100 Things About Me (& this is no joke!)

This is probably the longest list yet. I'm sure it is too wordy. If you didn't already know I am crazy, now you will.

1. I am a chronic worrier. Even as a child I had terrible anxiety.
2. Being married to Kyle has helped me chill out.
3. Kyle has been my best friend for something like the last 16 years, half of my life now. Crazy, huh?
4. I love butter. Margarine and other substitutes scare me. If they don’t scare you, read the label sometime.
5. I love my Mac computer. It’s too bad I don’t know how to use it better.
6. I would love to get a PC laptop.
7. I would love to take a Photoshop & Illustrator class.
8. I am saving my money for 2 new lenses for my camera.
9. Someday I would love to charge for photography.
10. I photographed a wedding last fall & it was one of the funnest things I have ever done.
11. Since we have been married I have been to Scotland (x2), Ireland, England (x3), Wales, France (x3), Belgium, & Denmark.
12. I love Europe.
13. My travels in Europe changed my life and the way I view the world.
14. I can’t wait to be able to take my kids to Europe.
15. I want to go back to all the same places, but would also like to see Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain…the list goes on & on.
16. The thought of going to Asia scares me.
17. I love to travel in the U.S. I would love to take a year off and travel the states in an RV.
18. Our favorite family vacation (right now) is Disneyland. It is so fun to take the girls. We really could go every 6 months and not get sick of it. As they get older we will venture out more.
19. I would rather give my children experiences than things.
20. I love cleaning my house. If I were rich I wouldn’t hire a maid, but I would hire someone to pay my bills and do the paperwork.
21. I love trying new products and giving reviews.
22. I would love to be a restaurant critic.
23. I love a brand new box of Crayola crayons. Inspiring!
24. I don’t like animals. Never have, never will.
25. I have issues with beef. I haven’t eaten a hamburger since Jr. High. I love my mom’s crock-pot roast and I love a filet mignon, well-done, of course. (I know some people don’t even consider it to be a steak at that point.) Lastly, I would rather eat a hot dog than a cheap steak. See, I told you I had issues.
26. If we go to a burger joint I order a cheeseburger, without meat.
27. I wish I liked fish and asparagus. I have tried, really.
28. My favorite treat is a frosted sugar cookie with milk.
29. When I worked at the mall I developed a love for See’s candies. My favorites are the truffles…lemon, raspberry, key-lime, blueberry! Yum!
30. I can’t type very well. I have never had issues with dyslexia & reading, but I think I have dyslexia with typing. Sometime I am going to leave a post exactly as I type it the first time. It will crack you up!
31. I love blogging!
32. I am horrible at keeping in touch and blogs have changed my life that way. I just wish everyone blogged!
33. Since I have been blogging, I have noticed that I use the word “definitely” a lot.
34. When my sister moved to Montana 3 years ago I decided the best thing I could do for her would be to call her every day. Well, 3 years…vacations, sick days, having babies, work trips, hospital stays, just crazy-everyday-life…later, we have only missed 1 or 2 days of talking to each other (even if it was a call at 11:55pm, just so we could say we did). Had she never moved we wouldn’t have done this. Our relationship is so much better for it!
35. In the last year I had a baby, had my gallbladder removed, completed (well, mostly) a pretty extensive remodeling project on our house, had our car window shot out, repaired Mikey’s car that Kyle backed into, had Krissy diagnosed with diabetes…It has been crazy to say the least.
36. I have the best job in the world. I work part-time from home on mostly hobby-related stuff. I oversee the design of products for QuicKutz. Check us out if you haven’t already.
37. I work with some amazing people, who have become some of my best friends.
38. I also work with my husband & my brother-in-law. Amazingly, we all still really like each other after all these years.
39. I went to England to do a live TV sales pitch for QuicKutz (similar to QVC and Home Shopping Network). Scary. At the time I was just barely pregnant with Krissy (in fact, I didn’t even know it) and I had the worst zit of my entire life. How is that for a confidence builder? Thankfully the tape they gave us wasn’t in VHS format so no one has been able to watch it. Hopefully by now it is lost.
40. I have incredibly sensitive skin. I often get itchy red splotches and have to figure out what I am using that I am allergic to. Most recently it was our laundry detergent, before that it was lip gloss. I should get tested so I can finally know what ingredients to avoid.
41. When I was 16 I got my first & last flu shot. I had huge, itchy hives for the next 6 months. I missed yearbook pictures for the Dance Company because one morning I woke up with a hive in my lip. It wasn’t pretty.
42. I worked for Bath & Body Works for 6 years. I loved it.
43. I won a few contests and got to go to Columbus, Ohio to the company headquarters. It is still one of the highlights of my life.
44. Some day I want to go back to Columbus just to shop at Easton Town Center.
45. I also won a trip to a spa in Palm Springs, CA. The place we stayed was incredible & the spa was awesome (not your average day spa). We played golf cart polo & had a Jeep tour through the desert. Amazing experience! I would love to take Kyle and go back.
46. I love to watch the news. One of my favorites shows is Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN. As far as local news, I like channel 2 @ 10 p.m.
