Gone

I have Julie's birthday to update as well as a weekend road trip with some girlfriends, but I haven't had time to edit any pictures from those events and I'm heading out of town. I'll be visiting family for a week or so, but will more than likely have LOTS of pictures to post when I get back. Have a great week!

Happy 300! (And a giveaway!)

Last night my friend Summer stopped by with a small package for me. Inside it was a small bag of lemon blossoms (which I sadly don't have a picture of because they're already gone), and this cute little setup:
I had forgotten that I had commented back in February on a blog post of hers with a Pay It Forward Exchange in it. Summer was bringing me my handmade gift. So now it's time for me to pay it forward.

And it's perfect timing, because this, my friends, is my 300th post on this blog! I wanted to do something special for it, and now I get to!

The Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie Pay it Forward. I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF Exchange. All the gifts will be made and posted out sometime within the next month. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return is "pay it forward" by making the same promise on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward recipients.

So, let the commenting begin! I don't guarantee that my handmade gift will be a crafty thing...I'm not super crafty. It might, however, be edible!

Sock monkeys

Hey everyone. Just a quick note before I head out of town and forget. I have a friend doing a giveaway on her blog this week. She makes sock monkeys, and they're super cute. Head on over to this post at Two Lovelies to enter.

Thankful November: Day 11

Today I am thankful for YOU! I am thankful for my friends, my family, my readers. I hit 5,000 page views on my blog yesterday. I haven't had the counter up since I started the blog, so that's not an accurate count since its inception, but 5,000 is a great number nonetheless.

I want to know

For several months after Julie was born, my only blog entries seemed to be pictures of her. Now I seem to have gone the other direction...I write a lot, but don't post too many pictures. I'm trying to find a good balance, but in the meantime, I wanted to post this survey.

Why do you read my blog? Please vote, and share input in the comments section if you have any input. Thanks!

poll by twiigs.com

Friday Feature: Blog Stuff

Since most of you reading my blog are bloggers yourselves, I thought it would be fun today to share some blog-related stuff in my feature.

Who likes a boring blog? A plain layout? Blah! Fun layouts are much better. Here are some sites with fun cool blog layouts.

Allie Brown's Layouts

Izzy Grace Blog Backgrounds

Kindra's Blogging Designs

Sam's Scraps

Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates

Smitten Blog Designs

I've saved two for the very end. One is my favorite, and another is new-found, and I really like it a lot.

Shel's Scraps has a really fun layout itself. I think you can generally trust a blog layout website if you like its own design. Her designs are simple, but not boring; basic, but not plain; familiar, but not common.

Leelou Blogs is the site I've used for my last several layouts. I like hers because they are different from the same basic template that you see so many others made from (think "Cutest Blog on the Block...they're basically all the same basic underlying design). Her patterns are different, textured, and fun! She recently launched a new design on her site, and is doing custom orders. As part of her launch, she did a week of giveaways (so if you visit her site, you'll probably have to scroll through a bunch of posts to get to actual blog layouts, or you can click on the 'free layouts' button on the header). Leelou is also LDS and has several blinky-type buttons that you can put on your sidebar that are related to the Church.

Happy blogging!

Thankful November: Day 1

Since Thanksgiving is this month, I decided to focus a little each day of November on something for which I am thankful. This isn't entirely original, I know, but I think it will be good for me.

Today I am thankful for blogging. Maybe that sounds shallow to many of you, but it's a good outlet for me. I wouldn't even be focusing on gratitude this month at all if I didn't have this specific method of expression. It kind-of keeps me accountable.

I'm thankful for both the opportunity to blog and to read other people's blogs. I'm a terrible letter writer, so I'm sure my family is thankful for my blog as well.

Friday Feature: Me!

Okay, yeah, I'm talking about me today.

Wow...I think there are only two people still reading this. That's okay. I like talking about me, so I'll keep going for my own benefit.

I have three other blogs besides this one. You may be somewhat familiar with one or more of them already, but if not, here you go, in the order in which I started them.


