101 Things About Me

1. I am the second of six siblings. 3 boys, 3 girls. I am the oldest girl.

2. My 3 year old brother died of cancer when I was 4.

3. I have been to 4 concerts in my life. Van Halen (twice), Sting (in Spain), Prince (in Spain). The best one was Sting.

4. I love to travel.

5. I have traveled to 2 other continents (Europe & Africa).

6. I worked as a day camp counselor on a Navy Base in Rota, Spain for 3 months. It was the greatest experience of my life. It was entirely paid for and I received 12 college credits for doing it.

7. I went to Africa for a day.

8. Jamie and I tried for six years to get pregnant.

9. I have been through InVitro Fertilization 5 times.

10. The first time I had a miscarriage.

11. The second time I had my first child Lucy.

12. The third time I had two frozen embryos implanted and became pregnant with Grace.

13. The fourth time didn’t work.

14. The fifth time I got pregnant with triplet boys: Lincoln, Gavin, and Vaughn.

15. We have one frozen embryo left and plan to use it.

16. I am deathly afraid of spiders.

17. My favorite flower is the gerber daisy.

18. I love the smell of hyacinth.

19. My husband is the best man I have ever known.

20. I took 6 years of Spanish but can’t speak a complete sentence.

21. I played tennis in for four years in high school and 1 year in college.

22. I went to Catholic Schools for 12 years.

23. I became a Christian when a lady knocked on my door and asked me if I knew for sure I was going to heaven, then proceeded to tell me how I could know for sure.

24. My parents owned an ice cream business when I was young. I rode one of four ice cream wagons around town and sold ice cream bars out of it.

25. I had a paper route when I was 10.

26. In sixth grade, I used to buy bubble gum on my way to school and sell it for a profit.

27. I would love to be a teacher if I could plan on the lesson plans and activities but didn’t have to teach. :)

28. I never had a best friend until 10 years ago. She is still my best friend.

29. I am fascinated by the lives of famous people.

30. If we had twin girls we were going to name them Olive & Lucy. (We thought it was funny that it sounded like I Love Lucy.)

31. Autumn is my favorite season.

32. I met and married my husband in the spring.

33. I’ve been with him for more than half my life.

34. My favorite cuisine is Mexican…but not authetic Mexican. Tacos, Burritos, Enchiladas…anything wrapped in a hard or soft corn or flour shell.

35. I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in Marketing and International Business.

36. I am currently working for Pearl Management Company. It's my fifth job since college.

37. I’ve worked at 3 major retail stores – Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Shopko.

38. I’ve never worked in a restaurant.

39. Singing is my favorite form of worship.

40. I love to sing and dance with my kids.

41. I am not good at it, but they think I am.

42. I love to make lists.

43. The first house I owned was on five acres of farmland.

44. Now that I have kids I wish I was still there. They would love it.

45. I believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God.

46. I believe that I will meet him someday in heaven.

47. I believe that it doesn’t matter how good of a person you are, the only way to get to heaven is through Christ.

48. I believe that even the best person is a sinner and that a sin is a sin…none are better or worse than others even though our society thinks so.

49. I know nothing about politics.

50. I work in the same building as a political non-profit organization.

51. My favorite fast food restaurant is Taco Johns.

52. I babysat a neighbor boy and girl every summer for 50 hours a week from the time I was 12 until I 20.

53. The boy I babysat is on the list of Ten Most Wanted in the city we grew up in. Not sure what for.

54. I’m still trying to discover who I am and what God’s purpose is for my life.

55. I am afraid of the dark.

56. I read billboards and business signs out loud while traveling. I think they’re interesting.

57. I am once again addicted to Days of Our Lives. I have watched it since I was a little girl with my mom.

58. If I could drive anything I wanted – it’d be a jeep.

59. I am a Capricorn.

60. I am afraid of heights. Not only of being up high, but of being on the ground looking up at tall buildings.

61. I like to fly.

62. I love it when it rains.

63. I like to walk around big cities at night.

64. I can’t cook but love home made food.

65. My favorite appetizer is potato skins.

66. My favorite vacations have been spent in Colorado and Hawaii.

67. I’ve swam in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

68. I have crossed the Straight of Gibralter.

69. Ten years ago, this is not where I would have pictured myself in ten years.

70. I am the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.

71. I like to play card games.

72. I haven’t played cards in many years.

73. I believe that pink skies are Mrs. Claus baking cookies.

74. I believe that thunder is the sound of my brother riding his big wheel in heaven.

75. I want my children to know God.

76. I worked at my parents store from 1984 until it closed in 1990.

77. In forth grade I made fake fingernails out of glue on the pencil tray of my desk.

78. When I was young, I asked for Colby Cheese for Christmas.

79. I got it for my birthday after asking for it 2 years in a row.

80. I seriously considered naming our son Colby Jack.

81. I love McDonald’s Coke.

82. I never thought I’d be a good mom.

83. I want my children to think I’m the greatest mom in the world – even after they grow up.

84. Before I had kids, I always knew I’d love them with all my heart. After having kids I realized that there is more love than your heart can hold.

85. Just the thought of how much I love my children is bringing tears to my eyes.

86. I won the school science fair when I was in 8th grade.

87. I used to play the clarinet.

88. I like to make faces in the mirror.

89. My brother and I used to give each other communion with cheese nips behind the rocker/recliner in the living room.

90. One of my favorite childhood memories is going hiking at the primitive area with my dad and brother.

91. My mom let us sleep downstairs on Friday nights. We’d watch Dukes of Hazzard (and then Dallas).

92. My favorite cartoon is The Flintstones.

93. My favorite movie is “While You Were Sleeping”.

94. My favorite actress is Sandra Bullock.

95. My favorite actor is Adam Sandler.

96. I prefer fruity candy to chocolate.

97. I love movie theater popcorn.

98. I love Christmas because it seems magical.

99. I have never read the entire bible.

100. I want to.

101. In grade school, I was in a spelling bee and came very close to winning but lost on the word bivouac.

102. I will never forget how to spell bivouac.

103. I cannot picture what heaven will look like.

104. When I try to picture God, in my head I sing the song, “I see the Lord, seated at the throne, exalted.” And I picture a gentle man sitting on a throne, looking at me with love in his eyes. I know I’m way off. But for some reason my mind always goes there.

105. I am saddened by the sin of the world.

106. If I could change one thing in the world, I would make physical abuse impossible.

107. I remember only one specific thing that my grandma said to me. She said that if everyone in the whole world said the Hail Mary at the same time, there would be world peace.

108. At the time, I thought, how hard can that be.

109. My favorite teacher in school was Mr. Reid. I thought he was fun.

110. In twelve years of religion class, I never learned that the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ.

111. I miss some of the traditions of the Catholic church.

112. I love the smell of spring.