47. I love musicals: Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Hairspray are some of our favorites.
48. I love Ikea, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids, Target & Costco.
49. I love studying cookbooks, looking for our next favorite treat or meal.
50. I love to read travel books. Always dreaming & planning.
51. I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the Twilight series. I am definitely an “Edward” girl.
52. I have enough credits at BYU to have graduated, if only they could have all been toward the same major. At some point I majored in Nursing, Elementary Education, Design and Geography. I figure it has made me a more well-rounded person. ☺
53. I would really like to finish at BYU someday.
54. I would love to take piano lessons.
55. I think the perfect Church calling would be Primary Pianist.
56. My only callings have been in the Primary & Young Women. In our last ward in Orem I was the YW President and it was my most favorite calling ever.
57. If I had the cash, I could re-furnish my house every year, or so.
58. I love shopping for home furnishings & accessories.
59. I love to see other people’s homes and the way they live.
60. I think it is rude to be late. If I am kept waiting (without a phone call) I get so annoyed, if I am running late myself I get so stressed out.
61. I use a backpack instead of a handbag. I like to have my hands free to wrangle my kids.
62. I plan to be fashionable someday and use a cute handbag. Probably about the same time I start wearing designer jeans.
63. You should see my bag sometime. Between packing for a baby and a diabetic it gets pretty interesting.
64. I collect the Disney Cars cars. Sounds silly, but I can’t even say it is for my kids. It all started when I would look for them for my nephews. Now I can’t go to the store without make a quick trip down the Cars aisle.
65. I can’t live without Aquaphor. For dry skin and lips you can’t beat it!
66. I love all my in-laws. The one who married into my family & all of those in the family I married into. I feel lucky to have such a great family.
67. My parents gave me an incredible childhood. Thank you mom & dad.
68. My in-laws raised the perfect husband for me. Thanks Don & Dennae.
69. I think I am a very supportive wife. ☺ Kyle has many (expensive & time-consuming) talents and hobbies…golf, cycling, shooting, running, four-wheeling, hiking, snowshoeing, triathlons…I could go on, but this is 100 things about me, not him.
70. I was 11 when my baby sister was born. I feel like I raised her. I have a special bond with her because of that. Of course, she feels like she has 3 moms.
71. My mom is the best cook I know.
72. I know my dad would do anything for me.
73. My greatest fear as a kid was disappointing my parents. I gave them very little trouble. I am hoping I can recreate that with my kiddos! ☺
74. I have 1 out of 4 grandparents living. Oh, how thankful I am to still have my grandma. Oh, how I wish I could spend the day with my other 3 grandparents.
75. I have always lived in Utah.
76. I love color. As a kid I would go to the home-improvement store and pick up paint chips to arrange and study.
77. I love to study design and branding. Recently I watched the unveiling of Utah Valley University’s rebranding. I was curious to see why they made the choices they made…logos, fonts, colors, etc.
78. I love BYU football. The years that Mike played there were some of our favorites we will always cherish.
79. On one play Mike recovered a fumble and, randomly, me and Kyle were selected from the crowd (of 60,000) to receive the Outback Steakhouse Take-Away of the Game ($50 gift certificate) for the recovery of that fumble. At the same time our picture was on one jumbotron and Mikey’s was on the other. What are the chances of that? Of course we treated Mike and Hollie to dinner.
80. I get motion-sickness pretty bad.
81. I need to be better at writing thank-you cards.
82. My favorite magazines are Family Fun, Real Simple, anything scrapbook, Kraft’s Food & Family (which is free) & the Ensign.
83. I need to get in better shape.
84. I need more free time for myself.
85. I wish I had more time to spend on the computer. I always get interrupted with requests to look at the Disneyland website.
86. Big dogs terrify me.
87. I am in need of some dental work. I need a root canal and an implant. I am trying to get motivated to take care of it. Painful and expensive. Not fun.
88. I love to have the blinds open in the day. If I don’t close them myself they would stay open all night long as well.
89. What I love about my house: the carpet, the bedrooms are close together & it is bright. What I want in my next house: 3 car garage, granite countertops, & more space for entertaining.
90. I love a beautifully wrapped gift. You should see my stash of gift wrap.
91. I love paper, cards, invitations & stationary.
92. I love to cook & bake.
93. I am paranoid about dates on food. I am constantly on the lookout.
94. I don’t love loading or unloading the dishwasher. I usually call someone on the phone when it comes time to do that. It makes the job so much more pleasant.
95. I love a thoughtful gift.
96. One of my favorite scriptures stories is Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. What an amazing story of forgiveness and love. One all families can learn from…and set to such a catchy tune!
97. I feel so blessed to be a wife, mother, daughter, grand-daugher, sister, sister-in-law and aunt. I have such amazing people in my life.
98. My favorite time of the day is when Kyle comes home from work, having dinner together, reading stories and saying prayers at bedtime. I love to have snuggles with my girls before sending them off to bed. No matter how the day has been, everything feels okay.
99. I am grateful to have the Gospel in my life. How I would cope without it, I don’t know. What peace and joy it brings. I know that I am a daughter of God, that he has a plan for me & my family, and he wants us to have joy and be happy.
100. I love my life. It is not perfect, but it is mine & I am thankful for it.