100 Truths

ok, i'm copying this idea from someone else who did it on their blog. i hope mine will be as interesting as hers...

1. i was an "oops" baby 12 years after my parents thought they were done. they have spent my life telling me they're happy i'm here. (much to my brothers' annoyance, i'm sure LOL)

2. i hate peanut butter and nuts in any/all forms. i can taste the PB in a sugar cookie that's been sitting next to a PB cookie.

3. i have chronic wanderlust. just because i'm dreaming of something else, it doesn't mean i don't love my current place.

4. i have 1 child and i love having 1 child. no, i'm not afraid her being "lonely" or "spoiled" by being an only child.

5. when people tell me i'm doing my child a "disservice" by not giving her siblings, it's kind of a slam on my own childhood, as i have no memory of my brothers living in the house with me (i was 6 when the youngest one graduated high school and moved out)

6. i have a passion for adoption and possibly fostering. though i can't quite see the time frame on this. so alena will have an (adopted) sibling one day.

7. i struggle with buying things outside of food, gas and bills like an anorexic struggles to eat food without guilt. i just can't do it easily, regardless of how great the sale, how cute the item is, or even how dire my closet is.

8. when i finally can just about convince myself to buy it, the fact that it was probably made in a sweatshop seals the deal and i walk out empty handed. i want to shop and buy tons of clothes and shoes on a whim, i really do. i just can't.

9. i love cars. even though i'm usually driving something cheap and nondescript, i love cars that are nice, unique, classic or anything outside of the typical sedan/mini-van/SUV mold. i know a little bit about how they work too.

10. i'm naturally a very extroverted, social, confident person. there have been a handful of definite people/events in my life that have knocked me on my face...and now i carry myself much more timidly than i would prefer.

11. this is a disservice to myself, but also to other people who rarely get to see who i am. i have missed opportunities to make great friends because of this. i'm working on it...

12. i would LOVE to live in: my current house and neighborhood (which i do); the other, more "trendy" side of town (hillsboro village, east nashville, belmont, west end, franklin); near any warm beach; in a century-old farmhouse in southern ohio with rolling farm land in every direction; in a small new england town; in a quaint european village. stupid life gets in the way, even though we swore to never let it.

13. i love my house. it's less than 1,200 sq ft, the 3rd bedroom isn't really big enough for a bed and the only bathroom is on the 2nd floor. no garage or bonus room and it's almost 80 years old. but i LOVE it..i wake up every morning in love with it. some people get this, some don't.

14. i love old houses and buildings in general. i am not usually impressed with new houses and really hate when they take farm land or tear down something old to build a boring, mass-produced strip mall or subdivision. when i see old, run down houses, jared and i dream about how we could "help" that house.

15. i have never in my life, for an instant, felt lonely or generally misunderstood until moving to nashville...supposedly closer to family. i can't figure out if it's me or nashville.

16. i am left handed

17. i'm very wordy. my little statements have turned into paragraphs. when i write out something in a blog or email, i usually have to go back a couple times and cut it down to size..

18. i am a christian and absolutely love the journey of faith i've had. it hasn't always been easy (i didn't expect it to be) but i love it.

19. i love discussing religion and politics with people of different views. i HATE arguing or debating, but i like just exchanging ideas and why/how we got to that point.

20. i don't make a very good woman.....i never remember to offer guests something to eat or drink, never offer to help in someone else's kitchen (i just feel underfoot) and feel uncomfortable when someone else tried to help in my kitchen.

21. in my perfect world, we would all eat foods that were locally grown/raised with no crazy super growth steroids/hormones/pesticides, etc. a reasonable amount of pesticides doesn't scare me, but what they do to food on the large scale terrifies me. we would only buy things we need with money we have and the people who worked to make those things would be paid for that day's work. i'm not trying to be a hippy or crunchy or difficult. just trying to be fair and have some common sense.

22. this is the first year i've grown a garden. it's gone pretty well. i can't wait to tweak and do it again next year.

23. i love the county fair!

24. i took piano lessons from age 4 - 13. i'm not very good. i sang in a chorus from 6th grade - college. i'm great in a chorus, but you don't really want to hear me sing solo. i'm awesome at reading music/sight reading, but not a very good musician.

25. i like lists

26. i can't figure out whether or not i'm detail-oriented. i'm drawn to detail-oriented things and i'm extremely observant, but sometimes i think i might be more of a big-picture person. it makes me wonder if that's a liability in a detail-oriented job?

27. i'm full of opposites. extreme opposites. sometimes it's difficult to decide which direction to go.

28. i'm addicted to multi-grain cheerios

29. chocolate--i could take it or leave it.

30. i'm still sad ron paul didn't get a serious shot at the presidency.