The Kitchen Counter

The Kitchen Counter is a food-related blog (I know...big surprise, right?) It is a collaborative effort with a few other friends of mine, though I'm mostly the one who posts to it.


Snapshots by Janelle

I enjoy photography. I don't do a lot of people pictures (other than of Julie), but I enjoy photography things. This is where I show it off.


My Inkstand

I also enjoy writing (as evidenced by my multiple blogs). I occasionally get an itch for creative writing, but it's usually just rambling, so I didn't want to take up space here with it.

Tag #4: Pictures

This is the tag that I saw on a random blog I read (which I can't find now) and just thought was kinda fun.

Open your pictures folder. Click on the 4th sub-folder, and post the 4th photo.
This is at a Boy Scout Court of Honor earlier this year:
Okay, now open the 6th sub-folder, and post the 6th folder.
These are my fish. Actually, one of them had since died. I'm not sure which one.
Okay, anyone that I have not yet tagged, if you are up for it, have at it!

Whew, I'm done with my tags! Finally.

Tag #3: Christmas 2006

Okay, for this tag, I was hit by Laura. I just have to post some pictures from Christmas 2006. I know that I have more pictures from this year, but I can't seem to find any other than our Christmas tree. So here it is. Enjoy.



I tag Sarah, Rachel, Rachel, Lori, and Summer.

Tag #2: We all know I'm quirky...

My second tag came from Kellie.

The Rules for playing TAG:

*Link to the person who tagged you
*Post the rules on your blog
*Write six random things about yourself
*Tag six-ish people at the end of your post
*Let each person know he/she has been tagged
*Let the tagger know when your entry is up

1. This is a little gross, but I'll share it nonetheless. I get bloody noses in the winter. Even with a humidifier, I get really dried out, especially with the wind in Cleveland. I've already had two this season.
2. I get unnaturally obsessed with pumpkin this time of year (just ask Ben). I do not like pumpkin pie, but I love everything else pumpkin that I've tried. This year my problem has been that I've had too much to choose from. (By the way, if you want a really yummy pumpkin ice cream, go to Cold Stone...it's super yummy!)
3. I really don't like winter, or cold but (there are two "but"s) I couldn't help but get a little excited last night when we had our first snow, and I think it's better to be cold than to be hot because you can always put another layer on (but when you're hot you can only take so many layers off).
4. I don't like pancakes. Or maple syrup.
   
5. This may be surprising to anyone who has known me less than 10 years. I used to get offended very easily. My shell has toughened up a little in the last few years, but I used to be very defensive and very sensitive.
6. I love Strawberry Shortcake. My mom saved all my SS toys from when I was a little girl, and brought them out to me in Cleveland earlier this year. I have several "house" accessories, not to mention numerous plastic figurines that are still scented.

I tag Meghan, Jordy, Jeannie, Carissa, Ashlee, and Lisa.

Tag #1: What am I reading?

Holy taggedness! I have been tagged three-and-a-half times in the last few weeks. (The half is on a blog where the author said, "If you want to do it, then you're tagged" and I thought it was a fun one, so I'm doing it.)

So this is the first tag. I was tagged by Lisa, whom I've only ever met once, but I used to be good friends with her husband (before they were married) when I lived in Oregon.

Rules:

1. Get the book that's on your nightstand (or whatever you happen to be reading).
2. Open it to page 56 and find the 5th sentence.
3. Post the next couple of sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
4. Do not go and find your favorite book; it has to be the one you are reading now!
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

Book: The Book of Mormon
Page 56: 2 Nephi chapter 1
Sentence (verse) 5:

29 But if ye will not hearken unto him I take away my first blessing, yea, even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him.


For the book tag, I tag Kellie, Jerie, Laura, Katie, and Candice.

Friday Feature: Scribbit

Okay, you're probably wondering if I typed that right. If you're not wondering that, you're probably repeating the word several times, because it feels weird on your mouth or on your tongue.

