25 things you should know about me if we're going to be friends

1. I have a crazy amount of music memorized and will break into song at any given moment when the situation or conversation closely resembles any of the songs in my head. (Also: I totally wish they'd create "Musical Land," a theme park where actors and singers break into song)

2. I always joke that my house is about 10 minutes away from clean. I'm not a super neat person but I like to keep things fairly respectable. If you mention you're coming by, I'll run around like a crazy person for ten or so minutes, picking up, straightening, and hiding things in my laundry room.

3. I planned our entire wedding on a budget of less than $6000. We made our own food, decorations, invitations, centerpieces, programs, bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts, and did not have favors. I wouldn't change a thing. It's still the prettiest, most fun wedding I've ever attended.

4. I am a weird number savant. I remember phone numbers, count letters of words, and count things in threes, fours and fives to see if they even out. I used to be a real number/counting freak but have backed off a lot since having kids, and the subsequent turning of my brain into mush.

5. My least favorite body part is my thigh region. I've always had large, muscular legs and when I stopped playing sports they stayed large but not so muscular. :)

6. Ben and I did not watch TV until our first child was born. We owned a TV and occasionally hooked it up in order to watch breaking news, such as on 9/11, but for the most part we only watched movies and not cable for about 6 years. Now we watch way too much TV. My favorites are So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef, Project Runway, and LOST. I was kind of a freak about LOST and now it is over and I am back to normal. Sort of.

7. I have colitis and follow a really weird diet. I don't eat bread, sugar, potatoes, corn, processed meat or cheese, milk, or canned vegetables. I don't chew gum. I don't drink coffee, though at once I was a serious addict. I do eat lots of fruit, cheese, nuts, salad and protein. And I make my own yogurt with whole milk and whipping cream. It is delicious.

8. Approximately three months after getting my iPhone 4, I dropped it on the garage floor and shattered the screen. It still works and I will most likely operate it in said condition until it stops working or my 2 year contract runs out.

9. I have a habit of abandoning hobbies. In the past, I have spent serious amounts of time doing the following: knitting, making cards/stationery, quilting, writing poetry, collecting and making things out of vintage handkerchiefs, and scrapbooking. I have not done any of these things recently.

10. I HATE cleaning the shower. I avoid it. Until I can no longer ignore the pink stains and black mold growing near the sliding doors.

11. Cheese is my favorite food. I could eat Fromage D'Affinois the rest of my life and never grow tired of it. Add a roquefort, aged gouda, sharp cheddar, and apple slices and I'm in heaven.

12. My hair turned wavy after having my first child. It used to be stick straight but now it takes serious effort to blow it out. In Hawaii or humid climates, it is crazy wavy.

13. I go to bed most nights between 9 and 9:30. I like to sleep 8 1/2-9 1/2 hours a night.

14. Danville women intimidate me and I often go out of my way to keep things real by refusing to get all decked out when I, a) workout, b) go grocery shopping, and, c) drop off and pick up my daughter from school.

15. I am not good at small talk and conversation. I'd rather be quiet and listen to conversations that are already happening. It's not that I don't like you, it's just that I'm awkward at first.

16. I want my kids to think of me as loving, fun, approachable and dependable.

17. I don't like to have my picture taken. That said, my favorite photos of all time are ones in which I am laughing.

18. When I was about 8, I was giving a young friend a horsey ride on my hands and knees when I fell face-first on the linoleum, breaking off part of my right front tooth and severely cracking the other one. They are still cracked, partially fixed, and one of the reasons I don't like having my picture taken.

19. I wish that I lived closer to my family. It makes me very sad that we don't get to see each other as often as we wish.

20. I've never broken a bone, but I have had stitches once, in the back of my head. I also have loads and loads of scars from various childhood accidents involving barbed wire, bike wrecks and ATV riding.

21. I am a serious foodie. I love to eat good food. We love to cook, entertain, eat out and I also love to bake. But I don't bake much anymore because I can't eat these yummy treats.

22. My favorite books of all time are The River Why, Water for Elephants, and Les Miserables.

23. My life list includes traveling to foreign countries, seeing multiple musicals, becoming an excellent photographer, publishing a book, and seeing my children grow up and be joy-filled in whatever they do.

24. I have vibrant, crazy, and memorable dreams. Just this week I have been a top-secret scientist in charge of an entire island laboratory that was infiltrated by spies and subsequently destroyed. I escaped by leaping/flying out of the burning building, diving into the ocean, and swimming away at hyper speed (think leaping like a dolphin). I also rescued Jack Bauer once in my dreams.

25. I eat at least two apples a day. I buy pounds of apples at the beginning of the week and yet we always run out.