31. old school tv is the best tv--the cosby show, sesame street, reading rainbow, seinfeld. good stuff

32. i love oldies music and am dumbfounded as to why "music city" doesn't have an oldies station anymore

33. i haven't had cable since getting married (over 7 years ago) and have rarely missed it. i really think more about how nice it'd be to not have the bunny ears than missing the channels.

34. i'm so not a stay at home mom kind of girl. but you couldn't pay me enough to make me go to work full time right now. i adore my little girl.

35. however, i can't wait for her to go to school and return to work full time.

36. i haven't decided whether my college education was worth the price or not...i'm glad for the experience and the people i met, but my student loan debt is really quite ridiculous.

37. at different times, i have wished to be black and i have wished to be amish (don't think being both at the same time is an option?)

38. i'm nervous about my daughter growing up to be Southern

39. my parents instilled a deep love for farming in me from their experiences. however, i'm not sure i would know what to do on one (though i could adapt quickly, i'm sure)

40. i'm convinced that people are more alike than anyone realizes. you're not as weird or original or normal or sane or crazy or busy or poor or important or fat or pale as you think you are. people are people and we all want to be loved and heard. we all want to chase our dreams and be free.

41. i'm addicted to the internet, namely facebook.

42. i can quickly name the few furnishings in our house that we bought brand new. most of our possessions were bought 2nd hand or given to us as gifts.

43. deep down, i really like myself. i like who i am, where i'm from, where i've been, and where i'm going. i'm proud of this, as i know it's rare for a girl to be ok with herself. however, i run into trouble when i try to over-analyze whether other people like me or not. i'm insanely harsh on myself in that manner.

44. some days i think i could live in a commune.

45. other days i think i could live in a huge multi-million dollar home with the best of everything in it.

46. i'm sure i'll never do either.

47. i really wish i could read other people's minds. it would probably calm my nerves a bit

48. i love cottage cheese. large curd is the best.

49. i'm thankful for parents who taught their children to chase their dreams, even though they were not encouraged, even discouraged, to chase theirs. because of this, they have 3 independent, well-adjusted, artistic, talented children who are raising children of the same characteristics.

50. i'm wondering if i can come up with 50 more things...

51. i wish more women would educate themselves about the beautiful, incredible journey of pregnancy and childbirth. i wish more nurses and doctors would coach women through doing the very thing their bodies are designed to do. i wish women didn't fear birth and look for an escape from it. and i wish i could talk more about it without fear of deeply offending someone.

52. i have a love of history and heritage, though i'm just now beginning to discover my own.

53. i really hate when giant SUVs and trucks ride my tail or cut me off. i'm usually cruising at 5-10 miles over the speed limit and i'm very good at signaling and only using the left lane to pass. BACK. OFF.

54. i constantly think and pray about persecuted christians around the world. i can't imagine what their life must be like.

55. i'm pretty good at knowing music and years and singers/bands. i'm horrible at movies and actors. if it's not tom hanks or julia roberts, i pretty much don't know who they are. even if you can tell me all the movies they've been in (and even if i've seen those movies) i'm at a loss.

56. i hate soap operas...on tv and in real life.

57. i have no problem telling people no. i refuse to be so super stressed in my life that i miss enjoying it. i refuse to be guilt-tripped into taking on more than i can handle. i have to pull jared back on this sometimes too.

58. we recycle more than we throw away. i'm not necessarily a tree-hugger, nor do i believe that humans can permenantly destroy the earth. (i believe the Creator is bigger than us) i just think it's irresponsible and senseless to waste our resources.

59. i'm emotionally connected to money. i'm not greedy and i don't need much, but i need to know that the ends will meet each month. in the same way, i love to give money and be generous. i can't wait to be debt free and really have money to give away anonymously, individually, in a way that will really make someone's day.

60. every time i work in the dirt, "Hammer and a Nail" by Indigo Girls gets stuck in my head.

61. i still consider tricia as my best girl friend. we were at a birthday party in 8th grade and both our best friends had moved away that summer...everyone was paired up with their best friends, so we decided we would be best friends. it stuck. all through high school, even though we ran with completely different circles. after high school, we've never lived in the same state, but we've remained in touch. i absolutely love and admire her in so many ways and her friendship is priceless. i hope one day we can see each other on a regular basis again (though neither of us wants to move to the other's region of the country..)

62. i love the "life is good" brand. though i'm kind of a poser. it's meant for the outdoorsy type...which i'm not.

63. jared wants us to go hiking soon on this trial he knows. it's 10 miles long on semi-mountainous terrain and requires spending the night in a tent. i'm getting excited about it.

64. i don't grieve alena moving through the years. some moms are so sad their kids aren't babies anymore. but i've spent almost every moment with her. i've enjoyed each stage she's gone through and i'm excited as she grows and learns and moves into new stages.