Scribbit | A Blog About Motherhood In Alaska is a blog written by a "real" mother (not a supermom). She lives in Anchorage, and among her blog praises are the following:

• Scribbit was ranked second in the list of forty most popular parent blogs by Mamablogga
• She was ranked fifth on the list of ten Top Motherhood Blogs in the Wall Street Journal
  
• She has been interviewed on 5 Minutes for Mom several times
• She was a speaker at BlogHer 2008
• In May 2008, Blogger.com featured her as a "Blog of Note" on their homepage

Michelle (Scribbit's author and creator) has a schedule that she has been following for over three years since she started her blog: recipes on Sunday, photo and a household tip on Wednesday, random lists on Thursday, and a product review and/or giveaway on Saturday. The rest of the days she fills in. She also conducts a monthly writing contest. Scribbit quickly became one of my favorite blogs once I found it. I'm guessing it will be the same for you.

More of me?

A friend of mine recently became a blogger over at Today.com (not the Today Show). She gets paid for this. One dollar per post, and more money as more page views rack up. Her husband is in school, they have three children, and she stays home. She has a passion for writing, and does it well. She has plans for writing books even, and (I believe) is actually in the process of doing so.

Not to be a copycat, but I could use the extra income over here. We have school loans to pay off, mortgage payments, and a savings account to build up. I enjoy blogging (obviously). I enjoy writing. I'm just not sure I could be consistent and original enough to carry on two regular blogs, and I don't want to just post the same things there as I do here. (To clarify, I might share similar anecdotes, but I would be careful about anonymity.)

I'm just kind-of rambling here (obviously...that's another thing I occasionally enjoy). Any thoughts from my readers?

Limited edition

Welcome to my new blog layout. Please enjoy it while you can, as it will switch to something Christmas-ish around Thanksgiving.

Friday Feature: For the crafty girl

I’m not a huge crafter. I would like to me more of a crafter, but not an excessive crafter. Most crafting type blogs that I find out there are a little too over-the-top for my taste, but there are a few gems that I have stumbled across that I would like to share.

First is Unnecessary Necessities. I first noticed a link to it on a friend’s blog (I think it’s maybe someone that she knows personally), and was immediately attracted to the fun blog name. The author finds her ideas across the internet and blogosphere and shares her favorites. There are some that I’m not too interested in, and others that I love, like this idea for making a tray with a picture frame. Most of her crafts are relatively simple, and often (like the tray), versatile as well. I am often hesitant to make something that isn’t versatile enough.

Second up is Grace Violet. I love her ideas. There have been one after another that I have just wanted to copy. She made a decorative cash wallet (which I want to make for carrying coupons in, so I actually USE coupons), a set of flashcards with scrapbook paper and plastic name badge holders, and a covered baby wipes case. Her website is simple in design and not distracting, making it easy to focus on her projects. To me, these are “real people crafts,” not super-mom things.

Lastly I have The Shabby Nest. I found this blog through a suggestion from my Google Reader, but I stayed because I was drawn to her simple “cutified” (to steal her word) clipboards. Most “cute” clipboards that I see look like someone threaded a mop through the handle and the top and tied a pen on. If that’s your style, more power to you, but it is most definitely NOT my style. The author of this blog lives in Maine, which most of you know is where I lived before I moved to Cleveland. New England décor is relatively simple but very cute. I’m not sure how to best describe it, but she’s got it. I really like it, and her crafts seem to go along with her home.

Are you working on any crafty projects?

Friday Feature: Google Reader

If you haven't yet discovered the convenience of Google Reader, boy have you been missing out!

Up until about six weeks ago, I individually checked over 50 blogs a day do updates. That only included people I actually knew, not even any cooking blogs or craft blogs or people-I-didn't-know-but-still-liked-to-read blogs. It got to be very inconvenient and tedious, as only a small handful of my blogging friends update their blogs every day.

