30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 1

30 Day Blog Challenge... Ok, so I'm gunna jump on the bandwagon and attempt the Challenge. Day 1: A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

*Warning: This post ended up a whole lot longer than I intended it to be... I won't be offended if you don't make it to the very end :) Here we go!

ME!

1. I Love Movies. I love going to the movies, I love the thrill of buying a newly released movie and I love quoting lines from my favorite movies! I remember going to rent movies with my dad – picking out a movie and renting the VHS player at the same time. I remember watching my old favorites, like “The Pirate Movie” on Beta. I remember watching “Back Draft” on Laser Disc. I don't have any Blue Ray movies yet... I'm resisting that one so far. There’s probably one section of my brain entirely devoted to store & recall movie lines, even if I’ve only seen the movie once. You get me talking about “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” or Jim Carrey movies and I’ll just throw out lines, one right after another. One of my very favorite things to do is watch a movie, be taken to a different place or time, and get lost. I have quite a large selection to choose from and I love it! I love movies!!

2. I hate seafood. It’s not food people! Those are ocean Bugs! Crab = Spider. Lobster = Earwig. Nastiness I tell you! Jim Gaffigan was right on the money when he said no one really likes seafood… ‘You know, it’s really good if you squeeze half a lemon on it.’ Well, I’ve got news for ya, if you have to cover the flavor of it; you don’t really like it either! How do you know when sea“food” is bad? It always smells like garbage! Before you accuse me of not trying it, trust me, I have. Years ago my dad promised me that the Fish House restaurant we were going to would have chicken, he was wrong. Everything on the menu was fish – hello dad! FISH house! He forced me to try a bite of everyone’s meal to prove I didn’t like any of it. Crab, Shark, Lobster, Halibut, Shrimp, Salmon, those rubber band things…. Uh… Calamari! All Yucky! Blecka! So, no thanks, I don’t want that – that stuff gets in your mouth.

3. Even though my hair doesn’t always do what I want it to and even though I have to wash it every day so I don’t look like a rag-a-muffin, I love my hair. Scratch that, I love my long hair. I love the colors I have in it and hopefully I’ll find some dollars soon to have it done again because it’s grown out so much. I love that some of my nieces will play with my hair and tell me how pretty it is. I hope that as I get older I’ll continue to keep my hair long. Everywhere you look you’ll see moms and grandmas with short hair. It’s always just above their shoulders or cut close to their heads… I don’t want this to be me! I want to be a grandma with long hair! I cut my hair to my shoulders once and I’ll never do it again – long hair rules! (I’m not saying short hair is bad… it just looks Really bad on me!)

4. I have BPPV. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is a disorder caused by problems in the inner ear. Its symptoms are repeated episodes of positional vertigo, that is, of a spinning sensation caused by changes in the position of the head. It can be triggered by any action which stimulates the posterior semi-circular canal which may be: tilting the head, rolling over in bed, looking up or under, sudden head motion, post head injury, changes in barometric pressure, lack of sleep and stress. Basically living day to day! Isn’t that so fun!? I’ve had it for almost 10 years now and don’t ever know when it’s going to hit me. I get motion sickness really easy so I tried to avoid the possibility of that whenever I can because that will always lead to vertigo. Anyone want to go to Six Flags with JJ because I can’t??

5. I’ve always wanted fake nails – not the ones that are 4 inches long or are a different color every 2 weeks – just the ones that are French tip and just a little longer than your actual nail. I always talk myself out of getting them though. Don’t have the money to spend on them, afraid of stabbing myself in the eye while dealing with my contacts, or wuss out from the possible pain included in getting them/taking them off, etc… I usually just spend a dollar or two on white nail polish and paint the end of my short stubby nails and pretend they’re pretty!

6. I’m pretty sure I have a slight OCD issue. I make lists for everything – I have Excel spreadsheets for my vacations, moving homes, movies, Lia Sophia, work, holidays, menus, etc. If I don’t have it written down on a list it doesn’t get completed or purchased depending on the subject. I have to have things in order, everything in its place, etc. I have no idea when this set in because I remember having a very messy room as a teenager! I love buying storage boxes, baskets, or organizing paraphernalia. My mother-in-law has banned me from certain rooms in her home because she just knows if she leaves me alone long enough I’ll start to organize & purge. That’s not weird… is it?

