25 Things

Here you go, MJH. This is what I ended up posting on Facebook. I was tagged by too many people to continue saying no...

1. Although I love reading these kinds of lists, I have never done one before. I got close once when Spleeness wrote 100 things about herself on her blog. I have a partial list still saved in my email draft folder. I think I started it 6 months ago and I'm on #39.

2. I am married to the most amazing person ever and I selfishly think that our "story" is the best story I've heard yet. He's my soul mate and I now know that a great relationship isn't about being able to compromise. It's about finding someone who wants the same things you do... no compromising needed.

3. Along the same lines as #2 I think our proposal story is incredible, though I LOVE to hear other people's stories on how they got engaged.

4. I want a tattoo but I don't think I'll ever get the courage to get one. They're so permanent! I haven't been able to shake the desire, though. Maybe my problem is that the design I want and the location varies from year to year. I want to be certain!

5. I love jewelry and sparkling things (which girl doesn't?) but I am just as happy receiving brightly colored leaf or odd shaped, smooth rock. I guess you could say that I appreciate beautiful things, both man-made and not.

6. I have an incredibly soul-full daughter who makes me smile so much it hurts my heart. In a good way. I am so lucky to have her in my life and I love seeing the world through her eyes. I can learn a lot from her.

7. My husband and I love to travel, though we haven't done so since Ellie was born. We love Europe the most, and have been to England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy and France together. It's hard to pick a favorite location since they were all do different, but I can honestly say that my favorite thing to see is churches.

8. I LOVE churches. Put me in a cute old church and I'm at peace. Put me in an old cathedral and I'm at awe. I find this a little strange because I wouldn't consider myself very religious. I can spend hours sitting in a church and just looking around, regardless of the size.

9. I wouldn't consider myself very religious but I do believe in God and Heaven, but I believe that there are many ways to get there. I find it hard to imagine that a loving God would condemn an entire group of good people for believing the wrong thing.

10. I loved being pregnant. I recall being able to touch my belly when I was stressed and I would calm down instantly. I wish I could say the same thing about the baby. She was a monster for the first 9 months of her life and I'm convinced she was more difficult than the average baby. If you asked me now, I would say it was worth the effort, but that doesn't mean I want to repeat it.

11. I do not cook but I did make my daughter's baby food. There will never be another time when she thinks highly of my food. Cooking baby food... that's easy. I like recipes that include "put veggies into blender and pour into ice cubes."

12. I am in Electrical Engineer by trade but it is not my passion. I have been fortunate enough to be involved in some incredible programs that will help a lot of people (both in preventing pain and improving the quality of their lives). I like applying my degree towards medical-related applications because I would never have the guts to be a doctor but I still want to help those who need it.

13. I used to write poetry. It was my form of medicine. I would write and it would make me feel better about anything that was bothering me. I haven't written a poem since writing my wedding vows. I guess I've just been too happy. I now keep a blog that is obsessed about my daughter instead.

14. I have recently come to the conclusion that it's not worth my time and effort to try to maintain old friendships or relationships with people I don't really like. Obligation or not, I have a hard enough time keeping up with those who I enjoy spending time with and who feel the same about me.

15. I am a scrapaholic. I swore I would never get into scrap booking but now there is no stopping me. It seems to go well with my need to have some aspect of my life be just perfect. I'm obsessed about making every page just right. It's an illness really. I recently took up card-making to help combat the effects of scrap booking.

16. I have very few friends. Hah! You may think differently based on how many Facebook friends I have. In the end, no matter how many great people I've met in the past and wish I could see more often, I really only have a few GOOD friends. I think I like it that way, which is good because the older I get the harder it is to find a good friend.

17. I'd like to consider myself as open-minded, but I admit that I have a problem judging those who I assume will judge me first. It's a vicious cycle, but I don't even like the THOUGHT of someone being judgmental.

18. I lived in Maryland for almost 8 years and always considered Colorado to be my home. However, since moving back to Colorado I have found myself missing Maryland more than I expected because that's where all of my memories with my husband (who happens to be from Colorado too) and family are.

19. One of my favorite things to do with my husband is to go searching for a cute town. A perfect cute town has a great old church, a town clock, old banks, train station and a bakery. So far I haven't found a better town than Ellicott City, MD.

20. My husband and I keep a global treasure hunt list of all the places we want to go. Some of the items we have gotten include a cow bell from Switzerland, a tea set from England and a glass rose from Venice.

21. I used to think I could keep a secret. My two biggest weaknesses are my husband and my sister. I can't think of anything that I haven't shared with my husband. If you don't want him to know, then please don't tell me.

22. I have always prided myself in being able to see past difference of opinions. I understand that not everyone thinks like I do because they have different experiences than me. Who am I to say their opinion isn’t valid? However, I have recently discovered the limit to this, mostly in regards to childhood vaccinations. Who would have known?

23. I've appreciated the small things in the world: snow, water, dew drops on leaves, the rustling of leaves in the wind, the tiny flowers above tree line, the patterns that you can find in rocks. In fact, it's literally one of the key reasons my husband fell for me. However, my daughter puts me to shame. She forces me to notice things I’ve forgotten about: how fun it feels to be out of control in an air castle, how rain feels like sprinklers and how tiny and active ants are.

24. I do not drink. Let me take that back... I might have an amaretto every month or so. Mostly it's because I don't like the taste of alcohol. And yes, that includes the foo-foo drink you claim tastes like juice. Same goes for coffee. Yuck.

25. End big, Jen. End big! Ummm... I don't work well under pressure, but I don't get pressured easily. Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff.