28.5 Things you may (or may not) know about me

4/29/08

Well, I've been tagged. I hope this doesn't come off sounding too crazy or boastful. I've been sitting here all day trying to come up with all of this. In return, I want to tag Monica, Kev and Lori, and my mom.

1. I have a knack for proofreading and spelling. You might catch me browsing through a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia from time to time. I just think it's interesting. Mark has benefitted from me basically rewriting all of his papers throughout his college career. Next up is his Master's thesis. I'm actually not looking forward to that one, because it's going to be something like 20-30 pages of technical writing to slog through. Oh, well. At least it will signify the end of his schooling.

2. I am a smell person. I like to stroll down the laundry and baby aisles in the grocery store just to smell things. I also like the smell of corn tortillas, new ballet shoes and erasers. I'm very choosy about the scent of my fabric softener. I have 14 different body sprays from Bath and Body Works. One for every mood!

3. I love to look through baby name books. Ever since I've been married, I've been making up lists for potential first and middle names (some have been moved to the pet name list, because Mark has vetoed them for our children). Next up for a girl is Miranda (or Téa, I can't decide), and for a boy it will be Samuel. I actually had no say in that. Mark decided that on his mission. So I'm thinking of some unusual middle names. Any suggestions?

4. I can't go anywhere without Lip Smackers. It's a serious crisis if I am found without.

5. I learned how to develop pictures in a darkroom when I was just a kid (thanks, dad), and then spent 8-12th grade as a photographer on the yearbook staff. Still love to take pictures!

6. I love to do weddings. I practically beg to be allowed to do the flowers or pictures or decorations when a family member gets engaged.

7. Speaking of weddings, when Mark got home from his mission (I waited for him), I had already bought a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, unbeknownst to him. Then, after waiting patiently for 3 1/2 weeks, I cornered him and asked when we were going to get married. (He proposed at that point. We were at the county fair watching barrell racing)

8. Then, when I found the engagement ring I wanted ( 3 princess cut diamonds--1 carat total weight and gorgeous), I paid for half of it because I was making lots of moolah at the time and was too stubborn to get something Mark could afford on his own. But I still think it was worth it.

9. I am always running late.

10. I buy presents for birthdays and stuff an average of 3-6 months in advance (sometimes up to a year). If I see something I think is perfect that's on sale, I'll get it and then it sits in a closet until the occasion finally rolls around.

11. (If you haven't already figured this out) I am a little obsessive/compulsive. The first person to really clue me in to this was my college roommate Vanessa, who pointed out that most people don't take 5 pages of notes for every class and then get home and re-write them in a color-coordinated fashion.

12. Every time I go to a dentist, they remark on my "pretty teeth". I can thank my mom, who has nice teeth, too. And the 5 years of orthodonic work.

13. I am kind of a clean freak, but Mark will tell you that when I'm cooking or doing something crafty, I will make an absolute mess. You should see my craft room right now. You can hardly walk in the door.

14. Speaking of crafts, I like to scrapbook, take pictures, make jewelry, tole paint, sew, make cards, decorate and quilt. I have a whole drawer dedicated to my spools of ribbon.

15. I have a weakness for school supplies, even though I am not in school anymore. Every time August rolls around, I practically salivate at the sight of all the new pencils, folders, pens and notebooks. When that stuff isn't out, I hit the notecard and stationery aisle. I have quite the stash of new thank-you notes sitting in my drawer. (My stationery drawer. Not to be confused with the ribbon drawer, the fabric drawers, the paint drawer, or the floral/beading drawer.)

16. Even though I got my degree in nutrition, occasionally we just have a fresh pan of brownies for dinner. Really. You should come over. We get the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate mix and add walnuts. YUM!

17. I never like to go anywhere without makeup because I have this 3 inch long chevron-shaped birthmark right in the middle of my forehead. And lots of freckles. And I just look beastly without makeup.

18. I have bad luck with cars. Seriously. Mark has had like, one car pretty much the whole 6 1/2 years we've been married, and I've cycled through 4 or 5. I'm just waiting for my current one to die on me at any moment. It was acting up when I was in Utah a few weeks ago, but it has been fine since I've gotten back home. Mysterious...and ominous....

19. Some things from my past: my family and I were in the 6.7 magnitude Northridge earthquake in California in 1994. It was the most frightening thing to be jolted awake at 4:30 in the morning like that. You've never heard anything so loud or scary. And then there were aftershocks continuously all day. We're lucky we all made it through in one piece.

20. My ballet class got to be in Universal Ballet of Korea's production of Swan Lake when they came to St. George. We were just extra corps dancers for the ballroom scene, but it was exciting. I got to wear this big old Renaissance costume and sit on stage watching the pros.

21. When I was 15, me and 3 other girls from my high school were asked to model for Del Parson. (He paints for the church) The painting that was commissioned was Christ and Young Women. Del wanted to know where I'd want to be sitting if Jesus was really there. I said I wanted to be where I could see His face. So even though you just see the back of my head in the painting, all of Jesus' attention is on ME. Hee hee! I'm so lucky. http://deseretbook.com/store/reviews?sku=3669681

22. When I had Madelyn, I only pushed for 3 minutes before she was born. Beat that!!! OK, the labor was 12 hours, and when it was finally time to push, she was very small (5 lbs. 4 oz.) and under distress, so the doctor was pulling at the same time. But still.

23. I am incredibly slow at getting ready in the morning. You are probably aware that I prefer to stay up late and then sleep in. In reality, I get a lot done in the mornings (once I'm up), but I just don't get dressed and ready until 11:00. LAZY, I know.

24. OK, so I was working as a massage therapist at Red Mountain Resort and Spa from 2001-2003. This one night, I ended up giving a massage to this guy who was the spitting image of Bono from U2. I am not kidding when I tell you that I could hardly breathe the whole time because I was so freaked out. I love Bono!!! Too bad it wasn't really him. Or was it?....

25. A lot of times when I'm stressed out, I go shopping. It's been a problem. Especially since I have two different Target stores within a 10 minute drive. Not to mention a huge mall and all sorts of fun bead and craft shops.

26. I never get split ends. I haven't had a haircut since last July and still don't have any.

27. My best friend Jaki and I were really into the Beatles in middle school. So much so that we took on the pen names of Ringo and George's wives, Maureen and Pattie, when we'd write notes to each other. (We had two neighbor friends who were assigned to Paul and John, but it didn't last too long with them. They probably thought we were nuts.) To this day, we refer to each other as Pat and Mo.

28. My feet are always cold.

28.5. Mark is the only boy I've ever kissed.

So there you have it! Sorry about the novel. Now you know about me and my life.