Then one day, I discovered Google Reader, and life hasn't been the same since then. Basically, you "subscribe" to all the blogs you read, and anytime there is a new post on one of them, it will show up in your reader, without you having to check each page individually!

Pros:

1. Saves time, saves clicking.
2. Lets you sort your subscriptions and assign tags.
3. Lets you flag entries that you want to keep track of or refer back to.
4. You only have to check one website to check all your blogs.

Cons:

1. If you subscribe to any blog that is "private" (such as mine) where you have to login to read it, you are not able to subscribe to that blog because there is no feed. You still have to check it manually.
2. You cannot see blog layouts (I don't know...this may be a "pro" for some people), including sidebar components, music, etc.
3. You cannot comment on blog posts from the Reader window. You have to click through to the blog (really easy) if you want to leave a note.
   

Both pros and cons: Suggests other sites to subscribe to based on your current subscriptions and your browsing history. Pro because it gives you great new sites to read. Con because (1) you may not like what it's suggesting (i.e., I subscribed to the Red Sox news feed, and now it keep suggesting tons of sports updates for me; I subscribed to one or two crafty-type blogs, and now it suggests tons of them to me, even though I'm not generally a crafty person and am very particular about the ones I do like); and (2) you may like what it's suggesting and end up subscribing to too many (I now am subscribed to 27 cooking/food blogs or websites, only 7 or so of which I read prior to my Google Reader days).

You can find the Google Reader here.

Friday Feature: SSB

I am trying to get myself to blog more. Perhaps that's not the best way to say it. I'm trying to get myself to write about more than "Julie blinked her eyes today...it was so cute!" I realize I'm exaggerating with that example, but I enjoy writing, and I enjoy blogging, and I haven't done much of either lately. I've decided to give scheduling a try. A specific thing on certain days of the week. And because alliteration is a blogger's best bud, Fridays will be Feature days. I haven't done a feature in a few weeks.

It's time I highlight a seriously funny blog. Seriously, So Blessed! is a satire blog about LDS mom bloggers, specifically of the Utah Valley variety. The author is entirely anonymous (even her friends don't know she's the genius behind it), but entirely brilliant. She makes excellent (and very enthusiastic) use of exclamation marks, smiley faces, and acronyms. She calls herself TAMN -- Tiffany/Amber/Megan/Nicole, and she is married to JJWT -- Jordan/Jason/Wes/Taylor, who is in law/dental/business/medical school. She enjoys stampin', Cafe Rio, GNO's, manis/pedis, modest bikinis, and growing the "hottest fetus ever." She treats her blog as her journal, because after all, it is for posterity's sake. Wow, I sound like an announcer for a dating game show.

The woman behind SSB was on KSL TV in Utah this week. You can watch the clip here (there is an ad that will run before it actually starts).

Be prepared to laugh at yourself when you read this blog. Whether you want to or not, you will find some of yourself there. Somewhere. As much as you may not want to.

Silent auctions

Many of you have heard about the tragedy that recently befell the family of popular LDS blogger NieNie. With medical bills expected to reach well into the millions after this accident, things begin to look even bleaker for the Nielson family. Another blogger has declared today "NieNie Day" and silent auctions are being held all over the web to help raise money for the family.

Here are some that I know of:

Sugar City Journal: A friend of mine from Connecticut who, with her sister, makes children's clothes. She is auctioning off a very cute servant tunic shirt.

Sarah: A friend here in Ohio who is joining her sisters in their efforts. Sarah is offering a custom bunting for your child's room.

The Ponytail Challenge: A great blog for those of you who haven't heard of it yet (I won't explain it here, but take a look sometime. She has collected auction items from many of her readers and is holding her own auction with them. I have included a link to her blog, rather than a permalink to a particular post, as she has listed each auction item separately.

Mormon Mommy Wars: Also a fun blog to check out sometime. A similar setup (auction-wise) as The Ponytail Challenge...they have collected several items from many of their readers and are auctioning them from a central website.

