25 Things

Many moons ago “25 Things” was going around Facebook. Someone made a list of 25 random facts about himself and then passed it on to others who were to read and do the same. I don’t remember if I ever did it. . . but due to the fact that my blogs have been quite heavy in nature the past—always—I figured it may do us all some good to make a ridiculously random list of facts:

1.     I am obsessed with plaid flannel shirts. If you are ever unsure what to get me for any birthday, holiday, peace offering, etc., you absolutely cannot go wrong with a plaid flannel shirt. My friend Carrie says this is disturbing, and also believes it is my deep rooted longing to wed a ‘country boy.’

2.     I am incapable of passing up a pile of leaves, no matter how small, with out running through them or jumping in them. This often times makes for awkward moments—especially when I am walking down Main Street with two nearly strangers having casual conversation and suddenly veer off the beaten path to crunch the leaves.

3.     I have never broken a bone in my body. Knock on wood, of course. I think Tomlinsons must just have incredibly strong bones, because now that I think about it I don’t think any of my siblings have broken a single bone in their body either.

4.     The coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life is swim alongside a 100-year-old sea turtle in the coral reefs of Malaysia. I felt like I was on the set of Finding Nemo during my entire snorkeling excursion. IN-credible.

5.     I have seen the movie ELF over 100 times. By over 100, I mean I have very likely seen it a thousand times, but that sounds slightly unbelievable, so I go with 100. When I was in college, I would stay up until 3 or 4a.m. almost every night ‘studying.’ I hated being the only one awake  in the apartment as it got lonely, so to provide background noise I played ELF on repeat throughout the night. . . every night. . . from October 1- January 1. These three months have affectionately become known as “Elf Season” by all who partook in such college madness.

6.     Every year, I cut down a small ‘Christmas’ tree on the side of the highway, or anywhere I can find one. I’m not entirely sure this is legal, but nonetheless it is a tradition. One year we accidentally cut down an entirely dead spruce tree. We got it home and upon realizing it was brown, I purchased a can of ‘pine’ colored spray paint and proceeded to paint my Christmas tree. It looked marvelous, in the end. We also had insanely painful spruce splinters for the remainder of the year as they became ingrained in our apartment carpet permanately.

7.     I once ate a fish eyeball while in Uganda, East Africa. It was really awful. I also ate roasted grasshoppers but those were actually quite tasty.  The most disgusting thing I have eaten in my entire life was cow intestine. I do not recommend it. Ever.

8.     The most beautiful place I’ve ever seen is the farmlands and surrounding mountains of Lewisburg & Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. I have been more than a few places in my lifetime. Some exotic, some mountainous, some beach, some jungle, some forest. . . But I think what made PA so beautiful was that it was unexpected. I was there for a funeral and I was all kinds of broken. Not only that, but after recently returning from Thailand and India I just didn’t expect anything to be as beautiful. But it is. It is right here in my America. And I am grateful for that.

9.     I hate scary movies with a firey passion. ALL scary movies. Even barely scary movies. HATE them.

10.  My freshman year of college I play intramural football on a team called the ‘Nosepickers.’ We were not very good. The following three years I played on a team called the ‘Wonderwomen.’ We were WONDERful.

11.  I love country music. And yes, I am ashamed.

12.   I have a severe phobia of moths. Snakes? No problem. Spiders? Piece of cake. Cocroaches!?!? Fine with me. Moths? No-please. Not ever. Not even tiny ones.  I could tell you a really ridiculous story involving myself, an ATM, a moth the size of a sparrow, shrill screaming, forgetting my car was in drive, smashing my car door on the ATM poll, dollar bills flying everywhere, and my car coasting through the parking lot while I flail violently trying to get the bird-moth out of my car. . . But I won’t bore you with the details. . .  Also, I once did not shower for three days because there was a moth the size of my thumbnail in the shower curtain and I was too terrified to get it out and knew it would attack me while I showered.

13.  Stargazing is my absolute favorite thing to do in life.

14.  I cannot avoid puddles. Whether in my car, on a bike, or most especially on foot, if I see a puddle I absolutely must go through it. This causes a great deal of anxiety for my friends who happen to be mothers. They are not pleased with me at all when their children decide to follow my lead.

15.  If I could play any instrument perfectly, I would play the violin. I think stringed instruments are fantastic. I sometimes wish my dear mother would have forced violin upon us rather than piano. But, I am grateful for the piano talent/knowledge she did give me.

16.  When I was young, I used to pretend my bicycle was a horse. Really. I went as far as to tie a rope around it’s ‘neck.’ And name it. And feed it. And lead it along. And of course I wore cowboy boots and cowboy hat while I did all of this. I was an odd child. (Weren’t we all. . . ) And also one that wanted, since five years of age, to live in the country, but instead was raised in the suffocating suburbs of St. Louis.

17.  My brother shot me with a BB gun in the leg when I was ten.  His immediate response, as any protective older brother’s would be, was, “Don’t tell Dad.”

18.  I believe in Santa Claus. I’m not kidding. I leave cookies and milk.

19.  From kindergarten thru twelfth grade I was the Teacher’s Pet every single year.  Then college happened. And so did a 2.4 GPA. Go figure.

20.  I am INSANELY good on a pogo stick. I can do it with no hands, holding a plate, eating dinner, for minutes and minutes on end. I sometimes brag about this but no one believes me and there’s no way to prove it because let’s be honest, who has owned a pogo stick since. . . never.

21.  I can ride my bike with no handlebars.

22.  My sisters are my very best friends.

23.  The first time I ever got pulled over, I was sixteen and, according to the cop, was doing not one but six illegal things. Expired plates. Lack of brake lights. No seatbelt. No blinker. Speeding. Rolled a stop sign. I have been pulled over more than 25 times since then. Way more. I just quit counting after 25 because it became really depressing.

24.  My three favorite birthdays of all time were my 10^th, my sixteenth, and my 25^th. My tenth birthday was a surprise party. My sweet sixteen was just freaking awesome. (Thanks, Mom & Dad) and my 25^th was spent in Uganda, East Africa with my travel partner in action Stacie and the 42 orphans of Abba Home orphanage.

25.  Ask away. . .