25+ Things About Me List

My friend Matt sent me a FaceBook invite to list 25 Things About Me. I hate doing things like that, but his list was so fun and funny that I wanted to play to. Once I started writing I LOVED IT! What a great way to recapture the essence of a life. I hope you will enjoy my ramblings and maybe do your own. I'd love to learn about you too!

1. I like music. My voice is not great, but I'm taking lessons & singing with a choir that's amazing. So that makes me feel like I'm better because as a group we sound so good.

2. I conduct a church choir. It's one of my favorite activities. I love creating unity from chaos. There's such joy when many voices let go of individual goals and blend into one. I've been called the choir nazi, but someone has to call the shots and I'm willing to do it. Some of my best memories and best friends have come from these experiences.

3. I'm back in school taking Algebra so that I can get a bachelor's degree. I have an Associates Degree from Santa Ana College in Liberal Arts and one year completed at the University of Utah in a program they discontinued. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up but I have to declare a new major soon...

4. I worked in a photo booth during college. I once got robbed while working there and the most important attribute I could recall for the police to apprehend the perp was that he had a very hairy gut. I knew this because he lifted his shirt to show me the gun tucked into the top of his pants.

5. Having children brings the broadest spectrum of experiences. They bring greater joy when they are happy and greater sorrow when they aren't. I'm grateful I've had the parenting experience. I've heard two quotes that apply - "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" and "A Mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child.' Both maxims are true.

6. I collect quotes. I have numerous books filled with inspirational thoughts that I've gathered throughout my life. Now I have the internet. What a great resource.

7. Eric & I first met in the LDS Stake Center in Kamas Utah. It had it's 15 minutes of fame for being the church that was bombed by extremists. When I saw Eric across the crowded cultural hall for the first time I knew that we would marry. (Cue the music) Six months later we were sealed in the SL Temple.

8. All of our children's names have significance. Our son is named after King Benjamin & Ben Franklin and his grandfathers for many generations; Rachel shares middle names with me and so does her daughter; Noelle is named after Eric's best friend's wife; Keileigh is honoring John Claude Kiley-a French Olympic gold medal skier. Eric picked her name.

9. We have a friend who has four daughters. His wife picked all of their names. When they got to the last baby he wanted to have a say in her name. Her name is Gracie Cupcake Jones.

10. I love the process of creation. I like to paint, sketch, write, blog, compose, take pictures. I'm not very crafty though. I took a class at the U of U called The Science of Creativity. It was helpful. When I was younger I dressed eclectically. I had people come to my wedding just to see what I was wearing. Having children changed my style - they are embarrassed by everything you do and so I started to dress 'normal.' Now they are gone...maybe I'll pull out those free-spirit clothes again!

10.2 I had a tie dye company called 'Tie By Night' in the late '80's & early '90's. My business partner and neighbor was the earth-mother, quasi-hippy, druid lover in the business. Me? I just liked to play with the colors. We dressed our children up in our inventory and went to art festivals throughout northern Utah. We also taught classes through community ed and in our offspring's classes. It was hard work and great fun but I gave it up when I got pregnant. I still like to play with colors and see how they affect our lives. I studied Color Analysis for clothing and makeup and spent time doing that as well. My best colors are pink, blue and purple.

11. I like to take walks. In Salt Lake I love walking in Liberty Park. If you walk at the same time, going in the same direction you see the same people every day. If you change directions you see a whole new world. When I'm in Utah I go back and reconnect with people I haven't seen since I moved to SoCal. In California I love walking at the beach.

12. I have seen tons of dolphins surfing at Salt Creek Beach. 8:30am is a good time to be there.

13. The dolphins were surfing I was watching...I don't surf.

14. I lived in American Samoa when I was young. My kids call me a 'Wolynesia' - a white Polynesian. I learned how to dance and can still do the Tahitian and poi ball dances. I learned how to swim in the bay at Pago Pago Harbor. I couldn't open my eyes in the salty Pacific Ocean so I had a hard time learning how to navigate in the water.

14.2 I don't like to drink from plastic cups. Goes back to my years at Fia Iloa Elementary cafeteria where they served watered-down powdered milk in little plastic cups. I would look for the cup with the least amount of nasty liquid because you had to eat everything served.

15. I am the only daughter in my family. I have five awesome brothers. There are advantages. When I was younger I wanted sisters. Later I got sisters in law and daughters. This was a perfect way to gain female connections.

16. I love to read Neal A Maxwell. He paints pictures with words. I love his skill.

16.2. I love to read and think the free library system is one of the greatest advantages in our society. Even though in Dana Point you have to pay to reserve books...

17. Knowing The Meaning of Life is one of the best things to have. It makes the day to day better when you have a clear vision of what the end result is. I am grateful for eternal perspective.

18. I ACAD. (A Chapter A Day) I have been reading the scriptures every day since January 7, 1977.

19. I (usually) only buy stuff if it's on sale, it makes the acquisition that much sweeter. I hear it's the same genetic marker that made hunters in ancient times stalk big game animals. There's something in the hunt and kill. I don't eat meat too much, but I still like the pursuit and the challenge.

20. I like to fish at Flaming Gorge with Eric. He puts on the worms and guts and cooks the catch. I once caught four fish on the same worm with just four casts, with a baby in a front packer, while balancing precariously on a rocky cliff. I'd do it again too!

21. I smile when I'm walking around. I love to watch people's faces light up as they see a happy countenance coming toward them. Then they smile too and I feel like I'm doing my part to make the world a better place. When they don't smile or look away I think that's fun too.

22. I also have been know to not be smiling. Eric calls it 'The Look' or 'The Silent Treatment'. I tell him I'm just thinking.

23. I was a Chateau Queen. I lived and worked in Park City at the Chateau Apres Lodge. There was a billboard on the way into town that advertised the hotel and boasted of queen sized beds. There have been many female employees throughout the 70's and beyond who share the title.

24. I won honorable mention in a church writing contest when I was in college for a short story I adapted from another source.

25. I like the US Census. I discovered cool ways to be a detective using it for family history research. I liked it so much that I worked on the 2000 Census. I worked for them again in 2005 doing the labor survey that is reported every month by the federal government that charts the nation's unemployment rate. That was harder work, but it had it's rewards.