Finally, Design Mom: The woman who put together this massive web-wide auction. She has a comprehensive listing of all the auctions happening today of which she is aware.

The original blog that started all of this: NieNie Dialogues. Currently it is being updated by the author's sister, c jane. You can visit cjanerun for more updates.

One final note. If you would like simply to donate to the cause, please click the button below.

100 Things About Me

It is a blogging tradition (supposedly) to create a post that is 100 things about the author. This I knew. I recently learned that the idea, apparently, is to make it be your 100th post. I've past that by about 50 now, so I thought I would make it be another momentous post. I began blogging one year ago today. Happy Blogoversary to me! Anywho, a few of you may actually get to the bottom of this. Fewer still may do it in one sitting. I hope you enjoy. If there's anything I've learned while creating this list, it's that Disney apparently has a metaphor for everything in life.

1. I was a Girl Scout for 13 years. I know my cookies!
2. My mom is a twin.
3. I love to read. My grandma once gave me the entire old school hardback Nancy Drew collection, which I stashed a few at a time under the far side of my bed with a flashlight. Then my mom found them and gave them all back to her mom. I was very upset for a long time.
4. I like jigsaw puzzles.
5. I have a birthmark shaped like the United States of America, except it looks like Florida fell off.
6. I speak Spanish fluently (though I'm pretty rusty now...okay, maybe I used to be able to speak Spanish fluently). I also can read Spanish, and some Portuguese.
7. I was the kid that everyone made fun of in grade school, right up through the end of my Freshman year of high school, when my family moved.
8. I have lived in 6 states: California, Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, Maine, and Ohio. I am not a military brat.
9. I have traveled through over half of the states in the union: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming.
10. Despite growing up in Southern California, and having lived in Maine, I have never traveled to either Mexico or Canada, or any other country outside my own.
11. My favorite color is purple.
12. I would love to write short stories, but I have a hard time thinking up a story line (if you give me a good topic that I like, I might be able to take off with it).
13. I've lost my voice before from singing too many camp songs in a week.
14. I look horrible in the color orange.
15. I hate wearing yellow gold jewelry. It doesn't look good on my super-pale skin.
16. I have hiked "Y Mountain" in Provo, UT twice.
17. I love karaoke (but you probably don't want to hear it).
18. I am a Jeopardy! junkie (except that I don't get ABC right now).
19. I sang "My Favorite Things" as a solo in a talent show when I was 6 years old.
20. I love Christmas music.
21. I took piano lessons for 6 years, and started playing when I was in 3rd grade, but I can't accompany singing except to one or two hymns.
22. I hate watching sports, but I can't tear myself away from the Olympics. My favorite Summer events to watch are swimming, diving, and gymnastics. My favorite Winter events are all figure skating ones.
23. I would love to travel the world someday. I want to see Paris, St. Peter's cathedral, and go all over Spain and Italy. There are a lot of places within the USA that I want to see as well.
24. I say that I don't like pink, but I really do like it. Secretly. Shhh…don't tell anyone!
25. I am ticklish, but I can also turn it off when I want to.
26. The bathrooms in the first house I ever lived in were ugly dark brown (mine) and ugly mint green (my parents').
27. I once crank-called Hooked on Phonics when I was 13.
28. I had a recurring childhood dream in which I was the proud owner of Starlight, Rainbow Brite's prized horse. It was actually a nightmare, but for a different reason: a toucan was trying to bite my head off (literally) for sitting on him. I think I must have eaten too much Froot Loops as a child, because the bird looked strangely like Toucan Sam, although it wasn't. It was some other large talking animated bird.
29. I have seen the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from the front row in New York City.
30. I have only been to one concert. I saw Green Day and Jimmy Eat World.
31. I love to cook. I especially like to sing and dance while I cook.
32. I can eat a whole bag of Twizzlers in one sitting without getting sick. (Except for black licorice -- the only way I like black licorice is in Good & Plenty candies.)