65. i can't put my face in the water without holding my nose. (though i've never gone as far as to try a nose clip...)

66. i boycott walmart but shop target regularly. i realize there's not really any difference other than the press coverage. (but hey, it's been more than 3 years on this walmart thing, why break the streak?)

67. i LOVE the fall, though i'm not a fan of halloween

68. i LOATHE winter. after new year's i'm ready for warmer temps. there's simply just no such thing as "too hot"

69. sometimes i run the AC with the windows open (esp. in the car) b/c i want to take the edge off the heat, but hate the thought of missing a warm summer day in the sterile AC.

70. i absolutely adore my husband. he's my best friend and we've grown so much together during the 10 years we've known each other (coming up on 11!) i've never once wondered if i married the right guy. he surprises me daily.

71. i have vivid, crazy, often scary dreams regularly.

72. in my head i think i really like fashion and decorating magazines, but i'm usually disappointed once i read one...

73. i really like going to the tanning bed. i don't want to be orange, i don't go every year and i've never gone more than about 3 months in a row. but i love un-paling my skin, i love the smell and i love the relaxation of just being warm and listening to music for 20 min uninterrupted. i know it's bad.

74. my passion in life is planning events and weddings. i thrive on it, i get a high from it. once i discovered it, thinking about doing anything else is just second rate.

75. i consider lauren my next best girl friend. even though we spent maybe one year of college together? i think she's a full 4 years younger than me. since then, we've also never lived in the same state. but i also love and admire her so much. we're taking a cruise with her and her husband this fall and i CAN. NOT. WAIT!!

76. i don't do things until i can fully do it. i have a ton of projects on my to-do list, but unless i know exactly what i'm going to do and have the time, money and resources to really do it, i don't even start. i'm trying to break this list into smaller steps...b/c we've been in a house for 3 years with this list undone. this summer i'm going to come pretty close to getting this list knocked out.

77. i have a fear of settling for mediocrity. in faith, in job, in life. i was told i could shoot for the moon and go for the best. i took it personally. i'm perplexed at other people who just meander aimlessly through life.

78. i have no secrets. i'll tell you anything (about me) if you show interest.

79. some of my fav bands right now are carbon leaf, the wood brothers and gomez. (and i have plans on learning more about iron and wine) thanks to nashville's independent station WRLT for introducing me to these.

80. i really do love a lot of things about nashville (though i'm not a fan of country music nor the materialism that flows from certain parts of town)

81. i have plans to get a very small sea turtle tattoo somewhere on my right foot/inside ankle this summer. this summer is coming to a close, i need to get on it!

82. i would totally dread my hair if there was a way to later un-dread my hair without shaving my hair off

83. it doesn't really occur to me to break the rules until someone shows it to me. i don't mean questioning authority (i can do that!) i mean smaller things like due dates or dress codes or no eating/parking/changing-the-room-temp kind of rules.

84. alena has never (to my knowledge) had a sucker. i know...you can see how miserable her life is, huh?

85. my hair is naturally curly. i have no desire to make it straight. my hair also has A LOT of gray already. i have no desire to let it be visible.

86. i really like to eat. seriously. though now i'm on weight watchers to lose 20-25 pounds to get back to where i was in high school and college. but my goodness, i love food.

87. i grew up assuming i would attend the same college my dad and brother graduated from. i didn't. sometimes i feel like i didn't get the full college experience since it didn't match my childhood picture of college.

88. one of my favorite jobs was working in a bridal shop after graduating from college for $8/hr and no benefits.

89. i get really creeped out if i stare at the stars too long. the infinity of it all overwhelms me.

90. i'm a morning person..not early morning, but i really hate being awake for very long after it's dark. in the winter, i'm annoyed that i have to stay awake after dark for so long...

91. i've never felt as loved and accepted as i did in FL by our church family and co-workers. we recently visited and though we moved away 4 years ago (and it had been a year and 1/2 since we had visited) it was like we had never left.

92. my soul is at peace when i can sit and look at water, be it the lake behind my neighborhood or the ocean.

93. i like to play board games, but i hate getting competitive about it. this puts me in the minority around my husband's family

94. i love bright funky colors...think key west

95. i realized a few years ago that i could never, ever keep up with the joneses...and after a while i realized i didn't even want to. so i quit trying. sometimes i feel inadequate. but the stress is gone.

96. brugges, belgium is one of the most beautiful towns i've ever seen

97. standing on normandy beach was one of the most sobering experiences in my life

98. "comfort food" for me is anything from a restaurant.

99. local places beat national chain places. hands down, regardless of the type of establishment. (however, familiarity and convenience finds me visiting the chains more often than i would like to admit)

100. i will re-read this and edit it a few times before publishing it...all the while wondering if i shouldn't just delete it altogether.