a while back...

I was tagged, and I'm finally getting around to posting 6 interesting things about myself...

1) I love kids. If it were physically possible to have a million of them, I would...and I would love them all. One of the very first things that attracted me to John was the fact that he loves children too. Before we even started dating, his entire family (in town for his brother's graduation) came into Nordstrom to visit him while he was working. I remember how cute he was with his nieces and nephews, and I remember thinking wow, what a catch...I think I'd like to date that boy! To this day, one of the things that brings me the most joy, is watching John interact with children; whether it be with Ruby, or our nieces and nephews, or the neighbor kids down the street. Sometimes he even acts like a kid, and I love that about him too.

I took the following pictures a couple weeks back while we were at the park for Bennett's birthday. While most of the adults were conversing at one of the tables under the covered pavilion, there was John, playing on the playground, and entertaining the children...









2) I can't ever leave my shopping cart just loose in the parking lot after loading my groceries in the car. I have to either return it to the inside of the store, or run it to the nearest shopping cart return station located in the parking lot. In the same vein, after trying on clothes, I always hang up all of my items and either leave them nicely in the fitting room, or return them to the salesperson. As a kid, we couldn't even leave a restaurant until I had stacked all the plates (one on top of the other, with all the leftover food scraps in a neat mound on the top plate), pushed all the cups together, forming a tight circle in one corner of the table, and used a napkin (dipped in water), to clean off the surface of the table. (I was a strange child.)
I guess I just hate to make other people clean up after me, or do something that I easily can, and most certainly should, take care of myself.

3) One can always tell, by the way the cord is wound up, who was last in our house to vacuum. John always takes the time to neatly wind it, while I always gather it together in a sloppy bundle and hang it on the hook. I have never seen the point in taking the time to wind and unwind the cord each time, when I'm vacuuming on a daily basis!


John's cord


My cord

4) I love to read, and I love to read aloud. I can always get more out of what I'm reading if I read it out loud. I also love to read to people. Whenever John and I travel to and from Utah, I always make sure to bring a book along. It makes the trip go by faster when we're both enthralled in a good story line. I also have a special love for kid's books; and take advantage of any opportunity to have an audience. I really get into it, and enjoy changing my intonation and accent while impersonating different characters in the story. I really think the kids love it too.

5) I hate to call myself a quitter, but there's really no other word for someone who easily gives up in the face of difficulty. I have always had great desires to try new and exciting things, but very rarely have I ever stuck with something once it became a true challenge. Growing up I took dance (tap, ballet, jazz), piano, gymnastics, art classes (oil painting, drawing), Karate lessons, voice lessons, tennis lessons, ice skating lessons, swimming lessons, softball, etc, etc, etc; and to this day, I can honestly say that I stink at every single one of those things. As soon as something became really difficult, I simply gave up. I didn't even finish college...actually, I didn't really even start (one measly quarter surely couldn't count for anything). After all of that, you can imagine my elation upon successfully finishing an honorable LDS mission. It was by far the most difficult, challenging, arduous, and demanding thing I had done up to that point in my life...and I did not quit (although at times I felt like it), I did not quit! And I wouldn't call living the gospel a cake walk, and I'm still here, doing that...so, well, I guess I'm not a complete failure.

6) I may have mentioned this already at some point, but I hate hospitals. My mom died in a hospital, and I gave birth to my stillborn son in a hospital. I know that hospitals are good, I guess I just hate that they elicit the return of the most painful moments in my life.