33. My favorite candy bar is Skor, and I love to eat the chocolate coating off, and then eat the sticky hard toffee by itself.
34. I would love to learn to play acoustic guitar, but my hands are too small. I'm content to listen to it instead.
35. Earthquakes give me a rush. I think they're fun.
36. I know the meaning of the word "Sesquipedalian." I should. My husband is one. (You're going to go look that up now, aren't you?)
37. I love black and white photography. Sometime soon, I want to experiment with it.
38. I'm a two-time college dropout. I know, not really something to be proud of.
39. Jack-o-lanterns are fun. My favorite part of making them is toasting and eating the pumpkin seeds.
40. I once knew a girl whose first name was January. I also knew a girl whose name was Wednesday (she went by Wendy).
41. I love cheese. Except Swiss.
42. I don't use a cell phone.
43. I hate stupid people. You know the ones I'm talking about. The people that call the doctor's office the first day their throat hurts, in the middle of fall/winter, and ask "Is there something going around?" Yes, there's something going around. There is always something going around.
44. In high school, I lettered in Speech. I kinda like to talk.
45. I love surprises. Of the good kind. I especially like to surprise other people. Little things make a big difference. Big things do, too. The problem with trying to surprise me though, is that if I have any idea that you've got something up your sleeve, I'll figure it out. Just ask Ben -- he's learned that he can't even hint at Christmas gifts because I'll guess them in advance, even though he doesn't acknowledge that I'm right.
46. Swing dancing is fun.
47. I have two favorite scents at Bath & Body Works: Pink Grapefruit in the summer, and Black Raspberry Vanilla in the winter.
48. I still remember the phone number to the very first house I ever lived in: 714-956-9199.
49. When Julie was born, my water broke on a Friday night, but my body didn’t go into labor, so I didn’t go to the hospital until Monday afternoon (not knowing that my water had broken). They induced me in the hospital, but ended up doing a c-section anyway because I wasn't dilating and they were worried about infection. Ben says I should have all our kids that way, because then I can claim that I’d had three (or whatever) kids and never went into labor.
50. I love cold water. I drink at least one glass with dinner every night, and another full glass before bed. Super cold water. I crave it, but mostly in the evenings.
51. I love the TV series The West Wing. We own all seven seasons. Until I married Ben, I had never seen an episode all the way through. He got me hooked on it, but now I’m a bigger fan than he is. Sometimes when Ben and I are having a conversation, and I can’t think of a good way to explain something, I’ll compare it to a scene from the West Wing. Art imitates life.
52. My favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo.
53. I am still in contact with a good friend that I met when I was in second grade, seven years old. Not many people can say that (especially having lived in five other states since that time).
54. When I sleep, I have to have a sheet or blanket over me. No matter how hot or sticky it is, I still have to have a sheet over at least my legs, although I prefer to have it tucked right up under my chin.
55. I have never broken a bone. I have sprained both ankles and dislocated my right elbow, but never broken anything.
56. Until recently, the only surgery I’d ever had was when I had my wisdom teeth extracted. But now I’ve had a c-section. That was also my first and only hospitalization.
57. I’m really good at the game “Taboo.” Game night, anyone?
58. My first car was a 1988 Chrysler New Yorker that I bought for $1200 in 1999 with only 82,000 miles on it.
59. Places I’ve worked: the Post Office, the mall (See’s Candies, an interior decorating store, The Limited Too, and a knock-off sunglasses kiosk), Crown Plaza Hotel, two doctor’s offices, a school district board of education, and Tri-C Corporate College.
60. I love Mexican food. I really love it. I’m getting pretty good at making it, too.
61. When I was in second grade, I wrote a paper about what I wanted to be when I grew up: a stewardess. If I wasn’t married and didn’t have a daughter, I would still be interested in it for the travel benefits.
