 90210 and Melrose Place on the CW. Dorky, I know. It's my escape. Ha!
So, there you have it. My 7 things you didn't know about me! Now I am supposed to tag 7 people. I think most of the blogs I read have participated except a few... here are the blogs I am tagging, most are heart families unless otherwise noted:
For the Love of Mending Hearts
The Schmidt Family
Chase and Owen (Susie is my college friend)
Precious Moments
Party of Five (This is Craig's cousin and her family)
And just because I can't do a post with no pictures of Andrew...
Happy Reading!