7. Working off the same thought as #6, I am a party planner at heart. I like planning and scheming (if the occasion calls for it), making lists to make sure nothing is forgotten, setting up, and of course, seeing my efforts enjoyed. I like feeling needed and feeling like I’m taking care of something for someone. I like being of service and getting that feeling of happiness that comes when I know I’ve helped someone in need. I’ve enjoyed that rare feeling of knowing that if I hadn’t been there, things would have gone to pot in no time! Helping others probably shouldn’t have such an effect on me, but alas, it does! However, there are also times when I think I suffer because of my compulsive nature to help out, my inability to say no to people. I end up helping with things that I don’t want to, or too many things at once, and run myself ragged trying to please everyone. But I’m thinking, I need to think through the situation before I take on the project… So beware… I’m learning to say no!

8. I love all kinds of music. I can listen to a rap song (much to JJ’s disappointment) and immediately follow it up with country and I see no problem with it! My Dad influenced my tastes from a very young age, I remember calling a radio station when I was about 12 years old and asking the DJ to play “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. The DJ couldn’t get over the fact that I was so young but requesting such an old song. However, I can’t stand the screaming ‘music’ that JJ loves – umm, screaming isn’t music sweetie! I also have a hard time listening to classical, opera or instrumental… I need something I can sing along to I guess.

9. I belive that Holidays, birthdays and special occasions HAVE to be celebrated! It isn’t an option! I love to decorate my home and my cubicle for all the holidays and seasons. I love to acknowledge any awesome accomplishment of my loved ones – like making signs, getting balloons and having a fun dinner to celebrate JJ’s acceptance into the University of Utah. Birthdays are of the utmost importance as well, I always take mine off of work – I want to be having fun! JJ turned 25 this year on the 25th so of course that had to be celebrated with extravagance! He got 25 presents & I left little notes, 25 of them, around the house telling him why I loved him. We ate dinner at Red Lobster because obviously, we don’t eat at those kinds of places very often. Ice cream and Sub Zero and fireworks at my sister’s house. He didn’t think the day should have been that big a deal, but I made it a big deal! You Will celebrate and you Will enjoy it! J

10. I have a big family tree… or some type of shrubbery. Are you ready? Get a paper and a pen if you’d like to draw a diagram… Mommy & Daddy got married & had 4 kids: Amy, Emily, Joe and me. They got divorced, Mommy remarried someone not worth mentioning, divorced and remarried Arthur – he had 4 kids from a previous marriage, giving me 4 stepsiblings: Shane, Kim, Michael and Nikki. (Shout out to Nikki, we went to high school together! Weird??) Anyway, Daddy remarried, Terri already had 2 girls from a previous marriage and Dad & Terri had a baby girl, Kacie, my half sister. Now, D & T were married for lots of years, so Amber, Mandy & Kacie were very much my sisters, I love you girls! They were divorced and now my Dad is dating Barb, she has 6 kids: Jared, Tausha, Amber, Caden, Shianna and Hunter. All my siblings and stepsiblings are married and most have kids… whew! See, the tree kinda turns into a shrub now doesn’t it? But no matter, I love my ginormous family and wouldn’t change a thing. When I was a bit younger, kids in school thought it was weird that I spent my weekends at my dad’s and I had stepsiblings and such. I’ve never known anything different and I wouldn’t change anything because that would mean giving up people that I love. People I would never have known otherwise. So no thanks, I’ll keep my huge, meshed family! I love you all!

11. Hate is a strong word… but sometimes it really is the best way to describe how you feel about something or someone. For most of the things I’m going to list I guess I could just say that I strongly dislike them, but hate is shorter to type! I hate feet. Feet are ugly and most of the time smelly. I hate having people’s feet on me or shoved under me for warmth. Kacie knows this first hand since she tries to get away with it when we’re on the couch together. I hate mini-vans. I hate bowling. I hate people with bad manners, bad driving skills and people who have a lack of respect for others. I hate people who can’t do their job but somehow get away with it. I hate cocky people who think they know everything. I hate talking on the phone; texting is one of the best inventions since contacts or sliced bread. I also hate going to the dentist.

