25 random things about me

1. This is the second time I wrote this up. The first time I accidently deleted it before I posted it.
2. I was born in Salt Lake City, UT- but for always hurry past that part and quickly add, “but I was raised in the Seattle area”. I guess Seattle will always be “cooler” in my mind.
3. Despite #2 I somehow ended up living and starting my family in Utah- and its actually grown on me- and though I hate to admit it- since I haven’t lived in WA for over 12 years now, I think I would REALLY miss the sun if I moved back- but hey- there’s always central/eastern WA right?
4. Speaking of places I’ve lived- I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be able to say I lived in Hawaii for 2 years (got my AA at BYU-Hawaii) and in Guatemala for a semester.
5. I also lived in South Texas for a year and a half. It was the best place in the world for me to serve as a missionary for the LDS church- but I can’t honestly say it was a great place to live- I think the summer I was in Laredo it was the hottest city in the U.S. for about two weeks.
6. I LOVE to travel. If I had limitless time and funds that’s what I’d spend it doing. Some of the cool places I’ve been? 4 of the Hawaiian Islands; Glacier Bay, Alaska; Tikal and Atitlan, Guatemala (and other cities); La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica; Baja Mexico as well as Mazatlan, CaboSanLucas, and Puerto Vallarta; Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; Vancouver, B.C., as well as some pretty cool places in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, California, and Colorado.
7. If I had to pick a favorite of the places I’ve been I’d say it’s a tie between Lake Atitlan, Guatemala and Glacier Bay, Alaska.
8. #7 just goes to show that my travel style is more for the new experience of a unique surrounding and/or culture than it is to see really touristy or fancy places.
9. I speak Spanish pretty well, and love to use it, but hesitate to speak it often because I don’t want to be one of those people who spouts off in another language at random moments as a sort of “see what I can do” type of thing. I can also understand Portuguese and Italian pretty well, and a little bit of French.
10. My husband and I served in the same mission- but didn’t meet there- and elder that we both new (Jesus Garcia) introduced us at BYU.
11. I love to go boating, surfing, SCUBA diving, and swimming but I’m actually (*sigh* I think this is the first time I’ve admitted it) pretty afraid of the water- mostly going under and having to hold my breath.
12. #11 is probably due to the fact that I’ve almost died TWICE- and both were me nearly drowning.
13. I hate cats. Sorry cat lovers. If it’s any consolation it’s probably because I’m HIGHLY allergic to them. I can tell within 10 minutes of walking into someone’s house if they have a cat.
14. There are a few “girly” things that are really hard for me. I have to force myself to wear jewelry, use a cute purse, wear pink, or spend a lot of money on clothes, makeup and that sort of thing.
15. I’m notoriously “frugal” as I would say- others would probably say cheap.
16. My teenage obsession was the movie Newsies- more particularly the character Spot Collins- if you know the film- he’s the skinny little scrapper from Brooklin. Don’t worry my taste in men has greatly improved over the years!
17. These days one of my hobbies is Real Estate. I really should break down and get my license. I love checking MLS listing sites, as well as Zillow.com and other real estate websites/blogs. If you’re ever looking to move- let me know and I’d love to get your specs and track down some cool deals/places for you.
18. I actually enjoy cooking and entertaining. I think I have knack for picking good, but relatively simple recipes and adapting them from cookbooks, recipe sites, blogs, magazines etc.
19. I’m also one of those crazies who actually enjoys teaching, talking, or performing in front of people. I guess it started in theater productions in high school- for me it’s a natural high/thrill.
20. One of my pet peeves is messy toothpast bottles. Luckily I explained this to my husband when we first got married and we've never had issues. Now with kids though it is much harder to keep all the toohpaste bottles tidy.
21. When I was little, if asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” my answer was a whale or dolphin trainer.
22. I believe in aliens. Not little green men per say- but I definitely believe there is life on other planets somewhere.
23. My favorite restaurant is Bombay House- LOVE INDIAN FOOD!
24. I believed in Santa till I was 12. When I was little I “saw” Santa- looking back I think the memory is a combination of real moments as well as a dream- but it’s still hard for me to make perfect sense of today.
25. I’m horrible at spelling. In fact, when I was in third grade I somehow won the class competition and was selected to represent my class in a school-wide spelling bee. I pretended to be sick that day so the runner up would compete because I knew it was just dumb “luck” that had me win.