62. When I was registering for 7th grade, my 6th grade teacher wouldn’t recommend me for Pre-algebra because the teacher at the junior high school “didn’t like girls.” So instead, she recommended me for 8th grade math, which I aced as a 7th grader. That teacher recommended me for Algebra in 8th grade, skipping over Pre-algebra entirely (same anti-girl teacher). I took it, and got a C+. That teacher had a policy that he wouldn’t recommend any student for Honors Geometry if they didn’t have a B- or better. So I re-took Algebra in summer school that year. When my teacher over the summer had to miss a day or two of class, he told the substitute to just use my test (we had a test every day) as the key to correcting all the other tests. First day of high school, I transferred from my normal Geometry class to the Honors class. I also have 5 years of math on my high school transcript as a result of this.
63. I am incapable of blowing my nose discreetly. I honk like a goose. I just can’t do it effectively and also quietly.
64. My sister and I once broke a bed. I was sleeping on a trundle bed at the time, so it didn’t have a solid frame. We were goofing around on Christmas Eve, and suddenly one end collapsed under us, which of course set off a further string of giggles. Oh yeah, this was only 4 years ago.
65. When I was 24, my sister was 16, my brother was 12, and my dad was 48. He was twice as old as me, three times as old as my sister, and four times as old as my brother.
66. I was always the youngest kid in my class, since my birthday is in late November.
67. I can’t watch E.T. I'm told that a family member took me to see it in the movie theater when I was only 2 years old and it apparently traumatized me. As a kid I could never watch it without being scared and crying. When I was 19, I had a boyfriend who thought I was big enough to get over that, and he decided that we were going to watch it one night. He wouldn’t let me say no. I cried the whole movie. I was still scared. I will never watch it again.
68. On the flip side, I have been watching Oklahoma since I was three years old, and I’ll go you word-for-word on the dialogue and the music.
69. My dad and I once drove cross-country (Oregon to Connecticut) in four days. We did it in an eleven-year-old dying minivan named Lulabelle. She lived with us until she was 17, then went to live with another family. She went through something like seven transmissions in her first 10 years (never buy Chrysler).
70. When I was younger, one of my aunts on my mom’s side was known to us as “Aunt Booger” because she taught us how to pick our noses (not that kids need help learning). She used to teach us, “You can pick your nose, you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your friends’ noses.” She once sent me a birthday card with pictures on the outside of people picking their noses. It said “You may think it’s funny when your nose is runny. You may think it’s funny…(open card) but it’s snot.”
71. I was nearly 22 years old before I learned how to ride a bike.
72. When I was five or six years old, I split my chin open on some bricks at a birthday party and had to have stitches. Those are the only stitches I ever had until I was 23, and fell off my bike. I split my chin open and had to have stitches in exactly the same spot. The doctor told me that the chin is the most commonly stitched-up spot on the body.
73. My lucky number is 13. I don’t think I’ve ever had a “bad” Friday the 13th.
74. I was born on the 17th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
75. I once laid on the floor of a one-room apartment in “the ghetto” for an hour while a police shootout went on outside. No kidding.
76. My dream house has a library/music room that would remind you of the library in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Obviously, it wouldn’t be that big, but there are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, floor-to-ceiling windows, darker décor, a baby grand piano, a sofa and some fancy wing back chairs.
77. If I’m making a recipe that calls for cinnamon, I always put in extra. I get this from my mom.
78. I love to cook (as previously mentioned), but I hate planning meals the day of. I have to plan out a week’s worth or so at a time, otherwise I’ll go back and forth with Ben like the vultures in Disney’s The Jungle Book: “What do you want for dinner?” “I don’t know. What do you want?” “I don’t know. What do you want me to make?” But I never seem to think about planning side-dishes. I do a lot of one-dish meals, and not enough veggies.
79. I have two secret guilty pleasures of the musical variety. You know you have yours. The ones that you don’t want to own up to or let other people know about. Mine are the Spice Girls and the Macarena.
80. I remember my great-great-grandmother.
81. I can pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time.