12. I loathe smelly things. Oh, that was an excellent word choice… detest, abhor, despise are also fantastic words, feel free to choose whichever one you like the most. I hate smelly things with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns. How’s that for a description?? I hate smelly lotion, smelly soap, smelly flowers, smelly people, smelly candles, smelly cars and smelly houses. I hate people that for some reason beyond my comprehension find it necessary to literally marinate themselves in their perfume or cologne. Seriously, a little dab will do ya! Since the dawn of time I have had a negative reaction to smelly items. I get severe headaches, nauseous, and sometimes dizzy when I am exposed to smelly crap. I’m not quiet about this hatred, that’s just not my style, so you’d think that “friends” would remember this. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been given smelly lotion, soaps or candles for my birthday or Christmas. All through high school my “best friends” would give me that crap every year. I thought I’d seen the end of it as the years went by, but sadly I got a bottle of nastiness for my birthday this year from a long time friend. What the crap!? Quick Story Time (You can skip this if you'd like...) Years ago I was traveling to California with my Daddy and sisters, Mandy and Kacie. I was staring out the window when I heard a bottle being opened and something squirting out of it. My eyes immediately closed, my shoulders sank and I heaved a great sigh knowing that Mandy had just put on some of the worst lotion known to mankind – Bath & Body Works Country Apple. Kacie whipped around and said, “What did you just do?!” Mandy was at a loss but Kacie snapped into action. She threw open the cooler lid and grabbed a sprite while simultaneously rummaging through her bag. She whipped out some pop tarts, ripped open the bag, she cracked open the sprite, and handed them both to me. I sipped on the sprite for the nausea, held the pop tarts to my nose to hide the nasty smell while she rolled down the window to flush out the stench. Saved! Thank you for paying attention to me Kacie; you don’t know how much I appreciate it!

13. I wash my hands more than some people think is necessary, I’m not OCD though, it’s a habit I picked up from my Dad. He loves giant mugs of water with a LOT of ice and while growing up that was one of my favorite things to make for him. We’d be out working on his truck, building or planting something, and he’d ask for a big water. I swear every time I brought one back he’d ask, “Did you wash your hands first?” So naturally it just became part of the routine, I’d wash my hands before and after many tasks just to avoid being questioned! I wash my hands before I put my contacts in, after I use the potty, after I put lotion on cuz I hate that greasy feeling. After I use hair spray cuz I get all sticky. I wash my hands before I brush my teeth. I wash my hands before, during and after I make dinner or bake a treat. I could go on, but you get the picture!

14. Let’s do an opposite of #11… Things that I just love! I love ICE water like my Dad, I love eating out at nice places because a) it’s a rare occurrence b) I don’t have to make it and c) someone else cleans up! I love painted toenails, watching football and the smell of cookies baking. I love going on vacation. I’m a fan of Toyota; I’ve never owned anything but a Toyota. I love nerdy stuff, like my husband, the Big Bang Theory TV show and all items sold on Thinkgeek.com. I love other people’s children when they’re happy and love giving them back to their parents when they get mad. I love getting flowers, obviously the non-stinky kind. I love the sound the rain makes as it falls on the carport of our apartment. I love being right. I love Diet Coke. I love vanilla ice cream covered in Hershey’s chocolate syrup with an Oreo on the side. I love Paris. Hopefully this will have restored some of your faith that I’m not an entirely negative person!

15. Did you think we’d ever get to Number 15?! Sorry, I find myself feeling the need to explain, thus each number being it’s own paragraph… or novel, if you will. Moving on… I am an American. I was born in the greatest place in the world, the United States of America. I love this country we live in and the freedoms we get to enjoy. I have the utmost respect for the great men that led this country to freedom, who wrote the Declaration of Independence and made the decisions needed to make a strong, united nation. I’m amazed at the men and women that serve our country every day, for years on end, risking their lives to protect every American, our freedom and our way of life. The events that took place in Pearl Harbor and New York City break my heart, so many innocent lives lost, so many families broken and loved ones left alone. I’m proud of this country, for gathering together as one nation, to fight back against those attacks. The motto after September 11th motivated people to never forget and I know I never will. It saddens me that some have forgotten or chose to push it out of their minds. I recommend watching the movie “World Trade Center” if you need a refresher on what it means to be an American.
I’m proud to be an American. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Hopefully each post won't be this long... I got a bit carried away, but I'm a girl so that's normal, right? :)