I recently compiled a list of random things about me on my facebook page, but I thought I'd put it here too. Maybe I'll get around to doing one for Rennan and Charles.
1. I was a counselor at Oakcrest LDS Girls Camp in 1986 and the Craft Specialist there in 1987. My camp name was "Jazzie."
2. I worked at House of Fabric stores for about 10 years.
3. I was a nanny twice - one year in Huntington, Connecticut and 4 years in Chico, California. Both families were related. The mothers of the kids were sisters. I still am very close to both families, and all their aunts, uncles, and Grammy, Grampy, and Sita Rose. I have a whole family who are not really related to me, but who should be.
4. I am the oldest of 10 children.
5. I met my husband by putting a personal ad in a little newspaper in California - almost 14 years ago. He is amazing and treats me so well! He makes me happy!
6. My son, Rennan, was born almost 3 months early, and was 2 1/2 lbs. and 14 inches long. The nurses and doctors at the NICU at the University of Utah Hospital are actual angels!
7. My son, Rennan, and my husband, Charles, are the greatest source of joy in my life.
8. I secretly like it and think it's so funny when my 4 year old son says "oh my shit." I have to tell him not to say it, though, so I can keep my "mom card."
9. I have been a legal secretary for 11 years - and I can't think of any job I'd rather have (unless you count being a mom). I wish I had known what I wanted while I was in college, wasting a lot of time and money, and I would have gone to law school. My favorite thing is being in trial or going to hearings to watch the lawyers argue.
10. My favorite entertainment is to go out to restaurants.
11. I am on a quest for the perfect chocolate cake - so far, the best is Market Street Broiler.
12. I have loved sushi (the raw kind too) years before anyone ever told me it was supposed to be gross. I could eat nothing but Japanese food for the rest of my life and be completely happy. The only problem is that they don't do much with desserts. I can't live without chocolate cake. Someone needs to send a good chocolate cake recipe to Japan, then it would be perfect.
13. When I was a kid, I hated being from a big family, but now I LOVE IT! I have 9 built in best friends - and all their husbands and wives and kids! My favorite thing is when we are all together (which doesn't happen very often, since Alison and her family live in Georgia, Stefanie and her family live in Tennessee, and Rob and his family live in Puerto Rico). It's perfect to me when we are with my family - all the kids running around playing and having fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
14. I have a serious phobia of those haunted houses they make for Halloween. I also will not watch scary movies. I'm not afraid of ghosts, though, and like shows like Ghost Detectives. Go figure.
15. I love Glenn Beck. If they ever bring back polygamy, I am going to call him. Also Will Smith.
16. I am obsessed with everything from Ireland. I am probably about 1/16th Irish, but nobody else in my family thinks that's enough to claim, so I told them I will take all their portions of Irish, and they can be just English and German.
17. The sound of bagpipe music makes me cry. The song, Battle Hymn of the Republic makes me cry. I've never heard it played on the bagpipes, but if I did, I might explode.
18. I think Diet Coke is the most important invention of my lifetime.
19. I grew up in the same house my mother grew up in. It was the greatest old house in the world. My grandpa built it. It had a chicken coop in the backyard, and the laundry chute was situated so the dirty clothes landed in the bathtub in the basement bathroom. There were many times when I was in the tub or shower and someone threw their clothes down on me. I loved that house, though, and I really miss it.
20. I love reading - anything and everything I can get my hands on. If I don't have a book handy, I'll read my phone or the backs of cereal boxes. I also love to read legal deposition and hearing transcripts so I can find the "gotcha!" moments. I'm a legal nerd.
20. I once went into the men's bathroom at church to find out how the urinals flushed, and was caught coming out - by my dad!
21. I would be scared to have a little girl (I don't think I'd do well raising a smaller version of me - with all the emotions, drama, and hormones involved), but there are some times I wish I had a little girl to do girly stuff with, like painting her nails, dressing her in flowers and lace.
22. I sing in the car REALLY LOUD - sometimes songs from Broadway plays!
23. I played the flute all through school, until I was a junior in high school, and was first chair the whole time. I quit the day Marianne Pyper (Cutchins) - who is now my friend and on my facebook friends list (sorry Marianne!) - beat me out of first chair. Then I went into Concert Choir. I need to start playing my flute again.
24. I almost had decided not to have kids, until my brother and sister in law had their son, Legend, and when I fell in love with him, I decided my life would be empty without one of my own. Thanks, Legend, for being so wonderful!
25. I LOVE watching Sesame Street, whether Rennan is watching it or not.
26. If I decide I like someone, I will be their greatest cheerleader.
27. I love split pea soup - loaded with crackers.
28. When I was a kid, my dad used to make ham hocks and beans, and I thought he was trying to poison us, but now I love it - it reminds me of home.
29. After a lot of thought and prayer, I've decided the LDS Church is the only thing that makes sense to me. It's the "faith of my fathers."
30. When I was a kid, to punish me for doing something wrong, my mom used to hide the sewing machine pedal. That was the one thing that meant something to me.
31. If my brothers hadn't chosen their wives as my sisters-in-law, I would have chosen them as my best friends. I love them!
32. I don't have any in-laws, both of Charles' parents died before I met him, and he was an only child. I often feel really cheated about that, but it makes holidays easier.
33. I prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas. It's all about hanging out with the people you love, without the pressure and stress of shopping and it's not over in 15 minutes.
34. I love to collect shoes (especially high heeled ones with pointed toes), although, I generally go around in socks or bare feet.
35. I love it when Rennan climbs in bed with us in the middle of the night.
