The last time I was tagged by
someone, it took me so long to respond that I couldn't find her original post. Now I've been tagged twice in a week by
someone else, so here's my response to the
first tag.Some things you may not know about me:I think that most of the people who read my blog have known me for a long time, but perhaps a few of you have only known me for a short time. So I'm including some old things and some new things (hence, the longer-than-six-items list). And for those who have known me forever, sorry!
1.
I have always been low-maintenance. People seem to make the assumption that it started after I became a mom or after I got married or after I went on a mission or after I started college. The fact is, Zonian girls from Panama just didn't wear make-up or do their hair on a regular basis, and I was no exception. I confess that I did go through a hairspray and make-up phase in junior high, but those habits fell by the wayside by 9th grade. To somebody who grew up with me, it's probably no surprise that, even now, I only wear make-up for dress-up occasions like church and hot dates (I did wear make-up on my wedding day). I'm just amazed that I married a guy from the States who
prefers low-maintenance (in fact, he'd prefer I don't wear make-up EVER).
2.
I was a cheerleader from grades 9-12. This comes as a great shock to people who meet me now (D was quite astounded to learn this tidbit when we were dating), probably due to the fact that I'm low maintenance and have a brain. I try to explain that cheerleaders in Panama are different, but people just shake their heads in disbelief. I'll try to say it again--I cheered during football season, then I played soccer, swam, paddled cayuco (a boat like a long, narrow, wooden canoe), and got good grades, and most of the other cheerleaders did the same thing--we were all jocks who did well in school, and most of us didn't wear make-up or do our hair. Oh, and the award I was granted my senior year? Not "Best Gymnast" or "Loudest Voice" or "Highest Jumper," but "SQUAD CLOWN." Ah, those were the days!
3.
I served jury duty for a murder trial. It was the fall of 2003, and I was summoned with 50 or so others. I didn't think I'd get chosen for the 9-person jury (my dad and brother are both attorneys), but I really wanted the opportunity. It was truly a life-changing experience. I was able to ask the defense attorneys afterwards why they let me be chosen, and they said I had a "liberal aura" about me. It's true, I was one of the last to say he was guilty, and this was only after I was satisfied that the timing and DNA evidence (a tiny speck of blood with her DNA on his sock) indicated that he was guilty beyond doubt. If not for that DNA evidence, I couldn't have decided "guilty" (that's the scientist in me).
4.
I love travel and culture, and before beginning my life as a med student wife, I traveled outside the U.S. about twice a year. I have lived in or visited the following countries: Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, United States, Peru, Easter Island, Tonga, Fiji, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Mexico, England, and Wales. I have also stepped over the border of Argentina and Haiti, but I have a hard time counting those countries since I don't have the stamp on my passport. I had the goal to completely fill my passport with stamps and get new pages added before it expired in 2006, and I accomplished it.
5.
Before I got married, I was a bridesmaid 7 times. I shared this factoid with the guys at work (this was long before marriage was even a prospect) and one of them said, in all seriousness, "Do you need a hug?" I think he felt pity for me living up to "always a bridesmaid, never a bride," but honestly, I loved being single. I didn't feel a bit sad about all the opportunities I had because I waited till 28 to get married.
6.
I lived in the fine arts dorm during my freshman year of college, despite having almost zero ability in music and art. My ticket in was my awesome roommate, Emily, a violin major. I was probably the only science major in the whole place, but I loved my experience there. I got to attend my friends' jazz concerts, plays, orchestra performances, and marching band galas. It was a great place to be!
7.
The smell of skunk is pleasant to me. It reminds me of family vacations when we came to the States and drove cross-country--there's always a dead skunk somewhere along the way. People are always surprised when we're in a car and we catch a whiff of skunk and I say, "Mmmm, I like that smell."
8.
I graduated from college with over 210 credits (semester credits, not quarter credits) on my transcript. That's with a Bachelor's degree, and it's not because I changed my major thirteen times. I happen to have the longest major at BYU (I think), and with a minor on top of that, and concurrent enrollment during high school, and testing out of some Spanish classes, well, it all just keeps adding up. If you don't think that's extraordinary, check out your own transcript. If you've got me beat, show me and I'll give you a dollar.
9.
I came very close to getting a gold tooth in high school. My cheerleading friend and I thought it would be pretty funny to get caps so we could look like the chola girls. We talked about the extra sparkle we'd show as we cheered at the football games.
10.
I used to be very embarrassed about even stepping inside thrift stores--I wanted nothing to do with second-hand stuff. This is especially surprising to people who know my current habits of dumpster diving or shamelessly taking furniture out of the trash piles people leave in front of their houses. I think my turning point came during my first year of college when I got into the grunge look, and the only place to find those ugly flannel shirts was the thrift store. After that, it's just been a beautiful evolution from the prissy princess to the scrounge queen. Luckily, my husband shares my fetish for making use of other peoples' junk. One of our first outings with my siblings was a dumpster diving trip.
And now, the time has come to tag others. I feel compelled to tag those who blog rarely or not at all, so
Louise, June, Beasta, Katie, Shelly, Jen, Ash and anyone else who needs a little nudge to get blogging, here's your big chance!!
When I was pregnant with Squeak, I ran until I was 40 weeks (actually the day before I went into labor). This time I decided to stop at 37 weeks because Pip has been sitting kind of low and I kept feeling the pressing on my bladder at every step. I haven't yet given up hiking though.
After I went on the hike with Squeak, my midwife said I probably shouldn't be carrying Squeak long distances, so I had to go during her nap while D watched her. I was happy to see that some other hikers had decorated this tree at the summit.
I was pretty excited to get this shot of us and the moon