82. In my house, I am more likely to leave the toilet lid up than my husband is. He’s very good about putting down both the seat and the lid.
83. Although I never had any real pets when I was a kid (goldfish don’t count as “real”), I tell people that I had a pet turtle, but it ran away. I remember that there was a turtle I found in the backyard once, and I think I put him in a shoebox (on the patio, with no lid), and the next day he was gone. I think I was four or five.
84. When I chew gum, I tend to suck bubbles in rather than blow them out. This is partly because I don’t chew “bubble” gum, and partly just because I’m weird like that.
85. Because my birthday falls on the 22nd of November (if you hadn’t figured that out from #74, now you know), I am both a Scorpio and a Sagittarius. Most horoscopes will put me as a Sagittarius.
86. My ears are not pierced. When I was younger, I wanted them pierced and my mom told me that if God had wanted holes in my ears, He’d have put them there himself. A week before my wedding, I had my ears pierced (with my mom’s blessing…in fact, she paid for it), and I wore my new studs for almost six weeks before I had to take them out because my lobes were infected. I haven’t had them re-pierced, though I probably will someday.
87. It took me 3 days before I really got emotional about the birth of my daughter.
88. Going back to #1, I earned the Girl Scout Gold Award. This is the highest award given in scouting, and could be compared to a Boy Scout Eagle. I don’t know if this is still the case, but at the time, Boy Scouts earning their Eagle could count other people hours worked toward their total hours spent on the project. Girl Scouts earning their Gold Award cannot, thus making the Gold Award more challenging than an Eagle.
89. I love aquariums. I could stare at jellyfish for hours. I’ve been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA, one of the largest aquariums in the world.
90. On my right foot, I have two toes that are slightly webbed. It’s not hugely noticeable if you’re not looking for it, but it’s enough that I can’t wear toe socks.
91. Of all bugs and creatures I have ever had contact with, my least favorite is the cockroach. I hate even hearing someone say the word. It conjures up creepies and disgusting sounds. It makes me shudder like the hyenas in The Lion King.
92. I can’t give blood. I tried once, but the needle was too thick and they couldn’t get anything out of my veins. They tried several times, including jerking the needle around, which left me very bruised and sore. When I have to have blood drawn at the doctor’s office, I’m fine, because the needle is much smaller. I just have to look away as they put it in.
93. One of my earliest memories is when I was three years old and learned to tie my shoes. I was so excited that I showed my grandma when she came to visit the next day. She was so impressed that she told me, “You’re not supposed to know how to do that until you’re 5!” What I don’t remember is what happened the next morning, but as my mom tells the story, I got myself dressed the next morning and came to her, asking her to tie my shoes, “because I’m not s’posed to know how yet.”
94. I love to prepare meals with colorful food. If a recipe calls for two red bell peppers, I’ll use one red pepper and a yellow or orange one for the other. Why settle for one color when you can have lots more? And I’m really bitter about the fact that there are no truly blue foods (blueberries don’t count).
95. Unless I’m wearing a skirt (and even sometimes then, but only at home), I will almost always tuck one leg under the other when I sit down, even at the dinner table. Usually it’s the right under the left, until I realize I need to stretch the right out, in which case I then tuck the left leg under.
96. I am a night person.
97. You know how some people crack their knuckles? I crack my elbows. I’m sure it’s really bad for me. If you ever see me randomly throw my arm out, that’s probably what I’m doing.
98. I once went to an NBA game with my then-boyfriend, who had tickets from his work. We were watching the game, when he pointed to the 24-second shot clock and asked me what it was. He wasn’t really much into sports. I knew what it was though.
99. I met my husband at Fenway Park.
100. CDs I own and could listen to over and over again without skipping tracks:

• Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (soundtrack)
• Goo Goo Dolls: Dizzy up the Girl
• Eve 6: Eve 6
• Martina McBride: Greatest Hits
• Shakira: Grandes Èxitos
• Josh Groban: Josh Groban
• Lifehouse: Lifehouse
• Sarah Mclachlan: Mirrorball